Garden of Order: VII
He stopped then and there and watched.
The serpent watched him also, the pale blue eyes regarded him with intrigue and wariness, the slitted pupils scanned his every movement. His awareness, however, remained firmly intact and not solely levied at the snake. Rather, he gazed further down the hall and found that the creature - the width of his forearm - extended down the length of the hallway and right into the apartment, veering around the corner and out of sight.
Concerning, as it was aloft high enough to meet him dead in the eyes.
"Ash? What's the…huh?"
Ritsuka came to a sudden stop behind him, the confusion of the boy made clear. He moved his left arm across himself and held it up flat, motioning for him to remain where he was.
Serpent it might be, he could tell at nothing more than a glance that they were not the deformities of his uncle.
They were something…rather different.
"But Gwyndolin is still…"
Words barely above a whisper, confusion layered them clear before the silence followed. A cautious one at that as Ash took the first step forwards and into the apartment, the lack of a response from the snake urged him onwards, as was matched by the apparent lack of worry from Boudica.
Though it would have done her well to provide some warning that she was not alone in the building.
Each of his steps was matched by the serpent retreating to equal ground, he made no further move against the beast and moved point after point. Never straying his eyes from it, a curious thing it was. There was a keen intellect behind those eyes, not dissimilar from that of his uncle.
Either another spawn of the same curse or some other manner of familial pet.
His eyes saw movement further down, it was a swift blur and he tensed at it before he recognised the shape. More so when Boudica stepped into view from around the corner, a clear reprimand on her lips as she placed her hand gently against the body of the serpent and gave a light push, urging it further into a retreat and then back to her own standing.
Ash made no moves since that point and watched the confrontation, if it could be called that.
Boudica brandished only a wooden spoon and pointed first to the snake and then across to something yet unseen.
"I was going to introduce you slowly, there was no need to give them a start like that."
Whether the words were to the snake or to the owner, Ash could not say.
They might well have been one in the same.
"Uhm…" Ritsuka gave an eloquent reaction to the scene that transpired, he could imagine the manner of befuddled face the boy wore behind him. Further shuffling heralded the others, soon darkening the doorway of the apartment.
Noises and mutters filled the space behind him.
Boudica turned to them, offering a smile that was equal parts embarrassed and warm. "Sorry about that, it slipped my mind for a moment because he's not one for conversation, but I met someone when I arrived and we've been living in this space since then…or, well. I forced him into living here."
Forced into?
Ash spared the serpent a bemused look at the choice of words and raised a brow, the snake chose that moment to retreat fully from view. Whomever it elected to return to responded to the words only with a faint hum and little else. It was a noise that contained an emotion Ash could make little sense of.
Either resigned or accepting.
Boudica waved to them once more, gesturing for them to come closer.
"He's harmless…well, he's polite."
It was a small amendment and accompanied by a shake of the head, her hands fixed themselves upon her hips, sending yet another glance to the unseen figure. "He just goes by Lancer, by the way, he hasn't told me his name and I'm fine with that. I did tell him mine though, just so you're aware of why he calls me it."
Someone sputtered in shock behind him, Mordred from the sounds of baffled coughing.
"Y-you told this guy your true name and then went 'alright, fair' when he didn't tell you his?"
Boudica blinked and leaned back a touch, but looked far from insulted. "I'm not silly, I understand that it perhaps wasn't the smartest move out there, but we were both stuck here and I wanted to extend a hand of trust to him so he knew I wasn't at least out to fight him."
Ash grunted at the logic.
It made sense on some level, but it was not something he would have done.
Ritsuka hummed, short and concise. "Alright then. Your choice. How long have you been here together then?"
"...A couple hours at most? Why? How long have we been away from Chaldea?"
"Not as bad as the last time Servants got dragged elsewhere." Ritsuka quickly replied with raised hands, stepping past Ash and lowering them slightly. "It wasn't that long after you went missing that we started to move out. Though most of the time was sort of just getting up here…all of the zombies and the like. A couple Servants as well, actually."
Boudica frowned at the tone and slowly nodded her head. "It sounds as though you certainly did have a rough time of things. Were some of them aggressive?"
"Just the one so far."
"Well, you probably don't need to worry about that here…right?"
The latter part of her words was aimed pointedly to the shadow.
Ash crossed the threshold into the main room and turned his head to where the other occupant resided, it was but an instant before he spotted them, slumped against the wall with his left arm laying stricken over his raised knee. Pale skin showed beneath worn down darkened steel armour, strewn atop with a cloak of red.
A helm ornately decorated with winged serpents, the very same which seemed to protrude from his body under the cloak, either with a single of a pair of wings protruding at random across their bodies.
One eye of gold regarded him with a sharpness much like that of a predator.
Even sitting down, Ash could tell the slim built man was tall, likely taller than him by quite a margin and taller still than some of those in Chaldea.
The pale skinned man opened his mouth and spoke, a voice rich and slow.
"Thee shalt needeth not feareth mine own flames if 't be true thee cometh in peace."
He paused briefly, the golden eye roamed over Ash and then moved past him and onto Ritsuka, the sharpness of the gaze and the manner in which all his serpentine extremities looked on as one made him wary, taking a short step to cover Ritsuka while remaining as he was, holding tight his greatsword and angling his head ever so slightly.
Lancer gave little indication he noticed this, eyes remaining focused only on Ritsuka.
"...Even ones as lightless as thee."
