Hello everybody and welcome back to the start of chapter 79 of the story! Have you sometimes ever stopped to think about how many times the word 'fate' is said in FGO? Like, it's always somehow a bit funny to me when a piece of fiction outright speaks the title of its franchise, either in an ironic self conscious way or in a scene where it wants to make your head explode with a 'OMG! They said the name of the game!' which ends up being actual cringe, but a comedic type of cringe that I enjoy. Sure that the word 'fate' is used unironically in the dialogue and with no purpose of self-referencing majority of the times, but I still can't help myself but to chuckle a bit when I see the word pop up. Only thing crazier would be if they used the words 'grand' and 'order' in the same line too. So yeah, I wonder how many times they speak the word in the entire game. I could perhaps do a drinking game where I drink a bit of water every time someone says 'fate' on FGO, but something tells me that would be an actual danger for my kidneys.
Anyways, with all that said, let's start it!
DISCLAIMER: All of 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
Holding the weapon on his shoulder, Fergus walked into a pub of a celtic dominated town, having his small troop following him from behind. Entering the building, the torso naked warrior laid his eyes on a young woman at the other end of the bar, sitting next to the bartender's table, making eating and drinking noises as she delighted herself with the food.
"Hmm hmm! This quality of dish isn't bad for a mere saloon of a town in the middle of nowhere!" She took a bite. "It's greatly to my liking!"
Fergus locked his sight on her white bridal dress. A person wearing a custome like that was without a doubt a rogue servant. Acting as per the orders of his queen, Fergus knew what he had to do. "Hey, you there in the white dress!" Taking two steps forward, the celtic warrior stopped hanging his weapon on the shoulder, lowering it. "I'd like to have a span of your attention."
"Hm?!" Rising her head from the dish, the young woman stood silent for a bit before making a gulping noise with the food falling down her throat. "Wait a bit!" She took a sip of a glass of wine before cleaning her mouth. "Aaah, this tasted well." The young woman said as she reached out for her sword, resting on the seat to her right. Grabbing it, the young woman in the bride dress turned around to confront Fergus and his soldiers, showing her blonde hair and green eyes. "You came here to talk with a celebrity? Umu!"
Having quickly parted from Lubbock the moment they heard rumours about a rogue servant being in the next neighbouring town, the entire party hopped on the caravan and headed immediatly to Dallas, now being joined by the two servants they've recently met and both of Geronimo's faction, Robin Hood and Billy the Kid.
"Can you describe to us what the rogue servant looked like?" Peko asked to both Robin and Billy in the back of the caravan, now getting a lot more occupied with the addition of the two's presence in the small space.
"Uuhh...well, I think she was kinda small-sized...Around ya height." Billy said, trying to remember. "And she...She had somethin'...A...A..."
"Two horns on her head." Robin replied. "A pinkish long hair and blue eyes if my memory doesn't fail me."
"She was also wearin' a weird pink and white dress with a funny hat!" Billy revealed. "And gosh! Would she never stop yappin' on stuff about bein' an idol."
"Did she told you her name?" Mash asked the two servants.
"Nah. She was only talking nonsense and offering us to become her quote-unquote 'staff team'." Robin said, gesturing with his fingers. "She briefly did help us defeat some celts before departing from the town tho."
"Yeah. Sayin', she was on this country tour and that had to speed up in order to not arrive late to her next big stage." Billy concluded, confirming that both hadn't got the servant's identity.
"So we don't know her name." Nala replied. "But by the characteristics you gave me of her, I can kinda mentalize her appearence." She said, trying to materialize the image of the servant in her head by using the description it was given to them.
"I also am having that same type of feeling and I don't know why exactly." Ritsuka replied. "It's as if we've met a person with those similar traits before."
Nightingale, who was also on the back of the caravan and making sure Rama was resting comfortable inside the not so spacious bag, went to touch on another topic. "You said to us that the soldiers of the Celtic Empire can be summoned and appear at an alarming rate, correct?"
"They multiply like damn wild rabbits!" Billy told her. "Hordes and hordes of them pilin' all up over one another! Me and Rob here never saw such amount of fellas in the same place before!"
"But they are majorily cannon fodder. Not hard to dealt with when they go down in one or two hits." Robin informed. "Also..." Closing his fist, Robin punched the cowboy in the shoulder without warning.
"Ouch! What was that for?!"
"Please, don't ever dare to call me 'Rob' again." The archer thief said, not liking the sound of his name being pronounced like that.
"Gotcha, gotcha!" Billy said, rubbing his shoulder.
"Humm, so its true about their army being able to multiply their troops endlessly." Ritsuka said, crossing his arms, unhappy with the new problem.
"That sure will difficult the things." Nala said. "If we already have an army with almost infinite troops as our enemy, two armies are definetly a nightmare!"
"At least with the West side, we know that the helter skelters are mass produced thanks to Edison's crafty talent and experience for mass production." Peko reminded the party of that fact. "If we apply the same logic to the Celtic Empire, we can consider that all of those troops being summoned rapidly are work of their leader."
"The queen." Mash commented, staring at both Robin and Billy. "Say, you do know about this celtic queen's identity?" She asked, wanting to confirm something. "Right now, my head only has one possible candidate that could be the leader and queen of the celts."
"We actually do." Robin told the shielder. "What was her name exactly? Maeve?"
"No no no! I'm sure it was something like 'Méibh'." Billy tried to correct his friend, thinking his version of the name was the right one.
"It's Medb. Medb of Connacht." Geronimo revealed to them, hearing the conversation while on the front of the caravan with Tesla. "She's their leader."
"Medb..." Ritsuka said, thoughtful. "...Never heard of her." He said with a clueless look.
"Make that two." Peko said, rising his hand.
"Three." Nala speaked, also rising her hand.
Mash let out a drop of sweat fall from her head. "You really should read more..."
"Four." Nightingale talked, also showing her lack of knowledge about the servant as well as raising her hand, much to Mash's discontent.
"Not you too, Nightingale-san." She lowered her head a bit. "To explain, Medb of Connacht is a legendary queen from the celtic irish mythology, more specifically of the Ulster Cycle."
"Ulster Cycle? Is that for the irish what the Mahabharata is for the hindus?" Ritsuka asked her.
"Kinda. It is one of the four cycles that serve as foundation of the irish mythos." Mash continued. "Both Medb and Cú are from the Ulster Cycle."
"Then they already had some shared past before." Peko commented. "What's the relation between the two?"
"Cú Chulainn was a great warrior that served under the king Of Ulster, Conchobar mac Nessa. His kingdom was in a dispute with the kingdom of Connachta, which Medb was the queen of. Therefore the two were enemies, with Cú having been a fundamental piece of Ulster when fighting against her army and holding them back." Mash stated the incredible tale of Ireland's Child of Light against Medb's forces. "It is said that he demonstrated such skill and strenght in that battle, that Medb secretly fell in love with him."
"Uuuh, nothing better than romance about hidden love for the enemy." Nala speaked, saying it sarcastically. "But they never ended up together, did they?"
"No they didn't." Mash answered. "Queen Medb did tried her hardest, but in the end she never conquered Cú Chulainn's heart nor body."
"I imagine how frustrated that must have been for her." Nightingale said.
"Queen Medb was said to be a warmongering queen who hated not having her way on things." Mash told to the nurse. "It's plausible to say she was furious for not being able to have a warrior like Cú Chulainn for herself."
"Unfortunately, it seems that isn't the case here in this Singularity." Robin speaked. "Unlike the myth, here Cú Chulainn is indeed one of her soldiers if not the strongest."
"Guess the gal really got what she wanted in the end. And now, she's aimin' for more." Billy added.
"But how so? It seemed impossible for Cú Chulainn to serve someone that was his nation biggest enemy before." Mash said, thinking how it was possible for hte legendary celtic hero to be now working with one of his enemies.
