Hello everyone and welcome back to the start of chapter 26! Nothing better than to take a shower, eat and starting to write the next chapter by the morning! Now let's delve into it!
DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author.
"Man...It's sure is hot in here." Ritsuka said while he and the rest of the group where now travessing the desert zones of Hispania. It's sun was shinning fiercely above them, with the area around having a very dry vegetation. No wonder why there wheren't many outposts of the United Roman Empire despite it being their territory. Spending hours in this climate would be a torture to anyone. The group was sitting on the wodden carriage, one different from the previous one they used to get out of Rome. The travel by boat was pleasurable and all, but this one was being pure tedium. They all hoped for a fresh breeze of air to come by and blew on their faces.
"For how much do we have to travel?" Nala asked, exhausted just like everyone else.
"Until we find some kind of woodland to stay." Mash replied to the girl. "There's no way we will be exposed to this sun in the open."
Hearing the answer, Nala lied back and sighed. "Then we better find one soon."
"Fou..." Fou who was sitting on Nala's lap also appeard to not support the heat, wishing for the same thing.
"We can still drink the water that we brought with us." Ritsuka smiled, trying to be optimistic.
"Master...We run out of water an hour ago." Mash told him, bringing him the unfortunate news.
"Then we just need to find some body of water and drink the from it." Ritsuka told the two. "Also, what are you trying to do Peko?" Ritsuka turned his head to look at the boy who was standing at the end of the carriage, doing something with his fingers while is back was turned to the group.
Peko was making handgun signs and pointing them at the horizon while inspecting them and slowly moving his thumb. He was so concentrated in what he was doing that he completely forgot Ritsuka had just asked him something. "Hmm..." The boy stared at his fingers. "I have to know how did the bullet went back and hit that woman Cleopatra." Peko tought before looking at the view in front of him. "But there's no object or anything in this area that I could shoot at to test it. Also it's risky to just shoot and the bullet come back all by itself, possibly hurting me or anyone at the back. Hmm, looks like I have-"
"Boo!" Nala suddenly went behind Peko and put her hands on his brother shoulders.
"Waah!" Being jumpscared by his sister, Peko lost his balance and fell to the ground behind. "T-That wasn't funny Nala! What if I had fallen from the carriage!?" The boy said angrily as he saw his sister laughing.
"But you didn't, did you?" Nala smirked. "So everything is alright in the end." She closed her eyes, still maintaining her smile.
"Youuu..." Peko hissed as he stood up. "You better watch your back from now on as I won't rest until I do the same to you!"
"Hehe, good luck with that." Nala sticked her tongue out, mocking her brother.
Ritsuka and Mash couldn't help but laugh aswell, with this sibling moment distracting them from the heat of the sun. And it was right in time as a blow of fresh air passed between their heads.
"Ah, feels better now." Mash commented as she made sure to enjoy the breeze while it lasted, with Fou putting himself on top of the shielder's head.
"Fou..." The creature also felt the air's embrace.
"Sure feels good." Ritsuka said looking at the sky. "But part of me wished that Seneca and the others would come with us too." He said sadly. "Running away just like that wihtout saying nothing to Jing Ke and the others feels...not correct."
"I know. But they are Nero's servants. There's no way we could bring them with us." Mash told to Ritsuka, altough feeling the same as him.
"Exactly. If we went to talk to them and try to make them join us, we would probably had to fight." Peko said as he and Nala sit back.
"I too didn't liked to go away without an explanation to them, but it was better that way." Nala said. "However, if we have to take the grail away from Nero, then expect for a fight with those three." Nala mentioned the possibility of having to face the Nero servants in the future.
"I wouldn't like to do it but if there's no way around it..." Mash said.
"Let's just focus on the present, okay?" Peko told them. "Meeting this woman named Boudica that Seneca told us about should be our top priority right now."
"Peko's right." Ritsuka said. "We should concentrate more in our next objective if we even want to restore this Singularity."
"Understood Ritsuka!" Nala responded.
"Aye master!" Mash replied too.
Nala then spotted something up ahead. She immediatly went to the front of the carriage to look better. "Oh! Hey, everyone! I see a forest up ahead!" She said while pointing to the treeline in front of them. Everyone went to see it.
