Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me,the author.

The smell of burning wreckage filled the air. What was once the city of Fuyuki was now a wasteland,rooting in the giant flames that consumed everything.

In the middle of this hell there was a group of four people wandering around,trying to find a way out of this place. The group was composed of two men and two women. Ritsuka Fujimaru, Olga Marie Animusphere, Mash Kyrielight and Cú Chulainn. Mash and Cu were going at the front while Ritsuka and Olga stayed at the back of the group being protected by the two servants.

"Such destruction... The world will be like this after 2016?" Ritsuka said concerned, observing the ruins around him.

"Perhaps." Olga answered with the same concern of Ritsuka. "This is why Chaldea exists. To prevent any of this from happening." The director's fists thighten up as she looks angrily frustrated at the ground. "It was my duty to inherit my father's work and avoid the extincton of humanity. Yet, all of the recruiting masters are on the verge of death back in Chaldea."

Ritsuka felt the sorrow from Olga. "Director... "

"We didn't even start our first mission properly and half of the staff is dead now!" Olga's eyes were almost in tears. "I must get out of this place and assume the leadership again quickly. Or else I'll be nothing but a shame to my family's name." Olga took a deep breath, calming down.

"Sheesh! I've only knew you lot in the past minutes but I can say that this whole deal seems very important to the white haired lady." Cu commented, taking a look back at Ritsuka and Olga.

"Well it's a mission to save the world after all Setanta-san. Director Olga was trusted to carry that task after all." Mash,the semi-servant shielder, joined the conversation. "She doesn't want to fail by any means. But you can say by the look of it that it's something that puts a lot of weight on a person's shoulder."

"Hmmm. I see." Cu smiled. "Whatever you're doing just know I'll be rooting for you somewhere. You are nice after all and it's good to have some company in this junk of a place."

"Thank you Cu." Ritsuka thanked the caster, but Olga didn't seemed to care about it. "Like that will help us." She said softly and low but loud enough for Ritsuka to hear it.

"Hey Director, at least try to stay positive! We need to be hopeful during this."

"Senpai is right Director! Being pessimist will only worsen the things. I already appreciate the Director efforts to have come this far and enduring your father's work." Mash tried to comfort Olga alongside Ritsuka.

"You two..." Olga looked at Ritsuka and Mash with eyes that could tell she needed some emotional support.

She let it out a small smile. "Fine. I guess you both are right. But I'll make sure to scold you when we arrive back for what happened back at the reunion." Olga accused Ritsuka.

"Wow! You still remember that?! I already told you I'm sorry." Ritsuka rubbed the back of his head laughing a bit.

"You guys truly are something." Cu told to Mash as they both smiled at the other two. But then Mash felt a sudden touch of fur on her shoulder. "Huh? What is it Fou?"

The little squirrle-like creature jumped from Mash's shoulder. "Fou,fou." He made the noise again,this time pointing to the path in front of the group.

"I think he's trying to tell us something." Ritsuka said stoping on his tracks as well as the rest of the group.

A noise came up and an hologram appeard right in front of the group. "Hey guys! You won't believe it but we've detected two life sources some feet ahead of you! And it doesn't look like to be from servants!" The man in the hologram, Dr Romani told to the others with some surprise in his voice.

The group got surprised as well.

"There are other people here besides us?!" Olga exclaimed confused.

"Could it be other masters?" Ritsuka wondered. He wasn't expecting such reveal.

Mash gasped at the possibility "It may be that! We must hurry! They can be in danger!"

"But wait! That wouldn't make sense. I'm sure that all the other masters are here in Chaldea frozen inside the coffins." As Romani was about to tell the others to be careful, Olga rushed forward, towards the location of the two life signs.

"Wait Director! We don't even know if they can be on our side!" Romani tried to warn her.

"It's not time to think that! If they are indeed masters it's my duty as Director to see if they are ok!" Olga continued to run.

"Wait Director! Don't go alone!" Ritsuka followed her. Mash followed soon after.

"Going right behind you!" Cú said as he was now behind the other three. "I hope this doesn't attract any servant attention."

Romani's hologram was left alone.

"Please be safe guys."

The group,now with Olga at the front, was arriving closer to the local. As they were getting near,the sound of clashes from swords could be heard as well as some voices.

"HELP!"

"SOMEONE PLEASE HELP US!"

They were voices of...children.

Olga was shocked. "Huh? It isn't masters?"

"What are children doing in this place?" Ritsuka asked as he, Mash and Cú joined Olga and looked at what appeard to be a huge crater. Some corpses of skeletons were lying down all around the huge hole as two figures were struggling against other group of skeletons.

They were two kids who didn't seem to be older than 12. A boy and a girl.

The boy was crouched behind the girl and crying. His hands on his head, eyes closed and full of tears. The boy's hair was as white as snow and a bit spiky on the left side of the hair. He was wearing a white and black jacket, yellow shirt and black pants. The kid was really in panic.

The girl was confronting the skeletons with a sword as best as she could as if she was protecting the boy that was behind her. Her hair was equally as white as the boy's that was tied into a long ponytail by a blue ribbon and her eyes were brown. She was wearing a black and yellow long sleeve shirt,red skirt and long black socks. She was having trouble fighting off the skeletons as her right shoulder had been hit.

"Please calm down! I'll make sure will be safe!" The girl yelled at the boy to stop crying.

"We must help them now!" Ritsuka screamed to the rest of the group and started to run down to the center of the crater. He wouldn't dare to stand by and watch these kids suffer any longer.

"Wait Senpai! It's dangerous to a non mage like you! Me and Setanta-san will be the ones to take care of the enemy!" Mash went after Ritsuka.

"That idiot has a good heart but will get himself killed!" Olga critizised Ritsuka's bold atitude.

"I guess that's simply in his nature hehe." Cú laughed at Ritsuka's courage.

"Even though I can't support seeing two kids like those in danger either. Let's go help them!" And with that, both Olga and Cú went to help Ritsuka and Mash fight the skeletons.

The girl blocked two hits of the skeleton with her sword but unfortunately her legs were getting tired and she fell to her knees. As the skeleton raised it's blade to the girl, she instinctively put her body above the boy, protecting him from the slash that was about to come.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" Ritsuka charged at the skeleton with all the strenght a normal human being like him could get and moved him out of the way roughly.

Both the girl and the boy, looked with a mixture of confusion and shock at Ritsuka who in return smiled at the two kids shortly before hitting the ground alongside the skeleton he had taken down.

"Don't be so reckless next time Senpai!" Mash warned her master while knocking out other skeletons nearby with her shield.

"Yeah I know, I know. But it has its upsides sometimes." Ritsuka said torwards Mash,not paying enough attetion that the skeleton lying besides him took advantage of the distraction to try and slash the human quickly.

However another sword was way quicker than that of the skeleton and ended up hitting the skeleton on his head,putting and end to the monster.

It was the girl.

"Thank you for helping us!" She said to Ritsuka.

"Well you could say we're even now." Ritsuka said happily,standing up from the ground. "But thank me later. There's still more to deal with!" Ritsuka made clear of the remaining enemies around them that the others were fighting.

The girl nod in agreement and went to help the others as Ritsuka stayed with the boy.

With Cú spell,the last of the skeletons had been finished,finally giving some rest to the group who went to the center of the crater in order to reagroup.

"Guess that was all of them." Mash confirmed to the rest.

The boy went to hug the girl.

"I thought we would be dead! I-I was so scared of dying sis!" The boy hold tight to the girl,almost crying again.

"There,there. It's over now. Those monsters are gone." The girl calmed down the other kid.

"So you don't seem to be locals,do you?" Ritsuka asked to the two kids, knowing that the answer would most definatly be a 'no'.

"You really don't think clearly Ritsuka Fujimaru." Olga insulted Ritsuka. "How in your mind this destroyed city of Fuyuki,that has no inhabitant apart from the monsters we just fought and the servants, would have two kids surviving in it with one of them somehow just knowing how to fight with a sword?"

Responding to Olga's critic, Ritsuka took a step back and raised a bit both hands. "Hey in my defense,this isn't the Fuyuki we know so it could be different."

"I have to agree with him. That's a good point." Cú had taken Ritsuka's side.

Olga sighed in frustration. "Honestly you two..."

"As much as I think this white haired woman looks insufferable,I have to say that we indeed are not from here." The girl gave the obvious answer while ignoring Olga mean gaze at her.

"That's better than nothing. "Mash said with a warm smile to the two kids. "You two are quite identical. I also heard the boy calling you 'sis'. Are you-"

"Y-yes. We-we are siblings." The boy spoke,still a bit nervous around the people he just met. But his sister was the opposite. She smiled brightly and put her arm around his brother's neck.

"I guess this is time for introduction heh? My name's Nala. And this scaredy cat right here is my twin brother Peko! Nice to meet you."

"H-Hi. Pleasure to meet you." Peko smiled sheepishly.

"Nice to meet you Nala and Peko. My name's Mash Kyrielight." The shielder offered her hand for a shake wich the kids done so, Nala more openly than Peko.

Ritsuka approached to the trio. "Hi there! Name's Ritsuka Fuji-" But before he could finish, Peko hugged the master of humanity thigtly around his waist.

"Thank you for saving us! Thank you! Thank you so much!" The boy said, displaying all the gratitude he could show.

"H-hey. One 'thank you' is enough." Ritsuka said nervously smilling. "You are safe now. Don't need to be scared anymore." Ritsuka could only imagine what this child had been through to be thanking him so much. Perhaps it was simply because of being a kid in a awful place like this.

"Well safe or not,I have to thank you as well. We might have been goners if it wasn't for you." Nala gently pushed Peko away and shaked hands with Ritsuka.

"Just doing what I think was right." Ritsuka saw that Nala was the brave and social one of the pair. And also knew how to fight. These two siblings were really opposite from each other in personalities.

"Still you could have ended up killed. You are not only reckless,but dumb too." Olga critizised Ritsuka once again.

Nala looked at Olga with a mean gaze before turning her head to Ritsuka. "Is she always bossy and grumpy?" Olga hold her tongue,trying to not verbally lash out at Nala.

"Hmm,sometimes. But you should still thank her. It may be hard to believe it, but she was the first one to run to this crater has soon as she heard someone was in danger." Ritsuka told Nala, giving a bit of credit to Olga.

"Huh? Really?" Nala asked to wich Ritsuka just nod. The silent answer made the girl reconsider her attitude torwards the older woman.

"Sorry for that then,I guess. You have a good heart if what Ritsuka's saying is true." Nala went torwards Olga to shake hands, admitting she judged her wrong.

"Hope we can get in better terms."

The director of Chaldea was taken a bit by surprise at the action of Ritsuka defending her and Nala apologizing immediatly after insulting her.

"S-sure! My name is Olga Marie. I forgive your sad attitude back there. But please, learn to hold your tongue next time." And with that,they both shaked hands.

"I'd say that's impossible." Peko reached nearby Olga to shake hands with her as well.

"My sister has quite a sharp tongue. It's nice to meet you as well."

"The same goes for you. Good to see you and your sister are both safe." Olga showed a little smirk. "At least this one seems educated."

With that, Cú was the only who had to introduce himself to the kids.

"Yo! Cú Chulainn here. Good to meet you two." He said relaxed and happily, standing a few feet away from Peko and Nala.

"You're the one with those sick magic spells right? It was damn cool!" Nala complimented the caster's spells.

"Oh, no need to say that kiddo. My magic isn't that fascinating compared with other people." Cú tried to stay modest.

"Well for me that was amazing!"

"Hahaha. If you say so."

"Fou fou." Fou came from Mash's shoulder and walked right next to the two kids.

"Hm? I-Is that some kind of mixture of rabbit and cat?" Peko asked confused.

"Fou fou." Fou looked a bit displeased at Peko's view on the animal.

"Hehehe. I don't blame you if you don't know it species." Mash grabed Fou. "Neither we know. It's a magical creature that appeard just one day."

"Wow! That looks quite incredible!" Peko replied. "Hmm...Can I pat him?" Peko asked a bit relutantly.

"Hehe. Of course you can. He isn't agressive. His name is Fou." Mash handed Fou to Peko who started to pat him. Peko seemed more calm now.

"Hey! Let me pat him too!" Nala rushed to her brother who after some seconds passed Fou to her.

"He's fluffy. And cute as well." Nala stroked Fou's fur. The creature was liking it.

Nala let Fou out of her grasp and he went again back to Mash.

"Now that we've introduced to each other I think we should proceed again." Cú reminded everyone in the group of their goal. "The mountain isn't too far ahead."

The group minus Nala and Peko nodded in agreement.

"Sure! But before that..." Ritsuka stared at the two white haired kids. "Peko,Nala, where did you came from?" The master of humanity didn't realized the gravity of the question he had just made.

"Huh?..." Peko and Nala looked puzzled at Ritsuka.

"W-where...did we came from?" Peko said in a low tone, his face looking pale.

"Something's wrong? Peko, Nala?" Mash was a bit worried by the suspense surrounding the two kids.

"We..." Nala spoked in a dread tone as she wore an expression like she had just seen a ghost. "We don't remember."

Her answer shocked the entire group.

"What!? You don't remember your home?" Olga was perplexed.

"We-"

"Hrghrr"

Nala was interrupted when a painful grunt came out from Peko as the white haired boy was holding his head in agony and falling to his knees.

"Ahrgg...It hurts! It hurts!" Peko screamed in pain making Nala immediatly worried and everyone else rush torwards the two.

"Peko what's wrong?! Are you ok?!" Nala hold her bother by the shoulders but she was immediatly shoved aside by Peko.

"Peko,stay strong!" Ritsuka exclaimed, trying to descalate the situation.

"Have you seen what you did?!" Olga shouted at Ritsuka who didn't take it easy this time.

"Oh! So this is my fault as well?!" Ritsuka shouted back.

"Please stop you two! This situation is already dire as it is! Peko needs our help now!" Mash called Ritsuka and Olga to reason, stopping what would be a squabble beetween them.

And it was true that Peko was indeed in a great pain,now lying on the ground.

"Tell me what is it Peko! Please!" Nala kneeled down near her brother as the headache on the boy would grow.

In Peko's mind, everything was hazy and dark. Static images passing at light speed through is vision. The boy just didn't know what they could possibly mean.

"Hallways in flames..."

"Darkness...everywhere..."

"...A beast..."

" ...Dad...dad...dad,dad,dad,dad,dad,dad."

And the pain had reached to it's climax.

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!" Peko screamed as loudly as his lungs would allow him to the red sky, making everyone around him to startle.

Now in a weak state, Peko felt his head more lightly than ever,his vision getting tired and confused. The sight of Nala calling his name as the eyes would slowly close, was the last thing Peko saw before falling unconscious.

"Where...did I came from?"

To be continued...

And that's it for chapter 1 of my new series that I always thought about writing it.

Was I a bit too mean with Olga? Perhaps,but her personality in the start of the game also doesn't help her that much.

Fortunately next chapter won't have that much of Olga slander.

And yes Peko and Nala are the oc's of my fanfiction here. You can see already the difference beetween the two.

Nala is the extroverted and brave one while Peko is the introverted and scared. A warning that Peko will be a wimp in this series first chapters but he'll gradually evolve in the course of the series. So yeah, if you don't like him already that's okay. He is supposed to be like that in the beggining.

Now I'll try to give as much personality as I can to Ritsuka since,you know,he kinda doesn't have much in the first saga of FGO. So yeah,Ritsuka is still a main character in this fanfiction and will still have an important role. My objective isn't to overshadow him by the existence of Nala and Peko but to all get the mc spotlight.

Well that's all I wanted to say and see you next time for chapter 2. Peace!

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me,the author.

"Hmm..." Peko's dark eyes were slowly opening as the boy felt no more pain from moments ago, his head feeling normal now. His vision was still a bit blurry,but he could already see the figure of Nala appearing right next to him.

"Hey everyone! Peko is finally waking up!" She delivered the news of her brother recovery to the others.

The boy then stood up, still a bit stunned. "Did I...passed out?" He asked to himself before seeing the rest of the group all gathered around a bonfire, looking directly at him.

"Yes you did. We had to carry you along the way. Thankfully we didn't encounter any monsters in our way." Mash smiled at the sight of Peko's recovery.

Ritsuka was still a bit concerned "You sure you are okay now?" He asked. "I'm sorry for making that question. I didn't know that you..." He stopped talking in regret.

"Oh! I-it wasn't your fault!" Peko quickly tried to make Ritsuka feel less guilty. "I'm the one to blame for not having any memories of my home." The boy said saddened.

Peko looked around the area that they were now in. They seemed to be surrounded by trees,in the middle of a forest. Some feet away from them there was a path laid out on the floor.

"Where are we?"

"At the foot of the mountain." Cú answered. "We are just some feet away from our objective."

"But we had decided to take a break to recover up and see if you would wake up from that headache attack." Olga gave the rest of the information to Peko. He looked at the path behind him.

"You know..." He said.

"You guys still haven't said what's that objective of yours to me and Nala."

"Yeah. I think we should get the right to know it." Nala backed up her brother. The girl touched her right shoulder who had been bandaged recently,feeling a bit of pain still coming from it.

"Sis! Are you ok?" Peko asked a bit worried.

Nala just gave him a reassuring smile. "Pfff. This is nothing Peko. It's not a scratch like this one that will bring me down." She said with proudness. "Also,thanks Olga for making the bandage to stop the bleeding." She thanked to the white haired woman sitting next to her.

"It's nothing special really." The director said while shoving her hair. "I mean, making first aid bandages was one of the first things that I learned to do as a kid." Olga's face was showing her look of superiority. "What matters is that you're fine."

Nala pouted. "Sheesh. Can you at least show more of your caring side?"

Ritsuka cackled a bit at the two. "At least you two are getting along a bit better."

Mash smiled as well. "It's like watching a big and little sister scuffle at each other." She said.

Both Olga and Nala squirmed at the demi-servant's comment.

"Please,don't say that again Mash."

"Yeah,really."

The rest of the group laughed a bit at the reaction. The mood was overall good. Fou even appeard behind Mash to head torwards Peko.

"Ahaha. I see that you're ok too Fou." Peko patted the animal on his belly. And Fou seemed to like it.

Then,out of nowhere, an hologram appeard to the group.

"Uff. Sorry for the absence I had to take a break to the bathroom." Said Romani, the doctor of Chaldea. "Are you doing o-"

Like if he had lost the ability to speak, Romani stood silent as he spotted Peko and Nala. The doctor and the two kids stared at each other for what looked like some long seconds.

"Wh-WHAT ARE TWO KIDS DOING HERE?!" He screamed comically. "Are they hurt?! They were originaly from this Fuyuki?! How long have they been in this place?!"

"Please doctor calm down." Mash said to the now hysterically doctor,sighing.

"Well. Peko,Nala, meet our great doctor...Romani Archaman!" Ritsuka exclaimed like if he was doing a presentation. "He is a bit of a nerd but taking that out he is a good person." Ritsuka whispered to the two kids. Romani still heard it.

"That was heartless from you Ritsuka!" Romani protested.

"Yeah,yeah. Could you please keep it quiet Romani?" Olga demanded.

The doctor recomposed himself immediatly. "Sorry for that guys. I was just taken a back by the kids appearence. Anyway who are you two?" Romani asked to Peko and Nala.

"My name is Peko. Nice to meet you." The white haired boy was the first to respond.

"And mine's Nala. Nice to meet you too." She said.

Romani let out a little smirk. "I see" he said to himself. "It's good to meet you as well, Peko and Nala."

With the introduction done, Romani started to bring up the important topic. "Anyway, I can feel that the source of the Greater Grail is nearby. We must be close to the cavern's entrance of the mountain. Once inside there, we will probably have to deal with the Saber that is guarding the grail."

Cú got up from the ground. "So it's time." He looked to the rest of the group. "Is everyone ready for this?"

Olga just nod,giving confirmatiom from her part.

"Senpai?" Mash asked turning her head to Ritsuka.

"Count me ready Mash." The master said trying to sound confident. But his peripheral vision spotted a Peko who seemed rather scared. Nala was right next to him.

"If you don't wanna go just say it. I'll stay here with you." Nala knew that Peko inside the cave would put him in extreme danger if the foe they had to fight was soemone even more stronger than the skeletons. Her brother would go into dispair very quickly.

"I...it's just..." Peko himself acknowledge that he was probably nothing more than a pushover to the others and would only slow them down by going with them to the cavern. "I'm useless! I barely know how to fight or how to wield a sword! You should just go without me!" Tears started to show up in Peko's dark eyes as the revelation was made.

"Peko..." Nala put a hand in his shoulder.

"So what?" Ritsuka's voice broked down the bad mood. "You're still going with us. I'm not leaving anyone behind." The master of humanity smiled.

"Ritsuka..." Peko was impressed by the acceptance of Ritsuka to still let Peko go with them and not seeing the kid as dead weight.

"Besides,I am not that much of a fighter myself! Hell, I was just a simple dude who was picked randomly to do this job. So I could care less if you are good at fighting or not. We will leave this place together!" Ritsuka exclaimed,boosting a little Peko's morale.

"That's right." Mash approached them. "We wont abandon you because of your lack of fighting skills. If things go south, I'll make sure to protect you."

"Count me in too." Olga joined the conversation. "You may not be a master or one of my people, but I won't let a child behind. That wouldn't go well with my reputation." Olga smiled at him.

"Same here kid." Cú said. "I won't let you die no matter what."

"You really think...I'm worth all that?" Peko was still a bit reluctant but surprised at everyone disposition to keep him safe.

"Don't say stupid things like that idiot!" Nala punched him softly in the head before smiling. "Its clear that we won't give up on you that easily. At least I wont."

Those words were enough. Peko felt a bit of the pressure being taken off his shoulders.

"Guys..."

Ritsuka crouched down before Peko and held out his hand to the boy. "Are you ready to go,Peko?"

Leaving the insecurities aside, Peko was now with the sensation that he and Nala could start trusting a bit in Ritsuka and the others as they didn't looked like bad people.

"Sure! Let's go then!" The boy accepted with a smile, touching hands with Ritsuka.

"That's the spirit Peko." Nala commented happily. Mash,Olga,Cú and Romani also appreciated the interaction of encouragement between the master of humanity and the white haired boy.

"Good! Let's all proceed people!" Romani exclaimed and everyone started to walk in direction of the cavern's entrance, ready for the foes that they may encounter.

"Hey Ritsuka. Can I talk to you for a moment?" Olga asked to the dark haired teenager as they had just entered the cavern.

"Hmm? Sure. Go ahead director." Ritsuka slowed down a bit,staying behind with Olga.

Olga took a deep breath. "Look, I'm sorry for being agressive and unfriednly to you ever since we first met back at Chaldea. I was too pissed and angry at the situation that I directed it to you."

"Why are you saying that now Director?" Ritsuka didn't think that Olga would apologize to him all of a sudden.

"It's because...I felt a bit guilty about my attitudes torwards you when you actually are just trying to do your best." The white haired woman's hand touched her left shoulder. "And since you are probably one of our only hopes, I shouldn't be treating you so rudely."

"Well I didn't expect the Director herself to give me a personal apology." Ritsuka couldn't hide his smirk.

"H-hey don't abuse it! I'm being generous!" Olga frowned.

"Hahaha. I know,I know."

"Either way. I have to tell you something about Peko." The director approached Ritsuka, making sure only him would hear it.

"Hm? What does Peko have?" Ritsuka asked confused at Olga.

"It's clear that we all know that he's weak in contrast to Nala. But that's not the only difference between the two." Olga looked directly at the boy in front of her who was walking normally, not noticing the eyes staring at him.

"Not the only difference?"

"Yes. You probably can't sense it,since your magic circuits are weak to almost non existent. But for a mage like me, I can feel something on Peko."

Ritsuka got curious. "What is it then?"

"Hmmm, I'd say it's..."

Up ahead, Mash and Nala were talking with each other as Cú and Peko followed nearby.

The girl was with her sword in hand, analyzing it carefully, trying to remember when did she got this weapon.

"Do you also don't have memory of when you got that sword?" Mash asked looking at the sword. It was such a polished and clean sword. Almost as white and gleaming as light itself. The metallic hilt was decorated with two tiny metalic wings and the pommel with a red rose who was in a state that it had yet to bloom. It was quite a beautiful blade.

"Nope. And it's so strange. I have a feeling of connection with it and a certain familiarity, despite not knowing when I got it and from who." This mystery was bugging Nala's mind. If she was able to fight with it, that meant she already posessed the sword before this. But when and for how long?

"No worries Nala-san." Mash said. "I'm sure that you will eventualy figure that out along with all the other memories from your past. I too have things that I'd like to resolve." The shielder, altough not clearly, referred to the servant she fused with in order to become a servant. Or at least, half of it.

Nala returned the favor. "Thanks Mash. I'll make sure to try it. No matter how long it takes!"

Being silent for a while, Cú decided to speak with Peko who was trying is best to not appear frightned but his face could tell that the kid was scared and nervous.

"You know..." Cú's voice heading to Peko caught him by surprise. "You can say that you feel scared as hell. There's no need to hide it. I won't mock you."

"I-I know b-but this place has a scary aura." Peko gagged a bit. The cavern was really cold and quite dark. The fact that it was also a headquarters to an evil servant was no help either. Peko was regretting his decision of having to come here and Cú knew it.

"Hey kiddo." Cú would try to change topics to see if Peko could get more relaxed. "Of what I got from your headache episode,is that you and your sister have a father,right?"

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry if I'm forcing you to remember." Cú apologized in antecipation. "However, you yelled the word 'dad' right before falling unconscious. That means that you at least had a father figure in your life before showing up here." The caster tried to see if he could find and help Peko trigger some memories of his past.

The boy rubbed his head, pensative. "I guess... we have it. But,I couldn't even see his face right. My head was all fuzzy and hurting that I barely could see him. Even so, when I looked, my heart and mind told me that man was my and Nala's dad."

"Perhaps he is one of the reasons for sending you here." Cú pondered.

"I...don't know." Peko said with slowly anguish. "And if he did,why? Where is he? Who is he? I don't even remember his name or how he looks like." Peko was frustrated. Only having knowledge that he has a father and nothing else was truly agonizing. And like her brother, Nala couldn't remember who their parent was.

"Dad or not, I'm sure he's a very important person to you. I'm sure he's probably looking for you two right now." Cú put an hand on Peko's shoulder. "Just don't lose hope and you'll eventualy find him."

"Y-you're right." Peko was aware that it would take time until he discovered the identity of his dad but he along with his sister wouldn't stop until they found him. Complaining about the amnesia now was not the right thing to do if they wanted to gather clues.

"Hey Cú!" Ritsuka called the caster servant as he and Olga approached to the group. "Who is this evil saber that has the grail anyway?"

Cú stopped walking for a moment. "Oh that's right. I forgot to tell you. The identity of that servant is-"

"King Arthur wich sword that she wields is the very Noble Phantasm, Excalibur." A voice came out of nowhere, putting everyone on high alert. From the shadows up ahead of them came a figure. A tan skinned white haired man wielding a bow. Red blood coming out of his right eye and arm. There was no doubt that he was dangerous and probably a minion of saber.

"Heh. Nice to see you too Archer." Cú maintained a cool and relaxed pose.

"King Arthur?! Arthur Pendragon from the Round Table?! That's the servant we have to defeat?" Olga exclaimed. She had heard the myths and legends of the british king before. It would be an hard task to defeat her,almost impossible.

"It is indeed." Archer looked to Peko and Nala. "Hmm? Kids here? I tought everyone from Fuyuki had been vanquished." Nala's grip on her sword got tighter. She wouldn't let this man hurt her brother. As for Peko himself, Mash was quick to guard him.

"Be next to me Peko-san! You too Senpai and Director!" She said. The boy was shivering in fear, his heartbeat was beating faster and faster. He tried as hard as he could to keep his composure.

"Alright Mash! Are you ready for it?" Ritsuka was prepared to give Mash orders as her master.

"Yes Senpai! Let's do it!" She affirmed.

"I won't let you hurt my brother!" Nala shouted determined altough a bit nervous. She looked at Cú. "Are you ready too?" Cú didn't answered immediatly,instead the blue caster just drop off his combat mode.

"You can all go ahead. I'll take care of him." He said calmly. Those words shocked the group.

"Wha- Are you sure you can really handle him alone?" Ritsuka asked incredulously. The master of humanity knew that he was strong, but Archer also seemed strong. It was a dangerous bet to let Cú fight this enemy alone.

"I agree with Ritsuka. You sure you won't need help?" Nala was also doubtful if her allie could take the opponent all by himself.

"Sure! Don't worry about it. I knew this guy for a long time. I'm memorized with his attack patterns." Cú was still with a relaxed vibe.

"Really Setanta-san?" Mash couldn't really trust the caster's statement.

"I promise I won't die. I'll catch with you later." While everyone was silent and thinking about whether or not to leave Cú behind, Olga had already made the decision.

"Alright then! We'll go ahead!" Her imposing voice of Director coming out of her mouth. "Open a path for us in order to proceed." She demanded.

"Director..." Mash was surprised by Olga's choice, but she knew that they couldn't waste much time, not when the objective was near. Ritsuka on the other hand wanted to protest the decision but it wasn't the moment for it.

"It's an order Mash." He said. "We have to respect the Director and Cú choices."

Mash nodded in defeat, accepting the fact that they would have to continue and let Cú behind.

"To hell with that!" Nala was still refusing to leave the caster behind. "I won't take orders from you!" She shouted at Olga.

"Kid." Cú and Nala looked each other in the eyes. "I'll be fine. Go ahead with your brother and make sure his safe." Those words made Nala rethink a little. She accepted it. Peko's anxiety would grow if he didn't know if her sister was safe or not. And the saber fight would probably be difficult. She needed to protect her brother to prevent any bad thing from happening to him.

"Ok." She said defeatedly.

"Alright! Now go up ahead and don't stop!" Cú yelled to everyone and they started running torwards the path on front of them that was being guarded by Archer.

"Hmm. All of you charging torwards me, hoping to proceed?" He took out an arrow and pointed at them. "How foolish." But before he could take the shot, he noticed a blue beam of magic going torwards him at an incredible speed. Archer reflexes where faster and the servant was able to get out of the way in time, almost being caught by the beam. Unfortunately for him, that made the path ahead clear for the group to pass.

"Tsk. That damn caster." Archer clenched his theets. He grabbed another arrow and this time he made sure to be quick enough to shot it at the group. However Cú deflected it with his staff.

"Oi,oi,oi. I'm your adversary here Archer. Don't try and hurt simple bystanders." Cú smugged a little, making the Archer even more irritated.

And so the two started to clash.

Still running, the rest of the group now without Cú was near the location of the grail. The tunnel they were in was almost ending. They could see a light ahead.

"Do-do you think he's going to be alright?" Peko asked to everyone.

"Cú is strong. Strong enough to take care of himself. I'm sure he'll win against that guy." Ritsuka told Peko, believing on his combat skills that Ritsuka witnessed before.

"I hope so." Peko wasn't sure if Cú could win. And a part of his heart was filled with remorse. Remorse that it could probably be the last time he would see the blue caster and couldn't give a proper goodbye. In a moment they were talking and in the next one Cú could be dead. Peko wished that wouldn't be the case.

"Now it's not time to think about him." Olga ended the topic. "The grail is really a few meters away. And so is King Arthur." She looked at Nala.

"You don't need to tell me." Nala said without looking at the director of Chaldeas, confirming she was ready to fight despite of the enemy strenght.

Olga couldn't help but let it out a sly smile. "I was just checking if you wouldn't chicken out from the fight."

"S-shut up!" The girl yelled comically at the older woman.

"Mash?" Ritsuka gazed at his servant.

"Count me in too Senpai" Mash responded.

"Good. And Peko." Ritsuka was about to warn Peko. "Stay close to me during the fight,got it?"

Peko nodded. "Sure!"

The hologram of Romani appeard. "Okay guys! You are close from the source of the grail. Be ready to fight that saber servant. Good luck to all of you!" And then he went off.

The group had finally reached to the room of the Greater Grail. It was a really huge chamber. However, the main thing on it was certainly the giant ray of light comming from the center and on top of a rocky hill. It was the Holy Grail itself. The magic emanating from it huge. The only thing keeping the distance from the group and grail, was a black armor knight.

Arthur Pendragon himself. Or herself,for in this case,the knight was a woman. Pale sking as well as pale blonde hair and yellow eyes, Artoria Pendragon was waiting patiently for the arrival of her foes.

"So you've come." The voice of the dark king of knights was filled with cold and apathy, showing that she would have no mercy in killing her enemies that had just reached here.

"So that's King Arthur huh?" Despite being nervous upon the presence of a great king, Ritsuka tried to keep calm.

"King or not, I'll defeat her." Nala said, confidence in her voice. Inside, she was actualy a bit scared, not trusting in her capabilities enough to win this fight. But she couldn't let herself be weak. Not in front of Peko.

"Right Nala-san! We will defeat this servant one way or another." Mash went up to the front of the group next to Nala. Ritsuka and Peko were the ones more behind, with the master protecting the boy.

"We will make out of this okay Peko. Trust me." Ritsuka gave a comforting smile to Peko.

"You know that if Mash and Nala go down I'll be the one to fight since I'm the most capable one of doing it out of us three, right?" Olga explained the situation if it went horribly.

"I-I believe in Nala and Mash!" Peko said shyly,hiding himself behind Ritsuka.

"If you really want to defeat me in a fight..." Artoria Alter took out her sword. A black and red version of Excalibur. "I want to see if you can endure my Noble Phantasm." In that moment, shivers went down Mash and Nala's spine.

"E-endure a what?" Nala was confused but still got the feeling that what Artoria Alter refered too was serious and it didn't sound good.

"I want to see if the shield of that lady can be put to a good use. It feels familiar to me." The dark knight explained, starting to charge up her Excalibur.

"She wants to test out my Noble Phantasm?" Mash was insecure. She still wasn't able to unleash her Noble Phantasm at full capacity and it has only been some hours ago that she was able to unblock her Noble Phantasm thanks to the help of Cú. The shielder didn't know if she was up to the task.

"Just dodge it!" Nala speaked to her. "Or try to block it while I go by the side and hit her!" She shared her strategy to the shielder.

"I'll go for those three there." Artoria Alter looked to Ritsuka, Olga and Peko. "So that you have no other choice but to shield them." Her Noble Phantasm was nearly charged. Ritsuka and Olga got worried and Peko was starting to despair again, hugging Ritsuka's waist as hard as he could.

"No you won't!" Nala roared. "I won't let you hurt them!" She was about to rush torwards the king of knights when her Noble Phantasm was fully charged.

"Ex-"

Nala,in a flash, jumped to Artoria's right side. "You're open!" She screamed. It seemed that was what the king of knights was expecting. She lifted her right leg fast and kicked Nala right in the stomach.

"Predictable." Artoria said,bored. Nala went flying some feet away before landing hardly on the ground.

"NALA!" Peko screamed and was about to go torwards his sister only to be stop by Ritsuka.

"calibur"

"It's dangerous Peko!" He grabbed the boy by the pulse.

"Tch! Damn that girl! I know you're more capable than that!" Olga shouted, trying to motivate a struggling Nala who was still on the floor.

The group was desoriented, not paying attention to the Noble Phantasm that was about to be released on them. It went so fast that no one would be able to react quick enough. Artoria Alter had the group in the palm of her hand and three of that group were about to be smashed and reduced to dust.

"MORGAN!"

And the blast has unleashed. Ritsuka, Olga and Peko had no escape. They were doomed to perish here.

Except the blast never came to hit them.

"Hrghrghh" In front of them, Mash was blocking Artoria's Noble Phantasm with the shield. She was pouring every bit of strenght she had to stop the attack.

"Mash...y-you are doing it!" Ritsuka yelled, astonished by the feat that his servant was doing. Olga and Peko were surprised as well.

"It's truly interesting. However,how long can you keep protecting them?" The blast of Artoria Alter grew stronger and Mash was having an hard time trying to block it. She felt her strenght starting to fade.

"She won't be able to hold it back much longer!" Peko noticed it in alarm.

"C'mon Mash! Don't give up!" Olga shouted at the demi-servant.

"Rrghr! I'm...trying to!" Mash replied,her body screaming in pain. She was pushing her limits.

"Your effort is admirable. But it's time to end this." The king of knights let the beam go stronger and stronger. Mash arms were about to give up.

"I...I can't do it. I'm sorry." As her eyes closed and she was ready to lose her life alongside everyone else,she felt something touch her hand. As she opened her eyes again to see who it was she saw Ritsuka standing right next to her, holding the shield against the beam.

"Senpai." She said gladly to see her master helping her.

"I trust you." Those simple words from Ritsuka and a red glow from his command seals were enough to give Mash the strenght back.

"I won't dissapoint you then, Master." With her renowed strenght, Mash now was able to activate it. Her Noble Phantasm. The shield started to glow brighter blue by the second. A huge blue wall appeard right in front of them, like if the shield had tranformed into that wall.

"It's her Noble Phantasm..." Olga whispered as she was holding Peko who was witnessing it as well.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Mash screamed with all her might, pushing the Artoria Alter Noble Phantasm back.

"Such power..." The dark knight wasn't expecting the situation to be reversed. The shield was more durable than she had tought.

"Lord Chaldeas!"

The beam not being able to penetrate the wall, went all the way back to it's owner, hiting Artoria Alter in a huge explosion instead.

Peko was amazed. What a comeback he had seen. "They...they did it."

Ritsuka and Mash smiled to each other before Mash felt exhausted from all the effort she put through, about to fall on the ground but being caught by Ritsuka.

"You did well Mash." Ritsuka hugged her.

"Don't think this is far from over!" The cold voice from Artoria Alter as she came out from the cloud of dust a bit hurt broke the short peace the group was having. She was visibly angry now.

"Damn it! She's still up! What we're going to do now?!" Olga panicked a little. "Either way you need stay behind me." She told Peko.

"Is she at least weakened?" He asked. Peko got the immediate response when Artoria Alter proceeded to charge her Noble Phantasm again.

"No she's not!" Olga exclaimed in fear.

"Mash!" Ritsuka looked at Mash to see if she was in condition to block another Noble Phantasm. The shielder despite it's fatigue would try and block the beam again.

"It's ok...master. We...aren't over yet...anyway." She tried to to maintain her Lord Chaldeas active but her Noble Phantasm was starting to dissapear. She was in no condition to continue fighting.

"Excalibur-"

As Artoria Alter was about to unleash her Noble Phantasm a second time, she heard footsteps coming from her right. She realized too late of who she had forgot.

"You-"

A cut went right through her waist, cancelling the evil servant's Noble Phantasm who grunted in pain as red blood spilled from her body.

"Was this predictable to you too?" Nala shouted, getting payback at Artoria Alter for their previous clash.

"Sis!" Peko exclaimed,happily for seeing his sister getting back up to fight.

"That was a close call. I tought you were down already." Olga still showed her relief, seeing that Nala was ok.

"As if!" Nala smiled at the group. "I won't go down that easily!"

"You damn brat!" Artoria Alter was furious. She wouldn't allow to be defeated against someone like her. Altough, before the saber could lash out her attacks at Nala, a voice echoed through the chamber.

"Good to see you guys are all intact." It was a voice that immediatly transmited safety to Ritsuka and the others. "I'll finish her right now!" Running from behind the group, he appeard.

Cú had come to their rescue.

"Cú!" Peko yelled in joy upon seeing that the blue caster was able to win the fight against that archer, altough he was topless now and a bit injured.

"Wicker Man!" Jumping right in front of Mash and Ritsuka, the caster activated his Noble Phantasm. The floor started to tremble as a huge strawman was summoned.

'Wha-" Artoria Alter didn't even got time to react as the Wicker Man caught her, opened the door that was in the middle of his body and threw her inside, locking the saber in it.

Flames started to show up on the ground and the Wicker Man immediatly fell down with intuiton of being set on fire while Artoria Alter was still inside him. Once he has done that, his body was now full of flames and fire. With that, the Wicker Man exploded and a giant ray of fire went up through the skies.

Everyone watched in awe to what Cú's Noble Phantasm had just did.

With the Noble Phantasm now over, the clouds of smoke cleared up and Artoria Alter still was on her feet standing. But as Nala was about to strike her, Cú stoped her. "She's defeated already." He said to the girl.

"Huh?" Nala took a glance at her opponent and she realized what Cú meant by that. Her body was starting to fade. They have defeated her.

"So in the end the power of protection is the victorious one. It could only make sense, coming from a pure being." She was calm and even shown a smile to her enemies. "How depressing. No matter what my fate becomes, I'll always meet the same end when alone."

"What's that supposed to mean? Are you hiding something from us?" Cú accused Artoria Alter, suspecting that she knew about something that they didn't.

"You'll eventualy realize it as well, Ireland's Child of Light." Artoria Alter's body was almost vanished. "Grand Order..." Olga gasped at the name referred by the saber. How did she knew about their mission? "The battle to obtain the Holy Grail, has just begun." And Artoria Alter dissapeard completely, no trace from her body left except from a mysterious crystal she left behind.

"Wow. She really decided to speak some non sense at the end. Like that will clarify anything." Nala commented before unsommuning her sword. They've done it. Their first battle has been won.

"It wouldn't sound like that if she had more time to explain it- Whoa! Wait what?!" Cú was caught off guard as he saw his body starting to fade. "Crap. Looks like my time is up too."

"Cú wait!" Peko went running right besides the blue caster. "Thank you for saving us! I'm really grateful for the things you did!" Peko was making sure to thank him in time. "I-I'll make sure to be stronger next time we meet! Oh, and find my dad until then. I promise you that!"

Cú just smiled at the boy words. "Heh. You don't need to show all that gratitude kiddo. I'm glad you want to become stronger and find your dad. Never let go of those things. And you better become stronger next time we meet do you hear me?"

"Yes! I will!" Peko promised.

"I'm going to miss you. You had such cool attacks! And that Noble Phantasm of yours was really amazing!" Nala praised Cú wich made the caster laugh.

"Hahahaha. If you think that then you should see my skills as a lancer!" Seeing that his body was almostly vanished, he gave his final goodbyes. "Well then, I leave the rest to you Ritsuka! And if there's a next time, summon me as a lancer!" Cú's body has vanished.

The room was now silent, with the heat of the battle finally gone.

"Confirming the dissapearence of both Saber and Caster. It looks like we've won this Holy Grail War then." Mash reported to Dr. Romani who was now showing up in his hologram.

"That's right! You've done a good job, Mash, Ritsuka! Oh, and Nala too may I add."

"Hehehehe. We've done it brother! We won!" Nala hugged Peko around his neck as she jumped of happiness.

"Y-Yes we did sis! Could you please stop holding me like that?" Peko said, being unintentionally choked by his sister. Ritsuka, Mash and Romani laughed at the sight of the two kids.

"I even bet the Director must be pleased. Where is she anyways?" Romani wondered. A bit in the distance, Olga was thinking and hum something.

"How did she knew about the Grand Order? It doesn't make sense?" She was so deep in her toughts that she didn't noticed that the rest of the group was next to her.

"Helloooooo. Earth calling Director. Do we have contact?" Ritsuka played a little causing Peko and Nala to giggle.

That made Olga break her train of tought. "Hm?! Oh r-right. Good job Ritsuka, Mash."

"Aaaaand?" Nala crossed her arms, expecting to be congratulated.

"Sorry,but I don't remember of having a child master in my Chaldea." She smirked, toying a bit with Nala.

"Oh you big..." Nala pouted angrily, looking away.

"Oh, there,there." Olga patted Nala in the head. "There's no need to get all sulky. You did a good job as well Nala." She congratulated the girl who just humphed in return.

"Something tells me she enjoys teasing Nala." Peko whispered to wich Ritsuka and Mash agreed silently.

"Anyways, let's retrieve that crystal. It was probably the reason for why all this Singularity exists in the first place." Olga was talking about the crystal lying on the floor that Artoria Alter left behind.

"Yes indeed. We'll start-" The sound of clapping hands cut Mash from finishing her line. "Huh?"

"Well done. Briliantly well done I must say. It seemed I underestimated you Master Candidate #48. I shouldn't have mistakenly tought you as an useless buffon." A man appeard from the top of the rocky hill. "You truly have gone much further than I expected."

The man was wearing a green top hat as well as a green tuxedo. He seemed happy but threatning at the same time. "Professor Lev?" Mash asked in shock, believing that he had died in the explosion back at Chaldea.

"Lev!? Professor Lev is alive and there?!" Romani was also shocked as he saw the man he tought had died not many hours ago, alive and well.

"Oh,is that Romani I see?" Lev seemed bothered. "You ended up surviving then. I told you to come to the command room as soon as possible, but you didn't show up. Frankly..." The professor clenched his fists and his smile had dissapeard, his menancing eyes opening up instead.

"Trash that doesn't know how to follow orders. Makes me sick to the stomach just the mention of it. Why are humans always trying to avoid their destinies?" Professor Lev was really looking agressive. Tension could be felt in the air.

"Oh? And those two kids are also a surprise." He gazes at Peko and Nala. "The girl has a natural gift. I can sense it. The boy on the other hand..." Lev grinned widely. "Is just disposable garbage. It's a miracle itself that this weak being manage to survive this Singularity."

"You take back what you said about my brother!" Nala shouted with rage putting herself in front of Peko, meanwhile the boy just felt relegated by Lev's statement on him.

"Why? Does the irrefutable truth hurts him that much?" Lev asked, continuing to mock Peko.

"Master stay back! This isn't the Professor Lev that we knew!" Mash warned Ritsuka, knowing that something was off about this Lev. "Nala! Peko! You too should also stay away from him." Mash told the two.

"You're right. I also feel something sinister about this man." Peko said scared as he and Nala were still on suspicious and careful around this man they've just met.

But Olga was different. "Oh, Lev! You're alive! It's so good to see you again!" The director of Chaldea runned torwards the man, glad that he was actualy alive, not reading the actual mood of the room.

"Wait Director! That isn't the Lev that we know!" Despite of Ritsuka warning, Olga didn't seemed to hear, or she didn't want to hear. Finally she reached as close as she was able from Lev.

"Thank goodness you're alive! Without you I wouldn't be able to held Chaldea together." Olga said in relief.

"Oh,poor Olga. You seem fine but I can say you've been through a rough time." Lev falsely pitied Olga, altough she wasn't able to see right through it.

"Yes,yes,yes! The command room exploded, half the staff is dead, all the master candidates unconscious on their capsules, this hell of a place and I can't go back to Chaldea! All of this is making me go insane!" Olga told all the complications and the hard times she had on this past few hours to Lev.

"But I'm relaxed as long as you are here Lev. With you, everything will be fine. It's always been like this,right? You will help me this time too won't you?" Olga's dependency on Lev was so high that she still didn't realized the danger she had just put herself in.

"Oh,believe me that I will. Honestly, I too hate problems. They give me such a pain in the head. With the biggest problem being you,Olga. I had set the bomb right beneath you and yet you still live." That line came crushing like a train in Olga's mind. She just couldn't believe what Lev had just said.

"W-what? Lev? What do you mean by that?" Olga's voice shaken with doubt and fear.

"Sorry to say it, but currently you're not alive. Your body has been wiped out by the explosion. You're actualy dead." That not only shocked Olga even more as it shocked the rest of the group.

"She's been dead...all along?" Ritsuka asked to himself, realizing that this whole time in Fuyuki, Olga has never been alive.

"I-It can't be true." Nala also didn't want to believe it. She looked pretty much alive to Nala.

"However, the Trismegistus had rayshifted you to this Singularity after you had just become residual thoughts. In the end, you are just a mind with no body to call it home!" Despite the revation, Lev still wasn't done.

"Isn't it ironic? You were never able to rayshift while alive. But gained the ability to do so after dying. It's hilarious!" He laughed. "If you come back to Chaldea, your mind will vanish forever! You're stuck in this place."

"I-I'll vanish? I can't go back to Chaldea?" Olga trembled in fear and despair. She just couldn't have died right in the beggining.

"True! But that would be too sad of a story! Let me at least show you the Chaldeas that you've cherished for your entire life!" Calling the crystal back to him, Lev snapped his fingers and the image of a red Chaldeas appeard right behind him.

"Now observe the result of your family's idiocracy!" Lev declared.

"Is that Chaldeas? Why is it bright red? Tell me it's a lie Lev! It's nothing but an illusion!" Olga was in absolute denial and delusion that this is what become of her and her father's work.

"No. Quite the contrary, it's very real and I merged the dimensions for you. Having the Holy Grail allows me to do it so." Lev explained. "You can see it don't you? All red! Not even a small trace of blue. Humanity has been wiped out! Ah, once again your incompetence leads to tragedy." Lev was enjoying his time of breaking Olga's hopes more and more.

Only now the director was capable of realizing that this man was not the Lev she was familiarized with. "D-Don't be absurd! Humanity isn't extinguished and I'm not dead! Who are you and what you did to my Chaldeas?"

Lev just got annoyed by Olga's words. "It was never yours to begin with. You're really an annoying girl." With a snap of his fingers, Olga's body started to levitate all of a sudden.

"What is happening? My body is being pulled across space?" Olga didn't know what was happening to her right now.

"Like I said, I connected Chaldeas to this place. I could kill you now very easily you know? But there is no beauty in doing that. Instead, I'll grant you a favour!" Lev smilled maniacaly. "Go ahead and touch your treasure! See it as my act of benevolence!"

"Wait! Stop! You're telling me to touch Chaldeas? A territory of dimensional anomaly?!" Olga asked, tears forming in her eyes. She was slowly getting closer to Chaldeas.

"Yes. No different from a black hole or the sun. Once a human touches it, it will suffer the most agonizing disintegration on a molecular level. Enjoy experiencing an infinite death for eternity." It was at this moment that Olga finally broke down, crying in despair as she pleaded for help.

"No! Please don't do it! Someone,help me! I don't want to die!" She shouted as hard as she could.

Not being able to just bare and watch, Ritsuka was about to go ahead and try to save her. "Director!" But before he could run, Mash grabbed his arm, not letting go from her grip.

"Don't go Master! You will suffer the same fate as her! There's nothing we could do for the Director!" Mash insisted.

Ritsuka didn't want to just stand there as he watched Olga having an agonizing death. "I know but..." Ritsuka looked down at the floor furiously. "Damn it! I can't just sit here doing nothing!"

Peko also wanted to save Olga. But he knew he was useless, and that also angered him up a bit. She was there to protect him and Peko wanted to retribute the favor. He had to ignore Olga's pleas as much as it hurted him. "I-I can't do nothing to help her!" Tears forming up on his eyes. "I don't serve for nothing but to be protected damn it!"

"Then I'll save her!" Nala passed right to Peko in an amazing speed, going torwards were Olga's body was levitating.

"No Nala! It's dangerous!" Peko yelled at his sister. But the girl wouldn't let her new friend suffer such cruel destiny.

"Please someone save me! I-I was never praised in my life before! Everyone hated me! No one ever valued me! Why this has to happen to me?!" Olga continued her desperate cries, desperatly hoping for someone to come and saver. Luckily for her, someone was coming to her rescue.

"OLGA!" Nala caught the attention of both Olga and Lev. She quickly climbed the rock hill, almost at the speed of light. She jumped as high as she could. Thankfuly, it was high enough to be on the same height as Olga.

They were still a bit apart from each other.

Nala stretched her arm as long as she was able to. "GRAB MY HAND!" She told the director. With a bit of hope, Olga also stretched her arm, trying to reach out to Nala's hand and grab her. They were really close of grabbing each other.

"Come one! Almost there!" But as it remained a tiny bit to the two female to grab each other's hands, a gravitational force pulled Nala all the way back to a wall of the cavern.

"She was close!" Mash showed her frustration on seeing Nala so close to save Olga. But alas, it wasn't enough.

"Hehehe. I should praise you for the good attempt you pulled off." Lev taunted, looking at Nala that was pinned down at the wall. "That is, if you actually succeeded on doing it!"

Nala tried to fight against the force of gravity pinning her down but it's strenght was much more powerful than her will.

"D-damn you!" She cursed at Lev.

"Please! No,no,no,no! I haven't accomplished anything yet!" Olga was now some feet away of touching Chaldeas. This was it. There was nothing they could do to save her.

"Don't look Peko!" Ritsuka immediatly hugged Peko, obstructing the boy's view of Olga about to meet her cruel fate. Peko was visibly shaken, the tought of seeing a person die in front of him was distrubing.

"Ever since I was born, I've never been accepted by anyone! I hate! Hate that feeling! I always felt like my whole life was whortless!" Olga's cries were about to end. Her body centimeters away from being burned.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooo..." Olga had made contact with Chaldeas, her body being desintegrated bit by bit. Olga Marie Animusphere was gone. Her last moments spent on futile and helpless cries of mercy and despair that gave her no help at all to make the deceased director escape from her eternal suffering.

"...!" Ritsuka felt Peko's grip on his arms tighten up. Even if the boy didn't saw it, he could tell that she was dead from the silence that the room was now, meaning that Olga's cries had ceased.

"We-we really couldn't have done nothing to save her?" Tears fell down from his eyes. On one moment everything was good and joyful, they had just beated the enemy without any casualty. And in the next one tragedy striked. Peko had just met Olga for a short amount of time, but it was still painful to see her being killed that way.

Mash gave a forced inhale. "No. We couldn't." It hurted saying that but it was the truth. Even with Nala's attempt, Lev crushed that hope of their director being rescued.

Lev cancelled out the gravitational force that was pinning Nala down. The girl got free from the wall and fell to the floor. "You scumbag! She trusted you!" Nala screamed furiously at Lev.

"And that was her fatal mistake. Serves it right for being such a weak human!" Lev laughed.

"You damn-" Nala was ready to go against this evil man, making him pay for what he had just done. But Mash was quick to stop her.

"Don't do it Nala-san! He's just trying to provoke you so that you end up commiting mistakes!" Mash saw that Nala was a very hot headed girl, and Lev was trying to take advantage of it.

Calming a bit down, Nala painfuly agreed with Mash. "Alright then."

"Now I guess I should introduce you my true name. Lev Lainur Flauros! In charge of the year 2015 to dispose of you humans." Lev had finally shown is true identity.

"And Dr Romani,as my previous friend and colleague let me tell you a final advice." He went back to grin maliciously. "Chaldea is finished! You humans have reached the moment of your destruction." He announced.

"Profes-No. Lev Lainur, What do you mean? Is this related to being unable to see 2017?" Romani tried to get answers out of Lev.

"No. You're deeply wrong. It's not 'related'. It's the reality that the end has arrived. The future never dissapeard. It was incinerated." He explained. "The very moment Chaldeas was dyed crimson, humanity's future had been over. Outside of Chaldea, the world has all met its doom. It no longer exists."

"So that was it. We didn't lose contact with the outside world. We have lost the outside world itself." Romani connected the dots, much to Lev annoyance.

"You're perceptive. A shame that you didn't got killed. But it doesn't matter! If Chaldea passes beyond the year of 2016 it will cease to exist! Humanity had just been destroyed by itself! You'll all be swiped away like scraps!" Before Lev could continue with is bragging about humanity's end, the cavern begun to colapse.

"Hm? This Singularity has a limit? Curse that saber. If she had obeyed me she would have lived. I gave her the Holy Grail and she still insisted on sustaining this era." Lev put those complaints aside to give farwell to the people he had tricked for so long.

"Farewell,Romani. And you too, Mash, Ristuka. Oh, and of course these two kids. Such a shame that you'll also end up dying here. Guess you will always remain a mystery to me." Lev let out a sigh, dissapointed that he will never know the origins of Peko and Nala.

"Either way, I have other things to do. My enjoyment of seeing your destruction ends here. So long friends!" And with that, Lev went away, dissapearing from the group.

"That guy..." Nala was angry that she couldn't done nothing but to watch Lev mock them and go off without having an opportunity to attack him.

"Now's not the time Nala! The cavern is collapsing and we need to get out of here" Ritsuka said, turning his head in direction to Mash. She understood what Ritsuka meant with that.

"Doctor! Perform an emergency Rayshift! We can still save Senpai, Peko and Nala!" She ordered Romani.

"Working on it!" He said. However the cavern was falling apart very fast.

"We're not gonna make it!" Peko shouted, still emotionaly disturbed by Olga's death. "We-we're gonna die!" Nala went right next to him.

"Don't say that! We're going to get out of this safely, I promise!" She tried to calm his brother.

"Mash! Peko! Nala! We need to stay close!" Ritsuka said to the rest of them and so everyone was next to each other,with Mash raising her shield to protect them from the falling derbies.

"Romani quick!" Mash yelled, seeing the dire situation they were in.

"You three at least..." Ritsuka said, willing to sacrifice himself for the safety of the others if needed.

"Ritsuka,your hand!" Nala noticed the command spells on Ritsuka glowing.

A huge boulder was near to crush them, but at the exact same time, Romani was able to Rayshift them, saving them from certain death and leaving this Singularity known as Fuyuki behind.

From afar, on top of a demolished building, a shadowy figure observed the Rayshift that transported Ritsuka and the others back to Chaldea. One could wonder what were the plans of this figure in all of this.

"It seems I'm not the only one with the same desire."

"Fou,fou." Ritsuka heard a similar sound before waking up.

"Huh? Fou?" As he opened his eyes, Ritsuka not only saw the animal in front of him but he noticed that he was inside Chaldea as well as a divison he has never been in.

"I'm back? The Rayshift ended up being successful then." He said to himself.

"Oh! Nice to see you're already awake." A female voice was heard as Ritsuka spoted a woman in front of him. "Just like a main character should. At least one of the main ones." She transmited a very radiant aura.

"Who are you?" Ritsuka asked for the woman's identity.

"Oh? Have you not heard about me? The explendid, creative and amazing Leonardo da Vinci? Painter of the Mona Lisa and wordly renowed inventor?" The extroverted woman introduced herself.

"Oh,yes! I've heard a lot about your inventions and paintings. Buuuuut, aren't you a woman?" Ritsuka knew that Leonardo da Vinci was a man, so why he was here in form of a woman?

"Hehehe. They say Mona Lisa is my most beautiful work ever done. And it indeed represents my ideal of beauty that I had persued this entire time. So, why not manifest as the ideal beauty itself as a servant?" Ritsuka was left with no words at the woman strange explanation for being the way she looked like.

"O-kay. Hm,anyway da Vinci. Where are Mash, Peko and Nala?" Ritsuka had to know if they made it as well and if they were fine.

"Sure. They are all in the command room. You're the last one to wake up." da Vinci informed him.

Without a second to lose, Ritsuka got up from the bed. "Got it! Thanks da Vinci!" He said, exiting out of the room in a hurry.

"Sheesh. Are kids all that energetic?" da Vinci asked to herself, patting Fou.

Reaching to the command room, Ritsuka saw everyone there. Mash, Peko, Nala, even Dr Romani was there. They noticed his arrival. "Good to see you back up Senpai." Mash said, now in her casual outfit.

"You too Mash." Ritsuka looked at Peko and Nala. They were fine too "Good to see that you've made it as well."

"Of course we did. We won't kick the bucket that easily until we find our dad and remember of our past." Nala smiled to the master of humanity. Peko was observing his surroundings.

"So this is Chaldea huh? It's really huge and big." He was marveled by the new location he was in. "Also, Romani explained the history of Chaldea's existence. Even tough it was a tad confusing."

"Don't worry about it Peko. It's kinda hard to understand for kids like you." Romani rubbed his head.

Ritsuka noticed Mash sadness on her face. "Huh? What is it Mash?" He asked concerned.

"It's just...not everyone is exactly here." Mash reminded them of Olga's recent death, still fresh on their minds. The mood had changed.

"I'm sorry. If I could at least done better..." Nala looked down at ground, frustrated at herself. Peko noticing it, comforted his sister.

"It's not your fault. You're the one who at least tried out of all of us here. I'm the one who should be ashamed at myself." Peko blamed himself, still remembering of the words Lev told about him.

"I know it's hard but what happened, happened. We must move on." Romani tried to keep everyone's spirits up. "A rough journey waits ahead of us." He turned around to face Chaldeas, who was now showing seven points on each zone of it's globe.

Ritsuka was puzzled by their emergence. "What are those Doctor?"

Romani's answer was short. "Singularities. Each one of them across space and time."

"Seven singularities? Do they have a meaning?" It was Mash turn to make the question.

"Yes. This are all humanity's turning points. They were fundamental for solidifying it's foundation. Without them, humanity crumbles. They are important to history. That's what they are." Romani continued to explain.

"Since they've been messed up, humanity ceased to exist. Like Lev said, we won't make it to 2017. But Chaldea still hasn't reached there. We still can fix this by going to each Singularity and fix them." Romani turned back to the group.

"More specificaly you. Our objective is the protection and recovery of human history. Our search target will be each era's relic and Grail that sustains the singularities." He headed torwards Ritsuka.

"And you Ritsuka Fujimaru,are our only active master. All the others are still unconscious. Are you up to such task?"

Ritsuka took some seconds to reflect. "Yes! You can count on me to do it Doctor." He's voice filled with determination, causing Romani to smile.

"Good." He then looked around in the direction of Peko and Nala, but mostly Nala. "How about you? I'm sure that this journey may help us find clues about your past. And I can tell you have good combat skills." He said.

Nala smiled confidently. "You bet it! I would've help anyway but if it helps to find our dad and past, I'll have more reasons to join and save humanity." She claimed.

Peko however, just look away and whispered to himself. "Sure. I'll try to not get in your way."

"Remember, our opponent it's history itself. Many heroes and legends will stand against you. But there's no other way if we want to preserve humanity to continue existing." Romani told the warnings they would have to face ahead.

"That's why we will give our best!" Mash said with the same confidence and determination as Ritsuka and Nala.

"Alright then." Romani said. "To reflect on our determination, we shall abandon the name of our previous mission, First Order. This will be Chaldea's last yet original mission: Grand Order!"

To be continued...

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author.

A sunny sky and a soft breeze running free along the vast green of the plain graced Peko's eyes as the boy looked around, not knowing where he was. The place was somewhat quiet and peaceful. That's when he spotted a man in front of him.

The man was on a seat, his back turned to Peko. It looked like he was doing something. Something that Peko couldn't quite see it.

Taking a few steps onwards, he started to see what the man was doing. He was painting. A regular sized canvas in front of him as with his right hand, he would paint the canvas with any sort of colour. With the curiosity growing more on the boy, Peko decided to take a closer look.

That is, if it wasn't for a feeling that something suddenly touched his foot.

As he gazed down to see what had caught him, Peko's pupils widened as he saw that the green and soft grass he was walking in just some seconds ago, was now a huge dark pool, with a couple of hands sprouting from it. Those same hands catching Peko's feet and now his leg as well.

In panic, Peko struggled against it, but the hands were more and more as also grew stronger. Peko wanted to scream for help. That the man painting would help him since it looked like he didn't noticed the danger Peko was in. But for some reason, Peko couldn't scream.

He couldn't do anything but try as hard as he could to get free from the hands grip. The green grass was slowly being replaced by the dark pool as the same was happening to the blue sky, being assaulted by an equal type of darkness. The man on his painting, not only still hadn't noticed the awful change on the environment, was now starting to fade.

Peko's body was now halfway inside the dark pool and it would only be a matter of seconds before having the whole body under it. The heartbeat was faster. The man almost out of sight. The lungs screaming for air. The swings of the arms and legs getting more wild. His eyes getting plunged into the black water.

"AH!" Peko woke up startled, sweating from what he had just experience. Taking a look at his surroundings Peko saw that he was in his and Nala's bedroom in Chaldea. Da Vinci and Romani had disponabilize the bedroom for the two of them.

"It was...just a nightmare." Peko relaxed down, knowing now that whatever it was, it was only a nightmare. But the painter he saw in it. Who could he be? Or was that just a product of Peko's dream? "Dreams are weird." The boy muttered to himself, dismissing what he saw for being just stuff in his head.

Peko turned his head to the right, where Nala's bed would be. It was empty. The clue of the messy blankets and the state that it was still waiting to be maked, told him that Nala was already awake. She wasn't on the room either.

That's when Peko's mind clicked.

" Oh! It's today!"

In the command room Ritsuka, Mash and Nala were standing next to Romani who was about to give them the details about the very first Singularity they were about to go into.

"Good morning to all of you. Did you slept well Nala?" Romani asked Nala.

"Sure! The bed is comfy. Thank you for giving me and Peko a bedroom." She shown her gratitude to Romani.

"It's good to see that you two are getting adjusted to the place. Normally it would get some time for feeling comfortable in a new environment." Mash said.

"I guess that's because since I don't remember of my home, I just have to accept this place as my new one." Nala commented.

Ritsuka approached her. "And it's a very different home from the normal ones don't you think?" He asked to the girl.

"Yeah. It's definetly something else. Even if it's in a middle of a ice desert, at least it's warm inside here."

"H-Hey! Good morning guys!" Peko entered the room in a hurry. He stopped and took some time to take a breathing. "Sorry for being late." Peko excused.

"Oh, it's nice to see you too Peko." Ritsuka greeted the boy. "I bet you must have had a nice dream."

"Hmm,actually-"

Nala interrupted her brother. "Hi there Peko! Sorry if you had to eat just 3 cookies, I ate the rest." She said happily without concern.

"So it was you! W-why?!" Peko exclaimed angrily as Nala closed her right eye and showed her tongue to him.

"It's not my fault that you took so long to wake up." She teased her sibling.

"C'mon,behave you two." Mash said,not hiding her smile at seeing the two kids interact with each other. Romani was also smilling but coughed slightly to call the attention of the others.

"Anyway, let's resume the history of our first Singularity before you rayshift."

"Spit out the info then Doc." Ritsuka and the rest were now with all of their attention pointed torwards Romani.

"Our first Singularity is located in 15th century France, during the 100 year war period." Romani informed.

"France... What's that?" Peko asked, oblivious of the local.

"It's quite a beautiful country my boy!" Da Vinci appeard behind them, walking into the room. "But not as beautiful as Italy I may say."

"I-taly? Is that another country?" It was Nala's turn to do the question.

"Yes. Mine to be exact. We should go there one of these days." The woman passed through the group until reaching Romani.

"I know you would love it Roman." Da Vinci poked his right cheek.

"Please, stop it Leonar-ow ow ow ow!" Romani's right cheek was now being pinched by Da Vinci.

"Even thou I can't forgive you for liking pineapple on a pizza." She sighed in disapointment.

"Wait?! You love eating pineapple pizza Doctor?!" Ritsuka looked at Romani with a face of disapproval.

