Fate/Scarlet Sky

[MaddestOfCap]

Summary: A survivor of The Great Fire of Fuyuki, Akemi Nakamura tries her best to live a normal life despite the trauma she struggles with. However, not all of her scars are mental, her arm is marked with strange burns left from The Fire. It only later does Akemi learn the true nature of these strange burns and the horrific ramifications that come with them.

I will be reuploading this story to Archive of Our Own, so if my formatting here is too irksome, you can read it there.
https://archiveofourown.org/works/45819331

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Ch. 1 - https://forums.nrvnqsr.com/showthrea...=1#post3256425

Ch. 2 - https://forums.nrvnqsr.com/showthrea...=2#post3256643

Ch. 3 - https://forums.nrvnqsr.com/showthrea...=3#post3256818

Ch. 4 - https://forums.nrvnqsr.com/showthrea...=4#post3257055

MASTER CHARACTER SHEET/ARTICLE:
https://blogs.nrvnqsr.com/entry.php/...haracter-Sheet
WARNING: Incomplete and possible spoilers for the story.

CHAPTER 1 - Clotted Scars

-


-

Destruction leveled the city, skyscrapers toppled as fire consumed all that lay in its wake. Thick smoke blacked out the once-clear skies of Fuyuki as the countless screams of those caught in the middle of this horrible disaster cry out. Those who were not trapped by the rubble of the various dilapidated and burning buildings were ushered to find safety from the wreckage or desperately sought their loved ones, crying out their names as they brave the fire and smoke to search for them. Amongst these trapped victims was the young Akemi Nakamura, who had only last week celebrated her thirteenth birthday.
Now, she lays motionlessly as the screams of the dying ring in her ears, the odor of sizzling flesh intertwined with the burning wood filling her nostrils, and the smoke that stung her eyes and scorched her throat. Her mother’s body lays on top of her, protectively curling around her child, having shielded her from the full brunt of what looked like a river of tar.
The mother’s form was covered in blackened burns from the dark, viscous, substance, that had consumed the city, having sacrificed herself to save her daughter from it. However, despite her mother’s efforts, Akemi’s arm had been touched by the tar, baring the same black burns. Peering out from the crook of her mother’s neck, Akemi could see the sky, it was illuminated by the fire, making it appear a brilliant scarlet. For a moment, she briefly thinks about how pretty it almost looked, such a lovely shade of red. As she contemplates this, she soon hears someone approach.
“Do you see any more survivors?” A man asks another.
"No, I don’t think anyone made it out over here.” The other answers.
It takes Akemi a moment to register the voices while she lies there in her catatonic state, gradually, self-pervasion starts to kick in as she comes to the realization that these men could help her. Akemi could hear the men begin to walk away as she tries to muster the strength to call out but all that come out was a barely audible, raspy, whisper that dies in her throat. Refusing to give up, Akemi tries to force her body to move but to no avail. Akemi’s desperate will to live grows stronger and stronger as she refused to give up. It had taken all of the girl’s energy to wiggle her fingers before eventually lifting her burned arm up. All the energy put into this single action was thankfully not done in vain, because soon one of the retreating men had spotted her arm rising from the rubble.
“Wait! I think I found someone!” The man hastily calls to his partner.
Relief washes over the young girl when she hears the hurried footfalls of someone approaching where she and her mother lay, she feels someone take her hand before they move into her line of sight, speaking to her but their words become muffled as her vision blurs before fading to darkness.

-

Jolting up with a gasp, Akemi Nakamura awakens from another nightmare. Trembling as cold sweat coats her body while her heart pounds against her ribcage. She chokes down the bile that had crept up her throat as she sucks in harsh, labored breaths. Gritting her teeth, she clutches her arm in pain, black and purple band-like burns winding up it. Hastily pulling away the sheets, which had become damp from her sweat, Akemi stumbles out of bed and staggers to the bathroom. Frantically flipping on the light switch before leaning over the bathroom sink, using it to support herself. Hurriedly, she swings open the medicine cabinet door.
Akemi grabs a pill bottle and a jar of a strange suave she was prescribed for the burns. Her violent shaking made it difficult to open the child-safety lock on the bottle. After managing to unscrew the cap, the bottle trembles in her unsteady hand as she shakes out three white, oval-shaped, tablets into her palm which she then promptly pops into her mouth. She swallows the pills dry, before turning on the sink and cupping her hand to collect some of the water which she greedily gulps to help ease the pills down her throat, water dripping onto her shirt due to her erratic movement.
Trying to steady her breathing, Akemi then applies the cream to her burn, wincing at the sting before it slowly subsides. Supporting herself against the sink, she lifts her head to look at her reflection in the smudged mirror, water-damaged stinky notes stuck to the sides of it with cheesy motivational quotes. She looks at the rough shape she was in, her skin a sickly pallor, her eyes bloodshot and sunken in, her sockets bruised with heavy bags under them from lack of proper rest. Her lips were chapped and covered in sores as a result of the chapping and her anxious habit of biting them. Akemi lets out a shaky sigh as she runs her fingertips over her left cheek before racking her fingers through her greasy dark brown hair, her fingers getting snagged on the knots that tangled it.
“Jesus Christ, I look like certified shit…” Akemi softly tells herself in a raspy voice.
With that, she slowly makes her way back to her bedroom, the dawn’s light already spilling in through her red sheer curtains, cascading her messy room in a dingy red. Work was only hours away, so Akemi decides to at least try to get more sleep in, even if she knew the likelihood of that was slim. Crawling back under the covers, she lies on her side as she stares off into the distance, trying not to dwell on memories as she tries to get a few more hours of rest.
Four hours later, Akemi gets ready for work. Having a meager breakfast of eggs on toast and coffee as she eats her breakfast, she makes and packs herself lunch for the afternoon. She sets up a bento box that consisted of a simple tuna sandwich, steamed veggies, and little sausages she had fried and cut to resemble little octopi, similar to how her mother always did it for her, with two dots of ketchup for eyes. Akemi smiles fondly at the little wiener cephalopods as she places them in the box. Once set, she wraps the box in a decorative cloth before she heads to work.
Akemi arrives at the little Cafe she worked as a barista, the job didn’t pay that well and she was constantly being scrutinized by her manager, but it was one of the few jobs she could hold down. The manager claimed she didn’t have a good work ethic and needed to be more cordial towards the customers. He often told her to smile more or toned policed her when she dealt with the customers, always taking notes on his clipboard. It was a miracle she had yet to snap at the man though she guess she was just far too worn down and tired to do so. So, she’ll just nod and apologize, lying that she would try and do better. Thankfully, today wasn’t as bad, perhaps he’ll finally realize she was a lost cause and piss off? With Akemi’s luck, that was unlikely.

-

After a tiresome morning of taking coffee orders and dealing with some decent and not-so-decent customers, Akemi’s lunch break finally arrived. Eagerly, Akemi turned her shift over to her co-worker who had just back from their lunch. Taking off and putting up her apron and hat, Akemi retrieves her lunch from the break room and heads out of the cafe. She made her way to the hospital, checking in with the receptionist who looks at her with familiarity.
“Ah, here for Ms. Nakamura?” The woman asks with a pleasant smile as she preps the visitor forums.
“Mm-hm,” Akemi mumbles softly as she nods before reaching over the counter for the clipboard the woman offers her, filling it out pre-usual before making her way to her mother’s room number.
Walking down the familiar halls and boarding the familiar elevator and getting off on the fourth floor and going to room numbered 4-D. Pressing down on the handle, she opens the door and peers in at the unmoving body covered in bandages and hooked up to various machines, the room was silent all but for the rhythmic beeping of the heart rate monitor and the sound of rushing air from the ventilator. Entering the room, Akemi makes her way to the bedside, placing her lunch on the nightstand before dragging one of the guest chairs that was positioned against the walls over towards the bed. Akemi sits in the chair crisscrossed as she places her bento box in her lap before slowly reaching out and gently taking her mother’s unresponsive, wrapped hand.
“Hi, mom,” Akemi says quietly, as she starts to eat her lunch.
“The nightmares have lessened lately, I think Dr. Itō’s advice might be working.” She starts to tell her.
“He put me on a new prescription the last session, and says it's more effective than the previous one.” She tells the motionless woman,
“But he also says I need to cut back on drinking so much…”
“Who knows… Maybe if I clean up my act enough, grandpa and grandma might finally come around.” Akemi gives a small, hopeful, smile.
Akemi continues to talk to her unresponsive mother until a gentle knock pulls her from her one-sided conversation. Looking over she sees the hospital’s director, a middle-aged man with kind, blue, eyes who had been a major source of support and comfort for Akemi. It was he that helped Akemi establish a life for herself after the fire, having taken pity and shown her and her mother such boundless compassion. He had helped her recover and gain life for herself as well as tend to her mother in her critical condition. When her grandparents turned her away, he stepped in and provided her with a generous stipend to support herself, visiting daily to ensure her condition was remaining stable and she had all that she needed. Akemi owed the man a lot, and she had come to see him as the father figure she sadly never had when she was younger.
“Ah, young Nakamura, came to check on your mother again today?” He warmly asks as he walks in, Akemi giving a tiny smile as she looks at the man.
“Yeah, has she shown any signs of recovery?” Akemi then asks as she places the lid on her bento box and rests it on the nightstand before standing up.
“Sadly, not as much as we would hope,” He sighs heavily, “She has yet to show any signs of regaining consciousness.”
Akemi bites her lip at that, looking at her mother as she lies in her bed, unrecognizable with all gauze coating her body. The director then gently approaches Akemi, resting a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“Don’t lose hope, Akemi,” He urges her.
“You have helped us greatly in understanding the nature of your and your mother’s condition,” He informs her, as he gives her shoulder a small squeeze.
“We have already made breakthroughs on how to treat yours,” The director explains, “In time we might be able to cure it.”
Akemi slowly nods at that, “I just hope I’m not old and grey when we do.” She mutters softly as she then grabs her bento box from the nightstand and makes her way past the Director.
“Stay safe, Ms. Nakamura, and be well.” The Director wishes her as Akemi exits the room, stopping a moment and peering back after he says this. Akemi gives a nod and softly hums a noise of acknowledgment before heading down the hall once more.