"Good! Now we have a place to stay for the day!" Mash said with a smile.
A minute after, the carriage had finally entered the forest. It wasn't the same type of forest as the ones they saw in France but as long as it would keep the sun covered and give them a place to rest it was good. Walking a bit further into it, they decided it was a good place to stop the horses that had been pushing the carriage with them. The four exited the transport and put their feet on the ground, now thinking on setting their provisory accampment.
"My stomach is making noises..." Peko said, feeling the vibration from hunger in his stomach. "Do we still have food left?"
"I'm afraid that we will have to pick some food in the area." Mash told him. "Let's hope that the trees here have enough fruits."
"I'll go collect them then." Ritsuka said.
"I'll go with you!" Nala said to the master of humanity. "In case a monster attacks someone needs to be there to fend it off, right?"
"Yeah. You can come Nala." Ritsuka said as she happily went torwards him.
"Then I guess me and Mash will stay here preparing the accampment." Peko said.
"Be careful you two." Mash told to Ritsuka and Nala as they started to walk away.
"We will! Make sure you two are also safe!" Ritsuka responded back as he and Nala went to find some fruits.
"Aaaaaaaaaand there!" Nala stretched her arm in order to grab the apple from one of tree's branches as Ritsuka helped her by putting the girl's feet on his shoulders, helping Nala to reach for the apple. Once done, she descended back to the ground.
"Good job Nala." Ritsuka said as he moved his shoulders.
"Do you think we already have enough?" The white haired girl asked to Ritsuka who proceeded to look at an improvised basket they made.
"It's almost full. So I'd say we grabbed enough already." Ritsuka said.
Nala slowly rised her eyebrow. "Enough to make an apple pie?" She asked.
"Well, I myself am more of a cherrie pie fan." Ritsuka smiled at her.
"Does it tastes better than an apple pie?" Nala asked him again.
"I'd say both are good but I personally prefer apple pie." Ritsuka answered.
"Wow. How many variations of pies there can be?" Nala speculated in amazment.
"There's also a strawberry pie." Ritsuka smirked, knowing he had picked her interest even more.
"Really?! And no one told me before?!" Nala almost yelled. "Or perhaps I forgot alongside everything else I don't know..."
"When we return to Chaldea, I'll ask Da Vinci to make you one." Ritsuka patted her in the head.
"Now that's a nice way to keep me more motivated in order to clear this Singularity." Nala said happily. "I'll surely be looking forward to it. Oh! Also another thing." Nala said as she went to the basket and picked up a random apple, placing it in the top of a rock that was next to them. "Watch this!"
The girl summoned her sword and put some focus into it, preparing to slice the fruit in half. Ritsuka made sure to stay silent, not wanting to disturb Nala. "Yah!" Nala swinged her sword down onto the apple. A second later, the cut appeard on the fruit, shwoing that it had indeed been sliced...terribly to the left instead of the middle.
"..." Nala stood still, not saying a word from her failing demonstration she had just try to do now.
"Pffghf..." Ritsuka tried to contain a laugh, not wanting to make the girl feel more embarassed. "C'mon Fujimaru! Hold it! Hold it!"
However, the contained noises coming from his mouth reached to Nala's ears, who immediatly turned around to look at the older boy. "That wasn't funny." She said with a deadpan expression. "I really put a lot of effort into it you know?" She said, dissapointed in Ritsuka's reaction.
"Sorry for my inadequate attitude princess." Ritsuka said, still joking with Nala who pouted and looked to the side.
"Now you're just being mean Ritsuka..."
Ritsuka then suppressed his will to laugh. "I know, I know. At least you tried your best Nala."
"Fou, fou!" The animal appeard out of Ritsuka's back and went torwards Nala, much to the two's shock.
"Huh! Since when where you here Fou?" Nala asked to the creature. "Don't tell me you also laughed at me."
"Fou!" Fou speaked in his animal noises, touching Nala's legs, as a way of the animal saying 'no'.
"Aha! I knew you were always the best Fou!" Nala picked the creature and gave him an hug. "And at least Peko didn't saw this too..." She whispered to herself.
