It was a fantastic view. Deep within, Assassin deeply hoped her former self, whoever she was, appreciated moments like these.
The early morning scouting did not reveal anything new, but there was a world of distance between what could be appreciated in the previous evening and what could be seen at sunrise. A carpet of changing shades of green covered the steep slopes of the Mont Blanc Massif, the highest of the Alps. From her vantage spot above the Roman road, she could glimpse at the snowy peaks to the southwest. Downslope from her position, the pristine waters of what one day would be called the Great Saint Bernard Lake offered refreshment to the two Chaldean Servants. Some meters away, the broken remains of what once was a Roman mansion stood as silent testimony of the unforeseen calamity striking these lands. The temple to Jupiter still stood, but they had already verified that not a living soul remained there. She knew there was a Roman colony below the pass; she did not think they fared much better. Not that she minded, really; the world, too, would not mind a few less humans here and there.
She sighed. She no longer could enjoy the magnificent view, for several reasons.
“So, I’m really one of the bad guys…” she murmured.
“You said something?”
She pointedly ignored the young man, although she did not stop him from reaching her place and standing by her side.
“It’s a really great view.”
“It was.”
“It was, huh.”
From the Black Forest, they traveled south on horseback all the way to the Alps. The Great Saint Bernard Pass was their route of choice to the Italian peninsula. At that time in history, it was called the
Poeninus, despite there being still some distance to go before they reached Hannibal’s route.
“So, got anything to say about—”
“Look, can you please stop trying to talk to me?” Assassin made her irritation clear in her voice. Planting her hands on her hips, she confronted the young Master. “We are traveling together, and if we get attacked we’ll fight together. That’s it. It doesn’t mean we’re chummy or anything.”
“Didn’t stop you from sharing your booze with Drake and Alter last night.”
“That was simple courtesy among fellow travelers! I don’t like them, but I’m entrusting my back to them for this trip. It’s the least I can do in return.”
Not for the first time, she lamented her short height. It made her attempts at intimidation somewhat lacking.
“Hmm…you’re actually quite the nice girl, aren’t you?”
“Even villains can have manners, you dunce. You of all people should already understand that much. And you want me to believe you, you!” Her dainty finger harshly poked the taller man’s chest. “Defeated two Evils of Humanity? Don’t make me laugh.”
“Right, right,” he uttered lackadaisically. “I was going to ask about that, though.”
He pointed to the lands to the south, and she could not stop herself from setting her eyes on the ominous sight that awaited them beyond the Alps. Storm clouds covered the skies over Italy, assembled in an impossible grey spiral, the likes of which was normally only seen in places like the Atlantic Ocean, lashing at the Caribbean islands from time to time.
“Well, that’s obviously not normal,” Assassin spoke quietly, her cheeks showing a degree of embarrassment for her outburst.
“Yeah, I guess you don’t see that kind of weather around these parts.”
“Well aren’t you easygoing in the face of a god-forsaken hurricane.”
“Da Vinci says it’s my coping mechanism.”
Assassin stared at his calmly smiling face for the good part of ten seconds.
“…pity. Pity is the right emotion to feel right now, isn’t it?”
The young man shrugged in the same easygoing manner.
“Whatever makes you happy.”
That only made her roll her eyes.
“You suck at hitting on girls. Let’s get going. Any news from Chaldea?”
“Aye aye. And nope, still incommunicado.”
************************************
“So, you say you have amnesia.”
“I don’t know who I am, if that’s what you mean.”
It was Drake’s turn to try to converse with her, it seemed. After discovering the massacre of Roman soldiers at the
Poeninus Pass, they released their stolen horse and chose to keep going on foot and stay alert for an ambush. Lancer Alter remained the exception, naturally. Walking down the slopes of the Italian Alps, the group of Master plus three Servants (plus one horse) left behind bare rock and stubborn grass and welcomed the true and original Alpine forests.
“So, there is nothing you can tell us about you beside your class?”
Assassin rolled her eyes at the unsubtle suspicion in Drake’s words.
“Well, I wouldn’t have wanted to interrupt your spirited bragging of Chaldea’s and your Master’s deeds.”