-

Akemi groans as she arrives in front of the coffee house she worked at, not at all looking forward to returning to her job. Though she no longer had the Director’s stipend to live off of, not that she would want to take any more money from that generous man. He had done enough for her.
Akemi enters the small business, the bell ringing at her arrival as she prepares to get an ear full from her manager about being a tad late from break. Instead, she is met with a familiar, loud, chipper voice. Looking over at one of the tables, she spies Taiga “Tiger” Fujimura. The twenty-four-year-old woman had been a classmate of Akemi in Highschool. Akemi admittedly was not the most popular girl, even before The Fire she was rather stand-offish and never strived to really make friends. Taiga was the one that initiated the friendship, having just appeared one day in her life and refused to leave, and its been that way ever since.
“Ah! Kemi-chan!” The brunette calls out in a sing-song voice before hopping out of her seat and rushing at Akemi in a full sprint.
“Hi, Taiga.” Akemi says simply, not phased by how quickly the woman had hurried over to her.
Akemi then starts to make her way behind the counter as Taiga follows from the other side. She leans over the counter, not caring about the other customers whose personal space she was invading so she could walk alongside her friend.
“I was thinking that I and you should go drinking after work!” Taiga happily suggests.
“Sure, I’m not doing anything after,” Akemi agrees as she puts on her apron and hat.
“Speaking of work, aren’t you suppose to be working right now?” Akemi asks, “Doesn’t school only let out at 3:15?”
“Eh, I don’t have any classes till 3:00,” Taiga waves her off, “Decided to skip out for a bit, told ‘em I had a family emergency at home.”
“My, telling lies are we? Can’t see how that won’t bite you in the ass later.” Akemi jokes.
“They can’t fire me! I’m the only English Teacher in this city!” Taiga laughs evilly.
“Still, you got out of work for a bit just to come to pester me at mine?” Akemi asks her as she then takes over the other worker’s shift and starts taking orders.
“I’m not pestering!” Taiga declares as she leans over one of the customers while Akemi takes their order, the customer peers up at the excitable woman with clear discomfort.
“We’ll your gonna get me fired or worse, chewed out by my manager,” Akemi warns Taiga who childishly pouts at that, puffing out her cheeks in indignation.
“Fine! I’ll leave, you heartless monster!” Taiga exclaims as she then marches away before taking a determined stance in the middle of the coffee shop.
“But we’re going out drinking tonight and we’re gonna meet some hot guys! … Possibly!” Taiga promises, causing a scene as everyone in the shop looks at her as she confidently points up in the air.
“Okay, bye-bye! Love you, Kemi-chan!” She then dorkily waves before bounding to the door, the bell ringing to signal her exiting.
Akemi lets out a sigh before her manager practically materializes beside her and begins to scold her about her friends distracting her during work. He states how he might just have to write this up, firmly tapping his pen against his clipboard as Akemi longs for death. Yes, death would be preferable over this.
“Yes, sir. Won’t happen again, sir,” Akemi says flatly as she endures more of his ranting before he finally leaves her to her work once more.

-

That evening, after getting off from work, Taiga was there to greet Akemi. Taiga had already been waiting outside of the coffee shop for her. The brunette woman presents her little scooter that wasn’t designed for two people but despite that, Taiga tosses Akemi a cyan-blue helmet. Catching it, Akemi turns it around to read the English lettering that was painted on the front, “Poo Monster”. Akemi frowns with an unamused look as Taiga reves up her tiny Vespa, already having fastened her helmet.
“C’mon, hop on!” Taiga cheerfully encourages Akemi who stares at the one-person bike with concern.
Despite her better judgment, Akemi puts on the helmet and straps it up before sitting on the tiny bit of space there was on the seat that wasn’t taken up by Taiga’s rump, awkwardly holding on to the woman’s waist.
“If I fall off this thing and die, I am so gonna haunt you.” Akemi threatens Taiga, Taiga lets out an elated gasp.
“Ghost roomies!” She exclaims, seemingly happy with the idea of that as she peers back at a frowning Akemi.
“Yeah, and I’m gonna replace your Soy Sauce with Worceshower sauce… Worchester,” Akemi struggles with her pronunciation as Taiga starts driving.
Akemi had yet to give up on trying to say the difficult word while Taiga zips down the street, swerving and weaving around any cars or cyclists in the way.
They eventually make it to the bar they often went to, Taiga parks and climbs off her scooter as Akemi lingers a bit, still frustratingly trying to say the word while Taiga removes her helmet and places it on the bike. The young teacher patiently waits for her friend who slowly removes her own helmet and follows her lead, still not giving up on saying the word yet.
“The fermented fish sauce!” Akemi then exasperatedly declares as they enter the bar, a few patrons looking over in curiosity and confusion. Taiga heartily laughs as she pats her friend on the shoulder before pulling Akemi along to the bar.
“Oi! Barkeep! Two beers for me my friend!” She loudly waves over one of the bartenders as they then seat themselves at two of the stools that lined the bar.
The rest of that night was spent drinking, the two women throwing back large pints of beer as Taiga tries to survey the bar for the elusive, “Hot Guys”, she had said they would meet this night. The charismatic teacher had managed to woo a few men, those who could handle her overzealous personality. Taiga would then try to get Akemi to socialize with their buddies but to little avail. Akemi showed little to no interest in talking with the men Taiga sent her way, the men either quickly losing interest in her due to her lack of socializing, or Akemi intentionally scaring them off.
“Wanna see mah burns?” Akemi slurs, before offering to roll up her sleeve to show them. More often than not that was enough to scare or gross out a guy, with a few exceptions.
Akemi was about to pull said tactic, starting to roll up her sleeve before Taiga hastily runs over and jerks her sleeve down.
“Stop that!” She exclaims as Akemi just drunkenly rests her head on the bar counter. The current man awkwardly leaves while Taiga scolds Akemi.
“You can’t just keep scaring off and ignoring every man I send over!” Taiga tells reprimands.
“C’mon, I haven’t seen you go on at least one date since I’ve known you,” She says as she takes a seat next to Akemi.
“Eh… My life is messy as is. I don’t want to bring someone else into it, it will just complicate it more.” Akemi admits as she sits up a bit more, propping up her arms on the counter and resting her chin on her hand in a drunken doze.
“Well… That doesn’t cross out one-night stands.” Taiga adds, earning a chuckle from Akemi.

-

Once they finished their night of drinking, Taiga takes Akemi home. She helps her heavily inebriated friend inside and onto the couch. As she flops Akemi down, she looks around at the state of her living space. The whole house was rather messy, empty bottles and food packaging cluttered the coffee table and spilled out onto the surrounding floor. Taiga begins to collect and toss some of the clutter in the nearby trash can, though with some difficulty seeing how it was already overflowing at this point.
“You seriously need to pick up more,” Taiga tells Akemi as she bags up the trash.
“Well, we all don’t have a ward to keep our homes nice and tidy.” Akemi teases.
“Hey! You make me sound like some wicked old hag that’s forcing him to clean!” Taiga exclaims as Akemi giggles to herself.
“Speaking of which, how is the kid?” Akemi then asks, Taiga calming down a bit before answering.
“Shirou? He’s fine.” Taiga tells her, “He’s grown up so fast, he’s an excellent cook and a wiz with electronics.”
Akemi silently listens to Taiga as she happily praises the boy. The boy, Shirou Emiya, was another survivor of The Fire. He was much younger than her when it happened, he was lucky to have been found and adopted by the Emyia family. She had met him a few times, he did not suffer the same burns she or her mother had, and despite the great misfortunate he suffered managed to live a happy and healthy life all things considered. Shamefully, Akemi had envied the boy.
Akemi had first met him when he was still just a child, she felt bitter jealousy over how happy he managed to be despite all. Though at that time, the wounds of the Fire were still fresh and Akemi was in a darker place than she was now. She has matured and become wiser since then, realizing that Shirou probably has his own mental scars from the event, he just hides them better.
“You should have dinner with us sometime! Try his cooking, you won’t regret it!" Taiga then happily suggests.
“Maybe,” Akemi utters softly, “Speaking of which, you probably should head home, I can take care of things from here.”
“You sure?” Taiga makes certain as Akemi sits up.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” Akemi smiles softly as she ushers Taiga out with a waving motion of her hands.
“Alright, take care then.” Taiga says as makes her way to the door, “And you are going to eat with us, I’ll mark it on the calendar!”
“Fine, just be careful going home,” Akemi warns the excitable teacher as she heads out the door.
“I will! Bye-bye, Kemi-chan!” Taiga chirps with a final wave before slamming the door behind her.
Akemi lingers on her sofa as she hears Taiga’s Vespa speed off down the road. Lifting her head, she looks at the current time, seeing that it was five past midnight. Figuring she had enough time for a small dinner, she heads to the kitchen to whip up something to eat. She settles on eating some of the leftovers she had from preparing her lunch this morning. Chopping up the leftover sausages and frying them up as she re-heats what was left of the steamed veggies. Once all are cooked, she arranges them on a plate with a dollop of tuna salad.
Taking her food to the living room, Akemi lounges on the sofa as she eats and watches TV. Checking the local news, they report on how the rate of missing children in the city has been going up, displaying photos of the various missing kids in the corner of the screen. This knowledge dampens the good mood Akemi was in, reminding her how such a twisted place the world was. She decides to change the channel to something less depressing, flipping through the channels before stopping on a cheesy soap opera she often watched out of lack of option. Akemi eats her dinner as she boredly watches the dramatic show, the actors hamming up every scene. She watches it long into the night before eventually falling asleep on the couch with the TV still on and her dirty dish resting on top of the coffee table, a few scraps of food still on it.

