Epilogue: Boudica

"So Tesla and Edison got into another fight then?"

Boudica could see the young woman's face fall, long pink bangs only barely hiding the exhaustion on Mashu's face. The pure essence of exasperation was so clear that Boudica could tell that this fight was about something particularly inane. Though, that did describe most of their fights.

'Certainly most of their fights on Storm Glider,' she considered. Mashu closed her eye in frustration, looking down as she walked beside the Boudica. Mashu had ended up being the one who'd been assigned several shifts to keep an eye on the two scientists while they were on Storm Glider, in order to keep them from causing an explosion that might compromise the hull of the ship. She'd managed to do so, but considering her frazzled expression, Boudica wondered if the cost might have been to great. Of course, 'better her than me,' she chuckled, 'I already have enough problems with Tammamo Cat and everyone else in the mess hall.'

It had been…a trying week or so. It should have been expected that everything would be a mess, considering the fallout from the flight from Chaldea, the wound to Ristuka Fujimaru, and the disappearance of thirteen servants.

'But,' Boudica thought, as she looked over at the sputtering former Shielder, 'the losses we have taken here…they are not so different from what we took in defeating Goetia during that final assault,' memories of the wounded and bodies flooded her mind, 'or even what happened during the first singularity,' she could only sigh as Mashu seemed as though she were about to break down, 'What could be causing this distress?'

"Let's talk about something else," Mashu finally said, and Boudica could only sigh and nod. She wasn't going to get anything specifically about what had been happening down in the secondary lab. Hell, it was probably for the best, considering what might have come from those two. Mashu looked over at her, or more specifically, the cart she was pushing, "So, soup again?"

'Oh come on!'

"Yup," Boudica pulled up her friendliest smile, strangling her own anger instead of the young woman next to her. Honestly, while she could see the disappointment on Mashu's face, she could see that the young woman was doing her absolute best to be polite, "You know, what with having to feed so many people, and since we haven't been able to make any stops for resupply," she paused, "Well, we have to ration our food so we can feed everyone with enough to survive. And well, soup does let us get more out of our supplies."

"I understand," Mashu looked down, likely remembering life back at the original Chaldea Base. Even when the rest of humanity had burned away, there had been gardens down in lower levels, supply lockers made to last up to a decade, and they'd managed to find small semi-singularities, and gather up fresh supplies. It hadn't been perfect, but Mashu had never lived with having to not have at least a little variety of the food she could eat. However, Mashu was Mashu, so it was not at all unsurprising when she said, "Sorry about complaining, I know you and Tamamo Cat and the rest of the kitchen staff are working very hard to feed us."

Boudica nodded. The kitchen staff was half the size it had been back in Chaldea. They'd gone from nine to five, three dead from the attack, and then of course Emiya was off on his mission. Of course, had they had the whole staff, they probably wouldn't be able to fit inside the kitchen. Though, even if they could fit, they had all had to work at a constant clip just to keep the nearly two hundred people on Storm Glider. Under normal circumstances the many servants would not have needed to eat, even if they did like to.

"We have to if we are going to keep all the servants on board incarnated," Boudica was both glad that that secondary way to maintain their mana existed, but that didn't mean she liked all it involved, "It's especially bad considering how much work it is to get some of these," she stopped, "Heroes," the word came out like a foul belch, "to eat food we can cook without wasting our supplies."

"Are they that bad?"

"Most are not," she remembered how many, from Arjuna to Ushi, were understanding. Many of them had lived through harsh times, and knew on a certain level that they would have to live with it, "But you know, there are some of our comrades that don't get that things have changed," she stopped, "Or at least, they know, but they are giving me a hard time."

"Fergus?"

"Oh no," Boudica waved her head, "that one is stupid enough to not realize we can't give him a steak every day," she wasn't actually sure about that, but she liked thinking it, "No, Nobunaga is just doing this to whine really," she shook her head, "then there's Mozart, who is shouting about how Marie isn't being given her proper pampering," she then paused, "and of course, the girls don't quite get it, though little Joan is so worried that she's behaving," and Atalante was doing her best to try and keep Jack calm, "especially since Alice has been so sick too," the poor little girl had been spending far too much time up in the infirmary with Nightingale.

"Poor girl," and that was all that needed to be said. Alice had usually been the most composed of the girls, but somehow she seemed sick now. Still, there was nothing else to say. The only sound they heard was that of the cart's wheels squeaking against the steel floor. As the seconds passed over the next few minutes. Boudica felt sweat begin to drip down the back of her head as the time continued to pass, until they finally arrived at her final stop along this round of dropping off soup thermoses at those who didn't come to the mess hall for supper. As they arrived at the command center, Boudica looked over at Mash, who fidgeted slightly as they stood at the doorway.

"Thanks for coming along," she said, "It's been a long time since we last saw each other, and it's good to get to see you for a bit."

"It was nice to see you to," Mashu was looking wearily at the door, "Though I probably should be going soon," she looked at the door, a few beads of sweat falling down the side of her face, "I have," words stopped coming out of her mouth, "Uh," she then shook her head, "I have some paperwork I need to go help fi-"

Boudica would have asked her what paperwork she could possibly even file considering she was fairly sure there wasn't even a printer on board. Or filing cabinets for that matter. But she didn't have the chance, as the door suddenly slid open, and both of them found their eyes quickly drawn to a familiar, portly figure.

"Oh goodness," Goredolf had a tone of worn down excitement, "Mistress Mashu, Queen Boudica," he gave a short bow, though Boudica had to hold back the hitch in her voice when she heard the old title, "I don't believe I've seen you both in a long time," his hand came up to his head, and he ran his fingers through his blonde hair, "I must apologize, it has been a trying time, and I have not been able to offer proper courtesy."

It was easy enough to see that was true. She'd only seen Goredolf once before this, and in a simple comparison to the man in her mind, it was impossible to deny he'd been worn down. His fine coat was no longer on him, his hair was sweat covered and a mess, and it almost seemed like he'd lost several pounds from the way his skin seemed to sag.

