Hello everyone and welcome back to the start of chapter 99 of the story! Man, one chapter away from 100. I can't believe it that it has been this long with this many chapters. But I'll save those many words for when we do reach to chapter 100. For now, focusing on most important things...FSNxHSR collab for 2025. You know, that seemed one of those things that due to how much the fans of each franchise interacted as well as the interview between the two creators some months ago, it felt like one of those things that a collab could possibly happen, we just didn't knew when. But now we do. And yeah, it isn't really FGO with HSR but FSN (UBW specifically), but it's still Fate. So one year from now, I better hope this means we are getting Emiya or Artoria in HSR, because that will be the day I will spend all my savings in rolling and building them.
Also this announcement just pushed forward some fanfic ideas I had for HSR for quite sometime, specially one with Acheron. I might consider writting it one of these days.
But anyways, with all that said, let's start it!
DISCLAIMER: All of the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and areproperty of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author
Steins Gate OST- Gate of Steiner
"And don't pick on us again or I'll do it worse!"
A girl shouted to a bunch of running bullies from the park, having fend them off from her and a crying boy behind her.
"Hey! Are you okay? Swipe those tears off. They aren't here to hurt you anymore."
The girl said to the boy, comforting him as she helped cleaning off the tears from his face.
"Y-You shouldn't sniff You shouldn't have done that sis!"
The boy told to the girl, whimpering as he tried to stop crying, his clothes a bit messy with dirt and some scratches and other small signs of beating on his body.
"And let them continue to beat you? Hell no!"
The girl responded vehemently. She'd never in her life be able to pardon herself if she didn't do nothing to protect her brother.
"B-But you've also been hit because of that!"
The boy said, still a bit teary, looking to some blood coming from his sister's nose as well as some punch marks on her face.
"You think I care about that? Eh, this is nothing to me!"
The girl smiled, ignoring the bruises and wounds on her body.
The boy himself felt a huge sense of guilt inside him.
"I knew...I knew we shouldn't have walked around in public! Now when we return back home, dad, mom and the others will-"
"They'll understand! I guarantee you that they will."
The girl calmed down her brother, kneeling down to hold his hands, smilling.
"And if they don't, I won't let anyone put the blame on you. Got it?"
Feeling the security in her words, the boy nodded, ceasing his own crying.
"Why is it so hard...for people like us to make friends?"
He lamented sadly, head down.
"Not like we don't have any."
The girl gave her hand to her brother, calling him to get up from the ground.
"We do have each other, right?"
Nala smiled brightly to her sibling, believing that to be the silver lining.
Getting slightly uplifted by his sister's words, Peko smiled back at her, taking her hand.
"Yes."
"N-Nghmm..."
"Nala's waking up. Give her some space."
"R-Ritsuka..."
"Fou fou!"
Getting out from her unconscious state, Nala opened her eyes to be greeted by Fou, Ritsuka, Mash and the silver steel arm knight, Bedivere, all staring at her. Her back was laid against a boulder, near to a campfire surrounded by the small refugee group the chaldeans helped evacuate from the Holy City of Camelot. It was night, the party currently located in the wastelands, altough it seemed they were reaching the end of it, the region getting more rocky with some traits of dry vegetation and a mountain range in the near distance from their position.
"What...happened?" Nala asked, trying to get up, her head still feeling a bit soft. "We escaped from the Holy City, haven't we?"
"Yes." Ritsuka replied, looking to Bedivere. "Much thanks to him."
"And Gawain?" Nala made another question. "Did we got to..."
"We're unable to defeat him, unfortunately. Had to run before even getting the chance." Ritsuka informed Nala.
The girl lowered her a bit, crossing her arms. "I see. Tsk! And I was so close..." She speaked, dissapointed on herself, remembering how if it wasn't for the time of her transformation and mana energy running out, Nala most possibly would've taken down the Knight of the Sun, or so she thought in her own head. "Where's Peko? And Da Vinci?"
"..." Ritsuka's face tensed up a bit as Nala asked for her brother and the italian inventor, not seeing them around. He had to tell her, even if that caused a bad reaction out of the girl. But like Da Vinci told them before sacrificing herself against Lancelot, they couldn't sugarcoat it for Nala. Tell her the blunt truth.
"Are they up to something or discussing something?" Nala asked, looking around to try and find them, but nowhere to be found.
"Nala..." Ritsuka called the girl's attention. He prepared himself mentally for what he was about to say. Mash slightly took a step forward, willing to help him deliver the sad news to Nala before Ritsuka gestured for her to stay back with his hand, signaling that as a leader, it was the sole responsability of him to tell his teammate what happened. Mustering enough will of his own, Ritsuka's eyes moved to stare at Nala's. "About Peko and Da Vinci..."
The mood in the area was mostly silent, with the only sound being of the flickering flames of the fireplace, warming and shinning on the refugee group, its light casting their shadows on the ground and even of the chaldeans and Bedivere that were more distant of the center. The party's shadows reflected on the boulder as Ritsuka told Nala what happened after she collapsed in the middle of her fight against Gawain. The hardship and struggle of the moment. How Peko got wounded and forced to be left behind as they escaped. How Da Vinci blew herself up with a combat version of the vehicle against other knight of the Round Table, buying them and the refugees precious time to escape.
And with every word said, every second passing and the telling expanding, Nala stood silent as she got slowly devastated by it, her eyes progressively getting concerned and horrified, her mind and heart shattering inside. Her brain couldn't process that well, not wanting to admit what she just heard.
"Y-You're lying, right? You have to be..." Nala muttered in a state of shock, her legs trembling while taking some steps back. "D-Da Vinci couldn't be-..."
"She is. We tried to convince her otherwise but Da Vinci was already dedicated on doing it." Ritsuka said, as much as it pained him saying that. "If it wasn't for her, I don't know if we would've made it. Her dying is what made us survive to this point..."