[MaddestOfCap]

Here is chapter 2, this is where things start to pick up. I hope there aren't too many pacing issues or other errors. If you stumble upon something that doesn't sound or flow right, or there are Type-Os, or simply wanna give feedback, it's very welcomed. I'd like to hear people's thoughts and suggestions so I might be able to improve in later chapters. Thanks, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.

CHAPTER 2 - CURSED TIES
-

Akemi awakens with a massive hangover and a splitting headache, and if that wasn’t enough, her arm was screaming at her as well due to how she slept the night prior. Akemi lays on the couch, waiting for the pain to subside, staring up at the ceiling just wanting to curl up and die. Eventually, she manages to get up and go about her morning routine, taking her morning medication before having a brisk shower and then applying the suave to her burn once she was dried and dressed. She was thankful that Taige chose yesterday to go drinking since today she had the day off and could use it to recover. Akemi got chewed out many times by the manager after coming into work with a hangover after a night of drinking with Taiga, she honestly wonders how the woman could get so drunk but be perfectly fine the next day.
After a light breakfast, Akemi decides to stroll around town, hoping the fresh air would help with this hangover of hers. She wanders through her local neighborhood to the market district, mostly window shopping, and people-watching as she meanders, having no real destination in mind. She looks at the various goods on display, many being above her pay grade. Moving on, she heads towards the seaside, where she watches people fish and couples both young and old hold hands as they look out at the crystal blue water and soaring gulls screeching overhead. She lingers a bit before carrying on, soon finding herself on the way to the hospital to check in on her mother. However, upon checking the time, she realizes that she might have to wait a bit till it was visiting hours but if she’s lucky, the receptionist might vouch for her, that or if the Director was in today.
Entering the hospital, she is warmly greeted by the familiar receptionist who tends to be always working when Akemi comes in.
“Ah, Ms. Nakamura. You’re a bit early today, visiting hours aren’t permitted till another hour.” The receptionist informs her.
“I figured, though I was sorta hoping you could maybe let me just check in on her for a moment?” Akemi asks, staring at the woman with big, puppy-dog, eyes.
“You know I can’t do that,” The receptionist tells her, Akemi's smile faltering a bit as she gives a dejected look that seems to tug at the woman’s heartstrings.
“But… I guess it will be alright… If only for a moment.” The woman begins to cave, Akemi’s face lighting up in response.
“But just for a moment! Then you gotta wait like everyone else.” The receptionist quickly informs her as she lets her pass without having to fill a forum.
Akemi gratefully thanked the woman, giving a small bow before briskly making her way down the hall to the elevator. Arriving on the floor her mother was located, Akemi steps out and starts to make her way there until she spies some attendants exiting the room, she quickly ducks out of sight behind a corner. peeking out, she silently watches as they then wheel her mother’s bed out and down the hall the opposite way. This confuses Akemi, wondering where they were taking her mother, presuming maybe for testing or treatment but if that was the case, why were they heading the opposite way? Curiously, she decides to quietly follow them to see where they were taking her mother.

-

Silently tailing them, she watches as they cart the bed down the hall and through some double doors that were off-limits to visitors or patients. Not wanting to give up now, Akemi hesitantly follows after, slipping through the doors, being sure not to make too much noise as she continues to follow them. The lights in the prohibited room were turned off and it seemed like it was a section of the hospital that wasn’t being used by how little the upkeep was. The place was incredibly eerie, with lots of vacant rooms with outdated hospital equipment and furnishing haphazardly placed. The once pure white walls were stained from age and lack of upkeep, and one could see some of the installation poking out from the exposed panels of the ceiling. It all felt like some sort of scene from a horror movie. It only worried Akemi more, her mind racing as she wonders why they are bringing her mother through here.
Sneaking along and peaking behind a corner, she sees the attendants enter a service elevator that requires a keycode of some sort. When the doors close, Akemi makes her way over and watches to see what floor they get off at. Her heart sinks when she sees the arrow pointing to the basement level, where the morgue would be. No, that can’t be right, if something happened to her mother the hospital would inform her immediately, right? The Director said her mother was doing fine, so that couldn’t be right. Akemi decided to see what was going on, finding the steps and making her way down to the lower levels.
As she descends lower and lower, her anxiety grew as she tries to rationalize what all was going on, her mind playing all the worse case scenarios as her panic builds. Finally, she reaches the basement level. She was winded from climbing down all those stairs, taking a moment to catch her breath before approaching the door to the basement, and carefully testing the handle. Much to her surprise, it was unlocked. Stealthy, she opens the door, unaware of the red energy that emits from it when she opens it before it fades into dust-like particles. Hunching over, she quietly makes her way into the basement level. So far it is what one would expect a hospital basement to be, dark and dank, filled with things from storage and more outdated machinery and equipment. Though as she moved deeper in, she is surprised when she enters something that almost looked like a workshop or maybe even a laboratory.
There were tables cluttered with various books and strange objects that didn’t look like they belonged in a hospital but rather some occultic enthusiast’s collection. Akemi is very much perplexed by this, growing more concerned for her mother as she then presses on, finding more and more odd things that didn’t belong in any sort of medical center, as she explores, she then notices something deeply troubling. Painted on the concrete floor of the hospital basement was some strange pentagram, it was painted with great accuracy in some sort of brownish-red pigment.
Suddenly, Akemi hears someone coming and quickly hides under one of the various cluttered tables, peeking out to see the two attendants as they wheel her mother into the strange room. She waits till the two of them leave before coming out of her hiding spot and over to her mother. She looks over the bandaged woman, ensuring she was alright.
“Why did they bring her down here?” She asks herself, her mind spinning with questions.
Akemi then hears someone approaching once more, hastily, she hides under the table once more. Listening intently to the footsteps as they enter the room, she quietly scoots away from the table’s edge to avoid detection. She focuses on the footfalls that go around the room, by the sound of how they walked, the person appeared to be examining the room rather than having a clear destination in mind.
“I know you're here.” A familiar voice then speaks.
It was a voice Akemi knew all too well. It was the voice of the Director, but something was wrong, it wasn’t the sweet voice she was used to hearing from him. This voice was menacing and cold, it caused the hair on the back of her neck to stand on its ends.
“Come out. Now.” The director orders but Akemi stays put, the drastic change in his demeanor unnerving her greatly.
Akemi remains hidden, listening as she hears him continue his search, her heartbeat quickens when his footsteps grow closer to her table. Her fear mounted with each enclosing step as she desperately covers her mouth and nose to muffle her labored breathing. This fear nears a breaking point as she sees the Director's legs walk in front of the table. Though much to her relief, he passes her. However, that relief is short-lived when she feels a firm grip suddenly snatching her arm and then painfully dragging her out. Akemi lets out a yelp before struggling as she is forced out of her hiding place. Trying to jerk her arm free, she peers up at a surprised Director who stares down at her.
“Akemi?” The director says in surprise upon seeing it was her.
“How did you get down here?” He questions, his firm grip loosening slightly, but he still holds onto her arm nevertheless.
“I saw those two men take mother here,” Akemi then explains.
“What’s going on? What’s all this stuff and why did they bring her here?” Akemi asks, hoping the director could clear this all up, to give her a logical answer that could explain all of this.
With that that the Director slowly releases her arm, letting out a sigh.
“You shouldn’t be down here, you need to leave and forget ever having seen this place.” He stresses with grave sternness, though his tone sounded vaguely threatening.
“What do you mean? What’s going on!” Akemi raises her voice, much to the annoyance of the Director who lowers his head and shuts his eyes with a grimace of irritation.
“How troublesome,” The director then speaks, his tone matching the cold and unnerving one she had heard prior.
“I never expected you to actually find this place,” He then admits, “This complicates manners, I knew I should’ve put a stronger Bounded Field on that door. Looks like I am paying for my incompetence.”
Akemi furrows her brows in confusion, not understanding a word of what the Director is talking about but also unsettling her more.
“Field?” Akemi questions before the Director waves her question off dismissively.
“It’s nothing,” He tells her, “This can easily be corrected, though having a more willing subject would’ve been preferable.”
Upon hearing this, a feeling of dread settles in the pit of Akemi’s stomach. What was that supposed to mean, a “Willing Subject”?
“Willing subject?” Akemi queries, not understanding what he implies with that as she grows ever anxious and confused.
“I mean, that now that you have found this place, I can’t allow you to leave.” He tells her, fixing her with a steely and apathetic gaze that is deeply, a far cry from the warm, gentle, expression she was so used to receiving from him.
“W-What? What do you mean, I can’t leave?” Akemi asks him as she slowly retreats away from him, backing up against the table behind her. She peers back at the table, seeing how it was blocking her from gaining any more distance from the Director than she already has.
“You have seen too much, I can’t in good faith let you walk out of this place,” He informs her.
“Do not fret, I do not intend to bring any harm to you, so long as you remain cooperative.” He reassures her as he starts to approach the backtracking Akemi.
The director then reaches out his hand, about to grab Akemi by her arm once more. Akemi’s heart pounds as the Director’s hand draws ever closer. This fear then comes to a breaking point as she then lashes out at him in a desperate attempt to get him away from her. The director recoils, startled by this violent response as Akemi hastily searches for something to defend herself, snatching up some strange blade he had sitting on the table behind her. She banishes it, holding it out at him in a threatening manner.
“Tell me what the fuck is going on! Now!” Akemi demands, The Director hesitantly raising his hands in defense.
“Don’t be stupid, Akemi, put that down-” The director tries to reason with a wavering smile but is cut off by Akemi.
“Now!” She yells, clutching the blade with no sign of dropping it.
“Who are you really, what are your true intentions for me and my mother!?” She orders, her knuckles turning white due to how tightly she held onto the blade.
The Director’s smile falls as he fixes Akemi with a dark glare, rather annoyed by how difficult Akemi was being, though he reasoned that she did deserve some answers.
“I am a magus, not that you would even know what that means,” He condescends, holding his hands behind his back neatly.
“I have been researching you and your mother’s condition, not to cure you, but to study how the properties and spread of curse you have been afflicted with.” He informs her in a matter-of-fact manner.
“Curse?” Akemi asks, glancing toward the purplish black burns that winded up the length of her arm.
“Yes, what you believe to be burns are in fact curse markings.” He tells her, “While the curse has all but consumed your mother, you were only affected on your left arm.”
Akemi stares intently at her arm as he explains this, processing it all.
“You provide an in-depth look at how the curse spreads and affects a conscious host.” The director says, slowly inching closer to her as she’s distracted by trying to process all of this.
The weight of this knowledge rests heavily on Akemi, knowing that the man she loved and looked up to as a father only saw her and her mother as test subjects to be studied. He never cared about them, he only cared about his research.
Suddenly, the Director grabs Akemi’s wrist and tries to pry the knife from her. This results in a struggle between the two, tears burning in Akemi’s eyes as she is filled with grief and hatred for his betrayal. They both grapple with the knife until Akemi rams her body against the Director, effectively tackling him onto the ground. The Director is growing more panicked now as he desperately tries to fend Akemi off, who, fueled by immense rage and hate, attempts to use the blade on him.
The Director fights back, holding her arm at bay as she resists, trying to plunge the blade into him. The Director proved the stronger combatant as he manages to throw Akemi off him, the force of it sending her hurling toward the table. Akemi’s head collided against its edge with a painful crack, leaving her dazed as she slumps onto the ground against the table’s side. Taking advantage of this, the Director hastily gets up and takes the blade out of her reach. The fact some sickly woman nearly overpowered him wounded his pride and provoked his wrath.
“You ungrateful cur!” He yells, sending a violent kick to Akemi’s side.
Akemi lets out a pained whine as the kick knocks her from her slumped position against the table onto her side, laying on the hard, concrete, floor below. The Director continues his assault, stomping and kicking at her limp form as she desperately tries to crawl away, all the while he curses and belittles her. Akemi was certain she was going to die, certain the Director was going to kill her and then resume his sick experiments on her poor mother. Akemi refused to accept this fate, desperately trying to push on but her body was so weak and every kick send sharp waves of agony through her battered body.