"It is good to see you," Boudica managed, "I'm sorry I haven't been able to see you more, we've just been busy down in the mess," she made sure to keep eye contact so she didn't seem to stare at something unsightly, "You've been getting deliveries up here, right," she had usually sent others to come and deliver food, and she didn't think that any of her team wouldn't complete their deliveries, but she couldn-

"Yes, of course," he answered, which relieved Boudica, "I just haven't had the time to have it unfortunately, too busy," the look on her and Mashu's faces was likely enough to get a further answer, "I've been assisting the Direct-"

"Goredolf!" a familiar voice shouted in an unfamiliar fashion, "Why are you waiting for?" Boudica looked, and saw Da Vinci glaring down at a console with flashing lights, ticking knobs, and shining screens glittering up at her, "I need you to get that-" she looked up, and then stopped, as she stared, "Oh."

On the one hand, Da Vinci looked better than Goredolf did. On the other hand, the amount of deterioration of her appearance was far more surprising. Her hair frazzled, bags under her eyes, and her shoulders slumped. She blinked a few times, before she turned her head back.

"It's good to see you, but I don't have much time to chat," almost instantly, Da Vinci's finger shot out and grabbed a knob, twisting it, "If you could leave the soup at the side, I'll have some in a bit," the inventor's eyes focused on one screen, "I need to try and see if I can get a better lock on the frequency of this plane," her voice trailed off, and she seemed to bury herself into the work, before adding, "I really need that secondary titanium coil from the shop, Goredolf."

"Quite right," Goredolf seemed to pop up for a second. He then bowed slightly to Boudica, before trying to slide by, "I must hurry, if Da Vinci thin-"

"Take some soup," Boudica reached into the cart, and pulled up a thermos of the soup, and tossed it to Goredolf, "it's tomato basil," it bounced off his right hand, and he threw out his left to catch the aluminum cylinder. He finally gripped it, and then sighed aloud before nodding as he held it.

"Will do," he said, before hurrying down to the left, towards the stairs on the other end from the elevator she'd taken up. She almost chuckled to herself seeing the way he moved, but she shook her head, and then grabbed up the last thermos of soup in the cart, and walked through the doorway into the room. She walked up right next to Da Vinci, and then placed the thermos down at the back table where Da Vinci had said to. She looked over at the inventor, and then asked, "So, any update on how the mission is going?"

"Oh," Boudica immediately realized she'd made a mistake, but she'd already set this bomb off, considering how quickly Da Vinci had turned her chair around and was no glaring at her, "Let me tell you, nothing for over a day now," so about a m, "a month on their side of these stupid fields and waves, and I haven't gotten anything since they picked up Mata," she glared at herself, "I'm sitting here, flying blind, all the while hoping beyond hope that our idiot of a master," out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mashu flinch at the insult at her best friend, "is only just gallivanting across this world, instead of having somehow gotten himself and the rest of his team captured and locked away in some dungeon, waiting for a final death that dooms us all."

'Okay," Boudica thought to herself, 'Bad idea to talk about work,' Da Vinci's eyes were shaking, before she began to twist the stool underneath her, and Boudica was glad the moment was about to pass, 'Just need to get out of here then, and let her st-'

"And that's not even talking about the other projects I have to get going!"

'Oh, she's still talking.'

"It's just one thing after another," Da Vinci growled, "Since breaking through the barrier is taking so long, I've had to take time off from the other things I'm in charge of and falling behind on. You want to hear what I'm behind on?" before Boudica could say no, Da Vinci continued, "Well, first and foremost, I'm only a third of the way through making another one of the transportation coffins," the inventor pointed toward three pieces of long metal, with wires sticking out of it, "and that's about twice as done as the Orentenaus exosuit," some black metal was hanging from a hook with more wires hanging out of it, "So, believe me, I have enough engineering problems rolling through my head to make both of those fools down in the secondary lab go crazy."

Boudica saw that Da Vinci wasn't looking at her, but instead directly at Mashu. Mashu, for her part, seemed to shrink slightly under the older woman's glare. Giving another look at th Orentenaus thing, she could see that it seemed to be about the size of Mashu, and it wasn't too hard to hazard a guess that perhaps this wasn't the first time Mashu and Da VInci had talked about it.

'Would explain why she didn't want to be part of this,' Boudica considered.

"And that's just working on technical stuff," Da Vinci reached up to her head, and seemed to almost try and pull out her hair, "Do you know how many complaints I've gotten since we've gotten on this thing?" Boudica didn't bother to ask, as she could already guess the answer was, "TOO MANY!" Da VInci honestly looked like she might rip her hair out, "I don't think I've gone three hours without someone waltzing through that door to complain."

"Wouldn't Goredolf be able to handle most of the complaints," Mashu finally spoke up, but she seemed to wilt under Da Vinci's glare, "I mean, I know you are still the last member of the command staff of Chaldea, but Goredolf as commander of Storm Glider should be able to handle it."

"Besides losing the one useful assistant I've managed to find on this thing," Boudica remembered that almost the entire engineering and communication staffs had been wiped out during the defeat of the original Chaldea, "That only works for non-heroic spirits."

"And for Heroic Spirits?" Boudica nearly wilted at the glare Da Vinci gave her.

"Well, for example," Da Vinci seemed to be aiming all her bile at Boudica right now, "Let's say there is an arrogant jackass, draped head to toe in gold, who just might so happen to be the single strongest servant on this vessel," Boudica got the meaning immediately, "And let's say that that asshole decides that he is being disrespected constantly by everything here, and decides to demand that he speak with Ritsuka."

"Who isn-"

"Who isn't here, yes," Da Vinci said flatly, her hands now down by her side, "So, I don't need to tell you, there is no one currently on this ship that he respects enough to take an explanation as fact, and instead as an excuse," Boudica nodded at that, "So every day or so, I've had a call from that asshole, interrupting me, and I can't just tell him to leave me alone because he's-"

BBBBRRRIINNNGGG

A buzzer above the console began to light up, and a high pitched sound buzzed throughout the room.

"Da Vinci," it was an exhausted voice of one of the human staff, "Gilgamesh is coming up again."

Da Vinci's head snapped down in absolute defeat. She reached her hand over, and pressed one particularly large button, and another electrical buzz came from a small little circle on the console, "What is the problem this time?"