"Is that a bad thing?" Nala just didn't know what the conversation was about anymore.

"From what I've heard, there's lot of people who don't like it, despite that I've never had the experience to eat it." Mash whispered to Nala.

"Oooooh. Now I see."

"H-hey! Don't judge me! There's a person for everything. And I'm one of those that likes pinapple pizza. Is there a problem with it?" Romani shrugged Da Vinci off, sighing as the inventor giggled.

"Whatever. I think you've already seen him...her? What matters is this is the famous italian Renaissance inventor, Leonardo Da Vinci, Chal-"

"-Chaldea' first ever successfully summoned servant." Da Vinci sung. "I'm also your honorary tech advisor. Nice to meet you."

"I was talking, for crying out loud!" Romani protested behind her.

Mash looked amazed. "You're a servant? That's amazing! A fully fledged one, senpai. Not like me who's just half a servant."

Ritsuka put an hand on his chin. "Altough, it's so weird to see Leonardo Da Vinci as a woman."

"Yeah it does feel wrong." Mash replied, now getting confused by the sight of a famous person she knew as a man being in front of her as a woman. "It's just doesn't make sense! Da Vinci was supposed to be a man!"

"Well,at least be grateful for seeing such a beauty in front of you. It's not every day you can see such beautiful women after all." Da Vinci replied. "Also, cultures are always maturing. Who's to say wanting to be a cute girl won't be the norm in the future?"

Romani still critizised it. "That may be. But that doesn't changes the fact that you are the biggest perv that I've ever known in history for changing your gender to look like Mona Lisa."

"You're the one who said to not judge and there's people for everything, right?" Da Vinci counter attacked, much to Romani's annoyance.

"Either way, how are you two? We've just met brifely yesterday and didn't even had the opportunity to talk." The woman turned her gaze to Peko and Nala. "I hope the bedroom was to your liking." She said gently.

"O-oh, sure was Miss Da Vinci. We appreciate the hospitality." Peko thanked her. Nala nodded in agreement.

"It was indeed. Thanks Da Vinci." She said.

The grown women smile grew a bit as she looked at Ritsuka, Mash, Peko and Nala.

"It's good to see our protagonists finally here. I'll be aiding you from here on out with supplies." She told them.

"Good." Romani claped his hands together. "With the introduction out of the way I'd say it's time for our Rayshift. Remember, the fist thing you got to do is set up a base camp and finding a leyline. Got it?"

"Yes sir! Count me ready." Ritsuka exclaimed.

"Very well. Now go ahead torwards the platform and prepare for the Rayshift." He ordered. The four of the group started walking torwards the platform, however, Romani stopped Peko, puting his hand on the boy's shoulder. "Easy there Peko. Where are you going?"

Peko looked Romani in the eyes with a normal expression. "I'm going too." He smiled. "T-they say four people is better than three,right?"

Those simple words caused Romani to stare at the boy with a sorrowful look, acting like he was hesitant to say something. And the doctor wasn't the only one who had a reaction. The trio that was about to rayshift also seemed to be a bit reluctant, specially Nala.

"G-guys?" Peko felt like a stranger, with everyone looking at him, like if they were analyzing what he had just said.

"Look Peko." Romani said with a dismotivated tone and a sad face. "It may hurt you but...you aren't going. You have to stay here for your safety." Surprisingly, Peko reaction wasn't that bad, as if the boy knew that it was more probable of him just staying here at Chaldea than try to join the adventure.

He simply tilted his head donwards. "I should've seen it coming." He said discouraged. "I'm an idiot for thinking I would be able to be useful to you." The sense of worthlessness taking over him.

"Peko..." Mash couldn't help but to feel pity for him. She could only imagine the frustrated position he was in.

"You really want to go with us?" Ritsuka asked with concern. The master was aware of the risks it could happen if Peko goes with them. But it didn't meant he saw Peko as a dead-weight. Ritsuka just wasn't sure if it would be the best decision to make.

Da Vinci,watching the saddness in the boy, decided to console Peko. "Hey don't be that sad Peko. There's plenty of other things you can do in here at Chaldea." Da Vinci said. "Don't you find it quite interesting?" Her voice trying to sound curious. However, little that helped lifting Peko's mood.

"I appreciate the offer but, I don't think that would be enough." Peko lifted his head. "G-going with you to the Singularity is how I think I could at least make a significant help. I don't want to be-"

"Don't be stupid. You're nothing more than a crybaby." Nala said coldly out of nowhere, still showing her back to her brother. That caused a bit of a reaction on Peko.

"And I want to overcome that! I really do! Just give me a chance!" Peko begged, accepting the fact that he was weak and wanted to inprove that.

But Nala still wasn't convinced. "You don't understand do you?" She had finally turned around to face Peko. "Or do you also want to end up dead?" Nala raised her voice up a bit, reminding not only Peko but the rest of Olga's recent death, trying to show in a way to her brother, that the journey ahead would be too much for him.

Peko, altough being taken aback by a little, still refused to give up and continued to insist. "I made a promise. That I would become stronger and build up courage. If I don't do it now then when will I do it? Tomorrow? Next week? Month?"

"Shut up! You don't know what you're saying!" Nala shouted at Peko, being already full of his begging.

"Nala-san please calm down!" Mash advised the girl, wanting the discussion beetween the two siblings to end.

"Rrrgh, fine! If you want to come so be it! Try to not call me when in danger or cry then!" Nala ended the conversation beetween her and Peko, not feeling the need to continue.

"I swear I'll try to help." Peko now looked at Romani and then Ritsuka, speaking with both of them. "I also want to find our dad. A-And if he's out there, I want to meet him personally alongside Nala. So that we can discover our past and why we are here in the first place."

With that, Romani took some seconds to think in silent, before finally speaking up. " Listen,Peko. I understand that you want to show your value to the team but-"

"You can go with us." Ritsuka said, surpising everyone else inside the room.

"Wha-. Are you sure Senpai?" Mash asked to her master.

"Yes,I am Mash." Ritsuka reaffirmed it, walking torwards the boy. "Like you said it earlier Peko, four pople are better than three." Peko couldn't help it but feel happy. Ritsuka trusted him.

"Ah, t-thanks Ritsuka!" He smiled to the last master of humanity who smiled back at him.

"What's your opinion doctor?" Ritsuka asked to Romani.

"Hmmmmm. Well, if you make sure he's safe then I allow it." Romani also gave in, accepting Peko's request.

"Thank you Dr. Romani!" Peko was feeling better and better. Romani saw it and couldn't help it but smile.

"You're welcome."

Mash was the next one to speak. "I guess the decision is made up. Welcome to the group Peko-san." The shielder smiled gently at Peko. "I hope we can also help with your desires."

"Nice. Now that the topic is out of the way let's iniciate the Rayshift. Go to your positions." Romani ordered.

Now the group with Peko, stood in the center of the platform. Big smiles could be seen in their faces except for Nala who still was upset by seeing Peko going with them.

"Oh, but before you go, a warning Peko." The boy concentrated his attention on what the doctor was about to say. "It will be dangerous and it's by no means, a happy go lucky adventure you see on cartoons. Someone's might get injured or in the worst cases,dead." The last part put Peko a bit nervous. "Do you understand?"

"Yes sir, I do!" Peko exclaimed, trying to cast away is nervousness.

"Good. The same goes for you, Ritsuka, Mash and Nala." The three nodded, comprehending the seriousness of the mission.

"Hehehe, our heroes are ready Romani. Now it's just start." Da Vinci told the doctor, telling him that the moment was now.

"Alright! Let's iniciate the Rayshift. This is our first Singularity out of seven. Our path to save humanity starts here! Good luck!" And with that, the Rayshift was activated.

"Wow." Nala looked around, seeing the location she and the team were now in. France already looked a lot better than the blazing hell that was Fuyuki.

"It's really beautiful don't you think?" Ritsuka stood next to her.

"True. It's quite nice and relaxing. I wonder if all of that 'France' is like this." Nala wondered if the country was like this in the present time.

"It's almost absurd hearing that this territory has been on a fight for a hundred years!" Peko entered the conversation, getting a 'hphm' out of Nala. Mash after seeing if there was no danger near them, walked torwards the rest of the group, wanting to join the conversation.

"It's the year 1431, so it means we're in the middle of the Hundred Years war." She informed the group. "And most probably during the respite period." Ritsuka was confused about the respite part.

"Wait! You're telling us there's a time were people decide to stop fighting temporarily?" He asked, never knowing of this fact before. Peko and Nala also didn't knew about this.

"Yep. This war wasn't really fought for the full 100 years." Mash explained. "The kingdoms needed some periods to rest their army and reorganize things for the next encounter." Peko was marveled at the knowledge that Mash had. For a girl that spent all her life inside Chaldea, she sure knew a lot of things.

"Even then, a war lasting that long is crazy! I can't even imagine a war lasting a couple decades, talk about a hundred!" Peko said to the shielder.

"Unfortunately humanity sometimes is like that. Very hard to get it out of it's own hatred." Mash frowned at her own statment.

"But thankfully we learn from those mistakes to improve ourselfs as a species." Ritsuka said happily, trusting that humans were able to change for the better.

"Fou!" A noise came from Mash.

"Hey did you all ear that?" Nala asked.

Peko was sure he has heard it somewhere. "Sure! It's quite familiar."

Shortly after an animal appeard right behind Mash on her shoulder. It was Fou.

"Well. Looks like we've got another member to the team." Ritsuka laughed a bit.

"Yeah. It looks like Peko wasn't our newest addition." Nala approached Mash who was now holding Fou on her hands. "Can I?" she asked politely. Mash just smiled in return.

"Sure." She handed the animal to Nala.

"Bad Fou! You shouldn't have sneaked your way in without telling us!" She rerpimanded Fou while patting him in the hand.

"Fou..." the creature looked sorry for what it did.

"Luckily for you, you're cute." Nala hugged the animal in affection.

"Can I also pat him?" Peko asked Nala. However she just looked at the boy meanly and ignored him. "No" Nala just said.

"Oh,please Nala! Don't tell me you're- Huh?" A touch of Ritsuka's hand caught Peko off guard. "What was it Ritsuka?" He asked to the master of humanity who was looking up at the sky in bewilderment.

"I'd say that discussing over Fou isn't the thing we should worry now." Peko and Nala didn't understand exactly what Ritsuka wnated to mean by that. Until the decided to look upwards as well. Mash decided to do the same.

"It's...huge." She said shortly after doing it.

At the exact moment, Romani had finally established contact. "Nice, we've got contact. Sorry for the wait but I...why are you all gawked?" The doctor got his answer immediatly after.

Up there in the sky, the clouds formed a huge ring, like if a hole had been made in the middle of it. The discription of big wouldn't be enough to describe it of how large it was.

"Oh, now I understand why. That ring must've been one of the reasons why the future has collapsed. And damn, that has to be at least the size of the entire North America!" He exclaimed.

"That thing caused humanity's destruction?" Ritsuka wasn't believing on what he was seeing.

"According to- Oh, what's this? I'm detecting very signals some distance away from you." Romani said, putting the team on alert. At the same time, noises of people screaming could be heard nearby.

"Something tells me there's someone is being attacked." Nala runned to the direction that the noise was coming from, being followed by the others. A village was being raided and destroyed. People running around in panic.

"W-what are those things?" Peko asked, showing again a sign of fear in his face has he saw who were the attackers. Huge flying lizards who hovered the area. There was 5 of them.

"Dragons, I suppose?" Ritsuka wasn't sure but they seemed like ones.

"No! These creatures are smaller than actual dragons. They're wyverns!" Mash cleared her master's doubt and respond to Peko at the same time. Nala didn't care what was the identity of the enemy.

"It doesn't matter! We have to save those citizens!" She proceeded to run right through the gates of the village, taking the iniciative.

"She's right! We have to help those poor people!" Mash looked to Ritsuka and Peko. "Senpai, Peko, stay close to me as I and Nala will deal with the enemies, alright?"

"Sure. Get ready for the battle Mash!" Ritsuka told her servant. "You too Peko. Stay close!"

"R-right!" Peko was now behind Ritsuka, trying to at least sound confident. The trio entered the village and soon they spotted Nala a bit ahead, fending off against a wyvern.

"Nala, hold on! I'm already going to help you!" Mash yelled in the girl's direction. But before, she pointed a rubble were Ritsuka and Peko could take cover. "You two stay here! Senpai protect Peko at all costs! Don't leave this spot!" Mash went on to help Nala against the wyvern, leaving Ritsuka and Peko behind. Ritsuka was still watching the fight behind the rubble in case he needed to give orders to Mash and see if she and Nala would be okay.

"Alright Peko, they've got this!" Ritsuka said as he let Peko to watch his sister and Mash fight against the wyvern.

"Ya!" Nala exclaimed as she used Mash's shield to be propelled higher and slash the wyvern right into it's left eye. "Take this!" She yelled. Mash also went up ahead, delivering a huge blow on the wyvern's chest with her shield. As soon as the blow had finished, Nala had landed on the ground and with her speed, she immediatly pirced the wyvern on what she would assume was were the creature's heart was located.

"They fight pretty well." Peko smiled, seeing that his sister was showing her skills at fighting alongside Mash. But deep down he was a bit jealous for seeing Nala taking care of the problem while he was hiding behind a broken wall. He said he would get stronger right before this Singularity but here was, being a coward again.

"Not like I can be of much help either." Peko thought to himself. That was when to his right, Peko noticed a person weakly calling for help, as he had a leg stuck under a derbie and couldn't get it out. It may was weak for Ritsuka to ear it, but not for Peko. In that moment, the boy knew what to do.

"And you will fight like them one day Peko. You just have to- Hey! Nala look out!" Ritsuka shouted at the girl who still had her sword pierced in the wyvern's chest, not noticing the imminent attack the creature was about to do with it's right claw.

"Huh? Wha-" She turned her head to see the claw coming to cut her. She wouldn't be fast enough to react. Thankfully Mash was fast enough. The demi-servant blocked the attack with her shield and with the sharp parts of it, she sliced the wyvern's throat, killing it instantly.

"Phew! That was close!" Mash looked at the white haired girl. "You're okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks for the help Mash." Nala thanked Mash for the cooperation and blocking the wyvern's hit that would land on her.

"That's my girl! Good job Mash!" Romani cheered as he had been watching the fight.

"You've been here all this time doctor?" Ritsuka asked, forgetting that they were talking to him right some minutes ago.

"Well, you could say I was at the edge of my seat. They've done a good job. But this isn't the end. There's other 4 wyverns we need to take care of." Romani reminded Ritsuka.

"Yeah, you're right doctor." Ritsuka replied. "What did you think of the fight Peko?" The asnwer didn't came. "Huh? Where's Peko?" Ritsuka only now noticed the absence of the boy. He got worried in a instant. "Peko were are you?" He said louder.

"Hrrhg. Right here Ritsuka!" Ritsuka looked to were the voice was coming and saw Peko a bit far away from him, trying to lift up a derbie that was trapping the leg of a person underneath.

"Please try harder!" The man was in panic, telling Peko to hurry up, fearing he could die by the hands of the wyverns.

"Hrghh! I'm doing my best!" Peko put all his strenght in his arms to try and lift the derbie and altough he managed to lift up a bit, it still wasn't enough to free the man's leg.

Ritsuka concluded that Peko alone wouldn't be able to remove the derbie. He needed help. "Don't worry Peko, I'll help you." Ritsuka said to Peko.

"But how the wyvern didn't die instantly if I pierced it's heart? Perhaps I simply got wrong it's location?" Nala was talking to Mash as the two girls were heading back to Ritsuka and Peko.

"I don't think that. Perhaps you didn't pierced the heart fully enough Nala-san." Mash said, trying to make Nala feel better.

"I guess so. Either way we have to defeat immediatly the other 4. This isn't over yet!" Nala closed her fist, ready to kill the enemies that were left.

'You're right. We have to- Huh? What is Peko doing?" Mash stoped walking to observe Peko in the distance, trying to remove derbies off of a civilian. Nala also seemed to have spotted it.

"Is he trying to save someone? Never tought he would actually try to do it." Nala saddened whe she saw that her brother was having difficulty to save the person. "Even tough he's not very good at it." She sighed.

"Don't worry. Master is already going there to help him." Mash pointed to Ritsuka, who was about to help the boy.

"Heh. That's good at-" Nala stared in panic at the sight of a wyvern appearing right behind Peko, trying to do a surprise attack. "PEKO! WATCH OUT!" Nala screamed to Peko. It was loud enough for him to hear it.

"Sis?" Peko turned around just in time to see the wyvern behind them. Clearly huge and with giant claws that would tear apart his flesh. The voy didn't even had reaction to process properly what was about to happen to him.

"So...is this how it ends?" Peko closed his eyes in fear, expecting to be killed off by the wyvern, knowing that neither Nala or Mash would be fast enough to save him.

That's when Ritsuka put himself in front of the boy, serving as an human shield.

"Arrgh!" Ritsuka exclaimed in pain as the claw of the wyvern cut right on his left shoulder. The blood spilling out of his wound.

Peko was terrified. "R-RITSUKA!"

To be continued...

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author.

"SENPAI!" Mash yelled, launching torwards the wyvern, fending it off with her shield. With the enemy stunned, Nala took the opportunity and slashed it's head off, finishing the creature. Now only 3 wyverns remained.

"Are you okay?!" Mash crotched down near Ritsuka, worried for the recent wound on his shoulder.

Peko was also near the master, checking if he was alright, feeling overly guilty. "S-sorry! I-I didn't mean-"

"No problem, it was nothing!" Ritsuka immediatly tried to calm down the situation. "But I think someone needs more help than me right now..." He turned his head to the civilian who was still stuck in the derbie, transmiting the message to Mash.

"R-right!" Mash said, confirming she understood Ritsuka's intentions. Since Mash was a demi-servant, lifting huge pieces of rubble wasn't much of an effort to her. "Pleace stay steady, okay?" Mash pacified the citizen and in an instant removed the huge derbie, allowing the man to finally get up from the ground.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" The man said to Mash, still in fear for his dear life. As the man started to run away in direction to the village gates he shouted something to the group. "There's still more people in the village square! The rest of those monsters must be there as well, be careful!"

"Thank you for the information!" Mash shouted back. "Can you still move Senpai?" She asked to Ritsuka. Altough with a great pain coming from it's wound, thankfuly for him it wasn't that deep. Peko still helped him get back up.

"Phew! You're surely lucky Ritsuka." Romani noted, still being in contact with them. "As a doctor, I can say it could have been way uglier. That wyvern could have ripped off your arm!"

"You're not helping doctor!" Mash scolded Romani.

"Sorry! I was just trying to see the things from a better perspective." Romani apologized. "But make sure to treat his wound okay?"

"Does it hurt?" Peko asked to Ritsuka, still holding him.

"Don't worry. You've heard the doc. It's almost nothing." Ritsuka laughed it off before receiving a sharp pain through the shoulder letting out a small groan of pain. Still, the master tried his best to appear okay.

"Hey Peko!" Nala called her brother, heading torwards him. She didn't looked happy. In antecipation, Peko let go Ritsuka off his grip, allowing the master to sat on the floor.

"W-what is it Na-" She grabbed him by the collar forcefully before pushing him to a wall.

"H-hey! What are you-"

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!" Nala shouted angrily at Peko, getting the attention of both Ritsuka and Mash with the latter about to apply a bandange on Ritsuka's shoulder.

Peko just couldn't get the right words to say in response to his sister's rage. "I..."

"You what?! You couldn't have just stayed back in Chaldea could you?! You had to come right?!" The grip of Nala's hands on Peko's collar getting tighter. "You were told to stay out of this! Yet you tried to make yourself a hero! Guess how it went?!" Nala was right. Peko tried miserably to save someone and ended up only embarassing himself and worst, Ritsuka suffered from it. Hell, the man they had just saved didn't even thanked him for his patethic efforts. Tears started to form on his eyes.

"I...I just wanted to help..." Peko said, trying to fight back the tears from rolling down his face. Once again he was showing how weak and miserable he was. And to Nala above all else.

The white haired girl just sighed, releasing Peko from her grip. He just stood there, defeated. "Do you want to help, Peko?" Nala turned her back on him. "Just stay out of this. Don't interfere us. Or else, you'll be just deadweight." She said coldly even if a part of her deep down hurted to say this.

"O-Oi Nala-san that was just..!" Mash was incredulous of what Nala had just said, bringing the moral of Peko down. The relationship beetween the siblings wasn't looking good. Ritsuka watched in silent, not helping but to feel sorry for Peko. He was desperatly trying his best and Ritsuka knew that.

Peko's tears were now falling free from his face, cursing himself for being so useless to his group that even his sister would consider him a 'deadweight'.

Romani also was a bit down by the moment that had just happened. "H-hey guys...I don't want to say this now but, the people in the village square, remember?"

"You're right. We must go there now!" Ritsuka told the others, getting up. However, the pain of the wound came back, forcing him to make pressure on it. "Grrgh!"

"You're still injured. Threat your wound first Ritsuka!" Nala advised him. "I'll go ahead! You catch me later okay?"

"Sure! Just be careful all right?" Ritsuka agreed with Nala's proposition. She smiled at him with confidence.

"No problem! I will be careful!" Before she went to the center of the village, Nala looked back at Peko, who was still crying and covering his face with his arms. Nala started to regret what she had said to him. But she had to. Peko had to understand this would be a dangerous journey. Deep down she just didn't want to lose him. But, not having time to talk to him now, she decided to just head to the village's square

Half a minute later, Mash was finishing the bandage on Ritsuka's shoulder. "And done. I hope this prevents the wound from getting worse."

With the injury now treated, Ritsuka felt more motivated now. "Heh, thanks Mash. We should get going to where Nala went."

"That's right! We don't have time to waste!" She said. But the shielder knew there was still someone who they couldn't left behind. The two looked at Peko.

He had stopped crying but was still covering his face, looking down to the ground were his tears have fall. Fou was now next to him, trying to cheer up the boy. "Fou fou." The creature gently touched Peko's leg, trying to get his attention.

"Hey Peko, we must go." Ritsuka told him. Peko didn't replied immediatly, opting to pretend he didn't hear it at first.

"Are you okay?" Mash approached him.

"Y-yeah. It's...nothing." Peko finally talked, uncovering his face. His eyes dried from crying. "We should go now so that you can help sis, right?"

Ritsuka and Mash wanted talk to him, wanted to make Peko feel better, but now it was not the time. The danger hasn't been totally eliminated yet.

"Yes. Let's go!" Ritsuka exclaimed and the three alongside Fou rushed torwards the village's square, were Nala was by now.

"The screams are getting louder! We must be close!" Mash yelled back as the group was running inside an alley. Some more steps ahead and they have finally reached the village's square.

And it was a total war zone.

People running wildly everywhere, screaming for their lives. Buildings destroyed with it's wreckage scattered all over the square. Blood could also been seen, belonging to some corpses or injured that the wyverns had attacked. Peko was getting a bit sick by the sight of the corpses, trying to ignore it. Right in the middle of the area, there was a group of soldiers fending off against the remaining wyverns. Nala was among them.

"Hey Nala! We've arrived!" Ritsuka yelled.

Nala notice their arrival. "Good! Mash!"

"Already going!" Just like before, Mash told Ritsuka and Peko to take cover. "Please stay there this time! Senpai, make sure Peko is with you!" The demi-servant went to join the fight.

Ritsuka nodded. "Roger that!"

Nala and the soldiers were fighting the three wyverns, separated in little groups focused on each wyvern. Nala with some other allies were taking care of one when Mash had arrived. The two girls looked at each other, already thinking of a way to defeat the creature.

Nala blocked the wyvern attack with her sword, giving the chance for Mash to hit from behind, stabbing the wyvern with her shield. The creature let out a painful roar, swinging it's tail to make Mash retreat. The shielder jumped out of the wyvern's reach. Nala took her turn and took advantage of the wyvern's distraction by Mash to slash it's right wing. Realizing it was being attacked on both sides, the wyvern tried to flee, flying to the sky.

"Oh no you wont!" Mash threw her shield with all her strenght torwards the fleeing wyvern. It landed successfully on it's head, damaging the enemy and make it go unconscious for a bit. Seeing that, Nala jumped towards the falling wyvern, and efficiantly slashed it's head off with her sword. Another one has been killed. Now there was only 2 to deal with.

"Nice! They're doing good!" As Ritsuka was watching the battle with Peko, a soldier came close to them in a hurry.

"What are you two doing here?! This is dangerous for civilians! You should retreat now!" He demanded the duo to leave.

"It's not like that! We're with-"

"WE'RE DOOMED! DOOMED!" Has Ritsuka was trying to explain his and Peko's situation to the soldier, a loud voice among the chaos interrupted him.

"There's nowhere to hide! This is our Lord's punishment for killing that girl!" The voice came from a soldier who had likely gave up from fighting, succumbing to all the destruction around him.

"What the hell is he saying?" Nala briefly commented before returning her attention back to the battle against another wyvern.

"What the..."

"Well you know, there's those kind of people..." The soldier with Ritsuka and Peko said, lamenting the state of the other soldier as Ritsuka and Peko watched confused.

The insane soldier still was far from finishing. "Now, shortly after her death, she's back! She's back to kill us and all of France! First the king and now the common people! We're doomed! That witch is our-"

A slap came out nowhere, shutting the crazy soldier from continuing his lunatic cries. It came from a middle aged woman.

"You shut up about my daughter! You don't know the first thing about her!" She shouted. The soldier in anger for the sudden hit on his face, yelled back.

"How dare you hit me bitch?! I'm going to-"

The soldier never came to finish his words since a wyvern came out of nowhere and bite off his head, killing him instantly.

"A wyvern escaped from our sight!?" Mash tried to make way to reach out to the woman but her fight with the other wyvern was keeping her busy. Same with Nala.

"We can't make it in time!" She proclaimed frustrated.

Ritsuka again would not stand there and watch. He had to save that person, even if it meant getting the other shoulder wounded.

"O-oi Ritsuka, it's dangerous!" Peko exclaimed as he saw Ritsuka ran away from him and the soldier.

"Don't do it kid!" The soldier that was with them warned Ritsuka in vain.

"I have to safe her. I have to. I can't let innocent die this way!" The master of humanity said to myself. He had to make it in time.

But someone was faster than him.

"Huh?" Surpassing Ritsuka in speed, a hooded figure jumped right beetween the woman and the wyvern and with what seemed a flagpole, it landed a strong blow right in the middle of the wyvern, killing it.

"Ah! Are you...?" The middle aged woman gazed at the figure in front of her, possibly recognizing it from somewhere. The figure didn't respond.

Looking closely, it could be said the figure was feminine, the way she fighted resembling a certain person that was still fresh in mind of the french people.

"It's her, the witch! Quick men, this is our opportunity!" A soldier standing nearby Mash and Nala told to the rest of the group. The other soldiers seemed to have agreed and collectively went after the hooded woman.

"W-wait! What is even happening?!" Nala wasn't understanding the sudden change of priority of the soldiers when it still remained one wyvern to deal with. Seeing the group running torwards her, the hodded woman started to run away, passing through Ritsuka and holding his hand.

"Come with me!" She said shortly.

"F-fine,I guess!" Ritsuka accompained her, before looking at Peko as they were now passing through him aswell. "Come Peko!" The boy decided there was no time to lose and join the two as they were almost out of the village's square. "You too, Mash! Nala!" Ritsuka looked behind, seeing both girls fighting the remaining wyvern.

Mash looked at her Master and Peko going away with the hooded woman. "Right Master!" She touched Nala before starting running away. "Let's go Nala! The soldiers can take care of the rest!"

However, Nala wanted to finish the job. "No! I can't risk it! They aren't safe until the last one is defeated!" She said, much to Mash frustration.

"But Master and Peko are waiting for us! We can't stay here for much longer!" Despite knowing there was still one wyvern remaining and that Nala wanted to finish it, Mash had to accompany Ritsuka as her servant and protect both him and Peko.

"Tsk!" Nala, clenched her teeth, being in a dilemma right now. She just couldn't abandon these people now. Not when the threat was almost done. Who knows how more could die if she doesn't treat with this last wyvern? "You go ahead! I'll catch you later!" Nala yelled her decision, making sure not only Mash but Peko and Ritsuka could hear it.

Peko didn't like it. "But si-"

"You shut up!" Nala yelled at her brother, not wanting to hear his pleading to make her regret the decision. She turned her around to look at Peko, Rituska and Mash, but most importantly Peko. Nala let out a comforting smile. "I'll be alright, don't worry! Now go!"

Peko, altough wanting to protest, realized that Nala could stand her own against her enemy. "Nala's strong. She won't lose against that thing, right? I shouldn't be concerned, or else I'll just bring her down..."

Peko remembered of the words his sister said to him moments earlier, pain striking him again. "The lesser I interfere, the better." Peko tought to himself. "Ok! See you soon!" He yelled back to Nala.

Seeing that Peko had accepted leaving Nala momentarily behind, Ritsuka felt more comfortable in the making of his decision. "Alright! Be careful Nala!"

Mash seeing that Ritsuka and Peko had made their choice, had no other option but to trust in Nala's fighting skills. "You sure you catch us later?"

Nala gave a reassuring nod, looking at the shielder with determination. "You can bet it! I'll see you later!"

"I hope so! We will be heading to the gates that we used to enter here! If anything, the doctor will tell you our coordinates!" With that said, Mash went to join the trio, leaving Nala behind to fight the last wyvern.

Way up in a tower of a church, a woman dressed in black armour watched all the commotion happening. "Hmph! Damn strangers trying to ruin my fun. Specially that girl."

Now the group separated from Nala and in the company of the hooded woman, were now a good distance away from the village.

"I hope Nala doesn't take to long to deafeat that creature." Ritsuka said, hoping that his friend was doing alright.

"You all seem to be quite worried." The hooded woman spoked for the first time. "But don't let that deteriorate your bonds. Trust is essential to a group like you."

"Thank you." Mash said. "But, who exactly are you?" She asked to the woman.

"Sorry, I think I should reveal myself now." The woman took out the hood from her head, showing her face to the trio. She had a long blond hair, tied into a braid with a blue ribbon and her eyes amethyst colored.

"I am the servant of the ruler class, Jeanne D'arc!"

With the final wyvern slained, Nala and the other soldiers could finally take a break from all the adrenaline and chaos that had just occurred. With the battle won, some of the soldiers exited the village to see if the civilians right outside the walls were okay, others would search around the area for any person that could possibly be missing while others stayed at the square to clean the destruction and reagroup the corpses.

Two soldiers in particular were talking with Nala.

"Phew! That last one was stronger than the others. Thank you for the help. I don't know what would happen to us if it weren't for you." The soldier said to her.

"Thanks. I'm glad I was able to help greatly." Nala shaked hands with the soldier.

"But aren't you too young to be wielding a sword and fighting?" The second soldier asked.

"Well I just have the gift to do it, you know?" Nala said with a smug on her face.

"Still, you're just a kid and also a girl. It feels weird to see someone like you being capable of such skills." The second soldier gave his counter argument.

"Hey, perhaps we have the next Jeanne D'arc right here!" The first soldier said happily, only to be elbowed by the second soldier.

"Shut it you idiot! Don't compare this kid with that despicable witch!" He said angrily at his companion.

"It was just a comparation, calm down." The first soldier sighed. "Anyway, we better get going. Have luck in reuniting with those friends of yours!" The soldier waved as he and the other soldier walked away.

"Bye! See you around!" Nala waved back to the pair. "Hmm. Witch? What were they talking?" She muttered to herself.

"It's all a misunderstanding dear." A voice came from behind. It was that middle aged woman again. "I know my daughter, she would never to anything like that." The woman said saddened.

"They were talking about your child? Is she the witch?" Nala asked, trying to see if she could at least get some explanation for what was happening.

"No!" The woman shouted abruptly, scaring Nala a bit, before calming down shortly after. "At least, that's what I want to think."

"How was she like?" Nala made another question.

"Beautiful like an angel, with a pure and golden heart. She was always helping those in need. My little Jeanne was a girl that would always think on everyone first before herself." The voice of the woman was starting to tremble, tears appearing in her eyes.

"She-she would never commit those hideneous crimes to innocent people. That's just not her!" The middle aged woman fell to her knees and started to weep in bitterness.

Nala went right to her side, putting an hand on the older woman's back. "H-hey it's okay lady!" She said. "If your daughter is really like you said then there's no chance she can be the witch those soldiers were speaking of."

The woman wiped her tears. "You really think that?"

"Yep! This witch is probably other person or an impostor. I'd say she's using your daughter's name to trash her reputation." Nala explained, making the woman feel better.

"Y-yeah. You may be right little girl. I hope you are." She said to Nala, getting up from her knees. "And if it's truly an impostor, I want her to be brought to justice. For all the massacre she's doing on the country." She said with a bit of stern in her voice.

Nala smiled a bit. "That's the spirit. Oh, and also, it might be rude of me to ask you this but, you're daughter must be a real big deal here. Like, why they would even associate her with a witch in the first place?"

"My daughter, Jeanne D'arc, was a warrior and leader of the french army. Protecting us against the enemy during a recent period of the war."

"Oh,right! The Hundread Year war. Almost forgot about it! So this Jeanne D'arc was a leader of an army? For her previous description I was expecting her to be a nun or something." Nala still found the idea of Jeanne D'arc being a warrior to be quite awsome.

"Yes it's quite unexpected." The woman continued her talking like if she had just read Nala's mind. "A girl in this day and age be a knight and general of an army? Now that's quite a dream. But weren't you suppose to know it? My daughter was such a popular figure after all."

In that exact moment, Nala started to sweat a bit. She had to think of an excuse quickly. "Hum...well...you see, I'm from another region you know?" She partially lied? hoping the woman to not suspect anything. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

"Oh really? Then you mustn't be from France if you don't know my daughter very well. Mind telling me the region you live in?"

Nala was now comically sweating, her smile nervously showing up. Nala didn't know what to respond. "Region? What region?! Hell I don't remember anything from my life, so how will I know a damn region?!"

"Are you ok little girl?" The woman asked a bit concerned.

"Huh? N-No! Not at all! We-well the region I came from is...aaah...it's aah...aaaaa" Nala started to think and making up the first name that would appear in her head. "It's aaa..aaaa..A..Akasha! I came from the region of Akasha!" Nala responded quickly as she could and started panting like if she had just done one of the hardest things in her life. She hoped the questions had ended.

"Akasha? That's a weird name. It's even localized in Europe?" Nala felt like just killing herself. She didn't even knew what was in Europe. Her brain would probably explode from thinking hard so much. That's when she remembered of a talk she had with Da Vinci before going to this Singularity.

"It's in...I..It..It-Italy! Akasha is a region in Italy! You should really visit one of these days, they say it's beautiful." Nala lied again, but if that meant she could avoid these type of questions again she would lie gladly.

"Oh, I see. When all of this ends then perhaps I could visit it one day." The woman smiled to Nala. "But as I was saying. My daughter Jeanne was doing an excellent job guiding the soldiers and gaining back territory that we had previously lost. People started calling her the Maiden of Orleans. She was even present during King Charles coronation!"

"Wow! She must really been an incredible woman."Nala could only imagine how influential these woman's daughter could be.

"She was. Jeanne D'arc died recently. One week ago if I recall." That information came shockingly and unexpected to Nala.

"She's...dead?"

"Well, this is where the witch part starts appearing." The woman's tone got depressing. "One day she was captured by the enemy and hold captive. In trial, she was accused of blasphemy and witchcraft, sentencing her to death." The woman tried to not cry again, not wanting to make Nala worried. "And then she was...executed by being burned in public."

"That's horrible!" Nala exclaimed. She couldn't believe such warrior like Jeanne D'arc died such a terrible way. "A-and what about her army? The king? Did they try to rescue her?"

"That's the problem. We as a country done nothing to help her! We let her die!" The tears were now rolling down her face. Nala couldn't even know what to say. To be left behind like that, was probably painful.

"And so,rumours said recently someone with her exact same appearence appeard! And now that supposed witch, wich goes by the name of my daughter, wants to take revenge by killing all of us."

"That's just..." Nala was trying to find words to speak.

"But, I do believe my daughter is really back."

"Huh?"

"That hooded figure that saved me moments before, I believe it was her. The weapon and that fighting. It had to be her."

The woman put a hand on her chest. "I could feel it."

"See? That's what I'm saying. The witch must actually be an impostor. Your daughter is probably trying to stop her." Nala said, with certainty on her words.

"You also think that?" The woman asked.

"Yes! And also, a mother is always the one who knows their children best, right?" Nala smiled at the woman, who smiled back.

"Yes, I'd say you're right."

As the two had spend a long time talking, Nala remembered something. "Oh crap! The rest of my group! I should be going!"

"Hehe. Go then. It was a pleasure to have this talk with you little lady!" The woman said goodbye to Nala, as the girl was about to exit the village's square.

"Heh. I enjoyed too! Until a next time!" Nala sent her goodbye in return, feeling good for the conversation she had with the older woman.

"Now where did they headed? Uhmmm...Ah,yes! Those same gates!" Nala runned in direction to the gates they've used to enter the village.

But along the way, a pain erupted on Nala's head.

"Hrgh!" She put an hand in her head. "Wha-what is this all of a sudden?"

A...mother...knows...

The pain was getting stronger, before stopping as suddenly as it had started.

"What...just happened?" Nala breathed heavily, asking to herself what were those blurry images she had just imagined.

"E-either way, I need to continue and meet the others!" She composed herself and run through the gates, finally exiting the village and being in the outside of the walls.

But at that moment, Nala briefly saw in her peripheral vision, a young woman leaning back against the wall, that made her stop forcefully the run.

"An impostor you say? You don't know how much that hurts to hear." The woman speaked, her voice with a hint of venom.

Nala turned around to take a look at her. The woman was wearing a full black armour, she had short white-blond hair and two piercing yellow eyes. Nala could tell from the get go that this woman didn't seem friendly.

"Who are you?" She summoned her sword, getting ready to fight if needed.

"Heh. Your 'impostor'. You don't even know exactly what's happening to go around saying those things brat." The woman summoned her own sword.

"A-are you the witch?" Nala questioned the other woman, a bit of sweat appearing on her face. This would be the first time she had to fight all alone.

"Hehe. You're correct about that. But I also go by another name. My mother did told you after all." The woman smiled evily, sending a shiver down Nala's spine.

"Krgh! Jea-Jeanne D'arc?" Nala asked apprehensive. It was really true that the witch and Jeanne D'arc were the same?

"Yep! You've guessed correctly the other half." Jeanne D'arc looked playfully at her sword before taking a few steps in Nala's direction. "And I'd say it's time to put a bratty girl like you in her place. You're ruining my vengeance."

"Hphm! Y-you can try all you want witch! I'm going to make you regret causing pain to all these people!" Nala exclaimed, trying to hide her fear with a smile.

"Oh, is that so? Hehehehehe" Jeanne laughed almost madly, causing Nala to take a step back. "You talk to much for a girl." She said in a deadly tone, preparing to fight Nala.

"You better know what you've got yourself into after all. I'm Jeanne D'arc, the dragon witch!"

To be continued...

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author

The dragon witch, supposedly Jeanne D'arc, observed the girl in front of her, analyzing her opponent. She could tell that her fighting pose had flaws and easy opening that the dragon witch could use to her advantage. And another factor playing in her favor.

Fear. Even if it was a tiny fraction, Jeanne Alter could feel the hesitation of her opponent to fight. She smirked. "Heh! Stupid little girl. You don't have anyone here to save you if you mess up, right?"

Meanwhile, Nala's heart was beating fast. This 'Jeanne D'arc' appeard to be stronger than the wyverns she had just fought. Nala's mind in that moment was covered by doubt. Questioning if she could really take on against this adversary.

If it wouldn't be better to just ran away.

"N-no! Shut up! Don't think that now! Focus on the enemy in front Nala!" The girl shaked her head, trying to get concentrated. "I-I bet she's just show-off. If I remain confident and serious, I'll probably finish her off in three minutes!" Nala proceeded to take a deep breath and aim her eyes at the hilt of her sword she was wielding right now. "Y-yeah. I'm strong after all. I need to. For Peko-"

"You're open."

As if she had just teletransported right next to Nala, Jeanne Alter quickly raised her sword, ready to cut Nala down. With little time to react and caught by surprise, Nala instinctively swung her sword, blocking Jeanne Alter's attack just in time, but the heavy clash of the dragon witch's sword caused Nala to lose her balance, making her completely exposed and at the mercy of Jeanne Alter's possible attacks.

Seeing another opportunity to continue her assault, Jeanne Alter attacked Nala once again, aiming for the abdomen. Luckily for the girl, the sword only cut slightly the right side of her abdomen, despite of being a notorious cut. Shortly afterwards Nala fell to the ground, feeling a sharp pain from her cut.

Fear struck the girl's eyes when she felt a liquid touching her hand in the area of the wound. Slowly getting up, Nala watched her now covered hand in blood, as it wouldn't stop trembling. "I-Is this...m-my blood?" Nala muttered in shock and fear, sweat dropping from her face and her breathing getting heavier. An underwhelming sensation filling her body. She was scared.

Jeanne Alter on the other hand watched amused, smilling evilly at Nala's shocked state. For her this was a nice pleasure. In her mind, this battle would be easy, not even challenging. She had Nala in the palm of her hand.

The dragon witch laughed sadistically, without taking her eyes out of Nala. She pointed her sword, now painted by Nala's blood, at the opponent. "Oh, this is going to be fun."

"You're Jeanne D'arc? The REAL Jeanne D'arc?!" Ritsuka asked in surprise as he, Mash and Peko were standing in front of a historic figure so wordly renown, that they've seen multiple times in books, movies, documentaries but never before in person, as that would be impossible for a normal human being of the modern times.

At least Ritsuka and Mash had heard about the saint before.

"You know who she is?" Peko made a question to the two, never before having knowledge of Jeanne D'arc.

"She's a saint and a warrior. One of the most popular female figures in the entire history." Mash slowly raised her shield, being cautious of the situation. "So, are you the one that has been causing this?"

Jeanne D'arc, seeing the pose of the shielder, quickly tried to explain things. "Oh! N-no, I'm not the one behind this! Despite of what it looks like, I was summoned here just some few hours ago." The saint explained, making the trio confused and Mash to lower her shield.

"Huh? Now that's strange. Care to explain?" Ritsuka wanted a clarification of the current situation. Get a grasp of what was happening.

"Sure." The saint replied. "But first, who are you? I think it would facilitate our interactions if I get to know your names." She smiled at three.

Feeling that they were with someone of good intentions, Mash lowered her guard definetly alongside Ritsuka and Peko.

"Right, that's one of the things we should've done first. My name is Mash Kyrielight. Greetings, Jeanne D'arc."

"I'm Ritsuka Fujimaru. Nice to meet you." The master of humanity gave a friendly smile to Jeanne.

"And I'm Peko. I-It's nice to meet you too M-Miss Jeanne D'arc." Peko introduced himself by last. Jeanne noticed a bit of the reluctancy on the boy's voice.

"Don't need to get nervous Peko." The saint walked torwards him. "I won't do any harm to you. I'm not the dragon witch everyone is talking about." She gave him a warm smile. "You can trust me."

"S-sure..." Peko said shyly, not because he wasn't trusting of someone they had just knew, but the words that Nala said to him were still echoing inside his head. He was starting to regret the decision of coming to this Singularity.

"Well, it's about that 'dragon witch' part we would like to get explained." Ritsuka said torwards Jeanne.

"Ok. I'll explain to you." Jeanne rested her back against a tree and sit down, with Ritsuka, Mash and Peko sitting on a fallen trunk. Fou was also present, resting in Mash's lap.

"So, as you've probably figured it out, there's a dragon witch using my name and going around killing people over all of France. But it can't be me because I've only been summoned from the Throne to here just some couple of hours ago." She explained to the group.

"What's the Throne?" Ritsuka and Peko in unison, looking directly at Mash, expecting she would have the answer for that.

Mash rubbed her head, being caught off guard by the question. "Huuuh...Well,it's..."

"It's the place were all Heroic Spirits gather after death. My presence here can be simply assumed as some kind of resurrection." Jeanne answered in Mash place.

"Yeah! That's exactly it!" Mash thanked Jeanne.

"Heroic Spirits? Are they like, warriors like you?" Peko asked the saint.

"Yes, that's true indeed. Not the hole truth but still correct." Jeanne responded again.

"Oh, so that means Cú and that lady we fought in Fuyuki were also Heroic Spirits?" Peko tried to guess, remembering the previous events that happened in that place.

"Yep! You're correct Peko." Mash was happy that the boy could understand things that could end up being difficult for someone like him.

Jeanne continued her previous explenation. "And like I've told you before, my class is Ruler, wich allows me to gain certain type of abillities that differ from the normal classes of servants."

"There are classes? Like some type of system?" Peko didn't get teached on the subject, so he was hearing all of this for the first time.

An hologram of Romani appeard before anyone could say anything. He has been hearing the conversation silently. "Please no more questions now or we won't get out of this till tomorrow." He told Peko. "I'll make sure to fill you in about that stuff later."

"Oh! Okay then." Peko replied.

"Hey doctor! You were listening this whole time without introducing yourself to the lady here? Now that's just rude." Ritsuka called Romani out, demanding the doctor to introduce himself to Jeanne, smilling while telling him so.

"Hphm! Y-yeah you're right! Where are my manners?!" Romani rubbed his head comically. "My name is Romani Archaman. I'm Chaldea's doctor and at this exact moment the director. Pleasure to meet you!"

Jeanne giggled at the doctor's antics. "It's a pleasure to meet you too Romani. As I suspected, you guys then aren't originaly from here. That explains a few things."

"Yeah that's true." Mash confirmed even more Jeanne's speculation. "We aren't from this time. We've come from the future you could say."

Jeanne looked interested. "Hmmm, I see. But first, I still have to explain my situation here to you."

The group nodded silently, letting the saint proceed on her story.

"Good. So, as I was saying-"

"-you're really weak huh? Miserable I'd even say." Jeanne Alter dust off her shoulder as she mocked Nala's useless efforts. Some minutes had past since the fight had started, and Jeanne Alter made sure to enjoy it by tormenting the girl in front of her. Whatever Nala tried to do, Jeanne Alter would easily block every hit she tried to land on the dragon witch. In contrast of Jeanne Alter not even sweating and toying with the enemy, Nala was now with more small cuts in her body.

"It hurts,it hurts,it hurts! I-I wan't to...give up so badly. I'm n-no match for her." Nala was shivering in fear, her legs feeling like they couldn't keep on anymore. She didn't want to admit it but this battle was over even before it had started. Nala's sword skills were nothing to her adversary. The fear that rubbed her in the beggining was now clear to see.

"Also, where's the brat that said it would defeat me?" Jeanne Alter grinned. "Did she ended up hiding? Scared of the big mean witch?" Jeanne Alter laughed. She made sure that every step she took, Nala could hear it. "You're just a sad little girl trying to be something you aren't."

Nala was slowly retreating. Retreating from the monster she was seeing. "S-stay away from me!" She shouted, her face getting more desperate.

"You defeated some group of giant flying lizards and tought that was enough. Hehehehe, you're laughable." The dragon witch's shadow grew bigger and bigger, eventually covering Nala, whose legs had now given up. Jeanne Alter was right in front of her, intimidatingly showing the gap beetween the two.

"Now, I'll-"

Without warning and in despair, Nala quickly swung her sword torwards Jeanne Alter's face, however the witch was able to block it without much effort.

"Pff. Predictable."

In a mix of anger and despair, Nala started a full on assault on Jeanne Alter, not caring about being careful anymore.

"WHY?! Why I can't land a hit on you?!" Nala yelled as high as she could. Her blows were just being random, in false hope of successfully landing a hit on Jeanne Alter. But the witch continued to parry it.

"Heh. Looks like she already reached her limit. Better end her existence he-"

Thinking about killing Nala, Jeanne Alter didn't pay attention for a second, being caught by surprise as she spotted Nala's sword in front of her eye, right about to pierce it. Luckily for the dragon witch, she reacted fast enough to move her head just in time to Nala's sword to miss her eye but still land a cut on her face.

"Tsk!" With instinct, Jeanne Alter proceeded to quickly kick Nala in her stomach, making space beetween the two.

"Gyaa!" Nala landed a few feet away from Jeanne Alter, hitting hard on the ground.

"Damnit, that brat! I could've lost an eye right now!" Jeanne Alter touched her recent wound, the tought of letting Nala to get a hit on her making the witch angry.

Calming down a bit, Jeanne Alter looked at her hand, as if she was analyzing something. "Hmm. This girl..."

"Hey brat! Tell me your name!" Jeanne Alter ordered Nala, being now a bit curious of her identity.

"Na..la. A-are you...really Jeanne D'arc?" Nala asked weakly, trying to get up from the ground.

Jeanne Alter was confused by the question. "Huh? I've already told you! Are you deaf or something?!"

"Are you the one...whose committing these atrocities?" Nala asked once again, using her sword to help her getting up.

"I-I can't run away...not now. She's a danger to everyone." Nala briefly tought of Peko as well as Ritsuka and Mash.

"Well, what do you think idiot? Of course I am the one behind all this!" Jeanne Alter answerd Nala, annoyed by the girl's question. She wasn't understanding what Nala was trying to get out of this questions.

"If that's true...then why did you saved your mother?" This question in particular took Jeanne Alter by surprise. "If you hate this country and everyone so much...why you saved your mother against that wyvern?" Nala repeated the question, wanting to know if the person she was fighting was the true Jeanne D'arc or not.

"You still have empathy in there right? You were once that good person your mother told me, isn't that true? Then, you still care about people! You still care about your family!"

"Oh, I see what you're trying to do." Jeanne Alter gave a serious look at Nala. "If you want me to give an answer, I'll give you the answer."

The dragon witch smiled evily at Nala. "Don't get me wrong brat. I saved my mother, not because of love, but because I want to see her suffer a while longer." She lied, knowing that Nala wasn't aware that there was two Jeanne D'arc at this moment in the Singularity.

"Huh?! B-but why?" Nala asked in shock.

"Simple. I wanted to mess with her head. You saw how confused and lost she was, right?" Jeanne Alter giggled. "Not knowing if her daughter that recently died is now back to kill them all or she's still that good girl that she thinks of. She will be in constant pain by that doubt."

"Y-you're a monster! How can you do that to your own mother?!" Nala got even more scared of Jeanne Alter. A person that didn't felt bad about hurting others, even relatives, was truly terrifying.

"The moment she also let me to die on that day, she stopped being my mother! I'll kill everyone who did nothing but watch me perish! And that includes that hag that calls herself my mother!" Jeanne Alter said in anger, her voice with a serious hint of danger.

"But first..." She looked deadly at Nala. "I'll make you regret for trying to push personal topics into me."

"So you're telling us you've made an incomplete summon?" Mash asked to the saint. They've just ended hearing her explanation.

"Yes. Normally, I would be able to use my ability, True Name Discernment to discover the other servants names that ended up in this Singularity, as well. But I'm weakened, lacking many of my powers as a Ruler." Jeanne said sadly.

"Perhaps that means there's another Jeanne going around." Ritsuka pondered, gaining everyone's attention.

"Yeah. That makes sense." Romani who stayed to hear the conversation, agreed with Ritsuka.

"If there's two Jeannes, then that explains why the Jeanne here is not at her original power." Peko commented. "The whole summoning system is probably confused with the existence of two Jeannes, even more if they are of the same class." He concluded.

"That's what I also think of." Ritsuka smiled at seeing he and Peko tought the same thing.

"Wow. You two learn things fast." Mash also smiled at her friends, happy that they reached to a conclusion fast.

"I ain't sleeping again during crucial explenations like these." Ritsuka replied, refering to his arrival at Chaldea.

"Then, do you all think this 'Dragon Witch' is the second Jeanne D'arc? The one who controls the wyverns we fought back at the village?" Romani asked to the rest.

"To be real, it's our best guess and the only one that we have as well. It makes too much sense for not to be it." Jeanne said to the doctor. "And last thing I've heard of her, is that she is now occupying Orleans after massacring everyone that was present in that region."

"Oh, that's bad. If this second Jeanne destroys all of France bit by bit, humanity will collapse." Mash said apprehensively.

"How so?" Ritsuka asked.

"France was very important to the evolution of what is the modern society today, Ritsuka." Romani told him. "If France ends up being destroyed, many progress and evolution that we know today will cease to exist. Civilization will hardly evolve, ending up in extinction some centuries later. Wich means the present you and I live right now will dissapear."

"France is really important to humanity heh?" Peko wondered, amazed how important a location can be to an entire planet.

"Yeah, that's true. It's a country with a very long history after all." Mash said next to him. "When we come back I'll tell you more about it." She smiled to the boy.

"That'd be great Mash." Peko smiled back.

Ritsuka turned around to talk with Jeanne. "As you've heard now, our objective as people from Chaldea is to prevent this dragon witch from taking over France that would lead to the end of humanity." He explained to her.

"Oh, I see you're in a journey then." Jeanne said. "Well, I'd say it will be a long one for all of you. There's a way I can help?" Jeanne stretched her arm to Ritsuka.

"Heh sure." Ritsuka smiled at the saint. "But, let's help you first." He grabbed Jeanne's hand, forming in a way, their alliance.

"Thanks, Ritsuka Fujimaru." Jeanne gazed at Mash and Peko. "You two as well, Mash Kyrielight, Peko."

"The pleasure is ours Miss Jeanne." Mash said to her. However, she noticed that Peko looked a bit worried. "What was it Peko?" She asked.

"Humm, don't you think...that Nala is taking a long time to get back?" That phrase made Ritsuka and Mash and by extent Romani, to get serious as well as concerned. Peko was right. Nala should have met up with them by now.

"Hm, I'm sure the soldiers probably decided to make her an interrogation." Mash tried to find an explanation for Nala's lateness, wanting to decrease Peko's worriness as much as possible.

"Yeah, she's a kid that knows to fight after all. I'm sure they're curious about her. She will be back soon." Ritsuka said as well, joining Mash's narrative.

"B-but...what if she lost to that wyvern-"

"That wouldn't be the case." Jeanne said, standing besides Peko. "Of what I saw, she's a decent fighter. Plus the soldiers at her side, I'd doubt she would have lost."

"That may be but...I want to make sure she's alright!" Peko's voice was firm. "I want to at least know she's safe." He told the rest of the group.

"Well, I can contact Nala." Romani informed them. "Some couple of seconds and I'll see what's her situation."

"Oh, thank you doctor!" Peko felt grateful upon hearing Romani's words.

"No need for that Peko! Just doing my job." He showed a smile to the boy. "I'm going to contact Nala now. Stay still!" Romani's hologram dissapeard right in front of them.

The sword went flying, landing with an impact, penetrating the ground. It took such a blow that it's wielder couldn't get a strong grasp in it, letting go out of their hands. After all, it's wielder was still inexperienced despite the potential. Afraid of the challenge, of the fight.

Nala, exhausted, in pain and injured, tried to run torwards her sword, only to fell to the ground due to the cut in her knee. Still, that didn't stop the girl to slowly and faintly start to crawl torwards the place were her sword had landed, using the rest of her strenght to reach there.

Jeanne Alter was right behind her, watching the girl crawling with a stoic face. "I have to admit. You ended up being a little more persistent than I tought you were." She said, still observing Nala. Her voice as stoic as her face. This girl altough not being a match for her, didn't run away from the fight, despite of the clear fright she had since the beggining.

"Unfortunately, you are lacking certain aspects of combat. Still an amateur." The dragon witch started walking torwards Nala.

"Cmon, I need...I need to reach the sword!" Nala shouted in her mind. But it was impossible. The sword was some distance away from her, and with the little progress she had made, Jeanne Alter was in no time right next to her again. All she was doing, was leaving a trail of her own blood behind.

"Truly, how dissapointing." Jeanne Alter prepared her sword.

Feeling the hopelessness she was in rising, Nala felt more and more afflicted. Anxiety and fear going through the roof. "Nononononono please don't do it! I-I don't want..." Tears started to form on Nala's eyes as she tried to crawl faster to get away from Jeanne Alter. It didn't matter in the end. Nala couldn't get away from her enemy, the fear she had of Jeanne Alter.

"Please...have mercy..." Nala begged weakly, being so low that Jeanne Alter probably missed it. Or she didn't care at all.

"It could be said you tried at least." Jeanne Alter raised her sword, ready to strike Nala down. Her shadow once again, covering the girl's body.

"No! I want to live! Help! Ritsuka, Mash, Peko, Dad ,SOMEONE!" Tears were flowing down her face. She was just a kid after all. One that was scared of something that every other kid would be. Death.

Nala couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't pretend to be strong anymore. So, Nala finally gave in to her despair.

"PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!"

She shouted, she shouted as hard as she could. A scream so loud that it could probably be heard by everyone on the other side of the village. It even startled Jeanne Alter a bit.

The sight of Nala crying while looking at the dragon witch with eyes of trepidaton only passed a sentiment on Jeanne Alter...disgust.

"You really are pathetic." She said with a dead tone in her voice. She descended the sword, right about to hit Nala, and possibly ending her life.

Yet, she didn't took Nala's life. Instead, she hit with the back of her sword on Nala's back of the head, putting the crying girl unconscious. "Urgh!.."

With the battle over, Jeanne Alter picked up Nala's unconscious body. "However..." She smiled at her to be soon prisoner. "... that doesn't mean you don't have value."

To be continued...

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author.

In the Chaldea's command room, Romani's fingers typed the keyboard as fast as possible. The doctor was rather uneasy. It has been some couple of seconds since he tried to establish contact with Nala, but with no avail. All that he got was Nala's signal, showing that she was still alive, however that wasn't enough.

The suggestion that something bad happened to her, was becoming more real in Romani's head. He let out a frustrated groan.

"Why I can't make contact? C'mon Nala, tell me you're okay at least." He muttered to himself, not noticing Da Vinci's arrival next to him.

"What is the problem Romani?" She asked, distressed by Romani's lack of composure.

"It's Nala. I can sense her signal despite of not being able to make contact with her." Romani said, thightening his fists that were resting on the keyboard's table.

"So something bad happened to Nala?" Da Vinci put an hand under her chin, closing her eyes for a bit. "We should not panick now. If we got her signal, then Nala is still alive." She concluded.

Even if what Da Vinci said was true, Romani couldn't let go off his discomfort. "Yes, that's true. But what worries me is if she will stay alive for much longer depending on the predicament she's on."

Da Vinci agreed. "That is correct. Unfortunately, we can't do anything for her now. We'll have to hope that she continues alive for now. We should inform Ritsuka and the others about Nala's situation. It's the only thing we can do at the moment." Da Vinci told to Romani.

"Should we really say it? You know, with Peko there it could be..." Romani bent over in his chair, feeling that it wouldn't be the wisest choice to tell Peko about his sister current situation. Perhaps lying would be a better solution?

"It's true that it doesn't sound a very good approach. But if we lie it would be a matter of time until they realize Nala is in possible danger. That is my suggestion of course." Da Vinci gazed at Romani. "You're the director here. You are the one who decides to tell them the truth or not." She crossed her arms, waiting patiently to hear Romani's decision.

Romani stayed motionless, looking aimlessly at his table, thinking on what he should do as a director of Chaldea and what was best for his team. Seconds after he proceeded to sigh. "I hate to be a bearer of bad news."

Peko wouldn't stop walking in circles, the talk with Romani having occurred some minutes ago. The boy was desperate from wanting to recieve any information about his sister.

Mash walked torwards him, putting an hand on his shoulder. "Don't panic Peko. I'm sure Romani will bring news very soon. Their probably talking with each other if that's the reason it's taking this much time." That's what Mash hoped at least. The group needed to be optimistic, that's what she tought.

"Mmmm. I know, but I just can't stop thinking about her. About Nala." Peko lifted his head, looking at Mash. "I-I have to know if she's okay!"

"She's stiff." Ritsuka speaked to the boy. " Nala probably just got lost on her way to us." He said.

And right after those words, Romani's hologram appeard again, gaining a reaction from everyone that was in the local.

"Please tell me where's Nala, doctor! I beg you!" Peko said, his heart beating extremely fast and with pressure. Peko was nervous and wanting immediatly for an answer.

The face that Romani was making, wasn't one that transmited good feelings and everyone had already noticed that.

"So?" Ritsuka asked to Romani, a bit nervous as well.

The doctor and now, current director of Chaldea, took a deep breath. "First, we still can sense Nala in the Singularity. Meaning she's alive wich is good." Romani said, resulting in a slight relief for the group and even a huge smile appearing on Peko's face. His sister was alive and that was the most important thing to hear for him.

However, Romani still hadn't finished. "But, the second thing is...we can't make contact with her. Wich means she's probably been put unconscious and captured."

The heavy feeling came crashing down on the group. Peko's smile vanishing quickly, replaced by one of pure shock. His fear had been partially confirmed. Nala was in danger. Still, the boy didn't want to believe such thing. "T-that wasn't funny Doctor. Nala wouldn't been captured that easily. I-It's clearly a bad joke, right?" Peko's voice trembled in denial.

Romani stared at him before diverting his eyes gaze. A huge face of regret in the doctor's face. It was somewhat cruel to tell the truth, but telling an untruth would be no better. They had to know about Nala's situation. It was the option that sounded better in his mind. "It isn't, Peko." He said with great lament.

Peko stood still, lost for words.

Mash bited her lip, looking down in huge sorrow. "I shouldn't have left her." The shielder blamed herself.

Ritsuka cursed silently. I couldn't bare to loose another person in a short amount of time. Not after what happened in Fuyuki. But for now as a Master, he had to comfort Peko. He was the one suffering the most right now. "Hey Peko-"

Ignoring Ritsuka, Peko turned his back on the doctor's hologram and was running away from the group, caughting him and Mash off guard by the action. "W-wait! Peko!" Mash yelled.

Jeanne, who was silent and hearing the conversation until now, quickly moved in front of Peko and grabbed him by his arm, not allowing the boy to go any further. Peko started to struggle to get off the saint's grip.

"LET ME GO!" Peko shouted at Jeanne as he tried to pull off his arm and tears started to appear in his eyes once again.

"I know you want to save your sister, but going alone would only get you killed!" Jeanne argued with Peko, who didn't seem to listen.

"Shut up! Y-you don't know anything about us two!" Peko shouted again, his efforts getting him exhausted. Jeanne was a servant after all, so Peko chances of freeing himself form her grip were non existent.

"Doctor, do you know at least were Nala's signal is coming from?" Mash asked to Romani.

"It's some miles away northwest from here." He informed Mash.

Jeanne gasped. "That's Orleans and also the dragon's witch lair!" She looked at Peko who now was barely able to struggle. "Even if we went together, there's no chance that we can win and rescue Nala!" She stop holding Peko, knowing the boy now was too tired to run away. At that moment, Peko's body fell to it's knees, with the face staring painfully at the ground. "There's nothing we can do now but hope that the dragon witch doesn't kill her now. If she captured Nala, it's because she has something in mind for her."

"I-I know b-but..." Peko's hair overshadowed it's eyes, covering the source of the tears. Peko found himself crying, in front of his whole group, again. He didn't knew what to feel right now. Angry? Sad? Embarrassment? Frustration? Guilt? Uselessness?

The promise he made to get stronger, was looking more and more like a distant dream that he would never be able to reach. "B-but...sniff I just want..."

Ritsuka went to his side. Mash proceeded to do the same. Peko slowly raised his head, showing his teary eyes, alongside the snot coming out of his nose to both of them. "I want Nala to be safe!"

"Hurgh... Where am I?" Nala felt her head throbbing. An uncomfortable pain coming from the back of her head. She opened her eyes to see where she was but her vision was blurry. The room didn't had much light, being barely iluminated. That would spare less effort from her eyes to adjust the brightness of the room. "I-I'm still alive?" Nala asked to herself. So the dragon witch took pity on her. Or for other nefarious reasons she wasn't aware of.

"Hmm yes. Such young and beautiful maiden." Nala heard faintly the sound of a smooth female voice. Next thing she knew, she felt something pointy gently stroking her neck and hair. "A skin so delicate and gracious. And a hair as white as snow. Hehehehe, your blood will surely taste good." Nala's entire body shivered at that statement. As her vision finally got clearer, Nala saw the were the voice was coming from.

Right in front of her, there was a woman wearing a black carnival mask with a pointy shaped nose. Her well kept white hair. And her amber eyes shining brightly, directly meeting Nala's brown ones. "Ah, looks like you finally woke up." The woman gave a sadistic smile. Her beauty was only matched by her creepiness.

Watching down at her own body, Nala saw her hands were on her back, restrained by a chained that was connected to a wall behind her. Looking around, Nala saw she was inside what appeard to be a cell, with only light source being a tourch on the wall to her right. No windows, or even a bed. Just the tourch and a wodden door at the end of the cell.

"Oh poor girl. Confused about were are we now?" The woman taunted Nala. Having a better look, Nala saw that this woman used a mixture of cloths that resembled a vampire and also a dominatrix. "She's weird." Nala said to herself.

"Well my little maiden. We are in the dragon witch castle in Orleans. And you are our most recent guest. Or prisioner I should say." The woman giggled evily.

"W-wait?! I'm in the dragon witch's lair?!" Painful memories from her fight against Jeanne Alter cane back. The tought of seeing her again scared the young girl.

"Yes. And she told me that I could only observe you. No touching." The woman sighed, toying a bit with her hair. "Well, I think the dragon witch wouldn't mind if I touch you just a bit. Also I cannot help that you're such a cute thing to look at. You almost give me envy." The woman's face got close of Nala's.

The girl retreated slowly, eventually landing her back on the wall. "W-what are you gonna do to me?" Nala asked afraid. This woman was almost as scary as Jeanne Alter.

"A bit of your blood dear. It must be a sweet one." The woman raised her finger, touching Nala's right cheek with her sharp blue fingernails, ready to cut it. Whatever the woman had in mind, it came to a halt when the door of the cell opened.

"What did I just told you, Assassin?" A voice that Nala wished she wasn't able to recognized speaked. From the door, the dragon witch, Jeanne Alter, entered the room, looking annoyed at the other woman.

She immediatly took out her fingernail from Nala, quickly turning her head to face Jeanne Alter. "Nothing my master. I was just seeing if the girl was in good conditions and didn't suffer any serious or premanent injury from your fight." Assassin made up an excuse. Jeanne Alter could see easily through it.