-

Akemi could feel her strength waning as she dragged her nails across the pavement, still trying to claw her way to escape. It is then she feels a distant warmth. Trying to keep her heavy eyelids open, she looks ahead of her at a bright red light on the ground that gradually grows stronger, it is then the Director takes notice.
“What? How - It’s not time yet!” The director exclaims as he turns his attention away from Akemi and to the glowing circle.
As Akemi takes in its vivid red aura, her mind takes her back to when she was younger, laying amongst the rubble with her mother’s heavy body on top of her. She remembers staring at the sky and its brilliant scarlet red hue, not unlike the light she sees now. It strangely brought her a small comfort as she basks in its light and warmth, closing her eyes when the light becomes too much. Though as soon as the light came, it was gone, along with its warmth, much to Akemi’s dismay. Slowly, she reopens her eyes and weakly lifts her head. It is then she sees an inky black, ambiguous, silhouette looming over her. It stands there motionless for a moment before slowly craning its shapeless body to look down at Akemi who stares up in astonishment.
The amorphous figure then kneels down in front of Akemi, what appeared to be its head lazily tilting to one side to almost look at her with childlike curiosity. As she stares at it, she begins to notice its body start to change and morph into a more identifiable one. The silhouette then takes on the form of a young man, his body covered in strange sprawling tattoos, making his skin look like a living Zentangle. His garments were sparse, only consisting of a tattered red fabric he wore like a kilt loosely upon his hips, a strip of cloth fashioned into a headband was tied around his forehead, which was in a similar state to his lower garment. Lastly, his hands and feet were wrapped up in the same ratty fabric.
The strange man peers down at her with piercing golden eyes, before cracking a large, shit-eating, grin. The disturbing look shook Akemi to her very core as she could feel the unnatural and ominous energy the man gave off in waves.
“Man, you look like shit.” He suddenly informs Akemi who blankly stares up at him, not knowing how to respond to that unexpected insult.
“A servant...? How?” The Director made his presence known, “I have yet to summon you, this shouldn’t be possible!”
The strange marked man turns his attention to the Director, standing up as he then stretches out his arms and rests them behind his head with a yawn.
“Cuz ya didn’t, she did.” The man informs the director, making a small nonchalant gesture towards Akemi.
“That can’t be right! She is no mage!” The Director exclaims, “Unless…” He trails off, coming to a realization before turning his attention back to the strange man.
“Heroric Spirit, I beseech you. Abandon your contract with this woman and become my servant!” The Director proposes earnestly.
Meanwhile, Akemi manages to sit up as she watches this strange scene unfold.
She watches as the servant casually approaches the Director, studying him intently with a scrutinizing gaze. The Director watches uneasily as the tattooed man begins to circle around him, looking at him from various angles, and letting out thoughtful hums before finally stopping in front of him. He rubs his chin in deep contemplation before coming to a conclusion.
“Hmm…” He muses as he taps his chin.
“No.” He then says with a smile as he abruptly buries some form of jagged weaponry or tool into the Director’s stomach. This catches both him and Akemi off guard as blood spews from out of the Director’s mouth, his hands shakily grabbing at the strange weapon the man had gored him with.
“W-Why?” The Director asks in a raspy gurgle.
“Cuz you seem to be a helluva lot more boring than her.” The strange man answers with a cheery smile before ripping the weapon out from the Director’s stomach, allowing him to crumple to the ground, a pool of blood forming under him as the deep gash steadily bleeds out. The tattooed man then lets out an exaggerated sigh of exhaustion, as if he had just moved a heavy box rather than stabbed a man, he rolls his shoulders as he does a few stretches before turning towards Akemi with a bright smile.
“Sorry about that, Master! Hope he wasn’t someone important to ya!” He chirps as he starts to approach her, allowing his weapon to dematerialize into black, ash-like, particles that soon vanish into nothing.
Akemi stares mortified at the Director’s twitching body, before slowly turning her gaze at the murderer who had just effortlessly killed him with no regard whatsoever.
“S-Stay away!” Akemi then exclaims when the man then outstretches a hand towards her, causing her to cower and frantically huddle away from him.
He retracts his hand, eyeing her with confusion as he quirks a brow at her reaction as if it was unwarranted.
“Eh? You’re the one who summoned me, now you're telling me to get lost?” He questions her, “I’m getting some serious mix signals here.”
He then crouches down in front of the cowering Akemi as she sheepishly lifts her head, slowly uncovering it with her hands.
“Summoned?” She hesitantly asks him.
“Yeah, to be your servant in this Holy Grail war.” He informs her, which only proved to confuse her more.
“Holy Grail War?” She asks, which causes the man to let out a long, slow, whistle.
“Wow, you have no idea what’s going on do you?” He asks her as she shakes her head, confirming this.
“Pshh- Ha!” The man lets out a laugh, “Wow, what a team we are! A clueless master and her dog shit servant! A match made in hell!” He snorts.
Akemi watches as he heartily chortles about this, rather disturbed by his laughter and only more confused.
“Alright, Alright…” The man starts after calming down from his fit of laughter, “Look’s like I gotta clue you in on all of this.”
“First off are the Magi,” He begins, raising a finger as he then takes a seat in front of Akemi, sitting crisscross as he prepares to give Akemi a much-needed exposition dump.
“Magi, as the name implies, are humans who can use magecraft.” He informs her, “That man I just killed was one of them,” He says gesturing back at The Director’s corpse.
“And so are you.” He tells her, “Or at least, you have enough magi blood to summon a servant.”
Akemi is bewildered by this, not quite sure how to take this. It didn’t sound real though logic seemed to have thrown itself out the window a while ago.
“So… I’m like a witch or something?” Akemi asks skeptically.
“Nah, witches are something different.” He tells her.
“Alright… So what are you? Some sort of demon?” Akemi questions him, earning a chuckle from him.
“Depends on your definition but I guess the correct term would be servant,” He explains, “I am a Heroic Spirit summoned by the Grail to do your killing for you during the war.”
“War? What war and how does that pertain to the Holy Grail?” She asks him.
“The Holy Grail War, it’s a battle amongst mages. Each becoming summoning and becoming the master of a servant who fights in their stead.” He explains.
“The sole winner of this war gets the Grail and it grants whatever wish they desire.” He tells her, doing a grand display with his hands.
“Bullshit,” Akemi exclaims, much to the amusement of the man, “There’s gotta be a catch, ain’t no way there’s some magical wish-granting cup.”
“It's true! The catch being the fact you’re in a war - so you gotta do some killing but also survive long enough to obtain the grail.” He giggles as she looks at him with skepticism.
“And by summoning you, that means I’m now a part of this war?” She asks him.
“Yep!” He exclaims while eagerly nodding.
“And if I decide I don’t want to?” Akemi inquires.
“You can forfeit your Command Seals but as a potential master you’ll still be at risk, you would have to find refuge till the war is over.” He explains and advises her.
“Command Seals?” Akemi asks.
“Oh right! Nearly forgot, all Masters are given a set of Command Seals.” He explains, “You can use them to give me a direct order that I can’t disobey.”
“However, you only get three,” He then elaborates, “If you use up all of them, I am no longer under your control.”
“Oh that’s comforting,” Akemi states sarcastically, somewhat unsettled by that and his large grin wasn’t helping.
“So, Servants, are they all like you?” She questions.
“All like me? Nah, each servant is unique to their class.” He tells her.
“Class, so like, an MMORPG? With knights, mages, and stuff?” Akemi asks, imagining the various classes.
“I dunno what that is.” He admits with a blank smile.
“There are seven standard classes; Saber, Archer, Lancer, Assassin, Caster, Rider, and Berserker.” He tells her, holding up a finger with each named class.
“What class are you?” Akemi then questions him, causing him to give a smug little grin.
“I’m the weakest of them all, so much so, I don’t even qualify for any of the standard classes!” He declares in some strange self-deprecating elation, raising his arms up in the air.
“I am Avenger.” He declares, his smirk widening as he watches her reaction.
“You sound like an edgy middle schooler…” Akemi tells him honestly, Avenger letting out a hearty cackle at that comparison.
“Alright, but that’s just your class, what is your true name?” She asks after he manages to calm down.
Akemi watches Avenger, awaiting his answer as he stares for a long moment, apparently thinking.
“Dunno.” He tells her flatly.
“What do you mean, “Dunno”?” Akemi asks as Avenger lets out a heavy sigh, folding his arms behind his head as he leans back.
“I mean, I dunno.” He says once more, “I think your improper summoning of me scrambled my memories.”
“It’s not like it was my intention to summon you!” Akemi hastily defends.
“But in a twisted way,” She starts to say, bowing her head, perking Avenger's attention as he leans in a bit to hear what she had to say.
“I’m glad I did,” She admits, “If you didn’t stop him, I…I.”
Akemi was feeling a confusing mess of emotions. While she had only contempt for the Director, now knowing the truth, it didn’t change the fact she once cared for him. And now he was dead.
“This is so fucked,” Akemi’s voice cracks as she holds her face in her hands, fighting back the tears.
“Why is life so keen on screwing me over? When I thought things might be getting better, things all just got to hell.” Akemi begins to rant.
“I did everything I was supposed to!” She states, “Stayed on my medication, I stopped drinking as much, and I have yet to get fired from my latest job!”
Avenger watches as Akemi continues her outburst, soon rising to her feet and wobbling a bit as she staggers toward the body of the Director.
“But no! You had to be some fucked up, mad doctor, shithead!” She yells at his corpse, pointing an accusatory finger. Akemi then clutches her marked arm, tears beginning to run down her cheeks as she clenches her jaw.
“I-I thought you cared about me…” He utters in a broken whisper, “I thought you were helping us… But you weren’t, me and mother were just some experiment to you!”
Akemi suddenly starts kicking the Director’s lifeless head, “Just a fucking hobby! A little pastime activity to get your sick kicks from!”
Akemi repeatedly kicks his corpse before covering her head as she lets out an anguished wail.
Akemi goes to her mother’s bedside, where she had been laying the entire time. The woman’s chest slowly rises and falls in shallow breaths as Akemi kneels down and takes her bandaged hand, placing it on her cheek as she sobs. Akemi thinks about how her mother might be awake now if only she found out sooner.
Avenger watches impassively at the woman’s broken form as she clings to the limp hand of her mother, her tears staining the gauze that covered it. After a moment of sobbing and seeking empty comfort from her mother, Akemi manages to pull herself together. Drying her eyes as she slowly rises to her feet, she stares down at her mother’s body.
“Avenger,” She then speaks up in a trembling voice, “We need to leave before someone notices the Director isn’t coming back.”
As Akemi starts to push the bed out of the workshop, Avenger lingers for a moment before peering down at the Director’s body while Akemi goes on ahead. Bending down, he then plunges his hand into the man’s chest cavity and rips out his heart.
“Waste not, want not.” Avenger grins to himself as he then holds the heart up. He tilts his head back as he opens his mouth wide and crushes the heart, letting the blood flow into his awaiting mouth.