"He said it was something about the foo-"

"Of course it is," she let go of the button. She leaned back into her chair, before looking over at Boudica with a look of exasperation, "Couldn't you just, I don't know, set GIlgamesh up with his own private meal if he just asked fo-"

"If I did it for him, then Tamamo Cat would accidentally let it slip, and every one of the Servant's would have to have their own, and we couldn't manage to take that much variety on our stores," she then paused, "And I mean, he asks for something different every time. He wasn't that into specific food before…"

"He is just so erratic it's driving me insane," Da Vinci whined, "He's not just complaining about food. LIke I said, he's coming up about once a day to complain about something. He just waltzes in here, demands an "Audience"," she made air quotes, "And then berates me about the problems going on and tells me what a fool I am and a failure I-gah!" she slammed her head into the console, "What is his problem!"

"He's worried," Mashu spoke up. When the conversation paused to allow her to continue, "GIlgamesh will not say it out loud, but he is very fond of Senpai. He considers him one of the only humans worthy of being his master. WIth RItsuka being out on mission so long, after how he had been hurt," she shook her head, "He's mad, and he feel strapped, and I suppose he's taking all those feelings out on you."

"He would be the type to do that."

"But it's not just him," Mashu stared at the ground, "Everyone up here is getting restless. Most everyone never expected to be summoned to Chaldea again," Boudica nodded at that, that had certainly been her perspective, "And when they were all summoned, suddenly their Master was nearly dead. Then there was that strange snatching, and then Emiya is sent out alone," she looked up, "Many like Gilgamesh actually resent it was Emiya who was sent to retrieve the missing servants. I know that Iskander and Gawain especially do," Mashu did not need to elaborate, "And overall…everyone feels helpless. They," she paused, before finishing with, "They all just need something to hold on to. To know that we aren't just waiting for Ritsuka to die."

"Mashu," Da VInci groaned, "I know that everyone is worried," the way her eyes seemed to sink into her face made her look as though she had not slept for months, "But I need everyone to trust me. I've told everyone what they need to know," Mashu's eyes seemed to narrow, and Boudica could imagine that this was not the first time they'd talked about it, "There are so many variables and issues, I can't give you more than I already have."
"You've talked to Jeanne and NIghtingale," Boudica blinked. She had only barely seen those two. Jeanne usually ate in the chapel, where she was offering comfort to anyone who needed asked for it. And after the incident with Fergus, she'd been going out of her way to speak with the nurse, considering it took hours to get out of the bandages she got tied up in.

"They are my medical staff," Da Vinci answered a bit too quickly. Before Mashu or Boudica could ask about why it was only medical servants who were getting questions, the inventor snapped back to the front of the conversation, "Look, there have been certain events that required their assistance, and it was under their advisement that we chose to send Ritsuka," she stopped, "I need you to understand though, that until I get some new information, I don't have anything to share."

"But we all care," Mashu pleaded.

'She's not used to being up here,' Boudica could see the worry in Mashu's stance, 'she's been at Ritsuka's side during almost every mission he's gone on. They were so close that almost everyone thought they were dating.'

"Look," Da VInci raised her hands to ask for patience, "I have," she didn't have words for a few seconds, before finally adding, "been judicious with the information. I need to be," she then quickly added, "Ritsuka and Emiya are alive and well right now," Boudica felt herself blush at the mention of her fellow cook, but also some relief at that, "But…look, if something comes up that changes our situation, I will let yo-"
POP!

"OHAYO!"

Boudica felt herself jump into the air. Standing between her, Mashu and Da Vinci, a pink haired woman suddenly appeared. Boudica blinked for a second, only to recognize MIyamoto Musashi standing in front of her.

"Musashi!" Mashu shouted.

"Heya Mashu!" Musashi waved her hand quickly, "Long time no see!"

"Wait," Da Vinci managed to get out, "Why are you-how are you here?" Musashi made to open her mouth to answer, before suddenly, a final phrase got out of her mouth, "And it's after one here!"
"Ah," Musashi waved her hand dismissively, "Everyone could use an Ohayo!" the way she laughed almost seemed to mock Da Vinci, but she then brought her hand up and waved it, "Any way, to answer your questions," she pointed her hand downward, "I just came up from planet side, where I met up with Ritsuka."
"REALLY!" both Da VInci and Mashu shouted, a mix of excitement and relief clear in both their voices. Boudica didn't shout as loud, but she felt some of her own stress slip away. All of them leaned in closer to the samurai, who raised up her hands in an defensive manner.

"Whoa, whoa," she said, and all three of them backed off, "Thank you," she said, before smiling, "But yeah, I met RItsuka down there. I was kind of lost…and stuck, if you want me to be honest," Boudica had no idea how Musashi's dimensional hopping powers worked, so she could only nod in agreement, though Da Vinci did seem confused, so there must have been something to that that Boudica couldn't understand, "But I ran into him, and I helped him and the whole crew down there out with this big ol' fracas in a port city we got stuck in," she paused, before looking over at Da Vinci, "Hey, ever heard of a city called Braavos?"

"Bra-no," Da Vinci shook her head, "Never heard of something like that in all my studies of history and folklore," the inventor added, which caused the samurai to sigh with her head to the side. Boudica blinked, and tried to process that this place they were in seemed to have no basis in the world, when the inventor spoke up again, "Not that it's not great to get you to report on RItsuka and the team, but how did you find Storm Glider," this caused Musashi to blink sheepishly, "From the last time we spoke, you did say you have a hard time getting the exact location of your jumps without some kind of beacon or map or something."

"Oh," the samurai reached into the side of her robe, and then pulled out a small metal cylinder, "Ritsuka gave me thi-"

"IS THAT THE COMMUNICATOR!" Da Vinci shrieked at the top of her lungs, "What in heaven's name was Ritsuka thinking!" she began to spiral for a second, grabbing onto the side of her head and seeming to shake from head to toe, "That's the way for us to maintain communications, and even if it hasn't been working too well the-"

"Wait," Musashi raised a hand, "Ritsuka has a plan," Da Vinci twitched, but she paused. Boudica gave a side glance to the youngest woman there, and saw that she was completely calm…if not just the tiniest bit exasperated, "See, because of the way time moves faster down there than up here, the communicator doesn't really work other than a few seconds right?" Da vinci nodded, "Well, it worked as a beacon for me to get here. I came up with a huge amount of reports, so I can talk about what's been happening down there, and then, in like twelve hours," she placed her hand over her belly, "After a meal and a some talking," she pointed back downard, "I can go back down, maybe take another servant with me, and we can jump to where Ritsuka says he'll be hanging around the next couple of months while they try and find the rest of the servants."

