Garden of Order: III
Mordred had acted before him, but Ash had good reason for staying his feet when the woman accelerated towards them.
He gauged her speed, measured her reactions.
She was quick, yes, but lightly armed and lightly armoured. If that dress even offered anything even remotely close to protection. He felt no magical energy from the clothing, which meant it was nothing more than just that.
Mordred swung first, the pavement cracked under the weight of her sword slamming into it at a speed faster than a regular human could comprehend. The woman had glanced at the Saber the second she started moving, he tracked her actions as she skidded to a halt and then stepped backwards.
She was speaking, but he was less focused on that and more focused on her as an individual.
There was no drop in hostility.
And those eyes.
Those eyes had been why he'd held himself back from the same actions and Mordred.
He knew those eyes, he knew what they could do.
His sister had those same eyes.
And with those eyes, he knew that if she managed a lucky shot against him then he was dead. Though such was true against any Servant he fought, if they managed to pierce his spirit core and break it before he could rebuild his body, but with this Servant, if he was correct and those eyes were what he believed them to be.
All she would need would be a passing blow against him and they would do the rest.
He needed caution.
So he stepped and flanked her, her posture tensed immediately and she swung her glowing eyes onto him. There was a brief fraction of a second where they widened just a touch, he felt the alien sensation roll over his skin, something unnatural about it. Like he was being exposed to all the world, but just as quickly, it vanished and the woman furrowed her brows and looked as if she was examining him all over again.
Not that she had time, Mordred was charging her once again and swinging.
He watched the interaction, they made an effort to avoid Mordred at every turn and didn't even bother trying to trade blows. That hunting knife of theirs was ill-suited for that sort of thing.
His hand flashed up, kukri held in his grasp before it snapped forwards and flung towards the woman, measuring her from a distance. She dodged another blow of Mordred - the sword went wide and pruned the top half off a row of hedges - and then crouched down, briefly glancing at him as the throwing knife whisked over the top of her head.
Dodging and weaving.
That was what she did thus far, but she showed some measure of grace in her actions. Accustomed to fighting, it seemed, but that was expected of a Servant. Yet he knew of no individuals, in his world or Ritsuka's, that had those manner of eyes beyond his sister. Which made this individual quite the mystery.
Unless…
No, he could think of it later.
Sword drawn, then glanced at Mash and then nodded his head to her, she reciprocated the gesture and understood the intent. With that done, he returned his attention to the woman and stepped forwards, closing the distance between them and throwing himself into the mix of the battle, she made no effort to meet his blow and once more ducked to the side, he tensed and awaited a counter attack that never came.
Mordred flanking her other side might have been a reason for that, and she retreated several steps away from the armoured pair.
"Slippery one, ain't you?" Came the irritable growl of Mordred from behind her helmet, crimson light crackled around her form as she took a step forwards, leaning onto it and clearly preparing for another charge.
The woman didn't reply much to the taunt, rather she brought the knife up in a reversed grip and eyed the pair of them. Glowing eyes darting back and forth, her lips drew thin as she made a small noise. Thoughtful but moderately tired.
Ash stepped forwards and leaned into the charge, clearing the distance and swinging down.
His opponent fell back and pressed her hands flat to the ground, pushing up and flipping through the air. He would have followed, had she not thrown her knife for his head the second she spun, he twisted and swung across, battering the metal from his face and knocking it away.
She was jumping for him, he stepped back and grunted, her feet pressed flat against his shoulder and pushed off, springboarding off his body and twisting over the head of Mordred who narrowly missed her with the effort. The knight turned and grunted, leaning her head to the side with a sharp clang and a hiss of steel meeting steel.
A thud echoed across the courtyard.
The right horn of Morded's helmet dropped to the ground, having been cut clean through at the base.
Ash saw it.
If Mordred had not dodged, she would have likely lost her head.
Though Ash was bemused where she got the other knife from, but it was of little consequence, he jumped over Mordred and into the air, sword raised above his head and sharply bringing it down. Another flip and spin sent the woman out of his range, until he pressed his hand flat against the stone path, pulsing magical energy through it.
The floor under her feet glowed and-
She swung her knife down, eyes still aglow, and stabbed it into something.
Ash felt his connection with the spell snap, it fizzled and popped.
Then just…failed to materialise.
He changed tactics, bringing his hand off the ground and clenching it into a fist, he swung back down. Concrete shattered beneath his knuckles, cracks spread out perhaps a dozen metres from his fist, he thrust down into the nearest crevice and pulled upwards, tearing away a section of the path and throwing it towards the woman.
His arm coiled back and glowed, pale white light pulsated across the blade, he stepped forwards and thrust his arm forwards, the tip of the sword screeched as the light jumped away from him, peeling away and forming an arrow as it accelerated towards the target.
The upended slab disintegrated in the path of the continuing light-
A glint of steel and a hiss of something.
The arrow was cleaved right down the middle, splitting either side of the woman and then sputtering out of existence. She remained unmoved as she brandished the knife towards him and angled her head ever so slightly. There was a bemused look in her eyes as she watched him, looking up and down and squinting hard as if trying to see something.
Ash knew what she was looking for.
