It was certainly an odd sight, to see two teens and a grown woman walking up a paved road-like path in the dead night a small distance away from a flaming forest. It was even MORE odder that they were being followed after by two individuals in strangely gaudy sets of armour that looked to be a mixture of both old and modern walking side by side as if that simple gesture was of immense significance.
The crickets had long gone silent, either burnt to death, crushed under the massive feet of a raging Berserker. The lucky few that survived were those that had retreated when the chaos wrought by the humans had begun.
Aston had forgone wearing his helmet, intent on enjoying the gentle breeze against his skin and walked with a barely noticeable excitement in his steps, masked by the clanging of his metal sabatons. The Knight of Atrocity accompanied his King with a gentle smile on his face, "Quite the wondrous night is it not, My Ki-"
"A..Artoria." His King cut him off at the end, looking down at the road with a small embarrassed blush on her face, "Artoria.. will do. You no longer wish to be below me, is that not so?" It was a small gesture but it was a start, a step she'd worked up the courage to take.
"Then.." Aston inhaled deeply, "Artoria, I would still answer to you as a knight." That was a pact of honour, to be obeyed as a knight, though he supposed it wouldn't.. couldn't stay that way for too long.
Ignoring Artoria's small embarrassed smile, he looked up in thought for a moment before searching for something in his armour. Finding said something, the Lancer took it out, revealing it to be a small prettily adorned bag that immediately made Artoria raise her head and sniff the air, as if alarmed.
No sooner than he'd opened his mouth was the bag already gone, "I tried making something this age calls coo-" When he noticed what had occurred, Aston only smiled, "Oh."
Artoria carefully reached inside, pulling out a small biscuit that she eyed for a few seconds as the odd strand of hair sticking out her head swayed as if excited. When she bit into it, her green eyes shone for a second before the King of Legend chose to ignore everything in her immediate vicinity.
"I must say, this is a sight to die for." Aston nodded with crossed arms, proud of himself for honing his craft throughout his life but then closed his eyes and put a hand to his chin, "My treasured temporary ally, I do believe that you couldn't possible be so terrible with those female that you have to resort to spying on us. If that is the case, I do truly pity you."
Archer appeared by his side, a small annoyed smirk on his face, "Bazett is right, you do have a thing for being politely aggressive and no, I'm not, spying, on you." He was simply gauging what was so different about him and the grey haired knight that accomplished what he could not.
Aston narrowed his eyes and gestured to their surroundings, "The circumstances beg to differ." His tone was as gentle and polite as ever.
"No, no they do not. I was simply keeping an eye out." Archer defended himself disinterestedly, his gaze more fixed on the auburn haired boy being chewed out by his Master who also seemed to be briefing him on the situation, intent on not discussing the appearance of Berserker and his master with the, to be truthful, strangers.
"An eye out for how to not be an awkward and nervous wreck?" Aston questioned, choosing to relish the situation that had presented itself.
Archer stared at him estranged, "I reaffirm, I am not awkward OR nervous. Do I even remotely look as such?" He gestured to himself with both hands, going so far as to tilt his head to convey his confusion about the situation. What part of him gave that feeling?
"I don't quite have any sort of confirmation, do you wish to bet?" Aston looked right back at him, exuding confidence that Archer felt shouldn't have been there.
Archer just shook his head in denial, not even slightly interested in the, bet, as the Lancer put it.
That was until,
"I didn't realise you were so in touch with your feminine side, my apologies."
In plain words, he got called a pussy.
"Alright." Archer sighed, how bad could it be? "You know what? I'm in, what's the bet?"
"My temporary ally, we are in the middle of a war. Do you truly believe we have the time for bets?" Aston smiled gently, peering off to the side and whistling.
"But you were the one wh-"
"What? My K- Artoria, did you hear anything?"
"..Hm?"
"....." Left speechless, Archer dissipated back to his spiritual form, no longer even slightly interested in entertaining the Lancer and his way with words.
"That aside.." Aston closed his eyes in thought, thinking back to his younger days, "Have we perchance, met before?"
Archer, being an Archer, noticed the sudden shift in Aston's tone of speech. That and the knight seemed to be clenching his fist, "I don't think so, no."
"Truly? I could've sworn.." He shrugged, letting the matter go before picking it right back up, "Are you certain you don't remember trying to murder a red haired man in his early twenties?" The way of fighting, the manner of speech, and the calculative gaze, Aston felt it quite familiar.
Archer was grateful to himself for changing to a spiritual form; otherwise, the grey haired Lancer would have surely noted his eyes widening ever so slightly, "....No."
How could he have not noticed?
No, the lightning had been of a different colour, the hair was red and the height was far smaller, "Damn my luck." It just had to be a man he'd previously tried to murder, tasked by the collective subconscious of humanity to purge an unnecessary deviation from the original course of history.
"Sir Aston, I notice your speed is far greater than during your lifetime." Artoria spoke up, glancing his way with a biscuit held close to her lips. It was significant speed, perhaps surpassing sound itself BUT not as much as what he'd shown now. Wasn't the seeing darkness supposed to be a sort of metaphor for great agility?
