Hello everyone and welcome back to the start of chapter 105! Starting college again next week. And like that, another whole summer vacations came and went quickly. In a blink of an eye we will be in Christmas and 2025 at this point. And damn I hope we get there soon so that I can play LB7 already. Also recently published that Acheron HSR fic I said I was thinking about doing some months ago. Go check it out if you can.
Anyways, with that out of the way, let's start it!
DISCLAIMER: All of the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author.
"Guess we meet again, Sir Agravain. Altough I presume this one meeting was a forced one by your own hand." Sanzang said with a serious face as she looked to the knight of Round Table that was now blocking her and the party's way out of the chamber alongside his subordinates.
"Pretty accurate Lady Sanzang. You showed up as I intended." Agravain replied, his eyes shifting to the chaldeans and the Hassan. "Albeit with a few more unanticipated guests. But seeing who they are, I'd say it makes the results of this trap even better."
Ritsuka couldn't help but feel sort of uneasy at being glared at by the knight's sharp stare. Agravain really had a face of someone who spent majority of his life working on duty and always treated even the smallest of matters seriously. All the contstant working showing on some traces of his face. A man who'd do the labor and service to his king and kingdom until literal exhaustion of his own body. Despite that, he tried to keep his cool. "We've heard you didn't exactly had your king's permission to be here. So what are you doing in the fort? Planning some sort of coup d'état?"
"Questioning a knight's loyalty to his sovereign is a cruel offense that should not be tolerated." Agravain replied, showing his slight distate for Ritsuka's question. "However, mere adolescent vandals like yourself would never understand, so I let that pretensious comment of yours slide off this time. Besides, my presence here is of no intention to betray His Majesty nor his Majesty needs to overview every of his knights actions if they prove devotion. That is how trust is build upon."
"Then you were only here just to make sure I would show up." Sanzang deduced from Agravain's statements. "You were the one who issued the orders to capture me and my disciple, weren't you?"
"Correct." Agravain told to the monk.
"Funny. I thought you and your buddies had accepted my decision to not join you and leave the Holy City with my disciple at my own accordance." Sanzang brought up the last conversation she had with Agravain and the other knights of the Round Table before leaving Camelot with Touta.
"Not very noble of knights to lie to others y'know?" Touta added, directing it to Agravain.
"The king allowed you to leave. Not me. Nor anyone else from the Round Table." The knight clarified, the permission of the other two servants leaving not being of his choice. "At the time I simply obliged to my ruler's commands despite not fully agreeing with it. I thought that with the right 'persuasion' we could have made Lady Sanzang join our ranks. So when you were already off the Holy City, I ordered Lancelot and his soldiers to at least capture your disciple and bring him here as prisoner the moment they'd spot you wandering near the fortress during your travel, knowing well you wouldn't be as heartless as leaving a student behind."
"Going for a person's weak point and using it as advantage. I know Sir Agravain was never the ideal image of a knight, but even he had some honor and principles." Mash commented, disliking of the methods Agravain used to attract Sanzang to the fortress.
"According to who, young lady? In difficult situations, one must appeal to more brutal and unhetical tactics as long as it is favorable to the kingdom and the king approves. The honor and principles of a knight are always with his nation and liege. It's a good thing I was already here a day before in antecipation for Lady Sanzang's arrival." Agravain replied to Mash before changing his sight to Serenity in Ritsuka's arms. "As well as on how my intuition ended up being a bad luck to your plans. Why would an Hassan come to this fortress, fighting by themselves, if not for the Hassan that is captured deep in teh dungeons below?"
"Hmm..." Cursed Arm let out a low but surly exhale, eyeing the knight with hostility.
"I have to say. She was trained very well. Hours upon hours of consecutive interrogation and battering and the assassin didn't spilled a thing of your secrets. A commendable attitude to such people that cowardly hide in shadows." Agravain gave some backhanded praise to the endurance Serenity had during the torture, ending up inciting the other Hassan's fury.
"You scum!" Cursed Arm shouted, furious at how the knight insulted their order and talked with no remorse about his torture on Serenity.
Agravain paid no mind to insult, now looking at Nala. "And you would be wise to come passively and join your sibling that awaits you." He told her. "If you turn yourself in, you can avoid conflict for now as I in return let your friends go. Even Lady Sanzang. Having you and your brother's 'pure' souls combined, would be greater to mine and my king's goals than the monk's recruitment. So consider this well, young lady. Accept the invitation and your companions can live. Plus, don't you crave to see your brother's well being again? How long has it passed since you last saw each other?" The knight tried to persuade her by using Nala's own emotions.
"Gonna let my friends live..." Nala murmured. Altough that sounded promising and she indeed wanted to see Peko again after this slow agonizing week of not knowing or having any whereabouts of him and his well being, the girl's skepticism and need to stay with the party speaked louder. "Right. Like you let Sanzang and Touta leave before scheming behind their back and do this." She said, confronting Agravain. "I bet the moment your minions finish to get a hold on me, you will proceed my friends the moment they take a step out of the fortress and even the chamber. Or perhaps...you are planning to secretly follow their way back to the village just so you can discover its location and plan a surprise raid on them. One of you already tried to convince me the same. And I'll give you the same answer I gave to her!"
"..." Agravain didn't gave a verbal response. Instead, the knight's gaze at Nala narrowed a bit. The girl appeared to be more cautious and aware than what he had hoped for.
"That's an actual good possibility." Ritsuka said, also thinking the same of what Nala said. "There's no way we are taking the word of an enemie like you for granted!"
"A shame if so. The Young Finsternis has been feeling quite lonely for some time now. Knowing his dear sister rejected to reunite with him will only break his already hopeless heart. Agravain replied, not trying to sound sad, dissapointed or anything simillar, as he was only looking for a mere reaction from the chaldeans and others.
"What?" Nala replied, wondering what Agravain meant by that, feeling poked by it.
Ritsuka immediatly stepped in. "You better not have done anything to Peko or else-"
"Your friend is doing alright. Being fairely treated even." Agravain cut Ritsuka short, quickly telling him that Peko was currently okay. "It isn't for the best of mine and my king's interests to abuse such fundamental and honored captive. Both his and his sister's souls combined would be enough to finish His Majesty's project in a short time period after all. However, it is hard to be cooperative to your enemies when alone. I fear that if it stays like that, we might have to get 'rougher' with Young Finsternis."
That last part felt like rubbing salt on the chaldeans wound. Ritsuka and Mash both giving the knight a mean stare. But obviously, the most irritated was Nala.
"!" The girl took a step forward, ready to lash at Agravain for saying that before being briefly stopped by Sanzang who put her arm in front of Nala.
"If your original plan was only my presence, then you should just direct your words at me. Leave the rest out of it!" Sanzang accused Agravain of attempting to mess with the others emotions when she was the only one the knight was originally waiting for.
"Lady Sanzang, you are well aware that I am a man that always opts to resolve a problem through diplomacy as long as it is a valid and available solution. As much, I will give you one last chance to reconsider your choice." Agravain made a sort of ultimatum, stretching his arm torwards her. "Take a seat at our table, help us attain paradise. Isn't that what a priest of Buddha craves for the most?"
"Still begging for me to join you, eh?" Sanzang sighed, closing her eyes and resting her staff on her shoulder. "To be honest, that does sound tempting enough."