A rush of wind and a crackle of lighting, scarlet surged past her and the clank of steel filled the air. Mordred all but appeared by the side of the woman, swinging for her neck with the clear intent of taking her head off. The woman fell backwards and brought her knife about, noticeable strain as she caught the edge of clarent with her small blade.
He closed the distance and moved on her, throwing his hand forwards to unleash a spell at closer range.
Mordred had the magic resistance to cope with the spell, he assumed the woman would not and-
He pulled his hand back and frowned, staring at it.
And the way it had been split vertically right down to the wrist, he barely staggered when the boot pressed against his gut and the woman rolled away from the pair of them. He had spotted her movement the second before she actually moved. Somehow using Mordred's momentum to spin her into facing him and then slashing down against him. He glanced back up.
The knife wielder was on all fours a good distance from them, eyes narrowed and breathing a touch faster than before.
Mordred spared his hand a glance, a frown crossed her face then eyes her own shoulder plate which would have been mounted with a horn, but was now clearly missing on account of the attachment in question being cleaved from the armour.
Ash twisted the arm back and forth, watching the split halves flap open and shut in a morbidly intrigued way.
The cut was…clean.
One hand it was then, he wasn't going to risk building a new body and expose his central soul to this one while she was still looking for an opening. Anyone who could permanently kill him so easily needed to be approached cautiously. He turned his body side on and raised his sword towards her, eyes narrowed and lips drawn thin.
Flames clung to his sword in an instant, spreading over the metal and embracing it.
Shadows stretched over the pavement, the glowing sword turned and thrust down, he pierced the concrete and then pulled, dragging it across and cleaving a molten line through the earth before swinging upwards, putting all his strength into the movement and releasing a sharp breath as he wrenched it free of the ground.
The result was a burning trench opening up, splitting the pavement open as it surged for the woman, he could not see her through the haze of fire and smoke, but he heard the deft movements of her feet as she moved to avoid it, the bush that had been behind were was engulfed in fire, lifted from the ground and tossed through the air as falling embers of light, a rush of thunderous crashes and shattering stone as the remains of the upturned path fell from the sky.
Ash stepped over the narrow crack, fire still flooding up from beneath, and around the other side, eyes sliding over the shadows and the illuminated courtyard as she searched for where the woman might have gone. He paced forwards, slow and steady, his every step sent an echo which was just about louder than the crackle of fire directly by his side.
"You see anything?" Mordred yelled over the flames, he heard her movement on the other side of the wall of flickering orange. "Because I can't see shit."
"I cannot see her, but she remains close." He called back to her, looking left and focusing on the shadows. "Prepare to-"
A glint of steel in the darkness, he turned and reacted, the thrown knife clattered off his sword and vanished somewhere into the sky, the figure burst out of the shadows and closed the distance towards him, sprinting with incredible speed but he still saw her, reversing his sword he leaned forwards and lowered, swinging at her as she stepped into his range.
He saw the second knife she held in her hands, either recalled to her or just made with magical energy, he cared not which as it would catch him all the same if she struck him with it.
Mana flooded his limbs and his body, pulsing around under his skin.
Then he let go.
The visible wall of blackness distorted the surrounding air, shimmering like the surface of water and then expanding outwards rapidly. The woman had a fraction of a second - if that - to understand what was happening before she let out a sharp gasp, her body twisted as the burst of magical energy slammed into her, sending her careening back the way she came from and out of control.
From behind, he heard the pulse of Mordred's own mana burst.
He did not see the curtain of flames part, but he felt the rush of wind as the Saber stormed past him as a blur, catching the woman mid-flight and slamming her into the ground, fumbling to find the armed hand and then catching it between her fingers. With a low growl, Mordred twisted until there was a muffled popping sound.
The knife hit the ground with a clatter, Mordred pulled and swung the woman over her shoulder and onto the ground once more.
Ash moved in and came to a halt, skidding down and swinging for the woman, but stopped himself from truly hitting her. Instead the tip of his sword resided at her neck just underneath her chin, the intent obvious as he prodded forwards just a little, not until he felt the slightest hint of resistance at the tip of the blade.
With Mordred holding her left arm at an odd angle and Ash having a sword to her throat, he watched the eyes of the woman slowly start to fade away, she looked up at him with glazed over orbs which were distinctly…hollow.
She did not seem to react to Mordred having dislocated her arm either, he briefly glanced at the limb and noted that it was very nearly facing the other way, then glanced back at her face. Had Mordred not been holding her, he figured she would currently be continuing the assault against the both of them.
"Ritsuka." Ash called over his shoulder.
Silence greeted him, he frowned but did not turn his head to look, instead he briefly met the eyes of Mordred, who looked in his place and then furrowed her brows at something. Her expression shifted, looking caught between bewilderment and annoyance as she peered at it, then let out a sharp breath.
She looked back down at the woman and glared at the back of their head. "Are you gonna keep being wriggly, or am I gonna have to break some more limbs?"
"Go ahead." The woman replied back with a bored tone of voice, angling her head and glancing up at the Saber. Looking remarkably unconcerned about the entire affair. It sounded like neither a challenge nor a taunt, merely giving Mordred permission to do whatever it was that she wanted.
Ash raised a brow at her coarse language, but said nothing on the matter.
"Mash. Get him under control and get him over here."
The woman turned back to him and blinked slowly, then looked past. "Your friend looks unwell."