"Keep practicing Nala. I'm sure you will get it perfect one day." Ritsuka told the girl.
"Of course! That's what I aim to achieve after all!" Nala smiled with determination. "Train, train and train. It will reach a point where no one will stop us! No matter how strong they are!"
"That's the spirit." Ritsuka told her. "You sure like to get energetic."
"Well, it's because I am trying to do something ever since we completed the previous Singularity." She told him.
"Really? What is it?" Ritsuka asked her, curious.
"It's a bit hard to explain now. I'll tell you when we reach to the accampment."
Ritsuka felt confused by Nala's words but still decided to respect it. "Okay then. Want to go back?"
"Sure!" Nala said as she picked up Fou and the two walked back to the accampment.
"Done!" Mash said as she finished to put the tent with the help of Peko. "It's nicely built. Thank you Peko." Mash said to the boy, grateful for his help.
"I'd say you were the one who did most of it Mash." Peko told her. "You made it seem so simple. Like, you know a lot of things! I wished to know as half as you do." Peko complimented Mash's vast knowledge.
"Appreciate it Peko." Mash smiled to him. "But I also don't know everything. Let alone some simple things aswell."
"Such as?" Peko asked, a bit surprised in seeing Mash's honesty about not knowing everything.
"Per example, that sibling relationship that you have with Nala. I don't know how that works out." Mash told to the boy. "Could you please tell me how does that chemistry works?"
Peko scratched his head, a bit confused. "I think it's someting a bit hard to explain, more so to people that don't have a sibling." He then smiled. "But I'll try to explain my best. You see, siblings normally discuss, fight and argue over the dumbest of things. Like, what is better? Strawberry or Blueberry? That kind of stuff. And also pulling pranks on you most of the time."
"Like that one Nala did on you at the carriage?" Mash asked, giggling at just remembering it.
"Y-yeah...That type of pranks. But also, for what I believe, no matter the discussion, anger or misunderstandment between the two, at the end of the day, a sibling will always have the other one's back, taking care of each other." Peko said to Mash. "At least that's how I think siblings relationships works."
Mash found the concept that Peko told her endearing. "I'd say that's a beautiful thing. Now that only makes me to have a sibling aswell. It sounds like fun and adds something more to a person's life."
"Sure does." Peko responded. "But I also wish to have all that knowledge you also have."
"Under the right teachers, I think you can also achieve it Peko." Mash touched his head. "You're really curious after all."
"Well, when you have amnesia I guess everything that was old and known to you changes back into being new and all." Peko told her. "Also, where do I find a teacher like that?"
Mash put a finger under her chin. "Well, I'd say probably in schools."
Peko scratched his head. "Schools?...Oooh! I get it. A place where people teach you things and stuffs everyday! Alongside other people too! What was the name? Hum...C..cl...cla..classma..classmates!"
Mash nodded. "Yes, that's right Peko. School is a place where you learn things with other people who are your classmates, even making some of them your friends!"
"Cool thing!" Peko smiled. "Did you also had classmates Mash? How were they like? Did you became friends with any of them?" Peko asked the shielder, wanting to know more about her life.
But Mash didn't respond. Instead, she just stood silent and staring at nothing, with the words of classmates and friends striking inside her mind. "Classmates...friends...D-did I had that before?" Mash asked to herself as she was trying to remember something. Something not too long ago.
"H-Hey Mash, are you okay?" Peko touched her hand, pulling her out of her train of tought.
"Oh, y-yes I am Peko, don't worry." Mash told him. "I would be teached alone, so I had no classmates to call friends." She said with a clear sorrow in her face.
"S-Sorry to have asked you then..." Peko said, feeling bad for seeing Mash's mood going down. The shielder however, went back to smile and lay her hand on Peko's shoulder.
"You don't need to be Peko. Now I have you, Nala and master as my friends. And it's been wonderful so far." Mash told the boy.
Peko, now feeling comforted, smiled back at Mash. "I think the same too."
"Yoooooooooooooo!"
A voice came from behind them, making the two look at where it was coming from. It was Nala who was back with Ritsuka, Fou and a whole basket of fruits. By the number of it, they had good results in their search for it.