"What?!" Ritsuka reacted in shock alongside the rest of the party when hearing that.
"You can't be really considering joining them idiot!" Touta said, baffled at Sanzang, thinking how his 'mentor' could even think of that after the attack Agravain set up for them which ended up with the bowman being captured.
"Why not? Thinking back at the Holy City, that place was as close to an utopia that any physical place could ever be." Sanzang replied, the response not pleasing the group at all while Agravain was slightly getting his hopes up. "I applaud you for the efforts of making such city possible. No crimes, no sinners, no disarray. It really makes me think that the Lion King isn't wrong in this nor had bad motives, you know? Such promising ruler who aims for the best outcome of the entire humanity surely makes it hard to pick a side in here."
"You can't be serious!" Nala almost yelled at the monk. "We've been through all this trouble of rescuing your disciple after you came looking for aid only for you to be thinking about siding with the enemy who did this in the first place?!"
"Yeah. I know it sounds stupid. But I'd say the Lion King and his knights do make some good points and have a great objective." Sanzang replied, rubbing her chin while reflecting about it, much to the party's growing distaste.
On the other hand, a little smile curved on Agravain's lips as he thought Sanzang was about to take his king's side.
"However, you did in some form lied to us and captured my disciple. That is a thing I cannot overlook." Sanzang said, not having liked the way Agravain had schemed against her and Touta. "That, added with other couple of facts I witnessed on my journey here, shows how you and your king may have a good intention but a very poor execution. I don't feel like working with people who can't recognize and make up for their errors. It really makes me question if the Lion King's nature is truly that of a benevolent king. Such ruler that aspires for harmony wouldn't be killing innocents, would he?" The monk said, pointing out the Lion King and the knights downsides. "Perhaps 'paradise' isn't your actual king's goal. No, there must be more to it. The desert, the Lion King, the Blight, the end of humanity beyond this Singularity. Having been summoned here, I shall learn the truth behind those things!"
"Now that's more like it!" Ritsuka said, relieved that Sanzang had backtracked on her decision of joining them.
"I was already thinking I had to hit you in the head to see if you'd get back to your senses!" Touta slightly rebuked her, feeling that for a moment Sanzang would really be switching sides.
"Hehehe, sorry about that!" Sanzang smiled like a silly at Touta. "I just wanted to take both sides in consideration before doing my choice."
"It is a no then." Agravain said in a dead voice, lowering his arm.
"Yeah. Perhaps back then there could still be a chance but not anymore. That ship has sailed off." Sanzang confimred it her decision to not join the knights and return to the Holy City.
"Hmm. Very well." Agravain briefly closed his eyes, accepting the monk's rejection on his offer. "Off with you so." Procaliming it in a calm and stable tone, the knight ordered to his subordinates to attack immediatly.
"It was only a matter of time!" Cursed Arm exclaimed, bringing forth his weapon. "Let's defeat them and get out of here! Hundred Personas has been holding on for quite a while now! She probably won't last longer!"
"Agreed! We need to defeat the enemy and leave here as quickly as possible!" Mash replied, summoning her shield as everyone else also got ready to fight. "Master!"
"Let's open the way!" Ritsuka replied to his servant, giving the command for her and the rest to engage in the fight against the soldier knights while he kept Serenity in his arms.
The first minutes were being handled well by them, Agravain's soldiers barely being much of a challenge for the party. Much of it thanks to Sanzang's power.
"Uoh!" Multiplying herself, the monk lady and her cloud clones would gang up on two or more soldiers, proceeding to combine their efforts against them and combo the enemies, leaving the others to the rest of the party.
"Sanzang-san is incredible." Mash commented after bashing her shield on an enemy, seeing Sanzang and her copies working together.
"When not being a goofball, she sure is!" Touta replied behind Mash, firing an arrow that ended up knocking down three soldiers at once.
"Yah!" Nala was also pulling her own work together with Cursed Arm, both switly dodging and moving around their enemies, putting them down as fast. Many were the soldiers that had their focus on Nala. Being the pure soul that ended up escaping them at the Holy Selection back then, Agravain wanted most of the unit to target the girl, also having mainly of his attention on her, seeing how she fought and fared in a battle.
"Precise Stroke!"
"Protection From Wind!"
As Cursed Arm nicely evaded the combined attack of two soldier knights, Nala stepped in at that exact moment, bringing her light sword down on them, slashing the two soldier knights and others that were behind them, the cut passing near Agravain who didn't even flinched, having just watched majority of his forces being brought down.
"Looks like things aren't looking good for you stone face!" Touta told to the knight. "Thinking about stepping in or are you going to continue standing there like a statue?"
Snapping his fingers, Agravain called the remaining active soldiers and some new ones that arrived to the chamber, all standing in front of him. "Since you called for it..." Opening his right hand and stretching his arm, Agravain casted a spell on them, summoning red chains from the ground and passing them on his soldiers. It worked like a transformation of sorts, the soldier knights armours transforming into pitch black with red lines once the chains went trhough their bodies.
"Ghg-GhggRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
The unit of modified and buffed soldiers screamed, powered up and more agressive.
"Crap!" Touta cursed, seeing the situation had decided to become harder.
"The way those soldiers are acting...It's like if they were sort of posessed by madness!" Nala stated, observing the more hostile looking enemies.
"Doctor! Can you tell us what Agravain did to those soldiers?" Mash asked Romani's assistance.
"They seem mad because they were infected with Madness Enchantment! Agravain had reinforced their physical and strenght stats with the magical material of his chains! Now they're behaving and fighting more like barbarians!" Romani explained, detecting the reason why the soldier knights were now acting more hostile.
"Could this be Agravain's Gift?" Ritsuka wondered.
"You are severly mistaken. I do not possess a Gift." Agravain revealed, much to the party's bewilderment.
"What?! This power was not given to you by the Lion King? It's entirely your own?" Romani asked, baffled.
"Out of all the knights of the Round Table, I was the only one to humbly turn down my king's offer of a gift. Not that it makes me less loyal than the others. I just felt no appeal torwards it at the time." Agravain explained why he didn't had a Gift unlike the rest of the knights. "It does allow me to have some 'liberties'."
"Tsk! So he is doing all of this without having some sort of backup from his king." Ritsuka told to himself, locking his eyes at Agravain. He could see that this knight was in some way, not like the rest they had encountered before. "This guy...he really acts different from the others!"
"Bewitching Rosy Cheeks!"
Striking her staff on the floor, Sanzang casted her own skill spell on the party, giving them buffs as well. "More or less difficult, we still have to beat them up! A journey is full of detours and inconvenient obstacles! But by no way it means we will get less demotivated by it!"
"Sanzang's right! We need to pull this through!" Ritsuka replied, deciding to use one of his Command Seals to also help. "Continue fighting everyone!"
"Got it!"
"Understood master!"
Both Nala and Mash replied at the same time, the party now having to deal with a second and more agressive and savage wave of enemies. And despite Sanzang's and Ritsuka's supportive enchantments, the group was having more trouble in defeating the madness enchanted soldier knights. Due to having been ingrained the same attributes as those of Agravain's red chains, the soldiers, altough not fully immune, had become more resistant and resilient to the blows of servants, taking a lot more of energy and effort to take them down.