[MaddestOfCap]

Here is chapter 3, which mainly will explore more on Akemi's and Avenger's compatibility (As well as gives some minor insight into Akemi and her past). Fleshing out more of their characters and their interactions, things will start to take off more in the next chapter.

CHAPTER 3 - WOLF IN TATTERED CLOTHING
-

Wheeling her mother’s bed onto the elevator, Akemi takes it to the floor her mother’s room was on. She knew she couldn’t just walk out of the hospital with her mother, nor did she have the resources to care for her on her own. With the addition of this war, it might be best if her mother remained in the hospital. Though there was uncertainty about what could happen when they discover the Director is dead. Akemi’s mother might be at risk, not knowing if there were any more of these mages that would try to pick up where the Director left off. She could try to have her mother transferred to a different hospital but there was always the chance they’re could be more like the Director working there.
Akemi carts her mother’s bed into her room, thankful that this floor was not busy, so no one had spotted her doing so. She gives her mother one last parting farewell, promising to return soon as she then makes her way to the public elevator.
“Is it a good idea to just leave your ma here?” Akemi then hears Avenger’s voice beside her.
She instinctively jumps, startled by the sudden voice. While Avenger had explained that as a Servant he can dematerialize at will, A.K.A, turn invisible. It still did unsettle her, she reckoned she might never get used to it. Though it did have its perks, his strange appearance certainly won’t cause a distraction while they’re leaving.
“I don’t have any real choice,” Akemi tells him, “I don’t have the equipment to support her, and if I’m gonna be in some war, she’d be at risk.”
“All I can do is see about possibly having her transferred and hope for the best.” She says as walks in once the elevator doors open.
As she stands in the empty elevator, she tries to spruce up how she looks in case the receptionist might stop to question her on what took her so long. This was one of the rare moments Akemi cursed the fact she never bothered to wear makeup because a compact would be rather handy right now.
“Hey, I don’t have a mirror,” She tells Avenger, “So how do I look? Can you tell I just had a mental breakdown?”
“Hmmm…” Avenger muses as he inspects her appearance.
“You look like shit to me.” He says in a cheery voice as if that was a compliment rather than an insult.
“Thanks, dickhead.” Akemi sarcastically fires back, annoyed by his snidey personality.
Soon they arrive at the main floor, Akemi straightened out her clothing as she takes a few calming breaths. Walking out, she tries to act like everything was natural, nothing at all was amiss, just an extra long visit with her mother. No need to ask about the massive goose egg on the back of her head or why she is limping as if someone had kicked in her ribs. Nope! There was nothing wrong at all!
Akemi soon nears the front entrance, seeing the hospital was busy as usual around this time. Meaning, a high chance of Akemi being able to slip on by with little trouble, she just had to get past the front desk and out the doors then she was home free. Hurriedly, Akemi shuffles toward the front door, keeping her head low to avoid making eye contact with anyone. She keeps up her brisk pace until she finally reaches the doors, quickening it when she goes through them and steps onto the front sidewalk. Akemi lets out a few labored breaths, acting as though she had just finished running a marathon as beads of sweat roll down her brow.
“Phew, no one stopped me...” Akemi exhales in relief.
“Yeah, but you still gotta get out of the parking lot.” Avenger points out.
Akemi gives a grim expression, realizing she will have to walk all the way home in her condition. While she could try phoning Taiga to maybe swing by with her scooter, Akemi would then have to explain why she’s as bruised and battered as she is. She could already hear Taiga making a fuss, gearing up to kick the already dead assailant’s ass before bringing her right back into the hospital for treatment.
So, it looks like walking is her only option. Or she could try stealing one of the unattended bikes someone left in the parking rack, though knowing her luck and piss poor balance, that would probably just result in her obtaining more injuries and possibly a fine for theft. Taking a brief moment to prepare, Akemi then starts her walk back home.
The walk was more grueling than ever, Akemi finding herself more exhausted and out of breath than normal. Was it a result of her injuries or perhaps the mental toll all of this had taken? It might be both. Akemi had to stop a few times to regain her breath.
“Hey, you're looking a little pale there, master.” Avenger then points out.
“No shit?” Akemi pants, trying to catch her breath as she holds onto a streetlight for support
“You must’ve used up a lotta mana to summon me,” He suspects.
“Using too much mana exhausts you,” Avenger explains, “And seeing as your already a dog-shit mage, that’s especially true for you.”
“Oh great,” Akemi groans, “How long does the fatigue usually last? “ She asks.
“All depends,” He says nonchalantly, “Hours? Days? Oh, plus there’s the fact that you’re steadily losing mana in order to sustain me.”
“What!?” Akemi exclaims.
“Yeah, servants rely on their master’s mana to remain present in this world.” He says so casually, “Without it, we fade away.”
“You could’ve told me all of this sooner…” Akemi sighs heavily as she leans against the lamp post.
Avenger gives a mischievous giggle and Akemi could hear the shit-eating grin he must be pulling. Growling in annoyance, Akemi pushes herself up from the post and trudges on the last stretch home.
At long last, Akemi makes it to her house. She lets out a long sigh of relief as she hobbles over to the door, fishing out her keys and impatiently unlocking the front door before swinging it open and stumbling inside. Avenger rematerializes once inside the quaint residence, he looks around at the state of her living quarters, as Akemi manages to shut the front door before flopping onto the couch face first.
“Damn, this place is a dump!” Avenger exclaims cheerfully despite his rude words.
Akemi utters a retort to his insult but it’s muffled by the cushion she had her face buried in. Avenger starts to walk around, kicking an empty can that was laying on the floor as he takes in the environment, looking at the state it was in.
Akemi groans as she rolls onto her side, struggling to keep her eyes open, she looks toward Avenger who was studying a picture on the wall. The picture was of her 10th birthday, showing a small party her mother managed to set up, having invited Taiga and a few other classmates that Akemi really couldn’t call friends. The photo showed them all huddled around a cake on a small table. Sparkly banners with the words, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY”, hung loosely from the wall behind them, drooping on one side. The cake was obviously homemade, her mother’s shoddy baking and frosting skills were on full display. The cake was slanted and the icing was applied unevenly. Ten candles were arranged on top, they were all crowded together to fit all of them, and the wax was already starting to melt and drip onto the top layer of frosting.
The ten-year-old Akemi stares past the camera with a startled and dazed look as a young Taiga wraps an arm around her, having a bit of motion blur. Taiga poses for the picture alongside the two other kids that showed up, though with considerably less enthusiasm than Taiga. The low lighting of the room and the flash of the camera made their pupils appear red, looking rather unsettling. It made them appear like they were more interested in the viewer’s soul than the lop-sided cake.
“Hey,” Akemi then gets Avenger’s attention, “I’m gonna shut my eyes for a bit, you can help yourself to the fridge and the TV, just keep the volume down, ‘kay?”
Avenger grins as he gives her a salute, “Aye, aye, master!” He declares.
Akemi shakes her head at him as she pulls the blanket that was draped on the back of the couch over herself while she turns on her other side, her back facing the rest of the room.
As she sleeps, Akemi has that dream again, but it was different this time. Akemi finds herself alone, her mother no longer with her, and her gaze is directed at the red sky overhead that appeared far more vivid and brighter now than it did in her memory or past dreams. Akemi stares up at it, at it before it suddenly pulses. And as it does, a searing pain shoots up Akemi’s arm, shocking her body into motion as she manages to cry out and reflexively grab her arm. As she does, she looks down at it and watches in pure horror as the burn marks begin to rapidly spread and creep further up her arm. Angry, red, veins slowly branch out from the marks as the pain grows with them.
Akemi then frantically awakens, finding herself on the sofa once again but now drenched in sweat. Hastily, she rolls up her sleeve to see if the marks had actually grown as they did in the dream. Much to her relief, they were just as she remember, having not changed in the slightest. On top of that, the pain was dull now, not as severe as it was in her nightmare. Akemi lets out a shaky sigh of relief as she rakes an unsteady hand through her hair, which had become damp due to sweat.
As she recovers, Akemi soon notices Avenger who was sitting in front of the TV, having turned to look towards her when he heard her wake. A spoon was in his mouth as he holds a yogurt cup he had taken from the fridge. They both silently stare at one another for a long while before Avenger finally blinks, breaking the prolonged eye contact. Avenger then removes the spoon from his mouth and points it at her.
“Your very sweaty.” He informs her.
“No shit,” Akemi sarcastically retorts as she wipes her brow before suddenly stopping and jerking her head back in Avenger’s direction.
“You!” She yells, pointing at him.
Avenger stares questioningly as he then points at himself.
“That yogurt was for my lunch tomorrow! Who gave you the right to go rooting around in my fridge and start taking my goddamn food!?” Akemi demands.
“Eh? You told me I could help myself to it.” He reminds her.
“I-!” Akemi prepares to argue before stopping herself as she then remembers what she had said prior to her crashing on the couch.
“Your right, I did say that.” Akemi then instantly calms down, lowering her voice as she turns away, not attempting to argue that.
Akemi stares off in deep thought as she rubs her arm, the pain she felt in the dream still fresh in her mind as well as the horrid image of the burns creeping further and further up her arm. Avenger’s gaze lowers to the arm she rubs, seeing the black and purple rings that curl up it. He stares for a moment, a look of recognition in his eyes before he then speaks.
“Man, that’s one nasty curse you got,” Avenger tells Akemi with a cheeky grin as he then leans over the coffee table, propping his elbows up on the surface as he rests his chin in the palms of his hands.
Akemi looks too him after he says this, somewhat confused by what he meant before looking back at her arm. She remembers the Director saying the same to her about the burns. Akemi grips her wrist tightly as memories of the now-dead Director start to creep to the forefront of her mind. She hastily clears them from her mind as she turns her attention back to Avenger.
“The Director had called it that, a curse,” Akemi starts, “Saying how he was studying its effects and how it spreads.”
“What does that mean though?” She looks to Avenger for answers.
Avenger’s eyes linger on the cursed markings, his expression being difficult to read as he appears to think over her question. He then gives one of his unsettling smiles as his eyes meet her’s once more.
“It means what it sounds like,” Avenger tells her, “You’ve been afflicted with a curse that’s going to keep growing until it consumes you.”
Akemi’s heart skips a beat at that, her dream now seeming like a cruel omen of the future. The thought that this strange curse would eventually take her completely over, and that she will end up like her mother or worse, shakes her to her very core.
“Is there a way to stop it?” Akemi fearfully asks as Avenger scrapes the little remains from his yogurt cup with his spoon.
“Nope!” He says as he pops the spoon in his mouth before he appears to backtrack on his answer.
“Well, there are probably ways of slowing the growth,” He tells her as he removes the spoon from his mouth.
Akemi considers that before suddenly remembering that suave the Director had prescribed her.
“The Director had a special cream prescribed to me,” Akemi informs Avenger, “Could that have actually been an ointment to slow the spreading?”
“That could work,” Avenger says as he points his spoon at her in emphasis that she is most likely correct about that.
The relief she felt upon discovering this did not last when she remembers that the Director is now dead, so she only had a certain amount of her prescription before it runs out. Abruptly, Akemi gets up from the couch and hastily makes her way to her bathroom. Running to the bathroom sink, she opens the medicine cabinet and frantically searches for the jar of suave. Avengers peers in from the doorway, he watches Akemi as she desperately searches, turning his attention to the prescription bottles that she carelessly knocks down which noisily fall into the sink and onto the bathroom floor.
Soon Akemi finds the little glass jar, takes it down, and sees how much of the cream is left. It is now she curses herself for having been so greedy and careless in the past, the suave was nearly depleted. She will have to ration it out carefully and only use it when she absolutely has to, and then only use the most sparing amounts. If she is lucky, they might have some preparation for the next month but even still she must be frugal about it because that is quite possibly all she will ever receive due to the Director’s death.
Akemi lets out a shaky sigh as this all settles on her, she fears the future of when she does finally run out but it’s best to dwell on that. She will come to that bridge when she comes to it. Shakily, she places the jar back into the cabinet and starts to pick up the medicine bottles she had dropped in her frenzied search. As she does so, she peers back at Avenger in the mirror who was now sitting on the lip of the bathtub, inspecting a little rubber duck she used as decoration. It had been a little gift she’d won when Taiga had dragged her to one of the festivals. The amount of money Taiga had her spend on a rigged game to win an oversized jaguar plush Taiga wanted is money she will never be able to make back.
Akemi watches an avenger a moment longer as he squeezes the duck, causing it to let out a squeak. He then does this repeatedly, a symphony of squeaking filling the bathroom as Akemi cleans up the bottles.