"What part of the deal you didn't heard Assassin?!" Jeanne Alter raised her voice, clearly annoyed by Assassin's poor try of an excuse. Nala just remained silent, trying to not look at the dragon witch.

Assassin bowed to her. "Sorry my master. Unfortunately the Mad Enhancement makes me have a very lack of restraint for young maidens such as the girl here."

"Yeah, yeah. Your whole story about young girls, blood and whatnot. Still, our deal was simple. If I don't find any use for the brat here, you can do whatever the hell you want with it." Jeanne Alter reprimanded Assassin. "Understood?"

"Yes my master. I apologize for my moment of desobedience. I guarantee you it won't happen again." Assassin apologized.

"Then fuck off." Jeanne Alter ordered coldly. The assassin nodded and was about to leave Jeanne Alter and Nala alone in the cell.

But just before she left the two alone, Assassin looked back, staring mainly at Nala. "Oh but in case you end up being useless to us my young maiden, I'll make sure your blood isn't in my torture chamber." She licked her lips and finally went away.

"Alright she's definetly a freak! I better avoid her at all costs!" Nala made a mental note to herself. That Assassin definetly had some twisted mind.

Funnily enough, Jeanne Alter was thinking the same. "Jezz! There's being evil and then there's being total insane. You better be of usage if you don't want to end up in her hands brat." She noticed how Nala was avoiding her gaze. Jeanne Alter didn't like to be ignored and so, she grabbed Nala's jaw and forcefully made her look directly at her.

"Hey! Look at me while I'm talking to you!" Jeanne Alter demanded. "You better obey me or I'll make sure to kill you or do something worse." She smiled evily. She wanted to get a reaction out of Nala. And that's exactly what she got.

Nala let out a grunt of fear. "I-I'm sorry! I d-didn't mean to!" Nala apologized, not wanting to suffer again. She didn't want to feel that doomed feeling that the dragon witch gave her a while back.

"Heh. Better." Jeanne Alter simply said. She was fully aware of how scared Nala was of her, and she would try to utilize and explore that fear as much as she could. With her around, Nala's courage would vanquish in an instant. Jeanne Alter had really put the girl in her place so to speak. The confident Nala before their clash totally showing no trace now.

"No. This girl was already afraid since the start. I can tell she was just trying to act strong. How laughable." Jeanne tought. Either way, it wasn't time to think about that. Jeanne Alter went behind Nala, who stood still in order to not anger the dragon witch. Jeanne Alter unbuckled the chain connected to the wall, getting an hard grip on it, since the chain was still wrapped around Nala's arms, making sure she wouldn't try to escape.

"Now come with me." Jeanne Alter said, pushing the chain, making the girl take some involuntary steps ahead, almost losing her balance. Nala just nooded silently, confirming she heard the dragon witch order.

Satisfied enough, Jeanne Alter guided Nala outside of her cell, into the great halls of the castle she resisded now. The halls that were once of grandeur and magnific aspect, were now empty, nothing of shiny and well kept inside. Only coldness and cracks appearing in the walls. Nala could only imagine how beautiful this place must have been before it's occupation by the dragon witch.

Jeanne Alter stopped in front of a door, making a signal for Nala to stop walking as well. "We're here." She said. Opening it, they were met with a tall hunchbacked male figure. It's skin pale and glistening as if he was sick. Short darkish blue hair by neck lenght. But what creeped Nala was the man's face. Huge, rolling eyes, as abnormal as they could get, barely resembling those of a human. The man's vestiments also complemented his look. A splendorous robe and black cassock with patterns dyed crimson red like if it was stained with blood.

"Why does everyone here gives a creep vibes?" Nala was seeing who beetween this man and that assassin woman, wich one gave her the most unsafe feeling.

"Ah Jeanne, you've finally arrived. It's always good to see you." The man smiled, joyful by the presence of the dragon witch. "Oh, and I've seen you've brought a child." The smile on the man's face grew sinister upon seeing Nala.

"Yep, he's scarier." Nala hoped that he would be the last scary person she would see in this castle.

"She's just a brat who was playing hero by slaying some of the wyverns who were attacking a village. She's no stronger than that." Jeanne Alter smiled to her companion before giving a glance to Nala, who nervously look at her. "A dog who's bark ceases when its bite is revealed to be weak."

Unknowingly, those words from Jeanne Alter hurted Nala's moral. Deep down she knew this evil woman was right about her.

"Anyway I found some ways she can be of use to us. And this is one of those ways. How's the corruption going with Archer, Gilles?" Jeanne Alter asked to the man, whose name was revealed to be Gilles.

"As you wish Jeanne." Gilles walked to the other hand of the room, staring at a wall. He proceeded to cast a spell with his book, wich transformed the wall into numerous dark purple tentacles who were slowly lowering into the ground.

Nala didn't knew who they were talking about but after the tentacles on the wall had gone, they revealed a feminine figure with green and blond hair in what could be described as a horror scene. She was naked and restrained, her private regions only being covered by the same tentacles that were on the wall. She was struggling against them, while huge discharges of eletricity released by the tentacles would agressively shock her. She screeched in pain, as parts of her body were turning into black and tears were forming in her eyes.

Nala felt sick to the stomach by such cruelty, almost giving her a need to vomit. That was just inhuman. To torture someone like that. She couldn't even imagine what they did to prisoners here, if they still had any.

"Unfortunately she still resists." Gilles said in displeasurle. "Her oath of never hurt and killing kids is truly durable."

"Tough one eh?" Jeanne Alter smirked at Archer. "We'll see about that." She pushed Nala's chain, forcing her to stumble next to the dragon witch. Now at her side, Jeanne Alter grabbed Nala by the shoulder and looked at the woman being tortured.

"Hey Archer! Enjoying the session?" Jeanne Alter called her out.

In the midst of all the pain, Archer was able to focus her eyes on the figures in front of her. "What do you want, you fake saint?! AAARGH!" Her voice replied in a difficult tone, trying to bare the pain shortly before the tentacles hit Archer with a discharge.

"Hm, still not wanting to side with me I suppose." Jeanne Alter continued to taunt Archer. "If you truly refuse to hurt children, how about this?" Suddenly, she unsheated her sword and quickly pressed it against Nala's throat. Nala in that moment, felt panick taking over her body, her life suspended by a thread.

"No, please! I beg you-" Nala looked terrified at the dragon witch's sword, begging in fear to be spared.

"Shut up! I didn't gave you permission to talk." Jeanne Alter shouted at the girl, pressing the sword harder against her throat. Nala silently obeyed, letting tears form on her eyes.

"What are you- YOU BASTARD! Do you plan to kill this girl in front of me bitch?!" Archer shouted in rage, trying to lash out at Jeanne Alter, only to be reminded of her predicament.

"Well, you see, that's a choice for you to make Archer." Jeanne Alter giggled evilishly "Either you turn into my servant and obey me, or chose to resist and I'll kill this poor and innocent girl right here and now."

The dilemma put on Archer was a very hard one for a person like her. The tought of watching a kid die in front of her, haunted her to the core, but also thinking about serving the dragon witch and partaking into a genocide that would also envolve the death of children, even if indirectly, did not please her.

So instead, Archer went into a fit of rage. "AAAAAAAAAH! YOU DAMN WIIITCH!" Archer trashed furiously against the tentacles. The discharges were now stronger than ever, but that didn't seem to incommode Archer who now screamed in pure and blind anger.

Gilles was on the background, enjoying the moment. "Oh yes! Such torment, such anger, such hate and dispair of one who was once a great warrior! This is definetly cool!" He yelled in pure excitment.

"I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU ONE DAY YOU FAKE SAINT!" Archer continued her struggle, looking with her eyes in burning anger at Jeanne Alter. "JEANNE D'ARC! I'LL CUR-" As Archer was about to continue her rant, something snapped inside of her. Her struggles and shouts suddenly stopped as her eyes lost life in them. The tentacles also stop giving discharges, now holding a completely motionless body.

"Wha-what happened." Nala asked scared, still being held by Jeanne Alter and with the sword in her throat, altough not so pressed against it now.

"Hmm, it seems she broke down. Her mind completely shattered." Gilles said to her.

"Heh. So her promise to not hurt kids is that strong eh?" Jeanne Alter took out her sword from Nala's throat, who was staring in shock at Archer's body. "She's true to her believes. I'll give her that." Jeanne Alter commented, turning her head to Gilles. "This will do. You already know what to do Gilles. A broken soul that we can manipulate is better than one with will that tries to oppose."

"I'll already work on that Jeanne." Gilles bowed slightly to her. "So does that mean the girl here as outlived her usefulness?" Gilles asked to his friend as he grinned at Nala. She in return gulped in fear, shaking in fear of what they would do to her. If this was all that Jeanne Alter had in mind for her, then Nala was doomed.

Thankfuly for the white haired girl, that wasn't the case. "No, not yet Gilles." Jeanne Alter smirked at Nala, grabbing her chain. "I still have plans for her."

Jeanne Alter grabed Nala's chin with her fingers, gently turning the girl's head to face her. "Congratulations. You get to live another day as a reward." She giggled. "I guess you can rest in your room for now."

Jeanne Alter walked out of the room alongisde Nala and Gilles and started walking to Nala's cell. "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you Gilles. This brat was not alone, she was also together with a group of other people. I saw them run off the village while being led by that stupid other part of me." Her face contorted in contempt.

Nala gasped audibly, thinking about them, specialy Peko. "Don't hurt them!" She shouted at Jeanne Alter, who stopped in her tracks. Same with Gilles. The dragon witch launched a serious and cold look at her.

"What did you just say?" She asked in a deadly voice to Nala, reminding the girl of her position.

"S-sorry! I-It slipped." Nala was quick to apologize despite the fear in her voice.

"You better don't shout at me like that again." Jeanne Alter replied severely. Gilles also didn't like the spontaneous yell of the girl.

"I'd say she's trying to see your limit Jeanne. I would punish her for such daring!" The evil man protested.

"There's no need for that Gilles. But as I was saying, a group that was with her is now with that saint. They'll try to stop us most certainly." Jeanne Alter said as the three started to walk again.

"What should we do then? Do we attack when they less expect?" Gilles proposed to Jeanne Alter.

"Nope. We well attract them. And that's where she enters." Jeanne Alter smiled at Nala.

"Oh, I see." Gilles smiled as his eyes got bigger for a moment. "That's quite a plan Jeanne. Truly worthy of coming from someone as great as you." He praised the evil witch.

"No, they are in danger! And I'll serve as bait for them?! Dammit! Why did I had to get capture?!" Nala cursed herself for now being the reason her whole group was at danger. If she had only go with them when they were running away...

A few seconds after, they had reached Nala's cell. Jeanne Alter attached the chain to the wall, leaving Nala with little area to walk on her cell. "Now get prepare for the tomorrow brat. You'll be of great us to me once again." Jeanne Alter gave Nala one last smile, closing and locking the door, leaving Nala all alone to think and blame herself.

"Just a question Jeanne." Gilles said as he and Jeanne were walking, now going to the exterior of the castle in top of a wall. The sky filled with grey clouds and the terrain around full of wyverns feasting on corpses. "Did you planned to kill the girl if Archer had refused to help us?" He asked.

"No, I didn't." She revealed to Gilles. "I was just messing with her. She's very vulnrable and easy to scare. But also as something else in there."

Gilles got curious. "Oh, please do tell me."

"She isn't a servant but I could sense magic in her. And altough amateur in combat, she has some potential." Jeanne Alter observed the dead and deserted lands around her fortress.

"How so? I also sense magic in her but nothing tells me she is a great fighter beyond some simple sword combat and basic magic." Gilles told, not in full agreement with Jeanne Alter.

"Like I've said Gilles, she's still an amateur. But if we polish her, she can be of great help to us. We've had some examples during this very own war didn't we? Every man when trained well, can be a great warrior." She said while touching her cheek where Nala had cut on their previous fight. It was that moment that made Jeanne Alter saw what Nala could achieve given enough training.

"So, you plan to train her?" Gilles asked again.

"Sorta. But first we need to break her. Make her swear loyalty to me. Since she's not a servant, I bet she needs food as well as the outside light like every other normal person. So let's deprive her of that. See it slowly take it's tool until her hopes are crushed and has nothing to do but to serve me." She looked at Gilles with a sadistic smile. "How does it sound to you Gilles?"

Gilles suddenly landed on his knees and grabbed Jeanne Alter's arm, resting his head on her hand, getting an awkward reaction from Jeanne Alter. "H-hey, why are-"

"Oh, my dear and sweat Jeanne. You've truly came back to me. Having you here is such a blessing. Rejecting God and it's learnings was the best thing I've done after your death." Gilles slowly raised his head to look at Jeanne Alter, it's eyes now normal looking and full of tears, as if he was a sane man once again. "And that plan my beloved Jeanne, is truly the most cruel and coolest plan I've ever heard from you."

Jeanne Alter just stood there, smilling awkwardly at Gilles words. "Y-yeah. Sure thing Gilles."

Time had past and the full moon was on display, shining the dark blue starry sky and the huge forest beneath it. Inside, the group of Chaldea and Jeanne D'arc would spent the night. A very bitter one with the knowledge that Nala was captive in enemy territory. They went the entire day trying to come with a solution to rescue her, but nothing had came. Like Jeanne had said before, going now to Orleans was a suicide mission. So the night came and they built a tent and fireplace. Ritsuka and Peko later went to sleep on the tent, leaving Mash and Jeanne to watch over the area.

"They are both asleep." Mash said as she went away from the tent, the two girls walking in the woodland. The steps they made until now were only met with small noises of nocturnal creatures, no signal of enemy nearby.

The two had been silent for a time, so Mash decided to break it. "It must be painful to try to sleep knowing a very important person to you is in danger. It would kept me awake all night, not being able to sleep." She brought the Nala's topic, thinking on how hard it must have been for Ritsuka and Peko to sleep tonight, specially Peko. The boy had refused to sleep initialy, desiring to go save Nala as soon as possible. But after some talk he eventualy went to the tent to sleep, altough sad and crestfallen.

"I've already experienced that as well." Jeanne replied. "Many evenings sleeping with the apprehension of having soldiers that I knew and share time with, missing in yhe battlefield, never knowing if that would be the last time I would see them." Jeanne raised her hand, looking at it before slowly closing it into a fist. "I'd pray to the Lord every night that the next time I'd encounter my missing companions, it wouldn't be staring at their corpses."

"The war is such a vile thing, isn't it?" Mash looked up, seeing how beautiful the night was. Even if the huge ring in the sky was still visable at this hour. Wars were nasty but essential for how humanity came to be in the present. However, the Shielder tought if there could be another way were such things didn't have to exist. To spoil the huge canvas that was the world and humanity.

"They are indeed. But, it's in times like these, humans need to fight, fight for their lives, their country, their future. And of course, the people they love." Jeanne said as she observed a nest in one of the tree inhabited by a bird and it's two small children. "I too would wish for such tragedies like this war to never happened, but it's the way our Lord made it so. We have to fight these difficulties so that we can have a better future."

Mash smiled at the words of the saint. "I see. Humans truly are stubborn but persistent beings. Their collective hope will never end as long as it has a way to move forward." Mash felt that she just learned something new today."Yes, as long as we don't lose hope as a group, we won't fall to defeat. Our order will be carried until the end. So don't lose hope Nala. We will safe you. You two as well, Senpai, Peko. Don't lose it."

"You understand now I suppose." Jeanne smiled at Mash. "If you trust in each other, then no matter how hard the situation may seem, you will surpass it." Jeanne went next to some tree branches, pushing them away, to reveal ahead the village they were sooner that day now with some lights on, the citizens coming back to their houses as others were still being rebuild.

"Mother...if given the chance,I'll..." Jeanne tought, before turning around, letting the branches to cover the view of the village again. "We should head back, we've covered enough area, it's all clear." Jeanne told Mash who was some feet away from the saint.

"Yeah, it's all safe in here too. Guess the dragon witch doesn't plan to attack us at the moment." Mash awaited Jeanne, and together went back to their camping.

"So the best chance we have agains the dragon witch is to reunite other servants. That won't be easy." Mash commented, closing her eyes. She didn't know that would have some effect on Jeanne.

"I'm sorry. If I had a complete summoning alongside some of my missing Ruler skills, I'd be of greater help." Jeanne lamented.

"Oh! There's no need for saying sorry Jeanne." Mash comforted her. "Your presence here is of great help, since we have another person to help us in this Singularity. And the more the better." She touched Jeanne's shoulder.

"Hmm, thank you Mash. Is that...I just feel kinda like a new and inexperienced servant now with this whole thing. It makes me a bit unsecure, not being truly confident in my own skills." Jeanne explained her frustrations to Mash, her face with a bit of shame.

Mash still wouldn't blame her for that. "It's not something to be ashamed of Jeanne-san. I too am new to this whole servant thing. And I'm not even a full fledged servant. Just a demi one using the spirit of a complete one." The shielder shared her experiences with Jeanne. "I too had past through that same thing. Doubting myself, if I was able to such task even not knowing a single thing about who is the heroic spirit inside of me. But Master and others helped me to clear those doubts and have more self esteem. That's how I was able to use my Noble Phantasm in a time everyone trusted in me to do it."

"Good to know Mash. You truly have wonderful friends." Jeanne felt a bit better now, knowing she wasn't alone in this problem. "So, you wont mind to help me get through this, right?" Jeanne blushed a bit, looking a bit to the side.

Mash giggled at that action "Hehe. Sure Jeanne. We're here to help each other after all."

Jeanne smiled back. "Thank you Mash."

Meanwhile,different from what Mash and Jeanne tought when they left, Ritsuka wasn't actualy sleeping. The master of humanity was trying his best, but something just couldn't get put of his head. Nala, the blame he felt for her just kept him awake. Ritsuka tried to change positions to feel more relaxed and sleep, but it would never come. Eventualy, he was growing tired.

"Hmmm, c'mon body. I need to sleep. I need to sleep...to save Nala. I have too. I-I can't let her die." Ritsuka opened his eyes, the guilt on his chest feeling to heavy for him to sleep. Somewhere in his mind, Ritsuka would like to blame the wound on his shoulder for being the reason he was still awake. Instead, he just stared at the ceilling of the tend. "Dammit. What am I doing?" He hissed to himself.

"Fou,fou." Ritsuka felt some light and fluffy touches on his back. Turning his head around, he saw it was Fou. The small creature seemed to want to say something.

"What is it Fou?" Ritsuka looked at the pet confused. Looking a bit ahead from Fou, Ritsuka spotted Peko's bed. It was empty, not trace of Peko in the tent as well.

With no second to waste, Ritsuka exited out of the tent, worriedly looking for any sign of the boy. "Where is he?! He couldn't have gone all alone to Orleans could he?! He knows better than that!" As Ritsuka was about to call for his name, Fou runned past him, calling for Ritsuka as the animal was about to go further into the forest.

"Fou! You must know where he is right?" Ritsuka asked to Fou, next to the animal. Fou just nodded.

"Great! Show me the way." Upon hearing those words Fou went deeper and deeper into the forest, Ritsuka right behind him. "I hope he hadn't gone too far away. Or just went to see Mash and Jeanne."

Shortly after, Ritsuka saw that Fou had come to a stop, right next to a tree. Ritsuka slowed down, now only walking silently, approaching the tree.

Leaning over it, Ritsuka took a slight glance to what was in front of the tree. And that's when he saw Peko, sitting in a ground of stone right in the edge of a pond. His legs close to his chest with his arms in top of the knees. Peko's eyes were staring sadly at the water that was reflecting his own mirror as well as the sky full of stars.

Inazuma Eleven OST - Buried Hope

"What am I doing? Were did I think I could go? Heh, I'm really stupid." Peko murmured. Nothing as been going nicely since they had arrived to this Singularity. He has done nothing but to cry and put himself in danger. And now Nala was possibly dead, and somehow, Peko felt it was his fault for that.

"Nala, you were right. I'm just deadweight. Something to slow all of you down. I-I shouldn't have come here." Peko put both of his hands in his face.

"Why? Why am I like this? Screwing up everything?" Tears formed in his eyes. He was sick of those tears. He had done nothing but cry,cry and cry. Truly, how someone like that expected to save it's sibling? Ritsuka continued to watch behind the tree, trying to not be noticed by Peko.

The boy shoved it's tears aside and focused on his reflection in the pond. "Hehehe. Look at you Peko, crying again. You are truly a good for nothing. Perhaps...I should just give up. At least I won't be a burden to Ritsuka and Mash."

"That's not true!" Ritsuka revealed himself to Peko, coming out behind the tree and caughting the boy by surprise.

"R-Ritsuka?! How long were you here?" Peko almost slipped accidentaly into the pond. He then felt Fou touching his leg. "Fou,but why? I didn't anyone to-"

"You're a part of us too Peko. Were not going to despise you because of your lack of strenght." The master of humanity approached Peko.

"You just say those things to make me feel better. Deep inside you all wish I'd never come." Peko picked a stone and threw it at the pond.

"If I really wanted you gone,I would've say it." Ritsuka sit down next to Peko,looking at the pond too, watching the stone slowly sink to the bottom. "While it's true that you may be weak, it doesn't mean we will abandon you. Were friends." Ritsuka smiled at Peko.

The boy however, wasn't convinced by that. "What makes you think we are really friends? We've just met not so long ago. You don't know a thing about me, and I don't know a thing about you. How that can be called friendship?" Peko proceeded to look at the stars up in the sky. "I barely know, a single thing about myself."

"But through time you will. Just as our friendship will evolve." Ritsuka tried to be positive. "Time changes people for the better or worst. And that decision is up to you Peko. You're the one who decides to stay the same or not." Ritsuka explained.

"But I tried! I really tried! And look what happened because of it!" Peko raised his voice a bit, pointing at Ritsuka's shoulder that had been wounded by the wyvern due to Peko's iniciative to help someone.

"And? What's the matter? You tried to save a person. And that's quite a noble act. People like you have a great heart." Ritsuka touched his own shoulder. "I don't care how many times I get hurt if it means to help someone. You shouldn't worry about it." He told to Peko.

Altough not apparent, Ritsuka's words touched Peko. "H-How can you say that? Ritsuka Fujimaru, how much of a good and selfless person can you be?" Peko quickly changed his gaze from Ritsuka to the pond. "But, you're courageous. And I'm not. Not even my sister thinks that. I'm just a kid. A whortless one with little to n-"

"-little to no magic. It was what you were about to say,right?" Ritsuka cut off Peko's line, finishing it instead. Peko was surprised. How did he know he was about to say 'magic'?

"H-How did you knew?"

"Well,...Olga told me back at Fuyuki when we found you." Ritsuka hesitated for a bit, the death of Olga ressurging on his mind, and probably on Peko's as well.

"Oh...I see." Peko replied. "So you knew since the beggining." He told. "See? That's what I'm telling you. I'm weak. I'm a coward. I barely have any magic! That's all I know about myself! That I'm a useless kid with a sister that thinks the same and a missing dad wich we'll probably never find! Yet, you still want to keep me around?" Peko asked, legitimately wanting an answer from Ritsuka.

"What about your promise to Cú? That next time you would meet, you'd have become stronger?" Ritsuka asked Peko isntead of answering him.

"...!" The boy didn't know what to say. It took him some good seconds to come with a response. "I-I was just saying for the sake of it that time." He lowered his head.

"It didn't looked like that to me." Ritsuka was fast to replie, looking at Peko." It sounded more like a promise that came from the bottom of the heart. Of a kid that really desires to become stronger." Ritsuka smiled at Peko once again.

"Y-You really think that?" Peko looked to Ritsuka, eye to eye.

"Of course! I can sense it in you. That desire to change. To become stronger. To protect what matters to you. Besides, I don't even have magic at all! Hell, thinking better, I may just be weaker than you!" Ritsuka laughed a bit at the thought.

Peko now just stared at Ritsuka, the words the master of humanity echoing in his head. "H-he's right! Ritsuka doesn't have any magic and yet is here, trying to save the world from creatures way stronger than him. A normal guy picked by random chance is trying to save the world! And I'm here just crying and complaning." Peko's lips twitched up a bit. "I...have no right to do those things when you exist. I truly envy you Ritsuka..." His fists tightened. "No! I shouldn't envy you. I should become stronger. Stronger and corageous enough to save Nala. To find dad."

"Hehe." Peko smirked, before speaking again to Ritsuka. "I think I've made up my mind." He said. "I'll become stronger."

Ritsuka smiled at hearing Peko's decision. "That's good! And I'll be sure to accompain you're evolution." Ritsuka head patted Peko's head. The boy just smiled and laughed along with Ritsuka.

Fou joined the duo. "Ah Fou, come here!" Ritsuka grabbed the animal. "I guess you wont mind to see the stars with, right?" He asked.

"Fou, fou." Fou just said. Somehow Ritsuka and Peko understood that probably meant an 'yes'.

And so the three spent the next good and quiet moments looking at the starts at the sky, with Peko and Ritsuka trying to count how many they were able to see as a competition. It may appeard childish, but after so much stress it felt good to have a nice moment such as this. The next minute after that, was spent in complete silence, with them now only enjoying the company of the fireflies around. This forest was such a nice and beautiful place, completely diffrent from what was happening in the rest of France.

"Hey, Ritsuka. Can I make you a question?" Peko was still staring at fireflies as Ritsuka now laid on the ground with Fou sleeping right next to his head.

"Sure. Go ahead." Ritsuka said.

"Back at Chaldea, right before we entered this Singularity, you were the first and only one that supported my idea of going with you. Why?" Peko remembered how Ritsuka was the only one who trusted in Peko to go with him when everyone was against it back at Chaldea.

"Well..." Ritsuka got up from the floor. "I know how you felt that time Peko." Ritsuka said.

"How?" Peko asked again.

Ritsuka didn't knew if he should say it. A part of him always hurted when seeing Peko feeling down. Trying to be useful or integrated. That was something that Ritsuka knew very well. Knew exactly how it felt.

"We dont want you around."

"Why the hell would we want you on our team?"

"It's that new kid again. He's an idiot. Let's have a fun time with him."

"You're quite stupid if you think we can be friends."

Tears started to appear in Ritsuka's eyes. Memories of times that he wished to not think back again.

"R-Ritsuka! Are you okay?" Peko asked worried. Ritsuka just cleaned the tears away, proceeding to smile a bit.

"It's nothing Peko. But I know you felt the need to help others. To get stronger and protect your sister and help us. As well as find your father." Ritsuka looked at Peko. "That are things, that I respect a lot."

Peko smiled back. "Then, lets make another promise." Peko reached his arm out to Ritsuka. His hand opened, waiting for an handshake. "Until the human order is restored and we find my dad, let's always help each other out." Peko's smile grew wider. "As friends."

It didn't took long for Ritsuka to accept it. "Yeah." Ritsuka raised out his arm, proceeding to enter the handshake. "That's a promise. I'll help you till the very end of it."

The two shook hands.

From here on out, Peko could trust on Ritsuka as a friend and Ritsuka could be sure that Peko would get stronger.

"Fou,fou!" Fou exclaimed, making what could be trancribed as happy noises. It all remained silent before...

"...OH CRAP!" Ritsuka exclaimed out of nowhere, scaring both Peko and Fou.

"W-w-what is Ritsuka?!" Peko asked confused and worried at the smae time.

"The tent! Mash and Jeanne! They will notice our absence!" Ritsuka comically panicked, causing Peko to shout too.

"Oh no! We forgot! HURRY!" Peko and Ritsuka runned with all the speed they could before the two girls reached the tent. But then abruptly stop.

"Oh wait, we are forgetting something." Ritsuka said as he and Peko started to think on what could be.

"Fouuuu..." Fou made a sad noise, seeing that he had been left. But a hand out of nowhere picked him up, not allowing Fou to have any time to react.

"Done! I got you Fou! I got you!" Ritsuka said hastly, going back to run comically desperate alongisde Peko, now with Fou on top of his head.

"Fou..." A single drop of sweat appeard on Fou's head.

The sun rised, shining troughout the forest.

Thankfully for Ritsuka and Peko, they were able to reach the tent before Mash adn Jeanne, and went quickly to bed as possible, making sure the two returing servants wouldn't doubt of anything. As for Mash and Jeanne, after the two came back and saw that Ritsuka and Peko were still inside their beds with no danger around, decided to take a rest. Mash went to sleep for how much time the night still had left, going inside the tent. Jeanne decided to take a seat near a tree outside, closing her eyes. Not quite sleeping but resting, making sure to still be awake in case somebody approached. Seeing that the night had been safe, Jeanne let her mind go empty of toughts.

Or that's what she tought.

"Arouse my breed."

The saint's eyes opened all of a sudden, touching her forhead. "Wha-what is this?" She was gasping for air, as if she had just awakened from a nightmare.

"The witch draws nearby.

"W-who are you?" Jeanne asked to the voice in her mind. "The witch draws nearby? Is the dragon witch here?!"

"Be hasteful. Time's coming to an end for the blameless."

"Time's coming to..." Jeanne realized what it meant. "The village!" Without time to lose, Jeanne left the tree and went running, leaving the rest behind without warning.

To be continued...

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author.

"Rise and shine brat." The sound invaded Nala's ears, waking her from the sleep. "Time to be useful to me once again." Said the voice that Nala knew very well at this point. One that she despised to hear. It confirmed that what happened to her was true. She had been captured and it wasn't a bad dream she had.

Jeanne Alter walked torwards the girl, grabbing her arm, not giving Nala time enough to wake up and get on her feet properly. "Understood?" Said Jeanne Alter as she discomnected the chain to the wall.

"Y-Yes..." Nala said, still a bit sleepy, her eyes opening slowly. She wished to rub her eyes if it wasn't for the chain tying her arms behind her back that prevented her from doing that. Nala let out a yawn instead.

"Enjoyed the night here?" Jeanne Alter asked her with a malicious smirk. Nala didn't respond. It was painful having to wait for sleep to get her as the guilt weighed hard on her chest. A very hard night for Nala. She couldn't do anything other than blame herself during that time.

"I'll take that as a no then. Better get used to it. It will be the first of many." Jeanne Alter pulled the chain, indicaiting Nala to follow her. "But first, you'll help me get rid of that annoying group of yours."

"!" The mention of the group made Nala lift a bit her head up. She wanted to warn them. She wanted to keep them safe. But she would just be the bait for their downfall. "Damnit! If only I could do better. B-but what can I do against somenone like her?" Nala lowered her head again, staring sadly at the floor as Jeanne Alter guided her through the castle's halls.

The two eventually reached to the outside of the castle. Jeanne Alter made a sign for Nala to stop. "Now, it's time you see what a real dragon can do."

"Ritsuka! Wake up! Ritsuka!"

"Nghn..." Ritsuka woke up to Romani's agitated voice. "What was it doc? Do you wake people like this?" He put an hand behind his head, a eye still closed.

Peko also woke up with the screams. "Huh, what time is it?" He stretched his arms while asking.

"Senpai! Peko!" Mash appeard in front of them by the tent's entrance. She also looked agitated. "Jeanne as went alone to the village!" She said wich shocked Ritsuka and Peko. It was quite the way to wake up and hear this.

"And my monitor is detecting many singals coming torwards the village! It's many really! I detect a strong one in particular. It's probably the dragon witch!" Romani told the trio what was happening.

Peko turned his head to Ritsuka. "Don't tell me Jeanne is..." What Peko tought was also everyone's tought there. It was clear what was Jeanne's intention.

"She's weakened! She won't be able to defeat the dragon witch!" Mash warned the group.

"We need to catch up to her! Let's go!" Ritsuka quickly got up, decided to head were Jeanne went.

"Right behind you master!"

"Sure!"

Mash and Peko said as they alongside Ritsuka runned away from the camp and in direction of the village.

"I have to reach in time! Or else they're all gone!" Jeanne said to herself as she sprinted through the forest. The words of the voice she heard still echoed in her head.

"I-I can't let that happen! I have to save them!" The image of her mother appeard in front of her. "I have to save her!"

The saint run and run, nearing to the line of trees were rays of light glowed through the gaps beetween each tree,indicating the end of the forest zone.

"Hope it's not too late!"

The citizens had returned to the village. Altough half of it was devasted by the monsters yesterday, people deemed it was safe enough to come back to their houses. At least those who still had it. Some even returned to help in the reconstruction of the buildings that were destroyed and burying the corpses close to the walls of the village. It would take time to get things back to normal, but the inhabitants were already working to get the wounds healed.

In the middle of it, a middle aged woman was wandering through the wreckage, looking around as if she was trying to find something. She fixed her eyes in a small building that despite the cracks it had, it was still standing up, almost unscarred amidst the demolished of other not so lucky buildings. It was a flower store.

"Oh,good! It wasn't destroyed!" The woman walked to the store. Once next to the entrance, she observed all the flowers that were in exposition, mainly some blue ones. She grabed one and admired it's beauty, before closing the eyes and putting the flower close to her chest.

"These were always your favourite, right Jeanne?" The woman smiled, thinking on the memories of her daughter. Then she proceeded to join both hands and pray.

The woman begged. Begged to God that the person who saved her yesterday was truly her daughter. That the rumours of the dragon witch being Jeanne D'arc were all but false. That she could meet with her daughter once again and live the rest of her days seeing Jeanne has a happy woman with a good and peaceful life. She derserved it after all she's been through.

"Everyone, run! It's back!" The screams and panic pushed the woman out of her thoughts. She was confused. Another attack? With little to no time to breath after the last massacre?

The woman stepped away of the flower store and looked up in the sky to see what it was. The sight of it terrefied the woman to her core. Huge amounts of the same flying creatures that attacked the village yesterday, close to a hundred or perhaps even more. But what stood notorious between all the monsters was a giant black one. It was clear that one was the leader by the sheer size of it as well as the most powerful of the horde.

At its top, a human figure could be spotted if the eyes looked hard enough.

"Look at all these common peasants that you fought so hard to safe. Thinking the worst had already past." Jeanne Alter giggled as she observed the collective chaos of the village while standing in top of the huge dragon and talking with Nala.

The girl looked in terror, seeing the poor civilians being tormented again. How could someone enjoy such evil?

"Wouldn't be a shame if all that effort went to dust in just a second?" Jeanne Alter grinned at Nala, her vile intentions being clear.

"N-No! Don't do it!" Nala begged to Jeanne Alter. Unfortunately, that was the only thing the girl could do. "They have suffered enough already!" Nala knew it was useless to try and convince the dragon witch but she had to try.

Jeanne Alter simply turned her head to stare at Nala. "Are you the one in charge here?" She asked annoyed but also threatening, being received by a reluctant silence from the girl.

Without saying a word, Jeanne Alter returned her attention to the village below them. It was time for the dragon witch to show her prisoner what real power meant.

The saint, already exiting out of the forest, was met with the huge shrill roar of the flying monster in the sky, it's mouth wide open to the dark clouds above. The large neck of the creature was glowing. It was charging it's attack.

"Jeanne!" Her name was called out. Looking behind her, Jeanne saw Ritsuka, Peko and Mash coming out of the woods.

Eventualy, they reached her. "Why did you go away without telling us?" Ritsuka questioned her, before looking at the dragon that was nearly ready to lunch the blast from the mouth.

The next second, was too fast for everyone to react in time.

"Wipe them out, Fafnir!" Jeanne Alter yelled and the black dragon did as it was told, releasing the blast upong the village.

"NO-" Nala screamed as she could only watch the blast falling on the area about to be eradicated.

The middle aged woman on the floor didn't run unlike the rest of the civilians. It was useless running. It wouldn't escape them from death. So instead, the woman gazed at the figure on top of the dragon. Her iris shrunk upon looking at the figure. It couldn't be, but, it looked exactly like her.

Like her daughter.

Her daughter was really the dragon witch? Her beloved child was after all, the one behind all this genocide? Jeanne has really lost her way? Were all questions the woman made to herself as the blast and it's brightness would get near and nearer.

"Jea-" Was all that the poor woman could say, as in a mere fraction of a second, the blast erased her whole body.

A stretched arm trying to reach out to what was now a devastated giant hole full of smoke and black ashes was all Jeanne could do.

It was gone. Every citizen alongside the village was gone.

"Mother..." She whispered to herself, letting her head to lower. Mash seemed to notice it.

"Jeanne...we..." The shielder could only wonder what was going through the saint's mind.

"W-we couldn't do nothing." Peko sweat at the sight of the destruction caused by the firepower of the dragon. "It was just...too sudden."

"So this is the real power of our enemies huh?" Ritsuka was in awe by the black dragon's power too. "We alone like this won't do. We're outclassed."

Peko still wanted to think on a less negative outcome "But hey, there could be survior-"

"No, Peko." Romani's hologram appeard. "My sensors detect no life in the area in front of you. Sorry to say it but, there's nobody to be saved."

Peko didn't argued with the cruel truth told by Romani. He just stood silent and accepted it. No normal being would have survived that. "I see..."

"Y-you just killed them. All of them..." Nala stared in shock to the destroyed area below her. All those people that she saw and fought so hard to survive yesterday, were killed with no such effort. That lady she met. Her own mother...

Jeanne Alter meanwhile was watching satisfacted to the death she had caused. "Of course I did. I'm the Dragon Witch after all 'duh'. Like, did you tought all that thing about me genociding and mass killing people were rumours?" She giggled before putting her finger under Nala's chin in order to slowly raise the girl's head. "If you thought so I'm more than happy to have proved you wrong."

Just as Jeanne Alter was watching the surrounding area of the destroyed villaged, the witch caught sight of what she was looking for. "Oh, they've come just as I expected." She grinned evily while still looking at her target before speaking to Nala. "Ready for it brat?"

"Better we can do is to gather other heroic spirits if we want to have a chance to defeat the dragon as well as the dragon witch herself." Mash said to the others.

Ritsuka and Peko both nodded, agreeing that it would be their best option right now. Jeanne however, still stood silent and off from the conversation. The saint's mind was in a total different place.

"Mother, why? Why they did this to you?" Jeanne clenched her fist. "If only, I wasn't weakened... That dragon witch,she-"

A small touch from Mash broke Jeanne's inner toughts. "Hey Jeanne, are you hearing?" The shielder asked with a bit of worrydness in her face.

Jeanne tried to shove it away. "Don't worry Mash, I'm fine." The saint smiled.

A huge and loud sound came from behind her as well as a momentaneous strong breeze that catched the group off guard. It was the huge dragong with it's owner stepping down from it's head to the ground.

"Looks like we finally meet, saint." Jeanne Alter's talked with a smug in her face. Her eyes meeting Jeanne's. The ruler saint looked in shock to her counterpart right in front of her. She was an almost perfect clone of Jeanne's aside for different skin tone and personality.

"It's her! Mash!" Ritsuka did not waste time and put himself in front of Peko, calling his other companion to guard them both. This was about to get dangerous.

Slightly behind Jeanne Alter, Nala was standing with the chain wrapped around her arms and the rest of it in Jeanne Alter's hands.

"NALA!" Peko shouted his sister's name, about to run torwards her without thinking, only to be stopped by Ritsuka.

"Don't Peko!" He exclaimed. "It's far too dangerous now."

Altough not wanting to stand by and wait to rescue Nala, Peko admited that what Ritsuka was saying was quite true. Nala bit her lip and tried to not make contact with him. She believed to have let them down.

"Soooo is that all of you?" Jeanne Alter asked while staring at the opponents in front of her, looking now at Ritsuka. "Is that the human master that will try to stop me?"

"Y-yeah." Ritsuka tried to say with determination.

"Hmm ok then." Jeanne Alter analyzed calmly. "...heh...eheheheheheheheHahahahahaha!" The witch bursted out laughing like crazy, making her opponents take a more defensive posture.

"Hahaha. Ah, is this some kind of joke?" Jeanne Alter mocked them. "Other me, you truly are pathetic! It suits you having joined forces with other clowns!" The witch laughed some more looking at her counterpart expression as well as the others. "Those stupid faces, it almost makes me die of laughter." She turned her head to look at Nala. "This is the kind of people you hang out with? So ridiculous, isn't that right Gilles?" No response came.

Jeanne Alter realized that her friend was nowhere to be seen. "Oh, yeah. I forgot that we did end up not bringing him."

"Enough of that nonsense of yours!" Jeanne shouted at her dark counterpart. "Are you, really the other me? I must know since I can't even fathom nor imagine the idea of destroying France ever in my life. So I ask you again, are you truly me?" Jeanne questioned her Alter part.

She seemed displeased by Jeanne's questions. "My, you really are slow aren't you? Think with me you stupid saint. This country betrayed me and spat on me, leaving me to die miserably, after all I done for it. It's enough reason for why I'm destroying it. Even a child would understand that, don't you think?" Jeanne Alter smiled to her other self.

"So I'm going to erase every living being on this country. Cut the bad root that is humanity and France will turn into a dead place full of silent corpses. That's the salvation of the new Jeanne D'arc." Her smile grew wider. Jeanne on the other hand clinched her teeth. Never she expected to have all this darkness inside of her. "If you don't acknowledge it, then you can't possibly be the other 'me'. Unless..." Jeanne Alter giggled. "You're in denial."

"She's terryfing. Can we really beat her?" Mash whispered to Ritsuka.

"I don't know. At least, we outnumber her." Ritsuka replied to Mash.

"However..." Jeanne Alter started to speak again. "I'm not here to kill you all, for now." Her words confused Jeanne and the trio behind her. "Instead, how about we make a trade here and now?" Jeanne Alter pushed the chain on her hand, making Nala involuntary take steps forward and almost fall to the ground. "I believe this girl here belongs to you right?"

Peko got upset seeing Nala being treated like that. "W-what do you plan to do with my sister?!" He yelled only to be calmed down by Ritsuka.

"Oh so that's your brother eh?" Jeanne Alter looked maliciously at Nala. "Thinking about it, you two look quite identical. Twins maybe?"

Nala was shaken in fear. "P-please, d-don't hurt him. Leave him out of this." She begged weakly.

"What's your plan here?" Jeanne demanded to know.

"Like I said, I just want to make a trade here. I'll give you this girl back and in return, you give me that saint to me." The proposal shocked everyone from Jeanne side including herself.

"Senpai, what do you think?" Mash asked to Ritsuka, thinking hard about the decision. It was lose-lose situation for them.

"I also want to save Nala, but right now, we-"

"We still outnumber her, right?" Peko said. "E-even if Mash and Jeanne are weaker, we might have a chance if it's two against one." The idea didn't looked bad, unfortunately for them, Jeanne Alter had overheard the conversation.

"If you think it would be as easy as that, think again boy." She raised her arm and snapped her fingers. Suddenly, four people were surrounding the group.

"Master! We're surrounded!" Mash exclaimed while looking at the new enemies around them.

"Damnit! This is bad! Those four are servants!" Romani holgram appeard, informing the group of the situation. "There is no way we could possible win this in a fight! We are now both outclassed AND outnumbered!"

"This is a warning to not even try and do something funny." Jeanne Alter warned them. "Now, have you guys decided to trade or not? Remember, my patience has limits."

"C-crap! What do we do now?" Peko asked, slowly losing his posture. For him, there couldn't be any other way to get out of this alive without trading Jeanne. If that meant Nala was safe and with them again, it would had to be it, even if it hurt. "I don't want to do this to Jeanne but, it's our only chance..."

"Master, I don't want to put pressure in you but, what's your decision? I know it isn't a easy one but we need to act fast now." Mash told Ritsuka, also feeling the frustration and anxiety within her rising.

Ritsuka right now, felt like a huge mountain was above his shoulders. This whole responsability was something he wasn't used to it. "This situation is way worse than the one in Fuyuki. There's not a way we can save Nala without trading Jeanne for it. If we end up fighthing here, we will certainly die!" Ritsuka at this moment didn't know what to do, only feeling anger on himself. "Damnit! I'm a master aren't I?! I can't even think straight! What the hell am I doing? What I'm supposed to do?!"

"Hehehehehe. Look at that pathetic mice there. Scrambling his brains to think on the most awful plan." Jeanne Alter laughed at Ritsuka's indecision, before turning her attention to Peko. "What about you little boy? She's your sister right? Don't you want to see her safe and sound next to you?" She taunted the boy.

"I..." Peko hesitated in his words. Deep down he truly wanted Nala to be safe but also didn't want to throw Jeanne under the bus.

"No Peko, you shouldn't bare to make this decision!" Ritsuka tought while looking at his friend. "I-I am the leader here. It's my job to make a decision for the best of everyone. I hate to do this but I need to! Or else we all die."

Ritsuka had decided. "I-"

"I'll go with you! Let the girl go." Jeanne was quicker in answering than Ritsuka, hoping that the human master wouldn't feel guilty for making the decision.

"Oh, so you are coming on your own volition? " Jeanne Alter smirked.

Ritsuka, Mash and Peko were shocked by Jeanne's action of letting herself be traded in order to have Nala back. She was indeed a selfless saint.

"J-Jeanne-san! Are you sure?" Mash questioned Jeanne.

"Yes I am. If it means you can get your friend back then I have no issue with it." She smiled at the trio. "Make sure to find other servants and bring her down. And don't worry, I believe in all of you."

Even if it taked a lot, Ritsuka had to respect Jeanne's decision. She decided for them, even if it involved her. She made the decision for them despite knowing she wouldn't benefit and only get prejudiced. So, Ritsuka silently nodded, accepting Jeanne's decision.

Peko also stood silent, admiring the selfless act of the saint. "She did that,for us and sis?"

"Ok then." Mash sadly let Jeanne go ahead, accepting her choice.

"Gosh, you're such a goody two shoes aren't you?" Jeanne Alter felt like getting sick by her counterpart act. "Whatever, now walk nicely over here."

"Let the child go first." Jeanne responded.

"Not a chance. How will I know that you're not lying? Come here first and I'll let her go." Jeanne Alter requested.

"Do you think a saint would lie?" Jeanne asked to her counterpart. "Also how can I make sure you aren't lying too?"

This was visibly putting Jeanne Alter angrier. "I still won't bite it. Also if I wanted to kill you, I would've done it a lot sooner."

The two Jeanne's stared at each other, before the saint decided the witch's condition. "Fine then." She started to walk torwards Jeanne Alter.

"No! Don't do it, it's a trap!" Nala wanted desperatly to tell her, but she was scared that if doing so, would cost her life. However, she also didn't want to watch all her companions and brother being killed while watching powerless.

"Yes, come closer stupid other 'me'. Shoving my sword into your body will feel amazing. And then all of you mices at the back will be quickly killed by my servants. What a way to dispose of trash like you." Jeanne Alter was liking how things were going as she planned. However, she didn't knew what her other part was thinking at the moment.

"Hate..." Jeanne told to herself as she was taking her steps torwards her Alter counterpart.

"This feeling...is it hate?" Jeanne took another step. Her mind could only think about one thing.

"You killed my mother...and enjoyed it. How dare you?" Another step.

"That face of yours. That smug and cruelty. It angers me." Jeanne's soul felt heavy and heavier. "I'll make you pay Dragon Witch, for all the suffering you've caused." Whispers and murmurs echoed in her head, encouraging the saint's hate.

"I have to think on something. I have to, or they all die!" Nala closed her eyes trying to think on something. "C'mon,c'mon...that's it!"

As Jeanne Alter watched her other part walking to her, she started to feel the chain she was holding moving. Looking briefly to the side she caught a glimpse of Nala struggling against the chain. "Hey now, stop it brat." She hissed to Nala, still maintaning her smile and trying to not lose focus on Jeanne in front of her.

Unfortunately for her, Nala's struggles only grew along with her movements going wilder by the second. Peko alongisde Ritsuka and Mash were trying to understand what Nala was doing.

"What are you doing sis?" Peko wondered.

Jeanne seeing this, took advantage to get ready in case she found an opening in Jeanne Alter.

Nala's noises and struggles in the chain were rapidly making Jeanne Alter loosing her patience. "Keep the fuck quiet brat!" She said more loud and angry, hoping Nala would cowardly obey her and stop the struggle.

"I won't! This is perhaps the only chance of foiling her plans for now." Nala continued her struggle, trashing wilder and wilder against the chain.

Jeanne Alter has had enough. "For fuck sake!" She stopped looking to Jeanne and grabbed Nala's shoulders with both her hands in a tight grip, trying to physicaly stop the struggle. "Listen here you fucking-"

"NOW!" Nala with a quick movement, raised her head as fast as possible and bashed the back of it successfully in Jeanne Alter's nose,breaking it.

"Argh!" The pain caught Jeanne Alter by surprise and unintentionally she let her grip on Nala go, freeing the girl from her grasp.

"It worked!" Nala exclaimed, taking this chance to start running away from Jeanne Alter.

Seeing the opportunity, Jeanne quickly summoned her sword and charged torwards her dark counterpart.

"Hrgh! You damn insects!" Jeanne Alter roared and quickly took the hands out of her nose, showing it all bloody, and summoned her sword fast enough to clash with Jeanne.

"Well played Nala!" Ritsuka shouted with a smile on his face. It looked like the situation was turning in their favor.

Mash didn't waste time and sprinted torwards Nala. "Keep running Nala. I'll cover yo-"

A big clash occured. Mash's shield was fending off the sword of Saber-Berserker, stopping the shielder in her tracks.

"The other servants! We forgot about them!" Peko shouted as the other three servants were ready to attack them.

Meanwhile, the two Jeannes were still clashing their swords. Jeanne Alter took a quick look to the chain that was moving on the ground next to her right foot and almost out of her reach. "No you fucking wont!" Jeanne Alter stomped the chain with her foot, putting a stop to Nala's running and making the girl fall to the ground by the sudden stop of the chain.

Just as Jeanne Alter did that, she looked Jeanne in the eye to see what she wasn't expecting to see on her saint counterpart. Anger and hate filled in her eyes. They could tell to Jeanne Alter that the saint was with every intention of killing her here and now. "Heh, see? Can you feel what I felt? " Jeanne Alter smirked. "If so, then we are the same. Don't deny those feelings other 'me'. Accept them!" Jeanne didn't reply. Her grip on the sword grew stronger.

"Now how are we going to get out of this?" Ritsuka protected Peko behind him as the other three servants approached.

"Hmmm, what would Magi Mari say in this situation?" Romani rubbed his hair, trying to think of soemthing. "I know! Let me check her site to see what advise she can give us!"

"Is it really the time for that?!" Peko shouted comically at Romani.

Then, when it seemed all was lost a distant noise and voice came from nowhere.

"Wassup my homies!" The voice could be heard from afar as well as some...singing.

Everyone in that moment raised their heads and were shortly met with a big chariot falling right in the middle of the battle.

"What a-" Ritsuka and Peko said in unison.

"Doctor are they what I'm thinking they are?" Mash asked to Romani, still fighting against Saber-Berserker.

"Yes Mash, they're servants! We're safe!" Romani shouted in happiness as the recent arrived servants were attacking the enemy ones.

"Quick! Hop on all of you!" A man at the front of the chariot told Ritsuka and Peko as he was playing a violin that seemed the source of his attacks.

"Wait! We still have to rescue Nala!" Peko replied and immediatly went after his sister that was still lying in the ground a few meters away from him.

Mash took the opportunity that the enemie servants were occupied to retreat back to the chariot. She looked back and saw Jeanne was still fighting the dragon witch.

"Jeanne we need to retreat now!"

Peko runned as fast as he could and dived next to Nala, proceeding to grab the chain behind her. "Don't worry Nala I got you! I got you!" Peko shouted in a frenzy, trying to pull the chain away from Jeanne Alter's foot. However, the dragon witch wasn't taking the foot off the chain for nothing. Even when fighting Jeanne, she made sure to still be stepping on the chain to make sure Nala wouldn't escape.

"C'mon, just a little bit of streeeeeeenght!" Peko pulled the chain as hard as possible but still wasn't enough.

Seeing this, Nala assumed that she had no escaping here. "Please Peko, leave me! You have to go with Ritsuka and Mash now!"

"Are you crazy! I'm not leaving you behind again!" Peko shouted as he was now grabhing Nala's legs and pushing it, trying to see if the result could be different.

"No Peko, leave! Or you will get captured as well! I don't want that!" Nala shouted back, trying to change her brother's mind.

"B-but, I also don't want to lose you!" Tears were appearing on the boy's face. "We will look for dad together, right?!"

"Jeanne! Peko! We need to leave now!" Ritsuka shouted, but seeing the difficulties Peko was having trying to save Nala, he was about to step out of the chariot.

A arm in front of him stop Ritsuka. "Don't do it. It's dangerous to risk it that way!" The woman with a big and bulky red hat next to him said.

Jeanne wanted to continue her fight, but a gaze at the situation, told her that she had to wait for another time. The saint stepped out of the clash and runned away but not before giving a serious stare at Jeanne Alter, making sure to transmit the feeling the two would meet again.

"Ah! You're all running now? As if I'd let you escape!" Flames started to spawn on Jeanne Alter's hand.

"Yes we will look for him together Peko! I promise you that! I won't go down that easily!" Nala made herself brave again for Peko's sake.

Peko cleaned off his tears, not wanting to appear as a crybaby in front of his sister again. "Then, I'll become stronger and rescue you Nala! Just wait for it!" Peko said, trying to make sure his voice wouldn't crack.

Nala could see something in her brother's face. Determination. She felt what Peko was saying was true. He would become stronger to save her. "Heh." Nala smiled. "Then make sure you do it, Peko."

Peko nodded silently, right in time as Jeanne was passing next to him and grabbed him, with the two heading torwards the chariot and leaving Nala once again behind.

"Gah!" Jeanne Alter launched her blazes the moment Jeanne and Peko jumped into the chariot.

As they calmed down and eventually vanished, it showed the chariot was already gone, and the dragon witch enemies had escaped, much to her frustration.

"Haaa, whatever." She said, looking to her servants around her. "Disperse and find them!" She ordered. At that moment, the four servants dissapeard from her sight, leaving her alone with Nala.

"And you..." Jeanne Alter looked menacingly at Nala on the floor, who this time, stared back at her with a defiant stare. "you will regret screwing the whole thing."

To be continued...

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author.

Escaping from the dangerous situation, the big and charming chariot appeard in the middle of a small open area in the middle of the forest, away from the destroyed village that was previously known as La Charite.

Mash, Ritsuka and Peko exited out of the vehicle alongside Jeanne and followed by their rescuer servants.

"Hmmmm all clear." Mash said while analyzing the area around. "It seems we've escaped. Thank you for coming to our rescue." Mash thanked the new four servants.

"Yeah. If it weren't for you we would be finished." Peko told them.

"Oh,there's no need for that mes amies." Said the girl servant who was clearly french. "The name's Marie. Marie Antoinette." She introduced herself.

"This man next to me is the famous musician, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ." Marie pointed to the tall man.

"Hi! It's nice to meet you. You all probably have heard about me already. I'm happy that my works are still known and appreciated my modern humans." He said with a cheerful smile.

"Wow! No way!" Ritsuka chuckled a bit. "Never in my life I tought I would met and talk with Mozart and Marie Antoinette in person!"

"Are they that famous?" Peko asked. He wasn't getting all the joy and hype Ritsuka was having.

"They are very famous Peko." Mash speaked to him. "Marie Antoinette is one of the most famous queens of all history if not the most famous of the 18th century. As for Mozart, he's said to be the greatest and best classical musician to ever live."

Marie blushed at Mash comment whereas Mozart smiled proudly. "Hphm! Of course I am Miss Shielder. Others like Beethoven, Bach and a certain italian man can only dream to be as talented as me."

Ritsuka, Peko and Mash reacted with a deadpan face. "He's...quite full of himself don't you think?" Mash asked to the other two who silently nodded in agreement.

"Heeeey! Don't forget about me too!" A small dark pink haired girl with dragon horns and lizard tail approached them. "I am everyone's favourite idol and hungarian countess, Elizabeth Báthory!"

No words came out of Ritsuka's mouth.

"So? Why the silence? D-don't tell me you didn't heard about me!" Elizabeth said in the verge of tears for not being possibly recognized.

"No,it isn't that." Ritsuka simply said. "I..was just expecting Elizabeth Báthory to be more of a fully grown woman. Not a kid."

Elizabeth fell to the ground hearing those words. "Seriously?! That's what bothers you?!" She yelled comically.

"N-no! It was kinda of unexpected, that's all." Ritsuka explained a bit nervous.

Mash then remembered something. "Now that we're talking about that, of all the servants of the Dragon Witch that were surrounding us back there, one of them was a woman that gave me that sadistic vibe of Elizabeth Báthory."

Elizabeth's eyes frowned. "The hag that you saw was my older version." She told them in a more serious tone. "She's way more ruthless than me and totally different. She's quite dangerous."

"Ok, that's a bit weird." Ritsuka replied.

"Well, there's already two Jeannes in this Singularity, so two different versions of the same person isn't something new already." Peko tought.

"Then I guess I'm the last of the introduction here." A light blue haired girl with the same height as Elizabeth and holding a fan while wearing a kimono catched Ritsuka's group attention. "My name's Kiyohime. Pleasure to meet you." She opened her fan, covering her mouth.

"Oh yes, I remember! Your Kiyohime from the famous folklore of Anchin and Kiyohime. I've heard that story quite some couple of times." Ritsuka said, remembering of how popular the folklore was in it's national land.

Kiyohime was pleased by Ritsuka's reaction. "Hehehe that's right! Good to see you've heard of me a lot Anchin-sama!"

"Of course! It would be a shame to me has a japanese to not know it at all." Ritsuka said happily. "Altough I'm not sure if I should feel safe hearing the 'Anchin-sama'" He whispered to himself, smilling nervously.

"Why's that Ritsuka? Is it something bad?" Peko asked to him.

"The folklore consists in her loving a man called Anchin but he didn't loved her in return. It was an unrequited love. She got so angry over that, that she transformed in a demon-like serpent and burned him with a bell." Ritsuka said lowly to Peko, not wanting Kiyohime to hear it.

"Wow, that's...messed up." Peko reacted.

"I guess we should introduce ourselves too." Mash put an hand in her chest. "My name is Mash Kyrielight. Nice to meet you."

Ritsuka followed Mash's introduction. "Ritsuka Fujimaru. Last master of humanity."

"And I'm Peko. Pleasure to meet you." Peko said last.

"Hm? No surname?" Mozart questioned him, noticing how Peko didn't have a last name compared to Ritsuka and Mash.

Peko cursed his amnesia in that moment. "I...don't remember." He said, slowly rubbing his head.

Marie felt sorry for him. "Oh poor kid. It must be a very harsh situation for you."

"Well, I hope to get some things cleared by the end of this journey." Peko told her. "Also, it makes me feel k-kinda bad for being the only one here who doesn't know a single one of you." Peko was embarassed for not knowing anything of such famous individuals. It made him feel like a straight out ignorant.

"Don't worry kid! You have memorie problem so you get a pass." Elizabeth tried to cheer him.

Peko didn't know if that was supposed to let him feel better. "Huh...thank you?"

"Wait a moment." Ritsuka looked around, as if he was looking for something. "I guess not everyone was introduced.

"What do you mean Senpai?" Mash asked.

"Where's Jeanne?"

Some distance away, Jeanne was leaning on a tree while looking to her own hand. On the battle with her Alter self, Jeanne's emotions sparked something that she never tought to feel again in her life or to ever have felt.

"Did...did I succumbed to hatred back there?" Jeanne wondered, not knowing how she let that emotion control her so easily. It was hard to remember the last time she felt like this.

"Is this how anger feels like? Is this, how she feels?" Jeanne closed her hand in a fist. Jeanne thought that perhaps Jeanne Alter was right. Perhaps Jeanne was indeed in denial of her darker emotions.

"So,we may truly be the same..." Jeanne lowered her head, her eyes being shadowed by the hair. "Am I really capable of all this evil? To be this vengeful?" Jeanne just felt like she didn't knew herself anymore.

"A soul is never pure. "

A chill went down Jeanne's spine. That voice. The voice she heard when waking up. She was hearing it again. But it was not the familiar voices of what she supposed to be angels during her childhood years. It was something more somber.

"Y-you again! Please tell me, who are you?" Jeanne turned around, seeing if the voice was coming from any direction. It wasn't. The voice was totally coming from her head.

"A flawful balance that dooms peace."

"What are you saying? I'm not understanding at all." Jeanne tried to comprehend the words the voice was telling her. What was the meaning of it. Like if a thunder hit her, Jeanne writhed in pain, hold her head and fell to her knees on the ground while grunting in pain. "Hrgh! W-what's with this headache all of a sudden?"

"Where there is light, there is darkness. Same goes for good and evil. Polar opposites that reside within us."

Jeanne felt like her head was about to explode at any moment. "Light? Darkness? What does it mean?!" Her frustration only grew more and more. Who was the voice? The pain came more agressive as she tried to think more and more in doing questions. Jeanne just couldn't handle it anymore.

"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! What do you want from me?!" Jeanne yelled to the ground as she couldn't handle the pain anymore in her head.

So it stopped.

Jeanne was sweating all over her face and panting. The pain, as well as the voice, went away just like that. Jeanne couldn't believe on what happened. Did the voice really existed or she just imagined it?

"Jeanne!" Another voice, this time one that didn't came from her head, called her out. From the trees to her left, Mash came out with the shield, expecting to encounter enemies. Right behind her came Ritsuka, Peko and the new servants. They all seemed worried to some degree. Reaching torwards the saint, Mash realized that there were no enemies nearby and kneeled to talk with Jeanne.

"Are you ok? We heard a scream." Mash referred to Jeanne's scream, not knowing the actual context behind that.

"I-it was nothing, no need to worry. It was just a simple enemy who tried to attack me by surprise." Jeanne lied, deciding it would be better to maintain the voice stuff to herself.

"Why you were here alone in the first place?" Ritsuka wanted to know the reason for Jeanne leaving them shortly after escaping Jeanne Alter.

"I..." Jeanne didn't knew what to say. She wasn't very found of lying, but also didn't want the others to know about the experience she just had. Their focus should be totally on the Dragon Witch, and not some voice in her head.

"Look, I also saw what happened back there with the village must have been hard for you." Peko told her, thinking he might known the reason for why Jeanne was alone. "What happened to the civilians. Your mother...it was probably hard for you to watch." Jeanne understood what he was saying. Her mother's death seemingly made an huge impact on Jeanne.

"So,if you wanted time to grief your loss, I respect that." Peko never knew personaly Jeanne's mother or saw them interact, but he knew that when the village was utterly destroyed, he saw how heartbroken the saint was.

"Yeah, it was that..." Jeanne decided to take a chance on Peko's wrong take of the situation even if it wasn't one hundread percent wrong. Jeanne also felt guilty and unsettled with her mother's death. "I just needed sometime alone. I didn't want you to see me in such a sorry state."

Marie walked torwards her. "No problem mademoiselle Jeanne. Seeing the famous Jeanne D'arc in person is was always one of my dreams. Also, nobody's perfect. There's no harm in crying sometimes." Marie comforted her.

"That is very true indeed. No matter how famous or talented or powerful we are, we still have flaws." Mozart added. "Except my music of course"

"If something's troubling you, you can tell us. We're in this together after all." Ritsuka smilled to the saint, who smiled back to him.

"Sure. Thank you for the support." Jeanne got up from the ground. "Sorry to go away without telling you nothing. It won't happen again." Everyone nodded in response and decided to walk back to where the chariot had transported them.

As they were walking, Mash noticed that Peko's face was of someone who was thinking about something. "What are you thinking about Peko?"

"Nala." The boy responded immediatly. "I made sure to her, that I would rescue her. I need to. She's my sister." Peko said in a firm tone, determined to save Nala.

"Sure. And we'll be there to help you too." Mash also wished to save Nala. Ritsuka probably had the same thought. She was part of the group too and altough they just knew the siblings for a short time, they wouldn't dare to leave one of them behind.

"Thanks Mash. I just hope she's ok." Peko told the shielder.

"I'm sure she is Peko. She won't get hurt that easily.'

"Hurghf!" Nala slightly groaned as her back hit the wall behind her with a bang and coughed a bit of blood. No bones broke by luck. Jeanne Alter was true to her words. She was making sure Nala regretted her decision of ruining the Dragon Witch plans. After arriving to the castle, Jeanne Alter dragged agressively Nala to the cell and once inside, the Dragon Witch started her brutal assault of punches and kicks on Nala's body.

"You just couldn't keep quiet, could you brat?" Jeanne Alter, with the wound on her nose healed, continued the clobbering as she kicked the girl's stomach. Nala's body was marked with bruises,on the arms, legs, back and mainly one on the face slightly above her right eye. Blood was also oozing from her head and shoulders.

"Hope you don't do that again, or it will be worse." Jeanne Alter threatned coldly. "Understood?" She demanded to Nala. Yet, no response came from her lips. Only silence as the witch stared at her captive breathing harshly on the ground.

"Damnit! Hope I didn't went hard enough for her to die. A dead body will service me of no good." Jeanne Alter tought, immeditaly turning around. "I'll come back to heal those wounds. Don't try anything stupid."

"Y-you're...a coward..." Jeanne Alter had barely took one step to exit the cell has she heard Nala provoke her. The witch slightly turned her head, staring at Nala with slight frustration in her eyes.

"Come again?" She asked menacingly. Jeanne Alter couldn't believe Nala still had the gall to mock her after such beating.

"No,I won't...!" In an effort, Nala raised her head to face Jeanne Alter. "You've...heard perfectly at first..." Nala showed a huge smug smile to the witch, her white teeth stained with a bit of blood. She smiled even with tears flowing down her eyes from the pain on her whole body. "You brag about...how cruel and vengeful you are...but deep down...you couldn't even face your own mother!" Jeanne Alter left eye twitched upon hearing Nala mention her mother.

"What the fuck are you saying brat?" Jeanne Alter pondered if Nala was wanting another beating. The Dragon Witch wouldn't tolorate any mockery from a person she had just beaten up.

"I thought...you would personaly kill your mother while tormenting her for being unable to do anything to save her daughter...After all...you are that vile right?" Nala's smug wouldn't dissapear as she watched Jeanne Alter slowly get angry. "My whole body hurts. It hurts so much! But...I can't let her break me down. I have to be resistant. I won't let this hag use me as her puppet for personal goals. Even if you break my bones, I won't submit to you!"

Nala continued her taunt. "You knew she was there...didn't you? Yet...you just decided to kill her swiftly with the rest of the village. Why?...Were you afraid of confronting her? Does she scares you...because it brings memories of a happier life before?" Nala caught Jeanne Alter's teeth clenching as well as her eyes launching a more violent stare. Nala took the mental note that Jeanne Alter was quite the easy person to anger...just like her a little. "Heh! 'Dragon Witch'? What a joke..! You're just a petty and angsty young woman who was too afraid to face her own mother!" Nala spoked the last phrase higher, to make sure Jeanne Alter heard it clearly.