Lightless.
Ash straightened quickly, the presence of divinity unmistakeable now and yet it was muddied by something more. His focus drifted to the lone eye of gold and the absence of a second. Evidently Lancer was allowed only a single eye, it beggared belief of whether he too had carved out an eye or some such.
Though it would have been odd to stop only at one.
Heavy footsteps approached from behind, Ash moved further forwards and immediately took notice of the way that Lancer reacted to the sudden appearance of Priscilla. The tension coiled through his body and he shifted, single eye narrowed at the Assassin and the snakes switched their focus to her.
"Oh goodness me!"
Boudica, however, surged forwards and immediately went to the side of the Assassin, finding her hands and taking hold of them. Ash stepped back and turned side on to keep both in his line of sight.
Shiki strode around the performance and stepped towards him, raising a brow and briefly glancing at the Lancer, slowly she raised a brow and then grunted something. Stepping up beside Ash and slipping her hands into her pockets, looking rather at ease despite the situation.
After a few moments, she leaned towards Ritsuka and spoke loud enough for the boy to hear.
"This is another one of those 'just another day at the office' moments for you, isn't it?"
"Yeah." Ritsuka hesitated not a single instant as he looked caught between rushing to Priscilla and greeting Lancer.
With a sudden intake of breath and a step forwards, the latter won out.
"Right, so. Hello." Came the greeting, the boy smiled warmly. "I'm Ritsuka Fujimaru from Chaldea. You've already met Boudica and I'm not sure if she's spoken much about-"
"Thy crusade is known to me." Lancer cut him short, the interruption was soft spoken but full of firmness.
With a tilt of the head, Lancer gave a hum which sounded almost bemused.
"Thou art…" He stopped for a moment, seemingly struggling to find the right word before he continued. "...younger than the lady hath led me to believeth. Especially for one so blessed with victories."
Raising a hand, Lancer gestured a sharpened fingernail towards Ritsuka.
"Yet thee striketh me not as a prodigy at war."
Ritsuka frowned for a brief moment, then his expression evened out. "I'll take that as a compliment to be honest…I'm not much fond of it all."
"Then thou art cursed, it seemeth." Was the swift but not unkind retort of the Lancer, nothing more than blunt. "To findeth yourself surrounded by that which thee despise."
"Yeah, but I've rarely met someone who actively loves going into wars."
Mordred shouldered her way into the conversation, marching forwards and looking across to Lancer through her helm. "Enjoying a fight is fine enough, enjoying wars just makes you seem like a psycho."
"If it be true yond is what thee believeth, valorous sir knight." Lancer closed his eye and leaned back, his helm touched the wall with a metal thud.
Evidently that was the end of what Lancer had to say, face almost adrift in slumber.
Ash glanced across to initially see how Ritsuka fared, but it was the waving of Boudica demanding he attend to her which caught his eye, stepping forwards and approaching the Rider, he kept Lancer in his field of vision as he moved for the Rider, only to find himself caught by the arm and dragged bodily into the kitchen, thrown to one of the sinks and then left standing there.
Boudica, however, was not as idle as he was and was quick to bark orders at him.
"Get those gauntlets off and get your hands cleaned, I'm going to have you cutting up some vegetables while I try and get Priscilla here sorted out."
Without even giving him time to respond, she was already away and presumably tending to his older sister.
Ash stared at the sink, then furrowed his brows a touch and looked over his shoulder to see what Ritsuka was doing.
…He was aiding Boudica in leading Priscilla to the small table and sitting her down.
Apparently they were to remain here, then, as he had not been given further instructions.
He turned back and started to undo the latches of his gauntlets, all the while he put the face of Lancer through his mind and started to comb through the many records to see if there was a soul or a vision which held any knowledge of him. It was his sole focus and one he went about with great intensity.
Yet thus far, he found nothing.
And it was the second time that had happened, first with Shiki and now with Lancer?
No, there was still time for the latter.
But an unknown divine spirit - a possible demi-god - was far from something that he was comfortable with just appearing as such.
"I did venture outside at one point, not long after I first arrived."
Boudica explained as she guided Priscilla down to the ground and allowed her to rest, Ritsuka remained close by the side of the Assassin and took his own spot at the table, leaning forwards slightly, keeping his attention split between the two Servants.
"And that's when you met Lancer?"
It was what she had inferred.
To his surprise, the Rider shook her head.
"Not at first, it was quite a state. Between the city itself and the occupants of the tower, it became clear to me that there was certainly something amiss but venturing beyond the tower was a thought that never occurred to me."
A sigh escaped her as she leaned back, her right hand moved up to cradle her brows.
"Even if I did, this place seemed to be the source of the disturbance so I opted to remain and wait for when you would arrive. I figured I was not the only once even before I met with Lancer, the others were muddled but there was the definite feeling of Servants being close by and yet they never made an effort to move about."
Ritsuka felt a slight pinch of confusion at that, true enough none of the other Servants they had met had walked outside of their rooms and even when Boudica had done so, she seemed to end up right back where she started.
His eyes flickered to Lancer, the man who remained loose against the wall.
But the serpents watched on, leaving no mistake that the Servant was paying attention to the conversation with keen interest, even if he did not seem to be.
"So what made you go for a wander?"
Mordred put the question forwards, the one which resided in his own mind, and he found himself eagerly awaiting the response from the Servant. The man shifted ever so slightly, a small turn of the head to the direction of the Saber and then his quiet voice came once more.