-

Later on that evening, Avenger goes over in more detail about this war Akemi is now a part of, she knew the basics of it from what he said back at the hospital basement, but when it came to more of the nitty-gritty stuff, she was clueless. Avenger goes over how now that she is a master, there will be the threat of enemy masters targetting her. However, they have an advantage at the moment, that being no one is really expecting an extra class and master in this war. If they play their cards right, they might have a decent shot at winning this despite how weak they both are.
“Tell me more about these servants,” Akemi starts, “How much stronger are they?” Akemi asks him.
They both were lounging in the living room, both drinking some canned beer. Avenger gulps down a can of beer before crushing it, carelessly discarding it on the floor behind him, before grabbing another from the six-pack that sat on the coffee table.
“Incredibly strong,” He tells her, “They can reduce a human like you to a blood smear, but even I can do that and I’m the weakest of all.”
Akemi did not like the sound of that, wondering how the hell they even had the barest whisper of a chance of winning this, let alone just surviving. Though despite that, Avenger didn’t seem to worry, the prospect of death not phasing him in the slightest.
“It seems like we have a helluva lotta shit stacked against us,” Akemi points out, “Why the hell would you even answer my summons if you knew winning was near impossible?”
Avenger finishes his second can of beer before answering.
“Mainly cuz I was bored,” He admits, “Plus you seemed interesting, I wanted to see if you could beat the odds.”
Akemi gives him an annoyed expression, not liking the fact she was dragged into a near-impossible war because this prick was bored. Though she probably shouldn’t blame him too much, she can’t forget that if it wasn’t for him, she’d even be dead or forced into being an unwilling test subject for that bastard’s sick experiments.
“Though I expected you to be much hotter,” He then tells her causing her to choke on her beer much to the man’s amusement, laughing at the sight.
“Oh, like your a fine bit of ass!” Akemi exclaims offendedly, flustered by both embarrassment and anger which only made the tattooed servant laugh harder.
Akemi stands up in a huff and yells at him to shut up, pointing as she goes on a rant, making up excuses for her unkempt appearance but it's drowned out by the servant’s laughter.
“Well that is one thing you have going for ya, you sure know how to sure crack a guy up!” He hollers much to Akemi’s mounting anger and embarrassment.
Akemi stomps off to the kitchen, Avenger sitting up as he watches her do so before following after to hopefully taunt her some more and get even more humorous reactions. Avenger strolls into the kitchen, looking around a bit as Akemi angrily prepares some dinner. She cuts up some carrots for the dish, using a bit more force than needed. Avenger takes this time to explore the kitchen and the various appliances it had. While he had knowledge given to him by the grail of what these things were and their function, it was different to actually get to physically see and interact with them.
As Akemi starts on dinner, Avenger begins to mess with the various devices. He picks up the blender that sat on the counter, looking it over as he inspects it. Curiously he turns it on and watches as the metal blades inside start to violently spin, he stares in amazement at it. Then for whatever reason, he starts to slowly put his hand inside the active blender. Akemi turns just in time to see his hand halfway in the blender, fingers nearly in the blade’s path. Frantically, she stops what she’s doing and jerks the blender away from his hand before yanking the power cord out.
“The fuck is wrong with you!?” She yells at him as he stares at her blankly.
“Are trying to mutilate yourself, you damn moron?!” She continues to yell as she then puts up the blender to prevent him from trying to maim himself anymore. Akemi then resumes cooking dinner, peering back at Avenger one more time to be certain he wasn’t reaching for the blender or messing with anything else.
After having the blender stolen from him, Avenger goes about exploring something else. He turns his attention to the microwave, he knew in theory it was a device meant to reheat food. Though he wondered what else one could heat up, he looks around at all the things that were nearby. His eyes fall on the shiny, metal, toaster.
Akemi was too immersed in cooking, mistakenly believing that Avenger probably learned his lesson about the blender. She was unaware of the scene going on behind her as Avenger carefully unplugs the toaster and carries it to the microwave, opening the door and putting the appliance inside. He closes the door and hits a random number on the keypad and watches as the toaster starts to spin on the glass tray inside.
Akemi perks up a bit when she hears the dual hum microwave going, she thinks nothing of it for a moment, reckoning he just turned it up with nothing inside to see what it did. Though that thought is quickly dashed when she hears the microwave crackle and spark. Frantically she turns around, seeing Avenger watching in amazement as her toaster slowly rotates in the microwave, sparking as it reacts to the metal and other components.
“WHAT THE FUCK?!” Akemi loudly exclaims as she darts to the microwave, shoving Avenger out of the way as she frantically turns it off before it explodes. She quickly opens the door and attempts to pull the toaster out with her bare hands, not really thinking about the fact it would be hot. Akemi picks it up and immediately burns her hands, causing her to chuck the toaster onto the floor out of reflex.
Enraged by the pain and the sheer idiocy of Avenger, she turns to him with a menacing scowl, her face bright red with anger.
“Stay the hell out of my goddamn kitchen!” She orders, pointing to the living room. Suddenly, she feels a dull ache on the top of her hand which causes her mark to painfully throb. Akemi then notices a light that emanates from her hand as Avenger then goes rigid.
Akemi watches in confusion as Avenger winces, his body robotically forcing him out of the kitchen, each movement seemingly performed against his will. Once past the threshold, his body goes limp as if someone had severed the strings that were initially controlling him.
“Looks like you just wasted a Command Seal, master,” Avenger informs her in a ridiculing tone.
Akemi is confused for a moment before remembering what he had told her, Command Seals being what binds them as master and servant, but also acts as a way to control him. An order he can’t disobey.
“What? But I didn’t mean to, I just wanted you out!” Akemi explains as she looks at her mark, a piece of it now faded.
“Doesn’t matter, the seals reacted, now your only down to two.” He informs her, his tone darker, seemingly annoyed that he had been moved against his will.
“You know what happens if you use them all up, right?” Avenger then asks her, Akemi stares at him as she feels this ominous energy start to surround her, it weighs heavily on her chest, making it difficult to breathe.
“If you use them up, you lose your authority over me,” He tells her as he starts to give a sinister smile.
“Then I am free to do whatever I want, to everyone, to you.” He threatens her.
Akemi watches him in horror, the feeling engulfing her. Her heart pounding rapidly in her chest and ringing in her ears as she starts to perspire.
Suddenly, the mood shifts as Avenger then stand more upright and gives her a cheery smile.
“I’m just teasing ya, master!” He chirps happily, his tone and mood taking a full 180 as the oppressive feeling Akemi had slowly started to pull away.
Akemi is dumbfounded, looking at Avenger in pure bewilderment as he pleasantly smiles at her.
“I’m starved! Hurry up and finish dinner, will ya!” He tells her as he holds his stomach before trotting off toward the TV to watch it while she completes the rest of dinner.
Akemi was still deeply shaken from all of that, hesitantly returning to dinner once Avenger was out of sight. She ponders on what had happened, is what he said was truly just one fucked up joke, or if he was serious about what he said. It was not knowing that terrified Akemi the most, the fact he very much could kill her if he desired, thinking back to how he said how he could, “reduce a human to a bloody smear”, and how the other servants are capable of much more.