And it worked. Jeanne Alter was ready to break every teeth and bone of Nala's body. "You fucking little bi-"

"Master! Sorry to interrupt you but we spotted soldiers charging torwards the castle!" The voice of a young man stopped Jeanne Alter in her tracks. The man in question was at the door. He had short white hair and blue eyes and he was wearing a full dirty-brown trenchcoat with white patterns on it.

Jeanne Alter sighed annoyed. "Seriously, again?! Does the bodies out there on the walls doesn't scare them? Anyway, I guess my sword could use a little bit of training. Go now! I'll be there in a second!"

The servant obeyed and went away. Jeanne Alter also decided to not stay here any longer, since it would be a waste of her time.

"You were lucky brat." Jeanne Alter told Nala with venom on her words. "However, keep behaving like that and I'll call Assassin-Berserker to fix that problem. She would definitely enjoy it." And with the warning, Jeanne Alter left the cell, leaving Nala alone with her bruises.

"Nphm! Bitch witch..." Nala whispered. Thankfully for the girl, she now could rest and be grateful that her wounds weren't enough to kill her or put her unconscious. Altough she feared of not having them treated. Nala hoped they would be merciful enough to at least tend to her wounds since Jeanne Alter still had other plans for her. They would probably send a healer of some sorts to her.

Nala spent some few minutes silently wondering and thinking about Peko and the others, as well as her chances of trying to escape from here. She would be lying if she said that being captive in a poor lit cell wasn't boring. She couldn't even walk around the room because of the stupid chain. But as long as she knew her brother and friends were safe, she would still cling to hope and not let being bothered by her small prison.

Then, when she less expected, a noise started to sound in the middle of the air. Static noise. Nala was confused, trying to find where the noise was coming from. "Hm? Am I hearing for real or just imagining? No, I couldn't be going insane that fast could I?"

As Nala was questioning her mental health, an hologram appeard in front of her. One that made her heart feel joy and tranquility.

"Phew! It was kinda hard to establish contact due to the magical interferance of the area but I finally maneged to do it." Said Romani. Nala was super glad to see a friendly face again in this place of terrible people.

"Dr. Romani! It's you!" Nala would jump from joy if it wasn't for the fact that her body hurt. Still, she was happy to see him.

"Ah Nala! I'm also glad to-" Romani frozed when he saw the condition Nala was. "W-who did that to you? Nala your condition looks horrible! I-"

"I know Dr. It wasn't brutal enough to kill me thou. I'm fine." Nala said with a weak smile.

"But those bruises and blood. You need medical assistance. If only I was there..." Romani lamented.

"No problem Dr. I'm sure they'll send someone to heal me. The Dragon Witch plans to make me her 'servant' so to speak." Nala informed Romani.

"Is that so? Now it makes sense why you weren't killed already. Glad to at least know she plans to keep you alive." Romani said with a bit of relief.

"Yeah. It buys us more time thankfully." Nala suddenly reminded something. "Also, how are the others. Are they ok? Is Peko alright?" Nala asked. She knew they had escaped but wanted to know if they were safe at this exact moment.

"Yes they are Nala. No need to worry. All pf them want to rescue you. Specialy Peko." Romani smirked saying his name. "He really wishes to save you."

"I know." Nala let out a little smile. "He's a good person. Even after I...said those things..." Nala remembered how angry she was at Peko for coming with them in the beginning and the words she said to him after their first encounter with a wyvern. She knew she was mean to him but she feared of what could happen to her brother. And she still does. Deep down Nala wants to believe that Peko will become stronger. She wants it for his own good.

"I know you said those things not out of spite, but out of care and fear for his safety." Romani told Nala, seeing how the girl was sad. "Siblings always care for each other. And I bet Peko understands that too. The reason for him wanting to rescue you, shows exactly that he didn't interpret those words as pure vitrol. He knows you just want to keep him safe."

"And yet I'm the one who needs rescue." Nala let out a giggle. "Kinda ironic really. But, I think I shouldn't have got that angry on Peko. I'm also no better than him. I'm here because I'm weak." Tears started to form in her eyes. "How can I protect someone, if I can't protect myself?"

"H-hey please, cheer up Nala. You were up against a strong foe. It happens that sometimes,you will hit against a wall that will be difficult to surpass." Romani told her. "But doesn't matter the adversity as long as you are able to come out stronger."

"You really think that ?" Nala asked, whiping off the tears.

"Yes I do Nala. Life is full of these ups and downs. It's up to the person to surpass the lowest lows and reach the highest highs." Romani said.

"I see. Sorry for looking miserable in front of you Dr." Nala smiled.

Romani nodded a "no" with his head. "No need for a sorry Nala. I'm just happy you aren't dead." He said with a moderated happiness. "Just by any chance, do you want to tell me something so that I can pass it to Ritsuka and the others?" He asked, knowing that the news of Nala being alive for now would rise their moral.

"Oh, yes please!" Nala almost shouted in a hurry. "Tell them that I'm ok and can't wait to reunite. Also, tell Peko I feel sorry for how I talked to him yesterday, and that we will defeat the Dragon Witch together and that-" Suddenly, Nala started to hear steps coming from the hall. "Someone's coming! Quick Romani, turn off the signal!" Nala said in a low but anxious voice.

"Right! Understood! Roger! Be safe Nala!" Romani spoked fast as he quickly typed on his keyboard and in a instant, the hologram of Romani dissapeard. Right in time as the door of the cell opened. A woman with long purple hair walked in. In her hands she brought what seemed to be bandages and a dish.

"She's the one they send to heal me?" Nala could tell the woman looked more benevolent and friendly than everyone she saw here. Was she another prisoner?

"Hi, how you doing?" The woman asked gently. Nala realized that this woman wouldn't mean no harm to her.

"Hum, took quite the beating and my body hurts a bit. But overall I'm still good thank you." Nala answered politely.

"Please, it's bad to lie girl. A body in a state like that couldn't ever be good. Let me patch those wounds." The woman gestured Nala to get closer so that she could apply the bandages on her.

"O-ok then." Nala approached to the woman. "She's nice and pretty too. Finally someone in here that isn't evil or a creep." Nala wanted to know more about her recent visitor. "Hm, excuse me for making this question but, are you a prisoner or a servant of the Dragon Witch?" She asked as the woman finished applying the bandages on her head and face.

"I'm one of the Dragon Witch servants. Now please stay quiet." The woman ordered nicely. Nala did as she was commanded and the violet haired servant summoned a large staff in the format of a cross. She put both hands together as if she was about to pray. A green glow emanated from her body.

"Miracle" Upon casting the spell, Nala felt all the pain from her bruises and cracked bones dissapearing. She was stunned by such magic. Her body was almost completely healed.

"W-wow! That's amazing! But why the bandages if you would do that anyways?" Nala asked.

"Well, they'll do the rest. What matters is for you to rest now and recover." The woman grabbed the dish and the spoon. Looking closely, Nala saw that it was soup. "Also, I bet you're hungry. You haven't eat nothing for some time am I right?"

"T-true, but I can take care of myself. There's no need to feed me like I was a baby or something." Nala told her embarassed. "Also why are you treating me so nicely?"

"Because even if I am being controled by the Dragon Witch, I can't stand watching an innocent kid being treated badly and tortured." The woman poured the spoon into the soup. "My name is Martha. And I want to make sure you're treated with some decency. I was only ordered to heal you but secretly managed to get a soup so that you won't be starving."

"So you can also help me escape?!" Nala almost shouted, being filled with hope that she had found an ally in Martha.

Unfortunately that would be way to good to be true. "No, that I can't do. It would be utterly against my master's whishes. All that I can provide you is some food as long as my master doesn't find out."

Nala frowned sadly. "Thanks either way Martha. Bringing me food is already good enough."

"So please let me feed you." Martha took out the spoon from the soup, waiting for Nala to eat it. Nala was still reluctant.

"Hmm, is it really necessary? I can feed myself." She said trying to hide her embarrassment.

"Hm, let's see. Your arms are bound behind your back and unless you know how to hold a spoon with your feet, I don't think you are capable of eating all by yourself." Martha said skeptical.

Nala sighed in defeat, knowing that what Martha was saying was true. She needed help to eat at this moment. Also her stomach was roaring a bit. "Ok. Guess you are right. The soup seems warm at least."

"So you're saying that the servant's affinity is like rock,paper,scissors?" Peko asked to a hologram of Da Vinci. The night had fallen and the group had built a camp to stay there. During that time, Mash discovered a leyline with the help of Romani and made connection to the rest of Chaldea by the creation of a Summoning Circle. Meanwhile, Da Vinci would lecture both Ritsuka and Peko about servant affinity.

"Yes, that's right Peko! Sabers have advantage against Lancers, Lancers have advantage against Archers and Archers have advantage against Sabers." Da Vinci explained. "Altough that won't always mean that a Saber will always win against a Lancer. It also depends of skill and such."

"That seems interesting. It's kinda reminds me of some games I used to play" Ritsuka commented. "I imagine a battle tournment beetween servants. It would be cool."

"Who do you think would be the favourite class to win the tournament Ritsuka?" Peko asked curious.

"I don't know exactly, I guess every class as it's op servants." Ritsuka said.

"Well, it would obviously be someone from the Caster class." Mozart entered the conversation. "We are after all, a class full of creative people and powerful wizard capable of conjuring quite the spells."

"Now that you say about it, Da Vinci is also a caster class servant." Ritsuka smiled.

"Yeah! I bet she would clean the floor with other servants!" Peko said enthusiastically, looking at Da Vinci alongside Ritsuka.

The happy stares of both boys was making Da Vinci blush. "P-p-please boys, control your expectations. I know I'm great and a genius but I also am aware of other servants capabilities."

"Sorry to tell you all, but it would most definatly be a Lancer to win the tournament." Elizabeth smiled convinced, joining the talking.

Kiyohime laughed at that. "No if it depends of you." She taunted.

"What are you trying to say eh? That I'm weak?" Elizabeth angrily stared at Kiyohime.

"No. That you are stupid. And weak too." She smiled arrogantly.

"You big fat snake! Do you wanna pick a fight now?!" Elizabeth shouted at Kiyohime.

"I won't, otherwise the fight would end to soon for you." Kiyohime continue her mocking altough she was a bit bothered by Elizabeth now.

Mash went to separate them. "Please calm down you two. It's not the time for trash talking." She said, putting herself in the middle of the two girls.

"Yeah I would agree. Like god, their voices are unberable to hear, even more so when they behave like this." Mozart criticized them, believing that the voices of the two was kne of the most unpleasent things he ever heard.

"Hey what are you talking about!? My voice is beautiful!" Elizabeth yelled at Mozart, making the musician as well as Ritsuka and Peko to cover their ears.

"Yeah...quite the beauty." Da Vinci said sarcastically. "Oh and Peko, Ritsuka, Mash. I bet you would want to hear this." Da Vinci called the trio.

"What is it Da Vinci?" Mash asked.

"Hehe, Romani was capable to contact Nala. She's alive and well." Da Vinci smiled by giving the news.

The three smiled of joy.

"Oh thank god! That's good to hear!" Mash expressed her happiness, with Fou appearing on her shoulder.

"Fou, fou!" The animal excalimed happily.

"You're happy too, aren't you Fou?" Ritsuka picked Fou up. "Wait for us Nala. As the leader and master of this group, it's my responsability to save you."

Peko was the most happy of them. "Sis is alive." Peko looked at his own hand before closing it. "We will look for Dad together." Peko looked at Da Vinci. "Also hum, Da Vinci if possible, I want you to tell something to Nala if you and Romani happened to contact Nala again."

"Oh, tell me please." Da Vinci accepted the favor.

"Tell her, that we will be defeating the Dragon Witch together." Peko told to the italian artist.

A bit in the distance, Jeanne and Marie were watching the whole group interacting with each other. "So you're rogue servants eh?" Jeanne asked to Marie.

"Yep. I guess this Singularity summoned us here because of the other servants corruption at the hands of the Dragon Witch. We're here to fight them off." Marie told the saint.

"So you think there are more servants around France that may help us?" With more servants on their side, the more chances they would have of taking down her dark part. That's what Jeanne tought.

"Oui. Also, I think I know who Saber-Berserker may be." Marie revealed it to Jeanne.

The saint was caught off guard by Marie's afirmation to know one of the Dragon Witch servants "Really, who?"

"I'd say it's Chevalier d'Eon. A very notorious knight during my time. It's just the face and the way they wield the sword. It's so similar for what I can remember."

"Well, at least we can use that information to our advantage. Thank you Marie." Jeanne wasn't completely happy however. "If I still had my Ruler abilities, I could have discovered their identity sooner. I'm feeling useless."

"Oh mademoiselle Jeanne, don't doubt of yourself like that!" Marie didn't like seeing Jeanne down. "The Jeanne D'arc I knew is a warrior woman who never doubt of herself even for a second!"

"I really must have left a mark on France for having tales of mine being told to a queen like you Marie. But, those are just tales you heard." Jeanne said. This last days have been bad to her.

"And? You still conquered Orleans and led the French army to victorie right? That's what matters. In my eyes and of many french folks, you'll always be a hero, regardless of what you think of yourself."

Jeanne smiled a bit. Everyone could have the smae optimism as Marie. She was needing it.

Marie had an idea. "Hey I know. Why don't you tell me the times of your childhood? It must be interesting!"

"You want to hear it? I don't know. It isn't something out of the ordinary." Jeanne tried to make Marie lose interest.

"Of course I want to hear it! I always wanted to know how the life on the countryside feels like." Marie insisted. "It must be awsome to have some free time. My life was always around schedules and people of importance expecting the most from me and bonds beetween kingdoms stuff. So please tell me, how diffrent is the life from the camp?"

Jeanne just sighed and smiled. Being near her made the saint feel better. She wouldn't mind keeping the talk with her. Simply put, she enjoyed Marie's company. "Oh,it's very different Marie. I don't even know where to start..."

To be continued...

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the PC's that belong to me, the author.

Xenoblade Chronicles  OST - Main Theme

A little girl cried alone in the middle of the forest. No surrounding sounds to make her company. She was all alone in the night, thinking back to the marvelous idea that was venturing alone in such late hours of the evening.

"Jeanne! Jeanne where are you!?" Voices came from the trees behind, getting closer and closer. They sounded distressed.

The girl instead of responding back, run torwards their sound. Eventualy, her eyes spotted two grown adults. She hugged the male one as hard as possible, relieved for not being lonely anymore and finding her family.

"Jeanne what did I told you? It's dangerous to wander here alone at night." Her father scolded, putting an hand on her back.

"I know...but sniff it's just I found some pretty flowers and-"

"Still that's no excuse! You scared us to death Jeanne!" Her mother crouched down to be at Jeanne's height. "You could have easily get lost or worse!"

Jeanne's eyes got more teary. She didn't meant to worry her parents. Seeing them distressed made her feel guilty and bad. "I-I'm sorry sniff I-I-sniff" Jeanne suddenly hugged her mother, crying deeply. "I was scared mom! I was so scared!"

Jeanne's mother gently patted her hair. "Shhh, it's alright Jeanne. You're safe now. Mom and Dad are here. You don't have to be scared anymore." She put her arms around her daughter. Jeanne's cries diminished.

"Mom's right Jeanne. No monster will harm you as long as we're here." The father smiled to Jeanne. "Just please, don't do that again, promise?"

Jeanne nodded. "Y-yes."

"You said you came here to pick some flowers right?" Her mother asked to Jeanne. "Who were they for?"

Jeanne slowly took her right hand out of her back, showing a pair of blue flowers. They were beautiful and shined brightly with the moon's light. "For you mom..." Jeanne said shyly. "You've been working so hard for all of us, always making sure our lives are as good as possible. So, even if you never asked for something in return, I thought that you deserved a gift."

Jeanne's mother was admired by the flowers natural radiance. "Oh Jeanne they're so pretty! But you didn't need to." She grabbed the flowers from Jeanne's hand. "Having you, your siblings and dad is already enough of a gift to me." She kissed her daughter in the forhead. "Eitherway, thanks Jeanne."

The little girl got visibly happier, her tears dissapearing fully. "I'm glad you liked it mom."

"Those are some really nice flowers. They'll look amazing in the vase of our bedroom." Jeanne's father told her.

"Hm, really?" Jeanne asked a bit enthusiastic, resulting in a laugh of her father.

"Of course dear. It's the most beautiful flowers that I've ever seen, whorty of being put next to your mother. But now, how about we return back home?" He told to Jeanne who in return grabbed both of her parents hand.

"Sure!" She smiled happily. Such a bright and pure one. It was a trademark of hers and everyone in the village knew of it. It could better anyone's day by just seeing it. Jeanne's reputation according to her hometown was that of a saintly and holy girl. A personal offerend of God to them. Helping everyone, going to church and playing with other kids. Jeanne D'arc life was that of a simple and joyful girl, with a bright and promising future ahead. And so, she and her parents walked torwards their house, leaving the forest behind with smiles on their faces, hoping that their small and normal lives would always stay the same.

"And that's the story. I'll never forget that night." Jeanne stared at the bright starry night, the full moon shining above her. "Ironically, I guess the sky was identical to this one too." The now fully fledged saint spoked to Marie. "Funny that even in a bright night I still feared the dark. Guess it's an almost common fear among majority of the kids."

"That was a wonderful memory Jeanne! Did the flowers ended up being put on the vase?" Marie asked with intrigue.

Jeanne laughed slightly. "Hehehe of course. It was put above the bedside table."

"Oh magnifique! Your house must be very nice! I hope to visit it some day." Marie didn't knew that there was a problem with that however. Jeanne smile dissapeard once she remembered of her house's fate.

"It was a nice one..." She said with clear sorrow in her voice.

"Hm! I'm sorry Jeanne, I didn't knew it!" Marie tried to apologize awkwardly. She should have suspected that the saint's house was long gone after the birth of the Dragon Witch.

"No problem Marie. You didn't had a way to know it." Jeanne got up from the trunk the two were sitting. "My life as a soldier got me used to lose a lot of things."

"But in the end you still went forward despite the odds. Many would've succumbed if they were in the same situation." Marie also got up from the trunk and walked to her friend. "You're an inspiration for many of us."

Jeanne didn't looked back at Marie, instead reflecting about her dark counterpart and the voice she has been hearing lately. "Perhaps...I've already succumbed." She murmured.

"Did you said something?" Marie asked, not being able to understand what Jeanne had just said.

"Hum, it was nothing Marie. Just thinking about what comes next with our battle against the Dragon Witch." Jeanne lied. She probably told more lies on this day than her entire life before. She had the urge to keep the voice and self doubt all to herself.

"It will be hard, that's for sure. But I think we have a chance of winning, even if small." Marie gazed at the rest of the group that was sitting around the bonfire. Marie trusted them to be capable. All casualy talking and interacting with each other.

"...and the entire theater stood up to give a thunderous applause." Mozart told one of his life stories to the group. "My greatest performance in my opinion."

"People really gathered up to see someone play a piano? Royalty and stuff?" Peko was impressed. He never tought that people with very important jobs and duty would dedicate hours of their lifes to see someone play an instrument.

"Of course little man. After all, a world without music would be boring don't you think?" Mozart grabbed one of his violin, showing it to the boy. "It's said that the music is an instrumental manifestation of the soul. The notes and even lyrics transmits so many emotions and feelings someone might have while listening. The concept and existence has been inlaid for almost as long as humanity's existence. A sound that everyone can appreciate, being low commoners or gods."

"That's quite the true words you're speaking Mozart." Mash told while holding Fou in her lap. "A world without music is something I can't even be able to imagine it."

"Can you also play modern instruments?" Ritsuka asked with curiousity to the muscician.

"I admit I never got the chance to play it before, but would gladely accept it. I've heard they sound totally different from the ones of my time." Mozar put a finger under his chin, imagining how a modern and eletric piano sounded.

"Sweet! I might add you aa my first band member!" Ritsuka smiled all cheerfully.

"Huh?! What? Senpai, you never told us you were part of a band before." Mash couldn't ever imagine that her master had some musical background before joining Chaldea.

"Oh, no no, I never was in a band. It was more of a solo thing." Ritsuka's cheek got red from embarassment. "And it was mainly on my room...only me and my guitar...no album released."

"Well at least I know what will be the first thing I'll do when returning to Chaldea after this." Peko said with a smile. "But how did you started to play guitar?"

Ritsuka stood silent for a bit. "It just happened you know? I already had the guitar at home that was-"

"Do you also need a singer?" Elizabeth was with a huge smile on her face. Being a member of a band wouldn't be a bad way to start her career.

Ritsuka tried to refuse without hurting her feelings. "Sorry but hum, I was also the one singing the songs. One vocalist is good enough thank you."

Elizabeth let out a frustrated sound. "Understood." Her eyes then proceeded to look ambutious. "I'll still become a pop idol thou! Just you wait!"

Mash patted Fou for a bit. "I too would like to hear one of your songs Senpai. I'm sure you put a lot of hard work and passion in them.

Kiyohime got closer to Ritsuka. "I would love too hear them too Anchin-sama." She blushed.

"R-really? I mean they aren't that amazing or extraordinary." Ritsuka wasn't expecting for everyone to be interested in his musical skills. And it had past quite some time since he last played the guitar.

"Please Mr. Fujimaru. Your music may not be at the same level as mine but it's probably not bad either." Mozart encouraged the teen.

"W-well for start, I don't have my guitar here to play any song now." Ritsuka told them, wich was indeed true.

"No problem young man. Here, take one of my violins and play it." Mozart offered Ritsuka his instrument.

"But I never played a violin before..." Ritsuka looked at the wooden object in his hands. Whoever made this was a great carpenter. It was polished and well cleaned.

"Then I'll teach you." Mozart volunteered to help the youngster.

"It will sound awful..." Ritsuka frowned.

"I don't mind Anchin-sama..." Kiyohime hugged his left arm.

"C'mon Senpai, nobody masters it at the first time. It takes a lot of training." Mash touched his shoulder. "No one will mock you for not delivering great at the first time."

Ritsuka smirked a bit. "Well,if you say so." As Ritsuka was about to give it a try, Jeanne and Marie approached the group, interesting in hearing Ritsuka's performance too.

"Oh mon dieu! Mr. Fujimaru knows how to play violin?! We definatly have to see it!" Marie took a sit next to Mozart. Jeanne seated next to her. The growth of the small public made Ritsuka a bit more nervous.

"Calm Ritsuka. Just empty your mind and relax your body." Jeanne adviced him. An advice she wish she could apply to herself.

"Hm, thank you all." Ritsuka put the violin over his shoulder and next to his neck. The last master of humanity then with the other hand grabbed the stick and pressed bow's hair against the strings. He was visibly nervous.

"Hey, no sweat." Peko speaked to Ritsuka, giving a smile that transmited the message of being fine with however the performance would go.

Ritsuka took a deep breath. "Alright then. Let's do-" His mouth went wide open and an audible yawn got out from his vocal cords. It was really getting late in the night. "I admit that I feel a little bit tired today."

"Oh please Ritsuka! I wanted to-" As Peko was protesting, the boy couldn't help but let out a yawn too. "Wow. It's true about them bein contagious." He commented.

"Well it's already too late and you two aren't servants, so I think it's best for both of you to rest for now." Mash told them, sparing Ritsuka from playing the violin,for the dissapointment of the rest.

"Phew! Saved by the yawn." Ritsuka thanked the yawn's timing.

"Awww, I was really looking forward to it." Kiyohime whined.

"I was too, but we have to respect Mr. Fujimaru's sleep. It's important that he rests now." Mozart told to the Berserker, grabbing his violin back from Ritsuka.

"Your right. Go sleep Ritsuka. You too Peko." Jeanne demanded to the two. "We'll be on vigilance so you may sleep peacefuly."

"N-no I don't feel sleepy now! I'm still with full energy to spend." Peko didn't feel like going to sleep. "L-let me help you watch over the area."

Mash looked at him. "Today has passed and you need to rest. And by resting today you will surely be able to help us tomorrow Peko." Mash smiled.

Peko stood silent for a bit. "Ok. If that means to better our chances of defeating the Dragon Witch and saving Nala then I'll rest." He stretched his arms. "I'll make sure to be helpful." Fou went next to him, rubbing his body against the boy's legs.

"Fou,fou." The animal made it's noise again.

"Do you also want to sleep Fou?" Peko grabbed the animal.

"Fou." Fou simply answered.

"I don't know what he just said but I would go with a 'yes' perhaps." Ritsuka patted the creature's fur.

"I'd say it's more that he's trying to make sure neither of you exit the tent." Mash giggled.

Ritsuka and Peko stared briefly at each other. "W-we never did that. Why do you think we would do it Mash?" Ritsuka said gazing accusatorily at Mash.

Peko supported Ritsuka "Y-yeah Mash. I'm sorry to say but that's simply a dumb take to make." Peko tried to sound like he was giving disdain to the shielder. Both of them couldn't let Mash know of the conversation they had on yesterday's night. It was only a thing kept beetween the two boys.

"Hum,okay?" Mash didn't understand the two sudden change of behaviour, but just decided to brushed it to the side. "Either way, good night to you, Peko, Senpai."

"Good night Mash." Ritsuka turned around to the rest of the servant group. "And to all of you as well. If something bad happens wake us up." With that said, Ritsuka alongside Peko and Fou started to walk torwards the nearby tent.

"Can I sing a lullaby for you?" Elizabeth asked with a shine in her eyes.

"NO!" Ritsuka and Peko shouted in terror.

"Hm! That soup was good! Thank you for it." Nala appreciated the meal offered by Martha. "Did you make it?" She asked. If the soup was made by Martha then she was a very good cook.

"No need to thank me girl." Martha cleaned Nala's lips with a napkin. "Also as for the soup I...borrowed from someone."

"Oh ok. You can tell that person that the soup was fantastic. I appreciate it." For someone like Nala who hadn't eat yesterday, that soup was a gift to her stomach.

"If I find them again I'll make sure to tell them." Martha stood up. "Anyways, I have to go here. My duty here is done. How are your wounds?" She asked to the girl.

"Feeling better, thank you. You're a nice person, unlike the other ones I've seen here so far." Nala thought back at Jeanne Alter, her creepy friend and that woman she met when she woke up for the first time here. Jeanne Alter was evil but not that scary. It was the other two that gave her the chills down her spine.

"Thanks sweetie. You're a good girl." As Martha was about to exit the cell, she stoped, remembering about something that she forgot to ask. "Also,sorry for the question but, I heard you talking when arriving here. Where you talking to someone?" The woman asked seriously.

Nala felt her body go cold. "Crap! Did she heard the talk beetween me and ?! N-no it can't be. She probably only heard some voices but not well enough to understand what was about. Also she only said she heard me talking. No one else. Damnit, I have to think of something!" Nala tried to hide her face as best as she could, pretending to be embarassed.

"So? Where you talking or not?" Martha asked and altough gently, some deadly seriousness could also be spoted in her question.

"Hum...well...I..I..." Nala tried to not make contact with Martha. "I-I was talking alone!" Nala almost shouted. "Yep! I was talking all alone. I do a lot of that when alone you know?" The girl smiled sheepishly. "Sometimes I even talk with some friends of mine. Y-you would probably like to know them." "Damnit what am I saying?! She now will think I'm a looney. B-but if it means she doesn't discover about the conversation I had with Dr. Romani then I have to continue pretending it!"

Martha looked with a seriousness at Nala, and without saying a thing, she walked torwards her. "D-did she knew I was lying?" Nala was a bit afraid what Martha could do to her. She also looked like the rough type of woman.

Martha instead put her hand on the girl's head, confusing Nala. "I know this place is boring and bad, but way better than being dead. Just stay strong." Martha smiled motherly to Nala. "Poor girl. The isolation must have been taking it's tool on her. I hope she doesn't stay here for much longer."

"Eh? W-well, I'll try to." Nala couldn't believe she had managed to trick the woman.

"Good. See you later. Take care little girl." Martha waved goodbye at her and exited the room.

Nala sighed in relief and leaned her back against the wall. "That was close. She's a good person however." Nala wouldn't bother if she would be the only person to check her from now on. "Shame that she works for that witch thou..."

"Was that all Gilles?" Jeanne Alter asked her friend as she pierced her sword on the dying soldier's chest.

"Unfortunately some were able to escape Jeanne. They're too out of each to chase them either." The pale man told to his friend. Altough the caster was rather clean, with no drop of blood in his body, in contrast to Jeanne who was painted red with the blood of her enemies, his tentacles on the back were devouring the soldier's corpses alongside the wyverns.

It took some time to defeat the invaders but they've done it almost effortlessly. Jeanne Alter wasn't expecting that they would give her and her servants much fight however. As some corpses were being devored, others were being sucked dry.

"Hmmmm so good." The Assassin-Berserker was pleased as she had just biten a dead soldier in his neck. "Not on the level of a young maiden's blood but it' still good." She licked her lips, cleaning the blood of her mouth.

"I hate to do this but my urges now force me to do it. And I hate it even more to be enjoying this. Such act that affiliates me with a thing that was used to smear my name is truly tragic and horrible." A tall man with long blond hair that ended in a light blue color, grabbed the bleeding hand of another dead soldier and poured it into a wine glass. His appearence would be of a well kept and refined lord if he wasn't dirty with blood. His eyes and goatee were equally blond as the majority of his hair. He was known as the Berserker-Lancer of the servants summoned by the Dragon Witch.

"Oh please. Don't come with those excuses." The woman near him licked her fingers. "Just admit it 'uncle'. You enjoy being one." She giggled at the man.

"Hmm. Perhaps I do..." The man took a sip of the blood in his wine glass. "However I make sure to keep those desires in check." The man smiled as he looked at the blood in his cup. "Truly, my whole existence may be cursed."

"Hey! Vampire pair!" Jeanne Alter shouted at the two as she approached them. "Forgot to ask you this, but what about that servant I ordered you to deal with yesterday hm?" She corssed her arms, waiting for an answer.

The two servants knelt before her. "That servant is as good as dead Master." Said the man.

"We made sure of that." The woman replied.

Jeanne Alter simply smirked. "Good. That's one loose end." Jeanne Alter's hands started to burn up and the blood on them quickly crumbled.

"Master." The man with short white hair who had previously noticed her about the attack, walked torwards her. "The attackers left a message for you in one of the walls."

Gilles eyes narrowed. "Hmmm. We should see what it is Jeanne." The two followed the man to q wall nearby. In it was a message wrriten in blood, probably by one of the soldiers. It was written《Mort à la Socière Dragon》.

"M..Mor...Mort...à..." Jeanne Alter was trying to read the message. "..à...l..la.." She slowly pronounced the words.

"Mort à la Socière Dragon. It means they want you dead master." The white haired man told her, not being able to endure the slowness in Jeanne Alter's reading.

Jeanne Alter went a bit red of embarassment for looking dumb in front of her servants. "I already knew it dumbass! It's just whoever was the idiot that wrote this had a bad calligraphy! But I think if someones bleeding to death, they wont give a crap on how it's written as long as the people get the message."

"I'm sorry for interrupting you so abruptly then, master." The man bowed to her, apologizing.

"Hphm! Very well. I'll overlook that. Consider yourself lucky." Jeanne Alter made a movement with her hand, ordering the servant to leave her and Gilles. And so he did. The man stoped in his tracks however.

"Before anything else, do you have any job for me to do, master?" He asked to the Dragon Witch.

"Hmmm. Go check that archer woman. See if she is prepared to finally obey me." Jeanne commanded. The white haired man simply nodded and finay left Jeanne Alter and Gilles.

"Grgh! That damn saint!" Jeanne Alter's face was noticeable of anger and frustration. "Did she never had time to learn how to read or write or shit like that?"

"Please calm down Jeanne." Gilles put an hand on her shoulder. "What you lack in that area you make it up for it with your wild nature and cruel combat. That inferior version of you could never be able to replicate those things." Gilles voice was getting higher. "The fact that you were capable of pronouncing a few words show's already that your intellect is already leagues above her!" The vile man almost shouted with all the emotion coming out of his voice.

"Thanks Gilles. I'm happy you've choosen the side of the REAL Jeanne D'arc. Unlike some other..." Jeanne Alter gave almost a friendly smile to Gilles. Perhaps the most friendliest thing she was able to show. And it had to be for her best friend.

"Also, did that awful and troublesome girl got her punishment?" Gilles asked, almost intrigued.

"Yeah. I beat her hard enough to make sure she learned who's the boss around here. Had to call Rider too to heal her. But apart from some bleeding she'll be fine. I don't want her to die just yet hehe." Jeanne smiled evily at her friend.

"Oh?! You made the girl bleed?" The assassin woman upon hearing the mention of Nala went close to hear the conversation. "You could have brought some of the young maiden's blood,master. That is the best one for me." The assassin woman smirked sadistically.

"How many times do I have to tell you Assassin?" Jeanne Alter looked annoyed at the other woman. "You won't lay a finger on her as long as she's of value and potential to my plans." She said coldly.

"True. I'm sorry for my brief lack of restraint again master." The woman apologized, trying to sound regrettful of her previous words.

"Always with lack of restraint, eh? Looks like I do that part better than you if I may say so." The blond man near her smiled a bit proudly as he took another sip of his glass.

The woman in return gave him a mean stare wich he simply choosed to ignore it. "Anyway, I hope the girl can turn into a valuable piece among our group master."

"Same Lancer." Jeanne Alter replied.

"However, that saint version of you plus those newcomers and servants won't be easy to crush. They gave us an hard fight back there." The blond man brought back the trade, one of Jeanne Alter's plans, that had gone wrong. "They are surely a stone in your shoe master."

"I wouldn't consider them all that Lancer." Jeanne Alter let out a small laugh. "I'd say they are more a conjunct of mere pebbles. And I...have the right person to deal with those problems." Jeanne Alter smiled sinisterly.

Gilles and the two servants got curious. "And who that might be Jeanne?" He asked.

Martha waked through the halls of the castle. She had just finished discarding the dish away in some trashed location of the place. The castle was already in shambles so an empty dish of soup in the middle of the ruins wouldn't spark anyone's attention.

Walking some more, the purple haired woman spotted Jeanne Alter right in front of her. She was probably looking for her. "You've come to seek me master?" She asked politely.

"Yep." Jeanne Alter approached her. "How's the brat?"

"I've just healed her so she'll get a speedy recovery without any lasting damages." Martha informed the Dragon Witch. "However, I'm sorry to inform you but I believe she's not getting well...mentally."

Jeanne Alter's eyebrow rised out of intrest. "What do you mean by that? Explain me Rider." Jeanne Alter crossed her arms, curious to hear what her servant had to say.

"Well, when I was reaching to her cell, I heard her voice talking. I couldn't sense any other voice or presence in the room. Just her, wich she herself admited later to be talking alone and liking it. So...I'd say the isolation is slowly getting to her." Martha couldn't help but to sound sad.

Jeanne Alter was smilling of pure satisfaction. "Good. That's great even! I knew sooner or later some cracks would start to appear. I'll take advantage of those small openings to expand the wound." She let out a cruel laugh. Martha didn't show happiness or disgust. She just didn't react at all at her master's laugh.

"I'm definetly paying a visit to that brat tomorrow. Can't wait to see the state she will be in. But that aside..." Jeanne Alter composed herself after the laughter and stared dead serious at Martha. "I have a job for you to do."

A new dawn aroused in the french lands. Fortunately for our heroes, the night was calm and peaceful. The servants could feel a bit relaxed even when in surveillance. But right in the morning, the servants were busy making food for Ritsuka and Peko who still had to wake up.

"No! It's not that you idiot!" Kiyohime and Elizabeth were arguing again. "Can't you see Anchin-sama doesn't like strawberries?"

"And how you know it? You didn't even asked him about that!"

"I know because love tells you everything!"

"What a lot of crap! What about Peko?"

"Meh. I don't care. You can put the strawberries in his plate if you want to."

"Girls please, can you two not spend a single day without fighting?" Marie sighed at the look of the squabble beetween them.

"I know even you and me would have some disagreements about mundane things, but god forbid it to be this annoying." Mozart said to the french queen.

"Yeah. Remember that time we argued over what was the most beautiful flower?" Marie asked happily to Mozart.

"Hahaha. Of course I remember. We were both kids at the time. And you know what I said at the end of the argument?"

"Yes! How could I ever forget that line?" Marie giggled.

Meanwhile Jeanne and Mash were checking any trees that could have some possible fruits. "There's one!" Mash grabbed an apple and put it on a basket near her.

"Keep up the good work Mash!" Jeanne herself was also trying to spot some apples. She wandered a bit. "There it is." Jeanne saw a tree with quite an amount of apples. "Guess this was a jackpot."

Jeanne stretched an arm to grab the lowest apple of the tree. "Done." Jeanne managed to separate the fruit from the tree and put it in the basket. But there was something strange in doing it. The branches of the tree made no noise when Jeanne pull the aple out of it.

Initialy she paid no mind, but then, it got a lot more scary and sinister when she realized something.

The whole forest wasn't making a sound. Dead silent.

No sound of animals, winds, trees. Nothing. It's as if Jeanne had become deaf. Not even her own steps she could hear. She also couldn't see Mash anymore. "W-what's happening?"

Getting nervous at the situation, Jeanne frozed when her eyes spotted what they assumed to be a distorted silhouette passing by almost without notice in the line of trees nearby. Jeanne turned her head to the left and saw the figure.

It just stood there, peeking behind a tree. All shadowed. It's form resembling that of a human. It watched Jeanne as if expecting the saint to notice it. Without hesitation, she took out her sword. She didn't feel like making questions, having a feeling that the shadow also wouldn't answer them. She just took some small steps, poiting the sword at the figure, hoping it would go away.

Unfortunately, it seemed Jeanne's watcher wouldn't retreat. Jeanne took some more steps. The figure still wouldn't move. As the saint would get closer, a sense of dread and doom would imerge. "W-what's this...thing?"

Reaching to the conclusion that the shadow creature wouldn't get threatned by her sword, Jeanne decided to take another action. Attack.

"Aaaaaah!" Filling herself up with courage, Jeanne charged against the shadow and jumped torwards it, with the intention of slicing it.

"Welcome. To the Void."

Mysteriis De Sanguine by Metatron Omega

"Hurgh!?" In a mere fraction of small time, the shadow wasn't anymore in front of Jeanne. Instead, the saint was now in a empty place where the only thing to be seen was literal darkness.

"W-where am I?" Jeanne tried to keep herself calm.

"I'm delighted that you have arrived. My honoured and blissful guest."

Jeanne gasped. "This voice is-" Jeanne immediatly turned her body around, about to drawn out her sword again. Only to be stopped by a finger.

A finger so dark that it was almost as if it was covered by black paint. It also had a bit of a meager aspect. Jeanne's body came to a halt. She couldn't move a single muscle even if she tried her best to. The finger touching smoothly and lightly on Jeanne's chest.

"Thou can rest for now O' saint. I do not pose as a threat to you. A strife is needless at this moment."

Altough calm and reserved, the voice also sounded menacing and distorted, echoing in this dark place. It sended chills down Jeanne's spine. A drop of sweat falling from her chin. "This voice... It's the same voice I've been hearing lately!"

"Ah!" Jeanne's body moved again, no longer feeling restricted. The finger that was touching her also disappeard. "What was that? Where am I?" Jeanne's breath was unsure and shaky. She was in the middle of nowhere. In the presence of nothingness.

A small light shined behind her back. Looking to see what was the source of it, Jeanne saw that it came from a small ball of light. It's brightness was comparable of that of a lamp However, the ball looked a bit dirty. Minor stains of darkness could be spoted a bit all over the ball of light.

"The soul is really an interesting concept. Is it not?"

A shadowy and lean hand hovered under the ball of light, it's shine capable to expose the hand grotesque and almost skeletal physic. The arm could not be seen thanks to an equally dark and bit torn out cloth. It was being weared by a figure, who apart from the hand, was all covered in the cloth. The mysterious figure seemed to be sitting on what appeard to be a church bench that was also able to be seen by the light of the bright ball.

The figure who was with the attention focused torwards the light ball, shifted it to Jeanne.

"Come. Sit." The figure said. No harmful intent behind those words. Jeanne could sense however, that they carried a lot of weight and authority. Not saying anything, Jeanne took a deep breath and seated on the bench, but a bit afar from the clothed figure.

"What do you want from me?" Jeanne asked, not facing the figure at her side. The energy around it felt too obscure and omnisious.

"A form of salvation. From yourself."

Jeanne got confused. "What do you mean by that. Sorry but, who even are you?" She gathered courage enough to look at the figure. In return, the figure slowly turned it's head to stare at Jeanne. It's face totally dark, like if Jeanne was staring at an abyss. No facial featured could be seen of the figure. Only a dark shadow. It stared creepily and silently at the saint for a few seconds.

"I was...called many things during my lifetime. That question is of no importance." It's head turning back to the ball of light in front of it.

Knowing that it would be no use insisting in that question, Jeanne made another one. "What is that ball that you're looking at if I may be allowed to ask." Jeanne wanted to know why the figure was so mesmerized by it.

"A soul. Thy soul to be exact." The figure answered, still looking at the ball of light that was now revealed to be Jeanne's soul.

"Hm?! R-really? That's my soul?" Jeanne got shocked by the reveal. Since when did her soul left her body? Jeanne knew that magic was a thing in her reality, but never expected that it would come a day were she would see the literal physical appearence of a soul.

"Indeed. Every living being as one. It's a nature of life. However, it's concept can be more complex in rational beings." The figure moved it's hands, Jeanne's soul following it. It stopped right next to Jeanne. "Give it a closer look O' saint." The figure proposed gently.

Jeanne accepted, nodding her head reluctantly. She grabbed it and give it a more analyzed stare.

"What do you see?" The figure asked.

"I see...hatred, anger and other things." Jeanne connected the dots but didn't want to admit it. This was her soul after all, and seeing it in such state could only mean one thing. "This darkness, it represents the negative emotions, right?"

The figure nodded. "Yes. And you can probably guess what it means."

"I'm...my soul is filled with hatred and anger. Is that the true?" Jeanne asked sorrowfuly, realizing that even she was subject to such feelings.

"That is true. Cruel I know. But a soul is essentialy that. An imperfect balance beetween what's right and wrong. The benevolence and maliciousness of a person." The figure spoked. "But yours is becoming irregular."

"Irregular?" Jeanne was confused.

"When a soul starts to get too much grimy with evil or darkness, you may choose what to call it to your liking, it means a person is having dark intentions based on the negative emotions that goes against the moral rules all the rational beings live by. Their light and notion of good get's slowly erased, only leaving a soul pure of evil thoughts and actions."

"So that means I'm becoming a vile person?" Jeanne asked a bit scared. She always treated others with respect and benevolence so she could never imagine this possibility. However, she remembered the clash she had with her counterpart. How that sparked some rage and hatred in Jeanne, who was focused at the time in killing her Alter. "Is that how my soul got stained?"

The figure looked at Jeanne for a brief moment, only to stare back at the empty darkness ahead. "Your other half. The Dragon Witch. She was born from your denial of those emotions. Now she's a copy who only knows death and destruction, uncapable of good."

"So she really is me..." Jeanne put an hand in her chest. "A version of something I feared to become."

The figure silently heared Jeanne's words and started back to talking. "Indeed she is. An amalgamation of the things you refused to accept, specially in the last seconds of life. Hate,anger,revenge,vitriol. The Dragon Witch is all those things. She's a small but powerfull piece of darkness that managed to manifest apart from your soul. And it's own existence sets your soul and mind into conflict."

The figure got up from the bench. "However, there's a chance to end it. If you kill her, all the doubts and hatred that have surrounded you will dissapear." The figure closly put its hand in front of its view and closed it into a fist. "Then my dear saint, you'll finally obtain peace of mind again and your soul will go back to normal."

"So if I kill my counterpart, all of this bad feelings will disappear?" Jeanne wanted to known, slightly leaning her body forward with the lower part still seating in the bench.

The figure gave the answer, not facing Jeanne. "No. Those feelings might deminuish, but will never truly dissapear." The figure said it dead serious.

"Hm! But why?" Jeanne demanded.

The figure simply looked over the shoulder at Jeanne and said. "Because, a soul is never pure."

"What do you mean by that?" Jeanne was trying to understand the figure. "Who is this person. Does it want to help me or not? This power and aura,could it be...!"

Jeanne quickly stood up from the church bench and pointed her sword to the figure's back. "Tell me. You possibly couldn't be a-"

Jeanne's whole body felt entire chills. The place altough dark and empty, seemed to be getting more dangerous and macabre. As if many eyes were gazing at her. The aura was becoming more tense.

"Oh, just a last thing that I was about to forget." The clothed figure still didn't bothered to turn around and look at Jeanne, still facing away from her."When in your journey to kill the Dragon Witch..." The figure turned it's head to look at Jeanne and at that moment, the saint was able to see a dark and vile smile forming in its face. A smile that could send literal fear on most warriors. "...be sure to not let the darkness and evilness consume your entire soul. Or else, the consequences will be tragic."

Jeanne took some steps back, the aura around her getting menacing, as if something was about to come out of this vast empty dark space to attack her. "Grgh! What even are y-"

"Jeanne!"

A recognizable voice echoed in the void. A voice that Jeanne was familiar with by now. "Marie..."

The figure just stood quiet, looking at the opposite direction of the saint. "Her again..." The voice was of someone who looked bothered.

"Marie I'm here!" Jeanne stretched her arm out, shouting for her friend. The queen's appearence started to materialize in the distance. She was running torwards Jeanne. "Come quick Marie! I-" In the blink of an eye, Jeanne's vision wasn't more of the dark and empty place she was in. Her eyes now saw a forest. The same forest she was not so long ago.

"Heh? I'm back here?" Jeanne looked around to see she was back to the forest when she was catching trees with Mash. It's surrounding noises came back as well "How much time I was in that place?"

Marie reached her and hugged the saint with all the strenght that she could. Mash followed her behind. "Thank god we found you Jeanne. Mash had lost you from hed sight and couldn't find you, so we searched for you like crazy!" Marie told her, talking almost at a frenetic pace.

"Where have you been Jeanne-san? You just dissapeard without saying anything." Mash had just been collecting apples wit Jeanne, so to see her dissapear out of nowhere must have been alarming to the shielder.

"Sorry for worrying you again. I was-"

"Wait Jeanne! I heard some movement near us." Mash cut Jeanne short and went into battle mode already. They were in an open area of the forest so the enemy could arrive anywhere.

A few feet from their right, a purple haired woman came out of the trees. "For a demi servant you have some good hearing. Not bad at all." She smiled cheerfuly. "Unfortunately, I have to crush you here and now."

To be continued...

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author.

"Mash! Marie! Have you found Jea-" Ritsuka shouted to hear an answer but stopped when he got the answer right in front of him after walking into a open area of the forest.

They looked fine. The problem however, was in a fourth women just ahead a bit ahead of them. Ritsuka could feel she wasn't her to make friends or have a talk.

"Ritsuka,have you find them?" Peko arrived shortly after the last master of humanity alongside the other servants. They too saw the situation. "Is she also a servant?" Peko asked, taking cover behind his friend.

"Yes. But not a friendly one I'm afraid." Mozart took an ofensive posture, ready to battle if necessary.

Mash, being the one of the group who was more ahead, summoned her shield. "Do you work for the Dragon Witch?" Mash asked to the supposed enemy as Marie helped Jeanne get up.

The purple haired woman just nodded and let out a smile. It didn't seemed vile or sadistic, but also didn't looked friendly. "Yes, I am." She said calmly. "My name is Martha. Saint Martha. Servant of the Dragon Witch and a Rider class with Madness Enchantment. I guess this satisfies your answer well enough, lady of the shield."

Romani hologram appeard right next to Ritsuka. "Wow, wait! Saint Martha?! The REAL Saint Martha?!"

"Why the reaction doc?" Ritsuka asked, not looking directly at Romani. "Do you know her?"

"She was a biblical figure from 1st century AD! She was known for being a friend of the Messiah himself as well as defeating a powerful and evil dragon here in France. She's also a maiden like Jeanne!" Romani told them the information about their foe.

"She's really Saint Martha?" Jeanne peaked behind Mash, taking a look at Martha. "So even she fell to the Dragon Witch...Is her soul like mine?" Jeanne tought about the recent talk she had with the figure, who now was nowhere to be seen.

"I see you know of me very well. I'm a bit flattered to be honest." Martha let out a giggle. "I understand now. That girl Nala, wasn't actually talking alone but with this voice. After this, if I defeat them, I'll inform Master."

After making that note to herself, Martha went back to put her attention on her enemies. "I'm here just for one thing." She stared at Jeanne who stared back at her in return. "As a fellow saint, I want to see what you're capable of, Jeanne D'arc."

"Huh? You're challenging me?" Jeanne knew she wasn't in her full power. She couldn't even use her Ruler magic abillities. She feared to battle the other saint handicapped. The probability of losing was big.

"Yes." Martha then looked at the rest of Jeanne allies. "You are all welcome to try too. I want to see if you're capable to even strike down one of the Dragon Witch servants." Martha stated.

That was the confirmation that a battle was indeed, about to happen. Mash took a defensive posture as Jeanne and the other servants also got ready to fight. Ritsuka and Peko just stood nearby and on guard.

"Do you think we can beat her?" Peko asked behind Ritsuka. The master of humanity didn't know how to answer that exactly.

"Hrmm. We'll have to try." He responded to the boy on his back.

"I've heard Saint Martha is strong. She won't be an easy opponent." Romani's hologram was about to also watch the fight alongside Ritsuka and Peko.

Elizabeth was more confident than the three of them. "So what? She may be strong but we're clearly in advantage when it comes to numbers!" She referred how Martha was alone to fight five servants and a pseudo-one. It was true that it could help them a bit.

"Hehehe. You're quite the fool arent you?" A sadistic laugh echoed in the area. Elizabeth knew well who that laughter belonged to.

Two more people appeard near Martha. "So stupid when young." The white haired woman giggled to Elizabeth, who closed her fists in anger. She wasn't staring to just an enemy, but to her older self.

"And I see how miserable I've become. It makes me puke at the tought you're me." Elizabeth responded to the older woman.

"The feeling is the same here." The woman played a bit with her own hair. "Your presence is disturbing to me."

"Please Miss Assassin, we're not here for a squabble but to support Miss Rider on the fight." The musketeer reminded to the Assassin. Marie immediatly recognized who they were.

"D'eon!" She shouted. "So you really are working for the Dragon Witch!"

The Saber servant smiled, seeing that Marie was able to remember them. "Greetings, ma reine. It's a pleasure to see your majesty again." D'eon frowned sadly however. "Despite of being on opposite sides." They drawn out their sword. "Anyways, that won't be an excuse to refuse this fight. I have orders to comply."

Marie sighed. "So it has to be this way..."

Ritsuka saw how the situation got more difficult with D'eon and Assassin addition on the enemy side. "They narrowed our numeral advantage." He hissed.

"But we still have it." Romani tried to cheer Ritsuka up. "We have two fighters for every one of them, so it's still manageable." For how positive Romani tried to be, things were about to get even more harder for their side.

*Roar*

"Hm? W-what was that noise?" Peko was startled by the sudden loud roar. "Please don't tell me..."

"Oh crap!" Romani cursed as he saw something on his monitor. "Ritsuka, Peko! I don't want to do an 180 now but things are..."

The ground shaked as thunderous and loud steps could be heard from the distance. They would louder and louder as they seemed to get closer. Martha was still maintaning her normal smile. She had just summoned her biggest weapon.

From behind the enemy trio, a huge monster like turtle being sprouted from the trees. Everyone that wasn't Martha's ally just watched in pure awe.

"That's..." Jeanne glared at the creature's face.

"...the dragon Saint Martha defeated in her legends." Mash concluded Jeanne's phrase.

"I present to you, the once tyrannical dragon who terrorized the people from the south of France, Terasque." Martha smile grew a bit. "Are you strong enough to beat this, servants?" Martha called them out. "Then please step forward. Specialy you, Saint Jeanne D'arc." Martha glared at Jeanne. She looked eager to see what the french maiden was capable of.

Ritsuka looked back at the hologram of Romani as if he was done with it. "Well, I guess the numeral advantage doesn't means anything now, does it?"

Romani started to comically cry while trying to laugh it off. "Why does everything tends to get worse?"

"I'm starting to think we didn't come to this place well prepared." Peko saw that once again, the odds while a bit more berable than last time, were still against them.

"Same here." Ritsuka added. "C'mon Ritsuka, keep your head clean and calm this time. You're the leader here..." Ritsuka knew that if he wanted to be a good master, he had to stay focus and give instructions to his partners.

"Alright! Mash!" Ritsuka called the pink haired shielder.

"Huh? What is it Senpai?" Mash turned her head to look at her master.

"You fight alongside Jeanne against Martha and Tarasque! Make sure that creature doesn't interfere on Jeanne's fight!" He ordered, altough his voice was a bit shaky.

Mash got a bit surprised to receive her master's first order but proceeded to smile confidently. "Sure master!" She nodded. "We can't lose hope now right at the beggining." She stayed closer to Jeanne. "Are you ready to fight Jeanne-san?" She asked to the saint.

"I may be..." Jeanne was unsure. The toughts of the figure still appearing in her mind.

"Stay sharp Jeanne!" Marie hold the saint's hand. "Believe in yourself as much as we believe in you. No time for doubts now."

Jeanne looked at her friend. "...you're right Marie. I can't fight with doubts at this moment." She then looked at Martha and tried to gather some confidence in herself. "I'll do my best!"

"I admit that it isn't very sophisticated for a queen like you to fight ,Marie." Mozart walked next to Marie. "So please..." He took out his violin. "...allow me to help you."

"You're welcome Mozart." Marie thanked the musician.

"Hmm. I see you already have an opponent in mind." Kiyohime observed on how focused Elizabeth was on her older self.

"Yeah." The girl said seriously, not even looking at Kiyohime who just giggled.

"Guess I can help you with it then."

Martha looked briefly at Assassin and D'eon. "You both know what to do. The saint is mine. The rest is all yours." She instructed.

Both complied and separated from Martha, passing by Mash and Jeanne and going to their respective fights.

"I'm happy that you were able to think on something Ritsuka." Romani talked about Ritsuka's order to Mash. "But I doubt Mash will be able to hold back Tarasque during the whole fight."

"It's the best strategy we have for now!" Peko responded to Romani. "We have to hope for Jeanne to beat Saint Martha fast."

"And something tells me that won't be the case." Romani analyzed both servants. " Jeanne altough of the Ruler class, isn't even capable of using her abilities. She's incomplete. Whereas Martha is more powerful because of the Mad Enhancement. Jeanne chances to win are small if we're being realistic."

"But how can you be so sure of that doc?" Peko argued. "Don't people say the strongest isn't always the one to win the fight sometimes?"

Romani rubbed his head. "Yeah...there was a few times across history were that happened. I just don-"

"Jeanne is skilled." Ritsuka interrupted the doctor. "Otherwise she wouldn't be known as this legendary saint. I believe in her." Ritsuka smiled with assurance to Romani.

"Yeah! I also think that too." Peko answered to Ritsuka. "She's an experienced fighter after all, isn't she? I'm sure she's able to defeat her adversary."

"Heh." Romani smirked. "You two think quite the same."

"I'd say it's because we want to think on the best outcome to this probably." Peko said, looking at the master of humanity. "As long as you don't lose hope, I wont lose it too."

Ritsuka smiled. "That's the spirit."

Onto the fights, Martha was staring with attention at Jeanne. The french maiden in return said nothing. They were both about to face each other. Both saints. Both maidens. One was clear to be in more higher spirits than the other.

"Fellow saint Jeanne D'arc..." Martha prepared her fists ,wich a 'crack' sound from it's bones could be heard, hold her staff, took a step forward and put herself in battle position. "...show me what you can do." The purple haired woman was calling Jeanne out to the fight.

"If you're really Saint Martha, then I can't let the Dragon Witch taint such a benevolent character like you. It pains me to see you doing evil." Jeanne pointed her sword to Martha. "I'll free you of those strings that are manipulating you."

"You're welcome to try ,Jeanne D'arc." Martha smirked.

The two jumped at each other and instantly clashed their weapons. Martha's staff feeling a lot heavier than Jeanne's sword.

"Grrgh! She's strong." Jeanne felt the weight of Martha's weapon. The clash was so strong that if Jeanne hadn't a tight grip on her sword, it would immediatly fly away from her hand upon the impact.

*Roar*

Tarasque sprinted torwards Jeanne. Even for such large and heavy creature, it moved quite fast.

"Jeanne-san! Watch out!" Mash jumped behind Jeanne, covering her back from the blow of Tarasque. With the feet well grounded, Mash was able to parry the blow, altough she lost a bit of balance.

"Nice one Mash!" Ritsuka cheered the shielder. "Now make sure it doesn't interfere!" He yelled to the demi-servant.

"Understood Master!" Mash dodged some of Tarasque blows and lured the beast away from Jeanne and Martha.

Marie and Mozart were both confronting D'eon, trying to stay in a long range combat as the musketeer was slicing the duo's attack and trying to get closer.

"I see that their abilities are up notch." Mozart told Marie, the eyes focused on D'eon. "It's quite amazing! I never expected it would come a day I would be able to meet them."

"I wished you both could've meet in a more friendly way." Marie sighed. "But oh well..." Marie summoned another crystal horse. "... nothing I can do about that now." She send the horse to D'eon who easily cut it in half.

"Stop resisting queen." D'eon said in a gentle tone. "The death will be totally painless if you don't struggle. I don't wish to make you suffer."

Marie smirked. Even as their enemy, D'eon still had a lor of respect for her. Good to see some chivalry remained in them. "Then sorry D'eon, but you will have to do it the hard way." She send another of her crystal horses to the musketeer.

"Guess I'm left with no choice so." D'eon jumped high enough to dodge Marie's attack. Landing on their feet, D'eon sprinted torwards Marie. "I'll make it quick so it can be almost painless."

Mozart however, stopped the musketeer advances with his baton. "I have to admit, I rarely use it as a sword. After all, it's purpose isn't to clash with other swords like yours, dear muskeeter." Mozart was able to stay on his feet long enough for D'eon to take a step back from the clash. "But if Marie is in serious danger, then I won't hesitate to use my instrument as a weapon!"

On the other fight, Elizabeth and Kiyohime were both lashing out at Assassin who just deflected their attacks. It was also being a verbally fight beetween Elizabeth and her older self.

"Eww. Am I really doomed to become this old hag? Your smell of blood isn't even a nice one!" Elizabeth insulted the older woman.

"Jealous for not having the same attributes as mine brat? Spending seocnds looking at you is enough to make me kill myself!" The woman smirked as she took proceeded to block Kiyohime's attack. "Erasing you will be the best decision I've ever made." The woman raised her hand, the fingernails glowing in a darkish purple aura. "Die now!" She waved her whole arm, her fingernails lashing out the attack that was meant to go to Elizabeth.

Luckily, the pink haired dragon girl was quick enough to dodge, the blow only being able to cut some bits of the lancer's hair. "H-How dare you?! Do you know how much I value my own hair?!" She screamed in fury.

"Hehehe. A stupid hair look to be honest." The Assassin woman touched her white hair. "I prefer the one I have now."

"Grghhhhhh! You mean, bastard, arrogant and sadistic bitch!" Elizabeth shouted. How she despised that woman.

"Going to have a tantrum now?" The assassin taunted Elizabeth even more. "The world isn't all rainbows and flowers girl. But I cant blame you if you think that way since you're such a stupid and naive brat."

The tension and hate between the two was growing by the second. They were like two chemicals that if joined together, would explode. Kiyohime was standing by the side, watching the squabble, being completely ignored by the two.

"Do they know I'm also here hearing everything?" She asked to herself while doing a deadpan face.

Jeanne tried to go toe to toe with Martha but her mind just wasn't there. The french saint quickly went the next seconds blocking punches from the other saint.

"A form of salvation. From yourself." The moments of her conversation with the mysterious figure echoed through her head, getting in the way of her fight. At the same time she wanted to think more about it, she would allow many openings for Martha to attack, being totally distracted.

"Pay attention!" Martha warned her own enemy as a knuckle was going straight to Jeanne's face.

"Ha!" Jeanne seemed to have got back to the battle in time as she dodged the fist by mere inches. But Martha wasn't done as she went to raise her left leg and kick it right into Jeanne's right side of the abdomen who then let enough space for Martha to kick Jeanne's stomach with her right knee.

"Blergh!" Jeanne coughed and spit out a bit of blood from her mouth as the sheer strenght of Martha's kick damaged her stomach.

"Jeanne!" Mash yelled, seeing her companion in distress. "Are you alright?" Mash didn't have the chance to check on Jeanne as Terasque still had Mash on his sight and attacked the shielder who's moment of distraction was almost fatal. The large creature sprinted and attacked Mash, taking the opportunity of the opening.

"Mash, watch out!" Peko shouted in the distance, seeing Mash vulnrable to Tarasque's attack.

"!" Mash turned her look at Tarasque who was now lowering it's claw at an incredible speed. Mash had little time to even put her shield to block the blow. Once the claw hit the shield, it almost flew away from Mash's grasp and the demi-servant lost her balance. "Damnit!" She cursed.

Ritsuka got immediatly preoccupied about his servant. "Mash!" It looked like things weren't going so well as they hoped so.

Has Mash was recovering from the blow, Tarasque was already preparing another.

"Crap, another one!" Romani watched in huge concern.

Thankfully, Mash was fast enough and did a huge somersault, getting out of the way of Tarasque's claw who this time only hit the ground. "Sorry for the lack of concentration Senpai!" Mash told Ritsuka with her eyes not ignoring her opponent. "I got careless!."

Ritsuka, Peko and Romani had all exhaled in relief. Mash still had her capabilities even if she wasn't a fully fledged servant.

Jeanne was having the most hard time of all the fights.

"What's the matter Saint Jeanne D'arc?" Martha delivered another punch that was blocked by Jeanne's flagpole. "Feeling tired?" Martha delivered another blow. "What's bothering you?" And she made another.

"This isn't natural of you!" And another.

"You want to defeat the Dragon Witch, dont you?" And another.

"Then why..." And another.

"are you so hesitant to fight?!" And another.

Jeanne was able to block all those attacks but it also took a great part of her stamina. Jeanne breathed shakily, her arms trembling a little from the blows she had blocked. Her legs were also about to give up. All her energy just seemed to have been dried up.

"Hmm..." Jeanne tried to take a step but instead, she fell to her knees.

" Your other half. The Dragon Witch. She was born  from your denial of those emotions."

It was haunting Jeanne like a ghost. Never had she been so troubled through her entire life. She felt like her mind was just being messed with. She hated the sound of that voice infecting her head. Was that thing on her side or not? It clearly wasn't the same voices she heard when young. Was it trying to mess with her or not? Her mind felt like it could break at any time.

"Are you the real Jeanne D'arc?" Martha stood up and tall in front of the kneeling french saint. Her voice and face both serious.

Jeanne looked at the woman with eyes that told her that she didn't know how to answer that. She came to the point of even doubting herself.

"Because if you are, then it's quite the letdown. I expected more of you to be honest." Martha said coldly. "Why that weakness? Why you seem so lost fellow saint? The Jeanne D'arc I've heard about doesn't kneel after a few hits."

Jeanne stood silent, unable to answer. She didn't eveb understand why Saint Martha was talking with her instead of putting her down for good.

"So I ask you again. Are you really Jeanne D'arc?"

A huge pair of metal boots wandered through the forest, as the knights that were wearing it came back from their failed attempt at killing the Dragon Witch on her lair. They were all with faces of sadness and defeat, knowing that many of their compatriots and friends had died in a battle that ended up in doing little to no damage to the Dragon's Witch army. It was almost certainty that all of France was already doomed.

In the front of the group, a short black haired man with a well built face and black eyes wakked with his silver armor stenched with so much blood. No matter how many wyverns they killed, it would always have more. The man seemed to be the leader of the group of soldiers.

"How high were the losses?" The man asked in a almost dead tone to his companion that was standing on his left.

"We've lost approximetly 94 soldiers, including all the catapults and horses, General." The man responded with a sorrowful voice. The whole moral of those who had survived had vanished, convinced that they couldn't do anything more to save France and it's people.

"And how many of us are here right now?" The general asked to his fellow man.

"12 of us...general." The man answered.

Not even with an army over 100 men and skillful knights such as the general himself, were able to take care of the Dragon Witch. They were all squished like ants.

"The Dragon Witch...did the general saw her?" The man made a question to his superior.

The general himself took some seconds of silence, pretending to have just not heard what was asked of him, but he ended up responding anyways. "Yes I did..."

"And was she like..." The soldier did not finish his sentence and instead decided to remain silent, knowing that shortly afterwards, his general would respond. After all, the appearence of the Dragon Witch had been causing so much turmoil in the entire country recently.

"Yes she was..." The general closed it's eyes, as if he was trying not to cry. "Oh Jeanne, how this could happen to you? What happened to that cheerful and radiant smile of yours?"

The general who was once a great friend of Jeanne D'arc, was one of the most affected and stunned by all this Dragon Witch thing. Just some time ago, he heard she had been burned by the Church that had accused her of sins against God. He knew it was all lies and the enemy simply paid it's way to get rid of Jeanne that had caused trouble to them during the war. The first days after the news made his mind go to dark places. Doing that to a beloved friend of his was driving him mad. But few days later rumours about her revival has the Dragon Witch started to appear. And now the man was confused.

He should feel happy that his friend had come back, but seeing and hearing the cases of her genocide across the land made him feel skeptical about if Jeanne was truly back, or it was all a hoax. Deep down, he knew that the true Jeanne, his friend, would never hurt or kill innocent people. So, filled with a bit of hope in him, the general swored to save the kingdom, it's people and kill the Dragon Witch, not letting all Jeanne's efforts in tglhe war go to waste.

But shortly after seeing the Dragon Witch's face, even if it was for a few moments, the general's hope had been crushed. Dragon Witch was really Jeanne. Twisted and corrupted with vengeance after her death.

Gilles de Rais, never tought Jeanne would fall for things such has hatred, let alone commit genocide. But guess he was wrong and Jeanne got revived to follow a path completely diffrent from the one before her death. Now all he and his soldiers could do, was wait for their ends.

"Hm? Wait men." Gilles de Rais came to a halt and ordered the rest do stop as well.

