With no hesitation at all Ryujin quickly shot out that silver string and Gudako watched is it pierced clean through the ceiling above them before quickly cutting out a section and reducing it into dust. She leapt up through the hole to the floor above as Gudako looked back at Cu who just nodded at her,
"I'll be fine. Go!"
Running out into the hallway as the sounds of fighting echoed from above her, she made her way to the stairs, ran up them two at a time, and skidded around the corner in time to see a woman in white robes seemingly vanish into the lingering smoke as Ryujin quickly dispelled her string before blue mana pulsed off of her. Gudako's mouth fell open as she watched two pairs of swords -one short, one long- materialize on either hip while at the same time she sensed that something about the Servant had changed. She quickly checked their contract and she was stunned to see that she had turned herself into a Saber servant while maintaining her Ruler status. Her attention was drawn back as the Ruler-turned-Saber drew both long blades out of their sheathes then went completely still,
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING RULER!?!? FIGHT!!! FIND ASSASSIN AND KI-"
Gudako's eyes locked onto Olga to see she was huddled in the corner in the back of the hallway before her eyes went back to Ryujin who was maintaining her stillness. Her eyes narrowed at her servant and she was about to call out to her when,
(| Wait for it. |)
Pausing, she decided to trust her servant. A few seconds later she saw a shimmer in the air above Olga as Assassin reappeared and silently fell knife first towards her neck. Gudako opened her mouth to yell only for a sphere of silver white strings to materialize around Olga which caught the incoming blade, yanked the woman to the side, while seeming to draw in the womans arm at the same time, except she materialized another knife and cut her arm off at the shoulder before moving away quickly. Gudako watched as the strings turned the servants severed arm into mincemeat while at the same time Ryujin adjusted her blades, holding both hilts under her arms with the blades angled up, and then leaned forward into a runners stance.
Watching as that blue mana pulsed off of the Ruler-turned-Saber Servant again before she suddenly dashed forward, landed three times, and then vanished into thin air causing Gudako to blink as Assassin made for Olga again only to stiffen in place as Ryujin reappeared behind the enemy servant in a flurry of maple leaves, blood dripping from both drawn blades. The Assassin Servant dropped their knife to the floor and quickly reached up to their neck as their head slid off, surprise still forming on their face. The knife dissolved into blue motes of mana and the Assassin Servant dropped to the ground dead dissolving just as quickly while Gudako ran forward towards Olga to make sure she was okay right as she heard a hacking cough from her own Servant. She looked over to see that Ryujin had stuck one of her blades point first into the tile to hold herself up before she spat blood onto the floor.
"Ryuj-"
"Check on Olga first. I'll be fine."
Gudako glared at her Servant as the swords dissolved into mana and she sensed that Ryujin had turned back into a full Ruler Servant before she then vanished into spirit form.
~| We will be talking about this later. Don't think you can run away. |~
She thought into their bond before running over to Olga who seemed to be shaking in place as she stared at her blood covered hands.
"Olga. Olga!"
The white haired woman snapped her face up to look at Gudako as tears began to form in her orange eyes. She got over right as Olga curled in on herself and began to cry, burying her face into her knees as she knelt beside her and slowly rubbed her back in small circles,
"You're safe. We're safe for now. The blood isn't yours."
She said quietly as Olga hugged herself more tightly. Cu came up the stairs, caught her eye while raising an eyebrow, and she quickly did the same thing she did with Ryujin and their bond but for Cu,
~| Go check the wards, bounded fields, or whatever else you and Mash set up to make sure nothing and no one else got in. Assassin is dead, Ryujin killed her but either got injured or something in the process. She coughed up blood at the end there. We'll be fine, I'm just gonna stay with Olga for a bit longer. |~
The Caster frowned but nodded and moved away calling for Mash as Gudako felt someone pulling on her hoodie's sleeve. She looked down and saw an orange eye full of fear looking up at her as she smiled back then sat down beside and wrapped an arm around the other womans shoulders,
"Caster is going to check everything along with Mash to make sure nothing else and no one else got in. We'll need to get moving soon but…. Are you gonna be okay? You don't have to talk if you don't want to so just blink once for yes, twice for no, and three times if you want to say something."
The fear in Olgas eye became less apparent as she looked from her to the hallway to see the damage right as an overhead light fell out of the ceiling with a sparking crash. Gudako hugged the other woman to her side as she closed her eye and leaned into the hug,
"I never-"
"Easy. Your adrenaline is still running high. Breathe slowly okay?"
She felt Olga nod a bit against her shoulder and the two women fell quiet for a few minutes before,
"I never thought being… that close to death would be so scary…"
Gudako heard her say quietly and hummed a bit to show she was listening,
"You'd think as a Mage I'd be used to death and everything involved with it but…"
"Its different when its you thats about to die."
"…..yes. How- How did you stay calm during all of that?"
Looking to her right she saw Olga looking at her with wonder in her eyes to which she could only scoff a bit,
"I was anything but calm. Trust me, I was panicking just as badly however you needed help and while Ryujin might have been the one to kill Assassin I wanted to help you if I could. I still want to help you. We've survived all of this so far and we both need to get back to Chaldea to make sure everything and everyone else is okay."
Olga huffed quietly,
"The fact that everyone but Romani died leaving him in charge. I shudder to think what the state of everything is right now…"
Gudako lightly pulled on Olgas ear making her yelp and look at her accusingly,
"Dr. Roman wants to help people. He's a doctor and you don't go through the entire process of becoming a Doctor unless you want to help people. Its okay to lean on other people for help Olga… you don't need to shoulder everything on your own."