It wouldn't be much if a hassle if it were only a few of the enemies who had such effects. However, being an entire battalion of them, the party was slowly losing the upper hand of the fight, starting to be overpowered by Agravain's minions. Defeating one of them would only make two take the place.
"Ggh!" Blocking the hit of an enemy, Mash's feet still ended up dragging on the ground, being pushed by the mere strenght of the blow. As the shielder was recovering her stamina, another soldier knight tried to sneak on her.
"Watch out!" Cursed Arm shouted, coming in rescue as he flashed torwards the enemy and cut him down before he could take Mash by surprise. "Are you alright, Lady Mash?"
"Didn't saw him coming! Thank you for that, Cursed Arm-san!" Mash replied to the Hassan.
"These enemies don't stop coming! It won't take longer for them to fill the whole chamber at this rate!" Cursed Arm warned with some worry, seeing how another squad of knights had arrived to lend their aid to their colleagues while also being enchanted by Agravain's chains.
"If only I could produce more clones to even the numbers out!" Sanzang protested a bit, seeing the limit she had in summoning cloud clones of herself, unable to count the large amount of enemies with them. "They're starting to look like rice grains on a bowel!"
"No way you're thinking about giving up after that whole 'we still have to beat them up' speech!" Touta said to her, he and Sanzang close to each other as they fended off against the enemies that were surrounding them. "If you speak it, you can also do it!"
"I'm not giving up! I'm just trying to allign my chakras here!" Sanzang replied back to Touta. "With you as my disciple here, of course I can't give bad impressions as your mentor!"
"I'd say my impressions of you have been neither positive nor negative." Touta responded on his own head, giving a side glance.
"This isn't looking nice! If Agravain calls more reinforcements, our chances of getting out of here while go from slim to zero!" Romani analyzed the situation, observing the hardship the group was having on fighting off against the strenghtened soldier knights.
"We're being pushed back! We have to counter them with something!" Ritsuka commented, his eyes staring at Nala who was the one getting more soldier knights onto her since she was a priority to Agravain.
"Ngh! Dammit!" Nala tanked and blocked some couple of attacks from the enemies that were ganging up on her.
"Air Step!"
Attempting to get some room, Nala sliced down and dodged as many soldiers and hits as she could, trying to move away from the relentless foes that were addicted in capturing her. "They aren't giving me any inch!" Seeing the path ahead of her being blocked by more soldiers, the girl parried an incoming arrow and then the blade of a lance of one of the knights before using it as plataform to lay her feet on and jump above the horde, trying to see if she could land near the rest of the group while still in midair.
Seeing her way up high in the chamber, Agravain took the opportunity that she was visible to invoke his red chains on the ceilling above the unaware Nala, sending them down on her in order to restrain the target.
Fortunately, Ritsuka catched sight of the chains. "Nala! Above you!"
"Hm!" Lifting up her head, Nala reacted quickly, hitting the chains away with her sword. However, turning around her body, left the girl open to a flying arrow fired by a soldier knight below her, hitting near her ankle. "Gghg!" It made Nala lose the momentum and fall torwards the ground helplessly.
With the fallen girl now trying to get back on her feet in his vision, Agravain didn't lose time and with a swing of his arm that shook his cape, the knight summoned more red chains through invoking magic circles near him and sending the chains bolting torwards Nala. "Precisely where I wanted."
"NALA!" Ritsuka yelled, seeing the red chains about to reach his friend but too far from being able to intervene.
"!" Moving her head, Nala's eyes saw the red glowing chains sprinting torwards her, the chances of her dodging in time being non-existent.
"Move away!" Mash shouted in that moment, abruptly coming in and shoving Nala away from the chains reach.
"Aah!" Being violently pushed away, Nala hit the ground and landed near Ritsuka as Mash took her place, ending up being the on restrained by Agravain's chains.
"Gah!" The shielder let out a painful yelp as the chains immobilized her arms and legs, tightly tying her up, forcing Mash to drop the shield on the ground.
"..." Agravain got disgruntled by Mash's intervention, his actual target slipping through his fingers. But once he took a proper glance at Mash's weapon, his expression changed to that of someone curious. "That shield..." Agravain was certain he had seen a similar one like that before, giving another glance at Mash's overall armour and even face and hair. It all seemed oddly familiar, enticing the knight's interest.
"M-Mash?" Nala looked appaled at the shielder as she got up from the ground, now free from danger. "Why? Why would you-"
"Mash is a very caring, gentle and good-hearted person."
"And so, she's also capable of forgiving the mistakes of people that are dear to her, because she doesn't want to lose them."
Gasping, Nala's eyes widened at the realization to why the shielder that. "Mash you...You..." Troubled, Nala instinctively took a step forward to Mash's direction.
"Mash has been restrained!" Romani exclaimed, highly worried, alerting the others.
"Mash!" Even with Serenity in his hands, seeing Mash in huge trouble made Ritsuka for get that for an instance, about to run torwards his servant.
"Stay away! Don't try help me!" Mash shouted, not wanting Ritsuka, Nala or anybody else to approach her, making her two companions stay in their places. "Master. Nala." Looking at both of them, Mash proceeded to say what she thought would be the best action for them to do in this situation. "Forget about me! Leave me behind and escape!"
"Huh?" Nala reacted in muddled turmoil while Ritsuka was in absolute bewilderment.
"Don't say that, Mash! We aren't getting out of here without you!" He said, being completly against that. Abandoning Peko and Da Vinci was already painful to him. Ritsuka didn't want to do that again for the third time.
"Fujimaru's right! There's no way we can leave you Mash!" Romani also speaked up.
"You have to! Please understand!" Mash begged, trying to convince them to escape without her while the trio of Cursed Arm, Sanzang and Touta were doing their best in holding off against the rampant soldier knights. "If you stay here any longer, Agravain will capture us all! We can't allow that to happen! Better to be only me than all of us!"
Ritsuka still didn't want to take that option. "Still, that's-"
"It will be okay! I'll be okay, master." Mash said, this time with more tranquility, managing to express a smile to Ritsuka as well as torwards Nala and Romani. "I will find a way to get out of this alive eventually. I'm not planning on dying yet! Not until we get Peko back to us! And certainly not until the end of our journey!" She stated, doing her best to try and get up on her own feet, struggling against the chains. "While that is yet to come, I will always stick to my companions!"
"!" That declaration of the shielder made something move inside Nala, the words going deep and touching her heart.
"M-Mash..." Ritsuka muttered, his emotions as a leader and friend getting into conflict, unsure if he had enough of a strong will to leave Mash behind.
"Eh. Everything will be fine, senpai." Mash told him with a warm smile before feeling the chains around her getting tighter. "Ggh!"
"That is enough of your paltry sense of sacrifice." Agravain coldly told her, controlling the chains as his soldiers were still keep the others busy. "You might not be what I was aiming to capture. Nevertheless, I think the young lady does look sort of 'abnormal'." He commented on Mash's appearence. "My king will surely think the same way once you are presented to His Majesty."
"..." Mash could only give him a brief glance before feeling the chains getting even rougher, coming to a point where she could barely move any inch of her limbs, causing more pain to her. "Gghghraaah!" As her skin was aching and starting to get some bruises, Mash painfully stared at the ground, drops of sweat falling from her chin. "But if I do not survive...then I'm sorry for having lied to you." Mash closed her eyes, resigned with her capture. "Perhaps this is the punishment I deserve."