"I did seek to findeth the one who is't hath brought me h're, yet hordes of the cursed and the want of progresseth waned at mine own spirit until I wast beseteth upon by this one."
The olden speech was somewhat jarring but Ritsuka nodded along after a moment of letting the words settle.
"I don't suppose you found any other clues then, did you?"
Lancer only shook his head at his question, Ritsuka exhaled and nodded slowly.
Something else occurred to him, he perked up and looked between Lancer and Boudica once more.
"There is something else, we met this…thing on our way up. After fighting one of the Servants below."
Boudica tilted her head and pinched her brows. "A thing?"
She sounded wary.
Lancer, meanwhile, cracked open his eye and let a sliver of gold light show but nothing else than that, a minor tilt of the head in his direction and yet more silence. Either not one for conversation or merely not having anything further to say.
Ritsuka rolled his jaw. "After we fought the Servant he…he was somewhat aggressive and wasn't one for reasoning. As he was dying something appeared and took his body away, knocked Ash clean through the walls and moved fast enough to take everyone by surprise and then just…seeped back into the floors."
"Seeped?" Boudica fixed on that word and frowned deeper than before. "What do you mean? That it turned into some sort of liquid?"
"It seemed to be made of liquid." Shiki explained, Ritsuka turned to the girl as she chimed into the conversation. "Though nothing that I knew of. Some black tar with bit red eyes. Looked a little bit like a snake. Just grabbed the corpse and then just disappeared away into the walls. Haven't seen it since."
She paused for a moment, then tilted her head slightly as if something just occurred to her.
"...We haven't killed a Servant since."
Her announcement was met with silence, Ritsuka could only blink at the odd declaration.
There was some shuffling behind him, he turned more and saw that Mash had her chin cupped and her face set in a thoughtful frown. Unaware she was even being watched by him.
"Speaketh, shield bearer. Thee weareth thy thoughts naked for all to seeth."
Lancer's words sounded more like a command than a request, Mash flinched and looked up, met with the stares she froze on the spot. Ritsuka opened his mouth to offer encouragement, yet they seemed unneeded as she centred herself nary a moment later and stood tall and ready, a single step forwards and then speaking clear.
"When Servants are low on magical energy, they can consume the souls of humans."
A rather morbid opening line.
"They provide boosts of magical energy-"
"I can attest to the consumption of souls." Ash supported from across the room, the clatter of cutting knives briefly halted as the Avenger spoke up. "And the essence extracted from those I have slain thus far is noticeable, but it is hardly a balanced equation. I would need to kill many more all at once to equal my cost in magical energy."
Ritsuka could see where this conversation was headed rather quickly, between Mash and Ash speaking about killing things for magical energy, and the manner in which the serpent appeared, then he could figure out what was going on.
"So the snake showed up to eat the Lancer to get the magical energy from him before he vanished completely?"
Lancer hummed. "Battlefields maketh bountiful pickings for scavengers." his murmur came just loud enough to be heard but still fairly quiet.
The golden eye closed and he fell back into his previous posture.
Ritsuka, meanwhile, grappled with the possible motivation, a hand came up and rubbed away at his chin. But there was still something amiss with it, unless the snake was a picky eater, then why would it not go for all of the zombies they had been leaving behind? Even if they did not offer great gains, as Ash said, they were still numerous enough that there had to be something worth getting from them.
Maybe it only worked with Servants?
But it wasn't something they could really test, not at the moment.
And he wasn't hoping for a fight just so they could test whatever the theory was.
"Then a lure is needed."
Ritsuka turned sharp eyes onto Lancer at the suggestion, who stated it as though it was the most obvious choice in the world.
He shook his head at that. "I'm not even going to entertain the idea of killing someone just to see if a snake comes out of the floor and eats them. Nor am I going to go searching for someone to kill just for that."
"And no one is suggesting that, Master."
Boudica reached across and placed a hand upon his arm, steadying him with a gentle hold, it was for a moment before she retreated back across. Her eyes turned on Lancer and narrowed somewhat, clear disapproval on her face. "And we're not going to have anything more to say on the matter now that he has made up his mind."
Lancer rippled out an agreement in the form of a low hum and then went silent once more, Ritsuka watched him for seconds further in case he had something else to say, but it seemed that was it for the time being.
With a satisfied nod, Boudica quickly stood back up and marched back across to the kitchen.
"Oh, you've been practising your cutting, haven't you?"
He turned his head at the gushing praise being levied at Ash, it was a welcome sense of mirth as the Rider looked over the progress of the blonde and then reached out, patting him twice on the back in some congratulatory manner, she then moved across the kitchen and started retrieving pots and pans.
A tap on the shoulder pulled his attention away briefly, Mash leaned in close with her eyes darting between Lancer and Boudica.
"Senpai. I am not against you having food but the timing is somewhat problematic. Especially with Boudica-san cooking something like a stew."
He grunted and nodded his head, they had all been drawn in by the allure of answers but he was never imagining them staying here for long. Beyond that, there were still others who had been taken from Chaldea who needed finding.
"Ah."
Priscilla let out a faint gasp.
"Thy friends might still be in some peril, yes? Mayhaps it is a poor time to fill ones stomach…Though I find myself curious as to one thou last feasted."
It was a small murmur, but the head of Priscilla shifted and looked down in his general direction, her body leaned towards him and her hands moved with slow purpose, pulling at his arms and then running her fingers deftly across his sleeves. A low and troubled hum came from her next, continuing her examination.