"But a Mage's responibility-"
"Is nothing in the face of a human life. Were you thinking about your responsibility as a Mage at all when Assassin was trying to kill you? No. You weren't. Your only thought was trying to survive which is a very human way of thinking."
Gudako smiled and turned to look out at the ruins of the hallway as something her dad told her floated through her mind,
"At the end of the day, magus or normal person, we all die but its the journey on the way that you'll be remembered for and maybe even cherished by those who live on past you. Try to live your life so when you do pass on you're surrounded by people who care about you. I know I'm one of those people."
Glancing to her right she watched as Olga stared at her mouth agape,
"Why would you be there when I die?"
"Because we're friends? Sure you're a rich pompous Magus from an ancient line of Magi with a stick up your ass the size of Germany but after all of this shit?"
She gestured around them,
"I consider you a friend at the very least. Which means I'm going to be there to bother and mess with you until you're sick of me."
Groaning she lightly pushed Gudako away while she laughed but not before catching Olgas smile. Giving her friend one more squeeze she let go and they both sat there in silence for a bit,
"Where did you hear all that by the way?"
"Hm? Hear what?"
"That stuff about death being the journey and all that."
Gudako smiled a bit wider,
"Something my dad was fond of telling me whenever I got depressed that I couldn't even do basic magecraft. My mom said similar things to me."
"Your family sounds…. Nice."
"If by 'nice' you mean 'Extremely Unmagelike' then yes. You're right."
Olga snorted a single laugh and looked up at the ceiling,
"I'm….. glad you're my friend Gudako."
Gudako looked over and smirked at the white haired woman,
"ohhh~? What was that? Are we feeling sentimental~?"
"Oh piss off."
She snarked back without any real malice as she stood up followed quickly by Gudako. They dusted themselves off and decided to walk down the stairs to the main entrance of the school. Soon after getting there they heard the sound of Mashs armored boots right before she came around a corner and visibly relaxed before she jogged over to them,
"Mash Kyrielight reporting in. I didn't find anything or anyone else who got in… I didn't even sense Assassin at all during all of that. I'm so sorry…. If I had been there-"
"Thats what Presence Concealment is and does little lady." Cu said coming out of spirit form and nodding to Gudako to signal everything was as safe as it could be, "Its what makes Assassin Servants so dangerous. As for who that might have been I don't think it matters anymore considering our resident Ruler took care of her. Speaking of…"
He trailed off as Gudako sensed a servant materializing behind her. She firmed her jaw and looked over her left shoulder to see Ryujin glaring at Cu before catching her gaze and wincing a little. She sensed Ryujin at the edge of her mind and let her in,
(| I'll- I'll explain but not… now. We- |)
~| You are explaining right the fuck now is what you're doing. As well as giving me a reason to let you do whatever the fuck it was again because I am not okay with whatever fucking skill that was. |~
The Ruler went perfectly still before she narrowed her eyes and responded out loud,
"To answer your question Master what I did was take on the aspects, skills, and abilities of a few different Saber Servants to deal with Assassin."
Gudako turned to look at her furthering her glare,
"and you coughed up blood because of that? I don't buy it. What else did you do."
The Servant folded her arms and stared at the floor for a few seconds before sighing,
"One of my skills I have as a Ruler Servant is the ability to use my blood to augment, empower, or make any skill I have stronger. This is due to the fact that Dragons are entirely made of mana being more aspects of nature as opposed to actual living creatures and I am closer to my draconic self as a Ruler than any other class. In addition to this as an Offensive Ruler Servant I can use what that skill does to borrow anything from skills and abilities to outright Noble Phantasms of various servants I have interacted with throughout both my life and my various summonings."
She paused and seemed to weigh what she said next,
"What I did earlier, that Three-Step Strike, was one such Noble Phantasm that I altered further to allow for dual sword usage using another Saber Servant's skillset. Altering myself and what I borrowed as much as I did and to the degree I did, however, means I suffered some blowback which manifested as blood in my lungs which I coughed up."
"I don't want you ever using that skill again."
Gudako said quietly causing Ryujin to snap her gaze to her,
"Gudako-"
"I don't fucking care. I do not want anyone I know hurting themselves to protect me or anyone. Whats the fucking point of hurting yourself to-"
"Then you might as well use a command spell because I intend to keep using the skill as needed."
They glared at each other as Gudako curled her fingers into a fist. She opened her mouth in a snarl only for Cu to step between them,
"Enough. We need to move. A Grail-corrupted Servant was defeated which means that the rest of them are likely either looking in this direction or already moving to kill us. There is a path behind the school leading up and over the mountain. Ryujin."
She looked from Gudako's glare to him and her gaze softened a bit,
"Gudako is still a new Master but more than that remember that she sees you as a person and not a tool or a weapon. Would you want someone you cared about hurting themselves in any way to protect you or fight for you?"
She lowered her gaze and looked away but stayed silent as Cu turned back to Gudako,
"Master. There are servants of every kind imaginable. They come in all colors from Heros of Justice to outright evil villains. Trust me when I say that Ryujins little blood trick isn't even the worst I've seen or heard of off the top of my head. As a Master you'll have to get used to us Servants doing whatever we need to do to get the job done. Up to and including sacrificing ourselves outright. You don't have to like it but you'll have to get used to the idea of it."