Mordred brought out her other hand and manifested Clarent once more, then dropped it down onto the shoulder of the woman, the flat of the sword resting on her shoulder while the edge was poised to bite into her neck, she met his eyes and jerked her head behind him and towards the direction of Ritsuka.
Ash slowly pulled the sword away from the woman, who still looked unconcerned, and he turned around.
Mordred would kill her if she tried anything, he could afford to take a step away.
He turned and was met with the sight of Ritsuka with a slightly translucent look about him, eyes glazed over and decidedly unfocused. Though he was looking in their direction, the boy didn't seem to be focusing on anything. Not even the fact that Mash was right next to him and trying to get his attention.
Crossing the distance with long strides, he snapped his hand out and cut short the flames which still burned, stepping over the cracks and crevices, a crunch of something under his boot signalled him being in front of Mash, she turned and winced at him for whatever reason, he met her eyes and then looked back at Ritsuka.
He leaned down, reaching out with his working hand and grabbed Ritsuka by the chin, tilting his head up and bringing their eyes to meet.
"Be gentle with him-!" Mash blurted out, catching his wrist but not making an effort to yank it away.
"I am." He said with patience, not taking his eyes off Ritsuka.
A light shake and the boy blinked, then pulled back and out of Ash's grasp.
"Sorry, I…what?" Ritsuka's words were slow, his skin still looked pale and unhealthy, his eyes glanced from Ash and then to Mash before back to him again, taking in a short breath before putting on a hollow smile and turning his head, "My bad I…I blanked out for a second there so…"
Ash watched him fumble through his words.
His hand twitched as he watched Ritsuka act.
It was a pitiful display.
He just didn't want to see it anymore.
"The woman has been detained, Mordred currently has a hold of her." Ash began, hoping the direct change in topic would focus Ritsuka and remove the unsightly display.
The curtness of his words earned a not too subtle look from Mash, who clearly wanted Ritsuka to have longer.
With a shaky nod of the head, the teen brought his hands up and wiped down his face, exhaling and nodding ahead. "Right, yes…she's alive, right? Good…good…I'd like some answers as to why she attacked and…uhm…her eyes…they're-"
"They are the same as my sisters, yes." Ash confirmed, he had seen the results and felt them. Glancing down at his wounded arm and frowning at it. "But…this one seems considerably more practised with them. Far more so than Priscilla ever was, I would argue that they are a greater danger than my sister in a fight. Especially as she could avoid myself and Mordred. A keen awareness of the battle and a sense for fighting."
His mind played over the fight.
"...I would argue she has some manner of minds eye to reflect that ability. Likely a high rank as well."
Mash frowned to herself and glanced past him at the Servant, then wet her lips. "...But why does she look like…"
Why did she look like an ordinary person? A curious thing indeed.
"Pseudo-Servant." Ash offered, but even as he said that he drew a blank. Those he were aware of with such eyes were Balor, but he would have certainly sensed the presence of such a potent divinity as that.
And the eyes of Balor were much worse than the woman's.
"Personal choice." He continued further, offering another explanation. Perhaps the eyes were unique to her person as a host and it was only someone else being in her body that offered something a bit different.
There were explanations he could come up with, yet none were confirmed.
Ash frowned when he noticed something else, glancing back down at Ritsuka and noticing that the teenager had yet to actually speak further. It had been Mash asking the questions that he should have been doing.
It looked as though the conversation that transpired had gone over his head.
"The woman still lives." He continued with, eyeing the expression on Ritsuka's face and searching for some sort of response. The glazed over looks remained, prompting him to continue further. "Do you wish to interrogate her or execute her?"
Mash whirled on him with a rather horrified look, not that he could understand,
Confusion briefly shot through him at her reaction.
He had said nothing unusual, they had been attacked by a hostile individual.
This was either a misunderstanding, or a premeditated assault.
Ritsuka jerked into life, whipping onto him with wide eyes and looked…truly panicked.
It was confusing, he was confused.
Why were they reacting like this? Where had he misspoken?
"N-no!" Blurting out, Ritsuka took a half-step forwards and raised hand, it flinched and jerked back to his side, his other came around and slammed it into his body, pressing the arm flat against him and keeping it there. "I'll speak with her. S-she…she probably knows something so I'll…I'll talk with her…"
Muttering that sentence to himself, Ritsuka brushed past him with a swift walk. Ash stepped aside and let him past, though did not take his eyes off the Master, instead he squinted at them and watched the reaction.
It had been odd.
Where was this behaviour earlier? It came from nowhere.
He looked back at Mash.
"What is wrong with him?"
She stared and then winced. "Senpai is…He'll be fine."
Ash stared.
He was sure neither of them was fully convinced by that.
He was fine.
This was nothing he hadn't done before.
This was fine.
He was sure it was a misunderstanding. Just have a conversation with the woman and then get this all straightened out in no time. That was probably how it would all go down. Yeah, that was how it would work out.
Ritsuka flicked his eyes up towards the dark haired woman, still held in the arms of Mordred, he tried to not look at Clarent which was poised to remove her head. He tried not to think about how all he needed to do was say the word and…
He swallowed down whatever bile was in his mouth at the thought.
Just a conversation.
That was all.
Just a conversation.