She next poked at his ribs, bringing a faint gasp from him and a recoil from the roaming hands.
"What are-"
His cheeks were touched next, prodded and poked with vigorous scrutiny before she leaned back and frowned deeply. "Thou art…hmmm. Perhaps food would be a welcome boon for one such as thee."
Ritsuka blinked once, then blinked twice.
"Hm."
His eyes glanced across to where Shiki stood with her own tiny, rather lazy looking, smile for a fraction of a second before it vanished. Yet he knew it had been there because it was still in her eyes, even Mash was now leaning forwards and looking him over in case she had missed something.
"Eh? What's the problem?"
A rough yank from Mordred dragged him up to his feet, within moments he was pulled down and then pinched at by the Saber, not all that hard but enough to cause some mild discomfort. Though he was still at a loss as to what was happening in the first place.
"I mean, he ain't exactly Gawain but he's not all that skinny…"
Mordred grunted, pinching at his bicep and then pulling her hand back.
"He's more like…uh…a hare? Yeah! Muscles where it counts but nothing overboard…and you don't get a lot of meat on those guys, do you?"
What was this conversation?
Slowly, he brought his hands up and stepped back from the eyes of the group, sweeping them back and forth at the faces. "I can assure you that I certainly eat enough and the many Servants who run me ragged at Chaldea can attest to the fact I am actually getting some exercise in. So…I appreciate the concern, Priscilla."
He turned on the Assassin and smiled at her, though she could not see the expression, he softened his voice to grant her some peace with it. She looked slightly troubled for a moment, then evened out her features and nodded back with assent.
Ritsuka exhaled at that and turned towards Boudica, who was still moving amidst the kitchen.
"Right, so Boudica-"
"I was going to make a vegetable stew." She cut him short with her own ramblings. "But I think that a soup would be much easier for the lot of you and it doesn't take nearly as much time. Does that sound alright with you?"
He scratched his brow. "I mean, it sounds fine, but that's not really the problem here."
Boudica just hummed over her shoulder and said nothing else.
"We're going to need to be moving on to find others who got trapped here."
Her movements slowed to a crawl before they finally ceased, her shoulders squared and then dropped. "Ah, right…of course. Silly me, I was getting so worked up about it that I got a little ahead of myself. Sorry about that."
"No, no. It's fine." He chuckled with a shake of the head. "Any other time and I probably would have stuck around for a bit but, well, I wouldn't be all that comfortable with the idea of the others being left on their own. So…sorry for not catching you before you started-"
She turned around and held up the flat of her hand, "It's quite alright. I know I got a bit carried away and probably got swept up and strung you all along with me. Probably best you tell me now rather than after I've started getting everything into the pot, right?"
Finishing with a chuckle, she turned to Ash.
"What about you?"
Ash just shrugged. "I required the practice and Ritsuka gave no instructions until this moment."
He winced at the reminder. "Yeah, sorry…anyway. I'll just get into contact with Romani."
Raising his sleeve, he moved for the communicator on it. "Then we can see about getting you Rayshifted back. I'll be looking forwards to a soup when we finish up with all of this because it's definitely going to be a bit of a tough one-"
"Go…back?"
"Yeah." He hummed, noticing an odd inflection of her tone but thinking little of it, instead he pressed at the communicator and flashed the screen up. "We had to leave Verndari a couple rooms down while…they got centred around things. Not my place to say but we'll be going back for them before this is all over and-"
"Fujimaru-kun!" Romani's shout was equal parts relief and welcoming. "I've been looking over the readings. So you managed to get in touch with Boudica and…"
The image flickered as the doctor leaned off to the side and squinted.
"Huh…looks like another Servant signal that's…That's definitely a Divine Spirit."
"Yeah, we met another Servant with Boudica. He's a Lancer and-"
He stopped and then furrowed his brows. "Divine Spirit? You mean…"
The slow nod of the head from Ash just in front of him confirmed the doctors words, he looked over his shoulder and towards Lancer once more. Their appearance led him to believe they might have gone through something similar to Medusa, or he was like Gwyndolin and was just born that way.
He held up the communicator and whispered, not that he thought it would help against Lancers hearing.
"Demi-God or God?"
"Demi-God. Why?"
He shook his head. "Just curious."
And he was wondering if they would need to make arrangements for yet another God arriving in Chaldea, because they were rapidly collecting Divines at a rate that was turning the facility into one of the weirdest pantheons to have ever existed. Or at least, that was what he would assume.
He wasn't actually that learned on Pantheons yet.
"Huh. Well. I'll be able to pass along the message to Siegward then."
Oh?
Ritsuka felt a smile form over his lips at the mention of the Knight, more so when he traded a glance with Boudica for a brief moment, then returned his eyes to Romani.
Was that not a curious thing to say?
"He was worried then?"
Romani smirked as if already seeing where he was going and shaking his head. "He was asking after you more than anything else, and all the others who went missing…but yes, he was asking if we had managed to find Boudica yet. So he'll be relieved to hear that she's alright."
With that, Ritsuka glanced at the Rider.
His humour started to fade away as he saw the expression on her face, the one that was more akin to guilty reluctance than anything else. His brows furrowed ever so slightly as he stared at the rather odd reaction.
It certainly wasn't what he was expecting from her.
"Is something wrong, Boudica?"