"That," Da Vinci's eyes had stopped moving, fixed straight ahead. The inventor's fingers were gyrating along the top of the console as she spoke, and Boudica could only imagine how fast her mind was running. Finally, Da VInci nodded slowly, saying, "Could work," she then nodded more vigorously, "No, it will work," she then paused, "Ritskua did choose a place he is sure you can get to easily and should be safe for him, right?"

"Yup," she waved her hand, "Winterfell's pretty well known, so I should be able to make a couple of jumps," she then looked over, "Plus, Cu's already from there, so they'll have to plenty of reason to hang out there for over a month while they wait for us. Hell, he's basically brother's with this Ned Stark, the guy in charge there, and they are pretty sure Artoria's there too," at that, Da Vinci could only nod in approval. Boudica let out a sigh, at least glad that Emiya was close to dealing with his constant worry for the Saber. Musashi's smile grew, as she rubbed the back of her head, "I mean, he has to introduce his son to everyone there so-"

"Son?

It took a moment for Boudica to realize it had been her voice to ask the question.

"Oh yeah," Musashi waved her hand happily, while Boudica watched a look of dread suddenly appear on Da Vinci's face as the samurai continued to talk, "eleven I think. Looks like Setanta if a little more manish than boyish, so still pretty cute," she then on reflex raised her hands, "Not that way I mea-"

"CU HAS A SON!" Boudica shouted. Musashi stopped, before giving a dumb nod to the queen of the Iceni. Boudica took that nod in, and then turned toward Da Vinci, "And you knew!"

"Well-" Da Vinci said, giving Musashi an evil eye as she seemed to slink to the edge of the console, near the far wall. Boudica couldn't help but want to reach out and strangle the Italian with all her strength. She should have known a descendant of the Romans could not be trusted to be honest.

"But that's impossible," Mashu cut in, completely steering the conversation toward this, "You're all servants. Walking memories made up of crystalized mana powered by the Chaldea system and Senpai. It shouldn't be physically possible for us to have children!"

"Yes," Da Vinci finally managed, shaking slightly, but managing to reassert herself, "It was certainly a surprise when I leaned about Cu having Colan-"

"You know his name!" Boudica shouted, this time managing to really push Da Vinci back up against the wall, "You know his name and memorized it, and you never bother to tell all of us!" she then paused, and remembered just how much time Da Vinic had been spending up here in the command room, "How long have you known about this and not told any of us?"

"Well I told Nightingale and Jeanne an-," Da Vinci stopped as Boudica made to advance toward her, "Four days," she paused, "Four days, I've known for four days."

"Four days!" Boudica felt the veins along her forehead pulse. She almost reached out to grab at the inventor, when Mashu grabbed at her shoulder, "You've known something like that for four days! What else have you been hiding?"

Da Vinci looked at her for a moment, before saying, "Arash is gone."

"Wha-"

"Gone," Da Vinci admitted, slamming her fist onto the console, "Arash died down there, and when we tried to resummon him with Ritsuka, it didn't work," she glared down at the blinking lights, "I've tried a dozen or so different theories and spells to regain access to him on the throne, but I can't get it to work."

"No," Boudica got out, "But Aras-"

"And this is why I haven't told any of you," Da Vinci snapped, "There is nothing we can do right now down there, and if I'd told you all that Arash seems to have been wiped away somehow, you'd all panic worse than you already are," Boudica could hear panic in Da Vinci's voice too, "And that's not even considering how some of you would react at learning a servant can have a kid," and now, Boudica flinched at the glare that the inventor gave her, "So, none of this leaves this room. We are going to discuss everything we know so far, and then find a way to send Musash-"

"Not happening."

It happened almost too fast for Boudica to see what was going on. There was a flash of red and white, and suddenly Musashi wasn't standing between them anymore. Instead, where she had been standing, was a tall figure with tan skin, a red cloak, and long white hair.

Boudica blinked, and at the back of her mind, thought somehow Emiya had come back as well, only to stop when she heard the crunching of metal and the buzz of open electrics. She looked down to her right, and saw Musashi's head smashed through the console with a tan hand on the back of her head, and then shouted at the top of her lungs, "What are you doing!?"

"Oh," with each word, Boudica could hear that this was not Emiya, no matter how much it looked like him, "I am just making sure that the story keeps going," there was a malicious glee at the back of these words, rumbling beneath the quite calm of the man's voice, "I can't allow this fool to simply jump around with no care the importance of space and time," the not Emiya looked back with a mere glance at her, "That would ruin all the fun," and Boudica felt a shot of horror climb up her spine at the white pupils on black eyes.

"Musashi!" Da Vinci cried, only for her next words to be cut off with a sudden jerk, as the imposter's right hand shot out and caught the inventor's throat. A second later, she was lifted into the air, and her hands came up around a long arm covered in a long red sleeve.

"Can't have you interfering either," Da Vinci reached up, and grabbed at the white haired man's arm, "We have all the players we need now on this stage, no need for your trinkets muddying up our story."

"Let them go!" Boudica wasn't sure if it was her voice or Mashu's. All she knew was that she pulled back on her right arm, and a long blade materialized in looked at the man's left arm, and saw that Musashi, despite having her face currently shoved directly into the circuits and wires, was still moving on her own, pressing her hands down on the console to try and push herself out of the trap. She raised her blade, and aimed it directly at the attacker's arm.

"Fire Doused in Blood."

Only to see a blade seem to grow out of his arm, and catch the strike before it could meet his flesh. The wretched thing was twisting in a half dozen different directions, with spikes and barbs coming off of it like some kind of wretched vine of thorns. A second after, he twisted his body, and Boudica felt her head be slammed into, sending her sprawling against the console. As she opened her eyes once more, she saw he had used Da Vinci as a club, slamming her head into his, before slowly pulling her back into a more comfortable position.