"Remember that this Cú isn't the actual Cú we know, but a diferent one." Nala reminded to her friend.
"Yeah. This one has to be from a timeline where the two used to be allies instead." Ritsuka thought.
"Or Medb casted some type of spell on him..." Peko said in a bit of dismay, not wanting to believe such possibility to be true. "No. I know the true Cú wouldn't let a spell mess with him!"
"That guess isn't too far off from reality I'm afraid." Geronimo speaked on the front of the caravan. "I've heard how Queen Medb is a cruel woman with no limits when it comes to her enemies. If Cú Chulainn was firstly summoned as his original self, there can be hardly a doubt that she didn't forcefully subjugated him into her side. For I also believe the actual Cú Chulainn would never partake in such attrocities, meaning that the only explanation is that the one we are up against with is a completely alternative version of him."
"The designation of an Alter." Tesla speaked. "A version of an heroic spirit that opposes entirely to its original's personality and beliefs, with the only semblance being the almost same appearence and same name. It can ben either positive or negative, dependant on the original alignment of the servant its alter shapes after. I'm sure that by your reactions, this isn't the first time you've runned into a situation like that." The inventor explained the alter concept briefly before spotting some buildings in the distance. "Oh! We're approaching Dallas!"
"Everyone, pack up your things and get ready to leave!" Geronimo passed the message, instruction to the rest of the party on the back of the caravan.
"Understood chief!"
"Understood chief!"
Both Robin and Billy replied at the same time.
Ritsuka looked to his team and Nightingale. "Well, time for chat has ended! Now let's search for this rogue servant!" He said, to which all nodded.
In the middle of the town, the entire party was starting to find its atmosphere bizarre due to the fact it was looking abandoned, much like with the previous one they've been to and met with Robin and Billy.
"This again? Does no one leaves a sign around to explain the motive for why this is looking like a ghost town?" Nala complained a bit, finding ridiculous that this was the second time in a row they would arrive to an empty location.
"Not even celtic soldiers can be seen around here." Nightingale noted, bringing Rama alongside them on her back.
"That is indeed strange." Tesla replied, staring to the condition of the buildings. "And this one doesn't have any signs of a fight occuring."
Ritsuka turned around to look at both Robin and Billy. "Do you think the servant heard of your tactic of luring soldiers to a spot and is doing the same here?"
"Nah. That'd be too much of a coincidence." Robin replied. "She looks more as the sort of an airhead than using her brain to come up with those sort of plans."
"And a special type of airhead at that." Billy added.
"Uh...uhhrgh..." Slowly waking up from his nap, Rama opened his eyes. "W...Where are we?"
"Ayo! Rama, you're awake!" Billy went behind Nightingale, greeting up his ally. "Good to see you still haven't kicked the bucket pal!"
"Remember that he still can." Robin told to the gunslinger before looking at Rama. "Just hang in tight. We are still trying to gather some clues about your wife's location."
"T-Thanks...for letting me know guys..." Rama said with almost no energy. Every time he would leave his rest to either talk or open his eyes, the king of Kosala felt like they could be his last words or last moments with his eyes open before returning back to the Throne of Heroes.
"Hey now buddy. I know you aren't lookin' so good but cheer up!" Billy said, approaching to Rama's face. "Let's try small a little." Billy's thumbs touched Rama's corners of the mouth and the gunslinger moved them to force a smile on him, much to Rama's discomfort. "See? Just like that!"
"Uuhg..."
Robin was about to scold his friend. "You idiot! Don't you see that ain't hel-"
With a quick turnaround, Nightingale stared to Billy agressively before tackling him down to the ground and hold his arm into a vulnrable position. "Harassing patients is a serious transgression on their health and well-being! Try to disturb the patient's rest again and I warn you as a nurse that I'll have to break some of your bones for the good of everybody!"
"Ow ow ow! I got it! I got it! Sorry about it ma'am! I was just tryna make him feel better!" Billy tried to apologize as he understood that Nightingale could dislocate his arm at any second right now.
"Sware your life on it!" Nightingale ordered.
"O-Oi...There's no need for that..." Rama tried to calm down the nurse, expressing that Billy was already regretful enough, but to no avail. The entire party could only watch to this ridiculous situation with some bit of awkwardness.
"I-I sware on my mama's pie and my dear revolver! Please do not break this arm!" Billy implored to Nightingale. "It's the one I'm good with at shootin' things!"
As the group continue to watch or try to reason with Nightingale, Peko heard some footsteps and shortly afterwards he saw a lonely celtic warrior appearing in front of them. "Guys! Look!" He pointed to the one enemy heading torwards them, making everyone shift thei attention to the celtic soldier and Nightingale to free Billy's arm from her grip.
"Enemy spotted!" Mash exclaimed, summoning her shield. "Engaging in com-...eh?" The shielder was caught off guard as the celtic soldier simply run past through her and the entire group, heading to another place.
"Did the enemy ignored us?" Geronimo said, appalled.
"Thinking better, he might be smart and did the right choice." Robin replied. "Who would in their right mind fight against all of us at the same time while alone?"
"Did her perhaps went to report our presence to the other soldiers?" Peko said, not liking the sound of that.
"Then we must hurry and avoid him of doing that!" Ritsuka exclaimed, with the entire party agreeing before chasing after the fleeing celtic soldier.
Having followed the single enemy for almost a minute, the group's running came to an end as they reached to an open area just on the outskirts of the town, resulting in a huge surprise for them.
"What a-" Ritsuka stared agape as he and everyone else saw an enormous crowd of celtic soldiers, all facing and cheering in front of a huge stage with vibrant lights, sound columns and music starting to play.
"HELLO! MY DEAR AND AMAZING FANS!"
The high pitched voice in the micro created a discomforting sound frequency on the speakers, forcing the party to cover their ears all in pain.
"Aahrgh! What is this awful noise?!" Tesla protested. "It makes my electric current go all haywire!"
"Fou! Fou! Fou!" Even Fou couldn't support such noise.
"Ghgrghg..!" Rama, who was now trying to go back to rest, was having an hard time because of the loud and awful sound penetrating his ears.
"Such terrible noise! This should be classified as air pollution!" Nightingale also showed her disregard for the noise.
"HOPE YOU ARE ALL HAVING A GREAT TIME! I KNOW YOU WOULDN'T DISSAPOINT ME IN SHOWING UP TO MY GREAT CONCERT!"
"Aaah! T-This voice! I think I've heard such insufferability before!" Mash commented, finding the voice on the microphone and being enlarged on the sound columns familiar.
"I-I too have the feeling this isn't the first time I'm hearing this voice!" Nala replied, still covering her ears.
"I think- ggh! I think we've already met the person with this voice already in the past!" Peko also speaked.
Looking specifically to the stage, Ritsuka and the others spotted a small young girl with lizard tail, deep pink hair, blue eyes and the clothes matching the entire description Robin and Billy gave of the rogue servant before. And much to the master of humanity's terror, it looked like he knew and had met with the singer before. "Isn't that-"
"AND NOW, I WANNA SEE ALL THOSE HANDS WAVING IN THE AIR AND A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR THIS GREAT SINGER ON HER AMERICAN TOUR: ELIZABETH BÁTHORY!"
"ELIZABETH BÁTHORY!?"
The Chaldea team all shouted out loud in pure startlement as the singer on the stage revealed to be none other than the servant they had met before way back in France during the First Singularity, the young Elizabeth Báthory. The young servant, now wearing different and more fashionable clothes from the ones the chaldeans saw her wearing back in France, heard their loud scream, her gaze aiming and descovering them at the end of the huge sea of her fans.
"OH? DID I HEARD YELLS OF PURE EXCITMENT? IS IT PERHAPS THE EMOTION OF WATCHING ONE OF MY CONCERTS FOR THE FIRST TIME TAKING THEIR HEARTS OVER? YOU REALLY MUST HAVE COME FROM AFAR TO SEE ME!"