"Who wants to eat?" Nala yelled as she would bit some sticks that she found on the ground against each other.
"Fresh fruit for free!" Ritsuka also said to them, going along Nala's play.
"About time." Peko smiled. "Let's eat!"
The day had passed and a new night had arrived. With their hunger ceased by dinner's time, now all four of them stood in front of the bonfire, deciding to pass some time awaken until sleep arrived to put them inside the tent. The night altough less hotter than the day, was still with some clear warm temperature. Not almost insufferable hot as the day. Nice enough to stay close the bonfire and feel comfortable with it. Now they hoped the next day wouldn't be as hot as this one. They also had made a recognition of the area, seeing if there could be possible enemies or monsters nearby. Fortunately, this area didn't had any sign of hostile entities. They could rest easy.
"I think it's my first time sleeping in the outdoors." Nala said. "As a first impression, it feels nice. Despite of that, I will miss sleeping in those beds of the palace. I'd always sleep so quick on those!"
"But it's definetly better than sleeping in a cell right?" Peko asked to his sister as he would do some random drawings in the ground with a stick in his hand.
"Definetly! I prefer to have a bed than none at all." Nala picked a leaf from the ground and threw it at the falmes of the bonfire, watching it slowly burn. "At least in the tent I will have a bed to sleep in."
"Have you ever sleeped outside before Ritsuka?" Peko asked him. "That is, before all of this."
"Sometimes in the summer, I would sleep at the backyard of my house. Sure that it wasn't really out in a forest like this one where we are right now, but it would still feel refreshing. Hearing nothing but the sound of crickets at night while counting the stars in the sky." Ritsuka told them. "It felt all so relaxing. As if everything was perfect with life and reality in itself. Nothing to worry about at all."
"That sounds like a great experience." Mash responded. "Sure that I also slept many times at the outside ever since our Order begun, but to do it without having to worry about anything and being able to fully relax, must be so enjoyable."
"Hey, do you know how many stars there are out there?" Nala asked them. "I know it's impossible but say a random number just to see what you think how many stars there are."
"It really is impossible, the stars reside in a universe that is always expanding after all." Mash said. "If hypothetically speaking there was a finite number of stars in our universe, one would need of many lifetimes to count all of them." Mash said before going silent for a bit. "But if it's to say a random number hum...400 Quadrillion I suppose." She responded.
"And what about you Ritsuka?" Nala asked him.
"Hmm, I don't really know. A quadratribillion of stars?" He responded, not thinking about a real number.
"I'm sure that number doesn't exist." Peko laughed.
"You may never know. Numbers, just like the stars, are infinite so there's probably a number like that out there." Ritsuka said, trying to act smart.
"If you say so." Peko looked at the sky that was mostly covered by the leafs. "I myself think that it could be around the number Mash said."
"Those are all good guesses...I think." Nala rubbed her head. " But what do you guys think stars are?"
"Looking at an scientific side of things, the star is an astronomic object made of plasma that contains it's own light and-...Is this what's called acting like a nerd?" Mash asked embarassed of herself, seeing that Nala wasn't asking them to ACTUALLY explain what the stars were.
"Well, you surely are intelligent Mash." Peko smirked.
"Very intelligent." Ritsuka smirked too.
"S-Sorry, I misinterpreted Nala's words!" Mash tried to excuse herself.
"No worries Mash. That realistic approach isn't bad at all too." Nala smiled. "But what I think stars are, is that they're actually dreams and ambissions." Nala's view of the stars made Ritsuka and Mash confused while Peko slightly widened his eyes. "Think about it. The stars only appear at night, when people usually dream and sleep. Those individual dreams are symbolized by each star, with the brighter ones being those of great ambition. There are so many because it's the stars of all the way from the past to the present." Nala explained to them, only getting silence in response. "...I know it doesn't make much sense and I'm probably just talking gibberish here but-"
"No you aren't!" Peko told to his sister. "I too believe the same." He said. "So you may have had the same dream..."
Nala was kinda surprised by her brother's reaction. "Thanks for the unexpected support. I didn't knew you tought the same."