"What is it General de Rais?" One of his men asked.

"Can't you hear it?" Gilles de Rais was sure he had just heard something. Something that sounded like some clashes and commotion hapenning nearby. He had to investigate what it was. "Something is up ahead." He said to himself. "Stay alert men! We may have some company!" He signaled to the soldiers who went with their swords and shields in hand, unsure of what they could find.

As the general, Gilles de Rais went ahead, carefully looking on his step and pushing the branches of the trees aside. "May God help us if it's another attack of the Dragon Witch."

"Aaarhg!" Kiyohime screamed as her body was hit and made her fly some feet away from the fight, landing with her back on the floor.

"K-Kiyohime!" Elizabeth looked at her damaged friend and then at the Assassin. "Damn you!" She growled angrily.

"My, are you worried?" The woman laughed sadistically. "Then I'll make sure to kill you together."

Things weren't looking good for the side of the master of humanity.

"Gggrgh!" Amadeus had just got his shoulder sliced by D'eon while trying to protect Marie.

"Amadeus!" The french queen went to his aid. "Are you ok?"

"I'm sorry Marie. I let my guard down for a moment." The man touched his wound. "I'll continue fighthing however." The musician slowly got up to his feet.

"You're will is admirable Monsieur Mozart." D'eon said, their sword still in hand. "I applaud your efforts."

"This...isn't looking good, at all." Ritsuka observed how the servants from their side were already with injuries and wounds on their body, while the enemy servants were almost unscratched from the fights. Winning here was looking impossible. Even Mash was getting exhausted of dodging and distracting Tarasque.

"At this rate we will lose!" Romani told what Ritsuka and Peko were already thinking about.

"And we won't be so lucky to have other servants to rescue us again this time." Peko said with a bit of fear. "What can we do now? The things can't end like this!"

Ritsuka stood watching, speechless of the way the battle was going against them even when he tried to give his best as a master. "We will lose in the end, right?" "Even when I tried, it was totally worthless..." Ritsuka closed his hands. "Why nothing works, even if I try too? We're just...completely inferior when compared to them."

Frustration invaded Ritsuka's eyes. "Damnit! Maybe it's because I'm the master here. If it was someone who really knew magecraft then...we wouldn't be like this." Ritsuka nibbled his inferior lip. "I'm a failure! I can't do anything rig-"

"You help so much people Ritsuka, and I'm proud of it. You are a blessing for those who need your help. Always stay like that, my dear."

Ritsuka gasped out of nowhere, like if a huge wind had just passed by his face , the voice he heard being familiar to him. He also gained a bit of a scare from Peko and Romani.

"R-Ritsuka? What was it? Are you ok?" Peko tried to call him out. However, Ritsuka himself was wondering about other thing, not paying attention to Peko's words.

"I know I can do more help here than just standing and giving orders. There's gotta be some way..." Ritsuka gazed at his allied servants.

"Do you have a plan Ritsuka?" Peko saw the quietness that the master of humanity was having. Peko could tell that Ritsuka's eyes at that moment were of someone who was thinking about what to do next to change the battle to their favour.

"Helloooooo? Ritsuka, you still in there?" Romani tried to take Ritsuka out of his own toughts.

"Yes I need a plan! A plan...a plan...a plan." He tried to think of a solution as his eyes passed by each fight. The fight who was calling his attention more was Jeanne's. "Jeanne is probably having some problems too. She doesn't have her Ruler abilities after all. She's weakened!" Ritsuka concluded. "If there was a way to make her be at full power...Think Ritsuka! Think!"

At that moment, Ritsuka remembered of a concept that could change the battle to their favour. "That's it!"

"Contract with servants?" Ritsuka had just heard a new topic from while in the main room of Chaldea. Romani told him about how in the world of magecraft, those who summoned the Heroic Spirits known as servants, were seen as their masters and form some kind of contract.

"If given a chance, you can be able to make contracts with some servants during the journey. Servants need magical supply from their master to keep existing and fighting" Romani said.

"What's the benefits of that?" Ritsuka asked.

"Well, not only you become their master, you can also supply them with your mana. But the power the servant is capable to unleash depends on their master's level of mana." Romani put a hand on Ritsuka's shoulder. "Thankfully we can make Chaldea's supply generator pass through you, so that it becomes easier to make contracts." Romani then looked to the side apprehensively. "Altough, I wouldn't recommend it very much."

"Huh? Why?"

"It's too much energy consuming to someone with no mana like you. Mash is a demi-servant so it doesnt exactly count. So it may be too risky for you. Your body might not handle it."

"I see..."

"I'm sorry Doc but I have no choice but to make a contract right here and now!" Grabbing the pulse of his hand with the Command Seals, Rituska had already made his mind up.

"Jeanne! Make a contract with me and become my servant!" Ritsuka shouted almost in a demanding tone.

The french saint who was still on her knees, heard Ritsuka's words, causing a mix of shock and surprise on her. "What?" She turned her head to look at the master of humanity.

"Eh!?" Romani was in shock too. "F-Fujimaru, that's extremely dangerous! Your body will succumb! Dont do it!"

"It's either that or nothing! Jeanne wasn't summoned here as a fully fledged servant! By making a contract, she will have her Ruler abilities back as a proper servant, right?" Ritsuka explained himself to Romani.

"But if you do that you may die!" Peko warned him. "You can't die this early on the journey Ritsuka!"

Mash who was blocking Terasque's attacks was also hearing the exchange between the three at the back.

"You sure about this, senpai?" She asked a bit unsure.

"Yes I am Mash!" Ritsuka raised his hand with the Command Seals. "Jeanne! I beg you! Become my serv-"

Ritsuka stopped talking when he heard what sounded like footsteps. And by the huge and multiple sound of it, it was much probable that it wasn't just a single person who was about to appear.

From behind the trees, a small group of soldiers appeard. Upon the arrival, they all looked confused with what was happening in front of them.

"Backup?" Peko asked.

"Dont know exactly." Ritsuka answered. "At least they dont look to be sided with our enemy."

The soldier in the front of the group, Gilles de Rais, would be lying if he said he was expecting that the noises would come from all this fights and people. "What's this?" Gilles de Rais whispered. And then his eyes found her.

"No! It can't be! But I just saw her face not long ago!" Or so he tought. Things were more complex after all then what he imagined. "But that face...there is no doubt! It's her!"

Jeanne was also looking at the man, not expecting to encounter a long friend of her. "Gilles..."

A smile slowly appeard on the general's face. "Jeanne, it's you! I'm so ha-"

"Ggh!" Jeanne flinched in pain as a small stone was thrown by a soldier and hit her on the face right above her left eye.

"Die you bitch!" The soldier who had threw the stone exclaimed in anger, seeing Jeanne as her Dragon Witch counterpart.

"Jeanne!" Marie was about to go to the saint but was stopped by D'eon.

"Fuck you, witch!"

"You killed my family!"

"Burning you this time would be a death too good for you!"

"I'll slice your body to pieces, you scum!"

"You deserve worse than death Dragon Witch!"

"May both God and Devil curse you for eternity!"

And the soldiers wouldn't stop their rageful insults. No one could blame them. The things they've been through this last week had tired them both physically and mentally. And they all saw what supposedly was the person responsible for all their suffering. Killing the Dragon Witch would put all of their minds in peace.

"Stop that soldiers!" Gilles de Rais ordered them visibly angry. "She may look like it but she is not the Dragon Witch!"

The soldiers all looked at their general as if they just saw the most horrendous thing ever. "And so what?" One of them said. "It's clearly a trap she set to lure us in! I won't fall for it!"

All the other soldiers followed the same thinking of their companion.

"Let's kill her here and now! And if she refuses to die, then we'll make sure to give her a long and painful death!" The soldier raised his sword up in the sky, looking to the rest of the unit. "Who's with me?"

All the soldiers didn't waste a second and screamed a collective "yeah" in unison. The swords already in hand to attack their enemy.

"Wait! You don't understand it!" Gilles de Rais tried to calm them down but it was of no use.

"Seriosuly?! They had to be against us too?!" Ritsuka couldn't believe on how unlucky they were being. "And right when I was about to make a contract with Jeanne. I doubt she's ok with killing those soldiers. They'll clearly get in her way during the fight! What do we do now?" Ritsuka scratched his head.

"Let's go boys!" The soldier on the front yelled, motivating the ones who followed him behind. "We kill her here and put an end to this!"

All of them runned past Gilles de Rais, focusing solely on Jeanne and the mutual desire to kill her. Mozart, Marie, Elizabeth, Kiyohime and Mash were all occupied with their own battles. Jeanne now had to force herself to fight against Martha and the soldiers as well.

That was if nothing stopped the soldiers.

Almost unseen by them, a fast, small light pass in front of them with the speed of a bullet, making them stop instantly as their faces all shown signs of having no clue what they just had saw.

The small light wasn't down has it slowed down right above the clueless soldiers.

"Wha-what is this thing?" One of them asked, doubting what they were seeing was real.

"Mphmm!" Another soldier swung his sword to the light's direction. The small luminous object just moved it away easily from the sword's route. "Damnit." The soldier cursed in a low tone.

Soon, all the soldiers were trying to hit the small light with their swords, as if they were trying to hit on a pinata. Their curiosity was slowly transforming into frustration and irritation.

"What the hell is this thing?!"

"Maybe it's a firefly?"

"Fireflies shouldn't shine that brightly you moron! And were in the middle of the day!"

In the distance, Gilles de Rais watched his men swinging their swords around as if they were morons. The general could only hide his embarassment. "They know they're in the middle of a battle right?"

Ritsuka was also watching the occurrence, wondering where that light came from. Then he heard some small grunts next to him.

Looking at Peko, he saw that the boy was sweating over all his face as his arms stood stretched up front, with the index finger of his left hand pointing at the group of soldiers ahead, specifficaly on the small light. The index finger was shining brightly as if it had transformed in pure light.

"Peko...you...you're the one who made that?!" Ritsuka asked amazed.

"Y-yeah..." The boy let out a deep breath, talking with some difficulty has he was concentrating his low mana on the magic he had just crafted. "This...should slow them down." "I won't stand here just watching without helping anyone again!"

"Great job Peko!" Romani said happily. "This should be enough to make Jeanne solely focus on Martha."

"Ritsuka quick!...The contract!" It was clear that Peko was already making an effort to maintain the light active, has it was already starting to flicker.

"Oh! Right!" The master of humanity raised his hand of the command seals again. "Jeanne! Make a contract with me and become my servant!"

Martha looked at Ritsuka and then at the soldiers and Gilles de Rais. "I pity you Jeanne D'arc." She said in lament. "After everything you did and trying to save them a second time, they still despise you and hate you." She looked at the french saint.

"Doesnt that makes you feel wronged, vengeful, with dark desires of murder?" Martha tried to get a response from Jeanne. "Do you even think of yourself whorty to make a contract with that master over there? No matter how powerful you get if the mind still troubles you."

"I..." Jeanne looked at the ground. A million thoughts passing through her head. "I..." Images of her mother, father and siblings reminding her of simpler times. And then of Gilles. And Marie, and all of her friends and allies now. She just couldn't let them all down.

Gilles de Rais tried to speak with her. "Jeanne! Are you-"

"I've made my decision already!" She said out loud almost agressively, getting everyone's attention.

"Jeanne?" Marie stood still, her eyes seeing what would be Jeanne's next action. She wondered if her friend was ok.

"Ever since the beggining of this Singularity, my mind has been in conflict. Now I want to put that conflict to rest. At the end of this I want to know, the real me..." Jeanne said, putting her voice a tone a bit more calm.

"What does that mean Jeanne?" Ritsuka tried to understand her.

"It means I have decided to choose who I want to be right now..." Jeanne said in a serious tone, thinking about all those conversations she had with the voice in her head. All of her allies watched a bit nervously and uncomfortable. Even Peko managed to get enough strenght to look at Jeanne.

"And I want to be..." Jeanne raised her head to look eye to eye with Martha. Instead of doubtfulness, hesitation or even the sensation of being lost, the french saint's eyes were with a strong glimpse of courage and bravery.

Fate Apocrypha OST- Battle

"I want to be the Jeanne D'arc, Maid of Orleans, who will never lose her hope and save France and it's people by putting an end to the Dragon Witch!" Taking out her ragged cloth, Jeanne stood up with invigorated hope, her white and amethyst clothes finally revealed in all it's glory, no more hidding beneath the cloth. And from her left hand she wielded the flagpole wich it's flag was taking advantage of the wing. And in her right hand, the sword which she pointed at Martha. "Starting with you, Saint Martha!"

"Yes. There is no doubt..." Gilles de Rais saw Jeanne's statement and was almost moved to tears. "This is the real Jeanne D'arc that I've known for so long."

Marie smilled cheerfully. "Now that's the Jeanne D'arc I've always heard about!"

"Indeed. I see no more ugly feelings surrounding her now." Mozart stated.

"Haha...guess they weren't wrong...Jeanne D'arc is really a warrior..." Peko had reached his limit and almost passed out. Running completely out of mana, the small light occuping the soldiers vanished and the boy fell to the ground.

"Peko!" Ritsuka grabbed him to see if he was ok. Fortunately he was. "You can rest now, you did a good job." Ritsuka smilled proudly at the boy as if he was his own little brother.

"And you're right! This is the Jeanne D'arc everybody knows! Now..."

"He used almost all of his magic into creating that small light. He did the best he could Ritsuka." Romani said. "His vitals are stable and that's good." He smiled. "Now rest Peko. We will take care of the things from now on."

"Ritsuka." Jeanne called the master of humanity. "...No. Master, ready for the contract?" She turned her head to look at him, smilling.

"Yeah! Let's do it Jeanne!" He raised the command seals in the air.

"Hear me!" He said loudly.

Saint Martha seemed alarmed by this. "I can't let him finish the chant of the contract!" She went straight to Ritsuka immediatly. "I won't allow it!"

But Mash was also aware of Martha's intentions in time. The shielder blocked the corrupted saint with her shield by force. "And I won't allow you to stop him!" Mash said, holding back Martha's staff.

"Thou body shall become mine.

Thou sword will abide my fate." Ritsuka continued his chant

The assassin was displeased with the situation. "Tsk! Wyverns! Stop him!" She summoned an army of wyverns, just to be shortly attacked by Kiyohime and Elizabeth.

"You wish!" Kiyohime said smugly. "Dont stop Anchin-sama chant! That's rude!"

"Yeah! Cry about it hag!" Elizabeth taunted her older self.

"In accordance with the Holy Grail,

If thou shall obey this feeling, this reasoning."

Seeing the chant almost completed, Saint Martha muster all her strenght and pushed Mash out of the way. "This is the end for you!" Her staff started to brighten and two beams started to make shape in front of Ritsuka.

"This is my plenty

My prayers need no process

Pulverise my opponents!"

"Senpai run! She's aiming you!" Mash yelled in distress.

"Even if I can't fight, or save others, I'll share all this power to those who can!"

"Obey my command!

Then with this fate!"

The beams got fully charged. "There's nowhere to run now." Martha said in a threatening voice.

Ritsuka took a very deep breath.

"THOU SHALL BEAR OUR FLAG!" Ritsuka shouted the last part of the chant as loud as he could.

At the same moment, the beams got fired at his direction. And the master of humanity didn't turned to ashes because thankfully for him, Jeanne appeard right in front of him and with her flagpole, quickly destroyed the beams.

"He made it in time." Mash sighed in relief while Martha was obviously disgruntled.

"I, Jeanne D'arc, of the Ruler class, accept and recognize you, Ritsuka Fujimaru, as my master." Jeanne proclaimed, standing tall and in all her radiance.

"Now Saint Martha, as my opponent, I'll free you from the shackles of the Dragon Witch!" She drawned out her sword. "I'll won't let those feelings and toughts to cloud my mind and mess with me ever again. Whatever that voice or shadow has to say, I'll ignore it from now on."

Martha giggled at Jeanne's words. "Then I'd assume you don't feel hatred torwards those soldiers, right?"

"If they can stand togehter through their hate torwards me, even if misplaced, then I don't think it's bad at all. They've been through a lot already so, I guess their hatred of me is justified." Jeanne responded.

"Hm. Not a bad answer at all, I kinda like it you know?" Martha closed her eyes, still with her smile. "The other you would be pissed at me for it however. You're a very good person." As it seemed Martha would stay smilling and continue her conversation, she changed her mood and made the smile dissapear.

"So, I guess this it eh?" She asked to herself. "My part here is almost done. Now for the final part..." Martha looked at Jeanne agressively and her mana felt growing stronger. "Let's fight Jeanne D'arc! Prove me, that you have what it takes to defeat me, Saint Martha, violated by Madness Enchantment!"

Jeanne stood ready. "I won't falter like before, Saint Martha!"

And so the two saints clashed once again.

This time the fight was balanced. Both were changing blow after blow and blocking each other attacks.

"They're...fighting almost flawlessly..." Peko commented, tired from spending all of his existing mana. Luckily, the soldiers were occupied fighting some wyverns now.

"Yeah. They are both amazing fighters." Ritsuka commented. "But I believe Jeanne is stronger."

Jeanne dodged an attack from Martha and successfully hit her in a counter attack on the corrupted saint's right leg.

"Grgh!" Martha grunted in pain. "Guess it's time to give my everything. Tarasque!" Martha called out her dragon.

Tarasque ignored Mash as quickly as possible and went next to Martha. Jeanne felt what was coming wasn't good. But felt this may also be the corrupted saint's last attack.

"So you're unleashing it." Jeanne said to Martha, predicting what was her opponent next move

"You're correct Jeanne D'arc. I'm unleashing it...my Noble Phantasm!" She made a sign with her hand to Tarasque and the beast jumped as high as it could, wich was very very high. "Tremble and fall before the destriction of Saint Martha!" She yelled.

"This isn't looking good guys." Romani told them apprehensive.

"On the fifth day the lord had created the Leviathan." Martha started her Noble Phantasm.

"It's child would display it's ferocity through the slaugther of innumerable heroes.".

Tarasque started to glow white as if turning into a star.

"What? This blow will kill us all if it hit us!" Ritsuka exclaimed. "Servants really are that powerful."

"Now together with me Tarasque.

O sad Dragon, that knew naught of love. "

"Master!" Mash called Ritsuka. "I think I have a plan."

"Now Tarasque!

Now raise your boiling fervor to equal the sun!"

Tarasque's body started to spin, and soon created what seemed to look like a giant spinning ball of white flames.

"You sure about it Mash?" Ritsuka asked to the demi-servant.

"Yes!" Mash said in a affirmative tone.

"To those noble one's who would resist destruction!

Grant them the test of this one strike!"

And so Tarasque went down from the sky, the flames getting more intense as Tarasque spinned and fell faster. It was like if the dragon beast has turned into a giant meteorite.

"Shine like the sun...

Like a star! "

At the ground, Mash was with her shield in hand and positioned herself in Martha's Noble Phantasm trajectory

"Ready Mash?" Ritsuka asked, covering himself, Peko and Jeanne behind the shielder.

"Yes I am Senpai!" Mash thinked back in Fuyuki when she blocked Artoria Alter Noble Phantasm, altough she almost fainted that time. "This time I'll do better."

"Understood! Everybody else, take cover!" Ritsuka advised his allied servants, who seeing the destructive capacity of Martha's Noble Phantasm, followed Ritsuka's orders and took cover. Assassin and D'eon also decided it was best to take cover as well.

"O' Tragic Dragon Who Knew Naught of Love!" And as Martha's chant finished, Tarasque was about to hit the land.

Mash was prepared for it.

"True Name...Pseudo Register!

Deploying Noble Phantasm!"

The big meteor that was now Tarasque, was now inches away of hitting Mash shield.

"Lord Chaldeas!"

The impact was so shivering and tearing that whoever wasn't taking cover would be quickly disintegrated.

"Ggrghggh!" Mash was using all of her strenght and resistance to slow down Martha's Noble Phantasm. But it was uncertain if she could stop ut completely.

Seeing this, Ritsuka speaked to Romani. "Doctor! Can you send more mana supply from Chaldea to Mash?!"

"We're trying to Ritsuka! But it's pretty much impossible that Mash's Noble Phantasm can stop Tarasque!" Romani explained.

"I can...stop it Master! I'm fine...don't worry about it!" Mash said as she felt her strenght slowly fade away. "Not now! Everyone's survival depends of me!"

Ritsuka wasn't convinced. "Doctor, can't we do anything?!"

Jeanne then decided to step in. "Master. I request for you to allow me to use my Noble Phantasm."

"I 100% allow you to use it Jeanne." Ritsuka gave permission without second tought.

"It's also the type to defend against attacks, like Mash's Noble Phantasm. However there's a downside..." Jeanne said with a serious face. "Since you are now my master, you too will suffer the burden of me unleashing it. Can you handle that, Ritsuka?"

"She's right Ritsuka! You totally collapsed after Mash used her Noble Phantasm in Fuyuki! Who knows what will happen if you have to handle the mana spending of TWO Noble Phantasm?!" Romani was in fear of Ritsuka's well being. It was an extreme danger to take.

Ritsuka just smiled. "Geez, doc. You care way too much for your own good." Ritsuka laughed a bit. "But we're all here trying to do our best." Ritsuka then look at Peko who was resting on his lap. "We can't reach far enough without pushing ourselves to the limit. Besides..."

"Don't ever forget that your will can be your strongest weapon."

"...someone told me to never be afraid of what comes next, as long as I remain with my head up." Ritsuka said, not caring to have almost guaranteed near death experience.

"Ritsuka...Alright!" Romani exclaimed, knowing that Ritsuka wouldn't turn back on his decision. "Leave the back up to us here in Chaldea! I'll make sure your soul isn't erased."

Ritsuka smirked. "Thank doctor. Now Jeanne, if you will..."

"It's being an honour to serve you master. I'll make sure to not dissapoint you. "Jeanne prepared her Noble Phantasm initiation by raising her flagpole.

"Here is the work of our Lord." Jeanne walked torwards Mash.

"J-Jeanne-san?" Mash wasn't expecting the saint to appear next to her.

"My banner, defend my brethern!

God is here with me!"

Jeanne's flag now stood up and in full power, a golden shine emanating from it.

"So beautiful..." Mash tought in awe.

"Luminosite Eternelle!"

And with Jeanne's Noble Phantasm activated, it completely erased Saint Martha's Noble Phantasm with it's powerful aura that cloaked all the area and maybe more of the forest.

Martha could only watch in bewilderment as she was being engulfed by her opponent's Noble Phantasm.

"Ah...this light..!"

In the middle of a destroyed village's wreck, Martha stood next to a pile of mutilated bodies, drinking all it's blood overly.

"A servant's true nature...is that of devouring souls. It's the only way for servants in a situation like me, to not disappear since the absence of magical energy forces us to do it."

Tarasque watched in sorrow and pity of his master and only friend.

"That's why I devour souls and crave for the human hearts and blood. After being cursed with Madness Enchantment, I can't even kill myself nor stop eating flesh."

"It's alright Terasque. I'll restrain the Madness Enchantment so that it can't reach you or the staff." Martha tried to console her dragon.

She wiped off the blood from her lips. "I wonder, if 'that man' is still alive..."

"This is a torture. My struggles don't have any effect. I feel like whatever I tried to do is pointless. That I've already become that witch's puppet."

"Sorry Tarasque..."

"I wish at least, that my act of kindness to that girl, was enough to keep her going on. I can't can't bear the tought of seeing her becoming like this."

"I wish next time, to be summoned in a more proper way..."

"Now please, someone, put me-"

A piercing sound was created at the moment Jeanne D'arc stabbed Saint Martha's chest wit her flagpole, giving the corrupted saint the decisive and finishing blow.

"Blergh!" Martha, with a defeated look, coughed blood that went straight to Jeanne's face who's eyes were covered by the french saint hair and with a face of somewhat regret. The corrupted saint's body went cold and limp.

"Saint Martha's spirit core was pierced...it's victory for us!" Romani announced.

The battle was finally over and decided, with the triumph of the Maiden of Orleans.

To be continued...

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author.

"It's over guys. We won." Romani announced. "Saint Martha has been defeated.

Every servant from the Ritsuka's side smiled and cheered with their victory, knowing that their remaining opponents were in huge disadvantage now with Martha's defeat.

"Damn you Rider." Assassin hissed silently, looking at Martha's pierced body. "D'eon! We have to go! Master wouldn't like to have more loses today!"

"Running with the ass between your legs? How fitting!" Elizabeth laughed in taking joy of her older self retreat.

The assassin ignored her completely and alongside with D'eon, dissapeard from the field, handing the win to their enemies.

"Uff, that was exhausting." Kiyohime said, swinging her fan. "But we didn't have any casuality so that's good." She then looked at Ritsuka with heart shaped eyes. "And all thanks to you Anchin-sama!"

"She's partially right Senpai." Mash told her master. "Your boldness in making a contract with Jeanne was vital to the battle."

"Thanks Mash and Kiyohime. Altough I think I just did my best like all of you to push us to our win." Ritsuka cleaned off the sweat from his face. The unleashing of Jeanne Noble Phantasm had really tired him out.

"That's true." Mozart approached them. "But a leader like you was essential. You didn't panic and instead, gave your orders, like a true commander would."

"Yep. You were fantastic monsieur Ritsuka!" Marie also praised the master of humanity. "Altough..." Marie blushed a bit. "I'd say Jeanne was the key player here." The queen gave a quick look to the french saint who was still ahead of them with her flagpole pierced on Saint Martha's body.

"Yeah...we did all great." Ritsuka looked at Peko who was resting in his lap. "You did great too Peko."

"Saint Martha..." Jeanne looked at the dying face of her enemy and fellow saint. "...I wish things could have been different. It pains me to kill so-"

"Please, don't be it Jeanne D'arc." With the little power that remained in her now, vanishing body, Martha gave a little smile to Jeanne. "I'm thankful that you put an end to me before commiting more sins."

Jeanne didn't realized until now what Martha's intention was with this fight. It seemed more than just killing them. That's when Jeanne started to reconsider her enemy motives. "Saint Martha...were you-

"Yes I was dear friend." Martha smirked. "And you succeeded on defeating me. With you on full power now, I'd say you're capable of defeating the Dragon Witch. My role here has ended. No more...agony..."

In a weak state, Martha slowly raised her arm. "But before going...I'll give you a reward...for having me defeated." She touched Jeanne's cheek. "The Dragon Witch's dragon...It's name is Fafnir...and I know someone who can defeat him.

Jeanne gasped audibly. "Really?! Who?" She wanted Martha to be fast on her answer since her body was half vanished by now.

"He's...a dragon slayer. You may find him...in the city of Lyon..." Martha informed, as her body was almost fading away. "Hehe, how tragic...for someone like me to have done all those things."

"Martha..." Jeanne felt bad for her fellow saint.

"No need for lament Jeanne D'arc. You must keep going with your head up now." Martha gave her a comforting smile, her face being the only thing remaining now, mere seconds away from dissapearing completely. "Never let...the darkness taint you...Jeanne D'arc..."

And those were the last words of Saint Marth, as her body faded away in thin air.

"Understood" Jeanne put an hand in her chest as she looked at the blue sky with it's white clouds. "Saint Martha." She said with confidence. "I will make sure that no one ever uses you like this again."

"Nngh..." Peko slowly opened his eyes, recovering from the spending of his mana energy on the fight, being greeted by a smiling Ritsuka and Mash. "Did we...did we won?" He asked.

"Yes we did." Mash informed the boy. "You did great, Peko."

Upon the news of their win, Peko's lips transformed into a huge smile full of joy. "R-really?" He asked in amazement.

"Yeah buddy. You sure were." Ritsuka told him, patting the boy's head.

Peko closed it's eyes and closed both his hands, contracted his arms next to his shoulders and in a explotion of emotion yelled out loudly. "YEAAAAAAAAAAAH! WE WON-*cough* *cough*"

"Hey now, don't chock with your own excitment Peko." Ritsuka laughed, hugging him.

"H-Hey! If you hug me like that I may chock for real, hahahaha!" Peko laughed as well.

"Fou! Fo!" Fou appeard next to Mash, jumping up and down, being picked up by Mash.

"You're also happy ,arent you Fou?" She asked, smilling at the view of Ritsuka and Peko.

"With this, we've took out one of the Dragon Witch's servants. This will show her we wont go down so easily." Romani said.

"Hope that Nala somehow gets to hear about this." Peko said. "I know you are trying your best too sis."

"Sure. This will boost everyone's moral. Even hers." Ritsuka said

"Good to see you care very much about your sister Peko." Marie speaked to the boy.

"Well, it's that she would do the same for me." Peko explained. "And I promised her to rescue her, so I don't pretend to leave this place without her!"

"Then I guess it's time we do a visit to the Dragon Wtich's door step." Elizabeth said in a smug way.

"Please calm down Elizabeth." Jeanne came back to be near the rest of the group. "We need to rest first."

"So Lady Jeanne, what as the opponent told you?" Kiyohime asked to her ally. "I saw you two speaking before her death. What dod she said?"

"She told me there is someone who can take out the Dragon Witch's dragon, Fafnir." As Jeanne shared it, everyone's reaction was that of curiosity.

"Really? There's still other servants in this Singularity?" Mash asked.

"I'd bet on a 'yes'." Romani said. "Did she told you were we could find this person?"

"She said we could find him in Lyon. I guess it's not too far away from here." Jeanne replied to the doctor.

"Oh Lyon! It was a beautiful city in my time." Marie said. "Wonder how it looked like in tge past."

"If we're being honest Marie, it's more than likely destroyed now." Mozart told, killing Marie's excited mood.

"Aww..." Marie sighed sadly.

"Anyway, we better rest now. The servant will be looking for is a dragon slayer. We will be making an accampment some distance away from here." Jeanne said, acting more as a leader. Now with her ruler abilities and fully completed as a servant, Jeanne was feeling more courageous than ever. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Doctor, will you scan the area of France in the probability of finding more servants that aren't posessed by the Dragon Witch?" Mash requested.

"Yeah, sure Mash. I'll be doing that while you'll be walking to your next rest spot." Romani started to type on his monitor.

The shielder turned her back to look at Ritsuka and Peko. "We better get going then."

"Yeah. The quicker the better. We need to be sure that dragon slayer will be on the city by the time we arrive." Peko said. "Let's get going Ritsuka." He looked at his friend.

"Sure." Ritsuka said and Mash and Peko started to walk in front of him.

But as the master of humanity took just a step, his whole body trembled, feeling his strenght dissapearing from his body.

Peko, who looked behind, noticed Ritsuka's difficulty in walking. "Hm? Ritsuka, are you ok?" His words give attracted Mash's attention who also looked back to see if everything was alright.

"Senpai, you don't seem good." She said a bit nervous.

"D-dont worry you two. I'm fi..." With all his energy gone, Ritsuka's body fell down on the ground, the battle clealry worn him out.

"Senpai!"

"Ritsuka!"

"This apple is really good you know? You can eat it if you want." Jeanne Alter held an apple right in front of Nala's face, trying to persuade the girl into eating it.

Nala just turned her head to the other way, refusing the Dragon Witch's meal.

"Don't worry kid, it isn't poisoned or anything like you hear on the fairy tales." Surprisingly, Jeanne Alter was speaking the truth. The apple was indeed harmless and no curse as been casted upon it. What Jeanne Alter was trying to do, was seeing if she could get Nala's sympathy. By pretending to be a somewhat 'reasonable' person and not entirely ruthless, perhaps the girl would be more willing to obey her.

Nala however still would look away, not accepting the fruit Jeanne Alter was giving to her.

"Tch! What's with this brat? Didn't Rider told me she was starting to break? Then why she refuses my offer? Also she looks completely sane for someone who's supposed to be talking alone." Jeanne Alter was starting to get tired of Nala's rejection.

What she didn't know was that Nala had eaten a soup given by Martha yesterday. Nala had to thank the Rider for that. If it wasn't for the corrupted saint's good act, she would be starving and probably wouldn't be able to refuse Jeanne Alter's apple. As for the Dragon Witch herself, she assumed Nala may be way more resistent than she tought.

"Urgh, fine." Jeanne Alter grumbled, stopping her attemps of persuading Nala. "Your lose." She said shortly before taking a bite out of the apple and chewing it.

Nala didn't say nothing in response, prefering to remain silent, knowing by Jeanne Alter's behavior that she seemed more calm and cold headed, so she assumed it was safe to stay mute.

Jeanne Alter decided to sit to the adjacent wall of Nala's, much to the girl discomfort and annoyance who wanted the Dragon Witch out of her cell already. However, Jeanne Alter had stayed for a chat.

"You know..." Jeanne Alter started to speak with Nala, no more eating the apple. "I was once in the same situation as you are right now."

Nala looked surprised at her captor. "R-really?" She muttered, no more staying silent and interacting with the Dragon Witch for the first time of today.

"Yeah,altough the cell was a bit...tinier." Jeanne Alter smirked at Nala.

"That's right. She's still Jeanne D'arc. She has been captured once before for what I can get from the information about her." Nala tought to herself, remembering about her conversation with Jeanne's mother and what she told her about her daughter.

"The meals also wouldn't be the best ones. Generally cold food and scraps of the stupid englishmen that were keeping me prisoner." Jeanne Alter said, her teeth clenching as more memories of her hard times would emerge. "Every goddamn day, I would be woken up by a bucket of cold water in my head."

Nala couldn't know what to say. She wasn't sure if she should feel sorry for Jeanne Alter in specific after seeing her kill so many innocent people that had nothing to do with her imprisonment. "A-and that gives you reason for killing simple people who had nothing to do with you? People from your own country?"

"I still haven't finished yet brat." Jeanne Alter replied with a hint of agressivness in her voice to Nala. "I prayed you know? Hehehe." Jeanne Alter giggled like if she was trying to hold a laughter. "I prayed to 'God'. Wanting him to free me from my captivity. And I waited patiently for weeks, expecting my prayers would be answered. That the country I fight so hard to protect would now retribute it's favor." Jeanne Alter tighten her grip on the apple. "Hoping that damn king and his noble friends would move their asses to save me! But they were just scummy people who were using me to get their so precious titles!" In anger, Jeanne Alter raised her voice and squeezed the apple in her hand.

"!" Nala closed on of her eyes as a bit of the apple's liquid hit right below her closed eye. "The situation really changed her eh? To go from a hopeful and optimistic person to this..."

Jeanne Alter looked at her two hands. "But I couldn't keep fooling myself anymore. No one was coming." She said, more calm now. "I was at that moment, just a defenseless girl who could do nothing but pray." Her hands started to shake. "Just the mere tought of those moments..." Jeanne Alter exhaled, trying to control her anxiety as she would slowly close her hands into fists. "I was lost...Didn't know what to do anymore. There was even times were I...wanted to end it all right there."

Nala got shocked by the information. To even think about those things, her spirit must had been completely broken that time.

"However, the 'other me'..." Jeanne Alter said with venom, refering to her saint counterpart. "She hesitated. She didn't want to. She would start to go in denial about our feelings in how our own country let us down." Jeanne Alter said coldly. "That stupid thinks that someone shouldn't die with feelings of anger or revenge. So, I was silenced and ignored by her through the last weeks of our life as she went to pray again."

Jeanne Alter moved out from the wall she was lying her back and stood up. "She choosed to die in denial instead of letting her true emotions that time dominate her." She stood over Nala. "And while I screamed and shouted in blind anger, cursing everyone that they would pay for what they did to me while the fire burned my flesh, the other me held a small cross and died telling the same 'God' who did nothing for us, that her body was now his, saying that she had no more feelings such as regret, dissapointment and fear in her soul."

As the Dragon Witch stopped speaking, the room stayed silent for a seconds.

That was, before Jeanne Alter bursted into a mad laughter that even made Nala distance herself a bit from her. "Ahahahahahahahahahahaha! 'No regrets!' Hahahaha. Isn't that the most stupidest shit you've ever heard brat?" Jeanne Alter continue her insane laughter before lowering it and calming herself. "I fucking hate her." The Dragon Witch said seriously. "Always acting like she's so pure and immune to negative feelings. But I saw something in her this time." Jeanne Alter smirked. "She also experienced hate. Torwards me no less." She stared evily at Nala. "Quite ironic dont you think?"

Nala didn't respond again.

"Either way, the same is happening to you brat." Jeanne Alter lowered herself to get in the same height of the girl. "You may think with all your hopes that your 'friends' are coming to help you. That you are indeed valuable to them. But that's all an illusion. See how slow they were to decide if they should trade that saint for your safety with them?" Jeanne Alter brought up the failed trade/trap attempt she tried some days ago.

Nala tried to ignore the Dragon Witch's gaze only to be forced by Jeanne Alter who grabbed her chin and forcefully made the girl make eye contact with her. "Here's an advise. If you have any hopes of being rescued, abandon it. Believe me, it will be less painful to just accept your doom." Jeanne Alter tried to mess with Nala's spirit. "It's more easy for you to just give up to me rather than torturing yourself phsycologically in thinking you're friends will save you. No ones coming for you brat. No one." Jeanne Alter said coldly, staring stoicly at Nala.

The girl in return, refused the Dragon Witch's words. She knew that they would come eventualy. She couldn't allow Jeanne Alter to make her think otherwise. "You don't know them." She said defiantly. "They're good and unselfish people. And I know for sure my brother would never leave me in a situation like this!" Nala almost shouted. She showed her teeth, telling Jeanne Alter she wouldn't get manipulated and broken that easily.

"Hm!" Jeanne Alter simply grunted. "We all act like that on the first few days. But as they go by, sooner or later you will see the harsh truth and beg me to be your master." As she finished her line, Jeanne Alter took out her hand from Nala's chin and walked away from her, deciding to get out of the cell. "For now just behave brat."

Nala showed her tongue to the Dragon Witch as she was with her back turned to the girl. "Here's the behaviour stupid witch!"

"Anyway, I've heard it's a beautiful day out there. Too bad you won't be seeing the sun for a long time." Jeanne Alter smirked evily, opening the cell's door. "Let's see if your tune will remain the same tomorrow or in a week at most." And with that, Jeanne Alter closed the door, leaving Nala once again, alone.

"Mphmm!" With no time to lose, Nala struggled with her chain that has been keeping her arms restrained ever since she was defeated by the Dragon Witch. She would be lying if she said the chain wasn't already bruising her arms for being so much time binding them.

Some minutes had passed and nothing. The chain wouldn't get more loosened or anything. Eventualy, she was too tired to keep struggling and took some rest. As she was inhaling and exhaling, she couldn't stop thinking about Jeanne Alter's times as a prisoner.

"Will the same happen to me?" Nala couldn't imagine going the same way Jeanne Alter went. And while she wanted to believe her group would come to her rescue, it was true she had just spent only a few days with Ritsuka and Mash, so their bond wasn't that strong. So, would they really abandon her? Nala shaked her head. "No I can't think on those things! That's what she wants me to do! I need to trust them no matter how long it takes!" She looked at the ceiling. "Be safe everyone."

"What?! You lost and Rider is dead?!" Jeanne Alter reacted incredulously upon hearing the news of her servants defeat on the arrival of Assassin and D'eon.

"Yes my master. It seems the saint Jeanne D'arc also got her powers as the Ruler class back." D'eon said, looking at the floor instead of the face of their master. Both them and Assassin where bowed down.

"Great. Just what I needed now." Jeanne Alter hissed.

"It wasn't entirely our fault Master." Assassin said. "Rider wanted to fight the saint alone, and so it happens she had bad luck in her opponent's awakening."

"Yeah,yeah, I know it Assassin. I dont blame you two for Rider's death. I could tell she always looked unpleasent in what I ordered her to do, so I guess it doesnt affect me that much." Jeanne Alter admited, her suspections of Saint Martha not being fully affected by Madness Enchantment becoming true.

"Hmm? What do we do now Jeanne?" Gilles asked a bit concerned. "With this defeat, we have to be more careful with them or else we will lose another servant."

"That's correct." The blonde Berserker approached from the conversation. "Does the master wants me to deal with them? My spear would like to taste their blood." He asked for permission gently.

"No need for that Berserker." Jeanne Alter raised her left hand, summoning a small flame. "I have some candidates in mind to do the job instead."

"Mnhmmaaaa..." Ritsuka's eyes slowly opened. "What...happened?" He asked to himself as his vision would get clearer. Looking at the sky above him, he realized it was night already.

"How long have I been sleeping?" Ritsuka remembered that they had just defeated Saint Martha and talked about a dragon slayer that was in some region of France. After that he briefly talked to Mash and Peko and that's where he stopped remembering what happened.

He felt his head a bit heavy but nothing more painful than that. That's when it hit him. "I collapsed. My whole body must had run out of energy after using it to unleash Jeanne's Noble Phantasm." Now he could remember how weak his body felt moments before falling unconscious. He was lucky for not dying there. But it wasn't like Ritsuka didn't knew the risks. Romani had warned him after all. But thankfully he was alive and they had won.

"Fou! Fou!" Ritsuka looked at his right arm, seeing the small Fou touching it.

"So if you're here, then everybody else-"

"Ritsuka! You woke up!" Peko runned torwards his friend, followed by Mash.

"You scared us Senpai! We feared the worst." Mash scolded Ritsuka.

Ritsuka scratched his head, smilling sheepishly. "S-sorry guys. It came out of the left field."

"Good to see you've woke up Master." Jeanne was also nearby and happy to see the recovery from her recent master.

"Oh,thanks Jeanne! But could you still treat me as Ritsuka? Having someone like you calling me Master is...weird." Never in Ritsuka's wildest dreams would he expect to become the master of the great french saint Jeanne D'arc. It was one of those things that didnt seem real. "Also, where are we?"

"Some miles away from the city of Lyon." Marie was the one to answer, arriving with the rest of the servants. "We will sleep here tonight."

"That's good to hear." Ritsuka said.

"But that's not all. We've got more info about other areas of France." Kiyohime told him.

"Really?" Ritsuka curiosity increased.

"Well Senpai, while you were unconscious, searched the whole country of France to see if he could find other servants besides the one we know about thanks to Saint Martha." Mash explained.

"And the results were intresting to say the least. Your doctor found another servant not too far away from here." Mozart revealed. "It's probably a rogue one like us, and that could help us against the Dragon Witch."

"Wow! Not bad! The more the merrier!" Ritsuka exclaimed happily.

"There's a bit of a problem however." Elizabeth said, holding down Ritsuka's happiness.

"What is it?" The master of humanity asked.

"We discussed who should we be picking up first. The dragon slayer or this new one." Peko said. "Of course our priority now is the dragon slayer but we fear that this new potientially ally may not be in the same location once we go there to pick him up."

"Or that they encounter the Dragon Witch first." Jeanne finsihed the rest of the explanation.

"Hmm. I see." Ritsuka said. "So what's the plan?"

"Sorry fo having made this without waiting for you to wake up first master, but we decided to split into two groups." Mash shared the plan. "One goes to Lyon to find the Dragon Slayer and the other group will go to the location of the other servant."

"Understood. I presume that you've already made the groups too." Ritsuka got up from the ground, cleaning the bit of dust in his pants.

"Actually no. We waited for you to wake up so that we could decide with everyone here." Peko told him.

"I'll go to wherever Jeanne goes!" Marie hugged Jeanne's left arm, surprising the saint.

"W-wha-Marie?!" She blushed a bit at the french queen sudden action.

"It's that you fought so well back there lady Jeanne. And between us dear, while I think your evil version to be cute you are way cuter!" She pressed her cheek on Jeanne's shoulder getting a nervous smile reaction out of everyone in the group.

"That ,I guess, is already decided then." Mash laughed a bit.

A sudden noise came from Ritsuka 's stomach.

"Looks like someone's hungry." Marie said, teasing the master of humanity.

"That had to be expected." Mozart said. "You must have been exhausted to the extreme after that fight, so you better eat something first."

"Really? Oh man, can we just do the groups already?" Ritsuka said a bit displeased.

"No! My Anchin-sama has to eat first!" Kiyohime demanded in a authoritary tone.

"I too think it's better this way Ritsuka." Peko told him. "We can make the groups afterwards.

Ritsuka sighed. "Fine then." And walked torwards the fireplace were the food was being cooked.

In the middle of the night, the groups have been decided. Shortly afterwards, the fireplace had been exhtinguished and the servants including Mash, went to watch over the area surrounding them, as Ritsuka and Peko went to sleep.

Mash was now sitting at the top of a hill, gazing at the vast green lands of the european country ahead of her, the sky even at night, remained cleaned. She felt a soft breeze passing through her hair. If it wasnt for the humanity's survival being at stake, Mash wouldn't mind to take some time such as a week to relax in this area of 15th century France.

"Hey Mash." To the shielder's surprise, Ritsuka appeard behind her, seeminlgy getting out of the tent.

One Piece OST- A Human's Heart

"Senpai! You should be asleep." Mash told him, a bit bothered for seeing her master still awake.

"Heh. Sorry Mash, but I just wanted to see how were you doing out here." Ritsuka sit next to her and spended some seconds looking at the view in front of them. "It's quite beautiful."

"True." Mash said.

"I would say this has been quite the beggining to our journey." Ritsuka looked at the sky. "It could be a fun adventure. But I know it isnt." He stared at Mash. "I wont feel alright and rested until we rescue Nala from the Dragon Witch."

"Me too. It has been touching my mind every night. I just hope she's ok." Mash shared her mutual opinion with Ritsuka.

The two stayed silent for some time.

"Hey Mash." Ritsuka speaked.

"What is it Senpai?"

"I'm just a normal human. One in a mission to save the world while in a journey that envolves going to historical eras. Oh, and that the allies on my journey are historical figures." Ritsuka laughed a bit. "It feels so unreal and fictional. I may just be in a long dream or something."

Mash smiled at her master. "I've already heard and read about them in history books." Mash talked about the servants that were with them for quite a while now. "Reading about them is one thing, but seeing them alive and in front of my eyes is something else. Even though some act a bit more different than I expected."

"Yeah. It's still quite the experience." Ritsuka replied.

"But it's good to have them around. I can't imagine how we would make this far without them." Mash said. "Even meeting the historical figures from the Dragon Witch's side is a unique experience."

"Sure! An unique and fatal experience." Ritsuka joked.

"And I tought going out in the middle of the night was only my thing." A voice sounded behind the duo, who looked behind to see Peko approaching them with Fou on his shoulder.

"Well, it's because kids have to sleep earlier of course." Ritsuka taunted the boy who had just sit next to them.

"Hey!" Peko punched lightly Ritsuka in hmthe shoulder. Mash giggled at the sight of it. "You two also were looking pretty chatty with one another." The boy smirked smugly.

Ritsuka and Mash both blushed a bit. "A-anyway!" Ritsuka exclaimed. "How did you managed to do that Peko?"

"Hm?" The boy didn't understand the question.

"That little light you made to distract the soldiers." Ritsuka specified. "How did you do that?"

"Oh! That!" Peko now understood the question. "I'd say, in that moment, I felt I needed to do more than just watch." The boy explained. "If I just stood there doing nothing, the situation would've goten worse. So even if I knew it was minimal, I had to try and do something with the magic that I had."

"And we thank you for that Peko. You did good." Mash thanked her companion.

"Yeah. Things would get more complicated if those soldiers interfered." Ritsuka said.

"O-oh, it was nothing that amazing really." Peko's face turned a bit red. "It was just a small ball of light, that's all."

"And yet you directed all your mana into it. Of course it's nothing compared to Noble Phantasms, but it's a start." Mash tried to give the credit that Peko was refusing.

But hearing Mash's words, that this may be the first step for possible progress, made Peko feel happier. "I hope I can help you more in the future then.

"Of course you will! You already did your best today." Ritsuka patted Peko's hair faster.

"C'mon now! You are ruffling me!" Peko protested altough laughing.

"Fou! Fo!" The little animal runned around them, seeming to be happy.

Ritsuka stopped what he was doing right after. "Oh right! What happened to those soldiers?" He asked, not knowing what happened to them after the fight.

"They all survived." Mash responded. "A bit after you got unconscious, their general went to talk with Jeanne. It looks like they were great friends before Jeanne's death."

"Wait. Ain't that general and friend of Jeanne also a known historic figure?" Ritsuka asked, trying to remember where he heard about Jeanne's friend before.

"I think the name is Gilles de Rais." Mash said. "He looked like to have been overwhelmed by both joy and confusion when meeting her." Mash frowned a bit sadly. "I've heard about him before. Jeanne's death took a very bad tool on him.

Jeanne, who was wandering across a zone not too far from the acampment, was thinking about her brief conversation with the friend she never tought seeing again.

She knew for him it has only passed a gew days and all this situation was difficult to understand for him. Jeanne still felt he was the same man when they fought togehter, however she could also feel Gilles de Rais mind had been through rough times since her death. Only God knows how twisted and evil his alter counterpart who was with her own alter counterpart, could be.

"I'm sorry Gilles." Jeanne tought to herself.

"Hey Jeanne! Please wait!" The general approached his friend, shorlty after the battle was over. "It's you. It's really you!"

"Gilles." Jeanne sorrowly said, feeling that she shouldn't be talking with him near his men. She decided to walk away from him.

"Wait! Don't go!" Gilles grabbed Jeanne's pulse, making the saint look at him. "I need to know Jeanne. I need to know if what I saw of the Dragon Witch is nothing but an illusion."

Jeanne evaded his stare, deeply knowing that the Dragon Witch was indeed, a part pf hers. But she feared on how Gilles would react if she told her friend that. "I can't answer that now Gilles. My mind...just doesnt know how to." She took her hand away from him.

"Jeanne...I won't-"

"Sorry friend. But having me around with you will only cause trouble." Jeanne said, aware that Gilles men were looking at her with eyes of distrust and hostility. "So for the sake of both of us, I' have to go now."

Gilles was completely against it and wanted to complain about her choice, but being friends for such a long time, he ended up understanding Jeanne. "Sure then...you may go now. Next time I'm not sure if my men will resist not to kill you."

"Thank you, Gilles."

"Gilles, how could a man like you, do all those attrocities?" As a servant, Jeanne knew well what happened to her friend shortly after her death. It made her soul crack with pity and shock. She was still to see the future and horrific version of the man she had as a friend in this Singularity still.

A bit ahead of her, she saw Marie and Mozart talking to each other. "All clear." She informed them. "How about you?"

"No sign of danger here too." Mozart replied. "We can rest tonight peacefully."

"Good to hear." Jeanne approached the duo.

"Do you think it was a good idea letting Elizabeth and Kiyohime to guard the accampment?"

"Those two get along just fine." Marie answered totally relaxed. "They're always beefing with each other but it's all talk."

"That's kinda of a weird friendship if I ever saw one." Jeanne said.

"Are you ready for tomorrow Jeanne?" Marie asked.

"Yes. This time my mind is clear from doubts. I won't vacillate anymore." Jeanne said with confidence. "Even my Ruler skills are back now."

"That's a big plus. I feel calmer knowing Marie is going with you." Mozart said. "Still, Marie..." He looked at the french queen quite sadly. "Are you sure you want to go without me? And in the short group as well?"

"Amadeus you silly! I can take care of myself pretty well." Marie smirked. "If I couldn't then I wouldnt be here,right?" Marie brought up the previous fight.

"You arent wrong Marie. But is that...you know..." Mozart was having a hard time to explain.

"A queen like me isn't suited for fighting. I know that already Amadeus." Marie took the words out of the musician's mouth. "But I'm a servant now, wich means I'm stronger than your average human."

"The enemy is also stronger than the average human." Mozart replied.

Marie was still in high spirits. "But I won't be fighting alone." She looked at Jeanne. "Jeanne alone is already strong."

The saint blushed a bit. "P-please Marie, don't need to praise me that much."

"Can't help. In childhood I was very found of you so it's like meeting your idol." Marie laughed.

"Now it makes sense why would you want to go with her." Mozart rolled his eyes. "Will you also be the founder of her fan club?" He joked.

"If there's the chance, yes!" Marie responded immediatly, making Jeanne blush even more.

"Guess it can't be helped then." Mozart giggled. "As long as you're happy."

"You also still have a place in my heart Amadeus." Marie tried to make Mozart happier. "Remember when you promised to marry me when we were kids?"

"Oh, please! I don't need to hear that story again. We where just like you said, kids." Mozart tried to ignore the topic.

"Do you wanna know how it went Jeanne?" Marie asked to her friend.

"Why do you need to share it with everybody?!" Mozart screamed comically.

"Well, I don't mind that much." Jeanne wasn't all that curious but felt that Marie would be happier if she said 'yes'.

"Well so I was seven and he was six." Marie started to tell the story.

"Here we go again." Mozart sighed.

"And so there was this little boy who at the time was said to be this little genius of music."

"Please don't tell that part..."

"And he was invited to perform at the palace of Vienna. The boy was so excited with the interiors of the palace that flounded over his own feet." Marie laughed sweetly.

Mozart tried to hide it's embarassment normally. "The floor was wet and slippery that day to tell the truth. I don't slip."

"Sure sure." Marie taunted him. "And then a little girl, a year older than him, reached out her hand to help the boy get up." Marie continued. "And the boy's eyes was of someone who looked immediatly hipnotized by the sight of the girl." She looked at Mozart. "And do you remember what the boy said Amadeus?"

Initialy, Mozart didn't want to respond, but the memory of that time brought a smile to his face. "I, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, promise to marry such beauty as you, Maria Antonia Josepha, in the future." He speaked the line that his six year old said at the time.

"Hehehe. It looks straight out of a tale." Jeanne commented.

"Well we are in a world with magic, so many tales can end up being real." Marie said.

"And do you remember what the girl said in response, Marie?" Mozart asked.

"Of course. It was the first time I felt that specific kind of 'love'. I remember saying that I would tell you when the time comes where both of us were older." Marie told him.

"So? What's your answer, Frau Marie?" Mozart tought the time had passed and so, it was time for the answer.

"Hmmmm well..." Marie put her fingers together, thinking for some seconds. Mozart stood there, waiting for the words to come out. Even Jeanne was now intrested in hearing what Marie had to say.

"...I'll still think about it." She closed her eyes and smiled simply.

Mozart almost fell to the ground. So many years of waiting, is entire life waiting, and after both gaining a second live as servants, it seemed Marie still couldn't decide. But the famous musician, instead of being angry or frustrated, just shrugged it off. "No problem. I'd say my musical pieces take more time to make, since they need to be the best of what I produce."

"Awww, you can say that you're dissapointed Amadeus." Marie teased him.

"And let that put my whole mood down? Hahaha, I don't mind waiting another century for your answer as long as my music is still acclaimed by everyone out there." Mozart smiled. "It was my first love after all."

"Ah Amadeus. You and your music are really the ultimate couple, aint thag right?" Marie touched Mozart's violin.

"Perhaps you're right Marie." Mozart laughed.

"So this is what that kind of love feels like." Jeanne said. "Never in my life had that emotion for someone else. But it seems cute." She noted.

"Perhaps you should try one day Jeanne." Marie put her arm over Jeanne's shoulder. "Now girl talk here. Have you ever had interest in a boy before in your past life?"

"Hum, no. I can be sure of that." Jeanne answered, a bit confused by Marie's question.

"And what about...for a girl?" Marie smugged.

Jeanne face turned red. "Wha-what are you trying to mean here Marie?! O-of course I was not intrested in girls too!"

"Now please Marie, those were enough questions for tonight." Mozart went torwards them. "We should go back to the accampment." Mozart separated Marie from Jeanne.

"Well, guess you are right. Tomorrow will be another day with difficulties ahead after all." Marie said.

"Yeah, Mash, Elizabeth and Kiyohime must be waiting for us now. Let's go." Jeanne went at the front, still blushing a bit at what Marie asked her. Marie on the other hand tought it was funny to see Jeanne's reaction.

And to be real, Jeanne also liked this conversation with Marie and Mozart. It made her feel relaxed and peaceful with time to recover from the frenetic battles she has during the day.

In the early morning, has the sun begun to appear, the group was about to separate, going to their two objectives.

Ritsuka, Mash,Peko,Mozart and Kiyohime would go to Lyon to meet the dragon slayer servant, while Jeanne,Marie and Elizabeth were heading in the opposite direction, to find the new servant before the Dragon Witch.

"Well guys, take care." Ritsuka told the other group. "We'll see each other by the end of the day, alright?"

"Understood Ritsuka." Jeanne said. "You too be safe."

"Remember to contact us through Dr. Romani when you encounter the servant." Mash instructed them.

"We'll do it." Marie reassured Mash.

"Then good luck to you." Ritsuka extended his arm to wich Jeanne shaked with her hand.

"Good luck to you too." She said.

"Marie..." Mozart approached the french queen.

"What is it Mozart?"

Mozart took some seconds to say something but he finally speaked. "If you find an enemy, be sure to kick them hard so they learn to not mess with you."

"That's...a weird thing to say." Peko commented.

"Yeah, you sure have some weird sense of humour Amadeus." Marie scratched her head a bit. "However, I'll be sure to do that!"

"Now that's the queen loved by her country." Mozart laughed. "But to be more honest...be careful on your journey."

Marie got surprised by Mozart's words, but smiled shortly after. "Of course I will. See you later Amadeus. Oh! And also, when we come back, can you please play your piano again? It's already been sometime, so I'd like to hear it once again."

"Heh. Sure, Maria." Mozart said, showing a little smile.

"Why are you telling us to be all careful eh?!" Elizabeth didn't looked satisfied to be reminded about being careful many times.

"Well you see Liz, it's not because you're the shorter group, but because it has you, so it becomes even smaller." Kiyohime smirked as she mocked Elizabeth.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY-"

"Alright we're going now! Bye!" Ritsuka grabbed Kiyohime as Jeanne grabbed Elizabeth and went away to avoid another squabble between the two.

And as their distance got bigger, the two groups waved at each other, wishing for their success on finding the respective servants that they were seeking for.

"Urgh...pain...my song...how did he..?" Walking all wounded in the castle abandoned halls, a masked man was returning from his failed mission. His whole body bleeding from the injuries he sustained, leaving a trail of blood behind.

"Please stop your lament now." A male voice came in front of the wounded man. "It's clear that you were no match to the Dragon Slayer." The figure stepped out of the shadows, revealing a young man with white hair and brown trenchcoat.

"It's a shame to tell you this, but you service of no good to our master now." The man approached and touched the masked man face gently. "Your song has even become sadder than usual. So don't worry, I'll make those painful sorrows dissapear,Phantom of the Opera."

In a flash, the masked man's head had completely separated from his entire body, that felled the ground, lifeless. The head, being held by the young man's hands, slowly vanished alongside the body.

"Great skill, Assassin Berserker. Out of all three of you assassin I've summoned, you are clearly the most proficient." From behind, Jeanne Alter appeard, pleased at the way the young man killed the other servant.

"Thank you master." The young man smiled. "After all, my whole life was dedicated in doing this."

"You know the orders. Kill the dragon slayer, and if you see any of those rats, be sure to kill them too." Jeanne Alter said. "Can't believe the first Assassin Berserker and first Berserker didn't check if he was truly death! And second Assassin Berserker failed me clearly. However..."

"I'll do as I'm told, Master. I also have to thank you for giving me a second encounter with her." The young man started to walk to the castle's exit. A grin of murderous intent on his face.

"...he was born to kill and execute." Jeanne Alter closed her eyes and smiled evily. "Of course. And I will be waiting for the results, 4th monsieur de Paris, famous executioner during the revolution and responsible for the queen Marie Antoinettb's beheadment: Charles Henri Sanson."

To be continued...

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author.

The group in charge of meeting with the Dragon Slayer in Lyon walked in the middle of the big open fields as it has already been some hours since they had separated from the other group. The walk has been peaceful and without much trouble, with no danger in sight to get in their way.

Altough it was a bit silent and borderline tideous, with the group chatting here and there but never for more than a minute. They just couldn't find an intresting topic to talk about. Until Mash found one.

"You and Marie seem always close, isn't that right Mozart?" She asked to the musician.

"Yes. We are a bit close indeed." Mozart told the shielder. "Marie is a sweet woman. She's a queen that loved her people."

"Her personality is a clear proof of that." Peko said, entering the conversation.

"She's always cheerful and joyful. Almost like nothing can bring her mood down. She's a good girl at heart." Mozart explained with a smile. "However, she's as naïve as she's happy." Mozart smilled dissapeard.

"What do you mean by that?" Peko asked, not understanding the change on Mozart's thinking about Marie.

"I think I get it." Ritsuka knew a bit about Marie's story as the queen of France. A bit enough to know what Mozart was talking about. "She ended up being executed by the very own people she loved, right?"

Mozart closed it's eyes and nodded. "She at the time just couldn't get it why. The fact that she was the queen of this nation at that specific time was simply bad luck to her."

"The people hated her?" Peko asked, thinking on how could be possible someone hate a person like Marie.

"It was more of a 'general hate' so to speak. The french common folk were just fed up with their monarchy as a whole." Mozart continued. "So Marie had the tragic end of dying beheaded, with her king and husband, her children and almost all of the royal court meeting the same fate."

"God! Does this country know how to treat their historic characters properly?" Kiyohime , who has been hearing until now, felt a bit angry at the way Marie was treated by her people at the end.

"That's right." Ritsuka said. "I at the time tought Marie Antoinette was kinda of a spoiled queen just like everyone else tought. But seeing her for real now...I can't understand how the people can do that to a queen like her."

"I never became a figure of nobility or royalty, but if I had to guess, I'd say sometimes being a good ruler doesn't mean that you are safe from the wrath of a whole nation. No matter how good your intentions and actions are." Mozart told Ritsuka.

"So she and Jeanne have a thing in common eh?" Mash said, seeing now how the situations of Marie and Jeanne seemed a bit simillar.

"Yes, you could say that so." Mozart watched two birds land in a nearby tree. "Perhaps that's another reason for why Marie is so found of Jeanne."

"But why would people hate her just like that? It doesn't make sense!" Peko still couldn't see how someone would kill such cheerful queen as Marie.

"From what I've heard at time I was alive as a musician across Europe, France's common people were suffering from extreme poverty and famine at the time while the royals and nobles lived in huge wealth. So as the years would pass and the situation would only get worse, 'some individuals' took chance to bring fort their ideologies to the nation's collective mind." Mozart frowned. "Marie tried her best, but was too foolish to understand that an angry mob's mind can't be easily changed."

"Or..." Mash tried to come up with something. "She knew that her people would be happier with her death."

Mozart looked at Mash, not saying a thing to her, and then looking back at the road up ahead. "That's what I'd like to assume."

"I have to give her credit for staying with her mood up after such ending like that." Kiyohime said.

"True." Peko replied to Kiyohime. "However, why would someone take chance of the folk's hard times to gain more power?"

"That is a whole other topic by itself, Peko." Mash told him. "I'll explain better to you later."

"And you might explain to me aswell." Ritsuka requested to her servant. "I never was very into the french revolution thing to know all the things about it." He scratched his head.

Mash smiled. "Of course,Senpai."

Romani's hologram appeard. "Well, looks like someone was also sleeping in history classes." The doctor smirked wt Ritsuka.

"I-It isn't like that!" The master of humanity protested. "It's just my school never gave much subject about the political things from another period."

"Hmm. Sure." Romani maintained his smirk.

"Sorry to interrupt the chat between you two but..." Mozart called the group's attention, pointing at the ruins of a big village up ahead of them." ...looks like we've reached to our destination."

"Uff! Walking so much is already hurting my legs." Elizabeth protested as she alongside Jeanne and Marie have been walking for quite some time now. "Are we at least getting closer?"

"One of my Ruler abilities allows me to sense a servant's mana and aura." Jeanne who was at the front told to Elizabeth who was at the back of the trio. "It keeps growing, meaning we must be getting closer."

"My! That must be very helpful." Marie said.

"Yes it is an ability that all the ruler class servants have that can help us a lot in keeping Holy Grail wars in check." Jeanne explained to Marie.

"Does the Ruler class also have other abilities?" Marie asked, wanting to hear more of Jeanne's voice.

"I can also see the servants True Names now. So I should be able to quickly figure out who our enemies are next time we meet." Jeanne said.

"We know some already right?" Elizabeth went to think onhow many servants of the enemy side they knew about their true identity now. "There's the older me, D'eon, the Dragon Witch who we mostly guarantee to be you and...I guess it's all, not counting with the already defeated Saint Martha of course."

"Yes that's right Elizabeth." Jeanne confirmed Elizabeth's thinking. "However I also suspect of knowing the identity of another servant of the Dragon Witch." Jeanne put a finger under her chin. "But I still haven't seen him yet. His alter part at least."

"Who are you talking about Jeanne?" Marie didn't know who Jeanne was refering to.

"Gilles de Rais, a old friend of mine." Jeanne responded.

"Wait! Didn't we saw him back there during the fight against Saint Martha? How can he be working for the Dragon Witch?" Elizabeth asked confused.

"Moments before you came to our rescue back at my destroyed hometown..." Jeanne's mind went back to the moment were all her village and people were erased by the Dragon Witch's huge dragon. It still hurted a bit in her chest.

"You okay Jeanne?" Marie noticed the slight sadness on the saint's face.

"It's just at that moment, I felt powerless. With nothing I could do to save them." Jeanne then brushed her sorrow aside. "But anyway, I shouldn't let those recent memories haunt me. As I was saying, at that moment shortly before you came to rescue us, the evil me said Gilles name who at that time according with her words, was left back at the castle."

"So, that means he's one of them too." Elizabeth concluded.

"It's dark part it seems. I've heard...the things he has done after my death." Jeanne put a hand on her chest. "So when I saw Gilles as a normal and good moral man back there, I felt relief, knowing that at least his evil version is not the only one here in this Singularity."

"He means a lot to you doesn't he?" Marie smiled.

"Yes. He was and still is a very good friend of mine. And I hope it may continue this way even in the afterlife." Jeanne smiled back at Marie.

"Hey girls! Look!" Elizabeth called the two women who then told them to look what appeard to be a village just a killometer away from them. It was all intact and some noise could be heard, meaning that it was also populated. "Our servant is probably there! Let's go!" Elizabeth was about to run torwards the village gates.

"I never expected the young Elizabeth Báthory to be this energetic and alive but I'd say it's pleasent." Marie giggled a bit at Elizabeth energy.

"Yeah. Kinda difficult to imagine she ended up doing all those things afterwards." Jeanne added, being well aware of Elizabeth 's life when she was a life as a countess.

"I guess it shows how no one is safe from doing bad and sinful acts." Marie responded, thinking then about something. "Say Jeanne, you really do forgive the people who burned you at the stake, isn't that true?"