As she looked at them, Elizabeth also saw Robin and Billy amongst them.
"AH! AND SURPRISE, SURPRISE! MY TWO STAFF MEMBERS HAVE ALSO CAME OVER TO SUPPORT ME! JEEZ! I'M SUCH A LUCKY GIRL!"
"Oh crap. Please god no." Robin put an hand in front of his own face as Billy sighed. "Please not this again." Not only did he had to worry about having met with the insufferable Elizabeth for a second time as she was still convinced he and Billy were her staff memebers, but he also had to worry about the entire crowd of celtic soldiers who shifted their attention on the party the moment Elizabeth's words were directed at them.
"Peko." Ritsuka called the boy, his dreading eyes staring at the servant on the stage. "You already know what to do."
"Yes. I know where I'll have to shot." Peko prepared the mana on his fingers, also having the same expression as Ritsuka's on his face.
"Don't mind if I help ya with that too." Billy offered up some aid.
"ANYWAYS, WITH THAT PUT ASIDE, NOW IT IS TIME FOR THE CONCERT TO BEGIN! ON THREE EVERYONE!"
With the entire celtic crowd turning hostile on them, the party was about to fight all of them as Elizabeth started her singing, completely oblivious to the violence that was about to erupt, thinking that her fans were just going crazy with amazement and admiration for her. Meanwhile, Ritsuka and the group were fighting left and right against the hundreads of enemies that were coming at them.
The fight dragged on for some good minutes, with the celts apparently having no end. Thankfully, their numbers begun to dwindle and the situation slowly became more manageable, with the party having more time and space to deal with the remaining forces. While for them the battle may have seemed like an eternity, for the energetic and active Elizabeth who was still singing and dancing with passion on the stage, the battle arrived and went away in mere seconds, being way too absorbed into her performance to pay attention to anything else.
"MY. HEART. IS. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Ending her song, Elizabeth puffed with drops of sweat running down from her face to her chin. She believed she had given her everything to the fans, making a good show for them.
"SO, HOW WAS THA-...huh?" Lowering the microphone, Elizabeth saw the entire area in front of the stage totally empty, except for the group where her two 'staff memebers' belonged to. Everyone else was just gone. "Where did they all went to?" She asked before a giant shadow towered over her. Looking up, Elizabeth saw a large rock flying in her away, about to crush her. "W-Whaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" The lizard girl hopped out immediately off the stage as it exploded into destruction the moment the boulder fell on it, leaving a wreckage behind.
"Done." Nightingale said, having been the one who launched the giant rock torwards the stage. "We can finally have some peace again."
"Thank you so much, Nightingale! My ears were about to bleed!" Ritsuka thanked the nurse for having done it.
"Same here! Any more second and I might could've started going insane." Robin replied.
"I still sense my head throbbing inside..." Nala commented, her eyes spinning around in her face.
"The awful music truly didn't helped us in this." Peko added, pratically having the same opinion as of everyone in the group. "Having to fight all those soldiers with that sound on...It should be classified as some sort of inhuman torture."
"Did somebody said torture?" Elizabeth speaked, appearing right next to the group.
"Wow! You came here quite fast!" Mash said to her.
"Of course I did! You're the only ones who stood here until the end of my song!" Elizabeth replied. "It shows how true fans of mine you are unlike all of those who unratefuly went away before the end! A special thanks to you, my real fans!" She said, genuinely perceiving the party to be her admirers. She then stared at Robin and Billy, more specifically to the ginger archer thief. "Specially you, puppy!"
Uneasy, Robin looked back at her. "I might die faster after hearing that."
"I don' wanna have anythin' envolved with her!" Billy exclaimed, about to run out of there to get as far away as possible from Elizabeth. Unfortunately got the blonde gunslinger, Geronimo simply grabbed him by the clothes.
"Don't be like that Billy. I'm sure we can achieve a way to cooperate with her." The native man told him, forcing Billy to stay.
"Aye chief, if you say so." Billy replied, calmer now.
"Never would I thought we'd meet each other again and on this large country." Ritsuka speaked to Elizabeth, who gave him a weird look.
"Meet again? Am I supposed to know you?" Elizabeth asked to Ritsuka. "Where you in one of my previous concerts or something? I can't recall seeing your face before." That answer sparked some puzzlement on the Chaldea's group heads.
"You really don't?" Peko approached her. "I'm Peko. Do you remember hearing that name or seeing my face before?" He tried to jog Elizabeth's mind.
She shook her head in return, having no memory of it. "No, sorry. It doesn't mean anything to me. With all the concerts and tour events I go to, it's a bit hard to remember of all my fans faces y'know?"
"Right..." Peko replied, walking back to his group. "She really has no idea of ever meeting us before."
"That's odd. The Elizabeth Báthory we met in France is identical to this one here. Even her mannerisms look the same. Her Spirit Core also feels unchanged." Mash thought, thinking on why the lizard girl wasn't remembering them.
"Yet she doesn't remember us." Nala said. "France couldn't have happened that long ago for her to already forget us, right?"
"Could it be because a servant's memory of a previous summoning is erased within every summoning that comes afterwards? That could explain why she doesn't seem to remember us." Ritsuka said, judging that could be the case.
"Really so? We've also met with Atalanta for the first time in France and she remembered us when we met with her again during the Third Singularity." Nala used that exemple, putting Ritsuka's answer in question.
"Then perhaps a servant's memory of a summoning is selective?" Peko tried to rationalize. "Like, it's a fifty-fifty chance they might keep those memories or not."
"The subject is a bit tricky when it comes to an heroic spirit's memories of past summonings. There's cases were they either show to maintain it or others were they not. No mage was ever able to figure out why such phenomenon happens." Mash said, agreeing with Peko's take.
"Or perhaps she might have a severe case of amnesia." Nightingale entered the conversation.
"Nah. Servant's can't suffer that." Ritsuka replied, fully sure on what he was saying.
"Based on your previous encounter with her, do you think she's someone susceptible to help us?" Tesla asked to the Chaldea team.
"Yeah. She might be annoying but is also helpful." Nala responded, with Elizabeth having the bad luck of catching her speak.
"Hey?! Who are you calling annoying?!" She shouted.
"Do you think she has any clues of where Rama's wife could be?" Tesla made another question.
"Hard to tell. I don't even know if she cares that much about that topic." Mash replied.
"Well, we at least should try asking her." Geronimo speaked.
"But how so?" Ritsuka asked.
Robin had an idea. "Hmm, let me take care of it. I know what to do." He said, approaching to Elizabeth. "Hey, Miss Báthory."
"Yes? What is it my puppy?" Elizabeth looked at him with a lovely stare, making Robin's smile fumble a bit.
"C'mon Robin! You have to get used to her calling you that and ignore it." He said to himself before making her a question. "As the mega fan I am of yours, could I make you a question?"
"Of course!" Elizabeth replied happily, taking a pen out of her pocket. "Is it an autograph that you want?"
"N-not really. We are looking for a certain someone. A rogue servant like you and I." Robin explained. "Have you met one in this country apart from me and Billy?"
Hearing that, Elizabeth put her mind onto work. "Hmmm, a rogue servant you say?" She stood pensitive for a couple of seconds before her brain lightened up. "Oh yes! I did met another rogue servant here before!"
"Great! Do you know where have you seen them?" Robin asked, getting his hopes up alongside the rest of the party.
"Right here in this town. She was quite the extroverted woman trying to rob me of my spotlight as an idol!" Elizabeth told. "And since I already had a concert scheduled, she planned on going to the other town east from here. Performing 'stunts' for this movie she was wanting to make or something along those lines."
With the answer given, Robin turned around to the group. "What do you think? Does it sound like Sita to you?"