This was ridiculous, he wasn't like this before so there was no reason to be different about it. He was just being overly emotional about it. Taking in another breath, he inhaled and stepped closer to the pair, Mordred's eyes briefly locked with his and she gave a grunt of acknowledgement.
He met her eyes and offered a faint nod of his own, then glanced down to the woman held in her grasp.
Stopping a short distance from her, they engaged in a brief staring contest.
The woman with dark hair just looked back at him without saying a word, glazed over eyes and indifferent expression.
"...Hey." Ritsuka started the conversation, raising his left hand for a short wave.
He internally cringed at the awkward movement and lowered his hand again, wetting his lips and taking in a breath. "I'd like to think that we got off on the wrong foot here. I'm Fujimaru Ritsuka."
The woman responded with silence, still eyeing him up.
Her head tilted ever so slightly.
Then she spoke in a low tone. "You're not a Servant…Why are you here?"
He straightened a bit, her words confirmed that she was aware of the presence of the Servants at least. It implied that she was aware of them and confused as to why he was here. Alright, he could work with that.
Ritsuka nodded past them and towards the apartment. "I'm here to investigate that. A lot of Servants showed up where they aren't supposed to…which you know about."
He looked back down at her, then wet his lips. "...So what's your name?"
"Why do you ask?"
He shrugged. "Just curious. You don't have to tell me but I'd like to at least call you something…you're not a…are you a regular Servant or are you an exception?"
She eyed him at those words, slightly narrowed gaze parted from him and towards the space behind him. He didn't turn to see what she was looking at, but she gave a small hum and then looked back at him. "Like the girl behind you? She seems strange…Looks slippery. Not a full Servant."
Ritsuka wasn't surprised she could tell at a glance.
Just about everyone could discern that at this point.
"Something like that…Pseudo-Servant?"
A shrug. "I don't know."
Glad that was cleared up then.
"So why did you attack us?"
The woman let out a sigh. "Servants showed up and moved into the apartment. Caused nothing but trouble since they appeared. Ghosts and zombies filled up and no one will go near this place now…then you showed up with more Servants."
"And you thought we were here to cause more trouble." He assumed, already feeling relief settle into his chest as he realised that he had been right and that it was a misunderstanding. He looked down at her, then towards the arm that was holding her and to the sword at her neck. He briefly glanced at Mordred and waved his hand away from the neck of the woman.
Mordred watched him in silence, putting on a frown but edging Clarent away so that it was no longer directly poised to remove her head. Not that the woman seemed to react to it in the least, barely even glancing at the Saber removing the sword.
Instead she just kept watching him.
"You assume we're allies?"
Ritsuka raised a brow. "Aren't we? You don't want the Servants there anymore, do you? I saw you clearing out some of the ghosts…I'm here to get the Servants out and figure out who was bringing them here."
He paused, then shrugged. "Doesn't it make sense for us to work together? We all know we can take care of ourselves…"
Silence.
Then a short hum. "I suppose it would be useful. Saves me some effort if you helped out, I guess. At least you could probably deal with most of the Servants that showed up, rather than me. At least until we get to the man with glittery eyes. Not sure who, but he's some shadowy figure."
That was news for them.
"Shadowy figure?"
"Like I said." She repeated. "Not seen him."
Ah, right.
She had said that, had she not?
Ritsuka glanced at Mordred, then back to the woman before he nodded his head. "So that's it then, we're done?"
"If you're not part of the Servants making a ruckus, I have no problem with you." Was the reply from the woman. "Sorry for attacking."
"Uh-huh." Mordred spoke up for the first time, Ritsuka noticed her expression as a mixture of incredulous and irritable. "So you just try to carve us up and then say 'my bad?' after we pummelled your ass into the dirt? Sounds like some dirty tactic to me."
The woman shrugged. "You can kill me then."
"That's…" Ritsuka frowned, "...I don't want to do that, but aren't you a little too…"
He didn't want to say she sounded too fine with dying, because that would say he was fine with killing her.
And he recalled what Arjuna had been like when they first met as well.
"If you kill me, it saves me the effort of tearing down this apartment." With a nod of the head behind her towards the building, she closed her eyes. "I was probably only summoned because I have some small link with it…It's actually a pain to have to deal with all of this. If you kill me and then do it for me, then I don't mind."
"So now you're just trying to offload all your work on us, hah?" Sneering down, Mordred jostled the woman slightly before scoffing and shaking her head. "Lazy bastard. At least put in a little bit of effort, why'd you bother answering the summons in the first place if you couldn't be arsed to do the work?"
There was a short pause.
The woman opened her eyes and then shrugged. "Not sure."
Mordred made a face and clicked her tongue, clearly annoyed with the responses she was receiving.
"If you're going to investigate, then I'll help."
It was like going back and forth, Ritsuka wasn't sure whether she was happy to help or annoyed about helping. Perhaps it was both. His hands anchored themselves onto his hips and he looked down at her for a few moments, then stepped backwards and turned to the others behind him, meeting the faces of both Ash and Mash, looking between them and leaning forwards.
"Well?" He began, searching Ash for an expression.
The blonde was peering first at Ritsuka with an odd look, then glanced past him towards the woman and frowned.
"Her eyes concern me…as does her flippant attitude. Letting her remain is a mistake and if she were to turn on us with our backs turned-"
Ritsuka winced. "That's paranoid."