"Heh." Ritsuka chuckled. "Thinking about it, that's a nice perspective to see them. It definetly sounds pretty to look at the stars with that in mind."
"True. Now to see them as beyond celestial bodies and more as the symbols of people's desires and wills sounds much more beautiful." Mash said. "It's like if the night or the space itself was a big convention room, with everyone's subconscious socializing with each other in the middle of the dark or pitch blue sky." The shielder looked at the girl. "I'll make sure to always think of that when staring at the stars from now on Nala."
Romani's hologram then suddenly appeard. "Let me just say that I've been hearing all of this for a while and I must say that those words sounded so sweet from you Nala." The doctor said with an happy smile on his face.
"Thanks doc." Nala said. "But also, you were hearing all of this without our knowledge? That's wrong doctor." She said, accusing Romani.
"W-w-what do you mean by that? A man can't just sit on his chair and listen to some conversation while drinking his cofee as if he was hearing a 3 hour long podcast anymore?" The doctor protested.
"That's...oddly specific." Ritsuka said.
"When you spent a lot of time in the monitor you may as well play something to help time get by faster." Romani told him.
"Hum,okay." Ritsuka said. "Anyways, Nala." Ritsuka called the girl's attention. "You said you would tell me something about you trying to replicate something you did in the previous Singularity after we went back to the accampment. Care to tell me now what is it about?"
"Sure. Almost forgot about it." Nala giggled. "What I want, is to try and reach the speed of light."
Everyone got surprised and widened their eyes. Specially Romani. "The speed of LIGHT?! Do you even know what you are talking about? It's something of three hundred and thousand km per second!" Romani exclaimed. "That type of speed is almost impossible to achieve, even by the majority of servant standards!"
"I know! I know damn well!" Nala shouted back. "But I was able to do it that time back in France altough unaware of how. I want to reach that speed again! I need to!" Nala exclaimed to the doctor. "If there's a limit to surpass, I'll do it!"
Romani just stared at her with no words to say. It took him a moment to actually reply. "Heh. Guess that you're really looking forward to it," The doctor closed his eyes. "Fine. I won't stop you then."
Nala smiled. "Thank you for understanding that."
"The speed of light..." Mash murmured. "That is very incredible and even more so that you were able to attain ir for some brief moment Nala. But like the doctor said, I'm afraid it's too impossible to ever do that again."
"I wouldn't be so sure. In a world of magic, who knows what is and what is not possible." Ritsuka said to Mash. "Like I said before, keep practicing and you'll surely be able to reach that level again Nala." He smiled to the girl.
"I know. But the question is when?" Nala said. "What if that was one time thing that I will never be able to do it again? I have to make sure to do it again so it can be helpful in the future."
"You aren't the only one." Peko told to is sister. "Remember the bullet made out of light that I used in our fight at Mount Etna? I'm also trying to see if I can pull that off again." He looked at his other arm. "And that other thing too."
"So that's what you were doing at the carriage?" Mash asked him.
"Yeah. It may be some abilities that I have in me or gained. If that's the product of the mana inside me, I'll make sure to train and master it." Peko respoded, closing his hand.
"That move was pretty cool to see, so it would be a shame that you couldn't use it anymore." Nala said. "Altough you were rather lucky when the bullet went back to hit the enemy."
"Better to be lucky if that means we survived." Peko responded to her sister. "And the fact that it went back is one of thee motives for why I want to try and do it again."
"So now you can shot with your fingers?" Ritsuka asked him. "An ability like that sounds cool."
"I'm sure that compared to other things out there it probably is nothing." Peko believed that what he could do wasn't something that out of the extraordinary. After all, if what Jing Ke told them about servants being capable of destroying the whole planet with one attack, shooting light bullets from his fingers was nothing compared to that.
"I still find it intresting." Mash said.
"No more intresting than the magic tricks that I can perform." Romani smirked. "All of the magic compared to mine is absolutely amateur."
"Oh yeah? And what type of magic? Playing with cards?" Nala joked, resulting in everyone laughing.
"N-not only that you know? I can also do a lot of other things!" Romani tried to explain.
"Just like a magician from your average circus right?" Ritsuka said.
"My tricks usually need more effort and time." Romani responded, a bit annoyed.
