The trek toward my home in Fuyuki was quiet.
There didn't seem to be anyone else on the roads and despite wanting to go to the Zenjo's, I figured it would be safer to just go home. My eyebrows were furrowed as I went over the events of tonight. Fight Caster was definitely something that I wasn't expecting to do today or any day that is. If Rin got out okay then everything will be fine. But, should I really trust what the blue-haired man said? If she isn't okay, then I can promise that I will hunt down and kill that man.
I stopped right in front of the house. The vines that crept up around the house put some comfort in me. Seeing one's home after a long time always brings a sense of...well...home. I just about took a step forward before remembering that there was a spell over the house. I stopped midstep before backing up slightly. My mind raced as I tried to remember if the house was blood protected or a first-rate protection spell. If it was blood protected then it would be no problem, but a regular spell...I'm not sure if I want to take that risk.
"What are you standing here for, mongrel?"
I looked next to me to see the Servant my dad summoned leaning against the brick wall of my house with a glass of wine in his hand. But, instead of his golden armor, he wore a white v-neck shirt with grey pants that had a weird pattern on them. He had a golden necklace and bracelets that hung around his neck and wrists which went well with his blonde hair that was down. "Umm...I was hoping that I could stay the night. I don't have a way of transportation back to my mom," I explained. I didn't know who he truly was, although the air around him screamed 'I AM ROYALTY'. Which I guess he was, especially with that stuck-up smirk on his face. I can already tell we won't get along.
"Hmm, I never said you could look towards me," I immediately darted my eyes away from him. He was a Servant and judging by the mana flow, I could guess he was a strong one.
"Sorry, I didn't quite know that I needed your permission," I turned towards the door when I heard the front door open. My dad stood in the doorway giving me a disapproving glance. I waved awkwardly. "Hey, dad, mind if I stay the night?"
He sighed before waving his hand, which made the barrier go down. "Come in," I quickly walked over and passed him before he put the force field back up.
"Sorry, I know we're not supposed to be in Fuyuki but—" my dad raised his hand to make me pause my 'I'm sorry' rant.
"It's alright, your mother already informed me that you went looking for Rin. I was just about to go find you when you didn't answer your mother's calls."
I gave a confused look towards him before patting my back pocket. Where my phone should've been. I laughed slightly before patting around my body trying to find my phone. "Well, I might've lost it when running away from Caster..." I mumbled.
"You ran into Caster?"
"Yeah...but someone saved me before I got killed."
"Who?" He questioned, obviously curious.
"I honestly don't know. He kind of just popped up, killed the monsters surrounding me, we argued a bit after Caster and his Master left, and then he left," I explained.
"Tokiomi, who is this?" The blonde-haired Servant from before appeared in the doorway to another room. Once again, he was leaning on it, my dad gave a sideways glance at him before looking behind me.
"She's my eldest daughter, Jean," he explained, however, he looked kind of nervous. "Jean, why don't you go up to bed and I'll ask your mother to come and get you in the morning?"
I nodded before heading towards the stairs, "Goodnight, father," I spoke before going up to them. I walked into my room, luckily, I still had a few clothes that I left here. So, I changed into a pair of comfortable clothes before heading to bed. Once I closed my eyes, a thought came across it. Dang it, I had homework due tomorrow...I frowned slightly before turning on my side. I had a few things here that I could do it with, but I don't have my textbooks or notes, and I can't text Seri or Brooke to send me pictures. I relaxed slightly in my bed, "I'll just do it on the way to school..." I mumbled falling asleep.
"Allura!"
I looked behind me to see a man, he had about the same build as my dad but was slightly more muscular. He had pale skin with shaggy brown hair and a brown goatee. He wore navy blue and silver armor that went well with his blue eyes. He was pretty tall, or was I just short? I looked down at my feet that were covered with pale blue sandals. Yup, I was short.
"Allura, how many times do I have to tell you, you can't play with my sword. It's dangerous," the man kneeled and took something from my grasp. It was a sword that had a blue blade and a black hilt, part of the crossguard folded into the hilt. "One day you'll be able to use this sword, and you'll protect the king, just like me." The man sheathed the sword on his back before reaching up and shaking my hair slightly. "One day, I promise."
"Allura! Takeshi! Dinner's ready!"
The man turned slightly at the lice before turning back and smiling. He stood up while starting to walk away, "Come on, we better hurry before your brother eats all of it."
I opened my eyes, "What is up with these weird dreams..." I muttered sitting up in my bed. I woke up just a little bit before the sun rose, so around 4:30. I frowned slightly, this was not at all the time I wanted to be up. I plopped backward and curled up into my covers to try and get some more sleep. I however couldn't as I heard walking, I sat back up to see the blonde Servant. I still don't know what class he is in...dad told us what class Kirei's was, but not his own. Weird.
"I'm surprised that a mongrel is able to get up this early," he spoke.