Jeanne didn't expected that question all of a sudden but still decided to answer. "I swore to myself to never let hate consume me, that it only drives me to terrible places in the mind. So I do forgive those men who burned me. I won't let those feelings control me. Or else, I may lose my way." Jeanne stared at her hand. "I can't let the hate I felt days ago come back. I need to resist it no matter what!"

The saint then looked at Marie. "And what about you Marie? I know about your death too. Sentenced to guillotine and beheaded while the nation smiled with your death. It must have been harsh."

Marie made a 'no' with her index finger. "Not really. I was someone who loved it's people. I'd docmany things to see the whole nation happy. So, when I realized my death would make them cheer, then I didn't mind dying, knowing my death would make a lot of people happier." Marie gazed at the sky. "So, I'd never hold any type of grudge or hate against the people who watched me die and contributed to my death. I'm 90% sure I'd forgive them."

"Why only 90%?" Jeannd asked curious.

"Because while I can forgive those who killed me and cheered on my grusome death, I'll probably never forgive those who killed my son." Marie's voice went the most deadly and cold it has ever been since Jeandn met her. The queen's face was also with no happy expression anymore. "I can forgive and give my empathy to the 90% of the persons who only wanted me gone with the rest of the royalty. However, hurting my son, will hardly have forgivness."

"I see. So even Marie can have these emotions within her." Jeanne tought, this being the most serious and cold she has ever seen Marie. Jeanne couldn't blame her, hurting and killing someone you like, specially family, was something quite infuriating. "Her son was prince Louis XVII if I recall. Poor kid suffering lasted longer than of his parents. Can't imagine Marie's reaction when she discovered it."

"So yeah...I can understand why some people like your friend Gilles would end up going mad." Marie lamented. "Sorry to not be always the optimistic and happy queen who cannot hold bad feelings like you've seen me until now."

Jeanne put a hand on Marie's shoulder, smilling to her friend. "No. It's alright Marie. I won't judge someone who's anger is justified. Your son never deserved what it happened to him."

"Thank you, Jeanne." Marie grabbed Jeanne's hand, feeling a bit relieved now.

"You are a friend to me. So if you want to vent your frustrations, I'll be here." Jeanne told her.

"Hehe. Having the beautiful Jeanne D'arc as a friend." Marie said. "Now that is a very dream of mine."

"Then shall we proceed, my queen?" Jeanne, in a knight gesture, showed the path ahead that would lead to the village, with Elizabeth halfway there.

Marie's smile grew bigger and her face blushed a bit. "Sure!"

"The village, it's all abandoned." Mash saw all the buildings and while some remained, others were completely ruined. But to wherever she and the rest looked at, they wouldn't find anyone. The village was totally deserted, being more of a ghost village now, with no human in sight. The dead silence only turn it more menacingly.

"Are we sure the dragon slayer we're looking is here?" Seeing the situation, Peko doubted if they would find the servant since no signs of human life appeard on the village.

"Hey doc." As Ritsuka finished those words, Romani's hologram appeard next to him.

"I'm already searching for any signs of an Heroic Spirit. It will take a minute or two, ao please be patient." The doctor told them.

"We better search for the servant too." Mash proposed. "See if it's at least are nearby."

"Agreed." Mozart supported Mash's idea. "Let's split and look across the village."

"That makes the search easier." Ritsuka said. "Mash, Peko, you're with me." The master pointed at the two of them.

Kiyohime looked unhappy. "And what about me?" She protested.

"You can go with Mozart, Kiyohime." Ritsuka told to the japanese servant.

"Hmm,ok. Even if I'm not too much found of it, if Anchin-sama says so then I'll do it." Kiyohime smiled all lovely torwards Ritsuka.

"Thanks Kiyohime." Ritsuka sweated a bit.

"We'll seek the north part of the village while you seek the south one." Mash pointed to the directions.

Both Mozart and Kiyohime nodded and went to one way while Ritsuka, Mash and Peko went to the opposite way.

Walking around, the tought of the servant not being here was becoming more plausible, as minutes would go by and still no sign of the servant or even someone else. Romani also was taking a bit of time with the scanning of the area.

"Do you think it has gone already?" Ritsuka speculated to Mash and Peko, has the three of them had just finished searching another destroyed building that just like every other one they searched till now, was empty and decadent.

"Hmm, hope Mozart and Kiyohime had better luck." Peko said, kicking a random pebble in front of him.

"Or that Jeanne's group was able to foind the other servant." Mash said, wishing for the success of the other group aswell.

"I sure hope too." Ritsuka, knocked on a broken wall near him. "It seems majority of the villages here have been destroyed by te Dragon Witch's army or herself."

"Have we searched for that building yet?" Peko pointed to a house who despite it's cracks and broken windows, seemed the most unharmed of all the buildings around them.

"Guess not." Mash said, thinking at all the buildings they've been in.

"Then I think it's time we look inside of it." Ritsuka walked past Mash and Peko, heading to the house. Mash followed him with Peko close behind.

"A dragon slayer...They must be a very powerful person to deal with that dragon..." Peko imagined the power of someone like that must had, to defeat a dragon as big as the one the Dragon Witch has. The boy dismissed his thinking, only wnating to focus now in finding the Dragon Slayer.

"?!" As a shock who had just went through Peko's entire nervous system, he sensed like something or someone was close to them.

"W-what's this?! Why is my body feeling all heavy all of a sudden?!"

In confusion, Peko tried to understand why he was feeling things that were unknown to him. "Ritsuka! Mash-" By calling his friends names, Peko's guts told him something: that 'something' was about to attack the two, coming from the dark hallway on Ritsuka's and Mash's left. With no second to waste, Peko rushed torwards the two.

"Huh?" Ritsuka turned around after hearing Peko calling his and Mash's names. "What is it Pe-"

The next seconds happened too fast, so fast that neither him or Mash could explain what just happened.

From Ritsuka's left, where a shadowy hallway stood, a skeleton figure appeard, ready to attack him by surprise. Neither he or Mash would have enough time to react, being almost impossible for Ritsuka to dodge the blow of the skeleton's sword.

"NO!" Peko shouted as his body got quickly beetween Ritsuka's body and the skeleton's blade. Peko in a instinct, raised it's right arm whose hand was shinning a bright silver. It only took a few milliseconds for the light on Peko's hand grow larger and brightly as the sword of the skeleton would come closer.

Peko, however, didn't mind to sacrifice he's right arm if it meant seeing a friend safe. "I cannot stand by and watch it anymore!"

*Clink!*

As the skeleton's sword was about to cut Peko's arms, it was instead, met with a cold and white metal that upon contact, effortlessly made the skeleton's sword to bounce back, lefting the skeleton's open for a counter attack.

"Gyah!" Mash bashed her shield against the skeleton enemy whith all her strenght. It was enough to break almost all the bones of the enemy and made it vanish into the air defeated. The scare had just passed.

"Y-you okay, Ritsuka, Mash?" Peko aksed still worried.

"Y-Yeah I am. Thanks for defending me from that surprise attack. I can't imagine how worse the situation would be." Ritsuka was still processing what happened. "But how exaclty did you blocked that attack?" He asked curious.

Peko looked at his hand, no longer shinning the bright white light it was a second before. "I...don't know."

"Perhaps your magic?." Mash told him. "I too dont know. It just happened too fast."

"My magic?" Peko stared for quite some seconds on his hand that had shinned. "All that I did was rise my arm and..." The boy wasn't sure if what his hand just did was magic. "But it felt like...I was holding something with it."

"Whatever it was Peko..." Ritsuka put his hand on Peko's hair. "...thanks for saving me." He smiled.

"S-sure." Peko responded. "Was that feeling on my body the mana flowing through it?"

"Yep. You did a good job Peko." Mash thanked the boy too.

"Fo! Fou!" The little fur creature appeard behind Mash and went to the ground just stand in front of the trio.

"Hm? What was it Fou?" Mash questioned the pet.

"Is it trying to tell us something?" Ritsuka saw Fou's movements, suggesting the animal wanted them to know about something.

Fou proceeded to run ahead for a little, stoping at the building's broken door that would be searched by the trio next. The creature looked more energetic than usual.

"Wait! Don't tell me Fou smelled something!" Peko said what all of them were thinking.

"Probably he did. Fou has a good flair after all." Mash told the boy. "I think we should see for ourselves, don't you think?"

"Absolutely!" Ritsuka exclaimed, walking to the building's entrance. "It can't be any other thing."

Mash and Peko both headed to Ritsuka and the three now at the entrance, took a step in inside the building.

"Remember to stay alert." Mash warned. "It can have more enemies nearby."

As the trio walked more inside the house, they started to hear a noise.

"Fou!" Without warning anyone, Fou sprinted ahead to a semi open door and passed through the gap, surprising the trio.

"Fou wait!" Ritsuka went after the animal.

"Master don't be hasty! It can be a trap!" Mash walked quickly to Ritsuka, knowing he'd still enter the door Fou went in.

Ritsuka however, ignored Mash and gave a shoulder load against the door, opening it by force. Entering careless in the room, Ritsuka looked everywhere to see where Fou was.

"That was reckless Senpai." Mash told him, at least relieved that there seemed to be no enemy inside the room.

Peko also looked around the room and found Fou just two meters to their right. And someone lying next to him. "Guys look!" Peko caught Ritsuka's and Mash's attention, revealing to the two where Fou was. Both of them also caught sight of the person lying next to Fou.

It was a man with long grey hair and a body in good physical shape. He wored a black skintight suit with red patterns alongside pieces of silver armor. The only exposed part of his skin was the man's chest who had what appeard a large tatoo that shinned a bright blue weakly. Next to his right arm, laid the man's long silver sword, drenched in blood. The man was visibly wounded, with a cut across his chest. He clealry was exhausted and seemed to have no energy to try anything. What he needed now, was medical assistance.

"I'll contact Dr. Romani." Mash told Ritsuka and Peko. "Call Mozart and Kiyohime too. We've found him. The Dragon Slayer."

"He's over there. Just turn left and you'll see him." A person from the village gave directions to Marie who had asked the person about the servant they were looking for.

"Thank you for the help." Marie said to person.

"Sorry to ask you this but...what's your name?" The person asked,intrigued by Marie's appearence and clothes.

"Marie Antoinette." The queen responded. "I'll tell you a secret here. Pass that name down to the next generations for about 300 years and you might get a surprise." She chuckled.

"So the servant is protecting this village eh?" Jeanne looked around to see how this one was still intact and with its inhabitants living inside their home. It was rare now seeing villages that weren't empty or outright destroyed.

"Then they must be doing a good job." Elizabeth said as the trio walked in the middle of the population, heading to the servant. Seeing a small crowd in fornt of them, Elizabeth stand on tiptoe to have a better view and ended up caughting glimpses of a man who seemed to be speaking to the crowd. "Oh, looks like we found him."

The man had a very long brown hair and wear a full bronze armor and a large white cape with red lines that covered a half of his body.

"Wait. I think I know him!" Jeanne excused herself to the people she would kindly shove out of the way in order to meet with the supposed servant. Marie and Elizabeth followed her. "Excuse me. Coming through." She was grateful that at least the people here seemed to not recongnize her as the Dragon Witch.

The servant who stood upon a wooden platform, got the sight of Jeanne in the middle of the crowd alongside the other two. The man also recognized they must be servants. "Alright! The reunion is over! You may go now!" The bronze knight dispersed the crowd, facilitating Jeanne's work to meet him.

The saint accompanied with Marie and Elizabeth, were bow standing in front of him. "Thank you for noticing us." Jeanne told him.

"The pleasure is all mine to meet another saint such as yours, Saint Jeanne D'arc." The man slightly bowed out of respect.

"I could say the same thing to you, Saint Georgios." Jeanne speaked out the man's name. "I've always heard alot about you."

"It takes a saint to recognize another I presume." Georgios smirked.

"We came here because we felt your presence. You're a servant too, right?" Marie explained why they had come here to this village.

"Yes I am indeed. As I assume you are aswell." Georgios replied. "I also don't feel the Dragon Witch's influence on any of you, so I'd say you're clearly of my trust."

"Yep! And it's about the Dragon Witch we came here." Elizabeth told him. "We are in need of help. The more servants on our side, the better chances we got to take down the Dragon Witch."

Georgios smile grew a bit. "Then it's good to see we have the same goal in mind. I too was thinking about gathering some servants across this Singularity to go up against the Dragon Witch."

"We have good news for you then. We have other servants in our group too who are at this exact moment looking for another servant on other village." Marie informed the male saint. "And we took out one of the Dragon Witch's servants already!"

That last bit surprised Georgios. "Really? Then, the tides must be changing." He laughed a bit. "A complete and powerful assult on the Dragon's Witch base within a day or two and we might have good chances of winning."

"That's what we're all hoping for." Jeanne said. "I'll inform the others from our group. You don't mind to let us all stay here for the night?" She asked to Georgios.

"Any ally is welcome here." Georgios put an hand on his own chest. "You have my word to help you from here on out."

Jeanne smiled. "Thank you so much!"

"Stay calm. Breath deeply." Mash instructed to the wounded Dragon Slayer has she tried to stagnate his injury.

"This doesn't look good." Romani, in contact with Ritsuka's group, had finished his analysis on the servant's saint graph.

"What's the bad news Doc?" Ritsuka asked him.

"His Saint Graph core has been deeply damaged and cursed. He cannot heal normally." Romani explained.

"S-sorry..." The injured Dragon Slayer reunited a small fraction of his remaining strenght to talk. "...they were too many."

"Please don't talk now Mr. Slayer." Mozart told him. "For now just focus on resting and maintaining your consciousness."

"Is there something we could do?" Peko asked to Romani.

"Hmm. I know how, but unfortunately we don't have one..." Romani muttered.

"What we don't have? Speak it!" Kiyohime demanded to the doctor.

"The curses he has can only be broken with a kind of specific rite. Baptism Rites to be more precise. And it has to be performed by a Saint Servant of higher rank." Romani explained to them.

"So someone like Jeanne should be able to do it!" Peko said. "Do you think you can contact her and the rest now?"

"I'll try. Wai- uh what's this?" Romani saw he was receiving a call from Jeanne. "Heh. Speaking of the devil..." Romani then put a hand pn his mouth, realizing what he just said. "O-Or in this case the saint of course hehe." He laughed nervously, making contact with Jeanne.

"Hello? here. What is it Jeanne?" The doctor questioned.

"Good news . We found out the other servant and he's completely willing to help us." Jeanne informed him.

"Nice! We also have some hum...good news too. And bad in the mix." Romani said.

"What's the bad news?" Marie asked to Romani.

"Well in this context it should've come after the good news but anyway. The good part is, we found the servant Saint Martha told Jeanne about, the Dragon Slayer." The bad news are..."

"He's working for the Dragon Witch?!" Elizabeth jumped hastily to the conclusion.

"No no. Less 'worse' so to speak. He's deeply wounded and with a lot of curses on his body and Saint Graph." Romani said. "The wound we can treat it nicely but the curses will only go away with a Baptism Rite performed by a Saint Servant of high-rank."

"You can do it Jeanne?" Since Jeanne was a saint, Marie suspected that perhaps she would be able to do it."

"Unfortunately no." Jeanne sadly frowned. "My Ruler abilities still don't give me enough power to do so." Jeanne closed her eyes, trying tink on something. She then realized who they had just met. "But I know someone who can!"

Jeanne went next to Georgios. "Excuse me Saint George. But we have a problem."

"What was it Saint Jeanne D'arc?" Georgios was all ears.

"A servant that another part of our group found has been terribly cursed. It will only go away with a Baptism Rite of a high Saint Servant."

Jeanne didn't need to continued that Georgios understood what she was asking for. "Then bring that wounded servant here. My skills are high enough to perform a rite of that kind."

Jeanne smilled in appreciation. "Thank you Saint Georgios. Did you heard that doctor?" Jeanne switched her focus back to Romani.

"Yeah I did. Wow. We where lucky to find someone like him in this Singularity then. Probably Counter Force shenanigans." Romani sighed of relief. "Did you heard that guys? Jeanne and the rest have found the other servant that thankfuly for us, happens to be a High Ranking Saint."

"That's good to know." Ritsuka said. "Where are they?"

"Lemme see..." Romani typed on his keyboard. "Some miles north from where you are. They'll be waiting for you in the village that surprisingly has been standing until now."

"Good. Now we just hope that he can resist the pain the whole trip." Peko looked at the Dragon Slayer who was being helped to get on his feet by Mash and Mozart.

"Servants are resiliant Peko. He will be able to go through the trip." Romani said relaxed.

"Phew! It's all working well so far." Ritsuka said. "Once we reach there we will have quite the group of servants to go toe to toe with the Dragon Witch's ones."

"Yeah! The Dragon Witch hasn't even made her move after she lost Saint Martha." Romani smiled. "It's good when things go well don't you guys think?" He laid back on his chair, enjoying the moment.

Then something appeard on the doctor's monitor. "Eh? What's this?" He got closer to the screen. "Oh crap! This is bad!"

"What is it now doc?" Ritsuka asked.

"Enemy forces are coming in your way! They are literally at the village's doorstep."

"Wha-"

A loud roar emerged from the nowhere, warning the group that the enemy was already here.

"You should stop with those lines doctor." Mash stared at Romani a bit angry. "It kinda gives us bad luck."

"I swear to never celebrate victory before the time ever again!" Romani speaked quickly, making the promise to himself.

"Dr. Romani! Still there?" Jeanne and her group were now trying to speak with him.

"Please don't tell me you're having trouble there too!" Romani said in a way that he wished that wasn't the case. But Jeanne couldn't lie about the situation.

"The village is about to be raided out of nowhere by the wyverns!" Jeanne loudly said as she stood in the middle of a fleeing crowd of people who where trying to exit from the opposite end of the village.

"Becareful everyone! Make sure you don't leave anyone or anything special to you behind! Don't panic!" Georgios tried to maintain the people calm as he guided them to evacuate the place with the help of Marie and Elizabeth.

"Damnit!" Romani cursed loudly. "Now that I see, it's an enemy servant coming to your way Jeanne! The Dragon Witch is also coming with it!"

"The Dragon Witch?!" Jeanne exclaimed. "Ggrrgh!"

Batman Arkham Asylum OST - The Abyss of  Fear

Upon mentioning that name, Jeanne felt her vains hurting throughout her body. Trying to move her arm was difficult, as if something was trying to hold her body still. After making an effort, she looked to her hand and saw what some sort of shadowy black branches spreading through it as if it was a tattoo growing larger.

"W-What's this." Jeanne skin also felt the shadow branches crawl into her neck and reaching up to her left cheek, almost touching the eye. "This feeling...it can't be..!"

"Now O'Saint, let that slumberish vitriol nurture within you."

"This voice!" Jeanne immediatly recognized where she had heard it before. "I...don't want to hear you ever again! What you're trying to do with me...it won't happen!"

"Ah, then why does thou anger rises at the possible sight of that witch?"

Jeanne felt the dark brenches advance more. "N-no! You're wrong! I don't feel hatred for her anymore!" Jeanne tried to make the voice dissapear.

"Hmm, are you really sure, Maiden of Orleans?" The voice echoed stronger and louder. "Is thy mind not trying to deceive thy soul, Jeanne D'arc?"

"Ggh! Stop it! I won't...give in..!" Jeanne was feeling more and more weakened, her mind seeming to be about to give up as the shadow branches were now growing bigger across her whole body.

"Do not deny the hate. Accept it and use it." The voice seemed to be closer to her ear.

"I have...to resist...the temptation!" Jeanne was trying her best to resist, but as she tried more and more images of the Dragon Witch killing hundreds of innocents, including her own mother, would appear in her mind with her soul feeling heavier as it's light was about to be totally eclipsed by the darkness. The saint's hate growing larger alongside the branches against despite Jeanne's resistance. The sensation was suffocating, as if Jeanne was drowning into a deep black ocean without bottom.

"Use it against the evil self. Purge her and her sinful existence. After all..." The voice went closer to the saint's ear. "...the wicked shall not go unpunished."

"!" Jeanne struggles stopped, as if she knew fighting against it was of no use anymore. "I'm..." Weakly, Jeanne stretched her arm up in the air, as if she was trying to reach for something. "...too weak to resist it."

Her eyes, now null of life, started to slowly close. "Forgive me Father, for I...could not be the purer and holiest of the maidens." Her eyes closed, Jeanne letting herself now to be engulfed by the dark pits of her hate.

"It's okay." Another voice echoed through the darkness. A voice to her rescue. Up above, a small light emerged from the dark surroundings.

"This voice..." Jeanne's eyes went to open again. She recongnized it too.

"You don't have to hide it forever." The light grew brighter, tearing down the darkness.

"Marie..." Jeanne called out her name, the eyes slowly coming back to life and the dark shadow branches retreating from Jeanne's skin, most likely afraid of the light.

"Just be yourself. I won't judge you." The light grew bigger, outshinning all the darkness there was in the place before. It became so strong that it ended up reaching out to Jeanne.

"Marie. I..."

Naruto OST - Man of The World

Jeanne realized she was again back to the middle of the village, probably never dissapearing from there in the first place. She felt Marie hugging her from behind. A hug that made Jeanne feel safer.

"It's okay to feel hate. It's a human flaw. And it's okay to be a flawed human." Marie told her, tightning the hug. "So even as a saint, you don't have to be perfect, Jeanne."

"Marie, I..." Jeanne looked at her friend as she undid the hug. "...I'm sorry. My mind was-"

Marie put a finger in front of Jeanne's lips. "Heh. I understand it." Marie smirked. "Hate even if powerful, is also a disgusting weapon. It turns us more into beasts than men. But, negating it completely also makes us less human."

Jeanne didn't know what to say. Georgios and Elizabeth were also next to them.

"The enemy is approaching." The bronze saint said. "I have to stay here and fight them off until everyone evacuates this place and away from it."

"That won't be necessary, Mr Georgios." Marie speaked, caughting the lther three servants attention.

"Why are you saying that Marie?" Elizabeth asked confused.

"Because,I'll hold down the Dragon Witch alone while you help the citizens evacuate."

Everyone's reaction was of shock, hearing that Marie was planning to fight the incoming servant and the Dragon Witch all alone.

"What?! Are you crazy?!" Elizabeth protested fully against Marie's decision.

Jeanne was on the same page. "Marie don't do this! You won't be able to stop someone like her for much time!" Jeanne said nervously. "At least let me stay behind and help!"

"No." Marie answered simply. "You have to help the people escaping Jeanne. With the three of you defending them, it's guaranteed not one innocent life will die today."

"And what about you?!" Jeanne almost shouted at Marie's face.

"Oh me? I'll also be protecting them except it will be on the frontline ,you silly. I'm the queen of the french people after all." Marie smiled, being totally comfortable with her decision.

"Marie..." Jeanne already knew there was no way of changing Marie's mind.

"The time of the last few days were wonderful. Passing them with the great Jeanne D'arc was a wish come true. I'll always be grateful on spending this short second life of mine with you. It was so nice to get to be your friend." Marie brought up the conversations she and Jeanne had in this Singularity ever since they've met."

"E-excuse me sniff Marie...sniff." Elizabeth was trying her best to hold back the tears falling from her eyes. "D-did you sniff also saw me as a friend?" Her voice stammered.

Marie smiled to the pink haired girl. "Of course Liz! It was nice being your friend too. Of Kiyohime , Ritsuka, Peko and Mash too. One day if possible, we'll surely make a musical duo,understood?" She put a hand on Elizabeth's shoulder, whose tears now were falling more and more.

"U-understood!" Elizabeth wipped off the tears from her face.

"Looks like your mind is made up." Georgios commented. "Best of luck to you Queen of France." He bowed and proceeded to go to the other end of the village where the citizens were still evacuating.

"I'll be supporting you even from afar. Good luck Marie!" Elizabeth hugged her one last time before running torwards the crowd to help Georgios.

Now it was only Marie and Jeanne left alone. The two stared at each other for a bit.

"You should go now Jeanne. The people need it's 2nd most heroic figure to save them." Marie said.

"Oh, I wonder who's the 1st then." Jeanne tried to laugh even if she was helding back some tears at the same time.

"Be strong Jeanne. Whatever you feel or what people say to you. What even the Dragon Witch can say to you. Continue to be yourself." Marie hugged the saint again.

Jeanne this time, hugged Marie back. "I will. Thank you Marie. Thank you for everything you've done ever since we've met. I won't forget it."

The two undid the hug and Marie nodded to Jeanne, signaling that she should go now. Jeanne, without saying any other word, just runned out of there, trying to not even look back at Marie.

Some seconds after, Jeanne dissapeard from Marie's vision, lefting the french queen totally alone.

"So you are doing it eh?" Romani, who went unnoticed by all the servants there until now, finally catched Marie's attention.

"Yep. I'll get this under control. You can tell to the others to not worry about me." She tought back at everyone who went to Lyon, specially Mozart. "I've got this."

"Okay then." Romani sighed, probably thinking this would be the last time he would see Marie. "I'll inform them. Good luck." And with that Romani'a hologram dissapeard in front of Marie.

The queen started to walk to the village's gates and stood up just in it's entrance. It didn't took too long for the enemy servant to appear. Marie however, seemed to not be surprised by the servant's identity. "Wow. It really is irony of destiny to meet each toher again."

The servant, wielding a big sword stopped some feet away from her. He smiled, having the same tought as Marie. "It is indeed, my queen."

"How's the blade? Sharp enough to do a second time?" Marie joked.

"It's has sharp has it's ever been." The man smiled. "But for you, I will always make sure to be just a little bit sharper. For I, the executioner, Charles Henri Sanson, will take the opportunity to separate Marie Antoinette head from her body twice!" The servant, now revealed as Sanson, smilled evily at Marie, with his weapon ready in hand.

"I warn you Sanson." Marie took her battle posture. "This time, I'll offer resistence."

To be continued...

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author.

Nala was staring at the wall in front of her again. Been doing the same thing over and over for the last days ever since she has been captured. She couldn't do much thing while in her cell. It was already getting mentally exhausting for her. Seeing the same walls and door over and over again. Having no sound other than the chain every time she moved her body. The girl doubted if she could hold it for much longer. But thankfully, if she could even consider that, she wasn't alone at the cell right now.

"Thinking about them?" The blonde man of the Berserker class had been put in charge of inspecting Nala today by Jeanne Alter's orders. And Nala didn't actually paid no mind. The man was gentle and had his manners, checking if she was at least 'ok'. Nala was being lucky with the Dragon Witch's sevants that were being sent to see her. The man was even well looking and composed.

Nala did what she did with the Dragon Witch and choose to ignore the man as well. At least she knew he was more calm and wouldn't mind of receiving no answers from her.

"Still the same I see." The man took note of her silence. "I have to say that you've been enduring this quite well little lady. Any other kid like you would be crying and begging at this point."

"T-thanks..." Nala felt that this man was way too nice for her to just stay ignoring him, hence why she decided to reply.

The blonde man laid his back against the wall. "I admit that would be more merciful in killing you quickly here and then to slowly torture you into our master's submission."

"So that you can drink my blood?" Nala asked a bit skeptical.

"Well, unfortunately my figure is famously portrayed as a vampire. And I can't do nothing about it. Even less now." The man frowned a bit before looking at Nala. "Ever since this Singularity, I begun to like the taste of blood thanks to the Mad Enhancement. But I guarantee I'd give you a painless and quick death. I'm not one who enjoys that much the suffering of children after all."

"Then are you here to save me or something?" Nala commented sarcastically.

The man's reaction was of a little smirk. "That would be quite the dream for you but no, I'm not here to save you. What I'd even gain from it? I'm already corrupted by the Dragon's Witch little lady."

Nala rolled her eyes. "Well, it was nice trying I guess."

"Then be aware that it would be easier to just give up and accept your new fate as another Dragon Witch's servant." The man advised her. "I can also sense that magic of yours. Having one more to our side would be good." The Berserker remained away from mentioning the fact Rider was defeated.

"That won't be happening." Nala said to him.

"No. It's an advise you should take, really. If you keep resisting, my master won't hesitate in taking extreme measures to make you submit." The man looked sorrowfuly at Nala.

The girl didn't said anything in return, prefering to be silent. What if he was saying was true? That if Nala wouldn't accept becoming Jeanne Alter's servant, then she would had to be more ruthless. Reminding of what she and some of her allies were capable of doing, made the girl a bit scared. Being locked in a room for days would look like heaven with what could come up next.

Seeing that Nala was wandering in her own toughts, the Berserker sighed. "I see you are already questioning it. So be wise and side with us little lady." The blonde man walked to the exit of the cell. "Or bad things will happen to you." The man said menacingly, looking straight into Nala's eyes.

Nala felt a strain of fear upon her body. She realized that altough the man was gentle, he was also dangerous and could kill her at anytime.

"Also..." The vampire speaked with coldness in his voice.

"...do you know my master likes ducks?" The menacing aura of the man stopped as he speaked normally and relaxed to Nala again.

Nala wasn't expecting what exactly was that change of mood. "H-huh..?" "What kind of question is that?"

"Is that I caught her yesterday with that Caster servant admiring a small sculpture of a duck. She likes them." The man explained.

"W-wha..."

"It shows that even she can have a soft side." The blonde man smiled. "Hope she doens't know that I told you this haha. So keep it secret please."

"Hum...okay...I guess." Nala said, tilting her head sideways.

"Thank you. Now rest well little lady." And the man happily closed the door.

Nala was once again alone. And so it would be for the rest of the day and whole night. Meeting that man however made her day feel less worse. She could see that just like Martha, he treated Nala with decency altough not in the same level as the Rider.

"Kinda weird...but a bit nice too..." She tought.

But what he said about the Dragon Witch being more rough with her made Nala a bit unease. The man said right now Jeanne Alter had a soft side but Nala wasn't exactly excited to see that side, deducing that being a homicidal angry and vengeful woman was her usual one.

Being sadistic was something Nala could see on Jeanne Alter, but wasn't sure if the Dragon Witch could be THAT sadistic, when per example, to that Assassin vampire woman.

That actually send shivers down Nala's spine. She knew that the woman had instrest in her, and not the best ones by that. The line of drinking Nala's blood on her torture room flashbacking on her mind. Now that was a full blown out sadistic woman.

If Nala resisted further, would the Dragon Witch send that woman to 'soften her'? Was that what the man was trying to tell her? Thinking about it only made her feel worse. Even that sinister man that spent majority of the time hanging around with Jeanne Alter, wouldn't be any better. The thing he did with that green haired woman still hadn't left Nala's brain. He too was capable of doing bad things.

Beetween him and the Assassin woman, Nala would rather die now. But she also wasn't planning on that. What she needed to do now, was to escape and not let the toughts of the Dragon Witch and her servants torturing her get in the girl's way.

"I need to get out of here now!" Nala said to herself and immediatly struggled against her chain. She has been doing for it for the last few days. Even if it didn't worked, she had to try. But no matter what she did, the chain would always be wrapped around her arms and restraining her from getting too far from the wall.

After some few minutes, Nala was back to the floor, breathing exhaustedly and recovering her energies. "It's no use." She tought. "I can't break from this stupid chain no matter what I do."

While in her breaths, a figure in front of her appeard. It was of .

"Doctor!" Nala almost shouted in happiness in seeing an ally face again.

Romani put a finger in front of his lips, telling Nala to be quiet. "Don't shout like that please. We can't let the enemy discover that I can infiltrate in their base."

"Ups. Sorry." Nala said, before remembering of something. "How is Peko?! And Ritsuka and Mash?! Are they fine?" Nala would be lying if she said she didn't care about her group, even more her brother, current status. It has been some days since she last saw them. Any news that wasn't of their deaths would be good to her ears.

"Thankfully they're alive." Upon hearing Romani's information, Nala sighed of relief.

"That's good to hear."

Romani however, still wasn't done with the news. "And that's not all. They've recently defeated one of the Dragon Witch's servants and have been recruiting more allies in order to go against the Dragon Witch and rescue you."

Nala felt her happiness rising. "Really? No way! Now that's great to hear! Hope they can continue like that!" In the girl's mind, if they already defeated an enemy servant, it meant they've gotten stronger, altough she doubted that Peko did much help in the fight.

The girl proceeded to look to her chain. "Me on the other hand..." She rattled up the chain. "Will be here for a little longer."

"It's been quite bothering, hasn't it?" Romani saw the bits of annoyance on the girls face.

"You bet it doc." Nala replied. "They have been quite the pain. But if Peko and the others arw doing their best, I'll do my best too."

"Good to see your will is still strong Nala." Romani was happy to see that the girl was still resistant and didn't seem to have been phsycologically affected by her imprisonment.

"However..." Nala said a bit reluctantly. "I don't think I can keep going like this for much longer."

"What do you mean?" Romani asked.

"I think the Dragon Witch is already short on her patience with me. One of her servants told me moments before that she might rough up the things if I don't become her mini soldier now." Nala explained.

"Ok. That's pretty bad. But we'll be on our way to get you Nala!" Romani didn't mention that the rest of them were now fighting against more enemy servants, not wanting to panic Nala.

"I know..." Nala said a bit down. "It's just...I think I don't have much time left." Nala looked at the chain behind her. That damn thing already got on the girl's nerves. Not only that but also started to hurt her arms because of their forced positioning. She couldn't even summon her sword with her arms like that. She couldn't do nothing but struggle.

Romani gazed at Nala's unmotivated figure, feeling sad for not being of much help right now. Still, he wouldn't just stay there consoling the girl. Something else needed to be done.

"Break the chain." Romani said.

"What?" Nala tought she didn't heard it well.

"But doc I-"

"It's an order Nala. You need to break the chain." Romani demanded somewhat with a determined tone.

"Romani didn't you heard her?" Da Vinci, who was at the time next to Romani, was against the doctor's order. "She tried and was unable to break it!"

"So what Leonardo?!" Romani shouted almost at Da Vinci. "Who's to say it won't break eventually?"

"D-doctor..." Nala was preplexed at Romani's behaviour. What made him think she could break the chain that has been binding her?

"Look, Nala." Romani looked at her in the eyes. "This time, try way harder and stronger. With all the power you can muster." He said.

Nala was shocked by what he was saying. "B-But Doctor, I tried it already!"

"Try again then Nala! Believe in yourself girl!" Romani was obsessed in making Nala try again, and he wouldn't let the idea go away. "It's a simple chain Nala! No spells, curses or anything of that kind! It isn't a problem for someone like you!"

Nala saw that at this point it was better trying, seeing that Romani was insisting hard on it. "O-ok! Understood Doctor!"

Like a new flame had spawned in her soul, Nala started to struggle again, but this time with more ferocity and will power as Romani cheered her on and on.

"C'mon Nala! Keep on doing it!" He shouted at the other side of the monitor.

"I'm tryiiiiing!" Nala said in pain as she pushed her arms against the chain the best she could. Her strenght in them fighting against the chain restriction that was now fully extended.

"Graaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Nala's arms were starting to hurt, the skin feeling like it could tear apart at any moment if she continued.

"Romani stop this now!" Da Vinci shouted at the doctor. "Or else she'll start bleeding from her arms!"

"Shut up!" Romani replied agressively to the italian. "You can't stop now Nala! Do you hear me?! Don't stop now!"

"NO I WONT!" Nala shouted back at the doctor as she tried ignoring the burning pain in her arms the best she could.

"Then keep going! You're doing great!" Romani motivated Nala more and more.

Nala inclined her whole body, putting her right foot well pressed against the floor on the front while the left foot stayed behind supporting it. Nala's strenght passing through her shoulders, elbows and hands, making her best to keep the sturggle.

The girl's face was of a wild animal who had been caged and was now using brute force to try and escape from it. Her teeth clenched tightly to each other and veins starting to appear on her forhead. "For Peko! For Ritsuka and Mash! I will brake this chain for them!" Nala showed no intent in stopping it, even if her arms got ripped from her body.

"C'mon Nala! One final push! With everything!" Romani was confident that Nala could made it. That she would make it!

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Nala screamed as loud as she could, a scream so loud that it could probabbly be heard through the entire castle. Nala made one last effort. Even when she felt the skin from her arms starting to tear, she didn't stop. It was all or nothing.

CRACK!

Nala instantly fell face flat into the ground, slamming on it.

"I-I can't believe it..." Da Vinci couldn't described what she jad just saw.

"Nala...you..." Romani was trying to find words from what just happened.

On the other side of the screen, was on the ground, sweating and breathing for air, as she had used all her strenght in those pushes.

"Wha...what is it...Doctor?" Nala was too tired to eveb takk without taking a proper breath.

"You did it Nala." Romani told her. "You broke the chain!" He exclaimed overwhelmed by happiness.

"What?!" Nala couldn't believe on what the doctor had just said. It was too good to be true. She started to move her arms and that's when she noticed, it was true.

Nala slowly rised her arms in front of her, showing the marked red skin that the chain had covered. And lowering them down, Nala caught sight of the chain in front of her, broken and shattered to pieces. It was now with the other end hanging on the wall, no more detaining Nala.

"I...I'm free. I did it! I did it Doc!" Nala exclaimed with emotion almost forgetting how it was like to have her arms back to a normal position again.

"Hahaha. What did I told you Nala? You could do it easily." Romani laughed, seeing that Nala freed herself successfully.

Da Vinci clapped. "Buon lavoro Nala! You did well." She then looked at Romani. "You too Romani."

"Aw thanks Da Vin-"

The man's head was grabbed by Da Vinci's hand and the woman violently smashed it against the table of his keyboard. "But next time,try to speak more calmly with the people around you, ok?"

Romani rubbed his head in pain. "S-s-sure." The doctor admitted he had let himself go trying to motivate Nala.

"Anyway..." He coughed. "Nala, you still there?"

The white haired girl was up on her feet, stretching and exercising her arms. "Yep. Still here."

"Good. Do you know what will be the next step?" Romani told her.

"Let me guess. Escaping?" Nala tried to see if she was correct.

"Exactly. But let's try to keep a low profile." Romani advised Nala, analyzing the area of the Dragon's Witch castle.

"If you find any enemy servant don't try to engage in a fight Nala. Just focus on getting out of there." Da Vinci added.

"Understood." Nala said, stretching her left arm to the front, seeing if she was able to do a thing.

"We will try to guide you out of the castle the best way we can." Romani said.

Nala heard it loud and clear. "Ok."

A silver light glowed on her hand until it grew bigger and brighter. In seconds, Nala's sword was back on her hand, the girl visibly happy for having her weapon back. Now she wasn't defenseless anymore. She looked at the door of her cell and knew exaclty what to do. She couldn't wait to leave this small room forever.

"Ok doctor. You tell me the way."

"It's been quite some time, ma reine." Sanson said calmly relaxed and a small smile showing on his face. A smile of someone who had the intent to kill.

Marie Antoinette was Charles Henri Sanson's biggest and most notorious execution way back to the French Revolution. For him, it all felt like it was just some couple of weeks ago. Now he had the chance to do a second time. The country was the same altough not exactly one hundred percent on space terms and definetly not in time terms when comparing to the age and place of the first beheadment. Still, it was the same country where it happened. Or where it was still to happen.

"Monsieur Charles, it's funny to see you again here too." Marie commented while bowing, being educated in her manners of introduction. "But I can say the reason for you being here is not a pleasent one I assume."

Sanson smirked. "Correct. I came here to do my job as a loyal executioner and end your life once again, Queen Marie." The young man showed his large execution blade. "But now it will be under the Dragon Witch's orders. So why doesn't the queen spare both of us of difficulties and accept a quick death?"

"That is still very noble of a man like you Sanson. Looks like you still retain your education." Marie giggled. "Unfortunately, I'm not planning to die to you again." Marie tought about Jeanne, Mozart and all the friends she made here. "I have to protect my people as their queen. So sorry but you'll actually have to make an effort to behead me if that's what you want."

"Heh." Sanson closed his eyes and slowly shaked his own head. "Admirable of you, my queen. But still naïve as always." Sanson put himself in combat mode. "So a painful death for you it is!"

Sanson quickly launched at Marie who was fast enough to react and jump out of the way just in time before Sanson could hit her with his blade.

"I see you're quite the dodger, my queen." Sanson praised Marie's evading skills before going after her again.

"Let's see if you are good at it as well!" Marie exclaimed before summoning a giant red ball of rose petals with her singing voice, launching it torwards Sanson.

The executioner instead of dodging the attack decided to cut it with his blade. It required a bit of strenght but after a few seconds, the clash was over as Sanson was able to cut Marie's attack.

"Not bad if I say so Sanson!" Marie was impressed by the executioner strenght.

Sanson responded to Marie. "Thank you. I've been perfecting this blade to kill you after all. Couldn't dissapoint on it's performance against you."

"Aww, I didn't think I was worth all that effort but I think it's nice seeing you still being professional about your job." Marie tried to chat a bit with him.

But Sanson was giving no rest to the queen, charging at her with another attack. This time he caught Marie a bit by surprise and the big blade was close enough to cut Marie's right cheek and tear her big red hat in half.

"Ggh!" Marie was lucky. She knew that if she reacted a second later it would be over. Sanson wasn't messing around if the topic was about killing her.

"My blade is already tasting your blood." Sanson smilled grew larger. "But it begs for more!"

Marie casted some bright light red stars in order to increase distance beetween the two. She knew that a close combat with Sanson wouldn't be a good idea if she wanted to win.

The executioner flawlessly dodged the attacks. Or so he tought as a last blast caught him by the shoulder. Sanson made pressure on the wound with his hand, trying to ignore the pain.

Marie didn't feel hate torwards Sanson or joy with seeing her enemy wounded. She knew her death by his hands was nothing more than the executioner's duty. But she knew that in a fight to the death, compassion for the enemy isn't a common thing.

"Hehehehe." Sanson giggled a bit out of control. "Guess we are even with this blow, right my queen?"

Marie was a bit confused but decided to smile anyways. "And I plan to make it more even by taking you down!"

"Hmm, never in my life as a victim of mine gave me a fight when I would cut their head." Sanson brandished his blade. "That turns the things more intresting however."

"Well I've only been in fighting recently too." Marie replied. "Even if some are against it." Marie remembered what Mozart told her before. "But I admit it's quite the adrenaline."

"So you're telling me you are enjoying this, my queen?" Sanson asked as he went ahead to slice Marie again.

The french queen however, was capable of dodging again and at the same time send a blast to Sanson who blocked it in time.

"I'd prefer that we would all sit down and just drink some tea to be honest." Marie commented. "But I'm not going to lie when I say I wouldn't like to, how they say in the modern times? 'Whoop your ass'."

"Hahaha." Sanson laughed. "Good to see you're as cheerful and joyful as ever my queen. You really don't lose your shine." The young man said, admiring the queen. "But I have to erase your shine now!" He launched again at Marie

"Sanson, you were always a nice man even when killing people. However, that thirsty hunger for killing doesn't suit you." Marie embraced herself for the executioner's attack. "A man like you is better than that!"

The queen dodged the attack again but this time she had an immediate response. With her leg, Marie kicked Sanson in the face, the executioner being caught off guard by such unusual method of fighting that Marie had just used. "Hope it was effective. A friend of mine's recommendation."

"Attention Kiyohime!" Mash excalimed while jumping in front of her ally to protect her from an enemy attack with her shield.

"Who the hell is this knight?" The japanese servant alongside the Mozart and Mash was having trouble fighting one of the Dragon Witch's servants. And it was one they still hadn't seen before.

The servant had just came down from one of the wyverns at an absurd speed, blasting the ground on the landing. It was a knight with a fully black purple armor covering it's entire body, not showing a single bit of skin. The small openings on the knights helmet showed a glow of a vivid and violent red color. The servant didn't even speak. Only attack.

"It must be clearly a berserker." Mozart told to his allies. "He seems to not posses great ability to speak and only attacks violently and wildly, not caring for what is around him. That's the definition of a mindless berserker."

"Alright! That kinda explains his behaviour." Mash said.

Ritsuka and Peko were watching the fight behind the debries of a broken house with the wounded Dragon Slayer servant at their side.

"I've never seen anyone fight like that." Peko told Ritsuka.

"Yeah. The way that knight fights is brutal. He only seems to attack without thinking. I wonder if the majority of the berserkers are like that." The master of humanity responded.

Peko turned his attention to the injured servant by their side. "Are you feeling ok?"

The man tried to fight against the pain, but it was clear that he was suffering from the curses that were damaging his body. "S-Sorry...if I could be apt to help you in the fight-"

"I-It's ok. You don't need to feel sorry now. Just try to rest." Peko advised the Dragon Slayer.

"Mash be careful!" Ritsuka warned his servant, seeing that the Berserker knight was clealry more focused on the shielder than Mozart and Kiyohime.

"Mpmh!" Mash was able to block the knight's sword in time but the impact was perhaps the strongest of normal attacks that Mash had to block until now. "Why is he targetting me so much?"

Mash noticed that the grip of the knight in his sword grew stronger, slowly making Mash to lose stamina. "Grhhhg! He's...strong!"

The pressure of the sword was enough to make the shielder lose a bit of her balance, her right foot slipping and making an opening for the enemy servant to attack Mash wich the wild knight took opportunity and sliced her right in the right side of the abdomen.

"MASH!" Ritsuka yelled in panic, seeing his servant getting hit. Peko also showed concerned in seeing Mash wounded.

That was something that made the lying and weakened Dragon Slayer decide that was enough.

"Hmphm!" Taking a deep breath, the wounded servant forcefully stood up on his feet.

"W-wait! What are you doing?!" Peko tried to make him stop. "You can't fight like that!"

Ritsuka also noticed the Dragon Slayer's effort in trying to fight. "Are you really in condition to fight?"

"Please...let me help you." The Dragon Slayer walked past the two, dragging his word alongside him. "For...coming to my aid..."

Peko tried to stop him but Ritsuka grabbed the boy, much to Peko's surprise. "Ritsuka?! Are you going to let him fight?!"

"I'd say neither the two of us can stop him now. Let's...see what he does."

Walking into the battlefield, the Dragon Slayer brought his sword upwards, targetting on the purple black knight ahead of him.

Mozart instantly caught sight of him. "Wait! You should be resting!"

"Prepare yourself..."

"He isn't..." Peko realized in a instant what the intention of the Dragon Slayer was.

A powerful aura started to surround the Dragon Slayer and his sword.

" The Evil Dragon shall fall

and the world will reach it's sunset."

"He's unleashing his Noble Phantasm!" Ritsuka yelled in shock. He doubted that the Dragon Slayer would have the energy to use it or even stay alive after using it.

The Berserker knight, who was about to attack Mash stopped when he noticed the a shining blue aura on his left side. The Dragon Slayer's noble phantasm was nearly charged.

"I will bring you down..."

The sword of the Dragon Slayer was now prepare to shoot a powerful blast from it's user, with the purpose of striking the enemy servant.

"Ger out of there Mash!" Kiyohime yelled at the shielder who was in the Dragon Slayer's Noble Phantasm range.

Doing so, Mash was quick to move out of the way.

"BAL-MUNG!"

And the blue blast came out of the sword as the Dragon Slayer brought it down.

The Berserker knight, perhaps due to it's crazyness of being a berserker, tried to stop the Dragon Slayer's Noble Phantasm.

When the blast was about to come, the knight swinged his weapon right in front of it, clashing with the Noble Phantasm. And against what everyone tought, the mad knight was actually having success in fending off against Balmung.

Ritsuka couldn't believe on what he was seeing. "He...He's really trying to fend off a Noble Phantasm!"

Despite the difficulties of his body state, the Dragon Slayer would make sure to win the struggle against the knight. "Gggggghaaaaaaaaaa!" Pushing for it, the man make more effort and tightned his grip on the sword.

The knight tried his best to stop it, but the strenght of the Noble Phantasm he was trying to block was proving to be way stronger than him. "Grrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaa!"

He let out a shivering scream has he felt his arms getting weaker.

In the next second, the knight couldn't keep going no more and eventually gave up to the Dragon Slayer's Noble Phantasm, being hit strongfully by the blast. Not only that but the wyverns that were behind him got hit as well, being cometely erased by the brute force of Balmung.

Ritsuka, Peko and all the others could only watch amazed by the strenght of the Dragon Slayer's Noble Phantasm that was destroying efortlessly any path away of it. And so it continued until the very other end of the village where it finally finsihed and got progressively smaller until it dissapeard, leaving a huge road of destruction.

"W-wow. That was..." Peko looked at the man standing tall after unleashing his Noble Phantasm. Even with all those curses and wounds, the Dragon Slayer was capable of unleashing quite the Noble Phantasm. The servant went way beyond his limits just to help some strangers that he had just met.

"Quite the blast eh?" Ritsuka replied, looking equally amazed by the Dragon Slayer's power.

Mash, who was checking on her wound, went next to the Dragon Slayer. "Thank you for helping us! But you shouldn't have used your Noble Phantasm in that state!" She saw that the man was now even with difficulties of remaining on his feet.

The man simply smiled. "I know..." And his body gave up. "I'm sorry..."

Marie panted as she was recovering from the blow she suffered on her right leg.

The battle with Sanson had been lasting for quite some time now. Marie hoped she was buying enough time for Jeanne and the others help everyone evacuate.

Sanson also wasn't far better than her. The executioner had sustained other wounds across his left arm, making it almost useless to the fight with Marie and having to rely on his other arm to wield the blade.

"It's being a good fight, my queen. However...I can't be playing around with you no longer." Sanson had an order and he couldn't fail in completing it. Even if it was someone that he respected and liked as was the case with Marie, he would still finish his task.

"I agree with you Sanson." Marie finally breathed steadly, recovering her energy a bit. "Can't let you around terrorizing my people no longer."

Hearing those words, Sanson lamented. "You were too good for them. But the queen still wants to protect her people and be loved by them. Heh. I wonder if that's you being optimistic and cheerful or just ignorant."

"I do know what were their reactions when you killed me, Sanson. I won't pretend they weren't happy with it." Marie scolded Sanson. "But I can see why they would do that."

"Then why still love your people?" Sanson asked, not liking Marie's response.

"Because, for me, as a queen, my job is to make the nation happy. So if my death brought happiness and prosperity to my people, then I'm glad I could help them to smile."

"To hell with that!" Sanson screamed, enraged by what he heard. Marie was caught by surprise by Sanson's quick discomposure but didn't back off.

"Glad that you helped those bastards smile with your death?! What kind of bullshit is that?! They treated you like trash and insulted you in your very last days! You know that!"

"Yes I do know Sanson." Marie responded, remembering the last days of her life and how the people despised her. "However, I saw their prespective. I knew how much they were suffering. I tried my best to change the situation but it wasn't enough. So when it came to the point of radical solutions, I accepted it. So Sanson..." Marie looked at the executioner. "Don't feel bad for killing me that day. Your blade was a way to many people's joy. I'm grateful for your deed."

"SHUT UP!" Sanson shouted, totally angered. In the mind of the executioner, he couldn't understand how Marie could feel happy about her own death and be okay with all the people that wished her bad. "You're out of your mind! I should kill you now so that you stop living in that fantasy of yours!

"Anatomy Study"

Sanson enchanced his blade with one of his skills, a gloomy dark aura envolving it. "I'll make you realize the cold truth of reality, Marie!" The executioner sprinted torwards her.

"Sanson, I'd figure you wouldn't realize. Your heart as grown too inhuman to understand it. But I'll make sure you don't have to live like that anymore!"

"Princess of Loveliness"

Marie casted her skill as well, seeing how Sanson was getting closer to her.

"This is the end for you!" Sanson was ready to slice Marie's head.

"Wishing to blossom

visibly in the open!"

"It's over!" Sanson descended his blade, targetting Marie's neck.

"Dancing,

to blossom in full glory!"

The blade passed through Marie's neck, but unlike Sanson had tought, it didn't sliced her head. "Wha-"

"Passing through

A horse made of crystal appeard out of nowehere and Marie rode it. The horse charged at an incredible speed torwards Sanson.

Guillotine Breaker: Glory to the Crown of Lilies!"

The horse blasted with it's front hooves on Sanson, leaving a big hole on the executioner's left side of his chest. This, was Marie Antoinette Noble Phantasm.

"Blerghg!" Sanson coughed huge amounts of blood from his mouth, suffering a big damage from Marie's Noble Phantasm. He even let his blade go from his hand and collapsed on his knees.

"H-How...Why? Why I couldn't kill you..?" The young man wondered as he watched drops of blood fell to the ground below him.

Marie who was now behind her enemy, couldn't help but feel pity on someone like him. "It's because you've grown more as a killer and not a executioner."

"W-what..?" Sanson stared painfully at Marie.

"Now you just kill for the sake of killing. No justice or purpose on the person who wields that blade anymore. Very different from the man I've met back in the day." Marie explained.

"I-Is that so...my queen?" Sanson made an effort to turn his body around to look at Marie. "Do I..." He stretched his hand to Marie, as if trying to call her. "...look disgu-"

"Alright. I've seen enough of this pathetic show already. Come back Assassin, I can't efford to lose any servant today." A voice interrupted Sanson. And shortly after that, his body started to dissapear, retreating from the battle he had lost upon his master's orders.

"Ma..rie.." He called hee out before vanishing from her completely.

Marie, wanted to take a time to herself to breath and recover her energy from the fight, but she knew that another opponent had just appeard behind her, so she couldn't even get that luxury of resting.

Turning around, she saw who it was. Non other than the Dragon Witch herself.

"Wassup Evil Jeanne? All good?" Marie smiled happily, pretending that the enemy in front of her wasn't the big bad of this entire Singularity.

"Hergh." Jeanne Alter let out an annoyed groan. "Why the hell do you talk like that?"

"I think it's kinda cool. You should give it a try Evil Jeanne." Marie told her, still with her happy smile.

"So the other me has escaped already huh? What a coward. I was eager to see that hatred again." Jeanne Alter complained, getting dissapointed by missing the chance to encounter her saint part again.

"No, you're wrong. She won't let that hate consume her anymore." Marie responded to the Dragon Witch. "She now clings on to hope."

Jeanne Alter looked at Marie and then looked at the walls of the village behind the queen. "Now what a nice joke we have here. Protecting your precious peasents? How stupid are you?" Jeanne Alter mocked Marie. "They are the same people who put you in the guillotine and cheered when you were beheaded!"

Marie shaked her head, smilling like always.

"I can understand that hate and rage but, that's exactly why..." Marie smile grew, her eyes full of radiance. "...Jeanne D'arc would never say those things."

Jeanne Alter stayed still, not understanding what Marie was trying to say by that.

"I know that there were people who hated me. People who sneered. People who contempt. However, that never would be a reason to kill them." Marie said. "A queen without it's people, is nothing. It can't be a queen. Even if they never wished for my death, I would still have left the throne. I wasn't needed anymore at that time. However, here was different. So it was my fate as the queen of this land, to protect them and serve them!

The clouds moved past the sun, shinning on the entire village, the walls, and flags of the french monarchy.

"Viva La France!" Marie hailed. "The stars will continue to give it's radiance to France and bless it's resplendence! Of that I am sure."

The queen of France looked at Jeanne Alter in the eyes. She could see someone who was annoyed, afraid, lost, angry. Who knew no other thing than to destroy and kill.

"Dragon Witch...what exactly...are you?" Marie questioned Jeanne Alter.

The question seemed to have disturbed Jeanne Alter who immediatly summoned her big black dragon, Fafnir. "SHUT YOUR MOUTH!"

Seeing the threat of the dragon, Marie loosed no time and immediatly knew what she had to do, even if it meant the cost of her life.

Bleach OST- Never Meant to Belong

"For eternity!

Crystal Palace: The Lovable Brilliance!"

Out of nowhere, huge buildings made of crystal started to appear from the ground, resembling the famous Palace of Versailles.

"A second Noble Phantasm?!" Jeanne Alter was surprised that Marie had a second Noble Phantasm in her sleeve. " Whatever! With no master to back her up with mana, she'll be gone already for activating her Noble Phantasm consecutively."

Fafnir was with the attack fully charged, waiting for his owner's permission to fire.

"You'd really go that far, you stupid bitch! Die!" With an insult, Jeanne Alter gave the order for Fafnir to blast his beam upon Marie, her Noble Phantasm and the village.

As for the queen herself, the body was starting to vanish.

"Goodbye Jeanne, everyone... I am glad we could meet each other..."

In the distance, Jeanne was running away from the village alongside Elizabeth and Georgios, trying not to think about Marie's situation.

"Just knowing that I could help the woman who saved France. That I could help a friend...is enough for me, to die a radaint death. "

Marie remembered about their conversations on this Singularity, inuding the one last night.

"Hehe...I'm sorry Amadeus. Looks like you'll have to wait a bit longer...for that answer... Now like the stars...like the flowers...like ephemeral dreams...is my time to say goodbye."

Fafnir blasted his beam,going on it's way to annihilate Marie who faced with her trademark smile as usual, not fearing for her end.

"That is the way...Marie Antoinette lived!"

The flames of the evil dragon burned the village throughout the entire day and night, only being put down by a passing rain. Any sign of the queen, had already dissapeard.

The castle made of crystal had crumbled and was scattered to the wind. The enitre town was destroyed, no building left tall. The only people roaming it now, was the Dragon Witch herself and her evil dragon.

However, to the frustration of the evil witch, there was no sight of blood spilled underneath the rubbles. No tears needed to be shed that day. And so, with the people save and no lives lost, hope for the country's salvation had increased.

Our group of protagonists were able to reunite with each other again. Jeanne and Elizabeth bringing Georgios and Ritsuka's group bringing an unconscious but alive dragon slayer. Georgios went to his aid immediatly.

As for Marie...Jeanne had to be the bearer of those news and told the others.

Among the grief and some tears, Ritsuka noticed Mozart walking torwards some flowers, picking one of them up, closing his eyes as he brought the flower closer to his face.

"You were the most beautiful flower, Maria."

But now her duty had finished. Her vow was mantained. The families could cry in relief of spending more time alive with their beloved ones. Today, would not be a day to such innocent lives to suffer.

The radiance in the sky and the blessing of the land had brought, the happiness of the people

To be continued...

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author.

Amidst the woods, Nala was riding on top of a white horse. She had just fled from the Dragon Witch's lair, being lucky to have caught the horse that she had rescued and in favour, took her out of the castle surroundings.

"Now if only I knew where they are..." Nala wondered about her group and where they could possibly be, knowing at least thanks to Romani, that they were alive.

Escaping from that place was quite the dangerous challange, avoiding any contact with the enemy. She must be some miles away from that place now, allowing the horse to walk at a more moderate pace. She never once rided a horse or at least that's what she believed in since Nala couldn't remember of anything of her past.

"I never would have made it if it wasn't for Doctor and Da Vinci. I have to thank them later. That woman also helped me...but why?" The girl tought back at that moment of her escape.

On the day before ...

Nala slashed the door open efortlessly with her sword. "Easy." She smirked, seeing that they didn't bothered to make the door more resistant to keep her in. Big mistake on their part.

"Don't you think that was a bit loud?" Romani feared that the sound of the door being destroyed could alert any enemy nearby, altough Nala's screams while breaking the chain were surely more noisy.

"!" Nala realized the mistake she may had comitted. "Sorry! It had been a while since I last wielded my sword."

"Let's just be careful." Romani told her. "I sense no one near you so take the chance right now to get out of the cell. If you see any enemy,hide, ok?"

"Understood." Nala peeked her head out of the doorframe and looked to the right and left, seeing stairs at the end of the hall to her right and a dead end to her left. The good thing was that she saw no enemy or monster in the room, feeling safe to get out of the cell.

She couldn't believe that she was free. It could only get better of the exit was literally at her side. She looked at the stairs that would leave to the floor above, not knowing if it was safe to go upwards or not.

She decided to consult Romani and Da Vinci. "Doctor, Da Vinci."

"The stairs are clear Nala, you can climb them." Da Vinci informed the girl as Romani would check the area around.

Trusting in the only people that could help her to get out of the castle without being detected, Nala took Da Vinci's word for granted and went upstairs. She however, was moving at a moderate pace, knowing that wanting to move faster could make alot more sound and call more attention, So Nala was trying to be as silent as possible.

Finally reaching to the top end of the staircase, Nala was right next to another door and peeking through it's small gaps, she saw that it would lead to the main hallways. She didn't heard any step or noise, meaning in her head that the coast was clear.

But as she was about to open the door, Romani stopped her from the other end of the connection. "Wait Nala! I'm detecting something near you!"

"Then what do I do now?" Nala looked at the small area she was in. "There's no place for me to hide!"

The white haired girl started to hear sounds of footsteps, wich sounded more than just a person walking so probably two or more. "Crap! I think I hear them coming." Nala hissed, informing Romani and Da Vinci.

"Are they servants or normal enemies Romani?" Da Vinci asked.

"Servants..." Romani pressed his two thumbs against his forhead, trying to find a solution. The doctor sighed, reaching to a solution not even he liked it very much. "Nala, try hiding behind the door."

"Are you serious right now?!" Nala contained herself from shouting when hearing Romani's idiotic solution.

"It's true that it isn't the most well tought idea, but it's the only option for you now Nala." Da Vinci told her.

Nala was still reluctant about the idea but it was either that or being discovered. Hearing the steps getting closer and a voice talking, Nala realized she didn't had much timr to hide. Going with her instincts, Nala placed herself on the wall to her left, hoping that however opened the door, would go straight down the stairs without bothering to look to the other side.

In that same moment, the doorknob made a sound and the door was opened. Nala, hiding at the corner of the wall, covered her own mouth with a hand, to make sure her breathing wouldn't be so easily heard.

"Do you think she snapped?" A soft and gentle voice talked. Nala recongnized it as being the voice of that musketeer servant. It looked like they where accompained with someone but the person that was with them didn't respond.

"Hope she doesn't end as badly broken as you." The voice from the musketeer D'eon lamented.

"Who could they be talking to-" Nala immediatly remembered of that green haired lady when she first had arrived here. Last time she saw the Archer was when the woman's mind had broken because of the torture she was suffering and Jeanne Alter's manipulation that involved Nala herself.

"You can't even talk now. Such big fall you have suffered, Huntress of Artemis. If it wasn't for our Master, I would put you down out of pity." D'eon stared at the broken servant in front of them, having their back turned against the door, where Nala was hiding from behind.

"Is it really her?" Nala wanted to make a quick glance to confirm her suspicion. So, she decided to lean a little over the door. Her eyes spotted the musketeer's back and the other servant they were talking to. It was the same green haired woman Nala saw when she came here.

The poor servant was completely corrupted. Her clothes were all ragged and wrinkled. The hair all messy and disheveled. Her eyes were now pitch-dark, with dried black tears that painted lines on her cheeks and the servant's mouth being completely removed and replaced with a big stain of the same pitch-dark color.

"What...have they done to her?" Nala could only stare in pure shock, seeing the doom that had befall that archer servant. Nala didn't even knew her well, but no one deserved such cruel treatment.

The broken servant then seemed to look behind D'eon, to wich Nala quickly stopped peeking at the two servants and put her head behind the door again.

D'eon noticed their ally slight glance. "Hmm? You saw something?"

The other servant couldn't said nothing and in fact did nothing, just stand there staring at the door behind D'eon, before changing her view back to the musketeer.

"It was nothing then, I presume." They said. D'eon passed over Archer and started to go downstairs. "We need to now. See of everything is alright with our prisoner."

And so the archer did the same and went downstairs with D'eon, not looking at the door again.

Nala took some seconds to get out of her hidden place, instead waiting for the steps of the two servants to get lower. Once it wasow eneough for her, Nala came out from behind the door and fastly, but not fast enough to make her steps tk be heard, entered the main halls of the castle, getting far away as possible from the entrence to the cell rooms.

"Wow, we're lucky!" Romani's hologram appeaeard to speak. "I don't even know how they did not seen you. They're either blind or deaf." Romani joked a bit. "But what you did was dangerous Nala."

Da Vinci nodded her head. "I have to agree with Romani. You could've been caught Nala."

Nala stopped and laid her body behind one of the many pillars of the hallways. "I just wanted to check for myself who that musketeer was talking to." She whispered.

"Do you know the servant?" Romani asked.

"Yes doc. She was being tortured for not wanting to side with the Dragon Witch when I was captured." Nala explained to Romani.

"That definetly sounds horrible. I'm glad you at least managed to get out of your cell before they'd put their hands on you." The doctor said.

"But I'm not tottaly free yet." Nala told him, reminding that she still needed to get out of the castle.

"You're not wrong. But don't worry. I'm not planning in letting you in there any one more day." Romani watched his screen. "Your surroundings are safe Nala. You can proceed."

And Nala did as she was told. It was kind of surprising to her honestly. She was expecting to found some enemies other than the servants, doing some sort of surveillance in the halls, but they were totally empty. Well, not that she minded to. It thankfullt turned the things easier. She also tought that the Dragon Witch herself was probably not in the castle right now, since she found it a bit odd that she sent two servants to deal with her instead of herself seeing what was all the screaming.

She had to be fast since they would soon see she had fled from her cell. And it would be almost impossible to get out of the castle with everyone looking for her.

Romani came into contact with her again. "Wait Nala! I'm detecting a signal near you on the left."

Nala slowed down her steps, now walking cautiously. The hallways ended up ahead with a direction of either right or left. But more in the middle of the hall she was in, there was a big open door, probably being were the signal was coming from. Nala slowly approached it, and took a peek to see what it was.

It was a big room with large broken windows and torn flags, at the end of it there was a rusty golden throne. This was probably the throne room of the palace. In front of the small throne, there was the second in command and Jeanne Alter's right hand man, Gilles. The wicked man was looking to his book as he put put a finger on his chin.

"Is that creep again! What is he doing?" Nala was a bit curious but not enough to try and get closer, specially to someone like him.

Gilles closed his book and let out a sigh. The caster looked a bit sad. "When do you come back Jeanne? Any place turne borning without you. Not even the spells from my book keeps me entertained alone. If only the person who gave me this gift was here..." Gilles stretched his arms up in the air, looking at the ceilling. "His imagination for evil deeds was the seize of a giant tower when compared to mine. The killing and mutilations we would do. The gore! It would be so cool!"

Nala recoiled in disgust, hearing about what attrocities this man would commit and has already commited. She couldn't imagine such bad monstrous people like him existed. The Dragon Witch evilness compared to this wicked man wasn't that huge. She decided it was enough hearing and decided to move on, taking the chance that Gilles was with his back turned to the gate.

"However, I feel sad..."

Nala stopped, hearing Gilles talk in what seemed like a sad and almost regretting voice. Did he perhaps condemned the things he has done?