"Then if you can make my nose dissapear for real, I'll be willing to give you all of my money!...That I left in my wallet at home in Japan..." Ritsuka told the doctor, seeing that such things as money wouldn't be of value if the whole world ceased to exist.
The group chatted some more until they stood silent for some time, enjoying the silence of the night that would be occasionaly interrupted by Romani taking a sip of his coffee. Then Peko tought about something.
"Hey doctor." He speaked to the hologram of Romani. "Since you are the most intelligent person of all of us that are in here now, can I ask you something?"
"The Chaldea job application requires having some sort of moderated high IQ level so of course I am intelligent! But anyways ask me Peko." The doctor gave permission.
"Since the universe is said to be endless, does it mean there's someone or something out there, right?" Peko asked to Romani who was caught a bit off guard by the boy's question.
"Why would you think of that?" Nala asked genuinely to Peko.
"I don't really know. I guess...it's curiosity speaking." Peko said while scratching his head.
Romani was processing on how he could answer this. "Hum...well, you see, there-" He suddenly stopped his explanation.
"What's wrong doc?" Ritsuka asked him.
"There may be something out there in the space as well as there is something near you!" Romani exclaimed. "My monitors feel a hostile presence near you! Get ready to fight!" As soon as he said that, the whole group got up from their seat and prepared for any attack or appearence of the enemy.
"Welp, there goes a nice night at the outdoors." Nala said as she summoned her sword.
"Whatever is stay on alert!" Ritsuka instructed.
"What if it is a wild animal?" Peko asked him.
"It means we will have some meat to eat tomorrow." Ritsuka responded back. "But for now, get ready to fight!"
All the other three nodded, as they now watched their surroundings to see from where the possible enemy would appeard. It didn't took much time for some kind of ghosts and spirits to show up in front of them. They didn't have quite the friendly look and where ready to attack the group.
"W-wait?! G-ghosts are real!?" Peko yalmost yelled in fear, not believing that he was seeing something that he always tought to be fictional.
"Hum, hello? We saw giant flying lyzards and a dragon before." Nala reminded Peko of the previous Singularity. "What would make you think ghosts would be too far fetched?"
Peko shaked his head. "Y-You're right sis. I didn't took that into accounting." "Also I've been through way worse before! I shouldn't be afraid of some bunch of ghosts now!"
"Either way, get ready you two. We're about to engage into battle!" Mash told the two kids, who nodded back at her.
They eventually fought off the ghosts, but the problem didn't end there. No matter how many ghosts they would defeat, a bunch of other ones would continue to appear. They weren't that hard to kill, but the fact that they were numerous was starting to make them tired.
"Does these things...have no end?" Nala said a bit exhausted as she had finished off another ghost. This problem was already starting to bother her.
"It's as if...we entered in a territory full of them!" Peko said, finishing off a ghost himself. "I don't know if we can defeat them all!"
Mash threw her shield, defeating two ghosts that were hit by it, only for them to be replaced by more. "This is no good!...We can't win if we keep like this!"
"Hold it for a bit longer guys!" Ritsuka told them. "Hold it? No no, that isn't right! We cant continue fighting them like this! Would it perhaps be better if we just run away?" Ritsuka pondered to himself. "But if we do so we will have to search other area to sleep. And it must be already past mid night by now! I wouldn't like to spent a whole night searching for another accampment but..." Ritsuka closed his hands. "It's the best we can do now or else we'll all die here!" "Everyo-"
"Don't you know that is dangerous to stay in a place like this at night?" A voice came from behind Ritsuka.
"Huh?" The master of humanity just had time to slightly look behind as the person from where the voice came had now run past him and into the ghosts direction.
Being briefly shined by the moonlight that would pass through the tree's leafs gaps, it revealed the newcomer as a woman with a tied redhair and vivd blue eyes. With a sword and shield in hand, the woman quickly dispatched of the ghosts nearby Peko, Nala and Mash.
"W-who are y-" Mash tried to ask to the woman who had come in their rescue.
"Focus on running away from here now!" The woman told them, being more of an order than advice.
"Okay then! Nala let's go!" Peko told his sister as he was about to run.