"Well, no need to be surprised, and please don't call me mongrel, it's rude," I replied.
"Mongrel, do you not know who I am?"
Did this guy seriously call me mongrel, even after I asked him not to? "No, I do not. I don't even know what class you are in because my father didn't give me the details," I explained. His red orbs held fury towards me, and I could practically see him itching to kill me. "Look, I'm sorry that I don't know you. But, you won't have to deal with me for long since I will be heading back to my mom soon."
"You insolent mongrel! I am your king and you will respect me as such!" He practically yelled. I winced at how loud he was but decided to just take a deep breath in before responding.
"If you have such a problem with me then leave my room," he glared, "oh I'm sorry. Oh, please leave the room, my king," I mocked. Before he could say anything, I heard a knock on my door.
"Jean, your mother's here to pick you up," I heard my dad call from the other side of my door.
"Okay, I'll be down in a second," I got up deciding to ignore the Servant for now. I grabbed my school uniform and looked towards the blonde, "Can you leave please so I can get changed?" He didn't respond, instead just disappearing in a gold mist. I went into my bathroom to change and comb through my hair using my fingers.
When I made it downstairs Rin immediately came and hugged me, "I'm sorry!"
It took me a minute to register that she was hugging me as I didn't see her. I knelt slightly and hugged her back, "It's okay. Just don't do it again," I leaned back and she nodded.
"Alright," I gave her a small smile and we walked out of the house after saying our goodbyes to our dad. Before we left, however, the blonde Servant and I gave each other death glares. I don't trust him as much as I don't trust Kotomine. Dang it! Now I wish I could help my dad! Rin and I got in the back seat before our mom started to drive.
"So, Jean, how was dad's Servant? Are they powerful?" Rin asked with a sparkle in her eyes.
"Oh, he's something alright," I replied detest clearly shown in my voice as I looked out the window. Rin gave me a slightly confused look when I turned to her. "He's...umm...interesting."
"Really? How interesting?" Rin, you know I love you, but sometimes your curious nature isn't the best.
"It's complicated. Did you find your friend?" I questioned.
"Yup! I saved Kotone and the other missing children," she sent me a closed-eyed smile and I could tell that she was proud of herself.
"I'm glad that you were able to save them and get out okay."
"Jean, your backpack is in the passenger seat if you have any homework that you weren't able to do," my mom said, glancing slightly at me before her eyes went back to the road.
"Oh! Thanks! I almost forgot," I reached around and grabbed my backpack. Rin frowned slightly, probably because she knew I don't talk usually when I'm focused on homework. "We'll talk later, okay?" She nodded with a smile.
"Why didn't you pick up your phone last night?" My mom asked when I was halfway done with my homework.
"Well, I ran into some trouble when finding Rin and I dropped it. I wouldn't be surprised if it's broken right now," I explained, finishing another one of my math problems.
"Alright, I guess we'll have to get you a new one soon," my mom stated, mostly to herself, however. I nodded silently while continuing to do my homework.
It took a while for us to get to school, but when we did the first thing Seri and Brooke asked was what happened. They could probably see how tired I looked after only getting around four hours of sleep, and on top of that, I wouldn't be surprised if I had a bruise or two on my body. "Grail War stuff," was my simple answer. But, they kept bugging.
"Did you run into a Servant or something?"
"If you did, how'd you survive?"
"Why didn't you answer my calls and texts last night?"
The questions continued and I had to briefly explain each one without anyone hopefully knowing. "Can we not talk about this here? There are a bunch of non-mages," I said, they looked around a bit, probably forgetting about non-mages.
"Fine, but I expect a thorough explanation at lunch!" Seri replied pointing a finger at me.
"Don't worry, I'll explain everything at lunch."
When lunch came around, we all went to the roof where we normally go. When I explained everything, they immediately started to ask about the guy who helped me. "Do you think he was an enemy Servant? Like a Saber Class or Rider Class?" Seri asked.
"I don't know, he didn't quite give off 'I'm a Servant'. It was more like he was a powerful mage, and on top of that he knew me, plus he also walked off instead of dematerializing."
"So, he's just a powerful mage who is probably stalking you?" Brooke tilted her head slightly with a questioning glance.
I shrugged, "I don't think 'stalking' is the right word. I've been having these weird dreams lately, about-actually I don't really know what they're about. One is me, well not me, but me—"
"How can one be you, but no be you?"
"Probably fitting in someone else's shoes, right?" Seri looked towards me for confirmation after explaining it to Brooke.
I nodded, "Yeah, fitting into someone else's shoes. One was of me in a burning town I think, and the other was a little girl and her father. The one with the burning town had that guy in it." Brooke and Seri gave me a look like I was crazy. "Hey, we're all mages, how crazy can those dreams be?" They shrugged, we decided to drop the subject after Brooke said something random about ramen and pocky.