Anxious and worried, Nala grabbed her own shoulders tightly, beggining to hyperventilate, at the brink of a nervous panic attack. "P-Peko...Is he-"
"Peko ain't dead!" Ritsuka immediatly reassured, hurrying to get near Nala's side alongside Mash and Bedivere, seeing how she wasn't being able to handle this information well. Ritsuka himself wasn't sure if Peko was alive after taking Gawain's slash, but he strongly believed that his friend was, also hoping that telling this to Nala would calm her down, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure of it! Doctor is doing his best to try and enter in contact with him! It might not be today but-"
"Stop talking!" Nala shouted suddenly, angrily shoving Ritsuka's hand away before starting to run away from the campfire, the small commotion being enough to get the group of refugees attention.
"Nala!" Ritsuka stretched his arm torwards the girl, watching her distance herself from them.
Mash acted quickly, going after the other girl. "Come back! Nala!" The shielder got closer to her, Nala having fall on the ground as her feet stumbled and tripped over while running.
"D-Dammit..!" Nala cursed, trying to get up and brushing the pain from her wounded knee before being tackled from behind by Mash.
"Don't run away! You've just recently recovered!" Mash told to her friend, trying to pin her down on the ground, much to Nala's upset.
"Ghgh! Let me go!" Nala protested in a struggle, able to free her body from Mash and get up but still having her arm catched by Mash who prevented the girl from going. "Kkgh! You're annoying me already!"
"You need to calm down! What do you exactly plan doing here?" Mash questioned her friend, still holding Nala by the arm.
"None of your business!" Nala told Mash agressively.
"Trying to save Peko from the Holy City right now without strategy is just suicide! Even more if alone!" Mash tried to reason with Nala who stubbornly declined.
"Shut up! I can't abandon my brother!" Nala moved her other arm to try and get free from Mash, only for the shielder to grab it as well.
"Listen, please! I understand your suffering! I really do Nala! My heart also aches thinking about how we had to leave Peko behind!" Mash speaked loudly, attempting to talk some sense into her friend. "If there was a way that made him return to us this instant and Da Vinci-san to still be alive, I would do it without second thought! Even if it costed me several years of my life!"
"Ghg!" The last part of Mash's statement ended up prodding Nala's mind, resulting in the girl to get more upset despite that not being Mash's intentions to provoke her. "Stop spitting nonsense!"
"Those two..." Ritsuka observed nearby alongside Bedivere, with Fou on his shoulder. Mash was doing her best to placate Nala's strong emotions and he could tell that.
"It isn't nonsense! I would if I could! I care about Peko as I care with all of you! I refuse accepting to lose him!" Mash almost shouted. "But right now, I refuse to lose you too!"
With fury on high and burning inside, Nala blindly snapped at Mash.
"WHO THE HELL CARES ABOUT YOU!? YOU'RE GOING TO DIE ANYWAYS!"
"..!" Mash's heart dropped, like a thunder had emerged from the skies and pierced her on the chest. Her grip on Nala's arms having softened.
"Nala!" Ritsuka exclaimed with some uproar, incredulous at what Nala had just said to Mash's face. The bond between the two having been fragmented in that moment.
"It's so easy. To say you care about others while keeping secrets from them, right?" Nala speaked with pain in her voice, holding the tears back as she stared rudely at Mash. "Why did I even became your friend?" The girl immediatly removed her wrists from Mash's hands, about to head back to Camelot in the brainless attempt of trying to rescue her brother. Only to end up bumping straight into Bedivere who showed up in front of her. "Ngh!?"
Meanwhile, Ritsuka went to Mash's side, seeing his servant entire mood destroyed. "Mash. Are you-"
"Sorry master. I..." Not even looking directly at Ritsuka, the hair covering her eyes, Mash begun to walk away torwards the campfire area. "...I need some time alone..." She said, clearly not feeling well. Nala's words having shook Mash in such a harmful way that Ritsuka could almost feel the anguish in the shielder's voice as his own.
"Going to Camelot now would do no good or achieve anything. Liking it or not, your companion is right." Bedivere told to Nala, preventing her from leaving. "Saving your brother is impossible for now."
"Don't tell me what's possible and what isn't!" Nala said to the knight, not wanting to admit it. "With my armour, I can do it! I certainly can burst in and take Peko out of the Holy City!"
"So you seriously think you can go up against the Lion King and all her knights while invading Camelot alone?" Bedivere asked her, knowing how impracticable that would be.
"Yes I do!" Nala shouted, responding more with her own feelings than her mind, being unrational.
"Fine." Bedivere simply sighed, stepping out of Nala's way, much to the girl's own confusion. "If you truly believe that, I shall halt you not anylonger. You're free to go and attempt salvage your brother if that is what you want."
"..." Having now the road open to her, Nala could go and run torwards the Holy City to save Peko if she wanted to. Yet, she stood in the same place, not having expected Bedivere to really do the favour of stepping aside that easily. It all caused Nala's mind to give some time to think, hesitating to go.
"What's the matter? You are sure that you can rescue your sibling and defeat the Lion King all by yourself, don't you?" Bedivere speaked, aware that Nala was now second-guessing herself with the simple action of allowing her to leave he just made. The knight perceived that deep down, the girl didn't actually believed in her own words.
"Don't do this, Nala." Ritsuka approached her from behind, appealing for her to stay and not commit something crazy she could come to regret.
Sweat runned down from her face, frustrated with the situation and greatly divided on her choice, Nala clasped her teeth and clutched her hands nto fists. "Kgh!" Wanting to let all distress out in another place, the girl turned around and headed to some rocks in the distance at her right, deciding that she indeed couldn't go for Camelot and save Peko right now, in the verge of tears.
Despite her staying, Ritsuka was far from overjoyed. Mash had been totally heartbroken by Nala's statement at her, leaving a hole on the shielder's self esteem and overall friendship with the other girl. As for Nala herself, her mind would surely not have a moment of peace, unsure of Peko's current condition, only growing the agony inside of her. The two's morale was definetly on low. And neither Da Vinci nor Peko could be there to help Ritsuka cheer them up. All in all, a situation currently bleak. "I have to do something to still keep us together."