Gudako fell silent at this and caught Ryujins gaze before closing her eyes and sighing,
"Just…. Show us this path Caster. Please. I'd rather get away from here."
"Alright then. Follow me."
Cu led them through the building and out the back doors to a common area filled with half melted benches as well as a fountain that was cracked and long dry. Gudako paused and looked around only for Mash to call out to her causing her to jog to catch up to the group. They walked along the mountain path in silence for a bit as she wrestled with her emotions right before she sensed Ryujin in their bond again. She tried her best to calm her thoughts before letting Ryujin in,
(| ...Sorry. I- I should have told you about my skillset sooner. I assumed that you'd be able to see all of it along with my stats and everything else through the contract. Apologies again.|)
~| Its…. I won't say its fine because the entire idea of someone getting hurt to protect me bothers me… a lot but… I guess I should know about your stats and stuff shouldn't I? How…? |~
(| Focus on the contract itself and imagine it expanding to show everything about me. |)
Doing this her eyes widened as she was able to 'see' everything Ryujin was able to do in her minds eye but as she read everything she paused at the womans Noble Phantasm,
~| Why does your Noble Phantasm have two ranks? |~
Silence over the bond for a few seconds then,
(| Because if I truly unleashed it at full power I could feasibly 'reset' the planet and erase all of Human civilization in one massive divine storm. Hence why one rank is higher than the other. Can you see the lower rank version of it? |)
Gudako sent a confirmation as the path they were on began to rise under her feet. She focused on walking until they got back to a relatively flat area and then reread Ryujins Noble Phantasm,
~| So… wait. That silver thread you've been using is the same hurricane that destroyed the Mongol fleet? |~
(| Yes. I can freely control its size and shape however its surface area cannot go beyond the size of the hurricane I created as long as its sealed in the way it is. You've seen how I use it. What are your thoughts on it? I'm curious. |)
~| Honestly? I think its so fucking cool. |~
She smiled as she heard Ryujin openly laugh into their bond before the servant faded back into her own mind as Gudako came fully back into her own. They finally crested the top of the mountain and looked around to see they were surrounded by trees on all sides but weirdly she could tell the air was a bit easier to breath. As for whether or not that was because the mana in the air was thinner this high up or the trees helped she was unsure,
"The air… feels cleaner up here."
Mash said as she inhaled a bit which is when Gudako noticed that the other girl wasn't winded at all despite climbing in all that armor and then looked at her own outfit frowning seeing that the skirt had what she hoped was just dirt on it. Looking around she noticed that Olga seemed to be lost in her own thoughts and was about to go over to ask her what she was thinking about when Cu suddenly motioned for them all to be quiet,
"What is it?"
She whispered as she moved closer to where the Caster servant was leaning against a tree right at the edge of where the mountain began to slope down. His eyes turned to her before looking back and sighed,
"We're getting closer to the influence of the Greater Grail. Which means that any enemies are going to be stronger. Can you see down there. Where the highway is?"
She narrowed her eyes and squinted trying to make out anything on the roadway,
"I can't see anything specific. Whats down there?"
"A little over a hundred risen dead all meandering around the highway. We could take them out…" He trailed off and looked at her as she gestured for him to keep talking,
"Or?"
"Or I could try something to hopefully discourage anyone who might be following us."
Gudako immediately went back to Assassins attempt to kill Olga and felt that same unease that she had felt before as she looked back at the white haired woman,
Why was Assassin so focused on Olga and not me? Olga's basically a civilian right now and I'm the Master so why….
She shook her head, determined to think about this later, and refocused on Cu who was looking at her. She weighed their options,
"How long would it take to do this?"
"No more than half an hour. One at most."
"Can I watch you do it?"
He blinked and grinned at her,
"Feel free to ask questions too. Its not often I get to be a teacher even though you probably can't use what I'm going to teach."
They went back to the group and got everyone around them. She inhaled and tried to look like a Magus for a few seconds only to catch Olgas deadpan look and laugh a bit,
"Alright so. Caster here is going to try and do something to discourage anyone following us. Of the Servants left we have Archer, Saber, and Berserker confirmed to be alive correct?"
Cu nodded,
"In addition to Lancer. Our Ruler here killed Assassin and I know Rider is dead having killed her myself."
"Why do you insist that Lancer might be alive?"
Everyone looked at Ryujin who was looking at Cu expectantly. He just sighed,
"I can only describe her as she is. I don't know anything more than that to be honest. As for why I think she can come back after death it's because I watched Saber cut her clean in half then not even a few days later she was back."
They all watched him as he closed his eyes and thought back to describe Lancer as best he could,
"She's… almost inhuman. Like even for a servant something about her is different… robotic even. She wears white robes and has a Golden shield as well as a golden spear made of light. I don't think she can outright fly but every time I've seen her she's floating above the ground in the middle of at least fifty bodies and seems to be checking every single one for something. Then once she's checked every body she moves on and the entire time she doesn't say a single word or make any sound.
They all fell silent before Olga inhaled,
"A Valkyrie."
They all looked at her as she frowned clearly thinking,
"This is... purely conjecture but if you think about it would make some amount of sense. Something about this Grail War is different and we know that given that Ryujin was able to be summoned in the first place. Ryujin what level is your divinity in each of the seven classes?"
The Ruler folded her arms and thought for a few seconds,
"Highest would be Saber then Lancer. Berserker would be in the middle while Assassin would have the weakest level-"
She paused and looked at Olga,
"You mean more that a Divine Spirit is summonable as a servant in the first place and a Valkyrie would have some level of Divinity at baseline depending on which one they are."