"I have to say ya had quite the courage to talk with her." Billy told him. "As for the actual question, I may be takin' it with a grain of salt here. I don' know how Sita's s'possed to act like."
"We have to ask Rama." Ritsuka said, only to see the hindu servant still sleeping and resting inside the bag.
"I think he isn't available to give us the answer to that now." Nightingale replied.
"So we best go to that town and see it for ourselves." Geronimo said. "And even if she doesn't happen to be Sita, one more rogue servant to our side is always a good thing."
"Right! We better should be going then!" Peko replied.
"To the caravan it is." Tesla said as he and everyone else begun to walk away, about to leave Elizabeth behind.
"W-Wait! Are you going already?" She asked, stopping them.
"Yeah? Why does it matter to you?" Robin asked her.
"Take me with you! My tour on this country still hasn't finished and walking by foot is so tedious and exhausting!" Elizabeth pleaded. "And as my staff member, you should be always accompanying me!" She looked at the rest of the party. "Thinking better, I'm making all of you my staff team!"
"W-WHAT?!"
"It's exciting, I know! To be promoted from simple fans to professional workers helping my idol career! Isn't that awsome?" Elizabeth said with a smile, ignoring the distressing and mortifying looks on everybody's faces. "Plus, me and that damn woman are now oficially rivals! I need to know what she's up to!"
The problem was, no one was really in favour of her joining them, but they also couldn't bring themselves to reject a new ally who was basically offering them help right here.
"One more rogue servant to join us is always a good thing, right?" Ritsuka smiled nervously to Geronimo, using the words the native man had used himself priveously.
Seeing that no one was really vocally opposed to her joining in despite the sentiment, Geronimo sighed. "The caravan still has some space for a few more I guess."
"YAY!" Elizabeth jumped in joy, having joined the party, much to everyone's silence. "With me, you'll never have a dull moment my crew!"
"Oh, I can surely imagine it." Robin said a bit sarcastically, already envisioning the doom that awaited them by having Elizabeth by their side.
Having traveled some more few miles to the east, the party, now with the 'charming' addition of the great idol Elizabeth, reached to their next destination.
"Okay everyone! We arrived!" Tesla said as he and Geronimo get out of the caravan and walked to the back of the vehicle.
"You can get out!" Geronimo added, with the back of the caravan opening up and everyone getting quickly out of it.
"Finally! It was unbearable inside there!" Nala said, referring how little space they had to move in the back of the caravan.
"My body was starting to feel squeezed." Ritsuka said.
"How I do miss my horse in times like these. We almost looked like canned tuna in there." Billy lamented, also not enjoying the experience.
"My legs actually appreciate it! Going to places without having to walk is such a privilege!" Elizabeth was of contrary opinion. "Of my vocal cords weren't sore from my previous concert, a song of mine would certainly make this voyage better!"
"Oh god, spare me of that possibility ever happening!" Peko screamed into his own mind.
"Focus instead!" Robin called their collective attention. "Now that we are here, we should begun looking for the rog-"
"And then I told her 'Yep! That's just who I am!'"
"Bahahahahaha! Please stop! I might die of laughter by this point, umu!"
Hearing the laughter of a man and woman's voice, the party fastly turned their heads to look at the direction where the source of the sound was coming from.
"Did you all heard it?" Mash asked.
"Yes, someone's coming." Nightingale replied. "Stay alert!"
With everyone getting in combat position, they'd soon see who were the ones behind the laughters, as Fergus appeared around the corner, smilling and cackling alongside a blonde woman in a bridal dress.
"Ahahaha! I have to admit, recording those scenes were truly amazing!" Fergus said to the woman. "This 'cinema' thing sure sounds fun!"
"You bet it!" The blonde woman smiled proudly. "Once I pulblish it, my ticket to Hollywood will surely be guaranteed!"
With the woman on sight, her figure caused the Chaldean team to remember a certain person due to their odd similarity in physical appearence as well as the voice that sounded exactly the same.
"Say, doesn't that woman look like..." Nala wanted to believe she wasn't hallucinating or anything.
"...Nero?" Ritsuka said what all of the four of them were thinking.
"Oh? You've heard about me?" Nero speaked torwards Ritsuka before striking a graceful pose. "But of course, who hasn't heard about Roma's most beautiful and artistic rose yet?"
"Nero?" Robin looked at her weirdly. "You are that empero-"
Elizabeth cut him off by jumping to the front of the group and point at Nero. "There you are! My rival!"
"You're also here?!" Nero exclaimed, surprised. "Got to say, didn't expected to see you again so soon. Unless...you came here to sabotage my production!" She pointed her finger accusatorily to Elizabeth.
"What?! Me?! Sabotaging you?!" Elizabeth replied, indignant. "Why would I if your works are already sabotaged by yourself and your terrible acting?"
"Just like you and your concerts?" Nero provoked Elizabeth back with a smirk.
"HEY!"
"So this means the rogue servant this time also wasn't Sita." Tesla sighed, seeing that once again, the rogue servant they found wasn't the one they were searching for.
"Another red herring." Geronimo said before looking at Fergus. "But the servant next to hers does seems familiar..."
Meanwhile, Robin and Billy were holding back Elizabeth as Fergus did the same with Nero.
"C'mon now Liz! Cool ya head a lil'." Billy told her.
"We have more important stuff to do than having petty fights!" Robin added.
"She does seems fiery." Fergus noted by looking at the lizard girl. "What is the history of you two?" He asked to Nero.
"Hmphm! Just someone who is jealous of my grandious talent and wishes to steal my fame, umu! Nothing else." Nero told him, looking at Elizabeth with disdain.
"I am a way better artist than you, you third-rate blondie!" Elizabeth replied back, bickering more with the roman emperor.
"This looks weirdly familiar, doesn't it?" Nightingale commented when watching the two girls squabble, giving a side stare to Tesla.
"You don't say." The inventor replied, knowing well what the nurse was referring to.
Wanting to check something, Nala approached Nero. "Then you are really Nero Claudius, aren't you?"
Smilling radiantly, Nero nodded. "Yes I am, umu! The brightest and glorious artist who graces all of Rome with her gifts, Nero Claudius Augustus Germanicus!" She intorduced herself with a big ego. "I've swore that just like my old man, I would become a great actress and elevate Roma's name by creating the most splendid pieces of work so that every person in the world showers them with praise!"
"Old man?" Ritsuka asked confused before imagining the figure of Seneca behind the emperor, smiling and doing peace signs.
"Nero also doesn't look to remember us." Mash pointed out.
"It may be better this way actually." Peko replied, remembering of the events of the Second Singularity and the threat Nero was in there.
"And who's the other one?" Nala asked to Fergus, who was standing by Nero's side.
"Hm? You want to know who I am little lady?" Fergus replied, giving the answer. "I'm Fergus mac Róich, loyal celtic servant at the duty of Queen Medb of Connacht!"
Geronimo's eyes widened. "That's why you looked familiar to me! You're an enemy!"
Fergus whoever looked confused. "What do you mean? I've never saw y-..." Looking better at the native man, Fergus eventually recognized Geronimo. "...Crap. Shouldn't have revealed my identity so openly."
"Then we must eliminate you before you can pass the info of our location to your queen!" Nightingale went to adopt her combat posture.
"Really? Aww man." Fergus scratched his head, looking at the group. "I wasn't even in the mood for fighting right now. Me and Miss Nero were about to record the next scenes of her movie."
"Huh? S-Scenes? Ritsuka looked befuddled at the celtic warrior. "You two were shooting a movie right here?"
"Yes we were umu!" Nero exclaimed. "Fergus and his soldiers do quite an excellent job as a film crew! We were about to record another scene!"
"The one with the shark and motorbike!" Fergus exclaimed happily. "I am really looking forward to it! But I doubt if it can surpass that previous scene of you exploding an entire saloon during a bar fight."