"I assume this must be the first time you see your own group this broken." Bedivere speaked to Ritsuka, acknowledging it by the strained look on his face.
"Like this...yeah." Ritsuka replied to the knight. "It's like I'm losing them one by one."
"Then please, stay with your head tall and don't get yourself discouraged." Bedivere advised to Ritsuka, pushing for him. "Lady Da Vinci wouldn't want that nor your captive friend. We're going to rescue him. When and how? I am not sure. But until there's a single glimmer of hope left, I won't give up on your friend. As for the other two..." He gave a look at each separate location Mash and Nala were. "I qualm that time alone will suffice to heal them. The trust and camraderie between them has to be recovered in some way."
"I fear so." Ritsuka responded, also expecting that it would take a lot more than just time to fix Mash and Nala's bond. "But I appreciate the help of not letting her go. Thanks Bedivere." The master of humanity appreciated Bedivere for that.
The knight smiled in return. "I just couldn't let the young maiden invalidate Lady Da Vinci's sacrifice like that."
Showing up, the hologram of doctor Romani contacted Ritsuka. "How's the situation, Fujimaru?" He said in a dead and depressed voice, still dejected by Da Vinci's death.
"It's...not that great honestly." Ritsuka confessed with sincerity, also not in the highest of moods.
"Nala's reaction was awful, wasn't it?" Romani figured it out.
"Horrible." Ritsuka replied. "Any signs or news about Peko?"
"No. We've been trying and trying, but even SHEBA's lens can't make a scan and rederization of the Holy City's area, being impossible to detect any signals within." Romani ended up giving a punch on the table. "Dammit! It's as if Artoria Pendragon herself knew there'd be people outside the Singularity trying to spy on her kingdom!"
"Calm down a bit doc! You're looking stress and tired!" Ritsuka told him, seeing the visible fatigue on Romani's face.
"I know Fujimaru, I know." Romani said, rubbing his own forhead. "I just want to make sure Peko's alright."
"Apologies if I am getting in the middle of a conversation I'm not supposed to, but I presume you might want some clarification on why the famous king Arthur Pendragon and the knights of the Round Table have formed a new Camelot in a place far away from Britain."
"An explanation to that would be welcomed." Ritsuka replied, accepting to hear it.
"Specially considering you're also a knight of the Round Table. Bedivere, Knight of Loyalty." Romani called him by his title. "Why are you here and why you oppose to your king?"
Taking a deep breath, Bedivere looked them in the eyes. "I'm on a mission."
Having sat down near the boulder, Ritsuka speaked to Mash to sit with them and listen to the story behind Bedivere's motive for being in this Singularity. He also attempted to get Nala to join in, but she refused, begrudgingly telling him to leave her alone. Ritsuka ended up respecting Nala's loneliness altough reluctantly, coming back to the boulder to hear Bedivere's explanation alongside Mash and Romani.
"So, what was your deal by going to the Holy City?" Romani asked to Bedivere. "I suspect that you were looking to have an audience with the Lion King as well."
"It was very obvious at this point, wasn't it?" Bedivere replied, confirming Romani's guess. "But there's more to it. You see, I knew that you people from Chaldea would eventually come here."
"You knew?" Ritsuka reacted with surprise.
"Yes. I was told that people from the distant future would appear, having been requested to help them." Bedivere explained further.
"Told? Told by whom?" Romani made another question to the knight.
"The wizard of our liege's court and the one who sent me to this Singularity. The mage of flowers himself, Merlin." Bedivere answered, giving the identity of the person who told him to assist Chaldea to the chaldeans.
"Merlin?!" Ritsuka exclaimed, even more surprised.
"Fourlin?!"
"Then what he said when we first met back in the previous Singularity..." Romani recalled their first encounter with the wizard during the events of their final fight against the Celtic Empire. "You're the ally he was talking about?"
"Depends. Did he told you specifically or in an enigmatic way?" Bedivere replied back.
"You know this is Merlin we're talking abour, right?" Romani smiled a bit annoyed. "He'd fit a hidden message even in the most simple sentences somewhere."
"I wonder where and what someone like Merlin is doing right now." Ritsuka wondered, proceeding to stare at Mash. "Don't you think the same, Mash?"
"..."
"Mash?" Ritsuka called her name again, the shielder being unresponsive.
Until now, Mash had been silent, barely even partaking on the conversation or even reacting much to Bedivere's telling. Her face saddened, the mind still shackled to the recent words Nala shouted at her face. "You knew it all along, didn't you, master?"
"Hm!" Ritsuka gulped hearing that. Due to Nala furious statement from before, now Mash knew that her teammates were aware of her short life-span that would be ending soon. So much effort in acting unware of that fact to Mash now gone to waste, possibly putting more negative impact on the group's relationship. "I'm sorry Mash. We wanted to-"
"No. Forget about it. Now's not the time." Mash replied, deciding that she didn't wanted the focus of the conversation to be about a topic that could hurt her. "We'll discuss that later." She said before shifting her gaze to Bedivere. "Continuing to talk about Merlin, if he was the one to send you here, why didn't he himself also came to this Singularity to help us?"
"He simply can't. As of now, Merlin is currently imprisoned on the faerie garden that is Avalon, a mystical Reality Marble detached from Earth's normal layer." Bedivere gave the justification why Merlin couldn't come to help them as well. "Therefore, I doubt he'll be able to show up in this place."
"Fouck fohim! (Serves him right!)" Fou looked happier than usual with that.
"So our paths are still to cross each other yet." Ritsuka murmured, remembering of another point Merlin told them on their first encounter. It seemed they would have to wait some more before finally meet up with him properly.
"Leonardo- I mean, Da Vinci also discussed with us about the nature of the silver steel arm that you have." Romani said, looking to the magical arm of Bedivere. "She believed that the one you have is a replica of the actual Divine Construct, Airgétlam, that belonged originally to the celtic god of war Nuada. Was she right in her theory?"