"Ahaha..." Aston laughed awkwardly before pursing his lips, "It must be born of my legend."
He cut a deal and gave it up.
So long as his timeline wasn't pruned, he wouldn't start going all over the place and putting things where they weren't supposed to be, ruining history completely in the process.
Essentially, it was threatening to kill a LOT more to stop less death. THAT and giving up most of his speed as affirmation of the contract.
Aston didn't regret his choice one bit, if he didn't take the deal, his entire world would be destroyed only to get rid of him.
Archer thought about the matter in complete silence, following behind the two servants with a slight stutter in his movement.
THIS was the Lancer's actual speed and as a servant from the throne of heroes isolated from space time, there were virtually infinite versions of him all across the infinite timelines MEANING threatening him meant threatening someone who could possibly surpass the speed of light and crash into the planet.
Being of a more modern origin, he knew full well that for a body to move at light speed would make it's mass infinite thereby making the energy it needs to move infinite as well. If it WAS moving at that speed then scientifically, it DID have infinite energy.
News alert, that was MORE than enough to break through the laws that bound their world and scorch the planet.
In that one moment, the honourable knight that had given his life for the people appeared more like a threat to their continued existence to the Archer servant.
Meanwhile, Aston wondered what had made the Archer go completely silent all of a sudden. He narrowed his eyes in thought, he did feel familiar even if the man denied it but, as the situation would have it he didn't get the time to ponder as Bazett kicked the metal gates to the Church compound, blowing them into the air, all mangled and twisted.
They flew under the night sky before crashing into the walls of the majestically built Church, bringing them down in an explosion of dust and concrete.
"A..All that money came from the Tohsaka treasury." Rin stuttered, slack jawed at the perhaps the millions the foreign magus had thrown to the wind in a fraction of a second. Of course she, being a genius and all, noted that Bazett might outclass her as a magus, "It's all on Kirei." It was the priest's fault.
Shirou Emiya only watched with curious eyes, slightly awed by the prowess a well-established magus could possess, "..Couldn't you be a little less... destructive?" He was cut off when Artoria appeared in front of him and swung the invisible Excalibur, slicing in half the short sword aimed right at the teen's face.
"So, I researched." Aston spoke as he walked, his helmet appearing over his face, "It appears the populace shares a general belief that priests do have children in their basements."
"It appears even heroes of legend aren't exempt from petty emotions like spite."
"I do swear I came for the children." Aston's smile faded away, such a horrible and cruel thing couldn't be allowed to continue, not if he knew about it.
Archer retreated to the rooftop, keeping an eye on their surroundings, if they attacked Kirei, a certain King in Gold would surely take interest in the situation.
* * *
How would YOU go about romancing Caenis?
* * *
You can find +7 chapters ahead at patre0n.com/Bleap and support me as well.
All filled now. (<- What was hindering my updates till now)
Unlike their previous encounter or perhaps exactly like it, Aston wasted no time in appearing right next to Kirei and smashing his armoured fist into the sadistic priest's chin.
An action that would have thrown the man into the air did he not actually succeed in reacting to the sudden attack, tilting his upper body backwards to avoid it entirely leaving his assailant a bit awed at his physical prowess.
"I see the flexibility in your taste extends to your physical body as well."
Aston drew his spear and swung upwards, meeting Kirei's elbow at a much faster speed than before.
"Hm."
The priest wasn't so lucky this time and the exchange ended with his arm being separated from his body, spraying fresh red blood everywhere as it flew through the air.
Of course the pain couldn't even make the trained Executor so much flinch, Kirei only jumped back to one of the front rows of pews arranged in the Church he'd called home for nearly a decade, "It appears that... the prowess of a knight is not to be underestimated at all." He spoke between troubled breaths, "I must say, you did a bit of a number in our last meeting."
The Lancer had shattered his ribs in such a manner that they were more like scattered dust inside him. The fact that Kirei could even stand up and face Aston as he was doing at the moment was a testament to his prowess as a magu- Executor.
"I must say, you tried to plop off my Master's arm in our last meeting." Aston repeated his own words, looking around as if trying to notice something, "Basement, you'll find what I was referring to there my Master." He addressed the audience he'd gathered with a small smile.
"What makes you certain a deathly trap doesn't await them down there?"
"There's about three servants all temporarily allied here, I do believe such worries would be unfounded." Aston nodded sagely, approaching the blank faced Kirei with slow, heavy steps accented by the dead silence of the night.
Kirei couldn't help the smile that crept it's way onto his face as he reached inside his black trench coat, pulling out three black keys held in the one hand that he had left, "Knights can be quite brutal." He wasn't naive enough to think the Lancer had taken off the arm with command seals without intending to do just that.
"I personally think this is more fortunate than losing to my Master in single combat." Aston shrugged, raising his hands to the sides ever so slightly.
It was the objective truth, the reject of a priest he faced now was substantially weaker than Bazett from what he'd seen so far from the two. Granted the man did manage to sneak in an attack that would have left her on death's door had Aston not intervened so he might be the superior in a battle of wits.