.
.
.
"Kristallblume!"
"Huh?"
Opening her eyes again, Mash felt a sudden release and relief around her body and skin as she did not felt the pressure of the chains on her anymore. As she moved her head to know why, Mash saw Nala behind her in her own armour, having sliced down Agravain's chains, freeing her.
"Nala?"
"I don't..!"
With adrenaline and a urge to fight and protect taking over her body, Nala dashed torwards the legion of soldier knights, slashing many of them with a single slice, lifting up huge gusts of wind inside the chamber.
"What?!" Agravain protected his own face with his arms, bewildered by what he was seeing.
"I don't..!"
Sprinting through the middle of the horde of enemies, Nala was going so fast that all the attempts of the soldiers from catching and hitting her being in vain, ending up being sliced down left and right by the extremely light reflexes and attacks from the girl, leaving a line of open space as she rushed through.
"I don't..!"
Taking a huge jump, Nala stood up high, staring down at all the soldier knights in her vacinity below her, lightning up her blade, putting a lot of mana into it.
"I don't want to lose you, Mash!"
"!" Mash felt astonished by that statement of Nala as the girl swinged down her sword at the multiple enemies on the ground, being so powerful that several of the soldier knights ended up flying off the ground, catched by the violent winds before being abrutply thrown back at the floor, a huge slice left on the chamber's walls and ground. With that, the party got to have some space and time to breath, no longer being vastly pushed back by the many opponents they were fighting.
"Ah...extraordinary." Agravain commented on Nala's power, his mouth slightly open in awe.
Coming down, Nala landed right in front of Mash. "So Mash..."
"Hm?" The shielder looked up to the girl, still on her knees.
"Can you still fight together with us?" Nala asked, a friendly smile on her face as she turned around to ask the question to Mash, stretching her hand to her friend.
That simple gesture, it meant a lot to Mash. It had been quite some time since she had seen Nala smile to her. It felt like seeing a beautifuly joyful bird that had returned from a long flight. What Ritsuka had told her back a week ago, was starting to become true. "Heh. Of course." She replied, grabbing her shield and taking her friend's hand, getting back on her feet.
"..." Ritsuka himself couldn't help but watch silently and smile at the small moment the two had with each other. He could tell their reconciliation was closer than ever before.
"Now I see why Gawain had so much trouble when fighting against you. What a great display of your skills." Agravain speaked, bringing the party's attention to the knight who stepped up. "I will make sure that my liege gets to meet you." He stared at Nala, about to take out his own sword.
"Bring it then!" Nala responded back, taking her combat stance alongside Mash and the rest, the entire group ready to go at Agravain and his knights that were slowly getting up from the ground after suffering Nala's assault.
But as Agravain was about to confront them, he sensed something was off in the chamber. "Hm?! Dammit!" Frustrated, the knight quickly stepped back, retreating. "Almost fell into this trap!" Going all the way back to the exit, he gave one last stare at the party. "Looks like you get this victory for now. But next time, I will be more wary of your tricks, people of Chaldea." And with that he went away, much to everyone's puzzlement.
"He fled? Just like that?" Touta asked, utterly confused.
"All talk and no bite I suppose." Nala replied.
"No. There was clearly something that made him retreat immediatly without thinking twice." Sanzang didn't felt so sure that it was just Agravain being a coward, because knowing the knight, he was anything but one.
"Yeah. He mentioned something about a trap. But what trap?" Romani rubbed his chin, trying to figure out before noticing something. "Eh? The soldiers in front of you! Look at them!" He pointed out, making the party look at where he was looking.
"Hm? What does the soldiers-" Moving his head, Ritsuka ended up seeing what Romani was talking about.
"Gaaaaaaaaaaahhh!"
"It hurts! It hurts!"
"Cursed toxin!"
All of the soldier knights that were still up and alive immediatly started to suffer and contort their bodies in agony before falling limp to the ground like flies. Like that, the party didn't had to worry about fighting anymore enemies inside the chamber as they all had mysteriously died.
"What happened now exactly?" Ritsuka asked, clueless.
Cursed Arm had a guess. "Toxin? That means the air was-"
"I secretly filled the air of the room with poison using my sweat... during your fight." Serenity revealed, looking to still be conscious on Ritsuka's arms. "I waited for...you to be at a certain distance from the enemy...to release it and spread across the chamber..."
"Eh. Well done then." Ritsuka complemented the Hassan's secret trick that granted them the win despite having looked unconscious for the entirety of the fight.
Serenity, altough weakened, smiled back at him, nodding her head. "Hm hm." She was mesmerizised just by the sight of him.
"A furtive trick, truly worthy of our order. You did well, Serenity." Cursed Arm also congratulated her companion, happy that even in an injured state, she was still able to pull such thing off. "But let's leave the conversation for later! We got what we came for and now it's time to leave! Hundred Personas must be neat exhaustion by this point! Let's hurry!"
Agreeing with him, the party immediatly left the chamber and the dungeons, running torwards the outside of the fortress where they would reunite with the other Hassan.
On the fort's entrance, Hundred Personas and her variations were still fighting and doing her job as bait until the others had come out with Serenity and Touta retrieved. But as the time passed, the numbers of her squad were getting shorter. The situationg getting more complicated to manage.
As another one of her versions ended up defeated, the Hassan fastly threw her daggers at the soldier knight, killing him in retaliation before kicking down another one that was approaching her. "Tsk! It's been half an hour already and they still didn't got out!" Hundred Personas hopes were already getting low and her body was beggining to get exhausted from the long period of continuous fighting without breaks. "Those jerks better not be up to something!"
Already thinking the chaldeans may have set her and Cursed Arm up and betrayed them, high noises from a group of horses echoed as the horses themselves stormed out of the fort's front gates, taking everyone else by surprise. Running across the battlefield that now got even more chaotic due to the horse incident, the soldier knights desperatly trying to catch the fleeing animals, Hundred Personas noticed some horses heading torwards her with people riding them.
"Hundred Personas, we're here!" Cursed Arm signal to his companion as he and the party were all escaping the fortress with the horses. "Hop on!"
Briefly amazed and grateful that they had finally showed up, Hundred Personas disassembled her remaining variations and jumped to the other Hassan's ride, taking the moment to leave with them. "About time!"
"What did we told you? We would hold our end of the deal, wouldn't we?" Ritsuka said to the assassin with a smile before giving a glance at Serenity who was holding him tightly on his back, resting. "We got your friend back just like promised!"
"Serenity!" Hundred Personas exclaimed, greatly relieved in seeing the other Hassan again, Cursed Arm approaching his horse to Ritsuka so that she could take a closer look at Serenity. "You're alive! I'm so happy that you are!"
Slightly opening her eyes, Serenity smiled as she heard the voice of her companion. "I'm happy to see you again too...Hundred Personas..."
Almost letting go the control of her emotions, Hundred Personas hold back her smile as she gave some few coughs. "Learn to be more careful next time, you idiot." Despite saying that, she couldn't deny to herself that she was beyond happy that Serenity was well and with life. Moreso, as the party got further and further away from the fortress in the dark of the night, Hundred Personas needed to tell something. "Hey, people of Chaldea."
"Hm?" Being called, Ritsuka gave a glance at the Hassan alongside Mash and Nala who were on other horse, wanting to hear what the assassin had to say for them.