"She would be correct indeed." Bedivere affirmed it, moving his steel arm. "This artificial arm was also work of Merlin's who gave it to me before putting me on this Singularity. An almost perfect copy to that of the original weapon of Nuada. An artificial Noble Phantasm by any means. It automatically activates upon hearing my voice say its name, hence why I refused to tell you its name when we first met. It requires a lot of mana consumption from me, but in return it gives me bursts of power that helps facing the other knights of the Round Table equally."
Romani was appeased by the confirmation. "Even in death you're still proven right..." He murmured with a smirk.
"Another thing I would like to discuss." Mash speaked up. "The gift Gawain was talking about back at the Holy Selection, saying that the powers of the sun was an offering of the Lion King to him. What's that supposed to mean?"
"The Gifts. Merlin told me about that." Bedivere replied. "Apparently, every knight of the Round Table has been given one characteristic that enhances a specific skill to each one of them, given by our very own king Artoria Pendragon, drawing the powers from the grail and nicknaming them as 'Gifts'."
"The Lion King also has a holy grail?" Ritsuka was staggered.
"But we thought this Singularity's grail was with Ozymandias." Mash added. "Could it be a situation simillar to that of the Third Singularity where there were two holy grails?"
"I think you guys are making a confusion already." Romani told the two, having interpreted differently Bedivere's explanation on how Artoria Pendragon got the Gifts to handle to her knights. "The Holy Grail in this case isn't Solomon's grail, as we already knew he handed it to the crusaders who lost it to Ozymandias. The grail Bedivere must be speaking of, is the one of the arthurian legends, the one she and the Round Table seeked for."
"And that's what allowed the Lion King to deliver the Gifts to the knights as blessings. She doesn't necessarily has a holy grail, but the correlation of our myths with it is enough to borrow some of its powers." Bedivere told them.
"I see it now. Basically, the knights of the Round Table have power of the Holy Grail themselves through their Gift." Mash commented, thinking back on their fight against Gawain. "That must be why Gawain was so difficult to fight."
"It took Nala to ascend in her armour to hurt him or anything." Ritsuka added. "And speaking of the knights, are all of the Round Table working for the Lion King? Does it make you the only one of the knights who opposes her?" He asked to Bedivere, wanting to know if there were other knights of the Round Table that weren't serving under Artoria Pendragon.
"Of what was told to me by Merlin, I heard that not everyone from the Round Table stood by our liége's side. Unfortunately, they too were all defeated by the Lion King and the knights who remained loyal to her before any of us could arrive to this Singularity."
"Then there's no other knight besides you to help us." Romani lamented a bit. "Altough knowing we aren't up against the entire Round Table isn't bad as well."
"But why would they do this? I simply cannot understand." Mash speaked up, sounding muddled and dishearten. "The stories that I read about them, were of noble knights who fought with dignified principles. It isn't to say that they were perfect but, to think someone as honorable as Gawain would slash down poor innocents without second thought...it just doesn't sit right with me!" She exclaimed a bit upset. "The great king Arthur and the Round Table would never dare to do such attrocities! Why is she and the knights disrupting more the Singularity with their presence and creation of a new Camelot instead of fixing it?"
"That's what puzzles me too." Bedivere replied, feeling Mash's indignation. "The king I knew, could have her flaws and perceived to be emotionless by many, but the Artoria Pendragon I remember was still a benevolent and just king overall." The knight moved Airgétlam, looking at it. "That's the main reason why I'm here. I need to question the Lion King. Interrogate the person I saw as my sovereign." Bedivere closed his hand into a fist. "I want to know what changed her. What changed all of them into performing such violent acts! Once I obtain those answers and end this mission of confronting my king and comrades, I might finaly get peace."
Without hesitation, Ritsuka got up from the ground. "Then let's help you with it!"
"Hm?" Bedivere lifted up his head to look at him.
"Master?" Mash was surprised to how spontaneous Ritsuka made the declaration.
"Well, since you came here to help us clear this Singularity's problem, let's also help you in return! We kinda have the same goal here after all." Ritsuka extended his hand to the knight. "Whatever is wrong with your king and companions, I'm sure we can resolve it by cooperating." He smiled friendly to the knight. "What do you say?"
A bit surprised at the start by Ritsuka's willingness to help, Bedivere ended up giving him a gentle smile in return, accepting the handshake by extending the hand of his Airgétlam torwards Ritsuka. "That would be a honor, master of Chaldea."
"Please. You can call me by my name at this point." Ritsuka told him. "Ritsuka. Ritsuka Fujimaru."
"Eh, got it then, Fujimaru-kun." Bedivere kindly called him.
"You can also count with my help, Bedivere-san!" Mash speaked up, getting up from the ground too.
"I appreciate it so, lady Mash." Bedivere replied to her.
Ritsuka went behind the boulder to check on Nala who was hearing the entire conversation up until now. "What do you say Nala? Let's help up Bedivere?"
"...Yes, I guess." Nala responded blandly, in contrast with Ritsuka's joyous tone, not even looking at him.
"..." Understanding that Nala was still not in the mood to talk, Ritsuka let her be, returning to the others.
"We will need more help if we want to break fully into Camelot and rescue Peko as well as defeat the Lion King." Romani calculated their current chances of fighting Artoria Pendragon and her knights. "Since the Sun King, Ozymandias, seems to have opted to become neutral on this entire situation, our only chance left is to contact with the Hassans in the mountains." The doctor looked up to the mountains in front of the party, presumably the lair of the Order of Assassins and many of the regufees.
"If we fail to convince them, this Singularity will be impossible to resolve." Mash speaked, looking to the same place Romani was staring at. "We need to make sure they become our allies no matter what."
"Tomorrow, we shall go up there and find their village." Bedivere said. "But for now, we should rest. It has been a long arduous day so far. We need to take some breathing."