It terrified her beyond belief and she struggles to figure out how she even has a chance in all this. She was not whatever The Director was, a mage, nor did she even have basic defense training. How the hell was she going to make it through this alive?
Akemi makes up two plates, trying not to dwell on this as she then carries them out to the living room. She looks over to see Avenger laying on his side, arm propped up on the floor and resting his cheek on his palm as he boredly watches TV. The ominous feeling she got from him was no longer there but it was still fresh in her mind, she tries not to focus on that as he approaches. Avenger perks up when he sees the food she had brought, eagerly reaching for a plate as she gives it to him, which he greedily accepts. Akemi then takes a seat on the couch as Avenger messily scarfs down his food. She watches, still dazed by the sudden shift in mood he had, one moment threatening her, now he was happily putting away dinner.
Avenger soon notices her staring, and pauses for a moment before giving a bright smile, cheeks stuffed with food and his mouth caked in it.
“ ‘Ish gud!” He praises, muffled by the amount of food in his mouth as he only adds more and more to his packed gob.
Akemi seriously did not know what to make of him, he was by far the strangest person she’s ever met. Taiga is a close second. Though whatever she thought of him, they were in this thing together so she best tries and gets used to the eccentric, tattooed, servant with no name. She had little choice in the matter after all.

[MaddestOfCap]

Here is chapter 4, it's a tad shorter than I would've liked but I got something big for the next chapter as you will soon find out. Enjoy!

CHAPTER 4 - TWO LONELY HEARTS

-

Despite being in this war, Akemi still had to attend work. She doubted her boss would accept the excuse of being in a war among a secret society of magic users, all to win a wish-granting cup. Speaking of which, she should probably keep that information to herself. On top of just coming off as pure crazy, she has no idea how many people are a part of this little secret society, and if one of them should happen to hear her running her mouth about this stuff, it's likely going to gain their attention. Additionally, Avenger had told her their main edge in this war is that no one is expecting another servant to be summoned.

Akemi takes her usual way to work, feeling rather fatigued than normal. It was likely due to what Avenger had explained prior, that he is using her, “mana” to sustain himself. That would certainly be a pain to deal with, she prays she doesn’t end up dozing off while working.

“Where are we going, Master?” Avengers's voice then draws Akemi away from her thoughts.

“Work,” Akemi tells him, “I can’t afford to call in another day.”

“Oh, so you got a job?” Avenger says as if he was surprised, “By the way you act and dress, I swore you were shut in.” He then teases.

“Uh-huh, haven't heard that one before.” Akemi sarcastically remarks, Avenger, chuckling in response.

“So where do you work at?” He then asks.

“A cafe.” Akemi answers, which seems to get Avenger’s attention.

“Oh, a cafe?” He feigns interest, “Is it a themed one, like the one where all the girls dress in maid costumes?”

“How the hell do you know about maid cafes yet almost microwaved a damn toaster?” Akemi asks, flabbergasted by his seemingly selective knowledge.

“Dunno, I guess the grail is just weird with the information it gives me.” Avenger shrugs.

“Anyway, no, it’s not a maid cafe or theme,” She tells him, “All of those are down by the seaside, it tends to be a hot spot for tourists.”

“Aw, how boring.” Avenger pouts.

“Though I guess it wouldn’t make sense for an establishment like that to hire a girl like you.” He then taunts her.

“Keep it up, and I’ll use one of those seals to have walk out into oncoming traffic.” Akemi threatens, earning a chuckle from her servant.

“Alright, let's lay out some ground roles for when I am working.” She then informs Avenger.

“For one, you can’t constantly try and talk to me,” Akemi explains, “I gotta pay attention to orders and you yapping in my ear will distract me.”

“Two, and for the love of God, don’t do anything.” She stresses, “No matter how bored you get, don’t touch anything or mess with the staff or patrons.”

Avenger acts offended that Akemi would even suggest he’d do such a thing as if her concern for him.

“Aw, master, don’t you trust me?” He asks, acting hurt by her lack of faith in him.

“Hell no,” Akemi says bluntly.

Eventually, they make it her place of work. Akemi looks up at the quaint building in dread, letting out a sigh, she then pushes the doors open for another grueling day of work.

-

Meanwhile, back at the hospital basement, The director’s body has been discovered. A burgundy-haired woman dressed in a wine-colored two-piece business suit complete with a violet tie regards the corpse. The Director had been regularly keeping in contact with the Mage Association, having been one of the key researchers in the effects the mud of the grail had on those contaminated by it. Most of his subjects had perished within a few days of the event, except two. The Association allowed him to continue his research with these two surviving subjects but he had to stay in constant contact with the Association, failure to do so will lead to his project being terminated out of safety precautions. When he had failed to contact the Association, they had sent one of their agents who happened to be a part of the war to check on him. Upon having no luck in finding him at his residence, they checked his place of research, the basement level of one of the local hospitals.

The woman kneels by the body, studying it to try and piece together what happened. The director’s body had been here for over a day by the state it was in, his heart had been removed but that didn’t appear to be his cause of death. No, the removal of his heart came after, the thing that caused his death was the large gash in his abdomen. The gashes were strange and jagged, having not been made by a traditional weapon. Furthermore, the force with which he’d be stabbed was nothing a human could be capable of.

That is when the woman glances toward the summoning circle on the ground nearby, it appears The Director was attempting to summon a servant, to somehow force his way into the holy grail war. After some looking she finds some of the Director’s research, detailing how he discovered an extra class that the Einzberns had attempted to use in the Third Holy Grail War in place of the Berserker class, which was a catastrophic failure. However, The Director claimed that he had improved upon where the Einzberns went wrong, theoretically, making it so the summoning was much more stable and did not need to replace the class of Berserker. The Director seemed rather proud of his work, believing he had found a loophole in joining the Holy Grail War.

The woman closes the dead man’s journal after concluding what had happened. Then suddenly, her unseen companion lets out a whistle as the blue-haired man materializes, looking down at the corpse.

“Looks like he's had a rough day at the office,” He comments as he turns his attention to the woman who gives him a look of disapproval.

“You know what killed him?” He then questions her.

“He wanted a way into the grail war, finding a loophole through an extra class called Avenger.” She explains, “I believe his attempts of summoning that servant went awry and cost him his life.” She hypnotizes.

“If that is true, we have the potential of a rogue servant roaming the city.” She suggests, her brows furrowing in a look of concern.

“If we are lucky, they have already expired due to lack of mana.” She states, “If not, they are out there, most likely preying on people.” She says grimly.

Her male companion then gives a battle-hungry grin.

“Ah, so it’s up to us to get rid of them?” He asks, the woman nodding.

“I will report my findings to the Association, they will need to know of this.” She voices.

“I should also look into the subjects he was studying, see if might they know something, they could potentially be a liability.” She admits as they both then prepare to leave after examining all they could.