"Meh, I'm sure I can surpass that one." Nero replied, looking at the group. "How about you? The bigger the film crew, the better produced the movie will be." She proposed to them, much to Elizabeth's displeasure.
"Get lost! I've already hired them as my staff team! You can't have them!" She responded to Nero.
"Plus, putting those things aside, we are in a war here." Robin said, looking at Fergus. "And we really can't be here around shooting a movie with the enemy."
Fergus ended up sighing. "Figures. Guess that movie production will have to wait." He then raised his head, shaking the feeling away. "But oh well, the duty as the queen's servant comes first. And that's what I shall do by wipping members of The Resistance like you off the map!" He exclaimed, swinging his sword.
"Oh really? C'mere do ya worst pal." Billy said, cocking his revolver as the entire group also prepared their weapons and got ready for the fight.
"Yeah. You know it's only you two against all of us, right?" Nala pointed out the numerical disadvantage Fergus was at.
"Humm, I'm actually sitting this one out." Nero speaked up, abstaining from the battle. "Those last scenes really drained some energy out of me. You don't mind, do you?" She asked to Fergus.
The spearman gave her a friendly smile. "Not really. You can go and rest Miss Nero. I only hope that you enjoy the fight."
Nero clapped her hands together. "I will very much, thank you! Umu!"
"He is accepting such detrimental situation for him rather pretty well!" Ritsuka noted, amazed how Fergus didn't opposed to having to fight all of them alone.
Mash had thought the same. "Are you even aware of what you're saying? You honestly don't see a problem in fighting all of us at once only by yourself?"
"No. He couldn't be that dumb." Tesla said. "Even non-geniuses know to see a visible risk when there is one. He rather has something plan." He stared at Fergus, his mind having already figured it out. "You aren't fighting alone, are you?"
Fergus gave him a little smile. "Eh, how perceptive of you." Whistling, the celtic warrior gave a signal. In no time, the entire area was no filled with celtic soldiers who appeared from the buildings and other parts of the town to aid their general.
"Various enemies have appeared at all sides!" Mash reported, seeing that the party was now surrounded by the large batallion of celts.
"It's almost as big as the one that were on Elizabeth's concert!" Ritsuka added.
"Of course there was a catch." Peko said.
"There's always a catch when it comes to this! I hate these catches!" Elizabeth complained, standing next to Peko and Nala.
"And loving to fight? You do that?" Nala asked to the lizard girl.
"Love enough to throw a punch at them!" Elizabeth replied, making Nala to smile.
"That will be good enough." The girl said.
"Any orders chief?" Billy asked to Geronimo.
"Wipe the floor with them. If we defeat Fergus, we will be weakening the Celtic Empire." Geronimo instructed.
"A nice way to take a jab at them." Robin commented, already putting an arrow on his bow. "We can't only be a thorn to the West side after all."
Watching on the sidelines, Nero looked enthusiastic. "I sure love a good unscripted fight scene! Umu!"
"Alright then!" Fergus prepared his sword, removing it from the ground before staring at his enemies. "Prepare to meet your endings here!"
And so all hell broke loose as the area soon turned into a massive battlefield with the party fighting against Fergus and his soldiers, the smaller groups of enemies incoming from all the directions as the group continued to dispatch of them, with Ritsuka, Mash, Peko and Nala coming face to face with Fergus himself after defeating some of his soldiers.
"Transient Wall of Snowflakes!"
Casting a defensive spell on her teammates, Mash gave cover to both Peko and Nala as the three charged torwards Fergus, with Ritsuka instructing them from behind.
"He's about to attack! Use your shield Mash!" Ritsuka told to the demi-servant, who did as ordered, blocking the sharp lance-looking sword that Fergus swinged at her.
"Ghg!"
"Nala, attack him on the left! Now!" Ritsuka gave another order, this time to Nala who dashed behind Mash's cover and flanked Fergus on the left side, with the celtic spearman reacting in time and parrying her sword. Ritsuka accounted for that. "Peko! He's other side is wide open! Shoot there!" Following the instructions, the boy aimed at Fergus who moved his head out of the light bullet's trajectory, scratching off a small cut on his face. That served as a small destraction that allowed Nala to break his lance defense and proceed to kick him in the stomach, forcing Fergus feet to slide some meters back on the ground.
"Yosh! We hit him!" Nala exclaimed.
"Well done guys! Keep it like that!" Ritsuka said to the trio.
Peko stared back at him with a smile. "You were also spot on in the instructions Ritsuka!" Peko said before his smile dissapeared as he noticed a soldier coming from behind his friend. "Ritsuka! Look out!"
"Hm?!" Staring to the back, Ritsuka spotted the celtic soldier, raising his sword to struck him down. Thankfully, the master of humanity himself reacted in time, dodging from the attack and proceeding to punch the celtic soldier in the face, knocking him out. A second enemy came to hit him with a spear but Ritsuka managed to avoid it and struggle with the celtic soldier for the weapon, taking out of his hands and striking the enemy with his own weapon on the face. Such performance was worthy of a pleasent surprise from the rest of the Chaldea team.
"Looking good there Ritsuka!" Nala commented.
"Those were some nice moves!" Peko also said, happy to see his friend capable of fighting as well. "You're also becoming stronger, aren't you Ritsuka?"
"You finally decided to use the training room, didn't you master?" Mash asked to him.
"Ehehe. You can say that." Ritsuka chuckled a bit.
"And you didn't told us a thing?" Nala asked.
"I prefer using ragdolls for training. Plus, it was supposed to be a surprise." Ritsuka winked at them.
Mash smiled gently at him. "Master you silly..." She then heard a noise from behind, seeing Fergus quickly recovering from the quick he suffered from Nala.
"Oh yeah! Can't forget about him!" Peko said, shifting his focus back to Fergus.
"I've got to say, for a bunch of kids and teens, you look tougher than you look like." Fergus commented, tapping his own stomach. "Guess that means I'll have to lift the bar up!" He said with a big smile, his sword flowing with mana. "My Caladbolg is wishing for more!"
"Bravery!"
"Quick Draw!"
Pulling the trigger, Billy took out a few soldiers on the right as Robin's arrow shot down other arriving from the left.
"Took out four! How about ya?" Billy asked to the archer thief.
"This isn't a competition. We're fighting for our lives here!" Robin replied, not in the mood for it.
"What an original way to say ya losin'." Billy reloaded. "Ya gotta update your game a bit chum!"
A noise got both their attentions, seeing Elizabeth defeat a good number of celts with her powerful voice. "Seven for me! How's that eh?" She said with pride torwards Billy.
"Death by deafness surely is a thing..." Robin said upon looking at the celtic soldiers the lizard girl defeated.
"That ain't nothin'. One bullet from my gun can take out that number on a regular Monday." Billy replied to Elizabeth. "Also, ya should step aside. Fightin' doesn't suit lil' pretty singers like ya."
"Oh! What gives?!" Elizabeth protested. "Caring about others well-being in a battle? You are freaking criminals!"
"Yes we are. But not villains by any means." Robin told her, shooting down other enemies.
"That's the difference. We outlaws may not follow rules but we do still follow some morals." Billy added. "Ya don't wanna have your dress ruined for ya next concert due to a fight, do ya?"
"That's the difference. We outlaws may not follow rules but we do still follow some morals." Billy added. "Ya don't wanna have your dress ruined for ya next concert due to a fight, do ya?"
"That isn't a priority right now! Not with my rival here!" Elizabeth exclaimed, taking a look at Nero taking a sip of a cup of coffee on the sidelines. "I'll show her who's boss! And if you try to stop me, I'll kick you out of my staff team!"
"Oh please, don't threaten us with a good time." Robin gave a small smile to the side.
"Night in Csejte!"
Casting a spell, Elizabeth weakened the opponents behind Robin and Billy, with the two proceeding to take them out.
"Wow! I didn't saw those approachin'!" Billy said.