They exchanged no further words, at least Kirei didn't say anything further. He didn't exactly have the habit of conversing in a battle of life and death.
And the results,
Well, they were exactly what one would expect from such a match up.
Kirei had lost an arm and with it, access to the command seals that could, even if temporarily, boost his physical prowess significantly. He did not possess the element of surprise or even a secret weapon that could help him. The icing on the metaphorical shit cake was that his style of combat wasn't even suited for specialised individuals like Aston.
And so, not a moment after he'd moved, an entire side of the Church was blown away by a massive shockwave erupting from within, tearing him up in such a way that nothing but an unrecognisable bloody spray of guts and entrails was all that remained.
Aston simply stood in his original position, staring at the destruction with dull but solemn blue eyes. All he'd done was use but a fraction of his speed and swung his fist at the man.
"People really do tend to underestimate how powerful speed can be."
"'People' don't expect a man to swing nearly a hundred times faster than the speed of sound."
Archer sighed, leaning against what remained of the Church's walls with his arms crossed and eyes closed. This Lancer really was going to be a problem later down the line.
His gaze landed on the bloody mess around them, "A war huh?" He could see where the title came from and was reminded of just how brutal Grail Wars could be if allowed to.
"Indeed, my ally." Aston nodded down at him, appearing right in front of him without making the slightest of sounds. Wars were always like this, they were missing a lot of pained screaming and traumatised young men that had rode along for the glory but hey, the brutality part was accounted for, somewhat.
Archer opened his eyes, smirking, "Are you sure this isn't true for only the wars you're participating in? I think a barbarian maniac can do more grace than this." He was testing if the Knight could take insults thrown back at him.
"I think the one who attacks children and innocents is more of a maniac than someone who likes to be thorough." Aston answered politely, smiling at his grey haired companion before returning to his watch. He wanted to fight that Golden haired young man but at the same time, it would bring more trouble than it was worth.
Aston's reply only served to make Archer's smirk wider, "Look at the pot calling the kettle black." He knew of Aston's legend and as such, of the few that the knight had put to the torch to save the many.
"We all possess our quirks." The Knight of Atrocity shrugged again, not intending to deny the accusation.
But then he straightened up abruptly and walked away, Aston wouldn't be fighting the unidentified servant here, not when it could put both his Master and Artoria in danger. This Archer servant besides him was feeling way too familiar for him to think it was a coincidence, he didn't trust him to protect the two.
* * *
Bazett walked with her face paler than usual, even if she tried her best to maintain her usual professionalism, "I really... Kirei." She'd never expected him to do something like.. Like locking up orphans in his basement and using them as mana batteries!
He was an insane monster.
Bazett Fraga McRemitz learned, once again, the harsh truth that people weren't always what they seemed to be.
She could recite word for word the laws he'd broken with his actions but that didn't really matter anymore. The grey haired Lancer following her right now had already cut him down.
Bazett felt it was fortunate she'd been at the forefront going down into the basement and managed to stop the two teenagers following her from seeing the horrific 'less than dead' state the poor children had been in.
As an Enforcer, she was used to such sights but Bazett didn't want two young teenagers to suffer through the same thing she did. They didn't deserve it and she couldn't bring herself to let them through.
It was the right decision to simply scorch the basement entirely.
That was what Aston had been saying for a while through their connection, perhaps wanting to make her feel less bad about the sudden revelation that someone she believed a friend had done something so downright horrid.
"Kirei huh.." Rin bit her lower lip, walking a small distance behind Bazett, "For so long,.." In her territory, someone had used helpless children as mana batteries for years. It pained her that she'd never investigated the matter more thoroughly.
Shirou Emiya, was faced with a different sort of situation entirely, "You killed him." He muttered to himself, ignoring the ridiculing gaze of the invisible Archer. It felt strange but it wasn't like he didn't deserve it, "..." At the same time, that didn't exempt the heroes of legend from being murderers for killing him.
"I feel like we are to somehow say something that magically resolves the dilemma here." Aston rubbed his chin, having changed into a simple form fitting black shirt and grey trousers a moment earlier.
"I am of the belief this will make them stronger in the end." Or it could break them but Artoria doubted that possibility, they were magi were they not?
That said, they had a problem of their own.
Technically, as the situation would have it, they were supposed to be enemies?
"Shirou Emiya, My Master, what do the two of you say to an actual alliance?" Aston asked what was on his mind.
Rin Tohsaka's confidence wavered, "Wait a second, what?" They were going to have to face two servants if things went in the direction they seemed to be going in.
That and, the Lancer was a little TOO confident discussing such a thing in front of her.
Surprisingly however, "No." Bazett declined the proposition, perhaps affected by the recent turn of events or simply tired of having to carry an ignorant person on her back. Whatever it was, she was DONE for the day.
"Secret scandal time?"
"S-Scandal.." Artoria needed some time to get used to Aston being so blunt with her.
* * *
You can find +7 chapters ahead at patre0n.com/Bleap and support me as well.
All filled now. (<- What was hindering my updates till now)
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