CHAPTER 3:

HINAKO

To cover up her inhuman nature, at least for now, Hinako was taken out of the Command Room on a gurney, Barghest gently pushing it to the infirmary. There, away from the patients still on the beds, Hinako was tended to by Dr Roman, who wrapped up parts of her body strategically in bandages, as well as giving her an eyepatch. While that happened, Roman also gave her a much overdue examination, something she had avoided throughout her earlier tenure as a Team A Master.

Her examination and 'treatment' were done in time for her to be released for dinner, and she was picking at her food, having sat with Harry's family and Servants, along with Ritsuka and Mash, Hermione and Waver sitting at another table. "I hate this eyepatch already," she muttered, their conversation covered by a Privacy Charm. "I look like a chuunibyou."

Mash frowned. "Ophelia had one though, didn't she?"

"Yes, but it wasn't a medical one. It was a Mystic Eye Killer. Plus, it had a sort of style to it. Say what you will about Magi, but at least some have a sense of style and elan when they aren't being callous sociopaths. I wish Roman had one that looked like a standard eyepatch. You know, like pirates used to wear."

"Or a genderflipped Goro Majima look?" Delphi asked. On the confused looks of everyone but Ritsuka, she shrugged. "Yakuza?"

"They call that game series Like a Dragon in Japan," Ritsuka said.

"I'm more of a bibliophile, Delphi," Hinako said. "Video games can tell great stories, but I never had the patience for them. I'm old enough to remember the first printing presses, the first films and television shows. I may not be like many Magi struggling to use computers and the internet, I'm not that hidebound, but I prefer old media. Perhaps it comes with the territory with a being as old as I am. Leaving aside my distaste for a lot of human technology and the harm it brings to the world, the fact remains that beings who become old enough tend to be strong just by existing. This is partly due to how Mystery works, but there's a lot more to it than that. Then again, I don't hold a candle to Arcueid Brunestud. TYPE Moon's progeny are on another level to me. My type of Elemental is about a step down from a True Ancestor, even one who is my junior."

"I hope Arc's okay," Delphi said morosely.

"Arc went to sleep before we came to Chaldea, remember?" Harry said, trying not to think of the fate of his other friends in that holocaust. "She's safe in the Millennium Castle for now, I reckon. And Zelretch might be on one of his expeditions via Kaleidoscope. Anyway, you're all right after Roman's examination?"

"More or less. Tried to lecture me about not sharing vital information." Hinako winced. "I'm still healing, though. Hermione's magic helped, but it only did so much. Blood could help, but humans are afraid of vampires for a reason, and I can use the ambient mana to heal anyway. So, best to use more benign ways of healing, lest people start breaking out the Black Keys and stakes." She winced again. "But that was not fun. I was already trapped in my Rayshift Coffin when the bombs went off, I then got frozen alive…I can't fault Olga on that, she didn't know what I was, and it's quite reasonable to do it to give the victims a chance, even a slim one, but…I was conscious and aware for quite a while, before I was able to hypnotise myself into falling asleep. I only woke up when I was defrosted. Honestly, I'll never be cruel to a frozen meal ever again(1). I'm grateful that Hermione spoke up for me."

"At least you're better than Baobhan Sith," Arturia Fae remarked after swallowing one mouthful. "I didn't see her drink blood, but her type of Fae is vampiric, and she was sadistic, to say the least. Her past was sad, true, but…from what I've seen so far, Hinako, while I can't say you're a good person, you're not sadistic in the way she was. In fact, you hold such sadness and weariness in your eyes."

"…Fae Eyes, huh?" Hinako muttered. "If I were you, I wouldn't blab about such things so blatantly, even to allies. Incidentally, Mash, Roman told me you became a Demi-Servant. How're you holding up?"

"As well as I can, though I suppose everyone else could say the same thing," Mash said solemnly. "Still, FATE is working now with my shield as a catalyst, so maybe you'll be able to summon Xiang Yu?"

"I hope so. Of course, if I summon Gao Changgong, I'd still be pleased. He was an old and good friend of mine, and that he was ordered to commit suicide by his own kin who feared what he thought was ambition…" Hinako made a noise of disgust.

"Gao Changgong?" Delphi asked.

"Also known as the Prince of Lanling, who infamously had a face so beautiful, he wore a demonic mask to avoid distracting his allies," Hinako said. "Something of an exaggeration, but he had an extremely attractive face, and did wear such a mask. You'd call him a bishounen these days, a pretty boy. He did not deserve his fate, even if he died willingly. Xiang Yu will forever be my one true love, but Gao Changgong was one of my best friends. He'd probably be a Saber or Rider Servant, and Sabers are one of the better classes. My beloved will probably be in the Rider or Berserker classes. And Rituska, Mash, if you are worried because of Xiang Yu's reputation, don't be. Believe it or not, he was actually an automaton, created by Taoist arts. His actions during the Warring States Era, as repugnant as they were then and now, were actually designed to ensure Liu Bang became the first Emperor of the Han Dynasty, as my beloved considered Liu Bang the best candidate. He will fight for the Grand Order."