"Thank you for rescuing her." Hundred Personas congratulated them, a little smile escaping from her lips as she swallowed her previous distrust and hatred she had for them.
In return, Ritsuka and the other two smiled back at her as they were all on their way back to the village after the successful mission. "A pleasure to help always!"
.
.
.
"What bothers thee, my liege?"
"This upcoming winter will be rougher and more devastating than the previous one, Bedivere. I divine that some sacrifices will need to occur in order to maintain Camelot's prosperity."
"...I see, my king. Whatever necessary for the kingdom and its people's future."
The knight respectfully bowed to his ruler, both standing atop of the castle's walls. The king's ever stoic glaze observing the view in front of her. It has been many years since both knew each other by now, the knight being one of the longest companions and subordinates that had served King Artoria Pendragon so far. Bedivere had been there since almost the very beggining, having witnessed the sovereign he pledged his fidelity to gather fame, power and followers across Britain, save it from its nightmare and being crowned as the new rightful ruler of the entire nation.
But despite being present in most of those glorious moments of victory and glory with his king, there was still something across all these years that still couldn't sit quite right to Bedivere.
"Pardon me, my king, but is there something that I might ask of thee?"
Hearing the request but still looking at the landscape in front of her, the King of Knights gave permission to her knight.
"Do apprise what it is, Bedivere."
"Well, it might sound incredibly inane to make this question to thou, considering the amount of things that we've been through by now but, even after all these years, I always go back to think on that moment...In my own eyes, I felt like I never had qualification to be one of Your Majesty's knight of the Round Table, so why did thoust made me one all those years back? I think I lack the courage or strenght of my companions. The more I reflect on it, the more I believe I never deserved a seat at the table next to you all."
"...Because I too, believe I am not worthy."
"Huh?"
Bedivere was taken by surprise by such unpredictable response of his king. To hear such disclosed secret of hers that deep down, despite all the triumphs and battles won, Artoria also had issues regarding her own role as king to her people. A secret so esoteric that Artoria only felt okay to reveal it to one of her most preceding knights at that time, no one from the Round Table with maybe the exception of Sir Kay knowing about it.
"But, my king, I do not comprehend. Why does thou say that?"
"In harsh times like these, the line between good and evil is a blurry one, Bedivere. There is always bad deeds that are for the sake of good and good deeds that desguise evil purposes. As a king, I long have sullied my sword and become an inscrutable monster. And a monster is perceived by many as an horrendous, evil creature. Yet, if the monster exists to protect someone from others, is its existence either a good or evil one? For years have I volunteered to take that mantle. And now, I can hardly distinguish the needs of the kingdom from the feelings of my people."
"..."
"However, as knights and leaders to our nation, we must still be able to discern the line that separates our friends from our foes. A compassion that can make us see the difference. That is why you are fundamental to the Round Table, Bedivere. Your compassion is a virtue lacking in so many of us. And caring knights like you are essential to remember us that despite the voices of discontent and consternation, it is still our duty to make the common people feel happy and safe. That they are not the enemy."
"...My compassion..."
The knight was with some stupefaction, looking incredulously at his king's justification of why Bedivere was deemed worthy and important as a member of the Round Table in Artoria's eyes despite he himself thinking otherwise. Bedivere even doubted if the compassion he had could be deemed as important as strength or courage for the Round Table, or if he even was the most compassionate knight out of all of them when Sir Percival also existed.. Unknown on how to respond that, the knight instead went on a tangent.
"Well...I did find joy at the simplicity of the news about a woman's succesful birthing. In an era where many lives are lost and taken, seeing one being born does fill me with glimmers of hope."
"Hm..."
Taking her eyes out of the scenario, Artoria went to stare at Bedivere behind her. Letting go off of her grim and stoic expressions, the king found what her knight said to be endearing, thankful for having such kind knight at her side.
Looking at her, Bedivere saw a precious and warm smile on his liege's face, a rare event to witness. A earnest face to see that her people could still find happiness.
"Yes. I find it beautiful as well."
.
.
.
"Ah!"
Opening his eyes in an instant, Bedivere had been pulled out from his dream and wake up in uproar, his torso immediatly lifting up from the bed as he brought both hands to his face.
Taking some breaths, the knight calmed his own heartbeats as he found himself alone in the small bedroom of a random stone house of the village. "Those memories again..." Bedivere whispered, thinking deeply of the dream he had while staring at Airgetlám in front of him, moving the metal fingers of the prothesis. Staring at the blankets for some seconds before taking a look at the outside through the window on his right, seeing that it was already night by the time he had finally recovered, hearing some type of festive noises outside, making him curious to what was happening.
"How long have I been asleep?" The knight wondered as he got out of bed and walked torwards the exit of the house, opening the door and ending up being taken aback by what he was now seeing.
The entire village was feasting. Partying all around. Noises of laughter and music flowing in the air as all the houses were incredibly illuminated, with a giant bonfire at the center of the village where many of the inhabitants were dancing and enjoying themselves in huge happiness. It was all a stark contrast from the quiet, hapeless and degrading village he and the others had found it when they had first arrived here.
Bedivere could only wonder what was the reason behind such joy. "What's happening here?"
Standing near the house that Bedivere had just recovered, Arash was peacefully observing the party taking place when he listened Bedivere speaking, instantly looking at Bedivere standing some feet ahead of him to his left. "Bedivere! You're finally awake dude!" The archer exclaimed, getting up and heading torwards the knight, surprising him by putting his arm over Bedivere's shoulder.
"A-Arash!?" Bedivere replied as he was caught off guard by Arash's sudden appearence. "How long have I been asleep?"
"Eish! I dunno man, for about almost a whole day I'd say." Arash revealed to the knight. "But hey, glad to see you finally hopping out of bed! Everybody! Bedivere is finally awake!" He shouted, spreading the fact Bedivere was conscious again to everyone else, mainly to the Chaldea group who didn't waste time and went to see the knight again.
"Bedivere-san! It's so good to see you awake again! How are you feeling?" Mash asked him, joyous that Bedivere had recuperated from the fatigue in his previous fight against Mordred.
"I think I'm feeling better than I was before." Bedivere replied with a gentle smile, moving Airgetlám. "At least it isn't hurting as much as before."
"That's great to hear! You woke up just in time to party with us!" Ritsuka told the knight.
"Party? Why are you even partying?" Bedivere asked, confused.
"And this is the part where we explain everything that you missed to this point. Sit tight!" Arash told to Bedivere, he, Ritsuka and Nala telling him what happened when he was unconscious, from meeting with Sanzang to raid a knights fortress, fight Agravain and rescue Serenity and Touta.
"Oh, so that's why." Bedivere commented, finally having the context. "In that case, I'm happy that you-huh?" Feeling something poking his arm, the knight look down to see Nala calling his attention with a basket full of riceballs on top of her head.
"Have some to eat. Altough servants don't need food, you must be sort of hungry, no?" Nala advised the knight, invinting him to take out a riceball out of the basket.
A bit dazed by the girl's kind act, Bedivere eventually accepted the offer in good will. "Thank you." He said, grabbing one riceball.
"Freshly and warmly made! Hope you like it!" Nala told the knight as he took a bite.