"She just attacked us-"
"She's dealing with Servants bringing in a bunch of ghosts and zombies." He reminded the blonde, gesturing behind himself towards the tower. "I think we can excuse the misunderstanding."
Ash did not respond to that.
Ritsuka took that as passing consent that he would allow the woman to accompany them.
His eyes turned onto Mash, who was still staring at him with some searching expression. She straightened and spoke before he could even get a word out.
"I am fine with letting her come with us, Senpai." She began, "If that is what you want to do. She seems to know more about this situation than we do."
She did.
Ritsuka nodded his head and smiled, turning back around and then stepping towards Mordred and the woman once again.
"Alright…You can let her go now."
Mordred briefly stilled, sending him a rather dubious look, then exhaled and loosened her grip, all while keeping her sword at the ready in a rather clear manner. Not that Ritsuka paid too much attention to that, instead he watched as the woman hummed and slowly rose to her feet, bringing her other arm around to poke at her limp limb and twitch it back and forth for a couple moments.
"Are you-"
"Give me a moment." She responded with, sounding unconcerned over the whole thing, then after examining her wounded arm, she glanced back towards him and tilted her head. "You're fine with letting me come along?"
He nodded. "Yeah."
"I did try to kill you."
"...A lot of people try that."
There was a slow blink, then she angled her head to one side and looked him up and down again. Squinting a little and leaning forwards, though maintaining her distance and otherwise keeping her hands to her side.
For a few seconds, Ritsuka stood there and allowed her to look at him.
When she leaned back, she made only a small noise in the back of her throat, it was hard to place. Either accepting or confused, it mattered little because her next words did little to expand upon the noise.
"I see."
Evidently she wasn't a big fan of long sentences.
Ritsuka gave a thin smile, thankful that the misunderstanding was resolved, then stepped back and flashed up the communicator. He didn't have to wait long for the screen to emerge, but it was not Romani who greeted him this time around.
Straightening up a little, he looked back at the Director as she stood with folded arms and an unreadable expression.
"You are taking a rather large risk here."
"She is aware of the Servants in the tower block." Ritsuka responded, glancing briefly to the side and watching as the unnamed woman regarded him for a moment, then looked at the screen and leaned forwards. Her eyes roamed over the transparent frame and lingered on the director before seemingly dismissing both as uninteresting. "And has said there is some shadow guy with glittery eyes."
The Director hummed and then looked away from him, her eyes moved to the others. "I expect you to keep a close eye on this development."
At first he thought she was talking to Mash.
The male voice that answered robbed him of that notion.
"I intend to."
Turning, he noticed that Ash had not once removed his eyes from the dark haired woman, nor had his posture relaxed in the least.
…Which was admittedly fair, he couldn't force people to trust her.
"Ryougi Shiki."
He blinked, then turned, the Director and others did as well.
The woman looked back and then spoke again. "That's my name. Ryougi Shiki."
"Oh." Ritsuka coughed, then smiled. "Nice to meet you then, Shiki."
Shiki just stared back, then muttered in a low tone. "If you say so."
And left it at that.
Ritsuka turned back to the Director with a smile, she just responded with a tired sigh and palmed at her features, his smile started to dim as he turned and paced away from the group, moving only a couple of steps and lowering his voice.
"She's not the first Servant whose first encounter has been rocky."
Raising her head, the Director met his stare with an even look. "And you will notice that I have only raised my caution of the situation and not demanded action."
He straightened, then thought back.
Oh.
Right.
"Sor-"
"Do not apologise for it." She interrupted before he could get the word out. "We are dealing with an individual who - if Ash is correct - has Mystic Eyes equivalent to those of the Demi-God Priscilla. Who was touted to have been capable of slaying Gods…we registered her actions against the spells and the spirits."
The Director leaned forwards, her eyes narrowed and fixed him with an intensity that made him go quiet.
"Understand just how dangerous this woman is. She sliced through the connection between the magical energy. Potency did not matter. She destroyed it with nothing more than an ordinary knife. Mystic Eyes of any caliber are dangerous enough and her rank is very likely the highest that can exist. Treat her with extreme caution. A single strike could slay any Servant with horrifying ease."
All he could do was stand there and listen.
The gravity of her words was not lost on him in the least.
"I…I know that." He started, slow and quiet build, putting more volume into his words the longer he went on. Eyes danced from the floor and landed on the Director. "But I want to give her a chance here. She seems…I can't quite explain it but she seems genuine at least."
Dead silence.
Then a short sigh, the Director palmed at her face for a moment and dragged her hand down. With a faint smack of the lips, she nodded her head up and down before speaking again.
"Very well. We will be monitoring your progress closely, but ensure that Mash is kept close at hand whenever you are with this Servant…and try to avoid being left alone with them. Their Saint Graph registers them as an Assassin-"
Ritsuka hummed. "Yeah. I know…We'll speak with you soon then."
"I expect your update in short order, Fujimaru."
The screen cut off and the communicator went silent, his arm lowered down to his side a moment later. A short inhalation and Ritsuka turned back around, walking back towards the assembled group and looking over them all, then bringing his eyes onto Shiki and offering her a polite smile.
She did not return the gesture.
Her expression just remained rather indifferent to him, but it was hard to be offended.