"That's the best you have?" she glared up at the imposter, who merely had inverted eye pointed down at her. She glared at him, and at the back of her mind, she felt a something screaming to be let out. She glared up at him, and reached over and grabbed her blade again, "You must be joking-"

"Mashu!" she didn't dare take her eyes off the man in front of her, "Go get help!" this imposter was incredibly strong, and she doubted she could beat him on her own. Mashu, without her Shielder powers, certainly couldn't help in a fight like this. That just left getting reinforcements.

"Such a pathetic excuse for a wario-"
She sliced her blade towards his neck. He seemed to need to chant to call up weapons, and she smirked to herself when the blade actually reached his jugular-

CHINK

-Only to feel her jaw fall as she saw her weapon shatter upon his neck. She simply stared for a moment at the broken blade. She then heard the man snort, and turned her eyes up to meet his face. A face that was so like Emiya's, yet worn and cut into lines that seemed to be formed by his sneer.

"No wonder the Romans ran you all through," the screaming at the back of her mind grew louder, and she felt energy begin to race through her, "Dumb monkeys they may have been, but they could see such clear weakness," somehow, the smirk grew sharper, "Still, better than your daughters," he looked down at her, "At least you didn't moan when they took yo-"

She saw red.

The next thing she knew, there was a pain on her chest. The second thing she could understand, was that she was lying on her back, her chest being pushed down with an enormous pressure, as her eyes adjusted, and she saw the imposter standing over her, foot stamping down directly upon her.

'How,' she attempted to speak, but the pain on her chest kept it from coming out, 'How did he,' it was only then that she looked down, and saw that her hair had grown wild once more, covering her body, which now had long blue patterns of the Iceni, 'He…he got me to go Berserker, and then somehow caught me underneath his feet-'

"Just a few moments more," her eyes were brought back up. She could see Da Vinci straining against the imposter's grip, while Musashi's hands still tried to push her out. But they were growing weaker. But from her position, even as a Berserker, she couldn't get up to him. And if he'd been able to dodge her and coral her during her frenzy while holding on to both of them, then there was no way she could force him away on her ow-

"Gate-"

And then, the room became awash in gold, as large circles of mystic energy coalesced all around the man above her. From the center of these dozen or so circles, she saw the points or edges of blades poke themselves into the reality of the room. All of those points were aimed directly at the man on top of her, surrounding him in all directions. As they materialized, the man stamping down on her immediately changed position, letting his foot up ever so slightly, which was just what she needed.

"-of-"

The blades of this Noble Phantasm now were halfway emerged from the great portals they had been summoned from. The imposter was too focused on dodging the spray of strikes to keep Boudica pushing herself up, and jumping towards her opponent's left arm. With all her strength, she grabbed at the wrist, and pulled. It did not seem to cause any damage, but it was enough, as the grip around Da Vinci's neck came loose. Immediately, Boudica adjusted herself mid air, and jumped, catching the falling inventor as she sailed through the air, and back towards the door, twisting in the air to dodge through two portals as they got clear of the attack. Where, she finally saw, stood her savior, in all his golden armored glory.

"-Babylon," declared GIlgamesh, a man she never thought she would be so happy to see.

And the blades from Giglamesh's Noble Phantasm shot through the air. The Emiya imposter scowled, and as the blades closed in, he sighed, and let go of Musashi's head. He then hopped into the air, twisting his back and contorting his limbs so the blades of the Gate passed around him. As he somersaulted backward, however, he was forced by momentum away from where he had been standing.

Which was enough for Musashi's strength to finally push her head free of the console, and then turn towards the door. Boudica grit her teeth as she saw electrical burns all over the pretty samurai's face, with the pink haired woman's eyebrows having been burnt away. Her eyes were dazed, spinning around as she tried to take a step forward, only to begin to fall towards her face. There was a flash, and another head of pink hair managed to get under her.

"Got you," Mashu declared. The girl with glasses immediately grabbed Musashi's robes, and pulled the woman back with her, before she, like Boudica, was behind the first hero. And, for a second, Boudica was able to take a breath.

"So," Gilgamesh's voice kept her from celebrating for more than a breath. She saw that he was facing the Imposter, who was staring directly at him as well. The attacker's indifference and condescension had been replaced with some kind of sneer, as the he stared directly at the man who had seemed to disrupt his plans, "I suppose you must be the cause of these disruptions?"

The imposter said nothing, merely staring forward. He then raised his left finger, towards Gilgamesh, "I am the Sword of Bone," a new wretched blade twisted out from his skin, "Steel bent by body," and only then did Boudica realize that the finger was pointed not at GIlgamesh, but instead at the two women on the other side of him. She leapt towards them, knocking them to the ground as there came a sound of metal careening through the air.

TI-CHINK

Only to watch as another Golden Portal appeared and sent another blade to collide with the imposter's attack in the middle of the air. As the two blades fell to the ground, one pristine and the other a twisted hunk of metal, Gilgamesh stepped forward again.

"I thought I had seen it all," Gilgamesh's voice seemed to hold a higher volume now despite him not straining to raise his voice, "So many great and powerful beings claiming divinity or authority or the respect of mortals. Ha," the bark of a laugh was almost a sharp as the blades of Gate of Babylon, "But of them all, I never thought I'd see you," Boudica blinked, and wondered who this was, "And certainly not that you'd be such a wretch. A faker of a faker."

The temperature of the room dropped almost instantly.

"Mashu," Boudica managed to get out, "We need to get them to Nightingale," she could could see the edge of Gilgamesh's smile twist upward slightly, "They need all the help they can get."

"Oh no yo-"

"Eyes on me faker!" there was the sound of several blades flying through the air, and Boudica could only vaguely watch as the imposter dodged all of them as she lifted Da Vinci and helped Mashu pick up Musashi once again, "The only thing you would be worried about is how long you will be able to protect yourself against the might of the first hero of mankind," she could almost here Gilgamesh's smirk grow even more as Boudica pushed their group out into the hall, "you filthy mongrel."

"Mongrel!"