The silence was rather odd, and a touch worrying.
Briefly, he set aside Romani's face and looked to the Rider and searched for something that might have been amiss. He could not think of anything that he might have said to bring about such a reaction, unless it was the teasing that she didn't appreciate. That might have been a little bit far for him.
"I'm sure that Siegward is no more worried for you than he is for the rest of-"
"That…"
Boudica interrupted him with a raised hand, her eyes failed to meet his own as she looked down to her feet, then turned around and walked back to the countertop and leaned over it.
"...That isn't quite what the problem is."
Ritsuka blinked once, then twice. Wordlessly, he exchanged a look with Mash and found that she was similarly confused as to what they were hearing. They turned back to her with Mash taking a step forwards and tilting her head.
"Then what is the matter, Boudica-san? Has something happened here that-"
"It isn't being here that's the problem Mash its…"
Her head lowered and she turned back to face them, her eyes came up and were filled with something hot, Ritsuka straightened a little and felt unease creep into him as he looked into her eyes. There was a definite anger building up within them, even if her voice remained calm.
"The problem is that I've had a little bit of time to think and reflect and I've found myself asking the same question again and again…at least with some freedom for my thoughts and the unpleasant truth which I now find myself facing."
Ritsuka was feeling some awful sense of deja vu.
His eyes unconsciously sought out Ash and watched the blonde slowly turn his head towards the Rider, an expression that betrayed nothing all while he shifted his balance. Green eyes danced to meet his own and seemed more invested in what his reaction was, rather than whatever Boudica was going to say.
"And what unpleasant truth would that be?"
Boudica exhaled, her eyes closed and she brought a hand up to nurse at her temples.
"...Why do I fight?"
He raised a brow slowly. "I'm not sure I follow…"
Boudica smiled as if he had said something both funny and a little sad as well, her hand pulled down her face. "It is no slight against you, Ritsuka…because I can appreciate why you're doing this in the first place but…I'm not sure I can hold the same investment in history that you do…"
Her smile slipped clean off her face, replaced only by a cold mask.
"Especially with all it has dealt me…"
Clarity fell on him like a cold shower.
"Your daughters."
"My daughters." She agreed, then continued. "My husband…my people…my land…all of it. I've been trying to think of why I am actually working hard, putting forth my blade, to a cause which will ensure that their murders continue to exist…that their crimes are written out in the tapestry of this world."
Her hand dropped to her heart, fingers pressed hard against skin as her voice rippled with rising anger.
"History must be restored? Why…what is so…why do I have to help restore a history where my daughters, my little girls, are…"
She swallowed her next words, eyes turning red and words choking out.
Ritsuka felt himself slowly grimace.
"...Why do I have to help Nero restore her Rome? What's so precious about that place of depravity and ruin that needs to be restored? Why is that…why is that Empire so essential to everyone but my little girls just have to die?"
She took a step towards him, drumming her hand against her chest now with greater intensity, yet her voice did not rise above the hissed whispers. But for all that, it's power grew stronger with each sound that passed her lips.
"How can that be a history that I have to defend? A history that lets Rome live while my little girls die? While my people are put to the sword and oppressed for generations…why is that right? How can you…"
Boudica was very nearly upon him now, almost nose to nose as she leaned forwards and looked him dead in the eye, the whites turning bloodshot and the unshed tears building within them.
"...You restored Rome."
Her words came out accusing, and he did not blink through them.
"You helped Nero…you made friends with her. With that tyrant."
Boudica spat the words like a curse.
"Tell me…what sins did my daughters commit which make their lives so worthless? Why do they have to die…what did…what did they do wrong?"
Quick as lighting, her hands were on his collar and yanking him forwards, so fast his feet barely scraped against the ground as he was pulled upwards, but even then, he held out his hands to the others and stayed them wherever they were. Not once breaking his eye contact with Boudica.
"...Why? Why do I have to help a history which says my girls have to die? Why do their killers get to…how can that be a history worth protecting? Tell me…how?"
Ritsuka brought his arms back around and moved them up, gently laying them on the wrists of the Rider. The contact had her stiffen but only for a moment, her grip remained tight and bordering uncomfortable, but he was not in any immediate danger, he should have thought.
Movement behind Boudica showed Ash taking a single step forwards, but nothing else.
"Boudica."
The use of her name brought a fixed attention to him.
His next words came slowly. "This can't be the first time it occurred to you."
She twitched and then started to growl, it was a faint sound at first but it grew louder and louder.
"I am not saying it to be cruel or mocking." He added on with a shake of the head. "But that is how it is. You would have known what we did from the moment everything was explained with Nero…so why do you think about it now?"
"Because it's settled with me now!"
She snapped back at him, frustration more than anger as he jostled slightly in her grasp.
"Because I was freed of the burden of seeing your earnest face everyday and I was reminded of everything that I had lost! I will admit there was warmth in Chaldea that distracted me, blinded me, from the truth…but without that?"
Her head shook.
"I can see the truth for what it is, Ritsuka." Her hands tightened further, her eyes narrowed into nearly menacing slits. "And the truth is that I don't see anything worth defending about this history. This history that declares the only proper path is for my daughters to be butchered and the hands of savages…or marauders who disguised themselves as civilised. And that dancing clown they called an Emperor…"
Laughter spilled from her, a mixture of furious and hollow.