"This man I've become. The innocent children that I've killed. It was brutal indeed despite liking it..." Gilles lowered his arms, looking at his pale hands. "But the thing that pains me more, was letting the king die a quick death!" Gilles shouted in anger when spilling out the word 'king'. "He should have suffered more! Unforgivable! I should have took all his organs out while the oaf was still alive for what he did to my Jeanne! He, his friends, and anyone who hurt her hasn't suffered enough!" Gilles threw his book against the throne in anger.

Nala only closed her eyes and shook her head in disdain, deciding that this man was truly lost and had some real deep issues. She continued her escape and left Gilles all alone to his own fury. Reaching to the end of the hall, Nala looked at the right and then at the left.

"Wich way?" She whispered.

"The right one. It's the shortest way to exit the interior of the building." Romani communicated.

"Also hell was that guy disturbing." Romani referred to Gilles, having heard the caster's monologue, as Nala turned right.

"Yep. Hope to never see that freak again." Nala replied. "He's just plain cruel."

"Gilles de Rais is quite the tragic figure." Da Vinci told Nala. "A case of how rage and hate can consume people entirely."

"I wonder what kind of rage and hate can make people into monsters." Nala couldn't imagine there was hate and rage enough to go around killing innocents that never were involved to begin with.

"Probably of the worst kind." Romani told her seriously. "There's some people that when something tragic happens just-" Before Romani finished his line, he noticed something on his screen. "You're closer to the exit Nala! Turn left at the end and you will see it right in front of you!"

"Roger that!" Nala did as she was told and saw the exit to the exterior right in front of her. The moment she stepped to the outside, Nala took out a deep breath of the air from her freedom...only to cough shortly afterwards.

"This smells like hell!" Nala put a hand in her nose, not being able to support the smell of blood and rotten flesh from the bodies hanging outside. Nala could sware it was bad enough to almost make her puke. The Dragon Witch really made sure to make this place look as terrible as it could.

"Hey stay strong!" Da Vinci tried to keep the girl going. "You are almost out. I know the smell must be awful but you need to handle it for now. Try to think on a smell that you like."

As much as she hated the smell, Da Vinci was right and Nala couldn't stop now. The girl took some breaths, this time with her nose and mouth covered, and moved forward.

"Strawberries,Strawberries,Strawberries. Sweet, lovable, red strawberries." Nala tought about the smell of the fruit she liked as Da Vinci told her to do in order to not think about the real awful smell entering her nostrils.

"You may want to summon your sword Nala. There are many enemy creatures in the area." Romani advised her.

"I tought you had told me to not fight if possible!" Nala responded, bracking her tought of strawberries that were slowly turning into a song.

"Not fight! Attack them from behind and take them down quick. Just like a surprise attack." Romani explained.

"What if it doens't work?" Nala asked.

"You never know until you try, right?" Romani shrugged his shoulders.

Nala summoned her sword, just for the case she had to do a 'suprise attack'. Walking a bit more freely as she was now outside and on the top of the castle walls, Nala observed the sky that was entirely clouded with wyverns surrounding the area alongside the bodies. It was really looking the land of the dead that Jeanne Alter was wanting to be turned into a reality.

Up ahead, she saw a skeleton guarding the stairs that would lead Nala to the interior ground of the castle. "Guess it's time to see if that surprise attack works doctor."

Reaching closer, Nala already brandished the sword and pointed at her enemy's head, speculating that it would doe after getting fatally wonded in that area. "Ah!" Putting her strenght on the handle of the sword, Nala pierced the skeleton right from the behind of his skull. It didn't took many time for the enemy to fall down defeated.

"Good news doc, it worked." Nala went down the stairs, being careful in each step she was taking to make sure she wouldn't slip, but also going down at a moderate speed, expecting that the servants had already seen that she was not in the cell anymore.

"Surprise attacks always work! Most of the time..." Romani typed on his keyboard, visibly happy for being proven right about the surprise attack thing. "You're now on the yard outside Nala. Just make sure to get extra careful here. There's many wyverns around."

"Understood. Tell me where do I go now." Nala reached to the end of the staircase and asked Romani for directions. This was an open area, and unlike the hallways, she had many paths other than right and left as well as some wyverns walking nearby.

"Do you see that big opened metal gate to your right?" Romani asked.

"Yeah" Nala replied.

"Go over there." Romani ordered and Nala obeyed.

She sprinted torwards the big black gate, briefly looking behind to see if she wasn't spotted by anyone. "So far so good." She tought to herself. The area now in front of her had only one path: the exit.

"There it is." Nala almost exclaimed, seeing the way out so close to her. And to her luck the gates were semi-opened, with gap enough for her to pass underneath it.

"We're seeing it aswell Nala." Romani informed. "But dont be hasty. Ther-There isS-" The communication on Romani's voice sounded like it was glitching.

"Huh? Is something wrong doctor?" Nala asked him, seeing the hologramic image of Romani failing.

"LiSten NaLA. Be cAReF-" The trasnmission stopped as the hologram of Romani dissapeard.

"Hello? Hello?! Doctor, Da Vinci, are you there? Anybody?!" She was alone. No Romani and Da Vinci to guide her anymore. At least Nala was on the castle's exit, so it would be impossible for her to get lost right now.

"Hey. If any of you are listening by some chance, I'll try to pass over the main gates now. Wish me luck." Nala said, probably to no one but she for the better she expected they were somehow still listening to her.

Spying in front of the gates she was hiding, Nala saw if there was any enemies. The only foe in the area was a wyvern with a broken wing, lying on the ground whilst recovering from the wound it had suffered. The wyvern was also occupied eating rests of human flesh. The white haired girl would make sure to take chance on the monster's distraction to make her way to the exit.

Nala rushed while crouched down, getting out of the wyverns view the best she could while also taking cover in some debris scattered around the ground. She would make her escape flawlessly.

Until she heard a roar behind her. "I-It cant be..!"

Looking behind, the wyvern was now looking directly at her, with it's beastly eyes locked on her. "D-did it find me through the smell?!"

The exit was just some meters away, and Nala would be damned if she failed being this close to freedom. A part of her mind told her to fight and kill the wyvern in a n instant, but she also feared that it would take her seconds enough to alert other enemies and the servants too. So Nala ignored the wyvern going after her and just ran as fast as she could to the main gates.

The monster however, was narrowing down the distance beetween the two. Nala was just a few steps away from being free, while also feeling a hot breath in her back, meaning that the wyverns teeth were close on the girl. That only gave Nala more adrenaline to run faster to the gate.

"C'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon!" Nala was literally in front of the gate. And at the same time, the wyvern opened his mouth widely to take a huge bite on it's prey.

In a act of pure instict, Nala glided underneath the gate, her legs and back gaining friction and movement from the ground as she escaped from the wyvern's fangs that colided strongly with the metal of the gates while Nala passed through the gap.

She had done it. Nala had escaped from the castle. She had done something that she herself doubted days ago of ever being possible to do it. But it was real. No more chains to bind her or dragon witches to torment her. Nala was free and ready to reunite with Peko and others.

"I..I've done it. I really did it!" Nala smiled of joy, almost jumping and celebrating in happiness. She was still a kid after all. Hearing the metalic noise from behind, Nala turned around to see the injured wyvern going against the metal gates with it's mouth, insanely frustrated for not being so close to catch Nala and now seeing it's food go away.

The girl on the other hand smirked and showed her tongue to the draconic lizard, provoking it. "Guess someone's not going to have a lunch today. Too bad! Hehe."

Leaving the wyvern to it's own rage and angst, Nala focused on the things in front of her. And she immediatly saw that the things weren't so over as she would have liked them to be.

The whole ground in front of her was full of corpses, broken armory and still some wyverns taking their time in eating the bodies. Nala had to pass through this bloodied camp if she wanted to get free for real. After all, she was just outside the walls of the Dragon Witch's castle. There was really no guarantee that she was already far off from Jeannd Alter's domain. The awful smell being a reminder of that.

"It can never be that easy, can't it?" Nala said to herself, sighing.

Before stepping in, Nala prepared herself mentally for the fact she was about to cross a sea of dead bodies. "Alright Nala. You can do this. Just think about the strawberries." And without waiting much longer, Nala jumped into the corpses.

The girl was making sure to not pay too much attention to the bodies and their stench, continuing to move forward. The wyverns seemed to occupied with the other corpses and thankfully for her, her smell would probably get mixed beetween all this, making hard for the wyverns to detect her with the nose.

Walking through the field, she had to force herself to not puke with so many bodies around her. It wouldn't be a very good experience to be recorded. It was clear from the get go that this journey wouldn't be just a simple nice tour, with Nala now seeing how hard and deadly the challanges would be. At least Peko wasn't here too. The girl tought how disturbing all this imagery would be for him.

She continued stepping on the muddy and blooded ground, trying to reach out of the area and enter in the dense woods just ahead.

Nala encountered sloping terrain right in front of her. She put her feet softly on the steep terrain, not wanting to slip. What she wasn't expecting, was that her left foot stepped on a body's armored arm that was covered by the ground, resulting in Nala slipping and falling down the uneven ground.

"Damn it!" The white haired girl lifted her face from the ground, cleaning the dirt from it. She was now surrounded by piles of soldier corpses, having falled in a small crater were many of the bodies were disposed.

"Where did Master go?"

Nala immediatly hiddened behind a small mount of bodies, recognizing the voice easily. Just a few meters away from her, the Assassin woman and the blonde man of Berserker class were chatting while checking the corpses around them and deinking their blood.

"She went with the other Assassin and new Berserker to kill her saint self and her allies." The blonde man informed, turning a soldier's body around with his spear. "Anyways, I've heard that the Dragon Slayer was alive." He looked unpleasantly to the Assassin.

"So you accuse me? It was also your job to kill him. Besides, I wouldn't have a way to guess that Rider would actually hide him instead of killing him for sure." The woman speaked a little indignant.

"Still, if the Dragon Slayer lives, it means your attacks aren't as strong as they should be if it means he isn't dead yet." The blonde Berserker replied with his counter argument.

"Same goes for you idiot." The woman simply decided to ignore her ally's words and continued to recover blood from the corpses around. "Also, can you give me a cup of glass like yours? Drinking with my hands isn't fitting for someone like me."

The man just giggled. "Then get your own cup Carmilla. Because only kings can drink from this cup." He took a sip.

The vampire woman grumbled at her partner smugness. "I'm nobility too you jerk. Just because my husband was a fan of yours dont yo-"

The woman stopped her rant as she smelled something in the air. "Is this smell..." She sniffed some more. Her lips curled up into a devious smile. "...the smell of a young maiden's blood?"

"!" Nala's whole body freezed. She had been caught.

"H-how she noticed me?!" Nala was starting to panic. If she was caught, specially by that woman, bad things awaited her in her return to the castle. That's when she noticed a small blot of blood in her knee. "When did I got my knee hurt!?" Nala then remembered about the terrain she tried to go down seconds ago. "I git my knee hurt in the fall?!"

Carmilla walked menancingly to the mount of bodies that Nala was hiding behind. Her smile full of lust and evil intentions.

"Did you detected something?" The blonde vampire man asked, taking another sip of his glass.

The white haired woman prepared her staff. "Yes, I did." She giggled sadistically.

Nala wanted to run. She wanted to run and get away from them as fast as she could. But her legs wouldn't move. She was too scared to make a movement and stayed hiding while her heartbeats would get faster.

Carmilla was with her staff ready, pointing at the pile of bodies. "Aaaaaand, there!" She impaled the staff on a soldier who was lying right in front of the pile of bodies. "Tought you could escape me dear?"

"Huh?" Nala looked to her own body to see she wasn't attacked or impaled by the Assassin woman, having her body just fine. She wasn't close to Nala for the girl even see her. Was this a tactic that she was using to lure Nala out of her hidden spot?

"Were are you seeing a young maiden Carmilla?" The blonde man approached her. "That looks like a normal soldier to me." He commented as he saw the soldier move his arms and legs, revealing that this person was actually alive and only pretending to be dead.

"Hehehe. Your nose can't differentiate other smells of blood Vlad?" Carmilla sneered. "Look closer." Reaching out with her long blue nails, Carmilla took out the soldier's helmet, revealing in fact, that the soldier was actually a young woman with brown hair.

The blonde man, wich name was now known has Vlad, got a but surprised. "Oh, I see. So this poor army is already desperate enough to start recruting women in their ranks?"

"Kinda funny don't you think uncle?" Carmilla said while holding the female soldier by the neck. "They now hate Jeanne D'arc but are trying to do another version of her, waiting for a miracle to happen like the one she did during her lifetime. Hahaha, I dont know if master would laugh or get annoyed at seeing this poor attempt of a copy."

Vlad agreed with her. "Truly. Quite the hipocrasy that I've just witnessed."

The young woman cleenched her teeth and grabbed Carmilla's arm, trying to get free from her grip. "You...will go down..." She tried to sound menacingly.

"Ohoh, trying to act strong now?" Carmilla tightened her grip on the young woman's throat. "Look around and tell me wich one has already gone down dear."

The female soldier felt her breath slowly being taken away, as she was getting strangled by Carmilla.

Nala who was spying nearby, couldn't feel anything but a small need to help. She couldn't let that sadistic woman hurt the soldier as she just watched. But a part of her was hesitant, knowing that if she tried to fight, she would much probably end up losing and get the shortest end of the stick. So Nala painfully ignored Carmilla's cruelty on the young woman.

"But consider yourself lucky my precious maiden." Carmilla let her grip on the female soldier's neck a bit loosened, allowing enough room for the soldier to breath and gasp for air. "I have, some plans for people like you." She smirked evilishly.

The young woman eyes widened in fear. "W-What do you mean?"

"You tought you were going to die here dear? Well, you wouldn't be wrong if it wasn't I to find you but someone else of my allies." Carmilla softly touch the female soldier's cheek with her blue nails. "Your face, body, looks, it's all too beautiful to just rot here." Carmilla giggled before approaching her mouth into the woman's ear. "Instead, why not have some fun with me in my personal chamber? Your blood would be surely tasteful."

"G-GET AWAY FROM ME!" The female soldier panicked as soon as Carmilla's words came out of the Assassin's mouth. She much rather prefered to perish here than to die a painful and slow death at the hands of a sadistic and psycothic woman vampire.

Nala covered her ears in order to not ear the helpless sounds of the scared soldier. "Ignore it Nala! You have to ignore! I can't help her in a situation like this! Just focus on escaping!" She was aware it was wrong but the girl was also aware that trying to save someone now would put her chances of escaping at risk.

"Now now, keep calm dear." Carmilla tried to calm down the young woman while simultaneously taking pleasure in her fear. "A perfect Jeanne D'arc's copy wouldn't panic and shiver in fear. Unless it's a satire in wich case good job my dear maiden."

Seeing she had no other route, the female soldier decided to take drastic measures. She opened her mouth widely and sticked her tongue out. Unfortunately for her, Carmilla was quick to realize the woman's intention and immediatly shoved two of her fingers inside the young woman's mouth, preventing her from bitting her own tongue.

"I have not allowed you to die now, did I?" Carmilla taunted her, shoving the fingers deeper inside the young woman's throat. "You can only have permission to die if I see nothing of useful of fun to you anymore. Until then you belong to me. Understood?"

"What about the other young woman you kidnapped some days ago?" Vlad questioned.

"Broke already. It's a bit dissapointing honestly." Carmilla frowned. "Only two days and she couldn't talk or think of anything else straight hahaha." Carmilla laughed, remembering the ways how she had tortured the poor innocent. "Sorry if she was too fragile."

"If you lowered your brutality, she may had served you longer." Vlad made a point.

"Oh? And you're any different from me? If you're nice enough I can share her with you." Carmilla replied back to Vlad, still with her fingers inside the female soldier's mouth.

"Dont get me wrong. I do enjoy to make my enemies suffer a painful death, so that others get the messge to fear me. However, I'm not one to turn my enemies into personal objects for my own pleasure. Being a ruler of my nation and drinking blood is already good enough for me, even if I used to hate the latter." Vlad told Carmilla.

"Heh. Even with the Madness Enchantment you still act with quite nobility. Impressive for an impaler and vampire." Carmilla continued chatting with Vlad, who gave her a slight mean stare wich she decided to ignore aswell ignore the teeth of the young woman bitting slowly her two fingers. "Also, how's our little maiden doing?" She asked.

"She's still reluctant in cooperating and submit to our master. I got her to talk with me but she shows no sign of giving in." Vlad shared the previous talk he had with Nala to Carmilla, not knowing that the girl was literally a few feet away from them right now.

"I see. She's a bit of a trouble. Am I finally allowed to pay her a visit?" Carmilla licked her lips. "Better crush her spirit now than to let her hopes live."

"You wish, you creep!" That's what Nala wished to shout at that moment altough it wouldn't be a very wise choice.

"If the master deems so." Vlad responded.

Before the two vampired could carry on their conversation, a giant red flare emanated from the castle into the skies above. All the wyverns started roaring and flying around the castle. It was the signal of an emergency.

"Something happened." Vlad straightened his eyes. "Carmilla, leave her. We must go now!" He ordered.

Carmilla groaned in displeasure. "Really?"

Vlad just gave her a more serious look.

"Urgh! Fine..." Carmilla looked back at the female soldier. "Sorry dear." Taking the fingers out of her mouth, Carmilla cut her throat open with the fingernails much to the young woman's shock as well as Nala who was watching.

As the dying female tried to cover her wound to stop the bleeding, Carmilla put her hand beneath the soldier's face, getting her finger wet in blood. "It looks like your death came today. At least your blood will be useful hehehe." She watched gladly the life of the young woman fade away with her body falling on the ground and her skin getting pale. "Farewell my lovely maiden."

Disposing of the woman soldier, Vlad and Carmilla dissapeard in the air, much likely going to the castle.

Nala could finally get out behind of the pile of corpses. "This is not good." They already discovered she had escaped her cell and now where on the hunt for her. It would be a matter of time until the enemies started to search on the field outside the castle too.

Nala couldn't go slow now, she had to hurry up if she didn't want to be found.

The field was now empty of wyverns who where all now flying up above. The woods weren't too far from where she was currently. A couple of seconds running and she would reach there, that is if she was lucky enough to not be spotted by an enemy.

As she was checking the perimeter, Nala noticed an animal struggling beneath some debris a bit ahead of her. It was a white horse. It gave an idea to the girl. If she freed the horse, she could ride on the animal and get even faster and more far away from this place than her legs would allow her.

Putting an arm out of the crater, Nala prepared herself to run for her life. The pressure and adrenline on maximum. She took a deep breath, her nose not feeling disturbed anymore by the bad smell of the field.

She looked at the horse. Her eyes with a glare of determination. She couldn't fail now.

"I'm ready. I'm ready. You can do this Nala." She murmured to herself. Getting her legs in position as well as the arms Nala prepared to sprint torwards the horse.

Filling herself of courage, Nala came out of the hole and run as fast as she could. The bodies and other obstacles on the floor were being avoided perfectly, as if Nala knew by instinct were they were lying. 3 seconds after Nala had reached the horse, the same time as numerous wyverns roared, telling Nala that she probably had been found out.

Nala saw that the horse was stucked in some debris, altough they were few and seemed small enough for Nala to move it out of the way and free the horse.

She put the hands under a large broken piece of wood since it was the main thing trapping the horse. The animal however lost it's calm when seeing Nala.

"It's ok! It's alright! I won't..hurt you!" Nala tried to calm the horse as she made an effort to lift the wodden piece. As soon as the horse's legs didnt't feel trapped anymore under the debris, the horse got out of the wreckage as fast as it could.

Nala let out her grip of the piece of wood, ready to get on the horse since the animal was kind enough to not run away and instead stay by Nala's side, understanding she wanted to flee and meant no harm.

"Good to see we have something in common." Nala commented as she was about to get up on the horse. She never rided a horse, or she didn't remembered if she ever did such thing once. But when the body is full of adrenaline and rushing in a life or death situation, it can do some things to a person.

Nala was about to get on the horse, that is, if things would be that simple until the end.

A wyvern came from the skies, stomping the ground near Nala and the horse, making her lose her balance and fall to the ground.

"Crap!" Nala cursed as she looked at the wyvern in front of her. "Why are you so annoying?!" She tried to summon her sword, deciding she couldn't do other thing than to fight the monster.

To her surprise however, the fight would be over before it even started. The wyvern had just stretched it's neck to attack Nala, when it's head got shot to pieces by a arrow.

Nala could only watch in shock as the body of the wyvern falled flat in front of her. Who killed it?

Looking behind her, Nala got a slight scare by seeing who was behind her, being the source of where the arrow came from. It was the corrupted Archer she saw back at the castle, with her bow pointing torwards Nala.

"One of them already saw me! I'm screwed!" Nala drawn her sword to the woman, preparing to fight an even harder opponent than the wyverns. Except that the Archer didn't shot Nala yet.

Nala slowly lowered her weapon. "She...doesn't want to fight me?" She asked to herself confused.

The servant on the other hand didn't lowered her bow. Instead, her weapon was visibly shakening and trembling. "G-g...go..." She speaked beetween her grunts.

"You-"

"Go..now..!" The voice of the corrupted archer lady sounded that she was in pain, fighting against the Madness Enchantment and other spells of evil nature that were casted on her in order to obey the Dragon Witch.

Without saying a word, Nala dematerialized her sword, getting out of here with the horse before the archer could lost her control again. She mounted the animal and look at the archer one last time before running away into the woods with the white horse.

"GO!" The archer screamed as she was about to release the arrow, not being able to hold on her remaining consciousness for much longer.

Nala hold tight onto the horse as it runned faster and faster to reach the trees ahead. She prepared herself for the archer's attack, fearing it would come at her at any moment.

Once the horse's hooves stepped into the woods and no shot came after a few seconds as they went deeper into the area and away from the castle, Nala could finally take a huge relief: she had escaped. She was free.

"I did it. I...I'm free." Nala fell on the horse's back, letting joy and relief spread all over her face. "Doctor, Da Vinci. I escaped. Thank you. Thank you so much."

Feeling tired and exhausted after all the danger she had been through, Nala was just happy to be alive, to have an opportunity to encounter Peko and the others again. She wanted to see her brother again so badly.

" Then, I'll become stronger and rescue you Nala! Just wait for it!"

Nala remembered of the promise Peko made to her. She giggled at the tought of it. Even if she told him those things and was mean to him, her brother still wanted to see her safe, holding no grudge against her. She could tell her brother had a good heart.

"I'm sorry to dissapoint you about the rescue promise you made." Nala looked at the grey clouds above that were slowly dissapearing, showing the bright blue sky. "But I think you'll be way happier with this, Peko."

Hollow Knight OST- The White Lady

"Wake up, Siegfried-sama."

The soft wind entered from the gap of the window, passing through the warrior's face.

"Hmm.." The man gently turned his head to the other side, wanting to sleep for some more minutes.

"It's day already honey. Got to wake up." The female voice started to tease him. And it wasn't yhe only thing as the morning light also iluminated the warrior's bedroom. Or in this case, the couple.

"Let me...relax a bit more dear.." He said, enjoying the comfort of his bed and the sensation of having his eyes closed, ready to fall asleep again.

"Hehehe. The great Dragon Slayer as time for everybody but not for his own wife?" The man felt a soft and lovely hand caress his naked chest.

Seeing that she would poke him until he fully woke up, the man opened his eyes, being greeted by the sight of his lovely wife on top of him.

"Good morning, Siegfried-sama." She said with a lovely voice. Her skin being as white as snow with her equally greyish white hair and ice blue eyes. Altough it gave an impression of being a woman with could touch, her hand felt warm on Siegfried's body.

"Good morning Kriemhild." Siegfried put his hands on his wife naked back. "Had a good sleep?"

"Of course my love." Kriemhild kissed him on his forhead. "With you it's almost impossible to have bad dreams."

"Good to hear it honey." Siegfried returned the kiss Kriemhild gave him by kissing her back in the mouth. Kriemhild happily joined him.

Siegfried was a well known hero of not only his region but the neighbooring ones as well. The prince that defeated the evil dragon and bathed in his blood, turning himself invincible. Not only was he a powerful warrior, he was a generous and selfless individual, always granting favours and requests of nobles and common people. He was to everyone, the ideal image of a hero. A human being that would grant anyone's whishes, believing that's what a great hero would do. Siegfried eventually would met the king of the Burgundians and his beautiful sister, who he would marry later on as Kriemhild.

But he wouldn't have her hand until he done some favours to the king first in order to marry with Kriemhild. Siegfried heard how the king lusted over a queen of the far land of Iceland. With Siegfried's help, the king managed to bring the queen back to their land and have a double marriage, with Siegfried ending up as the husband of Kriemhild.

After that, the couple returned to the Dragon Slayer's hometown of Worms, where they were living an enjoying a happy life. Even married, Siegfried continued to help people and doing them favours, much to Kriemhild's objection.

The two broke the kiss apart. Kriemhild laid in bed next to Siegfried, covering herself with the blankets. "So what are your plans for today love?"

"Happy news, I'm totally yours for the entire day." Siegfried put his arm over his wife's shoulder.

"Kyaaa! I'm so happy to hear that Siegfried-sama!" Kriemhild blushed.

"But a blacksmith asked me to help him find some materials in a cave not so far from here to help him build a weapon. I'll be going tomorrow." Siegfried informed Kriemhild. The woman got immediatly displeased.

"And there goes the hero again. Why do you have to be so altruistic Siegfried?" She crossed her arms, looking with her eyes away from Siegfried, annoyed at her husband.

"But until then I'll have my time just for you Kriemhild." He touched her hair from behind. "Also I can't help but be like that. Isn't that the man you fell in love with?" He teased her and hugged her from behind.

Kriemhild couldn't help but to mellow her own dissatisfaction and let herself into her husband's embrace. "Hmm, you're right dear. But...there's a difference beetween helping and being used." She said.

"If the requests are noble and meant no harm or evil, I'll help the way I can." Siegfried replied with full honestly.

"You're an idiot Siegfried-sama." Kriemhild closed her eyes and exhaled. "But you are my idiot. A very kind one." She gently pushed her body against Siegfried's and the two cuddled.

"You know, I always think about the day were we left my family to come live here." Kriemhild said.

"It pains letting people you knew behind?" Siegfried asked.

"Not exactly that. Also my brother was always a bit of a jerk Being far from him during some time is a relief. However..." Kriemhild looked at the open window in front of her, seeing the white curtains balancing to the wind. "seeing the face of my brother's wife gives me a bit of a trouble. She seemed, uncomfortable. Like if she didn't feel okay to be with him. It honestly bothers me. I hope that idiot brother of mine is treating her well."

Siegfried didn't respond. His mind instead wandered off to something else. Something that wasn't a thing that would make the hero proud. "I-I think they just need time to know each other better Kriemhild. You'll see."

"Hmm. Perhaps is that."

A sound of a baby appeard in the room, catching the couple's attention. It came from a small nursery right next to their bed.

"Hehehe. Looks like someone is awake too." Kriemhild giggled and went next to the nursery, taking the baby into her arms. "Did you sleep well dear? Mommy and Daddy did."

The baby laughed happily, seeing his parents around in front of him. Kriemhild kissed the baby on the belly and took him in her arms, fanning them slowly.

Siegfried smiled, seeing how great of a wife and son he had. He was truly living a dream. Seeing Kriemhild and their son, was perhaps a bigger joy than his duty of helping someone.

Kriemhild turned her back around to stare at Siegfried, the light from the window shinning on her back, with the baby still in her arms. "Do you love this life, Siegfried?"

The Dragon Slayer smiled and stretched his arm to Kriemhild's face, touching her cheek. He had everything he wanted. How could he say that he wasn't satisfied with the life he had? "Yes, my love."

"I'm sorry Kriemhild. I threw everything to lose. I'm...really sorry...I thought this was the best way for all of us. For you..."

"Hagen, I need you to help me on something."

"You deserved more. And I left you with pain. Sorry Kriemhild. I'm so sorry...I'm not...the hero you wanted me to be..."

Present Day

"I...failed you..." Siegfried mumbled with his eyes closed.

"Ah! Everyone he's waking up!"

"Kriem..hild..." The man's eyes slowly opened up. His vision was greeted by a man in bronze armor and long brown hair.

"It looks like you were having a nice dream my friend." The saint knight Georgios commented.

Siegfried tried to get up but a shock on his nervous system stoped his advances.

"Please don't overdo it." Georgios warned him. "Your body is still recovering."

"Where am I?" He looked to his surroundings, only seeing trees around the two.

"With good people." Georgios answered as he saw Ritsuka, Mash, Peko and the other servants walk torwards them.

Jeanne D'arc, stepped to the front of the group, standing in front of Siegfried. "You're Siegfried, the man who killed the evil dragon Fafnir, am I correct?"

"Yes I am." Siegfried confirmed.

"Then we will need your help."

The day had passed has the group planed to attack the Dragon Witch's lair and put an end to this for good. Now it was the last night they had before the final confrontation. They took the time to relax and occupy their minds with other things. Jeanne was sitting on a tree branch, watching for minutes the fireplace of the accampment.

It reminded her of her death. Of how she accepted the way her life had ended. Or putting it better, how this part of her accepted it. The other one had raged and screamed in retaliation, promising vengeance on her return. That was the essence of Jeanne Alter. Using the flames of their death as a weapon for her rage and hate.

Jeanne sighed, wondering if her amter counterpart knew anything else besides the anger she was born with. To think she was actually a personification of Jeanne's restrained hate, was something that made the saint feel a bit guilty. In the end, she was the cause for why innocents were dying and suffering.

"Enjoying the warm fire, Maid of Orleans?" Georgios sit next to her, deciding to have a talk beetween the two saints.

"How's Siegfried doing?" She asked to him.

"All the curses on his body have vanished. By tomorrow he will be completely recovered." Georgios informed her.

"We where only capable of having him thanks to you Saint Georgios. I'm grateful for your help. Without you our chances of killing the evil dragon would be very slim." Jeanne thanked the action of Georgios healing the dragon slayer.

"No need for that Saint Jeanne D'arc. I'm just doing my job of what I think it's right. And the most right thing to do now would be to put an end to the Dragon Witch's tyranny." Georgios took out his sword, making sure it was well polished for tomorrow. The bronze knight noticed that Jeanne was a bit silent.

It was normal for people to don't be much talkative during a eve of a war. They would spent the night before the battle reflecting and thinking about their lives, their loved ones and what comes tomorrow, if it will be their last day or not. In Jeanne's case, Georgios could tell it was something to do in relation to the Dragon Witch.

"Does her existence troubles you, fellow saint?" Georgios asked kindly.

"Yes." Jeanne replied, looking apprehensively to the flames in front of her. Marie was gone. She couldn't make company to the Maid of Orleans no more. She felt a bit empty without her, the person she was more comfortable with to speak about her problems. But now she was no longer here. Marie wasn't here to filter Jeanne's frustration and fear.

"I can see why." Georgios speaked again. "To see an evil version of yourself must be quite shocking. Even more so of someone supposed to be a saint."

Jeanne hugged her legs and put her face close to her knees. "That's the problem. Throughout my whole life...I'd always made sure to never let negative feelings such as hate or anger take over me. I saw it as a sin. Feelings that the devil created to lead men and women astray. Even as I was being burned at the stake, I restrained all the rage inside of me, instead choosing to accept that my death was just how things were supposed to be."

"But your hate was strong enough to create a being on his own after you perished." Georgios commented.

"True. The existence of my alter is entirely at my fault. I decided to close the heart to it for my entire life, never wanting to acknowledge it. And now, it has become a physical manifestation of all the things I was holding back inside." Jeanne bit her lips. "So, the people that hate me arent entirely wrong for it. I'm the whole reason they are suffering now! What I swore to protect and save is being destroyed and killed because of me!" Her voice rised a bit.

"No need to depreciate yourself like that Jeanne D'arc!" Georgios stucked his sword on the ground. "You had no way to know your death would lead to all this. If anything, you tried your very best to help others no matter how they saw you. And this allience is the proof your still doing it."

"But what is done is done. The Dragon Witch has created too much suffering already. I don't know if the people of France will ever forgive me. And honestly I don't mind if I'll never have that forgivness. In the end, I really was never a saint." Jeanne giggled to herself. "I just saw how flawed I actually am during this Singularity"

"No one is truly a saint." Georgios said in a monotonus and calm tone. "It's a concept of a holy and perfect man, but we both know that the man is full of flaws and imperfection too, hence why I believe that the concept of 'saint' is unreacheble for beings like us." Georgios smiled as he looked at the sky. "After all, I'm one but also don't like to consider myself as a perfect man, uncapable of sin. I too know my flaws."

"Georgios..." Jeanne looked at him, hearing his words with attention.

"Hate and anger existences arent a sin by itself. They are merely human emotions that makes us whole." Georgios looked at Jeanne. "So listen, Jeanne D'arc, for I believe every saint has a past and every sinner has a future. Atonement is never out of reach for those who search for it."

Jeanne stood silent. What Georgios said was a thing she needed to hear. The Dragon Witch's existence may have been her fault, but she still could make things right. She wouldn't let hate take over her nor isolate it anymore. Instead Jeanne would learn how to accept it and moderate it. But first, she had to confront it tomorrow, remedy the mistake of having let it grow stronger and becime the identity she knew as the Dragon Witch, her alter.

"Thank you for those words, Georgios."

Mash walked nearby the treeline of the woods. She alongside Mozart had just finished eliminating a group of monsters nearby that threatned to attack the group. As the battle ended, Mash lost sight of Mozart. She noticed how the musician looked sad throughout the whole fight. Marie's death probably hit him the hardest.

It didn't took too much time for the shielder to spot Mozart sitting on a rock, surrounded by flowers that were gently moved by the wind. Mozart himself was inspecting his violin, veryfing the strings. Mash walked next to him. But then hesitated.

"Perhaps he only wants a moment alone. I should respect that." Mash then decided to turn around and let the Mozart to his own toughths and violin.

"Where are you going Miss Mash?"

Mash stopped as she heard the musician's voice calling her. She looked at Mozart who had now put down his violin and was looking to the Demi-Servant.

"I'd honestly enjoy a good company right now." Mozart smiled, inviting Mash to stay.

Seeing that he actually wanted to have someone to talk to, Mash did as requested and sit next to Mozart. The two looked at the flowers surrounding them. They were surely beautiful. Such natural beauty that was being ruined by the flames of their enemies. So many flowers like the ones they were seeing, were burned on this quest for revenge of the Dragon Witch.

"Do you miss her?" Mash asked about Marie to Mozart, even if she was aware it was a delicate subject. No words came from Mozart immediatly. The only thing he did, was too look at the trees in front of the two.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't meant to-"

"I had already griefed her the moment we separated from each other." Mozart talked.

"Huh? Do you mean that-"

"Yes. I prepared myself for the worst, that Marie possibly wouldn't be coming back after we went to our seperate way." Mozart told Mash, looking at her.

Mash passed her hand on the flowers. "You really loved her, didn't you?" It was no mystery for Mash that Mozart clearly loved Marie. And she'd bet the feeling was possibly mutual on Marie's side.

"She was a kind and sweet girl. The moments we passed together, will never fade in my mind. But I admit my love for music is still at first place." The musician smirked.

"So you'd prefer to love music than Marie?" Mash was a bit confused by Mozart statement.

"No,no. You didn't quite understand. What I meant is that we humans have very things that we can choose to love. Be it a person or a object, physical or not." Mozart tried to explain.

"How so?" Mash asked with curiosity.

"Every person has something to life for. Something that they love. Or someone. It's through that love that it makes us want to live and fulfill our lives to the fullest." Mozart smiled, picking up his violin. "What happened to Marie was tragic, but as long as my love for music remains, I'll keep on living. She would hate me if her death made me give up."

"So people want to live, because they have something of value in their lifes? Love is what makes humanity carry on?" Mash thinked about it.

"Yes. Love is one of the main reasons for wanting to live. Marie also had something to love, and I guarantee you she died happily for that love." Mozart picked a flower. "You too also have something or someone that you love, right Miss Mash?"

"What I love..." Mash looked at her life. Romani was one of the first people that came to mind. He was and still is a very good friend. The ever first friend to Mash and probably more than that. She also knew Da Vinci for a long time despite not as long as Romani. Mash considered her a good friend too. Ritsuka, Peko and Nala were more recent. She just knew the three of them a week ago, with her first time meeting Ritsuka being on the halls of Chaldea with him sleeping on the ground, being found by Fou. Still, of Mash could see of the first week she spent with Ritsuka, she could tell he was a good person at heart. The fact that he was just a simple nobody with no mage family background and still accepted the duty of saving the world was something that Mash admired of him.

As for the twins, Mash saw Peko as a kid that wanted to prove himself. That despite his nature and lack of magic, still would his very best to help them restore humanity and get his memories back. Nala was more hot headed than her brother, and even if she was rude to him when they arrived at this Singularity, Mash understood that Nala was actually scared of losing Peko. As also the stronger of the two, it was reasonable that she wanted to protect her brother at all costs. Her bit of hot temperament could be a problem but Mash saw that beyond that there was a girl who decided to help Chaldea willingly and protect her brother, so they find their father together. The shielder wouldn't rest until she and the others rescued her. She wouldn't let a friend behind. Mash wondered if that Peko and Nala sibling bond is the kind of love it makes a person want to live.

Mash concluded what these people were for her and smiled with her eyes closed. "I guess...I do have Mozart-san." She opened her eyes, to stare at the bright nightsky full of stars. "My friends. Chaldea. They're the ones I love and the ones I'll continue living for."

"Yes it's all good Doc. We're preparing to attack the Dragon Witch's castle tomorrow." Ritsuka was talking to Romani's hologram, giving the recent updates about their situation. "And how's Nala. Is she alright?"

"She's..." Romani stopped himself. He wasn't sure if he should tell Nala's situation to Ritsuka. Last time he saw her, Romani was helping Nala escaping the castle before the transmission got cut, so the doctor and Da Vinci didn't know if Nala had escaped or not. Right now, Nala status were unknown to both of them. "She's alright Ritsuka. Still as a prisoner of the Dragon Witch but she's managing to handle it quite well. I'll try to contact her to tell about your raid to the castle tomorrow."

"Good to hear that. Hope she holds on for a little longer. Tomorrow we will be sure to rescue her." Ritsuka told to Romani. The faster they'd free Nala the better. The master of humanity was sure that Mash and specially Peko were feeling the same.

"Fou, fou." Ritsuka sensed the fur of the creature touching his leg, as if Fou was trying to tell him something.

"What was it now Fou?" Ritsuka asked to the creature.

"Is he hungry perhaps?" Romani pondered.

"It can't be it. He has already eaten a few hours ago." Ritsuka croched down to see what Fou was trying to tell him. The animal as soon as he saw that, walked torwards a bunch of trees, pointing with his snout to the space beetween them.

"What do you want me to see Fou?" Ritsuka walked where the creature was pointing.

Reaching there, he saw Peko and Siegfried talking to each other.

The Dragon Slayer was sitting in a tree branch and listening to what Peko was trying to tell him.

"That Noble Phantasm of yours. That power, that magical energy. Your sword. I too wish to reach that level. I want to help in our fight tomorrow. I...I need to save Nala. I need to see my sister safe. So please, teach me how to fight in the short time we still have left." Peko said to Siegfried, almost begging to the man to be trained.

"Your motives are noble. I respect that." Siegfried responded to the boy. "But for what I sensed from you, there's almost no mana within your body."

"I-I know. I'm aware that I pale in those aspects when compared with actual servants like you. But after the fight with Saint Martha, I realized that perhaps my magic can have room to grow. If I become strong enough, I'll protect the ones I care about better, right?"

Siegfried understood Peko's feelings at that moment. That need to help others and feel useful was something that the Dragon Slayer knew all too well. But unlike him, the boy didn't had any combat experience and would hardly learn how to fight properly in a night. "Still, fighting is something that takes great amount of skill and technique, not only having great mana. What good would be to have powerful beams if you don't know how to use it? You won't defeat any enemy servant by just blasting small balls of lights or wielding a normal sword."

Peko didn't respond. He stood silent, knowing what Siegfried was saying was true. Learning how to wield a sword now wouldn't be of much help if it meant to fight an enemy servant tomorrow.

"Look, Peko, right?" Siegfried stood up from the tree branch and walked torwards Peko, putting an hand on his shoulder. "The fact alone that you ain't happy with yourself and want to improve in order to help us and your friends tomorrow is already a great act of you. However, we both know that training you right now with the little time we have left, wouldn't be enough. But hey, keep that mentality and I'm sure in the future you'll be strong enough to help the people you care about." Siegfried tried to console Peko.

"Sorry but..." Peko took Siegfried's hand out of his shoulder. "...I can't accept doing nothing to help all of you tomorrow." The boy said. "My friend, he has no mana, nothing. And still he's doing his best to save humanity and my sister. He made me see that being a person with no mana doesn't mean being weak."

"Peko..." Ritsuka heard the boy talking about him, noticing the tears appearing on Peko's face.

"I can't let someone who has no mana when compared to me, carry the kind of task he has all alone. So please, train me! I don't care if I dont improve that much for the battle tomorrow. Just teach me the basics!"

Siegfried was speechless. The insistence of this kid on being trained just so that he can help his friends was something admirable. "I-"

Ritsuka walked out of the trees, interrupting Siegfried from talking. "Peko!" He called out the boy.

"Huh? Ritsuka? You were listening?" Peko was surprised seeing that Ritsuka was hearing their conversation.

"Yes I was." Ritsuka put his hand on Peko's head.

"Oh!"

"Peko..." Ritsuka smiled largely, looking at his friend. "Let's defeat the Dragon Witch and rescue Nala together. I count you on that."

Hearing those words, made Peko cry some tears. Ever since the Singularity had begun, Ritsuka always trusted him, not caring about if he had any mana energy or not. "Hm!" He nodded, cleaning his teary eyes.

Romani's hologram was more in the back, looking at the two and then at Siegfried. "Guess you have no choice now, Mr Siegfries." He smirked at the Dragon Slayer eho just closed it's eyes and made a small smirk.

"Guess not." He looked at Peko in front of him. "Sorry Kriemhild. Guess my heroism is really contagious just like you said." Siegfried tought to himself. "If you want to be trained, then I will train you and teach you the best I can."

"Thank you, Siegfried-san." Peko thanked him.

"First, tell me if you can feel your mana flowing through your body." Siegfried instructed Peko.

"Well...I kinda feel it but not on my entire body. Only on my back and arms." Peko rised his right arm in front of him. "And since the day we fought against Saint Martha, my arm started to have a tingling sensation that won't stop. It's kinda bothersome."

"Strange. Is that the arm you used to summon that ball of light?" Ritsuka asked him.

"No. It was my other arm, and ever since then my right one hasn't stop tingling. It's as if I could feel my entire right arm's nervous system." Peko explained.

"Then it must be the mana flowing through your member." Romani commented. "Altough I never saw a magus report about the mana interfering with a nervous system of a person. Is it perhaps that there is more mana concentration on your right arm than the left one and back?" The doctor wondered.

"Hmmm, that's a possibility." Peko moved his right arm slowly, making an analysis.

"Then what about you concentrate your mind and mana in only that part of your body?" Siegfried proposed. "See if it leads to something."

"W-wait! Controling all of your mana into a specific part of your body wouldn't result into some kind of overload and...explosion of the member?" Ritsuka tried to say the last part as low as he could to Romani.

"W-WHAT?!" Peko said nervously, sweating into comically large amounts on his face.

"Nah, you can rest easy." Romani informed them. "It actually strenghtens that individual member. Per example, focusing all the mana into your arm would lead into a powerful punch, way more powerful than a normal one. The worst it can happen is a sudden shock on the nerves."

"So, you ready to do it?" Siegfried let Romani end his explanation to ask if Peko was ready to control his mana into his right arm.

"W-well, if I want to become stronger..." Peko said shyly.

"If you lose the arm, I tell Romani and Da Vinci to make you a robot one." Ritsuka joked.

"You're not helping!" Peko shouted. "But yes. Let's do it then."

"Good. Start by stretching your arm." Siegfried told Peko and the boy did as he was told.

The Colonel by Two Steps from Hell

"Now focus your mind into passing all your mana to the arm. No other toughts than that." Siegfried said.

"Understood." Peko closed his eyes. "Don't think of nothing else. Just the mana into your arm."

"Now visualize your magic energy, feel it. And concentrate all of it in your right arm." Siegfried told him.

"Visualize...my mana..."

A bright white light started to glow on Peko's right arm.

Romani and Ritsuka watched amazed, observing what was unfolding. Even Siegfried was curious.

"Canalize it...into my right arm..."

The light was getting brighter, soon to look like a powerful lamp.

"That shine..." Romani's eyes delighted of the vision he was seeing through his monitor.

"This mana feels...like something else..." Siegfried said to himself.

Peko slowly open his eyes. The area around them was now shinning immensly, the trees being so brightly iluminated that the animals that were sleeping in it woke up and retreated to the trees that were more far from the source of light. It was a shine that it could be seen from the distance if one were to look at it outside the woods.

"This..." Peko couldn't describe what was exactly happening to his right arm. He wasn't feeling the tingling sensation anymore in it, now instead feeling the arm as lightweight as it could.

The light started to shine so intensly now that forced Peko and the others to cover their eyes or else they would get blinded by it.

It's shine grew and grew stronger until it came to a stop and in a flash went back to diminuish it's size.

Feeling that it was now safe to open his eyes, Peko opened them, and was met by a surprising view in front of him. "This is..."

Ritsuka also opened his eyes, and saw the same thing that Peko was seeing. "Wow. Peko, that's your..."

Romani was seeing the same thing as well, in complete awe. "It's..."

"That weapon..." Siegfried commented, surprised. Never he tought that concentrating the boy's mana in his arm would lead to this.

In Peko's hand, stood a esplendid and lustrous silver-white sword. It's metal being as clean as crystal, emanating a small shine in the middle of the metal, as if it was forged by the cosmos itself. In the hilt, a silver angel wing had been carved into it, with white line patterns. Finally at it's pommel, a star shapped glass.

"This is, my sword?"

"So, you're telling me that brat escaped?" Jeanne Alter watched in a deadly silent the broken chain that used to restrain Nala's arms.

"Yes Jeanne. By the moment we took notice of that, she was already out of the castle and running away in the distance." Gilles who was with Jeanne Alter in what was previously Nala's cell, explained.

"Hmm I see." Jeanne Alter picked a piece of broken chain and stare at it closer. Not only the girl had destroyed the chain but she also destroyed the door of the cell. It was quite impressive she managed to do that.

"Hehehehe. What did I told you Gilles? She has talent." Jeanne Alter smiled at her friend as she playfully shaked the piece of metal in her hand, before she threw it at the torch on her side, completely breaking it and opening a hole on the wall. The fire of the torch fall next to her feet. Jeanne Alter then stare at Gilles with anger all over her face. "Talent to piss me off! Only when I'm away that stupid kid decides to show what she's capable of! Fucking hell! I come back with two defeated servants just to receive the news that the brat had escaped?! I don't know who I should hate more now, her or my saint version. Please Gilles, hand me that statue of the duck we saw or else I may destroy this whole fucking room!"

With the rant over, Jeanne Alter calmed herself, taking deep and long breaths, trying to control her anger. Gilles even sweated a bit by seeing how close his friend was about to burst into rage. "Don't worry my Jeanne. I'll do that for you. But unfortunately, I bring other bad news."

"What was it?" Jeanne Alter asked agressively and annoyed. She had enough of having problems for today.

"We've heard that our enemies plan to storm our base tomorrow. Now that they've got the Dragon Slayer, they believe the chances of defeating us and the dragon Fafnir are greater than ever." Gilles informed, bowing to Jeanne Alter. "What shall we do Jeanne?"

"Inform the others and get ready for the battle tomorrow." Jeanne Alter stepped on the small flames. "They are welcome to try. In the end, I'll kill them all alongisde this country."

To be continued...

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author.

"Fou, fou."

"Hmmm..." Peko turned his whole body to the other side as he felt the creature touching his head, wanting to go back to sleep.

Not giving up, Fou bumped his head into Peko's back.

"Hhhrgh. What was it Fou?" Peko opened one of his eyes, turning his body around to face the creature.

"Fou fu!" Fou continued to make his noises as he pointed to the entrance of the tent where Ritsuka stood, taking a deep breath before stepping out into the sunlight.

"It's time then.." Peko looked at himself, at his own right hand, thinking about what happened on the night of yesterday. "I'll try and do my best to help." He closed his hand. "I'll be there soon enough Nala! Just wait a little more."

The boy got up from his improvised bad and with Fou, was ready to exit the tent. Before going out, Peko took a quick look at the inside of the tent. He could feel the heart bumping on his chest, feeling extremely nervous for what would happen today. Trying to ignore it, Peko opened the tent's curtains and stepped out, going to the camp outside.

"Alright Siegfried. Your job will be solely on defeating Fafnir. Only release your Noble Phantasm when engage in a fight with the dragon." Jeanne was in the table of the accampment, giving instructions to Siegfried as the rest also were sitting on the table listening.

Peko, not wanting to interrupt Jeanne's explanation, just walked to the table to take a seat.

However, Elizabeth spotted him while the rest was more focused on Jeanne. "Hi Peko! Had a good sleep?" She asked with a smile on her face.

By consequence, everyone else proceeded to greet him as well.

"Is it true what I've heard boy? You summoned your very own sword at the night of yesterday?" Mozart asked curious.

"Wait! So that means you're capable of fighting now?" Kiyohime was the next one to ask. "It would be good."

"No pressure on him Kiyohime." Siegfried told her. "He just learned how to summon it yesterday. I teached him some basics but it win't make him now a master of swordsmanship."

"Either way, that's good to know Peko." Jeanne smiled to the boy. "Hope you become a great fighter with your sword."

"Hum t-t-thank you all but it's nothing that out of the extraordinary." Peko blushed a bit.

"You were there with Peko-san when that happened weren't you Senpai?" Mash looked at Ritsuka.

"Yes I was. And let me tell you. That sword was anything but vulgar." Ritsuka tried to describe Peko's sword to Mash.

Elizabeth's curiosity grew largely. "Woooo. It's sounds cool." She looked at Peko. "Can you show it for us?"

"Humm, I..." Peko still wasn't perfectly good at summoning his sword, so he wanted to refuse politely.

"No need to put pressure on the boy now." Georgios told to Elizabeth. "If he doesn't feel like showing it to us now then we should respect that."

Feeling the weight coming off of his shoulders thanks to Georgios, Peko took a seat beetween Mash and Ritsuka, with Fou sitting on the top of the table.

"So that light was coming from the weapon you summoned Peko?" Mash leaned whover to ask in a whispering tone to the boy.

"Wait! You saw the light too?" Peko asked a bit surprised.

"Everyone here around the forest saw it. It shined too brightly." Mash said. "And then when you were asleep, Ritsuka and the Doctor told me and the rest about how you got your own sword."

"Well, not like there was a reason for keeping it a secret from you all." Peko felt a bit bad about not telling them about his weapon yesterday. "I was just too tired and wanted to sleep."

Mash giggled. "I know. Ritsuka also told me you begged for Siegfried-san to train you."

Peko then stared at Ritsuka with a mean look. "Did you really had to tell her everything?"

Ritsuka brought his arms up in self defence. "Hey! Mash wouldn't stop bothering me to give her more details."

"There's no problem in that Peko." Mash put an hand on the boy's head. "Hearing that you don't want us to do this all alone as the reason to become stronger is really sweet of you. You have my appreciation." She smiled at Peko.

"You have mine too." Ritsuka gave Peko a slap on the back.

Peko couldn't help but smile in return. "Thanks. Both of you."

The three then went to pay attention on Jeanne's attention for their assault on Dragon Witch's castle.

"The enemy clearly as the upper hand when it comes to numbers. But I can say that each servant here can take out at least 10 wyverns alone without problem." Jeanne looked at everyone from the group. "We also have to take into account the servants of the enemy side. See the advantages and disadvantages that they can have."

Elizabeth then put her hand in the air.

"Yes Elizabeth? Have something to say?" Jeanne gave permission for Elizabeth to talk.

"If anything, can I be allowed to fight that assassin woman? She's my older self after all." Elizabeth said with a motivated fire in her voice.

"You sure Elizabeth?" Jeanne rised one eyebrow up.

"Of course I am! Who would know me better than myself after all huh?" Elizabeth exclaimed. "I can take care of that old hag!"

"I doubt if you could do it alone." Kiyohime said to Elizabeth who just gave a small grunt in response.

"Fine. I'd say you have the arguments fkr wanting a fight with that specific enemy." Jeanne said. "What's one of the most important things here is to eliminate Fafnir." The saint looked at Siegfried. "How's your weapon Dragon Slayer?"

"It's good and charged to it's fullest, ready to release it's powerful Noble Phantasm when the time comes." Siegfried replied.

"Good to know. And another important objective is..." Jeanne looked at Peko sitting in front of her. "...to rescue an ally that is trapped in the castle in her current situation. I already saw her fighting skills with the sword. Saving her would be a great addiction to our side if she finds herself to be capable of fighting if we manage to rescue her."

Jeanne sounded like a general giving orders. After all she was also one during the war. With the beautiful figure and benevolent nature, it was sometimes common to forget she was also a leader of an army and already had quite the experience on the battlefield. Everyone would listen to her instructions, given that they were coming from the mouth of a legendary warrior.

"I hope you're still holding on Nala." Peko let himself to stop hearing Jeanne's words to think on his sister for a second. But as of now, Peko could only wonder what was happening to Nala and if she was well or not. If she was sleeping, being fed at all. Concerns that he wanted a response immediatly. A positive response in this case. "I'm coming Nala. We are all coming for you!"

"Yaaaaaaaawn." Nala woke up while she stretched her arms the best she could. Looking at the barricated window, she saw the sunlight passing through it. "It's morning already."

After escaping from the castle, Nala and the horse she used to help her escape had fled so far away until the animal got tired and couldn't keep running anymore. Thankfully for both of them, they had found a hut near a riverside, wich Nala, already tired and sleepy for not being able to rest for 2 days now, decided to spend the night there. The girl had hit the jackpot, seeing how the inside of the hut was in good conditions and a large bed for her to sleep in. But first she had lured the horse inside the hut, to prevent the animal of getting killed or stolen at night, and then Nala barricated the windows and main door with the furniture. Finally, she could close her eyes and sleep under a roof that didn't felt menacing to her.

Jumping back to the present, Nala was taking out the furniture of the main door and once done, the girl slowly opened it, in alert of possible monsters nearby. As the seconds passed and no sign of hostility came, Nala felt safe to step out of the hut, being accompained by the horse.

The two went to the riverside. The horse to drink and Nala to wash her face. The water was clean and quite transparent. Nala sinked her hands in the water and poured it in her face. It was refreshing.

Letting out a satisfying sigh, Nala looked at her own reflex in the water. She touched her hair to see if it was alright. "Hmm, have to tie it again."

With a dark blue ribbon in her hand, Nala went with her hands to the back of her head and tied the hair with the blue ribbon into a ponytail. "Much better." Nala said to herself as she checked her ponytail into the reflection.

As she went to see the horse, Nala noticed how it wasn't besides her anymore. The horse wasn't nowehere to be seen. "Where-"

A high pitched noise came from behind the hut.

"Keep it quiet you stupid animal!"

Sensing that the horse was in danger, Nala runned to the back of the hut, finding the horse's lead being pushed by a lone soldier's hands. Behind him there two corpses of a man and woman. Possibly the couple and inhabitants of this hut.

"You..!" Nala summoned her sword, ready to fight.

The soldier, seeing Nala with her weapon, immediatly tried to difuse the situation he put himself in. "W-wait! You got it wrong! This couple was long dead before I arrived here! I didn't killed them!" The soldier let out the grip of the horse's lead by instinct.

Seeing it, the horse returned back to Nala, who lowered her sword, seeing that the man was trying to be peaceful with her. Giving a deeper look at the bodies, she saw that their state was already rotting, clearly making some days since they died. So the soldier was speaking the truth.

"Alright. I believe that. Yet, you tried to steal my horse." Nala pointed accusatorily to the soldier.

"Excuse me? Your horse? Don't you see the armour and mantle it's wearing ?" The soldier referred to the horse's equipment. "The horse is from the army! It belongs to us! So I was just trying to get it back."

"That's..." Nala tried to find a way to reply to the soldier, but realized she had none. "...a good argument actually."

"You bet it is. Perhaps you are the one who steal the horse from us! You little thief!" It was now the soldier's turn to accuse Nala.

"What?! No I'm not! The horse here helped me escape!" Nala replied angrily.

"Escaped from what exactly?" The soldier asked, waiting for the answer.

That's when Nala gulped. He wouldn't believe, would he? "Well hum...I...I escaped from the Dragon Witch's castle with the help of the horse!" Nala said it almost in a hurry.

The soldier stood silent, not knowing if what he heard was true or just a lie from a kid. "What did you said?"

"That's right! You've hear it loud and clear! I escaped from the Dragon Witch's castle!" Nala repeated, this time with more assertiveness.

Without saying nothing, the soldier walked torwards Nala, his face completely shocked. He kneeled to look Nala in the eyes and grabbed her shoulders. "Child..." He said, completely open mouthed. "Are you saying the truth? D-did you really escaped from that cruel woman's lair?"

Nala nodded with full certainty.

The soldier stood up and looked to the other way, hand covering his mouth, clealry thinking about something.

"Does he belive it or not?" Nala watched with curiosity the man walking right and left in front of her. He truly was having a debate with himself inside.

A few seconds after, the man finally stopped his feet and stared at Nala. "Care to come with me?" He simply asked.

Nala looked at him with suspicion. "I don't know. Is it a trap?" She slightly raised her sword, showing the soldier that it wouldn't be an easy job if he wanted to fool her.

"No it's not. I sware for my life and my children!" The man backed himself up.

Nala lowered her weapon again. "You have kids? You're a fath- I mean, ok then! Where are you taking me?"

"To an outpost of our army. My general is there alongside other soldiers too." The man revealed to Nala, starting to walk away from the hut. "Make sure the horse is coming too please." He requested.

Nala complied and followed the man with the horse on her side.

Walking into the woods, Nala noticed a small shine in the soldier's pockets. It seemed to be a necklace of silver and two golden rings. She tought back to the dead couple at the hut. She couldn't believe that the man in front of her had just done that.

"It's wrong to steal from people you know?" She looked displeased at the soldier's back.

"I know. However they were dead." The man said almost coldly. "These items mean nothing to them anymore. It loses the value once you're dead."

"And what are you going to do with those then? This country is being destroyed by the Dragon Witch and I don't think even some jewels could make her forget about the whole revenge thing." Nala tought what the soldier was doing was out of greed.

"I'm just trying to make a small fortune so that my wife and kids can escape from here and go to another region far away from France." The soldier explained his actions for looting dead bodies.

"Looks like I judged him wrong then."" Nala tought to herself, feeling a bit guilty now for thinking this man was nothing but a thief. "If you what are saying is true, then I wish you good luck."

"Thank you little girl." The soldier replied back. "I'll make sure my family gets saved from this mess" The soldier pushed away some tree brenches. "Also, do you have someone you're looking for? A child like you must have a family."

"Oh, well I do have people that I'm looking for." Nala thinked about Peko, Ritsuka and Mash.

"Then I hope you can find them. It's lucky to have people you care about alive at this moment. Not many have that luck now." The soldier said, making a sudden signal for Nala to stop. "We've arrived." The man made another signal as the two and the horse were now standing in front of some gates. The soldier made another signal, being received by the doors opening.

Nala walked in, guiding the horse to the entrance. Inside, they were received by some soldiers. As the soldiers were about to take the horse away from Nala, the animal shaked his body a bit agressively, not wanting to leave Nala's side.

Seeing this, Nala decided to calm the animal. "It's okay. They won't hurt you." She patted the creature's face. "Thank you for helping me escape. You're a good boy. You can go with them."

With Nala's words calming the horse, the animal believed in the girl and allowed to be taken by the soldiers of the acampment.

"You seem to be good with that horse." The soldier who came with Nala said. "Now this way. I bet the general will be intrested in hearing about your feat."

The two walked inside the acampment, reaching nearby a tent where a man with dark hair was discussing some tacticts with other soldiers on a table.

"General Gilles de Rais!" The soldier called the man's name.

Hearing the name, Nala immediatly got chills down her spine. "Wait!? Did he just said what I think he said?"

The dark haired man, hearing his name being called, dismissed the soldiers surrounding him and turned his back to look at who had called him. "So you're back from your little expedition." He said.

"This voice!" Nala exclaimed inside, trying to not get in panic.

"Tell me.." the general stared in the eye of his man. "What did you find?"

"It's...him?" Nala found it strange. He had the same voice as Jeanne Alter's friend but his face looked normal, as if he was a different version from the wicked man she saw at the castle.

Gilles de Rais looked at Nala. "You've brought a girl here. Is she lost?" He asked with concern, making Nala even more confused. This Gilles de Rais acted very differently from the other one.

"I found her near a riverside General." The man speaked. "She told me she had escaped from the Dragon Witch's castle with the help of one of our horses."

"W-what?" Gilles de Rais said dumbfounded. He looked again at Nala, trying to imagine how a girl like her managed to escape from that horrible place. "Wait! I think I've heard of you before."

"You've...heard?" Nala asked shyly, thinking if this Gilles de Rais was actually a disguise of the real one and was about to reveal himself now that he caught Nala.

"Yes. Some of my soldiers have told me about you. A white haired girl that helped them in a battle a week ago." Gilles de Rais said. "It's a pleasure to see that you're real and not a myth that was invented to keep our hopes up." He extended his arm to Nala. "I'm the general Gilles de Rais. And you little lady?"

Nala didn't know if she should shake hands with him despite his good person behaviour. Romani and Da Vinci were right if this was the normal Gilles de Rais before Jeanne D'arc's death. To make him go for this noble knight to that monster...

A sound came from Nala's stomach, catching Nala herself off guard. She hadn't eaten for quite some time now and was getting hungry.

"It seems you haven't had some food for a while." Gilles de Rais noticed it. "Here." He grabbed a bread that was lying on the table. "You can eat it."

Nala, not sure if she could completely trust him but with huge hunger, took the bread out of the general's hand and started to devour it like an animal.

Gilles de Rais and the soldier were surprised and speechless by Nala's action, who looked at the general with fierce eyes while chewing the food.

"Gulp! Thank you." Nala said. "I guess I can trust you. So, I'll share with you the things I saw on that castle."

With the things ready and packes, the group being led by Jeanne was now on it's way to the Dragon Witch's castle, ready to end her mad revenge for once and for all. For the Chaldea trio, this would be the biggest fight they've been so far. And it would be an understatement to to say they weren't nervous.

"Hmm.." Peko could feel his hands trembling. They wouldn't stop. He had a sword now, so it was expected he'd help his group more now. Altough Peko felt somewhat happy for finally having the opportunity to fight the responsability was also bigger now.

Looking at Ritsuka who was at his side, he caught glimpses of sweat on his ching and neck. Like him, Ritsuka was also nervous about the fight, having the bigger role of being the master and leader of the Chaldean group.

It was understandable, the conversation they had with Siegfried the night before, made them see how serious this fight would be.

"Hahaha. I did it! Ritsuka look! I have my own sword!" Peko happily stared at the sword he recently got.

"I see it! It's incredible Peko!" Ritsuka went to hug Peko, feeling joy over the boy's achivement.

"Haha-Oh! Woooh!" Peko let the grip on his sword get soft for a second and the boy immediatly felt all the weight of the weapon going down, trying to still hold it with Ritsuka's help but the sword ended up falling from his hand nontheless.

"Careful! That is not a toy!" Romani scolded the two, mainly Peko.

"Sorry doctor." Peko apologized.

"What he is saying is true." Siegfried said as he approached the sword on the ground. "Weapons like this can cause huge destruction." As Siegfried tried to pick up the sword, the weapon gave a small shock on the dragon slayer's fingers. "Ggrgh!"

"Siegfried-san! Are you alright?" Peko asked him.

"I'm fine. No need to worry. Looks like this sword only let's get carried by it's wielder." Siegfried said.

"Really? Now that's intresting." Romani said as he watched Peko picking the sword up from the ground, this time having a tighter grip on his arms. It was clear this was the first time the boy had ever wielded a blade.

Siegfried started to talk again "As I was saying, you now have to be careful and learn how to use it. A weapon like that is your greatest ally. Handle it well and you'll defeat many opponents with it in the future."

"T-thanks Siegfried-san." Peko was still trying to adjust to the sword's weight.

"Can I make a question for you then Siegfried?" Ritsuka asked.

"Sure. Go ahead." Siegfried said.

"This doubt, has been haunting me...even before we came to this Singularity. Perhaps, ever since I was designated to carry out this order." Ritsuka looked at Siegfried. "Will I see many people dying on our journey?

"Ritsuka..." Peko said with a bit of shock in his voice while Siegfried didn't replied immediatly, knowing that the master of humanity still had things to say.

"It's that, before arriving here, a person that I knew and sympathyzed even if it was for a short time died in front of me, and I couldn't do nothing. Now Marie has died too and I know there was no way I could've done something but...still, another person I considered a friend is dead. So please, tell me if I'll watch other people die as I go further in this journey!" Ritsuka almost shouted, frustrated at himself.

"Yes, you will." Siegfried answered with all the honesty he could, not trying to sugarcoat it. "It's sad to see someone die. No one likes seeing the death of a person that they care about. But there will be times on your journey that you won't be able to proceed or survive without someone else sacrificing their life for you. Yet, you two can't let that fact bring you down. Marie has died because she believed by putting her life on the line, we would be able to take down the Dragon Witch. Her sacrifice is what allowed Georgios to arrive in time to heal me of the curses and also saved hundreds of citizens that day. She went out like a hero in order for us to succeed. Many allies that you'll find across your path to humanity's salvation will do that. Perhaps even tomorrow."

Ritsuka and Peko were both silent, knowing what the Dragon Slayer was saying was true.

"Wich also makes me go to another point about your sword Peko." Siegfried looked at the boy. "You probably can figure it out what it is."

And he was right. It didn't took a long time for Peko to know what Siegfried was talking about. "I'll...I'll have to kill the enemies with my sword, right?" He said sadly. Peko never tought he'd have to do it. But as Siegfried said, this sword could also be a mighty weapon of destruction and killing.