-

Akemi starts making the long trudge home, carrying a paper bag of pastries that was originally going to be thrown out for the day. While taking food from work was prohibited, even food that was going to be thrown away, Akemi managed to convince her coworker in charge of discarding the unsold pastries to give it to her instead. And all it cost was 1000 yen.

“Hey, can I just take those?” Akemi had asked as they prepared to dump the goods.

“What? You know I can’t do that.” She informs Akemi.

“We’d both get into trouble if the boss found out.” The coworker reminded her.

“I’ll give ya 1000 yen.” She offers a rather low offer for that amount of pastries, especially due to the risk.

The coworker stares at the money for a moment, coming to a decision.

“Deal.” Her coworker agrees as Akemi exchanges the money for the baked goods and both bow respectfully to one another before parting ways.

“My, so your that desperate your buying trash now?” Avenger asks.

“Hey, if you don’t like it, I’ll just eat all this trash by myself,” Akemi informs.

“Hey, hey! Let's not get hasty now, I’m just joking!” He quickly changes his tune.

“Nope, you gonna complain, you ain’t getting any.” She tells him.

Avenger whines and tries to get her to reconsider before attempting to reach into the bag while still in his spectral form. Akemi quickly moves the bag away and swats at the air she believed him to be standing at.

“Wait till we get home!” Akemi sharply tells him, “Imagine what someone would think seeing a donut floating beside me.”

Akemi keeps preventing his attempts to get into the bag as they then approach the house. At this then Akemi notices a young foreign woman outside of her house, looking as though she had just arrived and was preparing to knock on the door. The woman looks back upon noticing Akemi's arrival, she is initially surprised for a moment before offering a friendly smile.

However, Akemi does not return the smile, looking at the strange woman with suspicion as she discreetly pulls the sleeve of her shirt down more to hide her command seals.

“Can I help you?” Akemi asks as she approaches her yard, walking up the stone path as she watches the woman carefully.

The woman was dressed in a rather official and proper suit, setting off alarms as she grows paranoid that she was a part of these Magi or an enemy master. To make matters worse, the woman wore gloves, concealing her hands so Akemi couldn’t tell if she had command seals or not.

“Yes, I am Bazett Fraga McRemitz,” She introduces herself, casually approaching Akemi with no obvious ill intent.

“I am an associate of the Director,” Bazett informs Akemi, only validating her suspicion.

“I’m sorry to inform you the Director is deceased,” Bazett tells her with genuine sympathy but Akemi had been tricked before by these people, and she couldn’t let her guard down.

“I understand that the two of you were close.” She then says before apologizing for Akemi’s loss.

“Do they know how he died?” Akemi asks, perhaps not showing enough grief as one should after hearing such news.

“They are still looking into it, that is all I know.” She tells Akemi before giving a rather stern and valiant expression.

“But rest assured, if we suspect any foul play is at hand, we will bring whoever is responsible to justice.” She promises Akemi, and much to her surprise, the woman sounded incredibly sincere.

Akemi starts to think maybe she’s overreacting a bit and there isn’t anything to worry about at all from this woman. Bazett then attempts to move away from this difficult topic, politely asking if she may come in, having things she wished to discuss with Akemi. Akemi hesitated a moment, her house wasn’t the neatest but also this woman might be plotting something. However, if Akemi refused, it might make her seem more suspicious. Swallowing her pride and deciding to take the risk, Akemi allowed the woman into her home.

“Uh, fair warning, my house is kinda a mess at the moment,” Akemi warns.

“That’s perfectly alright, I don’t mind,” Bazett tells her with a considered smile as she waits for Akemi to unlock the door.

Akemi takes a moment before opening the door to her house, allowing Bazett to go in first. Walking inside, Bazett gives Akemi a pleasant smile of gratitude as she walks past, only to stop and look on in shock at the actual state of Akemi’s living conditions. The smartly dressed woman was appalled, and her servant quietly makes some choice words to her about it. Not wanting to be rude, Bazett quickly masks her shock, attempting to replace it with a kindly smile but it was rather uneasy.

“Um… Make yourself at home?” Akemi tells her with uncertainty, gesturing toward the couch as Akemi then heads to the kitchen to put the bag of pastries down.

Bazett does her best to tiptoe around some of the discarded cans that littered the floor before awkwardly sitting on the couch. She glances around the modest living room, trying to look past all the trash and clutter as she then notices the framed photos that were hung up. Many were of Akemi when she was younger and others were of her mother. It caused Bazett to feel a great deal of pity for this young woman, she has been struggling, and the fact she was completely oblivious to the true nature of her “burns” and the Director’s true nature. Perhaps in a twisted way, the Director’s death was a blessing.

“Uh, do you want something to drink?” Akemi then awkwardly offers as she peers in from the kitchen, having never really entertained guests before.

“I got water and beer,” Akemi lists off, “Or I could make up some tea real quick.”

“No, thank you. I’m fine.” Bazett respectfully declines.

Akemi falls silent for a moment as she tries to think of what else she could offer.

“... Wanna donut?” Akemi asks gesturing at the bag on the counter behind her.

“No, I’m alright, thank you for the offer,” Bazett reassures her.

Akemi accepts that entering the living room and awkwardly joining Bazett on the couch.

“I want to discuss with you more about your relationship with the Director,” Bazett starts, “I come to understand that he was the one who supported you after The Fire?”

“Yeah, he helped pay all the medical bills, oversaw my rehabilitation, and even provided for me after I got better,” Akemi explains, her mind wandering back to before all of this but now knowing the truth soured those once fond memories.

Bazett noticed Akemi’s conflicted look and how she gripped her knees, only reinforcing that pity she had felt earlier.

“I’m sorry, this must be incredibly difficult for you.” Bazett comforts.

“It’s fine, I’m more concerned about my mother, to be honest,” Akemi admits, expressing her worry about her mother’s fate now that the Director is no longer able to pay for the hospital expenses.

“I understand, I will do my best to ensure your mother still receives the care she needs,” Bazett promises Akemi.

Akemi didn’t know whether she should be worried about that or not. If this woman was a mage, that might put her mother in more danger than she already was. However, she did not detect any sort of deceit from the woman. Despite having been tricked before and her better judgment telling her not to, she felt as though she could trust this woman. The woman seemed to genuinely care, regardless of having no connection whatsoever to Akemi and her mother.

Akemi finally manages to give a sheepish smile.

“Thank you… That means a lot.” Akemi softly expresses her gratitude.

“It’s no problem at all.” Bazett then smiles, seemingly happy she managed to provide the woman some shred of comfort.

The two continue their discussion, mainly focused on her connection to the Director before the two start to stray off-topic and begin to talk about unrelated things. I turned to Akemi suggesting good restaurants, bars, and cafes Bazett could try, seeing how she’s new to town.

“What about the restaurants by the seaside?” Bazett asks curiously.

“Hell no, don’t ever go to those places, it's a tourist trap,” Akemi quickly informs her.

“It’s full of overpriced, low-quality food, and relies on gimmicks to draw people in,” Akemi tells her.

Bazett listens carefully to Akemi’s suggestions, making a mental note to stay clear of that part of town as Akemi goes on a rant about the establishments there.

Eventually, Bazett realizes she has most likely outstayed her welcome. Akemi follows her lead as she gets up, smoothing out her suit. Akemi walks with her to the door, Bazett thanks her for all her time and apologizes for any inconvenience she might’ve caused.

“Nah, it’s no trouble at all.” Akemi manages to give a friendly smile.

“Well I best be leaving, it was nice talking with you, Ms. Nakamura,” Bazett tells her politely as she then extends her hand to shake.

Akemi accepts, taking the woman’s gloved hand and giving it a limp but well-meaning shake.

However, as soon as Akemi’s hand made contact with Bazett’s, Bazett feels an awful wave of dark, oppressive, energy hit her. Akemi doesn’t notice as Bazett tries to hide her overwhelmed reaction. Bazett then looks down at Akemi’s hand, and that is when she finally spies her command seals. Bazett is shocked and confused by this, she hadn’t detected a servant’s energy signature throughout the whole time she was there. Besides that, she couldn't even barely sense Akemi’s mana signature as well.

Something wasn’t adding up, how has Akemi come to be in the procession of those Command Seals? Let alone able to even support a servant. Bazett couldn't fathom Akemi having anything to do with the Director's death and did not think Akemi had any knowledge of what is going on.

Bazett concludes that Avenger is using Akemi as a temporary battery, leeching off what little energy the poor woman could provide before moving on once she's all tapped out.

Bidding Akemi farewell, Bazett takes her to leave. As she starts to make her way down the stone path, Bazett quietly converses with her servant.

“Did you sense that just now?” She asks Lancer.

“Yep, that’s some powerful curse energy.” The man comments.

“Do you think you can take them?” Bazett asks.

“Of course, it’ll be a breeze!” The man boasts, “But what of the girl?”

“Leave her be, I don’t believe she is a threat,” Bazett informs him.

“I think she isn’t aware of what’s even going on,” She voices her theory, “Avenger is using her to stay anchored to this world.”

“Ah, the classic, "Save The Damsel In Distress" story, very heroic, I like it!” He jokes.

“Just be careful,” She warns him, “Don’t drag it out, and ensure Avenger doesn’t try to harm the woman,”

“I got it, got it,” He tells her, “I’ll make it quick and won’t let the little lady get in harm's way. Easy.”

With that, Bazett walks on but remained within the area to offer aid should her servant require it. Normally, Bazett would fight alongside her servant, focusing on the enemy master while he dealt with the servant. Though since she was certain Akemi was no threat, all that needed to be done was for her servant to take out Avenger. After the unsanctioned servant is disposed of, she’ll use a memory rune to have Akemi forget this ever happened and the poor woman can go back to life as usual.

I hope you all like the appearance of Bazett. She's a favorite character of mine and due to her connection to Angra Mainyu, it only seemed right to give her a more prominent role.