"And what is worse is that she herself was ignorant! Could you imagine that? Nothing more than careless stupidity cost my daughters their lives! Because she couldn't even tear her eyes away from prancing around a stage long enough to care about anyone who might have…"
Her gaze dropped low to the ground, breaking from his own.
"...Tyrant?"
The words came as a whisper.
"...She's just an idiot…my daughters died…because of an idiot…and now…now I have to help protect that idiot? The legacy left behind by that fool?"
Ritsuka rolled his lips. "It's not just her, Boudica. Nor is it the people who killed your daughters. You're not fighting to save just them."
A loud scoff, she raised her eyes and met his own. "I don't care about them-"
"I don't believe that for a moment."
"And what do you know about it?" Her words came as a furious growl, low and dangerous, pulling him closer to her, so close that her hot breath washed over his face, it felt scalding to him, fuelled by rage it felt as if she was some bonfire he had stepped too close to. "What do you know about anything!?"
"...My family is dead too, Boudica."
She stopped and then went silent.
"They're all dead. My family…my friends…they died and never existed. I'm all that's left."
He barely managed the shrug but it was there.
"I don't know if I'll ever see them again…I might not…That's the truth of it…I never even said a proper goodbye to any of them and if I fail…they stay dead…and it's not just me. Or them. Or any of them."
His eyes fell shut.
"...It's all those other families."
But that wasn't it.
Not really.
The truth of it was, the very sad truth of it was.
He just didn't want to die as well.
That was the sad desperate thing about it.
The sickening thing about it, the confession that felt almost filthy to him.
They were dead and he didn't want to be dead too.
"A lot of things have to happen for it. A lot of things have happened but…Maybe you can stop. Maybe you can take a step back and say 'no, I'm not fine with this. It's wrong' and then stop but I…I can't…"
Whether he realised it or not, his hold on Boudica's wrists had tightened, not that the Rider would have noticed.
"...Because there are people counting on me. Because they have families to get back to as well. A lot of things are going to happen that I don't want. A lot of things have happened that I'm…"
Visions of a cold london, of warm slick hands and of his eyes trapped behind a cage.
"...I can't stop. So…I really, truly am sorry about your daughters and how it all played out but…I can't stop because of it. I'm sorry…but I can't."
Boudica stared at him in silence, blue eyes wide and searching.
…And for a brief moment, he dared to hope.
Then those eyes burned with an anger brighter than before, the grip on his clothes turned painful and choking. When she spoke next, it was in words wreathed with fury.
"So that's it!? So long as it's for your benefit, you'll just walk over everyone who comes in front of you!? As long as you reach your goal, what does it matter if you just cast everyone aside!? Are lives so worthless to you!? Huh!?"
Ritsuka froze.
"You-!"
She snarled, then she shoved him backwards, or flung him was a better word.
"Senpai!"
Mash's shout was soon followed by her arms wrapping around him and catching him before he was launched far, the two of them staggered as Boudica raised her hand and pointed squarely towards him.
"You're no better than the Romans! Monster! Their names were Heanua and Lannosea! At least remember those names! Those sweet little girls you've decided to trample on, you fiend!"
Her hand whipped out in the motion of drawing a sword and in the same breath, it appeared as a flash of steel and light, the blade glowed within moments, a golden shine covered the steel and hummed, all while her eyes were aflame with fury and violence.
Ritsuka was rooted on the spot.
For only a moment.
"Calm down!"
The words were intoned with a mental command, the command seals on the back of his hand burned bright red and fizzled away, the first of three signalled the order and within a split second, Boudica's face contorted with pain.
She staggered and dropped down, her left hand swung into her temples and clawed at it, growling and snarling as she swayed on her feet.
The response brought him to a total loss as clear agony swept over the woman.
That wasn't what…
He didn't mean for that to…
…It wasn't supposed to hurt her-
"You…"
From the gaps between her fingers, eyes of blue focused on him with a singular hatred.
"You dare…try and command me…like some mere slave?!"
Ritsuka opened and closed his mouth. "N-no, I-"
"You-!"
She launched herself forwards, sword pulled back and eyes fixed solely on him.
It occurred to him what she was going to do, what she was aiming for.
She was going to kill him.
Oh.
"I'll-!"
She snarled, then stopped and gasped.
Warmth splattered over his face and into his eyes, forcing them shut for a brief second and for him to recoil backwards at the sudden texture of liquid over him. At least for a moment, then he felt himself choke and gasp.
He knew what it was.
He'd felt it against his skin before.
His hands rose within seconds and pawed at his face, dragging it across and tearing it away from him as fast as he could manage, his fingers felt slippery and hot, his eyes snapped open, breathing turned to rapid pants and a ringing flooded through his ears.
They were red.
His hands were red again, his cheeks were red, his face was probably red.
It was steaming hot, he stared at his crimson palms and then brought his eyes up.
Meeting the furious orbs of Boudica as she glared down at him.
But his eyes were drawn elsewhere.
To the obsidian sword which was pushed right through her chest, the length of the blade slick with blood.
Scarlet dripped down from her body and to the floorboards, dozens of drops at any one time.
It was the only sound he could hear, one drop after another.
Another sound, a terrible squelch as the sword vanished back through her body and out of sight, Boudica staggered with the blow and her arms dropped down, as though they had lost all their power.
The sword in her grasp turned cold, light fleeing from it, and hit the ground with a muffled thud, at least to him.
But his eyes remained fixed solely on hers.
It felt like an eternity ticked past.