“Hahaha, yeah, we’re kind of awesome.”
“Was not praising you. On that topic, may I ask a question?”
Assassin got no answer, perhaps because they were not expecting her to prolong the exchange. Nevertheless, she continued.
“Who entitled you to do all that? The time travel, I mean. Traveling around, fixing singularities across the timelines. What gives you the right to do that?”
Assassin pointedly ignored Lancer Alter’s unblinking stare.
“Ah, so you do believe our story.”
“That’s what you care about!?” Assassin lashed at the irreverent Master.
“No, it’s more like, what are you talking about?” Drake intervened, eliciting an eloquent roll of the eyes from Assassin.
“It’s more worrisome that you don’t get it. What I mean is that the challenges at any given time period should be faced and overcome by the humans of that era. How can a human hope for a fulfilling life if he must live with the possibility of some dick popping up from the future and rendering all of his effort moot?”
“Nah, but, the King of Magic had made a whole mess of history. There was no other choice—”
“No, no,” interjected the smaller Servant. “By the time Chaldea began invading the singularities, Goetia’s plan had already been executed. Humanity had the good part of 3000 years to discover and unravel the plan, but it failed. Humanity’s chance at salvation came only when you people chose to intervene in history just like Goetia did.”
“You cannot be saying we should have never tried,” spoke then the young Master, challenging Assassin’s reddened face with calmness beyond his years. “That we should have given up on day one.”
“Of course not,” retorted the horned girl. “You did what you had to do. That kind of desperate, tactless, shameless and hypocritical struggle is fundamentally human. What I am saying is that your deeds against Goetia are nothing to be proud of.”
“Your victory came not from dedication, nor friendship, nor some other shining virtue. What defeated Beast I was sheer, unabashed human selfishness. Nothing more, nothing less.”
There was no response for a while. Assassin followed Drake as the tall corsair moved closer to the Master and leaned in to speak privately. Lancer Alter remained atop her mount with the usual disinterest on her face. She did catch Assassin staring, and the small horned girl quickly turned her head away to avoid Lancer’s cold stare. Heated up by the feel of getting caught, Assassin felt a little confrontational.
“You know, if you’ve got something to say to me, you can say it to my face.”
“Hmm.” The young Master murmured, his back still facing her. “Not really, I was just thinking you seem to know way more than what we told you last night.”
That did startle her. He had a point. Just how deep did they go in their description of Goetia’s Human Order Incineration Plan? That very name, did she learn it from these Chaldeans?
“You…you are right. Huh.”
“Is that all you’ve got to say? ‘Huh’?”
Assassin could only shrug at Drake’s instigation.
“It’s clear I do possess some knowledge of the matter of Beast I, but I won’t be able to explain why until I find my original identity. I’m probably not one of the good guys, but I knew as much the moment I met you.” She conjured her trusty musket and got a thrill out of the two Servant’s defensive reaction. “More importantly, shouldn’t we mind the Servant lurking around?”
Drake clicked her tongue while Lancer Alter nodded and returned to her cold investigation of their surroundings.
“So you did notice.”
“What does that even mean?” Assassin promptly lashed out in irritation. “Do you Chaldeans think yourselves the only Servants with basic competence? Do you get off on looking down on others, Miss Pioneer of the Planet?”
“Master, your new friend is a terrible tsundere.”
“It’s called a persecution complex, Drake.”
“Shut up and start shooting!” Assassin’s attention by this point was on the humongous beasts charging out of the forest.
“Are those friggin’ tigers!?”
“A little too big for a tiger, Drake!”
“Well aren’t you two easygoing!” Assassin cried out just before Lancer charged to meet the beasts that trampled their way out of the forests like giant lawnmowers.
“It’s a coping mechanism!”
“You’re already beyond hope, human!”
************************************
“My, look at you, you’re all dirty.”
“Ah, no, just stumbled on the run back there—too close!”
“Ah, um, fresh water…nothing around here; my, just how are we going to clean this?”