"I take the same idea." Ritsuka approached them before yawning. "This is as far as we're going today."
"Understood! Have a good night then guys." Romani wished them. "I'll be signing out."
"See ya tomorrow doc." Ritsuka replied, Romani's hologram dissapearing.
"I'll go join the refugees and see if they need anything." Bedivere said to Ritsuka and Mash.
"I shall help you with that Bedivere-san. I can spent one more hour awaken." Mash offered to aid Bedivere on that aspect. "Food and water are running low so we need to make sure everyone gets at least some." She then stared at Ritsuka before heading to the refugees. "Sleep well, master."
"I will Mash. Same for you." Ritsuka told her, noticing Mash subtly move her eyes to the boulder, the smile dissapearing from her face. "If you want, I can go and try talk with-"
"I'm fine. I don't need you to do anything, master" Mash told him, her smile coming back. "Just have a good night."
"...Okay." Ritsuka responded, seeing his servant walking away.
"Fou fou."
Grabbing the cape of his custome, Ritsuka out it down and laid it on the ground, serving as sheet. "I know it isn't a tent or anything, Fou. But is the best we can do for now."
As Ritsuka prepared himself to lay on his improvised 'bed', Rushd approached him. "Hey. Ritsuka, right?"
"Yes. What is it, Rushd?" Ritsuka asked to the muslim boy who was looking down.
"About Nala. She doesn't seem alright at all." The muslim boy told him. "I don't really like to see her like that."
"Nala's had a rough day. It's understandable." Ritsuka replied, hearing of Rushd's concern with her.
"Missing a brother is like missing a mother, right?" Rushd asked.
"Yeah. It's a fear of never seeing a loved one again, knowing that they're in danger while being too far away to help." Ritsuka speaked profoundly. "That it was the last time she might have seen him."
"I don't want that to happen." Rushd said. "The painful experience of losing someone...I don't want neither Peko nor Nala to experience it too. As my first friends, I wish that they don't have the same outcome as mine."
"You're a caring friend, Rushd." Ritsuka praised the muslim boy's consideration for Nala and Peko.
"I just think that having them around and happy also makes me happy. Now that-..." Not wanting to relive that tragic memory that was still fresh and recent on his mind, Rushd skipped to the next part. "A-Anyways! I want to make sure Nala feels better. But a part of me says that perhaps it's for the best if I leave her alone for now." Rushd looked to the side before staring back at Ritsuka. "What I'm saying is, can you go check on her and see if she's okay?"
"Don't worry. I'll do that." Ritsuka gladly accepted the muslim boy's request.
"Thank you. That might alleviate her pain a bit." Rushd told to Ritsuka.
"I hope it does. Have a goodnight for now, Rushd." Ritsuka replied.
"Same for you." Rushd responded before going back near the campfire.
Having been asked to make some company with Nala, Ritsuka headed torwards the boulder with Fou, sitting and leaning his back against it, knowing Nala was still alone on the other side of the boulder. She heard his footsteps arriving, her face still close to the knees and her arms wrapped around the legs. It has been quite the time that she had now spent sobbing and grieving all alone after letting her anger out. She just didn't know what to do, craving for sleep to eventually get her so that she could stop feeling this agony. But even then, who could guarantee that she wouldn't fall asleep into a nightmare about seeing Peko dying in front of her? She didn't wished any company, but was also too devastated to even send Ritsuka away when she heard him approaching, a small part of her kinda relieved on that.
"Are you there, Nala?" Ritsuka asked gently, his face staring at the fireplace who ligthened on him and the front part of the boulder while Nala stood in the rock's shadow at the back.
"I want to save my brother, Ritsuka..." Nala replied in the same tired and depressed tone, her mind having no other thoughts than that.
Lifting up his head, Ritsuka stared at the countless stars in the sky, resonating deeply with Nala's reply as Fou begung to sleep near his waist. "I want it as well."
With the beggining of a new day, the chaldeans, Bedivere and refugee group were now walking on a winding path in the middle of the mountain's range, getting more deep inside as they advance on their search for the hidden village of the Hassans.
"Stay close to each other and careful to not lose your balance! This road is narrower than it seems." Bedivere warned everyone, seeing how the right side of the path was a direct free fall from the mountains, keeping close to the left side.
Mash and Nala walked in each of Ritsuka's side altough not speaking with one another. Ever since yesterday that Mash hadn't said a word to Nala, not even a 'good morning' when they woke up. Same case for Nala. And poor Ritsuka who was beetween the two could only wonder if they would ever interact with each other again or the damage was permanent.
During the walk, the master of humanity ended up noticing giant craters in some distant mountains from the one they were in as well as other craters on the ground of the wastelands that could be entirely visible from up high. "What is the deal behind those giant holes anyways?" Ritsuka wondered, remembering this wasn't the first time he and his group had seen them, having been first spotted on their way to the Holy City.
"That's the end result of the Lion King's Judgement." Rushd revealed.
"Judgement?" Nala looked puzzled at him.
"You know what those are?" Bedivere asked Rushd who nodded his head.
"I've seen it in action before. A giant spear of light that emerges from the skies to come and eradicate any opposition that irks the Lion King, obliterating entire villages and towns and use that terror as a weapon to frighten others who might think doing the same." Rushd told the motive behind the huge craters, being the result of Lion King's response to anyone who she would deem an inconvenience.
"Then all of this craters are entire villages full of people that were annihalated by even thinking on rising up against the Lion King?" Mash was appalled at hearing that.
Even the hologram of Romani appeared to talk. "And what's worse, is that I've been analyzing those craters and the leftovers of mana energy that we detected on them is of a crazy amount! I don't want to jump to conclusions but, those craters are much likely the consequential damages of the Lion King's Noble Phantasm, its destructive power rivaling a band of light of Solomon's!"
"You're telling us that the Lion King has that type of power and magic!?" Ritsuka said, disturbed at such real hypothesis.
