***Sorry about the biiiiig bit of silence. This next chapter is still very much being written and I'm just really trying to get it just right. So there will continue to be big breaks probably, but this first part is as least ready and I wanted to get something up for ya'll. Thanks a bunch for the continued support!***
Chapter 14.
The Queen, Margot
I.
As the phantasmal steed flew through the city streets, its hooves sparking off the concrete with each rapid step, Louise could hear the sounds of discord and tumult building in the distance. The sirens of emergency vehicles were a high-pitched whine that sounded above the other noises that signaled some sort of growing catastrophe. It was far off, and the air screaming past her due to the horse's supernatural speed made it difficult for Louise to hone in on anything in particular, but she knew that she could hear the cries of people, and the rumble of flames growing higher and higher as they fed on the destruction of the city. Occasionally, as they passed an alley or an intersection, Louise thought she could see threatening shadows, crowds of indistinct silhouettes that reminded her of figures she'd seen before.
Louise could only focus on each thing for so long though, rapid as the journey was, momentary as each passing sensation happened to be, and exhausted and debilitated as her body was, she only had so much energy she could expend. They arrived at Grimaud's with relative ease though, Louise unsure if the ride had actually been that short, or only had seemed that way due to her swimming in and out of consciousness.
"I'm going to carry you immediately upstairs. Tell me where to find more of that medicine, and then I think I will feel better standing guard out here while you finish recovering." Rider's words did not invite discussion, he wasn't even looking at Louise as he said them while lowering the two of them from the saddle.
Even had he seemed inclined to discuss the plan, Louise hardly had time to raise any objections as Rider carried her past the sheet and into Grimaud's home. Grimaud, on seeing Louise having to be carried in, shot up from where he was sitting on the couch, the book he'd been holding clattering loudly across the table. "Louise!"
The young woman couldn't tell from his tone if he was more worried or disappointed, but she could at least detect some form of concern.
"She'll be fine." Rider said reassuringly to Grimaud. "But I need to get her upstairs immediately in order to ensure that."
Grimaud, a million questions hanging on his lips, resigned himself to waiting and motioned for Rider to continue on. The Servant offered the old photographer a grateful nod and, taking the steps two at a time, soon reached the upper landing.
As he pushed the door open with his body he saw Rosa shoot up in bed just as quickly as Grimaud had. The young woman's eyes, while still very tired and dazed, were immediately locked onto the shape of Louise in his arms.
"Louise!" She screamed, as she partly tumbled out of the bed. She started trying to scramble to her feet, but stopped as Rider reached over her to lay Louise on the bed. He then quickly helped Rosa back up to lie next to her. Rosa immediately wrapped herself protectively around Louise, her eyes darting searchingly across her body for any wounds, her mind racing with worry.
"It's okay." Louise said weakly. "I'll be fine. It's not as bad as it looks, honest. Besides," she lifted a hand slowly to touch Rosa's cheek, "I came back like I promised I would."
Tears were welling up in Rosa's eyes as Rider came back over to the bed after searching around on the desk where Louise had instructed him to. "Is this the right one?" He asked, holding up a vial whose shape was slightly different than the first one, but contained a liquid of a similar color.
Louise, though she was having trouble seeing past Rosa, confirmed with a look that it was the correct potion and nodded ascent to Rider. The Servant popped the bottle open and helped to pour the contents carefully into Louise's mouth. The same cooling sensation that had overwhelmed Camille flooded through Louise's body but, unlike with her sister who really only had to suffer the pain of the one major injury setting itself, Louise's whole body had been wracked with damage by the curse and she felt all that damage, internal, external, and magic circuit related, being hastily and painfully mended at once.
For several seconds both Rider and Rosa worried that Louise had wrongly identified the potion, such was the agony of her cries, but just as quickly as the pain had come and run rampant through her, it had faded and she was no longer screaming, only panting with long labored breaths.
"Master...?" Rider asked cautiously.
Louise opened her one good eye and looked around the room at the three incredibly concerned faces, Grimaud having raced upstairs at the sound of her screams, that were all gazing at her. "I'm... fine." She said between labored breaths. "The effects are... potent enough. But... having to act fast... makes it rather harsh to experience... I'm fine though... really."
Rider could see that Louise was already looking less pale than she had when they'd arrived and, convinced that she would be back on her feet soon, gave her a light nod before pushing past Grimaud to take up his post outside. The old photographer himself stepped more into the room and approached the bed where Louise was still laying, his face showing a distinct amount of exhaustion from the various forms of worry he had experienced in the short time since her and Rider's return.
"I'm... glad to see you back." Grimaud said slowly and he gently patted Louise's head with his hand. "I take it the night was a success then?" He wasn't sure what exactly would constitute success or failure in the Holy Grail War, but he had some less than preferable guesses, and chose to leave his question vague rather than have his fears confirmed.
Louise's expression was clouded and hesitant at first, the question reminding her of the painful scene she had left behind. Though slowly, she did eventually return his look with a forced smile. "Yes. We accomplished what we set out to do."