Boudica slammed her fist along the button to the door just as she felt the room grow even colder. She then pulled Da Vinci, in some kind of momentary haze, over her shoulder, and grabbed Mashu more firmly by the shirt. Gilgamesh…Gilgamesh didn't think he'd win this one. He hadn't made the slightest snide remark about how they'd been beaten so easily by this faker, and instead focused all of his attention on getting the intruder to focus on them. It wasn't like Gilgamesh could use Ea on Storm Glider. If they were going to stop this, they had to get out of here and get help.

"Come on," she shouted, "We need to get to Nightingale."

"Right."

They both took off. Despite the aching of her muscles, they flew down the metal corridor with almost no problem. Boudica gave a look back over her shoulder at the door. She cursed under her breath, before they came up to the elevator. She hit the button to open the door, and then hit the intercom, and said, "This is Boudica. We have an emergency on Command Floo-"
CHU-ZRRT

She pulled her hand back from the intercom, as a familiarly styled blade was sticking out of the wall where her finger had been only a second ago. She turned her head back, and saw that the imposter Emiya was standing in the middle of the hall. Every one of her hairs stood on end as she saw that not a single mark was on his body. Not even out of place. And the smirk on his face was like he had had when he had first appeared. He then lifted his hand towards the them.

"Come on!" Mashu shouted, as she pressed the button on the door for the elevator again and again. Boudica laid the still out Da Vinci down behind her, as she reached her hand out, and pulled out her Berserker spear, and held it out in front of her. Unfortunately, as a Berserker, there wasn't much she could do on defense, but at the moment, she was the only one who could possibly stop this imposter.

"Really?" the fake Emiya said, "Oh well," and then, around him, mana seemed to coalesce all around him, "Outside of death, or of life," and Boudica could only grit her teeth at the fractured chant, as dozens of the infernal blades hung around the imposter's form, "The kiln of pain, forging man-"

POW

And Boudica blinked, as the imposter was cut off with an outstretched fist slamming into his jaw. Connected to that fist was Gilgamesh.

"Who said," there was a little belch, and a spray of blood fell onto the floor, "That you could leave?"

Boudica could only wonder how Gilgamesh was still moving. It had been obvious from his behavior that Gilgamesh knew he would lose the fight with this imposter, and from the way he looked he had been correct. All of his Golden Armor was gone, with only a few fragments remaining clinging to his body. Instead, the metal around his body was from the wretched iron that the imposter had been using, as there were a half dozen of those blades currently sticking out of the King of Uruk. Blood was pooling beneath his heaving form, legs shaking from the heavy breaths he was forcing into his lungs. Still, the man's crimson's eyes remained locked on his opponent, who began to shake as well, as the faker twisted his inverted pupils down on the first hero.

"Die."

The blades that had previously been aimed down the corridor immediately turned towards the golden haired king. GIlgamesh continued to glare up at the imposter, and pulled back his other arm to throw another punch.

"Forging many weapons!" and the blades came down in a swarm.

However, they simply impaled themselves into the metal floor where GIlgamesh had been standing. As yet again, there was great gust of wind, and the strike missed its target. Now, standing between Boudica and the imposter, holding an arm around Gilgamesh's waist, stood a lithe figure with long green hair and flowing white robes.

"Really got yourself into the thorn bush this time?" the strange mix of mocking monotone and actual concern was clear in the man's voice, "Eh Gilgamesh?"

"Shut the fuck up Enkidu," Giglamesh gagged, hacking up another spat of blood. He then, offhandedly, added, "How the hell did you get here so quickly."

"I took the stairs when I saw you going to whine to Da Vinci," Boudica vaguely remembered that there was a staircase on the other side of the Storm Glider from the elevator, "Good thing too, or else this would be yet another time that you got yourself killed in a fight with Emiya Shirou."

"OH FUCK OFF!"

Enkidu, the man of clay, just shook his head, before slowly backing away from the man, all the while his spear was pointed directly at the man who had manhandled his companion. The intruder stood up straight, and waved his hand. A few blades flung forward towards the Lancer, but with a few thrusts of his spear, the blades were knocked out of the air. Boudica blinked at the defensive stance, before it dawned on her.

'If he's copying Emiya, then that means he's also copying Emiya's class,' so this intruder would be considered an archer, with all the strengths and weaknesses that included, 'But that also means that Enkidu's class as a Lancer gives him an advantage in a one on one fight,' she the thought, 'It also explains why he was able to outclass Musashi in his first strike. She is strong, but if she was caught off guard without Ritsuka here to support her, an archer would naturally have the advantage.'

Still though, despite the apparent advantages they now had in class with Enkidu on their side, that wasn't all that was happening. No, Enkidu was retreating towards them, using his natural defense against Archers to allow him to fall back without being hit, while their opponent continued to march forward, not even breaking a sweat as he summoned more and more blades to attack with.

'He might be an archer,' she felt sweat begging to cover her brow, 'but either he's so powerful he can quickly overwhelm a very powerful Lancer,' she then considered the array of magics that would allow this sort of imposter to infiltrate the Storm Glider, 'Or there is something else to his powers beyond that class.'

"Boudica," she was brought from her musings by Enkidu's voice, and was glad she had, as she saw Gilgamesh's form flying towards her. She reached out, and caught him as best she could with one arm. She stared at Enkidu, who raised his free hand to the end of his spear, "Take Gilgamesh, and get him to the medical bay."

"And leave you!" Gilgamesh shouted, and Boudica grimaced as she felt blood from his mouth pour over her arm, "He'll kill you!"

"He needs to get help soon or even his stupidity won't keep him from dying," Enkidu continued, blocking the increasingly frequent strikes from the imposter, "You are the only one strong enough to hold on to him and keep him from doing something stupid," Enkidu took a second to look back at her, and she saw the sad smile of a man preparing for his own death, "I…can hold him for hopefully long enough for the elevator to get off this floor."

DING

"That will not be necessary," the doors slid open behind Boudica, and she felt her shoulders relax at the french accent, "Oh lord," and she then felt a strange tingling embrace her whole being, as a golden light began to wrap up around her skin, reaching around to her bruised sternum and slowly mend the bone and muscle, "Protect my Comrades!" she saw the same light covering everyone around her, as a flag of white and gold, adorned with the crest of Jeanne D'Arc, flew above their heads, "Luminosite Eternelle!"