"Today's night has just gotten better, I see." Cursed Arm speaked, approaching the group. "It's a joy that you can join us on the celebration. Feel yourself free to party tonight." He told to Bedivere before looking to the others. "You should also go back to the festival if you want. I perceive that this night will be of a cheerful peace that this village hasn't had in quite a while."
"Right! I think I'll return to the bonfire." Ritsuka said, wenting to look at Mash and Nala. "What about you two?"
"I'll also stay at the bonfire with you, master." Mash told him.
"I will continue to distribute Touta's rice food to everyone in the village. He and Sanzang asked me for my help." Nala told them. "So gotta deliver these while they're still hot!"
"Fou fou!"
"Well, I've alread did my job at guarding our sleepy knight here, so I think I'll be enjoying myself as well!" Arash told them, about to accompany Ritsuka and Mash to the center of the village. "Will you join in?" He asked to Bedivere first however, looking back at him and then at the village. "Seeing all of these people happy is kinda contagious. You could say the happiness of others is also our own happiness!"
Bedivere gave a smile at that comment, resonating with him. "Couldn't have said better." He said to Arash before joining him and Ritsuka and Mash, walking torwards the gathering and festival at the bonfire.
"Eat! Eat till your hearts content and celebrate Western Village! With the powers of my Inexhaustible Bale, the lack of food and rice will never be a problem, so eat as much as you desire!" Touta announced on top of his lungs as he was taking out rice from his countless rice bags nonstop with the help of Sanzang, putting them in straw baskets, filling them up as a big line of villagers awaited their turn to taste the appetizing rice. "Remember, there is enough to everybody so no need to break the line! Children and elderly first!"
"It's so good!"
"Hum! It tastes great!"
"Glad you're enjoying it!" Sanzang said to a pair of children who were bitting their respective riceballs. "There's always more if you feel like it."
Walking torwards their improvised market stand, Nala dropped the empty basket on top of the stand. "This one got empty already! Needing a refill immediatly!"
"Oh! That quick? My, you really are doing wonders!" Sanzang said impressed, approaching Nala and grabbing the basket. "You know, just festival like this makes me remember of the Lantern Festival, Yuánxiāo Jié, of my time! Every 15th day of the first lunar month, everyone in China would come out of their homes to celebrate! It was made to symbolize a farewell to our New Year's celebrations!"
"Wow! That sounds incredible!" Nala replied, not actually paying much attention to it. "Anyways, can you-"
"Ah, it was wonderful, you know? The mood was almost the same as this one. Except in the Lantern Festival, people used to light and play riddles with lanterns that would go from simple to elaborate!" Sanzang continued, being very deep in on her nostalgia.
"Okay, that's great I think. Can you just put the rice in the basket?" Nala said, dropping the act that she was pretending to care about whatever Sanzang was talking.
But the buddhist priest continued. "And we would also eat riceballs like these ones, except they were sweet! Tangyuan was what they were called!" Sanzang licked her lips, thinking about it. "Hmm, mentioning it now, I'd love to have some of-uegh?!"
"Stop chattering during work and fill the basket already!" Touta yelled behind her, hitting the monk in the head with a wodden spoon. "We aren't doing community service for you to be slacking off!"
"Doing it, doing it!" Sanzang replied, finally supplying the basket with rice. "Since when disciples treat their mentors this rudely?"
"When they're acting like idiots." Touta told her, proceeding to stare at Nala. "Sorry for the inconvenience. Keep up the good work, Nala!"
"Aye aye!" Nala picked up the basket and saluted Touta before being on her way to deliver more riceballs to the inhabitants across the village.
Some minutes passed as Nala continued to deliver the riceballs to the villagers, going to wherever place she was needed and requested as they craved to continue eating the food. Even if it looked like simple riceballs, once Nala had also took a taste of it, she found out how amazingly good Touta's food actually was, resulting on her being a bit jealous and emaressed that the best she could do in cooking terms was magically create bland food with no taste by simply using random objects. She really needed to better herself on that aspect.
"Oh! I let it one fall!"
"?" Hearing a voice not so distant from her, Nala moved her head, spotting Serenity a few meters to her right, now with her wounds treated, about to pick up a riceball that had fell from the basket she was holding in her hands.
"Wait! Don't touch it, Serenity!" Hundred Personas exclaimed, standing next to her fellow Hassan. "That will be contaminated once you touch it, remember?"
Getting that warning, Serenity immediatly let go the riceball from her hand. "Ah! S-Sorry Hundred Personas! I was about to do a mistake."
"A serious one at that." Hundred Personas replied, softly hitting Serenity's top of the head with her own basket of rice that she had. "Idiot."
"Hmph!" Serenity mildly yelped as she was hit in the head.
"Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot." Hundred Personas said monotonously, continuing to repeatedly land the basket on the other Hassan's head.
"Needing a helping hand?" Nala asked as she approached the assassin duo.
"No, thank you. We are doing well on our own." Hundred Personas replied to Nala, sounding more amicable to her as well as Ritsuka and Mash. Ever since they had return from the fort, she had become more accepting of the chaldeans. It had seemed they really got her trust.
"I see. How are you doing by the way, Serenity?" Nala asked to the other assassin.
"A lot better, thank you. Those few hours of rest did well to my body." Serenity replied, showing that she was fine again, no more injuries on her body.
"Still, there was no need to volunteer. Your wounds had barely finished healing." Hundred Personas told to her companion. "You should be resting until tomorrow morning."
"I appreciate your concern with me, Hundred Personas." Serenity smiled at the other Hassan. "But I feel like I have to compensate you all for having made you go through the trouble of invading a knight's base and rescuing me."
"You could compensate that by resting and not being an idiot, idiot!" Hundred Personas replied, once again hitting Serenity's head with the basket.
"Ouch!"
"You really do seem to care a lot for her." Nala commented the interaction between the two before giving a sheepish smile and staring to the side. "Altough you look a bit angry at her right now."
"Don't get me wrong kid. Serenity might be a cold and skilled assassin killer just like the rest of us, but she's also very soft-hearted and shy behind the mask." Hundred Personas told to Nala. "To be honest and not being a thing I tell to anybody else...I kinda see her as some sort of younger sister." She said calmly and with some bashfulness on her voice.
"H-Hundred Personas?!" Serenity reacted in stun, blushing a bit from embaressment.
"So of course sometimes I might get mad at her when Serenity foolishly gets herself in danger. That I am not there to guarantee she'll be okay. That she sometimes doesn't listen to my advices or even tries to lie to me. But deep down, I'll always forgive her! Why? Because I know that Serenity doesn't do those things out of spite for me or anything like that. In the end, she is still a lovable person that I care about as much as she cares about me."
"..." Nala listened to those words of Hundred Personas with great attention, indirectly and unintentionally sounding like advices to her. Some kind of vent she needed to hear.
"P-Please, Hundred Personas! Y-You're speaking like I can't take care of myself..." Serenity told to the other Hassan, still blushing.
"Hey! It ain't my fault that you ended up being captured which can make people get impression of that!" Hundred Personas replied back. "Pff, honestly, you younger Hassans always need to be more careful and watch your step. Remeber of that young Hassan that you usually sticked around with? What was his name exactly? Shining Star?"
"Don't bring him up, Hundred Personas!" Serenity speaked, slightly increasing her voice. "His sacrifice for the people of his village was a worthy one! His death and all of our other colleagues were not in vain!"
