Continuing...
Assassin entered the hotel lobby, taking in the scenery. The bar, clearly building’s the main attraction, was the first thing to catch any visitor’s eye the moment they walked in the door. The hostess’ eyes passed right over Assassin as if she weren’t even there. Even with her Presence Concealment at such a low rank, getting to the heart of this place would be easy. Finding the manager’s office was child’s play.
As she reached for the doorknob, a voice came from inside, “Come in.”
Not as if Assassin had a choice; the door opened of its own accord to reveal a well-furnished office. The room’s sole occupant, a curvy brunette, was clearly a Servant, judging by the way her eyes locked with Assassin’s, cutting right through her stealth.
“I trust you had no trouble getting here, Madame de Valois?”
“It’s
Comtesse, actually.” Assassin replied curtly, slightly unnerved how the woman had immediately discerned her identity despite the fact that she was in plainclothes. The use of her maiden name, the one she was better known by, left out any possible doubt of her situation. “I must say, I find your security to be lacking. I am by no means the best Assassin out there.”
The brunette replied in the same cheerful, easygoing tone, “You were able to reach this office because I allowed you to. I assure you, if you meant me harm, you would still be in the lobby, if you had managed to live that long. Please, sit.”
As Jeanne de Valois took the offered chair, the woman continued, “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Leonardo da Vinci, and I am the manager of this fine establishment.”
Assassin’s life at court allowed her to contain her surprise. “Ah, I knew there must have been something magical behind this place’s success. Barely open a couple weeks and you’ve already carved a place for yourself as one of the best hotels in Los Angeles. Now it all makes sense why nobody has questioned it. Being a manager suits you, I see.”
Da Vinci nodded at the compliment. “Built and designed it myself. I was inspired by a curious film called Inception, have you seen it? Ah, but I didn’t invite you here for idle chit-chat. I have a job for you. A quest, if you will.”
A monitor on the wall lit up to show an aerial view of the Great Pyramid of Giza- rising up into the air. Jeanne gasped as the stone on the outermost layer formed into an army of golems and sphinxes. A moment later they engaged another army pouring out of a flying fortress. Hundreds of spells, lightning bolts and beams of light arced across the battlefield.
“This is footage of a Holy Grail War currently raging in Cairo, Egypt,” Da Vinci explained. “It seems all the Servants summoned were the builders of the Wonders of the Ancient World, and the Pharaoh Khufu has taken the most expedient route to manifesting his. His opponents are the remaining Servants: Semiramis of Assyria, Chares of Lindos and Phidias of Athens.”
The Hanging Gardens, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Statue of Zeus. “You expect me to jump into the middle of that madness!?” Jeanne asked, incredulously.
“Heavens, no!” Da Vinci chuckled. “What we should be concerned about is the first casualty of this War, or rather, lack thereof.”
Noticing Assassin’s frown, Da Vinci sighed and brought up a photo of another instantly recognizable buidling: the Temple of Artemis. “Whomever built this great Temple was allegedly the first to perish, thanks to Semiramis’ quick construction of her Gardens. Do you know why I refer to him or her as “whomever” and not by their true name?”
Assassin’s Grail-granted history knowledge provided the answer. “Because there was no one architect of the Temple of Artemis. There were builders who renovated and repaired it, but the legends say it was originally built by a nameless tribe of Amazons.”
“Correct. Yet no Amazon was summoned. And if they survived their first battle, why has the Temple not been built, and why have they not shown themselves? My theory is that that particular Grail, perhaps deficient or defective, searched for the Temple’s original builder and came up empty, so it picked the next best thing. My surveillance has clearly seen this missing Servant but for some reason neither I nor my familiars can recall anything about them.”
As the pieces clicked into place in Assassin’s head, Da Vinci dropped the million dollar question, “So who is the most famous person associated with the Temple of Artemis that nobody knows about? Quite a paradox, no? Judging from the look one your face, you know of whom I speak, but are unable to name them, like it’s on the tip of your tongue.”
Assassin nodded. “My mission is to hunt down the arsonist, then.”