"Correct. Then we have the habit, per Caster, of how Lancer checks every dead body immediately after she kills them. Why would she go through all of that trouble if she wasn't searching for something or someone?"
Olga folded her arms and shook her head,
"Caster you said every Servant bar you got corrupted by the Grail Correct?"
He blew out his cheeks and looked at her,
"Correct and you're wondering just how far up shit creek we are given that a divine spirit potentially got corrupted."
They fell silent then Mash spoke up,
"Wait I don't understand. Saber killed Lancer correct? Lancer was cut in half so how… how did Caster see her alive a few days later if she was dead?"
Cu shook his head and stood up,
"We can worry about that later. Here's the plan: We've got about a hundred risen dead on the highway below us, I want to turn them into massive "Do not pass" sign. As for how I'm going to do that: I'm gonna take control of them long enough to carve some runes into their bones from a distance to make it seem like one skeleton is closer to 1,000 both in normal eyesight and in mana sense. With any luck we'll make this whole highway look to be filled to the brim with undead."
"You can do all of that?"
Mash asking incredulously only for Cu to smirk as he summoned his staff into his hand,
"Runes are incredible missy. This will take a bit to do though."
Mash nodded and hefted her shield as Ryujin looked at Gudako in a silent question. She nodded at her servant,
"Ryujin and Mash would you both mind patrolling the area around us? I'd rather not have any surprises while Caster does his ritual."
She nodded, summoned her fan into her hand, and walked off into the trees with Mash close behind while Olga sat down with her back against a tree and closed her eyes. Gudako was tempted to follow her example and rest a bit but she wanted to see Cu do his ritual so she walked over to see him clearing a spot on the ground and caught his eye as he noticed her and grinned,
"Alright so how much do you know about Rune Magecraft?"
She folded her arms and arched an eyebrow,
"Only that it died out in the 12th century alongside various other forms of mysticism. Never really bothered learning about it past that."
Cu chuckled a bit and finished clearing the ground to sit down. He sat down and motioned for Gudako to sit across from him. She did and they sat facing each other for a few seconds before he nodded,
"'Rune Magecraft' as you know it refers more to the Western magecraft theory that says shapes, when combined and resized, intrinsically hold power as opposed to the Runes I know and use. As the world advanced beyond the 12th century and the last of the mana from the Age of Gods finally died out various forms of Magecraft began to weaken and eventually die out leaving the world of Magi only with the spells and magecraft that you all use today."
Gudako nodded and stayed focused as Cu smiled approvingly. He gathered mana onto his finger and drew a shape in blue light that floated between them. She tilted her head at it confused. It was a line going up and down with two lines moving from the top most point and a bit below it both at an angle to the lower right,
"Thats… an Ogham letter right?"
"Close! This is Ansuz and is one part of the Runic Magic I was taught by my teacher who in turn learned it from one of the Norse Gods. Runic Magic is different from Rune Magecraft as it doesn't follow the theory of shapes holding magical properties. No, Runic Magic would be better described as an alphabet for reality and when you form a series of these runes…"
She mouthed the name of the runic symbol he drew first as he gathered mana onto his fingertip again and drew more Runic symbols to the right of Ansuz. Immediately following Ansuz he drew a zig zag with three points, the top and bottom points facing left with the middle point facing right, then another vertical line with a smaller diagonal line going through it just above the mid point, and then finally a three pronged fork with the prongs facing upwards. He stopped channeling the mana into his finger but the runes remained floating in the air,
"By inscribing various runic symbols into reality the caster can then affect it to do whatever they want. What I've written here is: Ansuz/Sowulo/Nauthiz/Algiz, which is a basic recovery spell. If you put some mana into your finger and touch these runes your energy, circuits, and physical condition will be improved."
Gudako looked at him and then at the runes floating in the air. She gathered mana into her fingertip, wincing immediately from the pain, and tapped one of the runes causing all of the runes to glow green and then vanish into the air. She gasped as she suddenly felt the ache in her circuits lessen while at the same time some of the scrapes and bruises she had healed. She stood up and moved around a bit before grinning at Cu who just watched clearly amused,
"My fatigue- My circuits- I feel so much better! How-"
She blinked as it finally clicked what the runes were comparable to as she slowly sat back down in front of Cu,
"Its like a programming language for a computer but for reality...."
This time it was Cu's turn to be confused,
"Okay now its your turn to explain. What kind of language is "programming" and how does that work with a computer? The grail loaded with me with a bunch of knowledge about the current year when I was summoned so all I know is that a computer is a box that displays pictures on it but nothing more than that."
Gudako blinked,
"….actually... What year is it right now?"
"Early February, 2004."
"I- But- You- …."
Cu waved a hand in front of Gudakos face as she froze. She shook her head,
"Excuse me for a moment. I need to go yell at Olga."
His eyebrows raised,
"Go for it. I'll get this ritual started in the meantime. Shouldn't take more than half an hour."
She stood up, dusted herself off, and walked back to the clearing where Olga was still sitting back against the tree with her eyes closed.
"Olga!"
The woman jumped awake,
"YES- I- ….Gudako why the hells are you yell-"
"Do you know what year it is."
The other woman blinked and opened her mouth only to close it clearly unsure,
"Because according to Caster it is Early February 2004 and we both, along with Mash, are from October 3rdth, 2015. So how the hell is any of that possible?"