It reminded him a little of Ash or Altera.
Maybe he was just used to that sort of thing by now?
"Good news, we're ready to head in." He brought his arm up, pointing towards the apartment. "So you seem to have a bit more familiarity with this place, so we'll follow your lead in terms of showing us around."
Shiki just watched him, then hummed and turned.
Or rather, she looked as if she was going to, then she stopped and suddenly whipped her head towards the ground. Eyes narrowing and brows being drawn tight. Ritsuka allowed himself a moment of shock, quickly turning to see what had managed to attract her attention.
He loosened his posture almost immediately.
"Seriously, Fou?"
The small white animal stared back at him with something that almost looked like offence, as if to ask whether that was really something he had bothered to say.
"What the hell is that?" Shiki asked, a tone bordering bewilderment and demanding, leaning back ever so slightly while keeping her eyes on the small white animal. "Some sort of familiar for one of you?"
Ritsuka deferred to Mash as the senior expert on these matters.
"Ah, no." Mash quickly spoke up, she herself looking down at Fou with surprise and resignation, he did not miss the way her eyes glanced at the back of her shield and then back at the animal. "Fou is Fou…We're not really sure what he is, but he's very curious and always follows us around."
He paused for a moment, then pointed to Fou. "A little bit like a cat looking for food, you know?"
"...A cat?" Shiki turned her eyes onto him and made a face as if he had just said something stupid. "That doesn't even look close to being a cat. Just because it's furry and has pointed ears, that doesn't make it a cat…See? They don't even think they're a cat."
A swift glance back at Fou revealed the animal to be gazing at him with a rather deadpan expression.
Yeah.
This confirmed it.
Fou was smarter than he let on.
"Come on then." He glanced back as Shiki turned and started walking away from them, making a beeline right towards the entrance of the apartment. "If you want to get this over and done with quickly, then we should probably start first. You've got all of this to search and it will take awhile. Especially if we're fighting through traps."
Ritsuka pointedly didn't move at the mention of the last thing, instead he looked up at the apartment and then back down at Shiki as she moved away from them. Raising his voice and shouting to her. "Uhm! What do you mean by traps?"
Shiki paused, then looked over her shoulder.
"Oh. There was a mage here who tried to collect death through experimentation. He turned the entire complex into a workshop and killed everyone in the building to fuel his research. That is probably where most of the ghosts came from."
That said it so casually that Ritsuka didn't understand what she had said for a few moments.
"Hey." Mordred grunted, stepping forwards and frowning deeply. "You want us to go barging through the front door of some mad man's workshop like that won't be a shit idea? Are you stupid or something."
Shiki just angled her head, almost like some sort of puppy, and then looked at Mordred for a few seconds before she replied. "You don't need to worry. I have already killed him. Parts of the apartment were destroyed in the process as well…So it won't be as dangerous as it was before."
Another pause, then she looked directly at him.
"And it's not like you have a choice, right?"
"...True." He muttered, glancing at the apartment with a new sense of wariness. Wetting his lips, he took the first cautious steps forwards. "He collected death…? That's sort of messed up."
Shiki just shrugged her shoulders. "It is what it is."
A hand caught him by the arm, Ritsuka glanced down at the limb and then towards the holder.
Ash had stepped into his personal space and caught him by the arm, green eyes still fixed solely on the retreating form of Shiki. The Avenger spoke in a hushed whisper, his words carrying a sense of foreboding.
"I do not know her. I have looked and I do not know her. I do not know what transpired in this place. Yet I should."
Ritsuka frowned. "You think she's lying?"
Ash was silent for a moment, then he shook his head. The hold on Ritsuka's arm slowly loosened until he drew it back entirely. "No. Yet that is what concerns me. Either this is a timeline where I was not granted the ability to observe, or something relating to the distortion is affecting my mental faculties."
That was troubling on both parts, but it didn't affect them in what they needed to do.
But the warning was appreciated.
"Keep me alert then." Ritsuka whispered back, turning back to face Shiki. "But stay alert. The Director talked all about Workshops and stepping into this sort of place sounds as though it would be like walking into a deathtrap on the best of days."
This mission was concerning and Mash felt justified with those feelings.
Though she kept her face as free of those fears as she could, there was a small part of her that knew anyone who looked long enough would immediately realise just how anxious she was.
And it wasn't just because of the nature of the mission.
Her eyes landed on the back of Ritsuka's head and lingered on it, he walked only a few feet in front of her, but was at least close enough to put some distance between himself and Shiki-san. Not that Mash didn't trust her, but it was just airing on the side of caution.
And Shiki-san didn't have to do anything to Ritsuka to hurt him.
She had seen his face, the way he had locked up and the panic on him.
It was something that she never wanted to see again, because it was something she didn't know how she was supposed to protect him from. Physical attacks and spells were simple, she could just put herself between them and use her body as a shield, it was how she could keep him safe.
But that…
…His face made her freeze up and she could see he was in pain but she couldn't do anything about it because she didn't know what to do.
What was the point of being his protector if she couldn't do it when it mattered?
He'd said nothing more about his episode.
He hadn't even tried to address it, instead he was wearing the same smile that he was always wearing. The one that he had always worn before and she met it with a smile of her own. Because she felt like she knew what he was doing, he was trying to make himself look fine to ease her worries.