"And what exactly happened to you? You looked terrible when Rider carried you in here, and all that screaming just now..." Grimaud couldn't shake the feeling that the tumultuous events of the night were somehow far from over.
The concerned look Rosa shot Louise echoed Grimaud's words, but Louise just smiled more genuinely at them both as more of her strength started to return to her. "Just a bit of a gamble I took in order to ensure everything went smoothly. It paid off, but it was hardly without consequence."
"Well consider methods that aren't quite so harsh on your body in the future." Grimaud said, his features finally softening. Just then there came the sounds of some sort of disturbance in the street below, and everyone present thought they heard Rider's voice call out.
"I'll go check on him." Grimaud said as he walked towards the door. "You finish recovering, whatever that may entail." The older man pulled the door as he left, which tapped the frame without quite closing behind him.
Rosa, her arms still tightly and protectively wrapped around Louise, forcefully pressed her face into the other woman before glancing up at her. "Glad you're back." She said quietly, her face coloring slightly.
"Was there any doubt I'd make it back to you?" Louise asked, a playful note in her voice that it was becoming more natural for her to use when talking to Rosa.
"Couldn't help but worry. I... didn't, didn't doubt you but, something could have happened. Scared." She tightened her vice-like grip on Louise as she spoke.
"Ow, careful." Louise winced slightly. "The potion's effects are fast acting, but that haste leaves me far from being at one hundred percent. And your strength is definitely coming back to you." Louise was downplaying just how far from being back at peak performance she was for Rosa's sake, but she was also genuinely relieved to see that Rosa's condition, on the other hand, seemed to be quickly improving.
Just then the report of a firearm that, judging by the sound, could only belong to one of Rider's antiquated weapons, rang out in the street below. There were a few more sounds of combat, followed by a momentary silence, before the heavy footfalls of Rider's hasty steps were heard scaling the stairs. The Servant entered the room without bothering to announce himself and, looking a little frazzled but unharmed, he addressed Louise. "The situation is developing quickly out there, and in a less than desirable manner."
"And what in the world IS the situation out there? What were those fires we saw, and those silhouettes?" Louise questioned her Servant, though she already had a guess what the answer would be.
"You remember the people from the catacombs?" Rider replied, knowing the question itself would fully inform Louise of what he had just fought off. "And do you remember our discussion about what Madame Fenix and Lancer could achieve if they found the means?"
"I do recall both, yes." Louise replied gravely, fully comprehending the point Rider was coming to.
"Well, by my guess they found the means. At this point the streets of Paris must be flooded with people under her influence. I'm not sure what she hopes to achieve by inciting this level of chaos, but I doubt it's going to stop until she does."
"Then we need to find her and stop her, now." Louise said as she rose painfully from the bed, Rosa clinging to her and further inhibiting her mobility.
"And are you really in any shape for that?" Rider asked astounded. She may have been able to assuage Grimaud and Rosa, but Rider had been there at the time the curse had reaped its harsh cost, and he had also fought at Louise's side for long enough to know just by looking at her that his Master was in a far from optimal state.
"I don't know how much choice I have." Louise responded, her tone implying she didn't want Rider to say much more on it, afraid that Rosa might catch on to how bad off she was.
"In that case I will resume my guard outside. I gave Grimaud one of my pistols while I came up here to check on you, but I doubt he's well suited to the task of sentry." Rider headed back for the door. As he crossed the threshold he looked back to Louise with an expression of admiration for her. "I'll be waiting for you outside when you're ready to go." His footsteps were once again heard on the stairs as he descended to the lower apartment and headed outside.
Louise finished rising from the bed as she peeled Rosa off herself. The other young woman looked at her worryingly. "Leaving again?"
"I don't know." Louise replied gravely as she crossed the room to her desk. "We need to go out and find out what's going on, and try to put a stop to it, but..." Her voice trailed off. It was going to be difficult enough to fight again so soon after what they had already done, but the prospect that concerned her more was if her and Rider were out fighting their ways through the streets, who would stay and protect the house?
"There are lots of them, huh." Rosa said in a flat tone, her words informing Louise that she fully comprehended the scale of what was happening. "A bad person, you gotta stop her. Know who?"
"I do, yes." Louise replied. "But if Rider and I go and stop her," she turned to look at Rosa, "there won't be anyone to protect this place."
"Me." Rosa said quietly.
"Pardon?" Louise, hoped for a minute she had just misheard the muttered word.
"You two go. Me. I'll protect the place. Protect old man. Protect our home." Rosa said, a conviction and strength in her voice Louise had not heard as of late due to how weak she had been.
"Rosa, that's ridiculous, how would you-"
"It's still there!" Rosa cut Louise off suddenly. "Still inside me. I can still use it." As she said the words she opened her hand to let several black ethereal petals float upwards from her palm before they dissipated into the air.
"Rosa, that's insane. There's no reason for you to endanger yourself like that!" Louise couldn't hide the terror in her voice as she thought of the Tulip and the awful things it was capable of doing, and had already done to Rosa. "I'll put together a bounded field spell. I'm sure I can work out one that can-"
"No time!" Rosa interrupted Louise for the second time. "No time for that. You know it. Only option. Only way is for me to do it."