"She could nuke everything and genocide thousands while calling it 'judgement'." Nala speaked, also a bit startled by what the Lion King's power could be capable of. "This puts the Lion King on a level that only Solomon of our enemies was able to reach so far."
Bedivere's face was one of disgust and utter perplexity. "So this is actually true. As if it wasn't enough to kill hundreads at the doorsteps of that twisted Camelot, she also goes around obliterating thousands with the other knights condoning it!" The knight almost shouted in anger, clasping his fists. "My king...my companions...Please, please tell me you all haven't really stoop that low!"
"Bedivere-san." Mash stared at the knight a bit worried, never having seen him this upset before.
Being called out, Bedivere calmed down. "Hm! Sorry for that. I just find it hard to believe the liége I follow has become someone cold enough to commit such attrocities. We certainly had ways to deal with our enemies back in Britain. But this..." Bedivere frowned angrily at the huge craters in the distance. "This level of abhorrence puts the Lion King on the same category or even worse than the likings of King Vortigern!"
Before they could continue further, they heard some noises up ahead, the small group of refugees sounding a bit agitated.
"There seems to be something bad coming." Ritsuka said, already preparing for what's about to come at them. "Get ready everyone!"
"Understood master!" Mash replied, summoning her shield. "Preparing combat functions!"
"Can confirm it! Group of hostile creatures coming at your way!" Romani told them in advance. "Make sure the refugees don't get hurt nor fall from the cliff!"
"Copy that!" Ritsuka said, seeing the enemies finaly arriving. A small group of demonic humans, same as the ones they had encountered in the wastelands.
"Those things again." Nala speaked. Like the time before, she could feel the putrid that were this corrupted humans souls. How far gone they were, consumed by the overwhelming sins residing within them. "Better put them out of their misery fast." She summoned her sword.
"These creatures were once human? I couldn't hardly tell by how disfigured their bodies have become." Bedivere asked, pitying them. "So this must be effects of one who gets contaminated by the Blight."
"And it seems some of the infected are here in the mountains." Mash added. "Let's dispatch of them before they can contaminate any of the refugees behind us!"
"Get behind us Rushd!" Ritsuka told the muslim boy, pulling him away. "We're going to end this quickly!"
Thus the fight started, with the party preventing the corrupted group of demonic ghoul-like humans to get to the refugees, protecting them. It took some minutes but they were able to take control of the situation, diminuishing the number of enemies while keeping them at a save distance from the group of refugees. Eventually, it all came down to the last enemy standing.
Mash took the job of slashing it down. "Here goes!" Running torwards the final demonic human, Mash took a swing with her shield, about to deliver the final blow. "Aaaah-"
However, before she could land it, a swift black knife appeared out of the shadows, hitting the demonic human in the head, killing it.
"Huh?" Mash stared at it confused. "Where did that came from?"
"Problematic intruders dealing with other problematic intruders. I never expected that such peculiar and favourable scenario would occur to me one day."
"Who's there?" Ritsuka asked, shortly before the clouds between the mountains slightly rose up, transforming the area into something misty.
"Fog? Around here?" Bedivere said, looking the change of the scenario.
"Warning guys! My monitors have detected a Heroic Spirit signal nearby!" Romani informed the party. "This has to be the work of a servant!"
"Very observant the one who speaks. Altough it isn't a peculiar skill of mine but of our kind of assassins in order to conceal the village from harmful gazes." From the mist, a figure appeared. It was wearing a white skull mask and a complete ragged black cloak that occulted his entire body. A servant with a grim and menacing look. "Unfortunately, your schemes of discovering one of our hidden villages will end here." The assassin moved something out of his cloak. His own right arm, extremely covered and bounded in a large quantity of black bandages.
"That skull-mask..." Ritsuka gave a look at the mask of the assassin, being a clear clue of what he was. "You're an Hassan from the Order of the Assassins, correct?"
"The very protector of the village you were headed to." The assassin replied, confirming it.
"That's great! So we did find you!" Ritsuka showed the Hassan the group of refugees behind them. "These people are survivors who fled the Holy City and need to-"
"I won't accept them." The Hassan said coldly, moving his face. "For a matter of fact, I won't accept any of you into my village."
"Ehm? Why?" Mash asked to the assassin.
"It is pretty obvious isn't it? Why would I welcome in people who are being escorted by a knight of the Holy City?" The Hassan responded, staring at Bedivere. "Do you all think I wouldn't question something so evident just because you're offering me refugees? Never had I seen such a badly prepared trap."
"It is not a trap! I am aware of my appearences being of the same pattern as of your enemies, but I'm not on their side!" Bedivere explained, denying to be with the Lion King. "None of us are! We came here for help and give this people a save shelter!"
Patiently letting the knight give his excuses, the Hassan was still not convinced. "Sorry, but I am not taking any chances." He lifted his right arm.
"I detect a good amount of magic energy on that arm of his. It doesn't sound great!" Romani alerted the group.
"Tsk! Guess there's no other way but to fight him!" Ritsuka and the rest of the party put in position for the battle that was about to come against the unwelcoming assassin.
But thankfully for them, Rushd stepped in. "But the village was my and mom's home at one point. The only place we could have as sanctuary from all the dangers outside. I bet that's the same to all the other of my group here. So why we can't go back to it?"
The assassin broke his intimidating posture for a moment. "Hm?! You are-..."
"I even came familiarized with this path due to how many people came here and built the villages to still pray close to the Holy Land after it was conquered and then destroyed later on! My mother said to always seek out for this village if I ever got in big trouble one day." Rushd further explained, not seeing any reason for why he and other refugees would be barred from entering the village.
"I...I do remember you." The Hassan speaked, his memory having seen that child before. "Rushd, wasn't it? Salia's son."
"Yes, that's my name. And if it wasn't for the people you are accusing of, me and the others wouldn't be here today. So we owe them their lives!" Rushd stated, defending the party of the assassin's claim.