"And I don't want the same to happen to you!" Hundred Personas replied in the same tone. "That's why I always tell you to be careful! The longer you stay alive, the better! We cannot afford any more loses!"
"Yeah." Nala smiled a bit, finally speaking. "I do think Hundred Personas concerns are valid. We always want to make sure the people we care about are okay."
"I do think I have to agree on that. Never saw anyone else more worried about my well being in this Singularity than Hundred Personas." Serenity commented, giggling.
"It looks you are speaking from experience there." Hundred Personas replied, happy that Nala got her point of view.
"You can kinda say that." Nala chuckled, seeing some parallels that Hundred Personas and Serenity had between herself and another person. Maybe it was about time...
"This was a nice conversation. But we really can't be talking for hours right now." Hundred Personas said, about to leave the place. "We still need to deliver these riceballs to people who may want it. See ya around!" She told to Nala, turning around to walk away. "Let's go, Serenity."
"Sure." Serenity replied, picking up her own basket of rice and about to join the other Hassan.
"Wait a moment! There's something I wanna ask you!" Nala speaked to Serenity, making the assassins halt in her movement.
"What do you want to ask me?" Serenity replied, looking back at Nala.
"They said the reason you got captured was because you infiltrated the Holy City in the first place, correct?" Nala asked, Serenity confirming it with a nod. "I don't know if you'll recall it or not, but inside there, have you by any chance bumped into a boy? One around my height with short and a bit spiky white hair?" The girl asked if the Hassan had seen her brother. Agravain had told them back in the fort that Peko was doing fine, but she couldn't have his word for granted, so the girl was now asking to someone else to confirm it.
"A boy?" Serenity wondered, thinking for a bit before remembering. "Oh! I did saw a boy when inside the Holy City!"
"Then...can you tell me how was he? Was that boy alright?" Nala made the most fundamental question. She desperatly wanted to know, Romani having been unable to enter in contact with her sibling for this long having slowly put her heart and mind a bit at unease. "Tell me, please. I need to know."
"Hmmm, I didn't got to interact with the boy at all. We barely had any time seeing each other. But of what I can remind..." Serenity's mind went back to her confrontantion with the soldier knights and Agravain shortly before ending up captured. In the middle of those memories, she was able to remember Peko's aspect. "The boy looked rather fine. Not a single scratch or wound in his body."
That answer made Nala's heart feel more light and free, as if a chackle around it had been broken. Peko was alright. Her brother was alright and that felt like one of the best sensations in the world, almost bringing her to the point of tears as she brought a hand to her own chest. "T-Thank you...Thank you so much for telling me that, Serenity."
The Hassan smiled comprehensively at the girl. "It means a lot to you, doesn't it? That boy you speak of must be a very dear person to you. Is he part of your group?"
"Hm hm." Nala nodded in affirmation.
"I see. Then I hope you can all reunite with him soon. He also seems like a very nice person." Serenity said, giving a look at Ritsuka who was partying with many of the other villagers at the bonfire. "All of you seem to be. If its people like you that are helping us, then I am more than happy to have you at our side." Remembering that Hundred Personas was probably waiting for her, Serenity decided to end the conversation there. "Well, can't stay stopped here anylonger. See you later, Nala!"
"Likewise, Serenity!" Nala replied to the Hassan as she saw her walk away, being left alone. Shortly after, Nala laid down her basket and sat on a small rock, taking in the fact that Peko was really alive and fine. Doing a deep breath of relief, Nala smiled a bit, the hopes of reencountering with her brother igniting again. Enjoying that small moment of solace, she gave a look at the lively center of the village, seeing how happy and energetic everyone seemed to be.
Ritsuka, Arash, Bedivere, Cursed Arm, Sanzang, Touta, Mash...Mash...
Looking at the genuine smile of the shielder, made the girl think back at what Hundred Personas had said. Reflect on how much the two of them had gone through this journey up until now. How they stood up for each other, their shared happiness, pain and overcoming. And how coldly she had treated her friend since the truth about Mash was revealed.
"Fou..."
Seeing Fou get close to her, she patted the creature who rubbed his fur against her leg.
"Yes Fou." Nala smiled to him as she then looked to the moon on the sky. "I guess it's time."
After some hours had passed, the celebrations and feast had ceased and the entire village had gone happily to rest in its sleep after a night full of party that its inhabitants made sure to enjoy it like the first and last time they would ever had in their lives.
But as everything looked quiet and empty without noise on the high up location in the mountains, a lonely Mash wandered torwards a secluded place near the village, going there for a reason.
"Senpai told me to go here after the festival ended. But why exactly?" Mash wondered. However, she didn't have to do it for much longer as she saw someone standing a few meters in front of her, staring at the landscape that was the large mountain range, the nightsky around them full of stars and some clouds visible by the moonlight. "Nala?" The shielder lifted an eyebrow as she saw the girl was the one waiting for her.
"I see that you decided to come, Mash." Nala replied in a reserved voice, still staring at the imagery in front of her.
Already figuring out why the girl wanted her to appear, Mash sorrowfuly gave a glance to the ground. "Is this about my life expectancy? The lie I told to you?"
"...Yes." Nala confirmed. "Before I was aware of that, I thought I would be having a friend for life, you know?"
Listening behind a rock, Ritsuka, Romani and Fou were all hearing the conversation hiddenly, without the two girls knowledge. Having been told of the meetup in advance by Nala, Ritsuka had decided to give it a watch and see how it would play out, Romani and Fou also wanting to see it while the servants were watching over the village in the meantime. The master of humanity and the other two hoped things would go well.
"That after all of this was done, I would be going with you at every shopping mall possible, buying clothes together, painting each other's nails, do some picnics, take photos of our voyage around the world. But now...none of those things will actually happen, will they?" Nala said, keeping the same posture of her voice as she told to Mash how many wishes and things she wanted to do with the shielder, would never become reality.
Painfully, Mash admitted it. "No. They won't." She could imagine how devastated Nala must have been when she discovered the truth about her. How man promises were broken in that moment. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kept those secrets away from you. From all of you."
"But you did. You ended up hurting all of our feelings in the process." Nala replied. "To know someone I saw as a friend, was lying to me since the beggining. That no matter how much I wanted to cherish more moments together, you'll still die and there's nothing to change it...It all just makes it more painful that I was ever your friend."
"This isn't looking good." Romani whispered as he, Ritsuka and Fou were hearing it, telling how much Nala still seemed to be upset with Mash.
"Fooouuu..."
"..." Ritsuka continued to stay silent, hoping the conversation would take a turn for the best.
Meanwhile, Mash was feeling guilt in every word Nala was saying. She never wanted to hurt her by hiding her own secrets. It was never her intention. But deep down, the shielder knew she had wronged Nala for never having been sincere to her on that. That Mash had bonded with the girl for a long time when she herself was aware that such friendship wouldn't be everlasting from the very start. She knew all the happiness she had with Nala as well as Ritsuka and Peko, would end up in a sadly, early departure, never getting the chance of exploring the world with them.
"Nala, I...I understand you. The pain I caused with that lie, benefiting only myself." Mash said, the vocal cords on her throat getting a bit shaky as the shielder accepted the blame. "Having experienced such deception...must have been truly hurtful! So...I get it. I get it if you never forgi-"
"It makes it painful to be your friend, because you are a good friend." Nala said, interrupting Mash.
