Hotel Diego de Almagro, Molina 76, Valparaíso
Sheer cold (-42°C/-43.6°F)
(BGM)Character Status
“Alicia Drake…is dead…?”
Still seated in the lonely hotel restaurant, Assassin—I still can’t remember her actual name without a tinge of headache—gets us caught up on what happened while we were underground.
It gets even colder. It is like being turned upside down, again and again. Like lead in the mind: smothering, numbing, just heavy. The crushing feeling that reality, that this world, is simply stronger than you.
This is the terrible weight of failure. Will I ever leave that behind me? Is it even possible?
“Well, no, that’s not quite what I said.”
“Rider destroyed the Drakes’ house with his saucer. We all assume she was still resting inside, and there’s no trace of her. It makes sense to assume the worst in this situation, but I’m the type who doesn’t declare death without a body.”
She chuckles for whatever reason.
“I guess I’ve become an optimist or something.”
Yeah, it’s nice to be optimistic and all, but this is way bigger than my frustration or Assassin’s positivism.
“Fuck, that guy must be devastated.” My hands raise naturally to hold my face. I don’t know a lot about Oliver Drake, but there’s no denying that man really loves his wife.
Assassin’s smile softens.
“Yeah.” She nods. “Oliver tried to look for her, but without those lanterns of his, he cannot stay long outside in this cold. Hell, Marco had to knock him out so he wouldn’t freeze to death digging through the rubble.”
Her round face is now marred by a frown.
“Maria wasn’t happy ‘bout it either. Can’t blame her; she basically left the woman behind.” She shrugs. “Well, Rider’s dead and gone, so there’s no point in thinking about that.”
“Fuck,” I utter behind my hands. “And Sakura’s still missing.”
“Yeah.”
Nomikata, who has watched and listened with his severe stare that makes me think he is out to get me, finally adds his voice to the discussion.
“I’d like to get back down there and look for her, but I guess it’s not that easy, huh.”
Assassin makes a vague gesture.
“I could take you to any of the access points, but, you know, they’re all monitored. If they have her, you’d have to fight your way through to the cells. Not really up to that plan if you ask me.”
“Yes, yes.” He chuckles. “I know my limits.”
For that, he gets an odd stare from Assassin. I’m fairly sure it’s at least a little similar to my own.
“I also want to find Sakura, but it’s hard to think of how to do that without even the slightest idea.” What should have been a groan becomes a long exhalation. God, I sound tired. “Fuck, the more I think about it, the more I worry about’er.”
For those words, I get Nomikata’s undivided stare. What, did I say something weird?
“Anyway.” Assassin slaps her exposed thighs before rising to her feet. “Wanted to get you guys up to date before we go meet those guys. Going out there is shit right now, but we can’t afford to stay and wait for the enemy. Toca bailar con el feo; let’s get moving.”
We stand up like the remaining soldiers out to make their last stand. Nobody could ever look forward to setting foot out there.
“So, this one’s coming with us,” brings up Nomikata, vaguely pointing at the smiling figure behind us.
“Hi, I’m ‘this one’.”
Isn’t this person a little too easygoing?
“Well, yeah,” Assassin replies. “You’re not with the Nazis, right Caster?”
“Not really.”
“Well there you go. I’m not gonna leave her to get killed—fuck it’s cold out here!”
It is stupidly cold. Without whatever magics The Maid pulled off inside, we are fully exposed to this morning’s (it’s morning, right?) awful weather. Snow descends gracefully like something out of a Christmas snow globe, until the picturesque scene is stirred by a blast of mind-freezing wind. Nomikata and I are dressed for the occasion, but damn. My first thought is to go magic right away, but I should be more thoughtful. My gas tank is not limitless.
By the way, it seems Caster is a woman after all?
Assassin stands at the vanguard, of course, while Caster follows a few steps behind. I quickly notice the already familiar sight of wandering zombies. Naturally, I am not the only one.