She heard a vague growl from the imposter, who then snapped, "Of course one of his whores would be on this ship."

"Make way," Boudica looked, and saw that alongside Jeanne, who had planted her flag in the middle of their group, was Nightingale and Goredolf alongside two bed carts. They left the the beds in the elevator as they ran up to the supine forms of Musahsi and Da Vinci, who both seemed to be breathing easier, even if they still were not moving well, "We need to get them ready for the medical bay now!"

Mashu nodded, and helped Goredolf lift Da Vinci onto the first of the beds, while the head nurse worked on Musashi. Boudica for an instant considered why they had brought two beds, but quickly realized if Mashu sent out a general call for help, it would make sense to bring as many as possible.

"I'm afraid I can't let that happen," the figure of the faker, however, only seemed slightly more annoyed than usual. He then raised his hand, "I suggest you all get out of my way, and leave the dimension jumper and the inventor to me."

'So they were his targets,' Boudica nodded to herself. Just as she was about to say something, she watched as Gilgamesh managed to stand straight up again.

"Like I let a Faker like you order me around," Gilgamesh grabbed onto one of the largest blades currently poking out of his gut, and then pulled it out. Boudica heard Jeanne gasp behind her, but shook her head as the magic of the noble phantasm came around, and closed up the wound, "Surely now you see that at this moment, you are not only outnumbered, but I have all the support I need to defeat you even without endangering the ship," he pulled out another of the blades sticking all the way through his arm, and reached for one along his thigh, only to stop when Enkidu slapped him, "OW!"

"You're not fighting anymore," Enkidu said, "You need to get yourself in that elevator with the others and get to the infirmary," he kept his spear pointed forward, "Jeanne, Boudica and I should be able to match him now."

"I don-" he stopped as Enkidu raised another hand to slap Gilgamesh, which caused the King of Uruk to shut his mouth, before sighing, and adding, "You won't be able to overwhelm him without Gate of Babylon though."

"We won't need it," and now, it was clear that the call had gotten out. On the other side of the corridor stood a cluster of more servants. Not only the speedy Atalante, who she would have expected to arrive quickly, but also the fully armored form of Mordred and the broad figure of Asterios. She could hear more servants arriving behind the minotaur, and she couldn't hold back her grin, as Mordred then asked, "So, what we got here, another evil Emiya?"

"Oh," the figure now looked more annoyed than ever before, "I am certainly far more than that."

"That presence," Boudica could hear Jeanne say behind her, and that alone was enough to get Boudica's instincts back to alert.

"Let me show you a taste of what power I have gained from this wretched fool," he then stuck his hand down toward the ground. Red and white lighting shot out of his hand into the ground, and began to dance up and around the corridor. Boudica felt a rush of energy, pushing her and the rest back slightly, as the power became overwhelming. She only stopped when she felt Jeanne's hand catch her back, allowing her to look up at the Saint, who was staring in abject horror at the sight. The faker then shouted, "I AM THE SWORD OF BO-"

He then stopped. The lighting came to an end, and the force erupting from the center of the hallway ceased. She vaguely watched as the imposter Emiya's eyebrow twitched, and then she saw the man's face sag downward.

"Oh you have got to be," the man's voice had been reduced to a whine, before he shouted, "NOW! You want me back now!" she watched as he shouted into the air, flailing wildly, "I was abo-FINE!" he then turned his attention back toward the room, and let out a sigh, "I've already ruined the communication equipment and can adjust the field against this ships reality signature anyway now that I've been here."

"Wait wha-"

And then he was gone.

Boudica blinked. She saw Atalante and Asterios blinked too, and she guessed that Mordred was blinking under the helmet. For a few more seconds, they all just stood there, before the Knight of Treachery's hands flew up into the air, and shouted, "Well what the fuck was that then!"

"So," Da Vinci said, "How is Musashi?"

The inventor was laid up, awake but not tied to the bed, a precaution that Nightingale had declared was, "Necessary to keep stupid patients from running off to hazardous activities without proper care for medical procedure and their own health." Boudica was quite glad that she was not her master on hearing that description, because she was quite sure the second Nightingale got her hands on him, he would wish he still had a black key sitting right next to his heart. At least then the nurse would be inclined toward mercy.

"She's worse than you unfortunately," Nightingale said, pointing over at one of the other three occupied beds, where the still unconscious Musashi laid with her head against a pillow, "She has burns all over her body, and the amount of mystical energy inside the electricity powering the console and ship were enough to cause actual damage to her. She'll live, but without a command spell or our master providing her regular mana, she'll take at least a few days to recover."

"That's not good," Da Vinci sighed, "She was the fastest way we were going to get back up to the team down planet side," she groaned, "And I'm guessing the communication equipment-"

"Unusable in its current state," Goredolf, shoulders sagging, admitted, "Not only was there damage from Musashi being inside it so long, but during the fight he had with Gilgamesh," the King of Uruk was covered from head to toe in bandages while he laid up in his own bed, "there were numerous damages caused by blades cutting into the system. I don't know where half the wires would go," he let out a sigh, "And with the communicator here, the only system that seems to connect us down to Master Fujimaru's team are the return rings."

"So I need to ge-"

"Stay in bed until I give you an all clear," Nightingale said flatly.

"I'm the only one who can fix our equipment to try and support our team!" Da Vinci shouted, trying to push herself out of bed, "if we are going to let them know what happened, I have to at least get something up and running to try and save our friends," just as she was about to get out of the bed, Nigtingale pushed her back down, "I'm the acting commander of this vessel, and I say-"
"Da Vinci," Atalante said. She had already been planning on coming up to check on Alice, who was the only servant in care who hadn't been wounded in the fight, so she was willing to stay a bit longer than the other servants, most of whom had returned to duty around Storm Glider, "Please listen to Nightingale. She only has your best intentions-"

"And I have Ritsuka's best inventions," Da Vinci said, before she was finally forced down. The two stared at one another for a moment, before Da Vinci sighed, and said, "I'll stay here for twenty four hours, then I need to get down there and work," she waved her hand, "You can send someone to keep an eye on me and call for help if I hurt myself."