Olga's mouth fell open and she openly stared at Gudako only to close her mouth with an audible snap as she began to pace back and forth talking so fast that she couldn't keep up,
"Olg-"
"Quiet. I'm thinking."
Gudako's furrowed her brow as she felt Caster activate his ritual from behind her causing her to glance over her shoulder to see blue light shining through the trees. She sighed and turned back to Olga who was somehow pacing faster than before. She arched an eyebrow,
"So does your mental processing speed increase the faster you move?"
Olga gave her a flat look and finally paused to rub her temple with her fingers. She closed her eyes, blew out her cheeks, and looked at Gudako with narrowed eyes,
"How did you get here."
She blinked,
"I… don't know? I heard the explosion, ran back to help, and then there was this massive white light and-"
"Wait! Wait! Wait! Slow down! Go through everything that happened from the moment I kicked you out of the meeting."
Gudako closed her eyes and tilted her head back doing her best to remember every detail,
"Mash showed me around Chaldea, the rec floor is awesome by the way, and then showed me to my room where I found Romani sitting on my bed eating chips. He didn't recognize me as a Master but we hit it off a bit. Then about…. Fifteen minutes to a half hour later we heard a massive explosion. I ran back to try and help any wounded, got into the conference room, went down into the pit area, saw that everyone was either in weird looking tubes or on the ground dead then found Mash barely alive. She asks me to take her hand, there was a giant flash of white light, and then next thing I know I'm here."
Olga frowned at the ground clearly thinking,
"So just to make sure… You were not in a coffin before you arrived here."
"A coffin?"
"The 'tube things' you talked about. In order to rayshift you have to be in a coffin otherwise the process just dissolves you into spiritrons but…"
Her eyes widened as she clearly had a thought that she shook from her head before looking back at Gudako,
"Gudako. Do you happen to know your origin off the top of your head?"
She blinked and let her shoulders sag a bit,
"Yeah…. Its-"
"And done! Everyone please come and admire at my handiwork! Applause is welcome."
Gudako sighed and looked at Olga,
"My origin isn't anything special so there's no way it would have influenced anything."
Olga narrowed her eyes at this but said nothing as she walked past her over to where Cu was standing looking smug. She sensed Mash and Ryujin making their way over as well, noting they seemed to be coming from the same place, and then walked over herself. As she got closer she sensed a truly massive mana signature not far off. Glancing at Cu who just winked and waved her forward she walked up beside Olga who had been stunned into silence not that she was much better as her mouth fell open as she looked down into the valley.
Below them was a literal ocean of red skeletons. There were so many that she was having a hard time picking out individual monsters as they all seemed to just flow one into the other. She watched as some seperated to try and come up the mountain only to suddenly turn around and walk back into the mass of undead. She closed her mouth and swallowed with difficulty as she turned to look at Cu,
"How the fuck."
"Not the words I'd personally use but I am full agreement with Gudako. Caster how the hell did you pull this off? Those aren't all real are they?"
Olga managed to say as she also turned to look at the Caster Servant who folded his arms and smirked,
"I offer my personal guarantee that not only are they not real but that the ones that are have been deadened to the point of barely functioning as intended. Come on, we need to keep moving. With any luck there should be some sacred ground on the other side of this valley we'll be able to use to let some people get actual rest and sleep."
Almost on que Gudako's leg partially went out on her causing her to stumble a bit only for Mash to catch her. She muttered her thanks to Mash and gingerly performed a scan on herself wincing as she did so.
"Cu is right," She eventually said, "I'm one of two people here who are still fully human and as much as I want to just book it to the Greater Grails cavern I also know that I'm even more useless than normal as I am now."
She tested her leg and nodded to Mash who hesitantly let go of her arm but stayed nearby just in case then looked at Cu and furrowed her brow,
"Alright Caster. Lead us to this Sacred Ground so I can get some fucking sleep."
"Of course Master. Oi! Dragon Goddess! Don't think I've forgotten about our competition."
Ryujin came up and grinned at him,
"I was hoping you didn't. Good, lets go."
Cu led the way down the mountain as they all fell into line behind him with Ryujin bringing up the rear while they navigated the trees and did their best to not fall. As they got closer to the horde Gudako swallowed nervously as the sound of thousands of undead slowly became louder and louder. She glanced at Cu and firmed her jaw seeing he was entirely unbothered as he led them and tried not to let how afraid she was show the closer they got to the edge of the horde until eventually they were less than three meters away from it,
"We're…. Sure these are all just… Illusions right?"
Looking back at Olga who's face was almost as white as her hair she was thankful that she had asked before Gudako could. She wanted to trust Cu and, while she was grateful for the brief lesson on Runic Magic, when she turned back to look at the meandering skeletons a part of her wondered if they really were just illusions.
"Of course Little Lady. See? Look."
Cu chuckled as he bent down to pick up a rock tossing it in his hand a few times before he sidearmed it at a random skeleton. Gudako held her breath as she watched it soar through the air and then blinked when it passed through the skeleton with nothing more than a ripple. She looked from where the stone passed through back to Cu who stood there smugly. Closing her mouth with difficulty she nodded to him,
"You know where the real ones are don't you?"
"Yep. I'm keeping track of them right now don't worry."
She gestured one arm and leaned forward into a half curtsy as she smirked at him,
"Then part this sea of undead for us oh wise caster."