"Thanks for pointing them out to us." Robin thanked Elizabeth who smirked.
"So, you want my help or not puppy?" She asked.
"Fine." Robin said. "As long as you don't keep calling me that!" He added.
"Hummm, can't be sure if I can keep that promise." She giggled, much to Robin's discomfort.
"I should have stayed in the Throne..."
"Sabotage!"
Lifting his head up, Robin decided to not pay too much concern to it as of now, firing at more enemies with his bow. "Whatever! Just keep up on fighting!"
Nightingale, Tesla and Geronimo were also taking down enemies, cooperating very well between each other.
"Ggh!" Punching on a soldier's shield, Nightingale's fist was strong enough to leave a huge dent on it, with the impact affecting the soldier behind as Nightingale pushed through with her arm and was able to break the opponent's defense, throwing him at other celtic soldiers, falling to the ground like bowling pins. Geronimo took the chance and charged at them, setting all of the soldiers on fire with a swing of his small knife. Tesla finished the job by sending a thunder to strike the enemies down, ending them.
But there was still more coming.
"They don't stop coming. It's like an ant colony." Tesla observed.
"A plague by other words." Nightingale replied, excercising her arm a little. "And plagues are a threat to public health! We have to exterminate these things!"
"I appreciate the spirit." Geronimo told her, looking to the bag with Rama on the nurse's back. "But don't you think he would be better off by resting on the sidelines than actually being here in the middle of the fight?"
"A patient always needs to be close to a doctor or nurse in case something wrong suddenly happens!" Nightingale replied, certain in her words. "He is safer by staying close to me!" As she said that, Nightingale spinned around and delivered a kick in the face of the enemy.
"Grughg!"
Such movements caused Rama to cough a bit of blood, clearly not looking well.
"I highly doubt it!"
"I highly doubt it!"
Both tesla and Geronimo exclaimed, wondering how the nurse wasn't seeing the problem here. But before they could point that out to her, the three saw a stone golem approaching them.
"One of those again." Tesla remembered of the encounter against the first one of this enemy type.
"Shamanism!"
Doing fast movements with his knife, Geronimo casted a spell on himself, strenghtening his mana. "Looks like they're bringing the bigger guns!"
"We defeated one already, we can defeat another!" Nightingale said as she fired a bullet to the golem's head and charged at it as both Tesla and Geronimo followed her, the three of them hitting the enemy all at the same time.
Back to the Chaldea team, they were now having a bit more difficulty with Fergus who had truly decided to take their fight more seriously.
"Precise Stroke!"
Charging her blade with light, Nala swinged her attack torwards the celtic warrior, who unfortunately dodged and still reacted in time to clash with Nala's weapon as she sprinted at him.
"Peko!" Ritsuka called out the boy for the fact Fergus other side was exposed again, wanting Peko to repeat the same tactic they did as before.
Unfortunately, Fergus wouldn't fall for it again. "You serious?" He said, looking to Peko firing a light bullet at him, quickly shoving Nala away with his sword and evading Peko's attack, still being able to repel the ricochet of the bullet reaimed to his back.
"Fergus agility and concentration are higher than before! We have to come up with something else!" Mash exclaimed as she saw him moving torwards her, about to swing his weapon. "Ngh!" Blocking with her shield, Mash tried to hold him back.
"Yah!" Peko appeared from the side, prepared to flank Fergus with his sword before being noticed by the celtic warrior who broke Mash's defense, pushed Peko away with a powerful clash from his weapon, dodged and punched Nala in the stomach and still got the time to slash Mash on the shoulder. All within the span of a few seconds.
"Guys!" Ritsuka shouted, not liking how the situation was turning out and how Fergus was able to turn the tables on them so easily while fighting pratically alone. "We were doing so well moments ago! What are we doing wrong here? How can I reverse this situation?" Ritsuka tried to analyze it as the leader.
"Ngh..!" Slowly getting up, Nala brushed the dust on her clothes away, staring at Fergus. "He isn't joking around anymore! We have to think on something fast before he can end us!"
Mash also got up from the ground, trying to ignore the injury on her shoulder. "The exiled and former king of Ulster, Fergus mac Róich...Another strong irish warrior of the celtic mythos." She regained her balance. "We should be careful of the Caladbolg in his hands. I've heard its power is immense" She said, looking at Fergus weapon. "We need to figure how to defeat him. What we should do next, mast-" Proceeding to look at Ritsuka, Mash noticed the nervousness in him, how he was trying to think of a plan despite trying to keep calm at the same time. "Master?" The shielder could tell how hard he was trying to come up with something.
"Think Fujimaru! Use your head dammit!" Ritsuka yelled to himself as the pressure made his heart beat faster.
"Ritsuka..." Nala also noticed the difficulty her leader was having.
"We've already been through worse! At this point, this shouldn't be hard for you!" Ritsuka kept putting effort in his mind who wouldn't stop but make him think of the worst scenario here. "If I don't take an action quickly, the everyone will-"
"Hey." Fergus called Ritsuka's attention, pointing his sword at him. "You're open." He said shortly before sprinting torwards Ritsuka, planning on striking him down.
"Oh no! Ritsuka!"
"Master!"
Both Mash and Nala yelled, about to witness their leader's demise as Fergus approached him in a blink of an eye.
"You won't!" Peko exclaimed, surprising Fergus by appearing on his left side, parrying the celtic warrior's weapon with his sword, deflecting its trajectory and saving Ritsuka. Simultaneously, the boy fired a light bullet with his other hand, hitting Fergus on the area of his heart, giving a fatal blow and causing the celtic warrior to retreat.
"W-What?!" Fergus coughed blood from his mouth, guiding his hand to the chest. "You...You caught me off guard!" He said, admitting he wasn't expecting Peko to come in clutch to save Ritsuka.
"Nice timing Peko!" Mash told to the boy, with her and Nala quickly reuniting with the other two.
"That one was close!" Nala added.
"Yeah, thanks Peko!" Ritsuka thanked him in return.
"It isn't over yet! We have to remain concentrated!" Peko warned them.
"Yes!" Mash replied before putting a hand on Ritsuka's shoulder. "We can do this master! No need to panic!"
"R-Right!" Ritsuka nodded, assuming that Mash noticed him getting nervous. He cursed himself for it, not being this image he wanted to pass for the rest of his team as a leader.
"Brave Warrior's Pride!"
Despite having his hear bleeding out, having been critically hit, Fergus wouldn't stop fighting. "You got lucky! But are also persistant, I can tell it." He told them. "Those things combined do make for a powerful adversary!" He stuck his sword looking lance on the ground. "Nevertheless, such characteristics won't be enough to beat me!" He exclaimed, charging torwards them.
The fight continued, but this time, the chaldeans were having the slight upper hand over Fergus, managing to land more hits than before. That might have to do with the fact that now his heart had been injured, the celtic warrior couldn't perform the movements with the same agility without harming his own organ inside him. His adversaries were sure to not miss this chance and turning it into their advantage.
"Ah!" Mash bashed her shield against Fergus face and torso, managing to hit him, with the celtic warrior failing to block it properly in time and getting sent some meters away, stumbling and falling to his knees. Seeing the blood in his chest still flowing from the wound in his heart and the fatigue wearing him down, Fergus knew he had to finish this fight right now.
"Last resort it is." He whispered to himself, beggining to charge up his Caladbolg. "Congratulations, my enemies! You forced me to use my triumph card on you! Caladbolg's power will be unleashed upon you!" He declared, pointing his weapon to the ground beneath him.
"Crap! Is he..." Peko was already imagining what the celtic warrior was about to pull off.
"Prepare the Spiral!"
Being covered in mana, Caladbolg begun to rotate like a drill, absorving huge amounts of power on its tip.
"His Noble Phantasm!" Ritsuka shouted.