“No, really, it’s not a big deal—”
“It is, most certainly! Life is so fragile; why, it could easily become infected! Just, just let me rub my sleeve—”
“Am I the only one suspicious of this…loli old hag?”
“You suspect everyone, Assassin; your opinion doesn’t count.”
“Well neither does the pirate’s, does it?”
“Stop bickering, you pair of hapless children,” Lancer Alter growled from atop her trusty mount.
Llamrei trotted calmly yet threateningly around the Master and the small woman tending to his self-inflicted wound. The white woman looked up at her fellow Lancer. Alter could only study her eyes, for the newcomer’s face was covered by a horned mask with a monstrous appearance. Apparently, it was enough.
It took a minute or two of the white Lancer scrubbing the Master’s face with her sleeve before she let go of him and let him address the others. Assassin did not take her eyes off her, leaving Drake to walk idly and haphazardly check the perimeter for further threats.
“So, anybody can figure out what those things were?” The Master was a little agitated, or perhaps he was just flustered by the new Lancer’s sudden and unexpected attention. “Those things were not tigers. Even if they were tigers, why would there even be tigers in the Alps?”
“Well,” replied Assassin. “It cannot be coincidence that Chinese monsters show up and then a Chinese Servant pops up to help us.”
She had everyone’s attention. It gave her a weird, not entirely uncomfortable feeling.
“Chinese?”
“The halberd,” she explained, pointing at the even shorter Lancer’s weapon, and consequently pulling Alter’s and the Master’s attention towards the masked woman. “I can recognize the design. Chinese, and older than sin.”
In fact, it was so old she could not pinpoint the exact age. And apparently, she was something of a connoisseur of weapons; interesting.
“It is, as you say, not a coincidence,” admitted the spear girl. “Those monsters, they come from—”
“Please, allow me to take over from here, sister.”
Assassin was witness to a brief flurry of motion. The masked Lancer moved in front of the human male, her weapon firmly pointed in her direction. Lancer Alter pulled her reins, and Llamrei bristled threateningly as it turned to face the new voice. The new voice—
She is right behind me.
She did not see her coming.
Nobody saw her coming.
“Assassin…!”
“Well, it was not that hard to figure out, was it.”
A gauntleted hand fell on the crown of Assassin’s head, stroking it carefully. It made her shudder.
When the intruder took a step forward to stand by her side, the shorter Assassin saw a devil. A voluptuous she-devil, not in the metaphorical sense that Rider at Germania evoked. This was a beautiful and monstrous woman. Her white hair and red eyes matched the small Lancer’s; they could certainly pass for sisters. Unlike the single horn poking out of Lancer’s evil mask, this new Assassin had two very real crimson horns, also very much like her own.
“My warmest greetings, child of Chaldea and his companion Servant,” she greeted with a quick gesture of the hand. “I am not surprised to find you here, but I must admit I did not expect you this early. Thank you for looking after this child.”
“Don’t touch me!” Assassin tried to push the offending hand away, but it did not budge.
“Calm down, child.” The words contrasted starkly with the sardonic tone of her euphonious voice.
Fear gave way to irritation. Irritation gave way to musket.
“Stop calling me a—”
And then she fell to the cold ground like a marionette devoid of strings. She vaguely caught the Master calling out to her, but she could only think about the fact that she no longer felt her body below her belly.
“A child is what you are, so a child I will call you.”
Assassin grunted when she was pulled and lifted by one of her horns, but she no longer posed any resistance.
“Let her go,” demanded the Master.
“No.”
“Alter.”
“Why aren’t we beating her yet, Master?” all but growled the mounted Lancer.
“Because he still doesn’t know where his Rider is. Francis Drake, was it?”
Assassin almost gasped when a chilling cold struck deep in her chest. The object in the demon woman’s free hand made her faint.
“I guess calling me ‘Assassin’ would be confusing, so I’ll be a bit selfish and ask you to call me
Chiyou.”
“The Iron Emperor…” whispered the Master with deep trepidation.
Chiyou threw Drake’s handgun to the Master’s feet, granting the young man a good glimpse of it before it shattered into motes of light.