"Huh?" Mash got a bit dazed by Nala's interruption, a genuine look of surprise on her face.
Fate Grand Order OST- The Sun in the Abyss
"You are always caring for others, Mash. You care about your friends despite the disagreements and quarrels we might have." Nala told her, expressing from the bottom of her heart. "Despite...the way they treat you. How you try to fix your wrongs. That you can still treat someone who was mean to you like a friend..!" The girl's voice begun to tremble, the emotions starting to overflow within her. "You didn't lied to hurt us. You lied...because you were also scared of losing your friends! That if we knew about your short life from the beggining, we wouldn't want to spent any time or care about you! And you feared that possibility so much, didn't you?"
"..." Mash was staring speechless, amazed at how she initially thought Nala was going to dish out all her dissapointment and anger at her only to now see Nala being comprehensive of her feelings.
"When I think about all of that...How much you feared to lose us if we discovered your secret...That I will never be able to hate a friend like you despite been giving the cold shoulder and saying all those terrible things to your face...It made me realize...It made me realize how petty I was!" Nala exclaimed, huge regret coming out of her voice.
"Nala..." Mash took some steps torwards the girl, seeing her shoulder quivering as Nala lowered her head in rue.
"Mash..."
Finally turning around, Nala showed her face, the tears raining down on her cheeks from her eyes, snot coming out from her nostrils, crying abundantly.
"I don't want a good friend like you to go! *sob* I'm sorry! *sniff* I'm so sorry!"
After a week and days of being cold and distant with Mash, nurturing a pain and sense of betrayal, Nala was able to heal from it and admit her wrongs, ending up apologizing to her friend, confessing that despite the period of bitter distance between the two, deep within Nala wished for Mash to stay by her side forever, the thought of having to deal with her death soon tormenting her. All those happy memories they had created together, she didn't wanted them to be stenched by it. Hence why Nala had thought if she stopped caring about Mash, her death wouldn't hurt as much. However, her true feelings about the shielder ended up winning over the artificial hate.
Seeing her friend breaking down in tears in such state, Mash didn't hesitated and immediatly went to hug her. "It's alright! I'm still here, Nala!" Mash said, tears also appearing in her eyes. "I'm still here for you. All of you." She said as the girl continued to cry on her chest.
"I'm sorry Mash! I'm so sorry for having hurt you!" Nala replied, all that sense of guilt for treating the shielder badly crashing down on her. "I'm sorry for saying nobody cared if you died! I do! I do care! I still want to go to the shopping malls with you! Please don't leave me, Mash! I don't want you to leave us yet!"
"Don't need to apologize. I know you never meant it." Mash smiled warmly to Nala, gently patting her head as she let Nala discharge all her bottled sadness right there, comforting her, bringing the girl closer in a compassionate touch of forheads and cleaning her tears. "I forgive you, Nala."
From behind the rock, the trio quietly celebrated the reconciliation achieved by Mash and Nala.
"And so, all of this has now become water under the bridge. They finally done it." Romani said, happy for Mash and Nala to have at last made amends with one another.
"Fou! Fou!"
"I did told you they would eventually talk it out." Ritsuka said, also glad that both girls were able to restore a friendship that had been shattered. He then looked up to the sky. "Peko. Da Vinci. You would also loved to have seen this..."
"How much were the casualties?"
Having arrived to the recent raided fort in a couple of hours, Tristan was inspecting the material damages the building had suffered as he asked for a report of the loses to a soldier knight, many standing behind Tristan.
"Approximately six-hundred of our men, Sir Tristan. That and two prisoners having escaped together with the attackers plus four horses that they stole to use on their escape. We are deeply sorry for this misfortune from our part, Sir Tristan.
"Hmm, I see." Tristan replied with little to no expression on his face, sighing. "What a sad misfortune for us indeed." He said, his hands playing the strings of his bow without warning.
"What ar-egh!?"
"Urgh!"
"N-No! Please forgi-aargh!"
"Egh!"
"Give us one more chance! Sir Tris-kergh!"
Having no pity, Tristan mercilessly fired his sound arrows at large group of soldier knights, killing many in the process without second thought or pity while playing his melody,much to despair and terror of many. "Me and my king have no such use for incompetent rubbish like you all."
Finishing his sadistic attacks, Tristan killed several of the remaining soldier survivors, leaving only a few alive. Not because he wanted to, but because they were lucky enough to have survived.
"You there." Tristan looked at a startled soldier knight near him, calling him out.
"Y-Yes, Sir Tristan?"
"You are the captain of this fortress now. If some of you got alive, there must have been a reason behind it, no?" Tristan pondered as he gave orders to them. "Set up a search party immediatly! It is of utter importance to track down and find the ones responsible for this!"
"Understood Sir Tristan! Me and my men will already go work on that!"
"Splendid. You better not fail this time." Tristan told to the newly promoted soldier knight, threatening of killing him and the rest if they fumbled the task. "The fugitives must not have gone too far." He said, walking out of the fort's exit, putting his hand on the ground to see if it had some trail left behind.
"Humm...But with all due respect, Sir Tristan, how exactly are we going to locate the fugitives when they have runned into the dark of the night, dissapearing from our vision?"
"That's the downside of being brainless and using only the vision to catch your enemy." Tristan said, raising up from the ground, and doing a simple touch in one of his weapon's strings with the fingers, ths vibrations attracting sound, giving Tristan a great hearing as his acoustic bow detected noises far away from them. Somewhere up in the mountains some miles away. The sounds of not one but many people. Dancing, partying, eating, celebrating. It all made Tristan smile with some malice as he slightly opened his eyes, having a calculation on where the exact location of the enemy could be.
"Those ignoramus seem rather blissfuly unaware to what can happen next."
To be continued...
And that was it for chapter 105!
With this, after the duration of an entire summer, Mash and Nala have officially restored the bonds between each other. And honestly, I don't know about you but to me Mash is that friend that I think everyone wouldn't be able to hate even if she told a lie or two. Like, I understand if someone doesn't like Mash and might deem her as being kinda vanilla when taking into account all love interest options for the protag, but hating her? Nah, if you hate Mash then I think your a being of cold non-existent heart. I mean, just look at her. How can anyone genuinely despise such reliable and kind, egglpant kouhai?
Anyways, do you know that the fandom recently made a discovery that Arcueid's appearence has possibly taken inspiration from a canadian model? Now I get it why she and Ciel don't get along.
But so, with all that said, I'll see you next time on chapter 106! Peace!
P.S:
Ritsuka (Staring intensely at Van Gogh on the other side of the cafeteria): Hmmm...
Goredolf (Shows up): Fujimaru, my boy, why haven't you stopped staring at Van Gogh for quite some minutes? You're starting to look like a creep.
Ritsuka (Sitll staring at Van Gogh): Oi, Director. We know that Van Gogh technically isn't the ACTUAL Van Gogh. But...
Goredolf: But?
Ritsuka (Makes a scissor hand sign next to his own ear): Do you think she...
Goredolf (appaled): Why the hell are you even thinking about that?!
Sion (Appearing from behind): Hm, that is indeed a good question. Perhaps we should ask her to give a look.
Goredolf: DON'T FUEL IT!