"I can't let you do that!" Louise argued, stepping back towards Rosa.
Rosa stepped with surprising rapidity from the bed and stood before Louise. "Not your choice. Mine." She said firmly.
"But..." Louise's words trailed off, her heart growing heavy with worry. "What if something happens? What if the Tulip does something awful to you again? I couldn't... I can't..."
Rosa gently placed her hand on Louise's face, letting her nail catch on the edge of the eyepatch as she stroked lightly with her thumb. "Come back fast. Sooner you're back, less to worry."
Louise let out a deep sigh and collapsed onto Rosa, wrapping her arms around the young woman's neck as she placed her weight against her. "I'll always come back to you." She whispered.
"I know." Rosa whispered back.
Rider had just finished driving off another trio of maddened citizens, the injuries he inflicted apparently enough to make even their dampened senses see the attempt was futile, as he considered the differences he had noticed between this lot and the mob they had encountered in the catacombs. Perhaps it could be attributed to being further from the source, or perhaps it was because the influence had to be spread between a greater number, but they were not nearly as numbed to pain and reason as they had been before. There was no doubt that these people were far from sane, and clearly under a deep and wretched form of hypnosis, but he still noticed that they were far less mindlessly zealous in their actions and movements.
As Rider was musing over these inconsistencies, he heard the blanket from the house pushed aside and, expecting to see Louise, turned with surprise to find both his Master and Rosa standing before him. Louise had changed out of the Saint-Hermine uniform and back into some of her more casual clothing, the always familiar leather jacket was worn over a simple white button up, and the restrictive pants and knee-high boots had been replaced with some black jeans and a shorter, more sensible pair of similar footwear.
"Glad to see you're up and about, Madame." He said to Rosa, trying to mask his astonishment. "While I agree that getting some fresh air is good for one's recovery, this hardly seems like an ideal night."
"She's going to protect the house while we're gone." Louise said plainly, trying to mask the concern in her voice.
Rider, despite his efforts, could not prevent his rebellious features from showing his bewilderment at the concept. "I mean no disrespect, Madame, but is that entirely advisable given Rosa's... condition?"
Rosa shot a strange look at Rider, one he was not sure of being wrought from contempt or wounded pride, but most certainly contained vitriol of some sort. "Be fine. I... can handle this." She muttered at the Servant.
Rider turned his anxious look to Louise, trying to make sure he understood the situation.
"Like she said, she'll be fine." Louise said reassuringly. "We'll just need to finish up and come back quickly."
"Do you have an idea of where we need to go?" Rider asked, still skeptical.
"We'll head for the entrance to the ossuary first. After all, that's where her workshop is. If we don't find any leads there, we appear to be on the fringes of the affected area for now, so I suggest we just head for where the tumult is heaviest. We'll probably find them at the center of it."
"And do you have a plan for how to deal with Lancer's ability?" Rider asked. His trepidation was not because he doubted Louise's or his own abilities, but the fact remained that Lancer could completely disable anyone who was considered "in service" to another. "Because I am still very much a target for her Authority, and you already used up your one way to fight a Servant."
"I do have a plan. It is, once again, a gamble though. But," Louise paused as she nervously turned and fiddled with the mana absorbing ring on her finger, "I trust you."
"Me?" Rider asked quizzically, still convinced there was no way for him to feasibly face Lancer,
"Yes. But let me ask you this: Are you committed to winning the Grail War?" Louise looked her Servant in the eyes, her gaze trying to discern any and all of his emotions.
"What a silly question. Of course." Rider replied with confidence, even if he was unsure of the reason for such a question.
"And are you committed to winning it alongside me?"
To Ali, the view from his penthouse balcony was spectacular. The flames in the distance, rising up like a great wave that threatened to swallow all of Paris, was to him as engaging as a fireworks display.
"Now there, Lord Wilmore," He said, addressing his Servant who stood alongside him, "Is truly a spectacle for the ages. I doubt the Parisians will see anything like it for a very long time. I must give credit where it is due to the Master of the Catacombs. She knows how to make an impression." Ali raised a glass in mock salute as he spoke the words.
"And do you really plan to only watch from a distance as she reaps her bloody harvest?" The Servant asked, a little taken aback at his Master's strangely macabre sensibilities.
"Heavens no, unfortunately." Ali replied as he downed the remainder of his drink. "No, I can guarantee Louise is headed out into that right now, dead set on stopping the wanton destruction."
"And that is a concern to us?" Lord Wilmore asked, exhausted because he already knew the answer.
"Of course! In fact this is the perfect opportunity for me to prove to her, once and for all, that partnering with me is her best, and only, choice."
"And if she refuses still? The Servant turned a cold, demanding eye on his partner.
"Then it will be the final time." Ali peered through the crystalline glass as it magnified the flames in a twisted kaleidoscope. "And I suppose I shall let you do as you will."