Deciding that it was no time to ask question's about the woman nor the why she came to her rescue right now, Nala proceeded to run alongside her brother, even if it pained her a bit to run away from a battle like that. "Right behind you!" "After that whole thing with the Dragon Witch, I think sometimes the wise decision in a fight is really to run away, even if I don't like to."
Ritsuka also started to run but not before he grabbed Fou. "Don't worry buddy! I wasn't leaving you behind!"
"Fou, fou!" Fou said in a relief tone.
Now running away from the ghosts, the group were being guided and following the woman in front of them who was showing them the way out of this haunted forests, with more ghosts showing up along the way. It was some good minutes of running until all of them had finally gotten out of the forest and back a plain and deserted land. All of them were now recovering their breaths and resting from all the fighting and running they did. If it wasn't this mysterious woman who had come for their rescue, they much probably wouldn't have find a way out of the forest contaminated by the spirits.
"Thank...you..ma'am." Ritsuka said to the woman as he was still recovering his breath. "If it wasn't for you...I don't know if we would have escaped."
"Yeah...thank you for coming...to our rescue." Mash thanked the woman as well.
"While I appreciate your thanks, why do you tought it was a good idea to just make an accampment in a haunted forest like that? You could've died." The woman despite being happy of seeing them well also scolded them for such foolishness.
"We...didn't knew." Peko explained to her.
"It's our first time...walking around this region." Nala said, explaining more.
"Hum, so I suppose you four aren't from here." The woman deduced, looking at them.
"Correct." Ritsuka said, finally recovering all of his energy. "We came here in search of someone that might help us."
"Oh? Really? And who are you searching for if I may ask." The woman asked them.
"A woman named Boudica." Peko said. "We were told that she can help us in a objective of ours."
"Hmm, continue." The woman said, now fully intrested.
"We were told that Boudica woman could be a great ally of us in order to stand a chance against Nero." Nala told her.
"Hm? Do you plan to kill Emperor Nero Claudius?" The woman asked, fully perplexed.
"We wouldn't say kill her. More like, take something from her that is really important." Mash clarified.
The woman put a finger on her chin. "Hmmmm. I see." She said closing her eyes, thinking about if she should tell them or not. "Luckly for you, I know where that Boudica is." She smilled.
"Really?! Where?" Ritsuka asked with a huge smile on his face, only to get the woman's hand outstretched for him, waiting for a handshake.
"I'm Boudica." The woman said. "And it would be a pleasure to help you on that objective of yours."
Ritsuka and the others stared in a brief shock before going back to normal. This situation was surely convenient for them.
"Then it's a pleasure to meet you too Boudica." Ritsuka took her hand for the handshake. "My name is Ritsuka, and I'm the leader of this group."
"I'm Mash Kyrielight." Mash introduced herself to Boudica. "And once again, thank you for helping us back at the forest."
Peko and Nala approached Boudica to also introduced themselves.
"Name's Peko. And I make Mash's words mine. Thank you for rescuing us."
"And I'm Nala. Nice to meet you Boudica."
"You two are twins, aren't you?" Boudica said, looking at the two kids appearence.
"Well that's something that anyone can figure out at first glance." Nala said to the older woman. "And do you really meant to help us?" She asked.
"Yes . After all, whoever is Nero's enemy is also an ally of mine." Boudica responded with an happy face, only for it to dissapear shortly after. "Even if I can't stand them too much aswell." She said with a slightly annoyed voice.
"Then you have other allies?" Mash asked her.
"Yes I do. They also have an army wih helps me to fend off against Nero's empire more easily." Boudica told to the shielder.
"Good! Can you guide us to where they are or where your base of operations is?" Nala asked to Boudica.
"I can. But is still some killometers far away from here. I reccomend you all to rest and sleep for tonight. Tomorrow I'll lead you to the main city where my allies reside." Boudica told them, proposing that they all should rest before going out for the city of Boudica's allies.
"Okay. No problem." Ritsuka told her. "We were really needing a good rest."