Or make it so she wasn't worried about him.
But she stopped smiling whenever he looked away.
Because the smile was now…awful to look at.
Her eyes pulled from him when Shiki-san ahead of them cleared her throat, raising her hand and making a wide sweeping gesture to the hall they were in. the reception area where people would have filed in to get to their rooms. She had read enough books on modern architecture to know all about this.
But the silence, combined with the known history of the apartment, now made the emptiness far more eerie than before. She glanced left and right, stepping a bit closer to Ritsuka and keeping herself alert for any sign of movement.
"We'll have to start with the first room and then go along. You have any problems with that?"
"No." Ritsuka replied with a shake of the head. "Makes sense to me. What else can you tell me about the rooms?"
There was a short pause, then Shiki just looked at him oddly. "They are just regular rooms?"
Another silence followed, Mash felt she had missed something.
"...Right." Ritsuka responded with an odd inflection in his words as he nodded his head, then stepped to the side and folded his arms. "Guess we'll need to be doing this the old fashioned way of just walking through the doors and investigating them all, won't we?"
Mash hummed in acknowledgment, then turned her eyes towards Shiki. "Is every room occupied with Servants? Because if it is, that would get exceedingly dangerous."
"Not sure." Then a brief pause. "Maybe. Some might just be full of zombies and ghosts though."
"What? You ain't scared there, are you shieldy?"
It took her a few moments to realise that the question had been aimed at her, Mash blinked twice and then turned her head in the direction of Mordred, blinking once more at the Saber and seeing her bemused stare being levelled at her.
The looks she was receiving from the blonde were unusual.
But they were similar enough to the ones she got in London.
Going through all of it again felt…odd.
"Ah, no." Mash replied to the question, realising she hadn't actually said anything for a couple of seconds. "I'm just worried about fighting in confined spaces."
"Tch." Mordred closed the distance, Mash blinked at the sudden invasion of her personal space and staggered a little. Mordred having swung an open palm into the back of her right shoulder, wearing a rather wide and sharp toothed grin on her face. "You're too worried about this. It's simple. We just kick down some doors and drag these guys out. Easy peasy. Between you and me, we got this."
The confidence was rather surprising.
But she wasn't quite sure where it was coming from.
"I'm…I'm not sure." Mash replied hesitantly, not looking to offend Mordred by refuting her words, her eyes slid away from the blonde and onto Ash. He was watching them out of the corner of his eye, she could see it.
Mordred followed her gaze and let out an annoyed huff. "That guy? He's a stick in the mud ass. All worried about getting his hands dirty. Just stick around with me Shieldy, and then we can-"
Her words locked up, her jaw clamped shut and she glared away and towards Ash.
He had turned his head fully towards them and narrowed his eyes slightly.
"What?" The words were sneered out by the shorter knight. "You got a problem or something?"
Mash winced at the tone, then looked towards Ritsuka to see his reaction.
He was watching on with a touch of hesitance, his hands slightly clenched before he met her eyes and raised his voice. "Enough fighting with one another. We're here for a job and lets get it done."
There was a force in his words which wasn't there before.
…It sounded almost pleading.
Ritsuka turned back around and looked towards Shiki, the two of them started speaking about something, but Mash wasn't quite able to pick it out. Namely on account of Mordred muttering some very unflattering things about Ash.
She watched him make several gestures when around Shiki, his arms came up as if measuring something, then he dropped them back down and lowered his head. Hands anchoring themselves onto his hips and nodding in assent of something.
He turned back around, a grim expression on his face.
Approaching them, he raised his voice once again.
"We're looking at perhaps fifty odd rooms here." Ritsuka informed them as soon as he was close enough, eyes moving between Mordred and Ash for a moment, then back to her. "And if even half of them have Servants in, that's going to be way more than we've encountered in the past. Even excluding what's dragged them all here."
Mash felt herself blink at the revelation.
She had expected it to be a high number, but it was daunting.
"Fifty." She tasted the number in her mouth, swallowing it down felt like trying to stuff metal down her throat. "B-but some of them are Servants from Chaldea, aren't they? A-and there must be a reason for them all to be here?"
Taking a step forwards, she felt herself get a little lighter as she spoke.
"That means that we can probably talk things out with most of them, right?"
Ritsuka looked at her for a few moments.
Then he smiled, this one being far more welcome than the previous smiles. "Yep. Shiki is going to lead the way to the first room for us. Be ready, it could be any number of things."
Mash straightened and nodded her head.
She could defend Senpai against things like this.
She wouldn't fail at this.
Mordred supposed this situation was rather weird to look at from the outside.
Five people crowded around a door to some dingy little apartment, four of them being Servants, was probably a stupid look for them. Either because of the location of it all, or because of the fact none of them had actually done anything yet.
But she regarded the wooden door with some hint of incredulity.
"...Servants actually live here?" She didn't bother trying to keep the distaste out of her words. Eyeing the frame up and down, then glancing towards their guide.
Their guide who Mordred was bothered by, namely because it was like someone had slapped arms and legs to a wooden plank and then given it a face and a butter knife and told it to go on its way. Not at all helped by the fact that despite helping them, the person still looked bored as all hell.