"…So…Xiang Yu was actually an automaton, a robot?" Ritsuka asked. On Hinako's nod, he said, "I have so many questions, and I'm not sure how to ask them."

"Well, you can ask me questions later, Ritsuka. Don't get me wrong, while Mash calls you Senpai, I'm your Senpai, even without taking the age factor into account. If age was a factor, I'd have everyone else here beaten, except arguably Melusine, given that she's an incarnation of Albion. But while all of us are newcomers to being Masters, aside from Delphi, all of us have been involved in a lot of bad situations, particularly war. I may be a misanthrope, but if you need help, ask. Harry's probably more agreeable than me, along with Barghest and Melusine, but as the sole member of Team A who is combat-ready, I have to look out for you, if only because the more Masters we have, the better."

"…I'll take you up on that later, Hinako. It's just…a bit much for me. I'm still coming to terms with what happened yesterday, my first Rayshifting jaunt, my first battles, and humanity being burned away. I think I'm still in shock from it all. And I'm a little worried I'll drag you down."

Hinako scoffed. "If you're worried about not being a good Magus, don't worry. Firstly, being a good Magus is highly overrated, as a lot of them are a bunch of sociopaths. Secondly, we had Kadoc Zemlupus on Team A, a Polish Magus who was a lot like you, even if he was more gloomy about it. You'd probably have gotten along with him well once he stopped being so emo. If someone like him, whose main assets were his Rayshift and Master compatibilities, could be handpicked for Team A, then you could have potentially, if you drew Marisbury's eye. Not that that's a good thing in hindsight. And thirdly, Mash seems to have latched onto you as her Master. I doubt she would have let just any old person be her Master. Look, we'll keep you as safe as we can. You have three powerful Elementals by your side, along with Harry Potter. His reputation was overinflated thanks to the wizards being idiots, but he's still got quite a bit of ability. And I don't say something like that lightly."

"They all have ability, Hinako," Mash said pointedly. "Ritsuka-Senpai acquitted himself well, as did Delphi. And Barghest and Melusine both had the power Elementals would have. True, we nearly got overwhelmed a couple of times, including by a surprise attack from a Servant Arturia knew, but…"

"Mash here saved our arses," Harry said. "Managed to call upon the Noble Phantasm that Servant inside her gave her. She's calling that shield Lord Chaldeas."

"Not bad," Hinako said. "The name, I mean. But it sounds like you acquitted yourself very well, Mash. Still, this next Singularity concerns me, especially if it's in the middle of the Hundred Years War."

"Do you know anything about it, Hinako?" Ritsuka asked.

"I may have been around at the time England and France had their little territorial stoush, but I remained in the Orient as the Westerners called it for most of my life, mostly China, Japan, Indochina, and Korea. I didn't come to Europe or the Americas until after what the British called the First Opium War in the 1830s. As much as I despised the British for what they did to China, I found myself curious about Western society, and spent some time roaming the world. I certainly arrived in Britain in time to meet Charles Dickens in his heyday. His books were amongst the first English novels I ever read, though they were originally published as serials, a bit like TV shows are these days. As for the Hundred Years War, I only know what I read from history books. Though it's a fair shot that Jeanne d'Arc will probably be present, either living or as a Servant."

"There may be another, and not so pleasant either," Arturia Pendragon said pensively. "During my first Holy Grail War, the Caster was a vile man who called himself Gilles de Rais, a former supporter of Jeanne d'Arc's who fell into depravity, child molestation and murder. He took up at least the latter in my Holy Grail War, as well as using kidnapped children as resources to summon vile demonic creatures. He also continually mistook me for Jeanne herself in his madness. He eventually summoned a massive monster, which Irisviel von Einzbern compared to Cthulhu from the works of HP Lovecraft, a monster I had to use as much power as I could with Excalibur to defeat. If he is in the Singularity, he must be treated with caution at best. Iskandar may know something more, apparently he and his Master tracked down Gilles' lair."

"That is good information, Arturia Pendragon," Barghest said. "Though if I recall of that period of human history is correct, a great deal many historical figures were involved in that war, including King Henry V of England. Though once SHEBA has managed to resolve when it actually takes place, we could make better inferences."

"True, but just because it's set in France during that period doesn't necessarily mean all the Servants are either going to be French, or from the Hundred Years War," Harry pointed out. "Out of all of us, Mash seems to have a very strong grasp on history and famous figures, on a university level if I'm not mistaken."