With the whole night now gone by and a new day arriving, the Chaldea group was fully rested and ready for another day ahead of them. Being guided by the woman they've been searching for, Boudica, they reached to a city in the center of Hispania. While big, it wasn't as enormous as Rome or had the same population density. However, the citizens living here, majority being from other provincies of the Roman Empire that decided to abandon their current emperor to live a new life here, appeard to be happy and satisfied with the lifes that they had now rather than the previous ones from the other empire. It could also be felt that their happiness was genuine and real. No fear behind those faces in hopes to please their ruler. Just people living their day normally and without having to worry about great problems.
"So when is your husband moving here to live with you?"
"He plans on arriving here in four days. The letter he sent me told that he already reunited money enough to pay for a passage!"
"Is it true that you hide in the middle of a flock of sheeps in order to bypass Nero's guards?"
"True story. The guy who followed me however didn't had the same luck."
"I heard Rome is starting to have some sort of plague. While I think Nero deserves it, I still have family there."
"Perhaps emperor Caligula threw a curse with his dying breath, who knows?"
Walking in the middle of the streets, the group was catching any background conversation that they could ear. Hearing more and more of them made the group realize in what location the where now.
"Wait! This is a city of the United Roman Empire!?" Ritsuka exclaimed to Boudica.
"Yes it is." Boudica answered him.
"And you are allied to them? We tought you had your own faction." Peko told to the woman.
"I ally with anyone that is willing to stop Nero and give protection to my people." Boudica said. "I swear that I'm not the biggest fan of roman people, but I also aknowledge that they too are normal people like my tribe. Besides, my grudge is only with Nero and Nero alone."
"Something tells me she has some reckoning with Nero." Nala said, seeing Boudica's eyes get a bit agressive on mentioning the roman emperor's name. "Is it about her story?"
"I think it is." Ritsuka said to the girl.
"I've heard about her tale before." Mash told them. "Perhaps I'll tell you later on. For now let's just hope the United Roman Empire won't try to kill us for what we did at Mount Etna." She whispered, hoping
Reaching to the gates of an enormus coliseum, Boudica signaled them to stop and knocked at the doors. "It's commander Boudica here! I had returned from the outside with a group of lost people that wish to speak to our leader! I request for the gates opening!" After saying that, the gates of the coliseum opened.
"We tought you were the leader here Boudica." Mash told to the rehaired woman.
"I'm just one of the United Roman Empire commanders. The true leader resides inside the coliseum. And if you all want an alliance, you need to talk with him about that." Boudica told them while the gates had fully opened and from it a chubby fat man came walking out of it, accompained by some soldiers of the empire.
"Hm, I hope this is worth the time Boudica. The strategies for the next battle won't do alone themselves." The chubby man said, wearing a full red coat with golden buttons and a grass crown in the head.
"That guy could also do a strategy on how to get fit." Nala whispered to Peko's ear, giggling with her own joke.
"Well, he surely has quite the belly." Peko commented back, whispering aswell. "At least he must eat good."
"Is he also a commander of the United Roman Empire?" Ritsuka asked to Boudica.
"Indeed he is." Boudica said. "This man right here is non other than the famous roman figure and dictator from over one hundred years ago, Gaius Julius Cesar."
To be continued...
Et tu, Brutus?
And that's it for chapter 26! This time a smaller chapter that came earlier. Be real, you weren't expecting for a chapter release in the middle of the week.
Now this was a great coincidence that the chapter of Julius introduction happened in the same time that the even where he is one of the main stars is currently happening in NA. Talk about timing man, not even I could pull that off on purpose. So we got to see him and Boudica. Both history figures with great potential (specially Julius Cesar) that got completely wasted and done dirty in the og Septem. I don't really care about their appearence but more so how they don't get to do much in the game (excluding some participation in events). But hey! That's why fanfictions exists :)
As you could see, this chapter was more slow and passive, spending majority of it with talks from our main characters, specially at the accampment. So in a way it was more of a chapter for them to socialize with each other and bond, with the extra stuff being the encounter with Boudica and Julius appearence at the end. After all they needed some time to rest and relax (if it wasn't for the ghosts at the end lol).
Anyways, that's all I wanted to say, and see you next time on chapter 27! Peace!
P.S: Now a good dish of fried eggs and sausages awaits me! Better hurry before it gets cold!