Her Master glanced over his shoulder at her, making a puzzled face. "Is there something wrong with this place?"
"What? No, it's…" She clicked her tongue, her free hand came across and scratched her brow. "Just weird. Why would any self-respecting Servant just move into some place like this? What the hell are they even trying to achieve? They can't all be cowards."
"We'll put the coward talk on hold until we actually speak to one of them." Master replied with an even tone, turning back to the door and then continuing his efforts of just staring at it without actually lifting a finger to do anything.
The silence continued.
Then the blonde asshole spoke up. "I would advise Mordred to go in first."
Her eyes narrowed a little at him, there was something about the way he said that which bothered her. And it wasn't because of the fact she had also wanted to be the first one to go in anyway, getting stir crazy just standing there and doing nothing.
Shifting her weight, she swivelled her neck and stared at the side of his head.
Master looked at him and raised a brow. "Any particular reason?"
There was a small pause. "She is suited for direct confrontations."
"So are you." Mordred wasn't going to let that bullshit reason slide past her without giving her own thoughts. She narrowed her eyes in suspicion and rolled her jaw. She knew there was another reason and she wasn't sure if it was him trying to use her as some kind of meat shield or something else-
…Wait.
She straightened and glared harder.
"You don't want me to be alone with Master, do you?"
The silence was telling.
As was the way he glanced at her from the corner of his eye, as if she was stating some universal fact.
Her lips curled and she made to take a step towards him, stopping only when she caught a glimpse of Shieldy shaking her head ever so slightly. Similarly, the girl looked at the back of the blonde ass and tightened her jaw, looking close to saying something to tell him off. It was weird to see that sort of face on someone dressed like that.
…Mordred figured she liked this one more than the original.
"Fou!" A yelp by her feet brought her eyes down to the small little white creature, she had an idea of what it was, but she couldn't be sure.
The other blonde looked down at the creature and frowned for a moment, as though he understood what it just said. But she figured that wasn't the case, he made a grunt a moment later and brought his head back up. Then stepped past them and brought up his free hand, pulling it back and forming a fist.
"Get out of the way, idiot." She snapped at him, barging forwards and shouldering him aside. Making sure to step on his foot as hard as she could in the meantime, he didn't so much as twitch and worse still, looked at her as if she was some irritable bug that had just entered his personal space.
"You want to punch down the door of some guy who might react badly? I'm not gonna let Master get hurt because you're an idiot."
Maybe she took a bit of joy in the way he glared, but she dismissed it and turned on the door.
Raising her own hand, she slammed it against the wood with several loud knocks.
…Was that the sound of something cracking or was she imagining it?
She pulled her hand away and stared at the large tear which had opened up in the wood, centering where she had just knocked.
Mordred felt the stares on the side of her head and rolled her lips inwards.
Her eyes slid to the right.
The blank face of the Shiki woman was staring at her, then to the broken door, then back at her once again.
Mordred bristled defensively. "What? You got something to say?"
Shiki just made a small noise and then shook her head, turning to face the door. Mordred assumed the silence would have remained, then the woman decided to make a small comment about it.
"Just that you're surprisingly careless about your strength."
"Now listen here-"
They paused as one at the sound, Mordred forgot the woman and swung her eyes onto the door.
A sharp clicking sound like a latch opening, they stepped back and waited for it to open.
The door swung inwards, a shadow appeared in the frame and stepped forwards.
Mordred…had no idea who this guy was, they were definitely a Servant, but that was the extent of her knowledge.
Also he looked freakish.
He was tall as well, any taller and he would have needed to duck his head to step through the door frame.
Wearing only a dull red breastplate, a blackened shroud as protection for his legs and a yellow ratty sash around his waist, the hooded man stared down at them with a fearsome expression. Heavily muscled arms folded over as his eyes swept first onto her, then upon the others behind her.
"Hello!" She jumped at the sudden chirp in her Masters voice.
The eyes of the Servant instantly swung onto the boy and remained rather silent.
"I'm Ritsuka Fujimaru of Chaldea, sorry to drop by unannounced, but I'd like to speak with you for a moment-"
"You're talking wrong." Shiki muttered just loud enough that they could all hear her. Then she continued on. "You're talking like a salesman. No one likes those guys."
Mordred snorted.
Master coughed and then shifted his posture. "Right…Uhm. I'm from Chaldea…just wanted to ask why you're in this building in the first place, really? And if it would be possible for you to leave-"
The door slammed shut.
From behind it, they could hear the plodding footsteps of the man retreating further into the house.
"Told you." Shiki commented.
Mordred frowned.
Blonde ass brushed right past her, before she could even get a word out there was the sound of splintering wood. His fist punched clean through the door, all the way up to the elbow, then he pulled backwards.
Mordred stepped to the side, narrowly avoiding being hit by the door which was yanked off it's hinges and then tossed carelessly behind him. She glanced and watched it disintegrate as it slammed into the floor, sending sawdust and small shards of wood scattering.
She turned back and raised a brow.
He was now barging into the house without any preamble.
"...Direct approach it is then."
Master was the next one through the door, then swiftly chased down by Mash.
Mordred waited for a moment, then glanced at Shiki.
The woman was staring at the remains of the door, then she frowned and shook her head. Turning back and stepping through the fractured remnants of the doorframe and into the apartment.