"Feast your eyes on a true rainbow!"
Fergus pierced the weapon into the ground.
"We have to stop him!" Mash exclaimed.
Nala was about to step up. "Roge-"
"Spiral Rainbow Sword: Caladbolg!"
In that moment, the entire ground shinned brightly beneath them, shocking the chaldeans, with Mash putting her shield in front of them to try avoiding the blow.
"Behind m-"
"Hey!The ground is lookin' kinda funny!" Billy asked.
"It does look weird!" Elizabeth added.
Robin tried to think. "Is this a-"
"This looks like bad news!" Tesla said.
"We have to take cover!" Nightingale exclaimed.
"Quick!" Geronimo rised his voice. "If we-"
"Oooh!" Nero looked to the ground shinning in front of her. "Are these special effe-"
Being in the range of Fergus Noble Phantasm, the entire town and its buildings teared apart and collapsed when the whole ground opened up with huge cracks as if an earthquake was passing there, creating a large spiral format in the ground that covered the area in its totallity. Such range and destruction also striked Fergus own soldiers who all perished in the sheer magnitude of his Noble Phantasm. Once it died down and dissapeared, it was revealed, much to the celtic warrior's dismay, that his special attack missed his intended targets.
"Ghng...Nngh!" Getting up, Peko was surprised to see he and the entire party had avoided the Noble Phantasm, also getting back on their feets. "Thank goodness. We all escaped unschated."
"Rrgh...H-How?!"
Looking behind him, Peko saw Fergus with his hand close tight to his chest, barely able to stand on his own, having used almost all of his mana into unleashing the Noble Phantasm. "Looks like he's on his last legs! Better finish this now!" Approaching the dying celtic warrior, Peko raised his sword, about to finish off Fergus.
"Kkgh! As if!" However, with a last spark of energy, Fergus parried Peko's sword and immediatly got up, about to counter attack him. He was entirely opened and Peko could easily block the attack and then deliver the final blow on the servant. The problem was, he had frozen.
"!" Even if it was just for a brief second, Peko saw in Fergus pose, the resemblence with Cú Alter and his terryfying aura, how frightening it was fighting him and the injuried he left on his and Nala's body. Even if Peko's body had fully healed from that, his mind hadn't. And so, he stood there paralyzed as Fergus swinged down his sword torwards him.
"Peko! Get out!" Mash yelled, pushing Peko out of the way, avoiding the boy to get hit but in return, the shielder's wrist got hit by Fergus Caladbolg. "Ghaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Letting out an agonizing scream, Mash dropped her shield and fell on the ground in pain.
"MASH!" In terror, Ritsuka rushed torwards the demi-servant alongside Nala.
Snapping out from his frozened state, Peko also saw the shielder on the ground, painfully injured. "M-Mash! Are you okay?!" He approached her immediatly, being joined by Ritsuka and Nala.
"Is it hurting a lot Mash? Please tell me!" Ritsuka asked her, concerned.
"I-nghg...!" Mash flinched a bit in pain as she made pressure on her wounded wrist that was now bleeding. It was also the wrist where she was wearing the seashell bracelet.
Nala angrily turned around to confront Fergus. "You bas-huh?" However, she got surprised by seeing the celtic warrior drop down Caladbolg and fall to his knees.
"Eh. Had bad luck today. Guess that's the karma for having been a womanizer throughout all these years." He smiled, his body starting to dissapear. Fergus couldn't keep going anymore. "If my queen saw me now, I think she would be pretty dissapointed on how a man like me was ever her lover." He chuckled.
Nightingale went next to Mash, coming in aid to treat her wound. "I'm already here! Show me the injury!"
"Sorry about that one." Fergus apolgized. "I ain't one to be hurting pretty womens, but I had orders to be done as a loyal servant." He tried to justify.
Geronimo looked at him in the eyes. "I understand that. But before you dissapear, I'd like to do a question to you."
Seeing that he was already defeated Fergus cooperated. "Sure thing. Do tell me what it is."
"It's about-"
"Sita..!" Rama speaked all of a sudden, interrupting Geronimo and surprising everyone. Looked like he had finally woke up from his other nap. "Have you seen...a servant woman...called Sita?"
"Hmm, Sita?" Fergus replied, trying to see if he knew her.
"My wife..." Rama specified. "Have you seen her?"
Trying to remember, Fergus came to a conclusion. "I do! I know where that servant is!" That answer elevated the spirits of the group.
"This is it! We can finally know where she is!" Tesla said.
"I don't want to sound brute with you but quick!" Geronimo told to Fergus. "Tell us where we shall find her!"
"Far away from here, that I tell you." Fergus replied.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Rama asked.
"Your wife, king of Kosala, is on the west coast, on the only fortress controlled by the Celtic Empire on that side." Fergus said, falling to his back on the floor, his body about to vanish. "The prison of Alcatraz. She's been there ever since she dared to oppose the queen, who took pity enough to lock her up instead of going for the kill. But if you want my opinion, I find that fate way crueler." Fergus gave a little smile. "To be far away and imprisoned from meeting up with your soulmate...Is a thing no man should experience..." He said, his body fading away, having left the party with vital information about Sita's location.
With the battle over and things having settled down, a part of the group was now having a conversation, with Tesla, Robin, Billy, Rama and Elizabeth talking with each other.
"Alcatraz prison huh? That's in California, all the way to the other side of the country." Tesla speaked, pointing out the geographical location of the place Sita was being kept in. "The travel from here to there will take days. We've walked too much into the east."
"That won't matter!" Rama responded. "I'll save and reunite with Sita! Whatever it takes! Be it days or literal months!" He said, determined.
"Uooh! That's the Rama fella I know!" Billy commented, happy to see his ally a bit more energetic, altough with his body still inside the bag. "Knowin' Sita's location gotcha all fired up, didn't ya?"
"All that and more!" Rama replied. "I bet I could even-hrgh!" Rama coughed a bit of blood.
"Yeah. You still aren't fit for punching and fighting around buddy." Robin told him. "Don't get ahead of yourself and try to push your body in that state."
"Fine..." Rama replied, a bit saddened that he really couldn't do much due to his body condition.
"Oh, so the next concert will be in a prison?" Elizabeth asked excitedly. "I think I never sang to a crowd of prisoners before! Perhaps if they listen to my music, they will feel happier and have the change of their lives!"
"I think they'd rather die..." Robin replied, asking to himself how the lizard girl could be this energetic all the time.
"Not if I have say on it!" Nero suddenly exclaimed, approaching them and entering the conversation. "A prison seems befitting for the next scene of my movie! I shall its space reserved for me and my movie! Umu!"
"Stop daydreaming that is!" Elizabeth replied back. "I'll reserve it first by having my next concert there! No need copying me!"
"Copying you? You fool! Nero Claudius has an amazing creative mind of her own to not borrow weak ideas from poor con artists like you!" Nero replied back, referring Elizabeth with disrespect.
"Who are you calling 'con artist'?! I'm sure I have more followers and fans than you!" Elizabeth argued back. "Plus, good luck into shooting your movie alone now that your film crew is gone!"
"And? You thought I didn't antecipated for that lose?" Nero asked with a smug.
Billy didn't liked the sound of it. "Please. Don't tell us that ya going-"
"Exactly! You guys will be the new filming crew!" Nero declared, much to Elizabeth's rage and the others dread.
"You can't do that! Don't steal my staff team!" Elizabeth shouted at Nero.
"When will this madness end?" Billy asked to himself, unable to support any longer the annoyance that both Elizabeth and Nero were together.
"So, what you're telling us is, you want to join our side?" Tesla asked the emperor, wanting to see if that's what she meant.
"Meh, domus mea est domus tua." Nero responded. "Where's your boss? That 'chief' dude. I need to talk with him so that we can sign the contract."
"Good question." Tesla said. "I haven't seen Geronimo in a while. Where is he?"