He snorted a single laugh and shook his head at her theatrics before he walked right to the edge of the horde and tapped the end of his staff onto the ground. Immediately the undead parted forming an open path clear across the highway to the other side. Gudako inhaled a shaky breath and looked back at everyone else.
Mash was clearly scared but putting it aside.
Olga was hugging herself nervously.
Ryujin seemed to be examining the horde given that her eyes were lit up.
Or maybe she's analyzing the spell itself.
"Alright lets go."
They crossed the opened path in short order although Olga basically ran forward ahead of all of them once they got close to the other side. Gudako followed in short order and looked back to see that everyone had gotten across as Cu tapped his staff again and the path quickly closed. She let out a shaky breath and nodded to herself before looking at Cu,
"Where to now?"
"See that hill in the distance? The one covered in bamboo?"
He pointed and she walked over to angle her head along his arm to see what he was talking about only for her shoulders to sag a bit,
"Do I even want to know how much farther?"
"Nope. Trust me it'll only slow you down."
She glanced at Cu's smirk and shook her head before looking at everyone else,
"Alright. We're almost to this temple area where Caster and Ruler are going to have their little competition. Once thats done we can rest for a few hours I'm hoping."
Olga groaned but got up from where she had been sitting, muttering under her breath, as Mash hefted her shield and nodded at her. Ryujin for her part smiled serenely taking her spot at the back while Cu moved to the front of the group again and motioned them all forward. Eventually they wound up at the foot of several switchbacks, during the climb of which Olgas muttering slowly became louder until they finally crested the switch backs and found themselves in a gravel parking lot.
"Alright so as much as some of us would like to take a break."
Cu said cheerfully as Olga gave him a look,
"We're not truly safe until we get to the temple and get the safe spot set up. So we've got stairs to climb now."
At this Olga broke out into a bout of swearing that even managed to impress Cu. As she stood there, fists clenched, her face red, and clearly not even remotely done Ryujin clapped her on the back and made her stumble forward a bit,
"If you've got the energy to say all of that then you've got the energy to climb those stairs. Lets get moving since, competition between me and Caster aside, the closer we get to the Greater Grail the more dangerous it is."
Olga groaned but started walking forward as Cu watched her walk past while nodding,
"That would have impressed any Celt, Little Missy."
"Piss off Caster. Why is it always fucking stairs…"
Gudako hid her laughter behind her smile as Cu quickly made his way to the front again. They climbed the stairs eventually reaching a gate that led into what was left of the temple proper. As they passed through it she felt the mana in the air change slightly causing her to pause and look around,
"Is the leyline still…. Functional? The air feels less heavy now."
Mash came up alongside her as Cu and Ryujin wandered the ruins of the temple grounds clearly looking for the best spot to do what they needed to do,
"I don't know but I feel a bit better now than I did before, Senpai. How are you holding up after all that walking?"
"Better than Little Miss Richie Rich thats for sure."
They both turned to look at Olga who had fallen down and was leaning backwards onto her hands. She glared at both of them and flipped them off before falling backwards laying fully onto the stone tiles,
"I'll be honest Senpai… I didn't know Director Olga could be like this… She's usually more…"
"Like she has a iron rod up her ass the size of Texas?"
Mash blushed a bit and her silence spoke volumes as they heard Olga call out,
"I can hear you, you know."
"Good."
"Ass."
"Glad to be your friend too."
"ugh…."
They waited a bit more until they finally heard Cu calling them over. They all started moving over and as they walked the air slowly felt more and more clean with Gudako noticing that the spot where both Servants had picked was the ruins of what might have been a storehouse given the size of it based on the ruined walls. There wasn't any real floor other than hardpacked dirt either which Cu was in the middle of carving runes into with his staff. Curious Gudako walked over right as Cu finished the runes and knelt down with a hand in his robes,
"So what are you doing now?"
He hummed a bit as he pulled his hand out from his robes and used his other hand to dig a hole into the dirt,
"Within Celtic lore there is a species of tree thats considered Sacred. Almost everything magical within it that uses wood uses this tree…"
Finishing the hole he placed what he had pulled out into it before covering it with dirt then stood up and motioned for her to step back as the runes glowed green and a sprout poked through the soil,
"And that tree is the Cederwood."
Gudako watched in awe as the sprout quickly turned into a sapling then a tree and didn't stop growing until it was easily ten meters tall and fully grown. Almost as soon as it was done growing the air around her was suddenly easier to breathe and less heavy. She felt her circuits and muscles start to ache less as Ryujin walked up and nodded at him,
"Impressive. Let me add to it."
He waved her forward and she held out her hand to summon a dagger made of pearl white bone. She approached the tree and carved a series of Japanese characters into it before she put away the dagger and swapped to her fan. She flicked out her fan and mana briefly pulsed off of her as the characters glowed a bright ocean blue and stayed glowing as something different from a bounded field fell all around them from the top of the tree. She flicked her fan shut as it dissolved into blue motes.
"Between a Blessed Cederwood and marking this area as my own Sacred Ground almost nothing should be able to get in. You have my personal guarantee."
Gudako let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding and fell to her knees utterly exhausted,
"Thank fuck… I am going to sleep."
Ryujin chuckled at that,
"Give me a bit and I'm sure I could find you a pillow if you want."
"Nope. Sleep now."