“Well, yeah, gotta get my familiars out there; I’m pretty useless without ‘em,” admits the twintailed Servant when Caster brings up the matter. “And we need an eye on New Asgard’s access points. If they make a move, I’ll know. More importantly, Caster: you think you can pull off a story?”
“Oh, you want me to write about you?” Caster’s not very feminine voice gains a sort of musical quality, as her (?) mood seems to improve even further. “Yes, yes, that should be possible. But I already used my Noble Phantasm earlier this morning, so I have to be more frugal with my magical energy for a while.”
(BGM)
This makes both Assassin and Nomikata twist their necks at the woman (?) placidly smiling behind her veil.
“What the fuck are you plotting…the homunculus bitch! The hell did you do with her!?”
Assassin’s words are aggressive, but I do not sense any real hostility from her. She is scolding Caster, rather than threatening her. Hell, if anything I’m more wary of Nomikata—he is the one who looks like he’s about to choke a bitch. Been for a while if you ask me.
A warm pulse resonates in my body—the flame beckons and reassures. If things go downhill, I only need to rely on it; that is what its warmth tells me.
“My sweet Liria, you are not the only one trying her best,” Caster says. “Leave Senta to tread the path she has chosen. Who knows? We may too reap bounty from her heartfelt efforts.”
After a moment of silent tension—it feels like everybody is waiting for everybody else to make the wrong move—, Liria seems to relax her stance and sigh with exaggeration.
“It’s always like this with you, isn’t it? Keeping that ‘oh, I’m so weak’ act while plotting when nobody’s looking.”
Caster rests her right elbow on her opposite hand, while bringing her hand to her pursed lips.
“Liria, dear, you know this very well: being weak does not spare anybody from the burden of struggle. I, too, must fight in the ways I know and can.”
“And what do you fight for?” Nomikata anticipates Assassin, to the point the blonde girl half-glares at the man for his gall. However, that is a question Caster already answered, precisely while Nomikata was unconscious.
“For what I believe is right, of course.”
Assassin sighs and shakes her head, perhaps concluding that there is no point on dwelling on this any further. Weird as it may be, I do hope Senta is safe wherever she is.
(BGM)
“Ahh, whatever. So the girl for a story. How about…?”
“Oh? No, no, I have not seen enough of these two gentlemen to build anything with them.”
This strange exchange of words happens as we slowly trudge our way through narrow streets, avoided the wide, open and shattered Errázuriz. Nomikata listens attentively; perhaps he makes more sense of it than I do.
“Huh. Alright then.”
Before we can resume our trudging march, Assassin’s eyes turn westward beyond the height of Concepción Hill. According to Assassin’s testimony, the Lily from my childhood sacrificed herself to save her from a rampaging Herald. The scarred Servant fled to the west, in the direction of Sotomayor Square. Maria declared right then and there that she was going to help the Herald she feels indebted to. On the other hand, if the Herald has gone feral, can we really make her an ally?
“Javier, you think it’s a good idea to let those two go together?”
Why the hell are you asking me that?
“Do I look like I could stop either of them? More importantly, is anybody going to explain anything to me?”
Nomikata snorts. Alright, that’s it, that guy obviously has a problem with me. Assassin merely chuckles at my inquiry.
“This from the guy pretending we’re just supposed to smile and nod when he pulls out divine flame.”
I don’t even get to ask Assassin why she even knows about that. The rumbling from the west renders our bodies still and our voices muted.
It has begun.
*** ***
Quest Master’s Words: I apologize. This update was supposed to include more scenes, but I just didn’t find it in myself to make the time to write this week. On the other hand, it gives me the chance to gauge what you guys want to see, now that we’ve reached the point the story in which even my vision of the story’s future becomes fuzzier and I too am wondering in which shape the pieces will assemble themselves before the endgame.
So, who should we take a look at next?
- Stick to Javier and Company.
- Maria.
- Senta.
- Write-in.
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Originally Posted by Arashi_Leonhart