"Hmm, and where's your mother, Rushd? Salia always used to be with you." The assassin asked to the boy, familiarized with him and his mother.
A sadness got into Rushd's face. "She-"
"Thinking better, excuse yourself from answering it." The Hassan quickly interrupted the boy, having deduced his mother's fate. "But so, you're saying these people were the ones who saved you."
"We are. The refugees and Rushd have already been through a lot." Ritsuka responded to the assassin, attempting to make him change his mind. "Please let them in. They have nothing to do with the Lion King."
On a second thought after hearing Rushd, the Hassan ended up giving in. "Fine. I'll accept the refugees into the village."
"Nicely done Fujimaru! You ended up convincing him!" Romani told Ritsuka.
"I'd say Rushd did mostly of the work on that part." Ritsuka replied, thanking the muslim boy for having made the assassin consider his opinions.
"Get a hold of yourselves! I said that the refugees can enter. I'm still prohibiting you from going in." The Hassan specified.
"Oh come on! Why not?" Romani asks the assassin.
"But I already told you that they don't mean any harm!" Rushd said to the servant.
"You may vouch for them, but I do not." The Hassan explained looking to the chaldeans and Bedivere. "Despite your acts of having saved and protected the refugees, you can never be sure of a person's true intentions. You can pretend and declare that you don't work for the Lion King, while planning to leak the location of the village to the Holy City if I let you in."
"But we won't do that! We swear we aren't with the Lion King!" Mash said to the assassin, seeing he wouldn't allow them to enter no matter what.
"Words mean very little no days. As an Old Man of the Mountain, it is my duty to keep my village save and hidden from enemies. I cannot take what you say for granted." The skull-masked assassin replied, beggining to threaten them. "Now turn around and walk back to where you came. That's the only leniency I'm willing to show you."
"Looks like we'll have to fight him after all." Nala said, negotiating with this assassin being no longer possible.
"Must we really?" Bedivere asked. "If there's other villages on the mountains we may have a better chance of getting help in those than this one."
"But who's to say the outcome won't be the same?" Ritsuka questioned, seeing that they were now at an impasse with the Hassan, not letting the party into his village.
As it all seemed to be escalating to a fight against him, with none of the sides accepting the other's condition, someone else came in to tranquilize the situation.
"Oi, why for the hostility with them, Cursed Arm? I've met that knight over there before! He's a good person!"
"Hm? Who is it now?" Ritsuka reacted to the voice.
"A second servant! Another Heroic Spirit signal has shown up on the monitor!" Romani gave the answer.
The Hassan, Cursed Arm, looked to the arriving servant behind him. "Can you be so sure that we are able to trust them, Arash?"
"I do! Why can't you do the same?" A young archer man replied to the assassin.
Bedivere immediatly recognized him as the servant who he had met back in the town next to the Holy City. "It's you!"
"Hi there! It has been some time!" The young archer smiled cheerfuly to the knight.
"Arash? Your name is that of the great persian hero?" Romani said, having heard the servant's name before.
"The warrior better known for having stopped a long dragged out war with a single arrow?" The young archer said gleefuly, presenting himself. "Yep, the one and only, Arash Kamangir!"
"I'm surprised that you heard of him before doctor." Mash told to Romani. "I wasn't very well aware of this Heroic Spirit."
"Yeah, he's kinda of an obscure legend when compared to the most famous ones. Even I'm kinda surprised to remember his myth." Romani confessed.
"Do you have to be that unintentionally rude?!" Arash protested comically. "Well, I don't know why am I upset with few people knowing me at this point!"
"What exactly are you doing here? You don't look like nor are an Hassan." Nala asked to Arash, wondering why he was around the same place the villages of the Order of the Assassins were.
"Is the Hassans the group of servants that opposes the Lion King that you mentioned to me during our meeting?" Bedivere questioned, remembering that detail from his previous conversation with Arash.
"Yep it is! Despite not being one, I decided to join forces and help the Hassans guard their villages here in the mountains." Arash explained to the knight and the party. "Which makes me a protector of the mountain people as well."
"I see. Encountering you up here int mountains was faster than I expected." Bedivere replied.
"You shared our village's location to a knight of the Holy City, Arash?!" Cursed Arm stared indignated at the archer.
"I did it because I ended up realizing he isn't affiliated at all with the Lion King while following him during one of my visits to that merchant town." Arash explained himself. "Nor the others over there for that matter. I mean, think with me Cursed Arm, if they really worked for the Lion King you'd think they would really bother rescuing refugees from the Holy Selection while fighting their own? Do I need to remind you of your reaction when you heard the news?"
"Hmm..." Cursed Arm moved his head to the side, a bit shy.
"Huh? You guys were aware of what happened at the Holy Selection?" Mash asked Arash.
"Yes. Some assassins scouts shared the event of what happened on yesterday's night at the Holy City. You should have seen Crused Arm's celebrating!" Arash laughed. "He wouldn't stop feeling overjoyed by it, exclaming that however helped the refugees escape was welcomed into the village!"
"T-That was just the happiness of the moment..." Cursed Arm responded, fumbling a bit. "It could all have been staged up to fool us."
"Hmm, I do admit that would be some insightful chess play from the Lion King, but c'mon now!" Arash leaned over Cursed Arm, putting an arm over the assassin's shoulder. "Does those teens and kid really have the face of someone who would kill and harm innocents in cold blood?" He pointed to the chaldeans. "I say we give the benefit of the doubt and let them in."
Sighing at how insistent Arash was, Cursed Arm accepted it, letting his guard down. "Fine. You may also enter my village. But I warn beforehand that if I catch you doing something suspicious your heads will roll in a second."
"Understood. We pledge to not backstab your hospitality." Bedivere told to Cursed Arm.
"We're here to help after all." Ritsuka added.
"And a couple of extra more hands is always welcome!" Arash replied with eagerness. "Now now, let's get going to the village! I'll show you the place around!"