“
Correcto. Since he is quite hard to find, you will lie in wait for him at his likely target, just outside the perimeter of this ‘War of the Wonders’. You are free to use any methods necessary to apprehend or eliminate your mark. Now let’s discuss your payment.”
//
After hashing out the details, Assassin left. I didn’t really pay attention to that part, because I was impatient to have my own conversation with my Caster. I opened the telepathic channel.
“It’s ‘
corretta’.”
“Whatever do you mean, Master?” Caster replied innocently.
“You spoke Spanish. Da Vinci was Italian. You’re slipping! Dammit, it’s as if you want to get found out!” I said, trying my best to convey my gritted teeth and frustrated tone without her actually seeing my facial expression. ”This is the third Servant you’ve hired this week, and every time you let these inconsistencies pile up!”
“I take it you don’t like the name of the hotel.”
”Damn straight I don’t like it! You think you’re being clever, referencing that DiCaprio movie? All you’ve accomplished is literally putting your true name in giant red letters above our base! And that’s just for starters! Speaking the wrong language? Your incorrect usage of ‘whomever’? You can’t keep inviting Servants, specifically those who specialize in espionage and infiltration, into your inner sanctum if you can’t play your part properly!”
“I picked the name because I was flattered by the film’s tip of the hat, that’s all. To everyone else, it’s just a pretty Italian word. No one has noticed, and no one will.”
All my complaints were being ignored; there was little ground to be gained when arguing with a genius. I sighed, and my eyes flicked over to the small open box that held my catalyst. A chip of paint, barely the size of my fingernail, broken off of the Mona Lisa itself in the days before it sat safely behind bulletproof glass. How had it come to this?
“What are you doing, Caster? Why in hell would you start a War and then send in spies to unwind your own conspiracy!?”
“Oh, so you figured that out? Yes, I suppose it’s obvious the only way I could get surveillance from Cairo is if one of me were there? Yes, Master, I fully admit it, one of me is in the Hanging Gardens as we speak, posing as Semiramis’ Master. How were three Wonders were built so quickly? Because Semiramis just happened to be summoned by a Master with extraordinary skill in architecture, and because of that great advantage, she never questioned it; she eagerly took the power that would allow her to win.”
“And now Cairo is being torn apart, for what? You brought together some of the most powerful Servants as a diversion, for what, exactly?”
“To tell you the truth, I haven’t decided yet.” Caster answered immediately.
“...What?!”
“I’m bored, Master. Do you know what it’s like to have the mind of the great Leonardo da Vinci at your disposal and no idea what to do with it? So I play these games. I pit Servants against each other. I add more variables. I bring more danger and risk and ruin upon myself and I have not yet reached my limit.”
“That’s all? You’re just setting yourself up to fail?”
“Limitations foster creativity. Tell an artist to paint anything, and he may struggle, but tell him to create something specific, in a set amount of time, for a certain audience, and these constraints might well push him to produce something he might never have come up with on his own. We grow and evolve by testing ourselves. That’s my personal philosophy.”
More art metaphors. She really is drinking her own Kool-Aid. “No, that’s suicide. Having Da Vinci’s power does not make you the same as him. Deep down you’re still a con man who lucked upon the ability to fight six battles at once.”
“Which means everything must be six times more challenging! Fighting a Grail War in Cairo. Managing this hotel without bothering to conceal myself. Infiltrating the Mage’s Association. Playing the stock market. Perhaps I’ll send one of me up to Toronto and see what all the fuss is about there. I’m doing these things all at once and not even breaking a sweat! You cannot give a man the power of a god and expect him to be satisfied or concerned with the affairs of mere mortals!”
“Clearly I can’t expect him to hold on to his sanity either! All these webs you’re weaving will break and tangle you up in them until you suffocate! I’m putting an end to this now!” I began channeling power into my Command Seals.
“Then it appears I have a challenge for my sixth self to overcome.” I jumped as Caster strode into my room, the same easy smile on her gorgeous face.
“And what… is... that...?” Dammit, my reaction was slow. Her looks had never affected me like this, she must have been using some kind of charm spell…
“Surviving without a Master.”
Originally Posted by Bird of Hermes