The blue started to cool.
The fury bled away.
Replaced with horror and revulsion, a deep shame overcame her as her throat bubbled.
"W-what was I…" Boudica gave a wet gurgle as she fell backwards, Ash stepped out of her way with a deft move, letting her slam against the cabinets behind and slump down, trailing blood across the wood and allowing it to pool on the floor.
Her eyes never roamed from his own, she brought up her hand and gestured to him with her fingers.
Ritsuka's throat felt like dust.
There was nothing there.
It was strange, like he was watching a scene play out.
"R-R-Ritsuka…" The word bubbled away out of her, some pleading remained in her gaze as her arm dropped back to the ground.
Her eyes glazed over.
Ritsuka did nothing but stare.
He did not react when the cupboards behind her spilled forth rivers of black tar, nor when the burning red took the place in that shape of twisted life and clamped down, engulfing the body of Boudica before it even started to turn to dust. It pulled back and slipped between the gaps in the cupboard in less than a few seconds.
He watched every single minute detail play out with unblinking clarity.
And through it all, he did not move a single muscle.
Thuds approached from the right, a flash of silver and Mordred stepped around him to stare down at the space where Boudica had been not even moments ago. She had been right there speaking to them.
And then she was dead.
Mordred turned and looked at Ash, Ritsuka barely even realised she was talking until he saw Ash move his lips, but nothing came out.
Nothing save the muted whistle.
"Wh-what?"
His croaking brought their eyes to him, Ash kept silent while Mordred scowled.
"Hah?" She cocked a brow, then grunted and jerked her head towards the bloody patch on the wood. "Oh, said that we figured there's probably some sort of powerful curse or something going on here if a command seal didn't work. Not sure what else could explain whatever that was."
A…curse?
"Oi, Master!"
He blinked again, then once more as he found that Mordred was right in front of him now, looking over him and frowning. "Shit. It's all over your damn face…"
She shook her head and stepped back, marching for the kitchen and throwing open cupboards, the string of complaints made its way over to him, namely in the form of curses and groans about how hard it was to find kitchen roll.
His fingers climbed up to his cheeks and stopped short, sharply pulling away his hands and staring at them again.
"Senpai…"
Someone was speaking to him, someone was moving him. His feet just surrendered and his body moved on it's own, the gentle hold led him back to the table and lowered him down in front of him, a figure loomed over his left and he could see Mash with a strained look of worry right across her face, then looking past him and reaching for something.
Ritsuka didn't say much as she claimed some kitchen roll from somewhere, probably Mordred, and then started to wipe at his face.
He just kept staring at his fingers.
Why did they always end up red?
Why was it always so warm?
"Fujimaru-kun."
It was always so warm, just like then…why did it have to be warm?
Why couldn't it have been cold?
If it was cold he'd have been disgusted.
But why was it always so warm-
Something closed around his head and pulled him slowly towards it, he registered another warmth circling around him in an embrace. Ritsuka kept himself still as the hand ran across the top of his head and the faint words came.
"Breathe softly, young one. In and out."
A large hand, greater than his own, fell upon the red limb and gently pushed it away, his urge to follow the line of sight with it was stopped by the hold on his head which kept him still. He felt someone drag the tissue across with an almost frantic pace to clean it away. He just stared at the table.
"Breathe."
The voice gently encouraged again, so he did.
In and out.
In and out.
…Right.
He wasn't in London.
He could move.
He could still do…
Coughing he moved away from the embrace and started to stand up, ignoring the faint protest from Mash as he reached out and grabbed the roll of tissue.
He couldn't sit here and just suffer.
Had to keep going forwards.
Same as before.
Had to.
Ritsuka only stopped when Priscilla reached out and clasped his wrist in a gentle but still solid lock, he followed the limb back to her blinded face.
"Never force yourself into comfort where there is none."
It sounded like a warning and though she could not see it, he smiled at her and moved across to pat her hand.
But he stopped at the sight of the red still on his fingers and pulled back.
"Don't worry." He replied, gently pulling his arm from her. "I won't."
Because he didn't feel very comfortable right now, but there were more important things than this.
Tearing away another roll of tissue, he dragged it across his hands and then over his face, balling it up and dropping it down on the table, repeating the process before he raised his eyes and looked across to the others.
"A curse. You said a curse, Mor-Saber."
Mordred wasn't long in responding. "I'm just spitballing here. That sort of thing was always Mothers talent."
Good thing they had Casters of equal skill then.
Nodding to himself, he reached out and activated the link, the name filtered through and the summoning went ahead. One of the short term ones, but he hoped it would be enough for them to get something.
"Caster."
A flurry of light and then shadow, the purple cloak of Medea fluttered into stillness as she appeared in the room. Her hood turned about before settling on him, he could see her lips turn down within mere moments.
"You appear to be in a rather sordid state, Master."
"We think there might be a curse on the building." He explained, "There was…I tried to use a command spell on one of the Servants and she reacted…badly."
"A curse potent enough to overturn a command spell?" Medea hummed and glanced down to his arm. "Even those paltry versions of the originals would have held significant sway over a Servant. More so depending on the magic resistance…hmmm. Very well, I shall begin a brief investigation, though a curse of this potency should be a simple find."
Her staff flashed into her hand and glowed.
Ritsuka jolted as the light washed over him, then looked back down and blinked at himself.
The red was gone, as if it was never there.