"Umm, you flatter me, Harry, but I was ordered to study such things in preparation for Rayshifting by Marisbury," the artificial human in question said, a little embarrassedly. "I do like reading about myth and history, amongst other things, and Hermione helped me gain an even greater love for it, but…"

"Mash," Harry interjected quietly. "If you enjoyed all that reading up on history and myth, then it doesn't matter. Besides, don't put yourself down like that. You're a vital part of our team, and not just because of your being a Demi-Servant or having encyclopaedic knowledge of history and myth. You're practically family to us, and have been for a long time."

Ritsuka chuckled awkwardly even as Mash smiled. "Just like that, huh?"

"Ritsuka," Melusine said. "Until a few years ago, Mash only knew the confines of Chaldea and its immediate surroundings. Part of that was, admittedly, due to her immune system needing boosting before she could go out, and part of it was due to, well, Mash being so advanced an artificial human, so many organisations and factions in the Moonlit World would take any chance they could to abduct her and vivisect her."

Ritsuka gaped in horror. "You mean…cut her up and experiment on her?"

"Admittedly, that did happen to me to a certain degree here in Chaldea when Marisbury was still alive, Ritsuka-Senpai, or at least with painful experiments and surgeries," Mash said morosely. "But most of these potential kidnappers wouldn't bother to put me back together afterwards."

"That's the reality of the Moonlit World, Fujimaru," Hinako said solemnly. "That's why any outings Mash would make would have to be done in secret, and in isolated areas. Which basically amounted to Harry's estate in Oxford. I should know, I went to a few of those outings, mostly for special occasions like Christmas."

"I had one wish, to be able to see the sky, day or night, outside of photos, without the clouds obscuring it as they do here almost all the time," Mash said. "But I got to see more than that. Grass, trees, animals…true, I couldn't go much further afield than the Potter Estate because of abduction fears, but even that was a priceless gift to me."

Ritsuka was staring at Mash. "Hey," Delphi said. "It's good that you're angry, upset. It goes to show you're better than a lot of arsehole Magi in the world. But we've done as much as we can to ensure Mash is happy, because Merlin knows, she deserves some bloody happiness after everything. Mash is the only survivor of the various attempts at creating a Demi-Servant. And Olga hates what her father did, and anyone with a lick of sense does. As for Beryl Gut, well, let's just say we're glad the bastard's dead now for what he did to Mash."

"Did he…?" Ritsuka asked in dread.

"If you mean he molested or raped me, then no, and I'm glad he didn't do that if nothing else," Mash said, shaking her head. "But he broke my fingers to see what my reaction would be, and smiled at my screams of pain. He was the only member of Team A I despised."

Delphi gently rubbed Mash's back. "He's dead now, Mash, he can't hurt you anymore. I know it might haunt you for life, but…he can't physically hurt you now. Or anyone else."

"Agreed. For all the amorality of Magi, I still cannot fathom why Marisbury hired a monster like that, even with some knowledge of his plans," Barghest said.

"What, you'd sooner trust me?" Hinako asked.

"You'll have to earn that trust, but did you murder innocent people simply for the pleasure of killing?" Barghest asked pointedly. "Did you torture people for the pettiest of slights? If not, then you're better than Beryl, let alone our fellow Tam Lin, Baobhan Sith, and she was a vampire of sorts herself. Though Baobhan Sith was to be pitied if nothing else, given what she went through. I cannot find it in myself to pity Beryl."

After a moment, Hinako chuckled. "In other words, you think I won't stab you in the back just to hear your screams. Fair enough. I'm still a bit bemused at Fae helping us out, but I won't complain, especially as I know you both by now well enough to know that you're pretty decent for Fae."

"I'd be insulted, but I know other Fae tend to set a low bar," Melusine said. "Don't get me wrong, Barghest and I have done some atrocious things, but…we try to be better."

"As do we all," Arturia Pendragon said. "People fail to realise that Heroic Spirits oft have some flaw or other. I myself am little different, despite my pretensions to perfection. True, I'd like to think I held myself to as high a standard as possible in life. And yet, in hindsight, I still find much of what I did, both in life and as a Servant, wanting. Besides, Miss Akuta, despite your association with Xiang Yu, you are nowhere near as aggravating as a number of Servants I have met. Still, I hope that Scathach's training will not be too arduous. While it is not up to the Masters to fight alongside Servants, it should still help survivability."

"Assuming we survive her training," Harry remarked grimly.

CHAPTER 3 ANNOTATIONS:

So, Hinako and her allies have discussed matters.

1. Hinako's macabre joke is a variant of one Douglas Adams used. In Doctor Who: The Pirate Planet, the Doctor exclaims, while zipping through an inertia-nullifying corridor, "I'll never be cruel to an electron in a particle accelerator again." In the radio and TV versions of The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Arthur Dent (who was told earlier that going through hyperspace was unpleasantly like being drunk…namely, that the person was the drink) says "I'll never be cruel to a gin and tonic ever again."