“Master…!” Lancer Alter hissed, but the young man only clenched his jaw and made a halting gesture.
“He will not give the order, because he is wise, and prudent,” taunted the invader. “You have a good Master, Black King of the Wild Hunt.”
“Assassin,” finally spoke the smaller Lancer. “Why are you here? What are you aiming for?”
The questions brought a smile to the devilish lips.
“Fufu, my aim can wait for a better time. Right now, I am here to take a good look at this darling child.”
Assassin grunted when the taller Assassin brought their faces closer. Her smile inflamed her chest with anger and trepidation. This was worse than both Rider and the Chaldean Master. This was an instinctual rejection, unbound by experience or first impressions; merely the prey cowering before the top predator.
“You did not listen to Rider and Saber, so I thought I would come and meet you in person. So, was it you who took out my Saber? Or was it one of the mighty Servants from Chaldea?”
“You summoned them,” repeated the Master, and the tall demon assented.
“Yes, I have a fine group of…collaborators, let’s call them. And yes, before you ask, I do have a wish-granting device that allowed me to do so.”
“You…summoned me.”
“Ah no! No, no, no, no, no, my child!” The tall Assassin grew more and more animated as the conversation continued. “I did not summon you. You’re a special case. Truly, there might not be a more special case than yours.”
“Who am I?” She finally asked. It was resignation; she had lost when she asked the question.
“Now, now, I can tell. You don’t want the answer from me, just like you didn’t want it from Rider. If you want to find your identity, there is an obvious solution: find a Holy Grail and wish for it.”
Assassin was flung just like Drake’s handgun earlier. She had not touched the ground when the young man shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Alter!”
Behind her, a storm of attacks unfolded. It was entirely one-sided: Alter unleashing a maelstrom of fierce attacks with her wicked lance. The demonic Assassin matched the blows with sheer agility, weaving around the warhorse in an incessant dance of offense and evasion.
There was a loud neigh.
“That’s just like—!” The young man exclaimed when Llamrei’s legs gave out. Lancer Alter leapt away before she was crushed by her own partner.
“Are you going to try as well, sister?”
The masked Lancer took a step forward.
“I will
not let you hurt him.”
She received a twisted chuckle in response.
“That’s a good answer.”
An arm stretched out. The tip of a dark lance slipped into the gap between two fingers, and when those were turned, the charge’s momentum sent Lancer Alter sprawling to the side.
“Pointless. I may be in the Assassin container, but I am still an Aspect of Chiyou, the Iron Emperor and sovereign over all armame—”
The loud burst of musket fire, and then Chiyou was a good part of ten meters further away. Her mocking amusement was replaced with cold wariness.
“Child…”
Assassin already had a new musket aimed at the despised intruder. Even if her legs still did not work, there was at last a wicked and triumphant smirk on her face.
“You might be the emperor or whatever, but your sovereignty doesn’t extend to firearms.”
After a moment of trading glares, Chiyou regained her mocking smirk.
“Hmph. Fine words from a weak and feeble Servant. Whatever, we are done for today.”
Chiyou ignored the glare from Lancer Alter and pointed a crimson claw at Assassin’s face.
“Seek the Cornucopia, child.”
And she exhaled a cloud of thick grey fog that rendered sight useless.
“Alter!”
“I’m here.”
“I’m here as well, boy. Do not panic,” added the masked Lancer. “I can dispel this fog.”
“Assassin?”
“I can’t move my legs.”
A moment later, the fog was dispersed and the pleasant visage of the slopes of the Alps revealed itself again. Assassin sighed and let herself fall prone. She had not done any fighting, but she was exhausted. Her ears caught the approaching footsteps of the Master of Chaldea while Lancer Alter went to check on her incapacitated warhorse.
When her eyes met the young man’s, Assassin felt that, surely, they were thinking the exact same question.
Why didn’t she kill us?
Originally Posted by Ymir
I hope you enjoy reading them:
) but also gives some slight hope for breaking through an unbreakable defense. Also thank you once again for the Evening Bell description I couldn't find a description of what it done anywhere but my searching skills are quite limited.