"But letting my Master fumble around looking like that is hardly acceptable."
She turned and then stopped, Ritsuka followed her line of sight to Lancer.
Truth be told, he had forgotten the man was in the room.
And he was standing up now, showing off his impressive height which had him angle himself slightly so that he wasn't touching the ceiling, the single gold eye of the man swept over the newly arrived Caster and then flickered towards him where it seemed to linger for time longer, then a grunt and the man nodded slightly.
"And this is?"
"Lancer."
Medea hummed and sent him a questioning look.
"He's…" Ritsuka trailed off. "...He's not an enemy at the moment."
He saw something akin to approval briefly in the expression but no further words.
"I see." Medea flatly responded, then moved across to the other side of the room. "If you will excuse me then."
He watched her for a moment longer, then turned away from her and moved towards the others, raising the communicator and staring at the face of Romani, briefly pausing when he met the rather concerned look.
"Fujimaru-"
"Command seals didn't work." He stopped for a moment and then closed his eyes. "And pass along the message as to what transpired to Siegward and anyone else who wishes to know. Inform them that there's a chance the other Servants trapped here could be…similarly affected."
His eyes darted to the spot where the Boudica had died, his jaw ground back and forth.
"And did you get anything else on the thing that appeared?"
Romani did not give an immediate response, instead he just stared at him in silence.
Then, slowly, the doctor nodded his head and looked off to something else. "There was a slight pulse of magical energy right before you arrived and…the readings are consistent with the summoning…of a Daemon."
Ritsuka cocked a brow, more so at the sudden gravity in the words. "A Demon?"
"Daemon." Came the correction from behind him, Medea briefly paused. "Familiars summoned from a different plane of existence. Besides Servants, they are the most powerful Familiars any one mage might call forth and they are equally dangerous. The Demon Gods of the King of Mages are all Daemons. Once named, they begin to accumulate power and ego. Without name they are power and but without drive."
She turned about and faced him.
"So they seek out the closest to them. Enshrining themselves within the body of the mage who summoned them and gaining control. Mimicking the original personality and consuming the host until there are no distinguishing features between them…at which point, they have become fully enfleshed and are a serious threat. More so when they might manifest magical spells by a product of simply existing…Setting aside the fact that Reality Marbles as a concept are based upon Daemons exercising their power."
He had kept silent through that.
But each word struck him like a hammer.
He slowly looked back at Romani and felt his eyes widen. "...There's one of those here?"
"Not-!" Romani held up his hands and winced. "Not necessarily. What Caster described is a worst case scenario. Daemons come in different forms and functions. Those brought forth by Solomon are the most famous example, but it's only very rare cases…in the first place, a human mind isn't designed to house something akin to a Daemon so they would break apart and the body would twist and form a rather…disgusting thing…Like Forneus, the Demon God you encountered."
He cringed. "They look like that?"
Romani shrugged. "Forneus is very old, Fujimaru-kun. All the Demon Gods are…This might well be an ordinary Daemon which has undergone some sort of transformation and is searching for magical energy. Either a summon from a Servant here or from an unrelated event, if it is looking for magical energy-"
Ritsuka grasped what he meant. "Servants would be the best source…but it's waiting for us to kill them first, if we do…which means it's scavenging? It can't risk an open battle with us?"
The doctor shrugged. "Daemons are still creatures of wisdom, Fujimaru-kun. More so if they are granted a designation. Names hold great weight for those of Daemonic kind, it's why the summons of Solomon are far above ordinary Daemons and wield unique abilities. Just because this Daemon hasn't tried to fight you…doesn't mean it isn't capable of doing so."
Leaning back, the man rubbed a hand over the front of his face, then took in a short breath.
"...I know you're the Master here, but I'd recommend having Jeanne and Martha on standby if you encounter the Daemon again."
"Because of their status as Saints?"
Romani nodded. "Either an Exorcism or a good old fashioned pummeling would help…but…don't tell Martha I said she was good at the latter."
He spoke the words as he awkwardly fumbled at his collar and glanced about.
Ritsuka huffed. "Not a single peep from me…Talk to you soon."
The communicator flashed off. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, opening them once more and glancing to Mash.
"We'll need to be ready to go as soon as Caster finds something."
It looked like there was more Mash wanted to say, but she held herself back and instead nodded her head slowly. "Yes, Senpai…I…I'm sorry about Boudica-san…"
She cast a forlorn look.
Ritsuka rolled his lips inwards. "...Me too. Not her fault though…not her fault."
His eyes turned to Lancer. "...What are you going to do now?"
Lancer peered at him with the golden eye, then took a step forwards and further to the room. Opening his mouth and speaking with a firmness within him.
"There is one here who might wield charm as a weapon against the mind. Mine own thoughts couldst turneth to their weapons. I shalt not sitteth idly and waiteth for the headsman's axe to kisseth mine own neck."
His head inclined slightly towards him.
"If it be true this mage is thy foe, then we have common ground here, hunting this man and the beast he calls ally is a goal we share."
So Lancer was coming with them? Alright, he could work with that.
Ritsuka instead looked at him closely. "And how are you sure you're not already under his influence?"
There was a sharp look, then Lancer raised a sharpened finger and pointed to the golden eye.
"If it be true mine own grudge were setteth loose. Then this beast of darkness wouldst not beest the only foul serpent here."
That sounded…ominous.
But something was proven here.
Someone was doing something.
And he was going to put a stop to it.