With that being said, the party and small group of refugees all begun to follow Arash and Crused Arm at the front, the two leading them through the rest of the narrowing path torwards the village, covered amidst the mountains.
.
.
.
"Mhmmm...Gngh..."
Feeling a bothering pain in his chest, Peko slowly recovered from his unconscious state.
"Where am I...?"
The boy stared up to a white marble ceilling with a nice golden chandelier. The walls were all of well-defined white bricks. And the floor also wasn't an exception, being of white polished tiles. Peko felt his back lying on the soft mattress of a bed, lifting up his chest. "Ghg!" Doing that made the small annoying pain on his chest feel worse, the wound cut Gawain made in there with his sword still not fully recovered. "I'm lucky that hit didn't end up killing me...huh?"
Looking down to his own hands, Peko saw that they had been trapped in some sort of medieval iron shackles that covered his hands into a iron pill shape cases. "W-What's this?" He asked to himself, moving his arms and rotating his hands inside the cuffs, trying to remove them from the iron cases but without success. Peko hit the metal handcuffs on the wall near the bed, testing the resilience. "I can't grab or use my magic with this restraint!" Seeing that for now there was no way to break them, putting Peko in a situation were he was unable to use his powers, the boy took the time to watch other aspects of the room he has been put in.
Altough presumably captured and kept captive, Peko was put in a room that seemed anything but of a prisoner. A tall bookshelf and desk with a white and blue cushioned chair on the parallel wall of the bed. On the adjacent wall, a medium sized window with blue curtains of golden lines. And in front of the bed's end bench, a white and golden wardrobe and smaller desk with a mirror above it. Very different from Peko tought he would be getting if he ever was made prisoner. "At least I got some sort of VIP treatment."
Now sitting on the bed, Peko stared down at the handcuffs again, sadly reflecting on their entire entire fight against Gawain during the chaos that was the Holy Selection and how he ended up being knocked out by the Knight of the Sun while defending Ritsuka, leading him to get captured. "I hope that all of you made it."
Moving his waist, Peko felt something falling from a pocket of his pants. "Hm? What's this?" Looking to the ground where the object had landed, Peko spotted a silver and white looking metal disk with a blue lightbulb in the middle. "This was in my pocket the entire time?"
Before the boy could analyze it properly, his inner thoughts were broken, with Peko shifting his attention to the door of his room that opened up, with none other but Gawain entering his bedroom. The boy was quick and using his feet, sneaked the device under the bed.
"Good morning. I see that the young sir is finaly awake." Gawain said with a corteous smile on his face, much to Peko's own confusion. For someone who was his enemy and he almost killed some couple of hours ago, Gawain still maintained his very polite demeanor and posture. "Now, prithee, do follow me. His Majesty awaits us both."
Walking in the grand hall of the throne room, Peko was accompanied by Gawain and other two soldier knights, keeping a close eye on the boy who was still in his iron handcuffs while being escorted to meet up with the Lion King.
Peko didn't make a fuss or struggled, complying along the way. He was a prisoner in his enemy's homebase, trying to break free while being watched upon wouldn't be the brightest idea and completely useless. Peko spent the entire course torwards their destination with his head low, staring mostly on the ground he walked on, his face being calm but with a bit of apprehension to it. Who knew what plans the Lion King had for him?
Once the giant door to the throne room opened, the Lion King was sitting on her throne, awaiting the prisoner's arrival alongside the rest of the knights of the Round Table. The two soldier knights stood by the gates as only Gawain and Peko advanced forward now, the sound of their steps echoing on the clean floor. Reaching near the stairs that lead to the throne, Gawain stopped, with Peko only taking one more step before coming to a halt as well.
"My liége. Here I, Sir Gawain, bring thee the prisoner Your Majesty requested to glare at." Gawain announced obediently to the Lion King, being stared down by her and the rest of his knights companions. "I shall also await and sustain for the punishment my liége has decided to smite me with." He bowed down, stating his discipline of receiving the consequences for his failure at managing the Holy Selection.
"..." Peko gave him a quick glance, a bit impressed to how devoted and committed Gawain was to his king.
"Do not avert thy gaze, honrable prisoner."
Being spoken to, Peko immediatly moved his head, his eyes metting with the ones of the Lion King, no longer wearing her helmet. Light green eyes that had no emotion, the beautiful face of Camelot's ruler devoid of any expressions besides the cold stoic glare. A short braided blonde hair with two side bangs and a simple golden crown at the top. Her face only illuminated by the light reflection on the marble floor of the room.
"!" Peko immediatly recognized her face, the structure and definition being almost identical to the King of Storms they had faced back in London. But despite of being the same identity, the Lion King was completely different version from the King of Storms.
"There is something that I require of thee."
The Lion King, Artoria Pendragon, extended her arm to Peko.
"That light of yours that resides within thee. Thoust shall lend it to me."
To be continued...
And that was it for chapter 99!
Mash and Nala's bond just basically snapped with this. If you thought some previous chapters ago their friendship was getting cold, it got into an ice cube now. And now it remains to be seen how their friendship will be fixed, because no story is great without moments of misundertanding, disagreement and tension beetween the main character! Will Nala stop being a mean asshole to Mash and the two go back to being friends again? Eventually.
Arash is properly introduced alongside the best Hassan (if you take Gramps out of the equation) and Peko's shenanigans are about to be had in Camelot. His time spent in the Holy City will kind of be important in some way, so look forward to that.
But anyways guys, thanks for your support. Next time, big chapter 100. See ya there. Peace!
P.S:
Faust: Do we really have to do this, master?
Paracelsus: Yeah. It kinda sounds embarassing.
Ritsuka (Holding a camera and with the Command Seals at hand): C'mon guys! You don't wanna see my bad side, do you?
(Faust and Paracelsus look to each other and sigh, going along with Ritsuka's request)
Paracelsus (In a serious tone): FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST!
Faust (In a happy tone): FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST!
Ritsuka and the weeb servants: YAY!