She said firmly as she crawled over to a spot that looked somewhat comfortable, took off her cropped hoodie, wadded it into a ball, and laid her head on it. Immediately she felt her eyes close as sleep took her and she heard in a corner of her mind,
(| Then rest well Master. You've done well. |)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gudako opened her eyes and yawned as she looked around her to see she was in a familiar looking park. She blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes with her palms as she heard a familiar voice from nearby,
"Gudako! Come over here and help me wrangle your brother."
She looked over to see her mother trying to navigate her way around a young boy with jet black hair identical to the womans own while she was walking over to a table that had balloons tied to it. Smiling happily Gudako got up and quickly ran over to tackle her younger brother away from their mom and onto the grass. He naturally attempted to get her off of him but there wasn't any real malice or danger in his struggling as he quickly pushed her off of him and ran away,
"Can't catch me Gudako!"
"Yeah well we'll see about that Ritsu you twerp!"
"If I'm a twerp then so are you!"
"Oh now you've done it!"
She started chasing her brother and they kept at it until they were both panting. Ritsuka lamely shoved her shoulder only for her to try and trip him as he took a few steps forward. Right as he turned around to get back at her they heard their mom called out to them,
"Alright you two! Come over and blow out your candles."
They looked at each other, smirked, and raced back to the table. They got back to the table at the same time, even though Gudako knew that she got there a fraction of a second faster, and they both inhaled and blew out the candles on the cake that their mom had set up. They both got their slices of cake and were eating happily when their moms phone began to ring. She pulled it out of her pocket and frowned,
"Sorry you two I've-"
"We'll be fine mom! Go ahead, its work right?"
Gudako looked over at Ritsuka as their mother quickly hugged them both and answered the phone,
"You've reached Ragna Fujimaru and someone better be either dead or dying since I've said I'm not to be bothered today…."
She watched their mom walk away and then looked back down at her cake suddenly not hungry anymore.
"Everything okay Gudako?"
"Do you… ever wish you were in a… normal family?"
Ritsuka paused and seemed to consider the question,
"Normal as in a Normal Magus family or normal normal family?"
Gudako weighed her answer and eventually sighed poking her cake with her plastic fork certain now that she wasn't hungry anymore,
"Both."
"Hmmm…."
Ritsuka ate some more of his slice of cake,
"Not… really. No. I know as a Mage family we're not… 'normal' but honestly I like the way we are. You've seen what the other kids are like. Too prim, too proper, and too… stiff. Sure they might have better circuits but I like our family."
"You're the one with better circuits Ritsu. I got the short end of that stick."
"Yeah but your origin and attributes are better than mine. Mine are useless since apparently if I activate both of them bad stuff might happen."
She snorted a single laugh and looked over into her brothers ocean blue eyes that were identical to their mothers before eventually looking away,
"How's… the crest stuff going?"
"Painfully and slow."
"What does it feel like? When its…. There?"
He paused and considered,
"Its not all there yet but what is there… its like this itch that never truly goes away. Apparently that means that its successfully attaching to me but…"
"So you're itching all the time? Right now even?"
"Sort of? Its more of a dull ache right now."
They fell silent again as Gudako closed her eyes and inhaled a breath before she opened them only for them to widen.
She wasn't in the park anymore.
She was in a hospital hallway and both her parents were sitting nearby clearly nervous. She looked around and noticed the doors at the end of the hallway where a red light was on over them.
"I just- Why would he-"
Looking over at her mother she saw her digging her fingers into her jet black hair as her father rubbed her back,
"He did it to protect Gudako. Which he wouldn't have had to do if they weren't pushed into a position where he felt the need to activate his attribute while his origin was running..."
Her father looked up from her mother to meet her own gaze and she stared into amber eyes identical to her own. He smiled at her and she felt her own nerves settle a little before the red light at the end of the hallway clicked off. A woman in medical scrubs with blonde shoulder length hair and brown eyes came out as both of her parents stood up.
But she could tell the news was bad as the blonde woman hesitated and took off her surgical mask as Gudakos ears began to ring. She could read the nametag on the lanyard hanging from her neck that had "Dr. Lafaire" written on it. The ringing got louder as the Doctor shook her head before her mouth started moving only she couldn't hear anything over the ringing in her ears as she watched her mom fall to her knees and bury her face into her hands as she sobbed.
Gudako glared death at the Doctor who seemed to stiffen as if noticing her for the first time. She curled her fingers into a fist as Dr. Lafaire offered her a look of sadness and spoke soundlessly again.
"-dako!"
Screaming she ran towards the doctor, her meager circuits coming alight as she reinforced herself to slam her fist into the woman only-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Gudako!"
She snapped her eyes open with a gasp as she quickly sat up and looked around wildly seeing that she had been sleeping on hardpacked dirt before noticing that Ryujin was looking at her concernedly with her hand on her shoulder. She let out a shaky breath as she realized she had been dreaming and quickly wiped her eyes clean on her sleeve,
"Sorry. I'm- I'm fine."
The Ruler Servant gave her a flat look showing she didn't believe a word of it but stood upright and took a step back allowing Gudako some space to gather herself. She shook her head a bit and looked around to see that Cu had made a small fire over which he was roasting what looked like sausages along with some veggies. Olga was sitting a bit further away with her eyes closed but breathing steadily clearly meditating or something similar.
She heard the metallic clanking that heralded Mash before she saw the girl approach the edge of the area they were in, slow down as though hesitating, before firming her jaw, and walking through the barrier which rippled and became semi-visible in the process. Mash said something to Cu who just laughed before she handed him a small bag out of which he pulled some skewers. She dug the heels of her palms into her eyes until she saw stars and then looked up at where Ryujin was, noticing that the woman was looking away from her.