"The chief is currently talking with some spies of the Resistance." Robin informed the inventor. "He should be back any time soon."
"Great! I'm looking forward to have you all as my film crew! Umu!" Nero commented.
"You can't! They're already my staff team you stupid!" Elizabeth argued back.
"No they aren't!"
"Yes they are!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"From all the possible servants we could have encountered, it had to be ya two." Billy said, with the others nodding in agreement.
Meanwhile, the squabble between Elizabeth and Nero was being so annoying that even Nightingale couldn't help but to look at it. "Both individuals seem to show narcissistic characteristics. Ego impulsive and with noisy tendencies to cause turbulence and disturbances. It may provoke mental distress on other individuals around due to sheer annoyance. Isolation therapy while gagged could be a good recommendation as a viable method to cure the two's problematic behaviours."
"Miss Nightingale, could you check on Mash's wound again?" Nala asked to the nurse, taking her out from her train of thoughts.
"Sure thing." She responded, walking torwards Mash who was surrounded by her team. She went to observe the shielder's wrist, now covered in bandages to heal up the wound. "It will be fine. Thankfully it was nothing fatal or deeply serious. However, I advice not moving your wrist that much as of now in order to avoid the potential risk of reopening the injury."
"Thank you for treating it Nightingale-san." Mash replied to the nurse, softly passing her fingers on the bandage.
"That's some relieving news." Ritsuka said, looking at Mash. "Is it still hurting?"
"Not as much as before." The shielder replied. "I feel a lot less pain thanks to Nightingale-san's magecraft."
"You better do as advised Mash. We don't wanna have our shielder out of comission, do we?" Nala said, smilling to Mash.
She smiled to Nala in return. "I will. I'm sure my recovery will be quick."
"Sorry for it, Mash." Peko told her, feeling down. "I-I had the job of finishing Fergus but he reacted and I...I just stood there and caused you to get harmed in my place." The boy said, tightening his hands into fists, as he tried to contain some tears from appearing in his eyes. "I let my fear best me. I let myself vulnrable and made you pay the price because of it! I got-"
Mash put her other hand on Peko's hair, headpatting him. "It's alright, Peko. I don't blame you for it." She told him. "The enemy has been defeated and I'm still here with all of you, aren't I?"
Peko nodded, feeling some confort on Mash's words. "Y-yes."
"Then I don't care if I get hurt or not. Seeing you alive and well is more important." Mash told him.
"Hey! Don't go around saying those things! It makes it sound like you don't treasure your own life!" Nala replied to Mash.
Ritsuka agreed with the younger girl. "You're also a part of us Mash. You may not care to get hurt but we do."
"I know. Perhaps I should have phrased it better." Mash said, thinking that she may could have used other words.
Ritsuka then stared at Peko. "And you did fantastically by landing that crucial hit on Fergus, Peko."
Peko let out a tiny smile of surprise. "Really?"
"Yes. It was the switch for us to start winning that fight. Wouldn't have done it without it!" Ritsuka added, looking also to Mash and Nala. "Thinking better, you all did well!"
Nala doubted of it however. "I think we just won by the luck of his heart being hit..." She said lowly, crossing her arms, thinking that their performance could have been way better than what it was.
"..." Ritsuka heard it but didn't replied. He knew Nala wasn't wrong. If it wasn't for Fergus having his heart wounded, they probably would have died to him, with the master of humanity incapable of doing anything to change it. How he allowed himself to lose control of the battle and let the pressure get in the way of his thinking, unable to guide his team as a leader during that moment. Such weakness was a thing that Ritsuka couldn't permit to happen again. He nedded to do better next time. They all needed.
"Everyone! I have some important new info that the spies gave me!" Geronimo exclaimed, appearing on the area after having spoken with his spies, resulting in everyone approaching him.
"What is it chief?" Robin asked before being shoved away by both Elizabeth and Nero.
"It's about the film crew contract? If so then I am more than happy to make the deal with you! Umu!" Nero said, hoping that would be the case.
"No! It's about how you will reject this washed up artist from joining us, right? Right?" Elizabeth wished that Nero wouldn't be joining them by any means.
"You are one to talk..." Billy speaked internally.
"I...will think about it later." Geronimo said, not wanting to upset none of the two. "The news are of another matter. An important one." He said, wanting everyone to be paying him attention now. "A parade will be happening on the Celtic Empire's headquarters!" He revealed, much to everyone's surprise.
"A parade?! On the home base of the Celtic Empire!?" Peko replied.
"Yes. And from what I was told, queen Medb will be part of it, showing all of her glory as celebration for this empire's creation." Geronimo explained more.
"Then, that means we can have a chance to kill her if she decides to appear in public like that!" Nala put the idea on the table.
"No. It can't be that simple." Tesla told her. "The parade will most surely be heavily guarded, won't it?"
"Most definetly. Cú Alter will most surely be there." Geronimo replied, making Peko's intrest about it raise a little.
"Assassinating the queen of the celts in such circumnstances does sound risky." Robin gave his opinion. "However, a chance like this is hard to come by."
"It sure sounds tempting...but we cannot forget about Sita and the Alcatraz prison." Rama reminded them. "Now that we know where she is...we need to go there and rescue her as quickly as possible."
"And that we will do chum!" Billy replied. "But thinkin about the possibility of havin the opportunity to finish with one of the two sides in this war is...It would clear off some good chunk of this Singularity problems!"
"That's a good point. Unfortunately, the Alcatraz prison is on the end of the west coast while we are here in the east coast, much closer to the celts headquarters and their parade." Tesla said. "If we went to the prison first, we would miss the chance of the parade and ending with the Celtic Empire."
"We can't do both things at the same time then." Nala replied, finding hard which between the two what to choose.
But Ritsuka had an idea. "I think we can actually do that." He speaked. "How about we divide ourselves into two groups?"
"That sounds reasonable." Nightingale said. "One group goes to Alcatraz to rescue Sita and the other goes to the Celtic Empire headquarters and assassinate Queen Medb."
"Hmm, not a bad thought. Splitting into two groups does sound doable." Tesla didn't opposed to the idea.
"Yet, its clear that one group will have an harder mission than the other one." Geronimo speaked, thinking about the two objectives. "The one going to assassinate the queen will probably be met with higher security and more powerful enemies than the one going to the prison. We should think and decide carefully on the formation of the groups."
Unexpectedly, Peko raised his hand in the air. "Can I give my opinion on it?"
"Sure Peko. What do you want to say?" Mash asked him.
"Well, I know that it will sound crazy for me to say this but..." Peko lowered his hand, looking at the entire party around him before staring at Geronimo. "I want to be part of the group that will assassinate the queen."
To be continued...
And that was it for chapter 79!
Oh man, guys, this might be the biggest the party has ever been in terms of characters during the story. Like, for start, you have the main team, Chaldea: Ritsuka, Mash, Peko and Nala (4), you also have Nightingale and Tesla (6), the servants from the Resistance: Geronimo, Rama, Robin and Billy (10) and with this chapter, Elizabeth and Nero as well (12). TWELVE freaking members on the party of this Singularity! I think that the closest we had of having a main cast of similar number was in Atlantis perhaps? It turns a bit difficult when wanting to distribute the dialogue between them because some will happen to have more lines than others, like, you won't be able to share it equally.
Anyways, that's all I wanted to say and see you next time on chapter 80! Peace!
P.S:
Meltryllis: Yo, kid! Are you good at hacking things?
Nala: Pff, if I'm good? You're talking with a professional hacker with hours upon hours of gaming here.
Meltrylis: Good. I need you to do a job for me.
A few hours later
Nala (cluelessly tipping on a keyboard): And next we click on this one, I think.
Meltryillis (smirking): Yeah yeah. Keep going. You are doing an excellent job.
BB: WhO's mEssInG UP wITh MY arcHiVes!?