Nightingale stared down angrily, before sighing, "Fine," and then turning her head toward Enkidu, who was sitting next to Gilgamesh, "You will keep him in bed, however. He's nearly as hurt as Musashi is."

"I shall keep my idiot from hurting himself," Enkidu bowed his head. Gilgamesh crossed his arms and grumbled, but didn't say anything. Boudica, from her chair on the side, let out a sigh. She had been the only one to take any damage to not be constrained to the bed, though there had been a warning to be careful by the nurse. Mashu had avoided taking any hits, a good thing considering her no longer being a servant. Which left only one other person in the room besides the sleeping Alice.

"So," Mordred asked, no longer in armor and lazing against the wall, "Considering this Fake Shirou" Boudica flinched at the casual use of the name that Emiya so despised, "Was working so hard to destroy your equipment and kill you and Musashi, think he's the one behind Father and the rest of the servants going missing?"

It had been a topic of constant discussion. While during the initial frenzy of the flight from Chaldea, they had lost track of the missing servants, now all of them knew they were missing friends. Mordred had pretended to be stoic, but like all the Knights of the Round Table had been mildly panicking without their main king. Ironically, the male Arthur just didn't fit the bill. But really, everyone had been in a lurch from the thought of their friends being in danger, and it had only gotten worse when both Emiya and Ritsuka had left.

'And now Arash is gone,' Boudica thought to herself. She had to bite her tongue so she wouldn't give that away, 'I can't let anyone else know, not with how much this attack has already worried everyone even more.'

"I'd say that's almost a certainty," Da Vinci rubbed her chin, "He jumped on Storm Glider without alerting any of our sensors, so he's almost certainly a dimensional jumper of some kind," she shook her head, "I'd say he saw someone coming from planet side up here, and used it to find Storm Glider, and try and eliminate us," she paused, "For some reason, he is letting our team down there be, considering how he handled Gilgamesh," the First Hero let out a whine, "I would say he'd probably be able to threaten Ritsuka's team, but during the last report, he only seemed to be taunting them at most," she shook her head, "He's part of this, I'm sure."

"Well," Mordred groaned, "That's such a pain in the ass," she then shook her head, "Though considering how Father's French Knockoff freaked out, I guess we should have known."

Jeanne had held composure until everyone had been set up in the infirmary. After that, she had left quickly, explaining that she had to speak with Saint Martha. That had been concerning, as Jeanne had only ever done that before after first meeting Goetia. If this intruder was on that level, then all of Novum Chaldea was in danger.

"Unfortunately, even if he didn't kill anyone, he certainly disrupted our plans," Mashu sighed, "We have to hope that Senpai and the others will be safe at Winterfell," she looked over at Musashi, "And that Musashi is right, and this Ned Stark does love Cu like a brother."

There was a rustling in the background.

"Alice?" everyone looked over at the fourth bed, where Atalante was staring at the suddenly stiff form of Alice. The book being's eyes were wide as dinner plates, and she was staring directly at Mashu.

"Ned Stark?" Alice's voice was still that of a little girl, but there was a booming depth to it now. Atalante reached out, and placed a hand on her shoulder, but she kept speaking, "Ned Stark, of Winterfell."

"Yes," Mashu nodded, her own eyes widening.

"Wait, Alice!" Da Vinci almost stood up out of her bed, only to be held down by NIghtingale, "Ah, wait, I need to speak to her," the nurse relented, and then Da Vinci then asked, "Do you know anything about Winterfell! About Ned Stark!?"

"Ned Stark," the girl said once more, "Winterfell," her eyes seemed to glaze over, "Night's Watch," a new word, but they seemed to fit together, "Winter is Coming," then paused, tears welling up and her voice beginning to catch in her throat, and said, "Ice…and Fire."

"Alice, sweetheart," Atalante pet the servant from the book, "It is going to be okay."

"I don't like this story. I don't like this book," Alice said, "I don't want to read anymore," she placed her hands on her head, "Stop it, stop it," she then let her hands fall to her side, and let out two words from a language that Boudica had never heard, "Valar Morghulis," and then followed them up with some from English, "All men must die."

…

"Well that's fucking ominous," Mordred said. Atalante brought her hands up to the girl's ears, and glared at Mordred, who shrugged, "What? It is."

"I…I think this place is related to a book," Mashu finally managed to get out. Alice looked over at Mashu, and nodded.

"Well…that could be useful," Da Vinci admitted, "Alice, do you think you could help get these books?"

"She just had a panic attack!" Atalante said, only to stop when Alice's hand grabbed onto her own. She stopped, and looked the girl in her eye. Despite Alice being a copy of a digital construct of a servant, as Nursery Rhyme she did have power over books.

"They aren't picture books," Alice said flatly, some composure returning, "But…the fiction of the world," she seemed to look down, as if onto the planet below, "The fiction of the world is so strong, It has been making me feel sick since we got here. I…I have the books in my heads," she paused, "Or…five of the books. Story isn't done yet."

"Five books!" Da Vinci shouted, "That's perfect!" she then turned to Mashu, "Go get Shakespeare and Hans, they can help get the stories out of Nursery Rhyme, and I can study them here," Nightingale made to speak up in protest, "I'll stay here thirty six hours instead of twenty four if I can read a bunch of books and see what's going on that way," and the nurse closed her mouth, and sighed.

"Very well."
"Can you do this Alice?" Atalante asked, running her hand through the girl's hair, "If you get sick or don't like it."

"The world," Alice cut her semi-mother off, "It's so…smelly," that wasn't the right word, Boudica could tell, but it was close enough to the amount of space it was taking up in Alice's senses that it was close enough, "If I write them down, we can leave sooner, right?"
"It will help, yes," Da Vinci said excitedly. Boudica allowed herself a smile. At least with these books suddenly becoming available, they'd have something. Sure, it wasn't everything, and they would need to hope Musashi was good soon, but they had survived, and they had a plan. They could recover from this, as long as nothing else went wro-

"To believe mentioning Artoria's husband was enough to get us this informatio-"

"Father's what!?"

'Oh no.'