~| Thanks for waking me up Ryujin. |~
The woman stiffened a bit but didn't look down at her,
(| You're welcome. ...Do you want to talk about it? You weren't quite thrashing in your sleep but you were talking quite a bit. |)
Gudako paused and looked back at their little misfit group before sighing and closing her eyes,
~| I have- ...Had. A twin brother. His name was Ritsuka. He had short jet black hair and ocean blue eyes just like my mom. I got my eyes from my dad as I'm sure you've noticed by now. |~
She got the mental equivalent of a hummed yes so she kept going, curling her fingers into a fist as she did so,
~| He… died about a month after our fourteenth birthday. His origin and his attribute were an awful mix to the point where if he ever activated both he'd burn himself alive from the inside out. Well one day while we were walking home from school we got… kidnapped. We were blindfolded, restrained, and tossed into the back of some car. We were driven for what felt like hours until finally the blindfolds were taken off. |~
Silence in the bond,
(| What… was your brothers Attribute and Origin? And how did you both escape? |)
There was just honest curiosity in her mental voice. No judgement. No pity or worry. Just an acceptance of the facts as they were which Gudako appreciated,
~| My Brothers origin was "First Kindling" while his Attribute was mainly fire focused. You can see why that would be a bad match. As for how we escaped… We had found ourselves in a Magecraft workshop somewhere in the northern end of Hokkaido. We both were in a cages and the Magus whose workshop it was… he was dissecting people. I don't remember why he was doing it or anything else but what I do remember is that… He took me out of the cage and the next thing I knew… Everything was in fire as my brother yelled for him to leave me alone. I somehow got out without any burns or scars or anything but….|~
Silence again until,
(| But? |)
~| My brother had turned himself into kindling and ignited the mana in the air itself while somehow preventing me from getting harmed. The Magus was reduced to ash and Ritsuka was… nothing but bodywide third degree burns. I carried him out of the workshop screaming for help until by random chance a pair of hikers came over, saw us, and dialed for emergency services. We got helicoptered out and didn't stop until we got to Tokyo Central Hospital where, by more pure random chance, a Magus had been working as a doctor. She immediately realized what had happened and got my brother into room that she immediately enveloped in bounded fields as she… tried and failed to save my brothers life. My parents got to the hospital at some point later. |~
(| ….I know this is the last thing you want to hear but- |)
~| If its some variant of 'I'm sorry' then no. I don't want to hear it. |~
(| Your brother is a hero. |)
Gudako froze as tears welled up in her eyes while Ryujin sat down beside her and wrapped an arm around her in a side hug then said quietly,
"Your brother is a gods damned hero and don't let anyone, not even Gods, tell you otherwise."
Smiling through the tears she nodded silently and leaned into Ryujins shoulder. They sat there for a bit until she had calmed down enough to lean away from the other woman. She wiped her eyes again and immediately noticed the smell of cooked food as she zeroed in on the roasted meat and veggies skewers Cu had made. She got up, walked over, and grabbed one biting into it before anyone could stop her almost melting at the taste before she quickly finished that skewer then two more before she sat back down and let out a satisfied sigh,
"So how long was I asleep for?"
"About 14 hours."
She turned to look at Olga who had stopped what she was doing and had moved to a stack of bricks nearby. Gudako was about to ask what the odd look was for when Cu cleared his throat,
"Now that we are fed and rested I say we make the final leg of our journey. See that partially caved in mountain in the distance there?"
Gudako shifted where she was sitting and easily noticed the mountain frowning as she saw the hole in the top of it,
"What could make a hole in a mountain that big…"
"Not what Master. 'Who' and the answer is the same person who is currently inside that mountain and guarding the Greater Grail."
"Saber…"
Mash said quietly as she firmed her grip around the handle of her shield then looked at Cu,
"What all can you tell us about Saber? Anything at all to place her name, origin, or anything else."
Gudako looked from Mash to Cu who rubbed his chin a bit as he thought,
"She's got near infinite mana but never seems to go all out either. Its like she's purposely holding herself back which… Once you meet her you'll understand why thats odd. As for who she is that'll obvious once you see her sword."
Gudako nodded to herself and stood up,
"Alright we've got a Caster, Ruler, and… Mash what class are you anyway?"
"The preliminary name was Shielder given well… the shield."
Olga said standing up and moving close by. She nodded,
"As for our enemies we have a Lancer, Archer, Berserker, and a Saber. Berserker never leaves his area right?"
Cu nodded and summoned his staff,
"Which leaves us with that cockroach of an Archer and Saber herself. We-"
"And who are you calling a cockroach, Caster."
They all whirled around to see a man standing nearby in a sleeveless compression shirt and baggy pants. He had tanned skin, white hair, and his eyes seemed to linger on her before looking at each of their group in turn.
"I believe the answer should be obvious, Archer."
Cu said moving to stand between them and the Archer servant. Gudako looked up at the back of the Casters head as he twirled his staff,
"Go. There's a path behind the temple leading right to the mountain. I'll meet up with you guys there."
She inhaled a deep breath, nodded, and took a few steps back to see if Archer would do anything before she turned around and jogged away. After they all got to the outer edges of the walls Mash found the path with some help from Olga as they all heard the sounds of combat from behind them. Gudako pushed her worries from her mind as best she could and firmed her jaw,
"Caster bought us time. Lets go deal with Saber."