Siegfried approached the boy and grabbed his two shoulders. "Don't be sad like that. Understand that your opponents want to kill you. So you have no other choice but to fight back and kill them as well. I know you're just a kid but now you'll have to fight for your life with this sword, even if it means taking another's life."

The dragon slayer then looked at Ritsuka. "I want both of you to know this. Killing is wrong, however, if it's to protect yourself and the ones you love against people that mean to harm you and the people you hold dear, then killing is justified. Tomorrow on the battle, prepare your hearts for what can happen. Be ready for the worst but also push it for the best. Understood?"

"Understood!"

"Understood!"

Both said in unison.

"To protect the people I love..." Peko tought about that line, not hearing Mash calling him out.

"Peko! Are you hearing?" Mash touched him by the shoulder, getting the boy's attention.

"Huh? What is it Mash?" Peko asked, not hearing what she was talking about before.

"You're nervou arent you? I saw your hands slightly shaken." Mash said a bit concerned.

"!" Peko didn' want to admit it. Not now when they were on their way to a decisive battle.

"It's okay if you are. You and Senpai arent the only ones." Mash smiled, comforting Peko. "I too am a bit nervous to be honest."

"Sorry Mash. It's that...if it goes wrong? What if we die and-"

"Those are just "ifs" Peko." Mash responded. "Nothing his decided yet. We need to stay optimistic and believe in the victory. Only that and doing our best will give us the victory. It's normal to be nervous before a moment like this. However do not let that bring your hopes down." Mash told him. "You too Senpai."

The shielder touched Ritsuka's hand as the master heard his name being mentioned. "You're doing a good job as a master so far. Don't let the pressure of that role affect you."

Ritsuka turned his head. "Mash, I...You're right, I'm not being a good master if I spend the time having fear of a battle. I need to be better than this. Or else we won't save Nala. She's counting on me." Ritsuka stared at both Mash and Peko. "She's counting in all of us. So as a member of this group, we have to rescue her!"

The reaction of Mash and Peko was of a smile, now being more optimistic on the fight ahead.

"I couldn't have said it better myself." Jeanne voice from behind caught Ritsuka's attention. The french saint was standing there with all the other servants behind her, all ready and confident for the battle that awaited them. "We will bring the Dragon Witch down. For Marie and every french citizen that has suffered." She stretched her arm to Ritsuka. "So heads up my master. This is a battle to reclaim humanity's future!"

"I see you're all here and ready." Jeanne Alter said with scorn, sititng in the throne and looking at her servants that were about to enter the battle. "Altough some of you are looking different now."

And it was true. Archer was still corrupted with the same pitch black eyes and broken state she was in. However she wasn't the oy one broken now.

Sanson after his battle with Marie was mentally devastated, not having a will to fight anymore. So Jeanne Alter and Gilles forced him to continue fighting for them through Gilles unholy and corrupted magic and now the executioner was in the same state as the archer. And then there was D'eon who was just as broken as the other two, altough no influence of Gilles magic on their body. After hearing the news from their master that Marie had died, they completely snapped, the elegant appearence of the musketeer now all messed up. The sanity all three had, even if put together was most likely zero.

Vlad, Carmilla and the recent knight Berserker on the other hand were still the same, no changes detected on their body or mind. Gilles was standing beside his friend.

"That doesn't matter however. Your body and mind even if twisted and screwed up, will still fight for me and obey me, as I'm your master. And as your master I-"

"Dragon Witch, what exactly are you?"

"Ah!" Jeanne Alter's body recoiled slightly as she put an hand on her forhead.

"Jeanne! What happened?" Gilles asked concerned for his friend.

"It was nothing Gilles." Jeanne Alter responded. "Just a jolt of my nervous system. She tried to appease the situation. Deep inside that line from Marie was still messing with her. And it was so annoying for the Dragon Witch, like something that was stuck inside her head, bothering her but couldn't be removed.

"Ok Jeanne. Sorry for getting worried for no reason." Gilles apologized.

"It's okay Gilles. I don't blame you." Jeanne Alter proceeded to continue her talk. "Our enemy is now coming to our doorstep, trying to put a end to my revenge. That witless saint thinks she can stop our thirst for destruction and blood. Let's give her and her equally foolish companions a final lesson of who we are and what is our purpose. Go to the front gates!" Jeanne Alter raised her voice. "All the wyverns are already outside! Make sure to have no mercy and drown them in their own blood!"

With that, all the servants dissapeard from the throne room, leaving Jeanne Alter and Gilles alone. "And if by any chance that bratty girl appears again." Jeanne Alter's hand lit up on fire. "I'll make sure to mark her for ever." She closed her hand into a fist, extinguishing the flames.

"Jeanne" Gilles called her, now standing on the balcony's entrance. "They've arrived."

Getting up from the throne, Jeanne Alter walked to the balcony to see for herself. Outside, Fafnir was resting on the tower next to the balcony, waiting for any orders from the Dragon Witch.

From the distance, Jeanne Alter spotted them. Her enemy and other part of her across the big deserted field that had been cleaned up from the bodies in order to start the battle. "So you really came eh? Good." Jeanne Alter took out her flagpole and let it waggle in the air. "This will be your grave."

From the other side of the field, Jeanne D'arc stood tall alongisde her allies, all focused in the enemies and castle ahead of them, also noticing the countless army of wyverns in the sky, almost covering the grey clouds above. It certainly difficulted their job.

"Ready?" Jeanne looked to her allies, all of them nodding and giving the confirmation they were good to go.

Jeanne then took out her flagpole, looking at the balcony on one of the highest towers of the fortress, knowing that her alter counterpart was there, targeting her eyes on Jeanne's face.

Jeanne Alter, seeing that Jeanne was looking at her from the distance smirked evily. "It's time." Jeanne Alter raised her hand and lowered it, being followed by Fafnir's roar. It had started.

"Go now! Attack!" Jeanne Alter shouted to her army of wyverns who immediatly descended from the sky, heading torwards Jeanne's group.

"Move forward!" Jeanne also shouted and pointed the flagpoint to the castle ahead, resulting in the servants starting their assault.

"Devour them! Make sure no one is left alive! I'll burn you..."

"Stick together and be careful for any attacks from above! We must reach to the castle and stop the..."

"Maiden of Orleans!"

"Dragon Witch!"

To be continued...

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author.

"Everyone, watch out each other's backs and be careful with attacks from above!" Jeanne warned her allies as she runned in front of the group into the battlefield. The saint spotted a wyvern approaching them, ready attack the saint with it's claws. Jeanne quickly drawn out her sword and with a big jump she reached to the creature's neck and cut it with eficiency, killing the monster.

"Wow. That was, really incredible." Peko said. He wondered if he too could get the same swordsmanship as Jeanne and Siegfried had.

"Here comes another one!" Siegfried dodged from the strike of another wyvern and like Jeanne, Siegfried cut the giant lizard's neck flawlessly.

"And they won't stop coming!" Mozart watched three other wyverns to descend the sky, aiming their sharp theets to the group. The one on the front went to Mozart while the two behind went after Elizabeth and Kiyohime. All the three servants managed to dodge the blows.

"Tsk! They are really annoying!" Kiyohime launched a blast from her fan, reaping apart one of the wyverns neck.

"You tell me!" Elizabeth blasted her attack at the the third wyvern's neck, killing it too.

But as they were defeated, another group was already arriving. At this pace, they will be long dead before reaching to the main gates of the castle. The wyverns probably couldn't kill the servants but made sure to slow them down. With so many wyverns in the sky, it would only be a matter of time before Jeanne and her allies succumb to many attacks. And Jeanne Alter knew it well.

"At this rate we will never make it!" Peko told the others as he stayed close to Ritsuka, this time with his sword in hand. He had to watch for any signs of wyvern near them. Now with a weapon, he could at least protect Ritsuka and himself in the battle, while Mash would go more to the front altough not by a long distance, in case Peko had difficulties in a fight.

"Mash be careful!" Ritsuka shouted to his shielder as he saw a wyvern approaching Mash from above.

"Copy that!" Mash replied and quickly dodged from the attack. "Ah!" She bashed her shield into the wyvern's head, killing it. "They seem endless!" She commented, watching more wyverns coming to them from the sky.

"There must be at least a thousand of them!" Peko said, trying to figure more or less the number of their enemies.

"And we just killed 6 so far!" Ritsuka commented before hearing Georgios sword cutting a wyvern's neck.

"Seven." He corrected the master of humanity.

"So we just have to defeat 900 more!" Siegfried pointed his sword at the enemjes above.

"That's the spirit!" Jeanne told him. "However, be sure that your Noble Phantasm-"

"I'll do as planed. Don't worry Miss Jeanne D'arc." Siegfried replied.

"Here they come!" Mozart pointed out the next group of wyverns. They were 20 now. It would be difficult but not impossible. However, everyone doubted if they could keep going if several wyverns attacked them at once.

Nontheless, they had to keep moving. All of them continued in their battle positions as a new wave was about to come closer to them. If they fall, they would fall fighting.

"Now! Fire!"

A flying flaming rock hit the middle of the wyvern's group, killing some of them as well as chase away the rest, tottaly canceling their attack.

Everyone was surprised by what just happened.

"Who's done that?" Elizabeth looked around.

"The voice I just heard..." Jeanne closed her hand into a fist. "There is no doubt." She smiled happily and turned her body around, looking at the top of the peripheral zone of the crater.

From it appeard a giant line of soldiers and catapults, all aiming and shooting at the wyverns in the sky. A bit on front, stood a man in his silver armour, giving the orders to the rest of the soldiers.

"Keep on shooting the wyverns! Let's make way for our fellow countrywoman and her allies! This is our biggest assault yet as well as our biggest chance to take the Dragon Witch down! Failing is not an option here! All of France depends on us! Now keep firing men!" He yelled at his men who screamed in unison.

Jeanne giggled foundly. "Thank you for the help, Gilles."

"Wow! They really got all those reinforcements!?" Ritsuka was amazed by how many numbers the army had. "They surely are giving their all here."

"And we should do ours too Senpai." Mash said. "If they won't give up neither shall we."

"Well said Miss Kyrielight." Georgios looked at the castle in front of them. "We should go now! Take the chance now that the path is open while they distract the wyverns!"

Without saying anything, the rest nodded to Georgios words and proceeded to run to the main gates of the castle.

"Fire!" Gilles de Rais ordered and the catapult next to him fired another burning boulder that hit with accuracy on another group of wyverns. The general was liking the results of their surprise attack. They were managing to damage seriously the enemy army.

"I have to thank you." Gilles de Rais looked at the horse behind him, directing his words to Nala who was sitting on top of the horse. "The fact that you came back alive from the Dragon Witch's castle made many of the soldiers rise their hopes up and rejoin the army."

"Well I was just trying to survive, but thanks anyway." Nala replied, preparing to enter on the crater with the horse.

"So it's true that the Dragon Witch also has this group of powerful people working for her?" Gilles de Rais asked Nala, veryfing the buckles of the horse.

"Yep. And only Jeanne D'arc and other powerful people like her can defeat them, so you better keep your soldiers just on this line shooting the wyverns."

"I'll make sure to not get heavy losses today. One time was already enough!" Gilles de Rais raised his voice a bit.

Nala couldn't help but to find admirable this general's dedication. It was almost hard to believe he and that unhinged caster person were the same person. "That's the spirit sir General! Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go down there to help them!"

"Understood! Good luck and may God be with you!" After Gilles wished Nala good luck, the girl made a signal to her horse. The animal immediatly started to descend the crater, running torwards it's center where the castle was. Nala was totally focused in reaching to the group ahead of her.

"I'm on my way Peko."

At the front gates of the castle, the Dragon Witch's servants watched patiently the french army fighting with the wyverns while the main group was running in their direction in the distance.

Vlad sighed as he slowly fanned his cup of glass. "It's actually sad that you and I ended up being the only ones who can speak coherently now. It makes the things a bit more lonely."

Carmilla groaned lowly in return. "I'll have to agree with you on that. Having only your voice to hear in the middle of this group of broken people pains me alot. Hope you at least bite the dust here so that I won't have to hear you no longer." She said coldly, being direct torwards the other vampire.

"Well, I'd say we are all broken already. Some more than others." Vlad drunk all the blood from his glass. "Not bad as I initially tought." He smirked before letting it fall on the ground and breaking it to pieces. "But now it's not the time to moan and lament our current situation! It's time for me and you, Carmilla, to show why history remembers us as vampires!"

Vlad summoned his spear, sticking it on the ground. "Let's see if they are whorty of my lance."

Carmilla giggled. "Right. I have a score to settle after all. And I'd say it's finally time to deal with it." She spotted the enemy group running in their direction, getting closer to the gates. "Hehe. New blood has arrived Vlad." She summoned an iron coffin behind her. "And my iron maiden is hungering for it."

"There! The gates aren't that far away!" Peko told the rest as they were seeing the path in front of them leading to the castle's gates.

Ritsuka turned his head to Mash. "Do you believe the Dragon Witch is inside?"

"She is. The doctor confirmed that her presence is in the castle just before we arrived here." Mash replied to her master. "So in the end we'll just have to fight her and defeat her."

"That's too optimistic. It won't be that easy." Georgios looked behind, telling the trio of what he tought about the task of defeating the Dragon Witch.

"Georgios is right." Jeanne said, still running. "She must be as skillful as I am. Expect anything but an easy battle."

As Ritsuka was hearing Jeanne, he noticed something above them.

"Watch out!" He warned his allies.

In the sky, the big black dragon Fafnir had decided to join the battle and attack the group.

His giant wings expanded, covering big part of the battlefield. Fafnir decided next to spit a destructive fire with his mouth, setting in flames the territory below the dragon.

His deadly breath was in Jeanne's group direction.

"Everyone! Dodge!"Jeanne insteucted to her groul as she jumped out of the incoming flames way.

The servants all dodged with success and Ritsuka and Peko managed to also avoid the flames with the help of Mash and her shield that protected them while they'd get out of the blast direction. Everyone ended up being okay.

"Mash! You okay?" Ritsuka asked his servant since blocking a blast from Fafnir wasn't a small thing.

"Yes I am master. No problems." She assured Ritsuka

"Fafnir.." Siegfried stood up from the ground and stared at the dragon he onced slayed. "We meet again." He prepared Balmung and his Noble Phantasm.

"If there's a chance to defeat that dragon it's now Siegfried!" Mozart shouted to the dragon slayer.

"I know." Siegfried said to Mozart without looking at him. "And that's what I came here to do. It seems to be fate that makes me slash this beast again." He started to charge his sword.

"Get ready Siegfried! Wait for when he approaches us again!" Jeanne advised him as they watched Fafnir making a lap and turn around, ready to spit fire on them for a second time.

Siegfried stood right in front of the dragon's vision, looking at the creature in y

the eyes. Fafnir was still a bit far away. It needed to get closer. But thankfully that also gave Siegfried more time to prepare Balmung.

"Siegfried-san needs to hit his Noble Phantasm in that dragon, or else I doubt we will be getting a second chance." Peko told to Ritsuka and Mash.

"You're right. Siegfried-san's Noble Phantasm seems the type it takes aong time to recharge again. It must be now or never." Mash said.

With Fafnir getting closer, Siegfried felt it waw now the right time to unleash Balmung. "Yes. This distance is perfect."

Siegfried rised his sword.

"Prepare your-"

"SIEGFRIED BEHIND YOU!" Elizabeth shouted.

Feeling something from behind Siegfried quickly turned around and saw a trail of spears coming torwards him.

"!" Siegfried reacted fast enough and cancelled his Noble Phantasm, dodging from the spears that were growing from the ground. One of the spears however got a bit of skin of Siegfried's arm.

"Siegfried are you-" Before Jeanne could see if hery was okay, she felt more hostile presences right behind her.

Suddenly, three servants blasted torwards the saint as well as Elizabeth and Mozart.

"You!" Elizabeth exclaimed as the servant she was clashing with was non other than her older self, Carmilla.

"You!" Mozart looked at the face of the servant who had attacked him. It was Sanson, a person that Mozart had met during his lifetime. Never the musician had tought to encounter Marie's executioner here in the Singularity.

"Who are you?!" Jeanne was holding off the sword of a dark armoured knight in front of her. It certainly was another servant, but his entire Spirit Core was something that Jeanne couldn't decipher right now.

The knight in question seemed to be obsessed with the saint. "Aaaaaaaaarthuuuuurrrr."

"Did he called me Arthur?" Jeanne gasped. "So is he one of the knights of the roundtable?!"

Georgios and Kiyohime where about to help them but they were stop by D'eon who appeard from the flames of Fafnir, their sword ready for a fight.

"Miss Kiyohime?" Georgios called her.

"Right next to you!" She replied to the bronze saint.

"Damnit! Things aren't good." Siegfried observed the situation around him, ignoring the cut he had on his arm.

"And they will get worse O Dragon Slayer."

Vlad appeard next to him. "It was a mistake of mine not making sure you were dead back then."

Siegfried went to his battle posture. "If it makes you feel better, just know I was close of actually dying. Hadn't been for that Rider."

"Hphm! I admit that time it was three against one. It wasn't exactly fair for you. A warrior like yourself requests a more whorty fight." Vlad smiled at Siegfried.

"So you want me to have a rematch with you?" Siegfried smirked. "In that case you shall have it King of Romania. I accept it. You caught my attention ever since that fight from before."

Vlad smile grew. "Good. This time there won't be curses or numeral disadvantage to interfere us!" Vlad pointed his spear to Siegfried. "Now come Dragon Slayer!"

"We're being attacked! The enemy servants are trying to stop us from advancing!" Mash yeld as she, Peko and Ritsuka watched the servants starting to fight each other.

Romani's hologram appeard. "I know the situation is dire, but I have great news!"

"I don't think it's the right time now doctor." Ritsuka told him.

"No! You guys will like to hear it! It's about-"

"Ggh!" Mash blocked an incoming arrow torwards their direction.

"Say it later Doctor!" Mash saw the enemy servant in front of them. "We're in the middle of a battle!"

"Is she...really like that?" Peko observed the female's servant face and body, seeing all the black patterns on her face and body.

"Don't know. But we have to be ready now." Ritsuka looked at Mash. "Mash!"

"Understood master! About to engage in battle!" The shielder wielded her shield in a offensive posture.

A sound from behind, made Peko and Ritsuka spot a wyvern near them looking at the duo as they were it's prey. The boy knew what to do. He had to engage in a fight now. He's first ever.

Putting his body in front of Ritsuka, Peko preapred his sword. "Ritsuka get behind me! I'll try to handle this wyvern!"

Ritsuka looked at Peko. His hands were a bit shaky. But he also saw that Peko's face was focused in avoiding the wyvern to kill them both.

"You can do this Peko. I trust you." Ritsuka said to Peko who then nodded back at the master of humanity.

Ritsuka stared at Mash, who was now engaged in a fight with the enemy servant. Ritsuka had to watch for both Mash and Peko. "Mash is skilled enough. She can handle herself for quite some time. It's Peko I have to watch over."

The boy took out a deep breath, trying to stay calm and with full concentration, like Siegfried told him yesterday. To rescue Nala and find his father, Peko needed to fight. And this wyvern would be his very first opponent.

"This time, I'll fight to help you all."

From the balcony of the castle's tower, Jeanne Alter watched the battle below with great pleasure. Her servants had her saint counterpart's group against the wall. The army was surely bothersome, but her wyverns and Fafnir would take care of them.

"What will you do now saint?" Jeanne Alter stared at Jeanne fighting the knight. "Will you try and do another 'miracle'?" She giggled. "Or will you die right here?"

Jeanne Alter then stood on the top of the balcony. "Either way I'll be the one who will take your life. That I guarantee you. I'll become the one and only Jeanne D'arc in the end." She smiled evily.

"Gilles." She turned her head to Gilles who was right behind her. "Take care of the castle now. I'll join the battlefield." She rised her arm in the sky, calling Fafnir in the distance to pick her up.

"I wish you all the good luck there is Jeanne." Gilles told her, smilling like the good friend he was to her.

"I don't need luck Gilles. That is for the weak who can't win on their own."

With Fafnir reaching to the balcony, Jeanne Alter was about to ride her dragon, but something she saw on the battlefield stopped her. Or in this case, someone.

"No it can't be..!" Her teeth clenched in anger and her eyes frowned agressively.

The figure had white hair, was a girl, blue ribbon. Yeah, it was her.

"That brat..!" Jeanne Alter hissed in rage. "Fuck it! I'll deal with you later!" She calmed herself down, looking at Jeanne fighting. "More important things comes first."

In the ground, Nala was riding the horse and advancing to the castle in the center. "They must be there!" Due to all the fireballs and wyverns in the ground and sky, it was kinda difficult for Nala to see where Peko and the others where, but she assumed somewhere near the castle gate.

Unknown to her, a wyvern attacked them by surprise, almost making Nala fall from her horse.

"Ha!" She held tightly to the horse, trying to keep her balance. "These creatures never end do they?!"

Nala summoned her sword. Just as she did it she heard the horse neigh. There was more wyverns surrounding them, five in total.

Seeing this Nala, stopped her horse and got off from the animal. The only way to proceed was to kill all the wyverns in front of her right now.

"Come at me you meatheads!" Nala launched herself at an high speed to the closest wyvern and cut it's neck with a clean cut, killing it.

The others jumped at her, trying to land the hits on Nala who would hop like a bunny, avoiding the hits.

However, the attacks were getting closer to her. Nala was getting tired and wasn't having manh space to dodge since there were many wyverns attacking her at the same time. She was having some difficulty.

As the claw of one went to target her head, Nala reacted fast enough to parry it and cut it's neck afterwards. Now only three remained.

The girl wheezed a bit as the constant dodging and blocking was taking her stamina, plus the attention for any attack behind her.

"Crap! I need to get rid of the three before they strike any hit on me."

Nala leaned her body backwards, managing to avoid the wyvern's claw. At the same time she quickly cut the claw with the sword. The wyvern roared in pain before getting his heart pierced by Nala. Another one down. Two to go.

The two remaining wyverns decided to attack Nala together, the first one with it's legs and the second with it's mouth.

Nala dodged the first and blocked the second. The combo unfortunately wouldn't stop. And it was a matter of time until Nala's left leg got hit by one of the wyvern's claws.

"Ggrg!" Nala flinched a bit in pain.

One of the wyverns saw this as an opportunity and attacked Nala, opening it's mouth to tear the girl's body apart.

Nala however jumped as high as she could, getting out of the wyvern's attack and almost at the speed of light, she descended and stucked her sword on the wyverns skull, killing it. She didn't have time to take it out off of the dead wyvern's skull as the other wyvern attacked with it's tail at and incredible speed. Nala could only stare at it by a short second as the tail slammed her body and sent her flying.

"Aaah!" Nala let out a scream in pain as her body hit something and she fell to the ground.

"Kuh! Damnit!" Nala cursed as she put an hand on her head. "It ain't easy to fight multiple enemies alone it seems." She scrubed her head, not noticing the thing she had just hited on was another wyvern, who now had noticed Nala's presence.

"But on the bright side, there's only one remaining." Nala said as she slowly got up from the ground. Feeling a slight hot air touching her back, Nala turned around to see the wyvern behind her that was about to attack.

"Wha-" Nala clumsily tried to recompose her sword, not expecting a wyvern to be literally next to her.

As the wyvern's teeth were about to attack Nala, who's positioning and posture wasn't the best, a slash came from it's right side, hitting the monster's neck and preventing it to hit Nala.

The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword OST- Opening Theme

Just behind the wyvern, it was revealed who had landed the hit on the creature.

In midair and wielding a sword, there was a person who Nala never expected to be fighting in a battle like this. It was her own brother, Peko.

"Peko?!" Nala exclaimed in surprise to Peko, seeing him for what has been quite some long time now.

The boy who was still in the air heard the voice calling him out. He tought he perhaps had misheard it. But he hadn't. The voice really came from his sister. It was Nala who he saw on the ground.

"N-Nala?!" He also exclaimed in surprise, his mind still tought she was in a cell inside the castle. But seeing his sister free and well, made Peko slowly smile as tears start to appear in his eyes. The siblings were finally together again. "I...I found you!"

To be continued...

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author.

What Peko was seeing was something too good to be real. And it was in fact real.

Just in front of him there she was. Nala, his sister that he swore to save and rescue from the Dragon Witch, was now standing in front of him.

"Nala, I found you." Peko's eyes started to went teary. A smile of huge joy on his face.

Nala at the start was a bit shock by seeing a sword, almost identical to hers, in her brother's sword. He was with a bit of dirt on his clothes, but there was no sign of a wound in his body. The fact that Peko was fighting seemed, a bit impossible to Nala.

But she didn't cared about that right now. What mattered is that Peko was alive and safe. The girl slowly started to smile.

"Yes you did, Peko-"

A huge sound near them made the siblings look at the wyvern that Peko had just hit get up from the ground, it's neck bleeding from where Peko made the cut.

"Wh-what?!" Peko exclaimed. "I tought it was

down for good!"

As the wyvern slowly got it's head up and almost fully recomposed, Nala sliced it's neck quickly, taking advantage from the cut Peko made earlier. "You need to separate their head from the body in order to kill them!" Nala told her brother.

"Oh, reall- Nala another one's coming!" Peko pointed at the wyvern that was previously fighting Nala, the one who remained from the group that attacked her.

"What?!" Ritsuka who had turned his attention to Mash's fight with the enemy servant for a brief case, suddenly changed his attention to Peko as soon as he heard the boy scream Nala's name. The master of humanity saw Peko and right next to him Nala. Seeing the girl here in the battlefield was truly unexpected. He had tought and made plans to rescue Nala from the castle, so seeing her here outside was a big surprise on Ritsuka's mind. "Nala, you're here!" Ritsuka screamed happily.

Nala blocked the attack from the last wyvern and her following reaction was to cut it's neck, finally killing any wyverns that where nearby them.

As the girl panted a bit and cleaned her face from the sweat, she looked behind to see Ritsuka again. She smiled seeing that it wasn't only Peko who was ok. "Ritsuka! I'm glad to see you're well too!"

Mash who was fighting the servant, was slightly hearing and womdered what was all the commotion. "What's happening Master?" She asked him before blocking another arrow from the corrupted Archer servant.

"Oh yeah! Mash's in trouble!" Ritsuka said to himself. "Help is already coming Mash!" Ritsuka shouted to the shielder and looked at Nala, nodding at the girl. "You know what to do?"

Nala nodded in return. "Sure! No need to say it!"

"Then I'll be protecting Ritsuka if any possible attack." Peko said.

Nala and Ritsuka didn't protest his decision, knowing that Peko still was still an amateur fighter and Ritsuka couldn't be left alone opened to enemies attacks.

Nala quickly runned torwards Mash and tried to hit the Archer woman with her sword, wich the servant ended up dodging and taking some steps behind, creating space between the two girls and the enemy servant.

"Nala!" Mash yelled surprised. "You managed to escape from the castle all by yourself?" She asked amazed and happy to see Nala back again.

"Well, I had some help." Nala tought back at Romani and Da Vinci. "But I'll clarify more on that later! For now..." Nala stared at the enemy servant ahead of the two. It was tragic to see someone ending up like that. Nala may have not know her personally but she knew that this servant in front of her had to be tortured and corrupted in order to work for the Dragon Witch. Only thing she could do now was ending this servant's suffering. "We need to take care of that enemy!"

"Understood!" Mash responded, now ready to fight with help.

The Archer in front didn't seem to react at all by Nala's intervention on the fight. Instead, she continued her attacks, this time shooting three arrows from her bow, aimed torwards Nala and Mash.

The shielder blocked all of them and Nala sprinted behind her, running torwards the Archer woman with her sword in hand.

"Ah!" Nala swinged her sword in the enemy's face, only for the servant to tilt her head backwards, avoiding Nala's blade and doing a rebuttal by kicking the girl in the back.

Mash immediatly went to Nala's side and tried to hit the corrupted servant with her shield from her through her blind spot. But once again the servant dodged Mash's attempt and kicked her shield, forcing Mash to take a step back. "She's agile!"

The Archer retreated a bit and now with her two enemies at a preferable distance from her, she went back to her long range attacks.

The arrows, now wrapped in dark flames, aimed at Mash and Nala again. These time they were faster, with Nala barely managing to dodge and Mash having to tank more powerful blows.

"Tsk! She's not letting us get near her!" Nala said as she went behind Mash and her shield while the archer continued to fire, almost endlessly like a machine gun.

"Does her arrows have no end?!" Mash was already doing extra effort in blocking the arrows. As every second passed, her arms were getting more tired.

Ritsuka and Peko watched, both knowing that of it stayed like this Mash and Nala would end up loosing.

"I need to help them!" Peko was about to enter the fight. If he had a sword he couldn't just stay on the sideline watching like the other times. In this situation, he had to help, even if he had no chance in winning against the servant.

"Wait Peko!" Ritsuka grabbed the boy's shoulder. "I have another plan!" He told him, grabbing a stone from the ground.

"What are you- You seriously going to try it?!" Peko exclaimed incredously, realizing what Ritsuka's plan was.

"Just you watch." Ritsuka now with the stone in hand, positioned himself like a baseball player, staring at the archer who hadn't stopped shooting. He was prepared to do a throw.

"I'm the leader and master here. I also can't just watch without doing nothing! Humanity depends of me!" Taking a deep breath, Ritsuka fixed his gaze on the Archer and lifted his left leg.

"Take...THIS!" Concentrating his strenght on his right arm, Ritsuka threw the stone at the archer, making a movement like a baseball player would do when throwing the ball.

The stone was actually going through the air at the good speed, and it seemed Ritsuka aimed well as the stone was going into the direction of Archer's head.

"Yes! It will hit!" Peko exclaimed.

With a mere meter of distance between the Archer and the stone, the servant noticed the object that was about to hit her head and simply moved her head a bit to the side, avoiding the stone and stopping her shooting, now with her attention drawn at Ritsuka and Peko.

Ritsuka gulped. "Crap..."

The archer then aimed her bow at the two boys.

Peko's reaction was instantely get in front of Ritsuka with his sword in hand. "W-watch out Ritsuka! I-I got this!" He yelled nervous and a bit unsure if he would be able to block the blow and protected them both.

"That won't be needed Peko." Ritsuka smirked. "Her attention is onto us. Wich means..."

As the archer was about to shoot, she heard quick steps from her right and she realized the people she had just forgot in the fight. She tried to turn her bow to the direction of the steps but it was already too late as her body got smacked by Mash's shield.

"She's all open! It's now Nala!"

From her left, Nala runned torwards the Archer and successfully landed a hit on the servant's right leg, forcing her to fall on her knees.

However, the duo wasn't done yet. Mash bashed her shield again on Archer's upper body and was shortly followed by a quick cut on the enemy's left side of the abdomen by Nala's sword and the combo proceeded with another hit of Mash's shield, this time on the servant's head. The Archer woman was completely on the ground now, defenseless.

"Let's end it!" Nala stood on top of the Archer and prepared her sword to pierce right into the Archer's chest, delivering the final blow.

But it wasn't the final blow. In fact, it never came to hit. The Archer servant who seemed to be down, reacted quite fast and grabbed Nala's sword with her bare hands wich resulted in a high intensity shock wich the servant ignored.

"Wha-" Nala had no time to process what happened as she was pulled closer by the Archer and headbutted by the same servant.

At almost the same time the servant had strenght enough to kick Mash strongly in the stomach with her boot, getting out of a situation that looked impossible to escape for the servant.

"No way! They were so close!" Peko and Ritsuka saw their two other members of the group get near to end the fight, only for the Archer to surprise them.

"She won't go down that easily will she?" Nala asked to Mash as the two were getting up from the ground.

"It looks like it." Mash replied.

This time, Archer didn't waited for her enemy to get slowly back up.

As she saw the duo had just finished from standing up, she quickly runned torwards Mash specifficaly.

"Huh?" Mash had little to no time to react as the speed of the servant was incredible. Already next to the Shielder, she kicked the bottom of the shield with enough force for Mash to get opened.

"Mash!" Nala shouted as she tried to act fast. But the Archer proceeded to do a roundhouse kick on Mash's left side of the abdomen, throwing her a few meters away.

"Guurgh!" Mash coughed some blood from tge impact she had suffered. She was once again on the ground. "That was too fast for me!"

Before Mash could even start ti get up from the ground again, Archer had already an arrow prepared and ready to shoot Mash in the head.

"MASH! AHEAD OF YOU!" Ritsuka screamed in alarm as he saw the arrow being fired from the Archer's bow.

"!" Mash only had time to get her head up and see the arrow coming right torwards her. She had no time to dodge and to block either. She could only stare before the arrow made a hole in her head.

"Aaaahrgh!" A scream sounded in the air. It wasn't a scream coming from Mash, despite being the voice behind the scream being female.

It was from Nala, who had put her body in front of Mash after sprinting almost at the speed of light and taking the arrow in her left arm.

"N-NALAAAAAA!" Peko yelled in shock as he saw his sister wounded and falling on her knees. He at that moment just cared about her well-being and runned torwards her and Mash. "Nala! A-Are you alright?!"

Ritsuka followed Peko shortly after. "Stay firm Nala!"

"Gghhg!" Nala pressed her hand on the wound Archer's arrow had just did. It hurted like hell!

"Nala hold on please!" Mash quickly went to check her friend and see the wound she suffered. "I know it hurts but you have to be strong!" Mash made pressure on Nala's wound, trying to avoid the blood from coming out.

"I knowwww." Nala clenched her teeth in pain. But like Mash said, she had to sustain that pain now. "Crap crap crap crap crap! It freaking hurts! But I did- I did to save a friend! So it was worth it!"

Peko and Ritsuka had finally reached next to Mash and Nala's side.

"Nala! Is it hurting a lot?!" Peko asked worried.

"N-No...!" Nala replied to his brother, still trying to ignore the pain on her arm.

"R-really?!" Peko said with some relieve.

"Of course it is you idiot!" Nala shouted back at Peko.

"Is it bad?" Ritsuka asked to Mash who was still making pressure on Nala's arm.

"Thankfully she will still be able to move her arm, but it will hurt if she tries to move it too much." Mash replied.

"Th-That's okay." Nala tried to calm down the group. "I-I'm better with my right arm anyways."

"...I..."

Hearing the voice, the trio immediatly turned their attention and assumed a defensive posture as they remembered one thing. Archer still wasn't defeated.

It was like that for some seconds. And some more seconds. And another seconds...

"Hm?" Ritsuka as well as Peko and Mash were confused. The Archer still hadn't attacked them. She was just standing there in front of them, without doing nothing or even moving a single muscle.

"..I...hurt..." Out of nowhere, black tears appeard from her pitch black eyes and started to roll down the Archer's face. She was crying.

Seeing this, the trio stopped being in their battles positions and just stood watching silently.

"I...hurt...a child..." The Archer's voice was full of regret and sorrow as the tears didn't stopped from falling. Deep down, even if her mind was broken to pieces, she knew. She was aware of the huge sin she had just commited.

Violet Evergarden OST- Never Coming Back

"So what's your dream Atalanta?"

"You already know the answer Medea."

"You're right. But I want to hear you say it."

"Fine then. I dream that every child in the world can have a happy life and be safe, free of any hardships. Where they can all smile forever."

"That's such a lovely dream Atalanta. I wished that it could become true one day."

"Me too Medea. I won't stop or die if a single unhappy child still remains in this earth."

"I hurt a child. I'm a monster. I failed. I'm no longer whorty of protecting children. I hate that Dragon Witch! I hate myself for not being stronger! I hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate-"

And fully distracted in her own toughts, the Archer Atalanta let herself fully exposed to let her chest be pierced by Mash's sharp part of the shield.

"It's over." Mash said to the broken servant. "No more suffering to you." She took the shield out of Atalanta's body.

"Ah, I see..." The dark paint from her body started to dissapeard, allowing to show her mouth and normal eyes back again. Unfortunately, her body also started to dissapear.

Ritsuka, Peko and Nala, now with a bandage on her arm, joined Mash to witness Atalanta's last moments.

Nala and Atalanta stared at each other, with Atalanta noticing the wound on the girl's arm.

"I'm sorry..." Tears rolled down Atalanta's face. "I should have protected you. And yet I-"

"No no no. It's alright." Nala told the dying archer. "When I was escaping, you spared me instead of capturing me right on the spot. Without that, I wouldn't have been able to escape." Nala smiled to Atalanta. "So in the end you helped me. And I thank you for that."

Hearing that, made Atalanta feel more at ease, a small portion of weight on her soul dissapearing. "You truly seem like a wonderful kid." She then looked at the rest. "You all are good people. I can tell you that. So please, defeat the Dragon Witch and all the hurt she has caused."

"We will make sure of that!" Ritsuka told her.

"Good." Atalanta said with a small smile. Her body was almost gone, not having much time left. "You're the master here, aren't you?" She asked to Ritsuka.

"Yes I am." He asnwered.

"Then be sure that the two kids you bring along are safe, always." She told him.

"Understood. You have my promise." Ritsuka said.

"Mine too." Mash added.

Atalanta smiled at hearing that. She could rest knowing she wouldn't have to work for the Dragon Witch anymore and do her dirty work. "If we meet again...I'd like to..."

And she was gone before she could even end what she was about to say, leaving the Chaldea group behind.

Ritsuka exhaled. "Alright. That was the first of them. Now we need to defeat the others."

"Hm?! Peko?"

Looking behind, the master of humanity saw Peko hugging tightly his sister, tears falling down from his eyes. "I tought I'd never see you again. That I had lost you forever."

"Peko..." Nala felt surprised by the emotion displayed by her brother. He missed her so much. Nala fought the tears on her eyes and ended up hugging Peko back. "I missed you too. You scaredy cat."

The two stayed in the hug for some long seconds, with Ritsuka and Mash staying around only watching and smilling. As the hug was broken, they went torwards Nala.

"Welcome back, Nala. It's good to see you again." Mash smiled at her.

"To have escaped from this castle all alone, you surely are tough." Ritsuka said, smiling as well. "Now the team is four again."

"Yeah! And I now can fight too!" Peko said happily to his sister. "Well, not that well as you but I-"

"I'm sorry."

"Huh?"

Nala stared at Peko with a face of sorrow. "I'm sorry Peko, for all those things I said to you when we first arrived here. I was too harsh on you, when all that you wanted to do was to help." The girl then faced both Ritsuka and Mash. "I'm sorry for thinking I could handle the situation alone and let you go without me. I found out that I was wrong. That I ain't all that I tought I was and the Dragon Witch showed me that. I'm myself to blame for getting captured." She looked to the ground, lowering her head.

The smiles of Peko, Ritsuka and Mash vanished.

"But...I want to correct that." Nala stared at the three of them with a glare of courage. "And that will be when all of us finish this Singularity!"

"Now you said it Nala!" Mash smiled returned, as well as Peko's and Ritsuka's.

"Hope I ain't ruinning the reunion." Romani's hologram appeard. "Also, Nala didn't actually escaped all by herself you know?" The doctor smirked.

Nala giggled. "You're right. I have to thank you and Da Vinci too. I wouldn't have done it if it weren't for you."

"Wait!" Peko exclaimed. "Then how long did you knew Nala had escaped? And you didn't even bothered to tell us about that?!" He accused Romani.

"That makes sense actually." Ritsuka commented. "Why where you hiding this information from us doc?"

"Wait, wait, wait! It isn't like that!" Romani desperatly tried to explain himself. "We had lost contact with Nala before she exited the castle and I tried to restablish the contact again with her yesterday. It isn't like I didn't care! I just couldn't tell you since I wasn't sure if Nala had escaped or not!"

"Okay then. We believe you." Ritsuka and Peko said.

"Wow! That was fast!" Romani tought to himself. "A-anyways. It's good to have you back Nala and we still need to deal with the other servants." Romani informed them. "They are all occupied with Jeanne and the other ones."

"Then let's help them!" Nala shouted.

"Was thinking the same." Mash commented.

Peko stared at the area a bit far from his left, spotting Siegfried fighting with Vlad. The fight seemed balanced. A bit more ahead he also noticed Jeanne battling with the Berserkerish knight. She was holding her ground but the knight wouldn't stop attacking agressively. "I guess Siegfried-san can hold his own for the longest time here. Him and he's opponent are very much equalled. Jeanne is also strong, I trust her to win against that knight."

"So we should help the others then." Ritsuka said. "Alright everyone! Prepare to engage in more fights!" He exclaimed.

"Understood!"

"Understood!"

"Understood!"

Jeanne parried the attack from the violent knight and attacked him afterwards, managing to land a hit that send the knight flying a few feet away from her. However, the knight didn't seemed harmed by the blow.

"Where does he get all that resilience from?" She wondered.

"Aaaaaathuurrrrrrr!" The knight screamed before jumping torwards the saint.

"Ggh!" Jeanne managed to block the knight's sword, the two standing in a clash.

"He also doesn't stop calling me Arthur. Is he perhaps confusing me for his King Arthur?"

Jeanne broke the clash and kicked the knight right in the helmet. Despite the huge blow the mad knight suffered, once again he didn't seemed to be fazzed.

"How can I defeat this thing?"

The knight himself was preparing to charge torwards Jeanne again, if only weren't fo a thing he saw.

From behind the saint, the Chaldea Group was passing on his field of vision. And upon seeing Mash together wit her shield, the knight went more wild.

"Wrrrrrooooooooooooooo!" With a screechy scream, the knight went full speed torwards Mash, ignoring totally the french saint.

"What?" Jeanne saw the knight coming torwards Mash. "Mash to your left!"

"Hm? Jeanne-san?" Mash turned her head around to see why Jeanne was calling her, only to be met with the dark blue knight coming torwards her.

"Ha!" Mash put the shield in front of her, blocking the attack successfully but still having to hold on the knight's sword.

Ritsuka, Peko and Nala looked behind them.

"Mash!" Ritsuka shouted for his servant.

"Go on! I'll handle him!" Mash shouted back to her companions. "Help the others!"

Without saying anything, the trio did as it was told and runned to the fights that where happening in front of them.

"Gggh!" Mash was still clashing with the enemy's sword, his strenght being way more powerful than hers.

Thankfully to the shielder, Jeanne came to her help. "I was your adversary wasn't I?" She hit her flagpole on the knight, making him go away from Mash. "Because if so, don't try making more adversaries while in a fight."

"Jeanne." Mash stared at Jeanne and the ruler stared back at the shielder.

"On your feet Mash!"

"Ay!" The two then prepared themselves to continue their fight against the knight.

"Arhur...'

"Dodge this!" Carmilla shouted as she casted a blast from her staff torwards Elizabeth.

The lizard girl dodged the attack. "As you wish old hag." With her spear in hand, Elizabeth tried to aim at Carmilla. "Take this!" She levitated with her spear and launched herself to Carmilla with the spear.

"Try harder kid." Carmilla laughed, stopping Elizabeth's lance with her staff.

Seeing that there wasn't any point in continue her attack, Elizabeth backed off, a annoyed expression on her face. "You really want to get a beating don't you?"

Carmilla giggled. "Oh no. The spoiled and problematic princess is getting angry. How my knees are trembling in fear." She said sarcastically.

"As you should be."

"Hm-Gergh!" Blood came out of Carmilla as the sadistic woman felt a sharp object slice her back and right side of the chest. She didn't even had to turn around to see who was the one who hit her, since her attacker showed itself right in front of the female vampire. It was Nala.

"Oh! You are Peko's sister aren't you?" Elizabeth asked Nala, not counting until now to have a reinforcement to help her on the battle.

"That's me!" Nala smiled at Elizabeth. "I'll help you fight this woman. I kinda have...some sort of unfriendliness that is related to her."

"Then welcome aboard to this old hag hater's club!" Elizabeth told Nala, happily giving her a thumbs up. "Where our main activity is sending her back to the place she came!"

"Yeah. I can agree with that." Nala simply nodded.

"Hehehehehehe. Hahahahahahaha!" Carmilla started to burst into laughter, much to the two girls worriedness who quickly assumed their battle positions. "I see you're back young maiden." Carmilla locked her eyes into Nala, who pointed her sword at the grown woman. "Good. It means I'll have something to drink tonight." She saw the blood on her hand and licked her lips, tasting her own blood. "But I don't pretend to kill you yet. I'll make sure to keep you as my stock."

"Only in your dreams you freak!" Nala shouted back at Carmilla. "I'd rather die right here and now!"

"Same here!" Elizabeth joined Nala.

"Oooh, is that a challenge?" Carmilla cackled sadistically. "We'll see then." A dark purple aura appeard around her staff and shortly after, she hit the bottom of her staff in the ground.

Sudden chills got send down Nala and Elizabeth's spine. A sentiment that they were fighting some sort of monster in front of them.

"W-what's this power?" Nala asked to Elizabeth.

"Damn it! This is-"

"Torture Technique" Carmilla giggled to herself. "Now, let's see what you're capable of. Shall we, young maiden?" Summoning her next attack, Carmilla send it in Nala's direction.

Nala saw the attack. A huge iron like sarcophagus of a woman, with spikes inside!

"Wah!" Nala dodged by an inch, her heart beating fast, not imagining what would've happened to her if she got caught by the attack.

"Careful now." Carmilla laughed. "If locked inside it can hurt...a lot."

"You're Sanson. Aren't you?" Mozart looked closely to his opponent. "It's because with that new look, you appear to be more of a abominable monster than a skilles executioner. Marie wouldn't like to see this form of you I'm sure."

Upon hearing the word Marie, Sanson tried to attack Mozart, who simply dodged from his giant blade. "Mo...zaaaaaarttt!..." The broken servant raised his voice.

"Oh! Good to see you still remember me old friend." Mozart smiled. "Altough I admit we never talked to each other that much. You always seemed the quiet type to me."

Sanson continue to swing hks sword like a madman, with Mozart avoiding it every time. "Perhaps you were a secret admirer of mine who was too shy to speak with me. Who knows?" Mozart rolled his eyes.

"MOZAAAAAAARTTTTT!" Sanson in a blind rage launched himself torwards Mozart, managing to hit him in the shoulder.

The musician himself backed off. "Kgh!" He touched his wound. "Guess I talked a bit too much." He then started playing his violin, forming small pigeons and directing them to Sanson, getting to land a hit on the corrupted executioner.

"Now then." Mozart looked serious at Sanson. "For the sake of my eyes and of Marie's soul too, I'll slay this monstruosity that Charles Henri Sanson has become!"

"Ggh!" Georgios grunted as he clashed his sword with D'eons.

Kiyohime took the chance to send a fire ball to the musketeer who was occupied with the bronze saint.

Taking a quick glance, D'eon retreated from the clash with Georgios and easily sliced the ball of fire.

"They're good." Kiyohime commented D'eon skills.

"Whatever broked their mind didn't stop them from still being a formidable opponent." Georgios said.

"Kiyohime! Georgios!" Ritsuka walked in the fight alongside Peko.

"Need some help you two?" Peko asked to the two servants.

"Well I'd say the more the better." Kiyohime told him.

D'eon took a slow steps, walking if they were a zombie, their wide open eyes not even blinking. "...Marie...My queen..." That's all the musketeer could say in their actual state of mind.

"I can't stand seeing such noble opponent be reduced to this." Georgios told to the other three. "We need to put them out of their misery."

"Agree!" Ritsuka say.

"If there's any way I can help just tell me!" Peko told to Georgios as he brandished his sword, staying close to Ritsuka.

"For now give me and Kiyohime back up." Gerogiow told the boy before going back to stare at D'eon. "Be careful for any dodgy attack coming from them!"

Jeanne Alter contemplated the flames Fafnir would spread on the battlefield, while being on top of the very dragon himself. The way everything seemed so insignificant to her from where she was standing up above was quite the joy for the Dragon Witch. Everything burning, just how she loved it.

"Okay. These must slow down those army braindeads." The witch then looked at the fight happening near the castle gates. She already knew Atalanta was gone, but it wasn't has if she cared about that good for nothing servant that tried to oppose her in the first place.

She also noticed Carmilla fighting with her younger self and Nala. Seeing the white hair girl made the Dragon Witch's blood boil a bit. She took pity and saw utility on her, and the girl repayed Jeanne Alter by escaping and leading the french army to a surprise attack on her castle. Honestly, Jeanne Alter didn't cared about what Carmilla could do to Nala if they'd win the battle at this point. As long as she stops being a problem to the Dragon Witch, she was good with that.

But the main attraction was someone else. That certain someone at this exact time fighting the mad knight with the help of one of those newcomers. The original part of hers. The half that refuses to hate those who wronged both of them. That was the person Jeanne Alter was looking for.

Smirking evily, she knew what to do next. "Time to pay a visit."

"Take this!" Jeanne hit her flagpole on the lunatic knight, with Mash shoving her shield strongly into the knight's armor.

The knight however, didn't even took a step back, staying on his ground.

The two girls were panting as they saw that no matter the attacks they'd do, the knight wouldn't look very affected by it.

"It's not even working! He's just shrugs off the attacks as if they were nothing!" Mash told Jeanne, worried that this fight may look unwinnable.

"We must keep trying!" Jeanne tried to motivate Mash. "Surely there must be some weak spo-"

"Hey!" Someone behind called Jeanne's attention.

"Wh-Ggh!" As Jeanne was turning her head around to see who it was, the saint received a punch right in her face, falling to the ground.

"Jeanne!" Mash exclaimed, before having to pay attention again to the mad knight who was about to attack the shielder.

"Well, look who it is?" A voice equally to Jeanne's sounded. Except the voice was totally perverse. "I mean, it would be a shame if you ended up not showing up. I was this close to start thinking you begun to be a coward."

Jeanne lifted her face from the ground, the blood running down from her nose, as she looked from below the person who punched her. "A vengeful maniac has less dignity, Dragon Witch!"

Jeanne Alter, who was standing in front of Jeanne ,grinned. "Says the one who accepts any punishment given to her as if she was a whore!" Jeanne Alter kicked Jeanne in the stomach. "Still not wanting to see you and I are the same? Or perhaps..." The Dragon Witched stomped the hand of the saint that was trying to reach out for the sword. "You hate me? The simple tought of you having to be related with me is so disturbing and infuriating that turns you mad hahaha."

"Jeanne!" Mash cried out the saint's name.

"You shut the hell up!" Jeanne Alter shouted at Mash as she tried to help Jeanne, only to be stopped by the mad knight. "This is none of your bussiness! Go and play with my servant some more, will you?"

"Aaaartuurrrrrr..." The knight said, this time not shouting wildly, his focus divided between Mash and Jeanne.

"Now where were we?" Jeanne Alter returned her attention back to Jeanne. "Oh right." She took out her sword. "The part where the Maiden of Orleans dies. But know this, I'll make the most slowest and agonizong death that you'll experience. My blade, slowly piercing your heart, as I watch your eyes lose it's light." She laughed. "So? What you're going to do? Pray?"

"No." Jeanne said seriously. "You just talk way too much." Moving her free arm, Jeanne was capable to call her flagpole back.

"What?!"

Jeanne Alter was forced to back off as Jeanne swinged her weapon torwards the Dragon Witch, freeing her hand and allowing Jeanne to get up.

The saint didn't waste time, summoning her sword in her other hand and unleash an assault on Jeanne Alter.

The two Jeanne's swords clashed as their battle had just started.

"Heh. For one side I'm actually happy that you won't be going down without a fight." Jeanne Alter smirked, looking at Jeanne in the eyes through the sparks of their swords. "I want to see that again you know? That hatred of yours. I want to see the side that has been buried inside of you!"

Meanwhile, Mash was still struggling against the knight. The knight just wouldn't leave her enough room to breath, tirelessly hitting his shield against Mash's sword.

"Why does he seems so relentless when fighting me? The first time was the same thing." Mash couldn't comprehend the strange obsession the knight had on her. "Who even are you?"

And so the knight continuing to attack Mash time after time until the legs of the shielded eventually gave up.

"Ggh!" She fell down to her knees, still protecting herself with the shield as the knight didn't seem to be over with his attacks. At this rate, Mash would be defeated.

"I need to do something about this!" Mash felt her arms getting weaker, not supporting the Berserker heavy attacks for any longer. "If it continues like this..." Mash tought to herself before realizing something. "Hm?"

The attacks had stop. The knight had stopped attacking.

Mash looked to the servant above her. The knight was standing still with his sword in the air, wielded by both his hands. However, he looked hesitant on wanting to attack Mash, his arms trembling, as if he was fighting with himself.

Mash could only look at the red visor of the knight's helmet, thinking what was stopping him from killing Mash now.

The Berserker knight then lowered his sword, taking multiple distorted breaths, before turning his back to Mash.

"AAAAAAAAARTHUUUUURRRR!" The knight let out a enormous screech before heading torwards Jeanne and Jeanne Alter.

"Wha-what is he doing?" Mash said to herself in confusion.

Feeling something from behind, Jeanne jumped away from the incoming Berserker that quickly descended his sword on the ground with great strenght. "Aaaaarthuurrrrr!"

"The hell?! Berserker what are you doing?!" Jeanne Alter was annoyed and shocked by her own servant's meddling in her fight with Jeanne. "Go back to your own fight damnit!"

But the mas knight didn't seemed to listen, instead, attempting to hit Jeanne with his sword. "Aaaaaaaaarthuuuuur!"

"Are you fucking deaf!? I said to go back!" Jeanne Alter screamed in anger, seeing that her servant was unwilling to obey her.

Jeanne was trying to get as much distance as she could from the knight, wich was almost impossible since his speed was almost as fast as hers. "As he completely lost it?"

The Berserker then elevated his sword up high, ready to descend on Jeanne. "Aaaarthurrrrr!"

"You moron! Do I have to use a command spell on you?!" Jeanne Alter threatned.

But again, the knight didn't seemed to hear, or rather, didn't seem to care. "Arhtur Arthur Arthur Arthur Arthur Arthur!" The knight's blade shinned a dark purple aura, clearly indicating a strong attack was coming, as he lowered it with great speed torwards Jeanne.

"!" Jeanne put the flagpole ahead of her, ready for the impact.

"AAAAAAAAARTHUUUUURRRR "

Upon the contact, a big explosion was created and a hole was formed.

"Yeah. It seems there's no chance of calling him back..."

Mash went next to the newly created hole. "Jeanne! Are you there?!" She tried to call out for her companion.

As the fog from the impact got cleared, Mash caught sight of Jeanne and the Berserker still clashing with each other in the middle of the hole. The flagpole of Jeanne had successfuly blocked the impact but it was noticeable to spot some cracks from it, showing how strong the Berserker attack had been.

"Ggghg!" Jeanne sweated as she was pulling all of her strenght to parry the Berserker's sword.

Mash knew that Jeanne was struggling from trying to push the Berserker back "I'm coming Jeann-"

Then, flames started to surround the knight, a dozen of spears appeard from the ground and all impaled the knight's chest, bringing him away from the gound, much to Mash and Jeanne's shock.

"La Grondement Du Haine!"

A huge fire exploded from within Berserker's body, sending flames throughout his whole body.

"Berserker..." Jeanne Alter said as she approached her servant that she herself had attacked. "You can only blame yourself for not following my orders." She looked with disgust at the burning knight. "Those who can't follow my orders are better left dead. You fucking imbecile." Jeanne Alter spat.

"So you'd kill your own ally?!" Jeanne accused her alter.

"Hm? What's the problem in that saint?" Jeanne Alter mocked Jeanne. "Didn't we learned this in the army? Those who try to run away from the battle and refuse to follow their superior orders are deemed as traitors aren't they?" Jeanne Alter smirked sadistically. "I just used my Noble Phantasm to end up with a traitor of my side. Nothing else."

Jeanne got a bit angered at the Dragon Witch's words. "That's just-"

"A...Ar..."

JJBA: Phantom Blood OST- Sekibetsu

The weak sound from the knight's voice made Jeanne look up to the burning body of the knight that was starting to fade.

" A..Art..hurrr..." The knight said weakly, almost having no energy to say the name that was the only thing he could say before in a raging way. Whoever he was to keep calling Jeanne the famous birtish king Arthur Pendragon, would most likely remain a mystery.

Mustering the last bit of will in his decaying body, the knight stretched his arm out for Mash, as if he was trying to call her before death took him.

"?" Mash stared at the knight, not understanding why he was streatching his arm to her as if he wanted to hold her hand, as if he knew her for a long time.

"G..ga..l.."

Was everything the knight could say before the bright red from his helmet's visor went out and all his strenght faded, alongside his body that was then engulfed by the flames.

The Berserker whose name was unknown was struck down, not by his enemies but by the very own person he served.

Mash felt a pain in her heart. "Why...am I feeling sad?" Seeing an enemy that she never knew and had no relation with somehow was capable to make her feel anguish by seeing his last moments. It was almost enough for Mash to tear up.

"Good riddance." Jeanne Alter said, without any care in the world. "That 'thing' was broken beyond repair. Personal affairs of mine should stay with only me alone." She pointed her sword at Jeanne. "Wich means I can finish it now. With no interruptions this time." She giggled.

Jeanne's eyes were obershadowed by her hair, not replying to the Dragon Witch. Her hand closed tightly into a fist. "You really are evil, aren't you?" Jeanne stared coldly at her alter.

"Hmmm." Jeanne Alter smiled satisfied. "Yes. That anger. Release it. Show me that you're just as flawed as I am. No more saint masks to hide it."

Jeanne closed her eyes, deciding to calm down and think.

"Hate even if powerful, is also a disgusting weapon. It turns us more into beasts than men. But, negating it completely also makes us less human."

Jeanne opened her eyes, a clear objective in her mind.

"Mash..." She called the Shielder, not looking at her.

"What is it Jeanne?" Mash asked.

"Go help the others. This fight here is mine." She said seriously.

Understanding Jeanne's motives for wanting to fight alone and aware of her skills, Mash complied with the saint's order.

"Ay! Good luck Jeanne-san!" Mash immediatly went out of the hole, leaving the two Jeanne's behind.

"Smart of you." Jeanne Alter smirked. "She'd only slow you down." She put herself on battle position.

Without saying nothing, Jeanne did the same.

"Now, let's restart it."

"Nngh!" Nala felt a sharp pain on her left arm due to the wound made on the previous fight with Atalanta. She couldn't move it too much or else the wound would open again. "This wound is hurting no matter how much I ignore it!"

"Hey! Watch out!" Elizabeth screamed over Nala.

Reacting to her ally's screams, Nala saw a blast coming torwards her. Thankfully, she was on time to block it.

"Thanks!" She said to Elizabeth.

"No problem!" Elizabeth replied.

"My my. So friendly and only met some minutes ago." Carmilla laughed before looking at Nala. "You better be careful or else she'll suck your blood hehe."

"I won't because I'm not like you!" Elizabeth shouted angrily at Carmilla.

"But you will be." Carmilla said harshly. "You can deny all you want it at this precise moment but in the future, you'll become exactly what you are seeing in front of you."

"What is she even talking about?" Nala raised an eyebrow to Elizabeth.

"It's because...she's the older version of me."

"WHA-" Nala petrified in shock the moment she heard that. Looking at both Elizabeth and Carmilla, they looked like nothing alike.

Then she remembered about the two Gilles de Rais she encountered. And the two Jeannes. People really do change. For the worse in this case.

"Is this Singularity just full of people fighting their dark counterparts or something?" Nala stared aimlessly into nothing, losing herself in her own toughts.

"Hey!" Elizabeth touched her in the shoulder. "Whatever she's saying, it's a lie. I won't drink your blood or something like that. What I really want is to become an idol, not a monster."

"Keep telling yourself that brat. You can never escape from your future. It will catch you eventually and shatter the illusional dream that you're living in!" Carmilla said to her younger self.

"No it won't!" Elizabeth shouted back.

"Charisma!"

Elizabeth casted a spell to herself and Nala.

"What was that?" Nala asked to Elizabeth.

"A little help. Now come! Let's kick this old hag's ass!" Elizabeth went ahead, preparing to attack Carmilla.

"Stupid girl! If you want to continue living a life of delusion so be it!" Carmilla blocked Elizabeth's spear with her staff. "I'll kill you anyways at the end of the day!" She pushed Elizabeth back and had time enough to see Nala approaching from her right. "As for you..." She blocked Nala's sword and proceeded to kick her away. "Try not to die."

"Aaah!" Elizabeth screamed as she tried to impale Carmilla, only for the vampire to dodge it and grab the spear.

Nala went to attack from behind but Carmilla was aware and kicked the girl in her stomach with her right leg, sending Nala a few meters away.

The woman went back to Elizabeth and forcefully took the spear away from her hands, throwing her to the ground. "Now stay there!" She forcefully stomped Elizabeth's head into the ground with her high heel boots. Elizabeth tried to struggle but Carmilla was making sure she wouldn't be getting up from the ground that soon.

Nala seeing the situation, got up from the ground but before advancing her body flinched. A shar pain coming from her left arm again. Looking at the wound, she saw the bandage being soaked with a red liquid.

"Crap! The wound has opened!"

Seeing the girl distracted, Carmilla took her chance, a sadistic smile appearing on her face.

"Nice, truly splendid."

The surrounding area started to get darker and covered up by a black mist.

Elizabeth knew from the get go what this could only mean. "No! Stop it-" Her face was shoved down by Carmilla's boot.

"All lies on a plate of illusion

Looking around clueless, Nala was trying to see where the vampire attack would come.

"Where is she-" Hearing a sound from behind, Nala turned herself around to see something that made her eyes went wide in total shock.

yet the girl rests in this case..."

A giant metal sarcophagus of a woman with chains around , towering over Nala who just stood looking in fear.

The chains securing the giant cabinet broken and the iron maiden was opened, revealing the hundreds of spikes inside with the blood painted walls.

"RUN!" Elizabeth screamed in dispair to Nala.

But the fear was so great that the girl was paralyzed by it, watching the giant iron maiden getting closer.

Carmilla smilled devilishly as her prey could no longer escape.

"Phantom Maiden!"

And the iron maiden closed, with Nala inside.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Elizabeth screamed in terror, watching helpless an ally dieing in front of her in a brutal way.

The dark mist was gone, going back to the normal scenario.

"No need to cry like that brat. I didn't killed her." Carmilla laughed evily as Elizabeth stared at her with tears in her eyes.

"I made sure Phantom Maiden wouldn't hit any vital points of her body, only knocking her unconscious." The female vampire smiled as a slight blush appeard on her cheeks. "Ah! This night will surely be f- BLARGH!"

Carmilla's eyes widened as she felt a huge cut on her back and coughed a huge amount of blood from her mouth.

"Jeez! People like you are truly disgusting." A voice came in front of her.

With her whole body trembling from the cut she suffered, Carmilla made an effort to look at the person who cut her. The voice being an easy giveaway. "You..." She grunted angrily.

Nala was standing in front of the vampire, the wound on her arm still opened but the rest of her body seeming completely fine.

"Ah! Y-You're okay!" The crying Elizabeth smiled upon seeing that Nala was fine.

"B-But how?!" Carmilla growled in anger. "I saw my Noble Phantasm locking you inside! How did you escaped?!"

"Simple you hag. I wasn't actually locked." Nala responded to Carmilla.

"?! W-what?" Carmilla couldn't believe on the answer Nala gave her. Carmilla then gasped. "In the fight, I saw how fast she runs. A speed comparable to the speed of sound at best. So that means in that precise moment, when Phantom Maiden was closing her in, she runned away fast enough that I couldn't spot at the naked eye?!" Carmilla was sweating intensily at the realization. "She was running at the speed of LIGHT?!"

"Hm. It seems you have already caught up to it." Nala said. "Also..." Nala looked at Elizabeth. "Thank you. Without your ear destructive screams I think I wouldn't get out of my own paralyzation. Well done." She smiled at Elizabeth.

"Hphm!" Elizabeth nodded her head happily. "Sure!"

"Now then..." Nala stared at Carmilla who was starting to lose her cool. "I guess we still have a beating to give you." She pointed her sword to the female vampire.

Carmilla's breaths were getting unstable, seeing that her triumph card was used for nothing and that if Nala really runned at the speed of light, she would have a problem. Her head couldn't keep her cool anymore. She was panicked.

"YOU DAMN BRAAAAATT!" She jumped angrily at Nala. "Damn you Damn you Damn you Damn you!" She tried to attack repeatedly Nala but since the vampire woman had lost her calmness, the attacks were coming out as predictable and a bit easy for Nala to block them.

Seeing the situation wasn't getting any better for her, Carmilla in a mindless attempt, attacked Nala with her fingernails. Unexpectedly, she managed to puncture Nala's right side of the abdomen with her nails.

"Tsk!" Nala grunted from the pain.

"Fuhahahahahahaha! Hahahahahahahahaha!" Carmilla laughed maniacally. "Finally! Young maiden's blood!"

"NOW!" Nala shouted to someone behind Carmilla.

"Huh?" Was all the vampire woman could say before she felt a vertical slice throughout her whole body.

"You've lost hag." Elizabeth said as she appeard in front of her, her spear drenched in blood.

"Blurgh!" Carmilla coughed even more blood out as she let her fingernails go from Nala, who was catched by Elizabeth before hitting the ground.

"You okay?" Elizabeth asked Nala as she saw the small holes on her abdomen made by Carmilla's fingernails.

"Well it wasn't the worst injury I suffered today let me tell you." Nala smirked, once again trying to ignore the pain.

Carmilla, totally defeated, fell on her knees and looked at the sky above that was getting with less wyverns each minute it passed, allowing for some rays of light to pierce the clouds and shine some areas of the battlefield.

"...I see...This is the end for me..." The blood started to flow from the wound Carmilla suffered. Even her mask was cut in half and eventually fell apart, revealing the yellow eyes of the female vampire.

"Correct. Your bloodlust ends here." Elizabeth told her older self.

"But for you...it's only just starting..." Carmilla replied, giggling weakly. "How could this be..? The past...rejecting the future..."

"Because I'm never becoming a monster like you! I won't go down that path!" Elizabeth said, making pressure on Nala's wound.

"You say that but...it's only a matter of time...until you see the reality you've put yourself into...hehehe- cough" Carmilla spitted more blood. The two girls really gave her quite the blows.

"Then I'll make my best to change that reality. There's always time to change the future while in the present." Elizabeth responded, sure of her words.

Carmilla just sighed. "How...naive...Perhaps I envy you..." The vampire felt her body starting to dissapear. Before dissapearing for good, Carmilla looked at Nala one last time. "Sorry for...my behaviour torwards you...young maiden."

Nala didn't fully buyed her excuse, even if it felt genuine that she was truly sorry. "You should say that to all the girls you tortured during your life." She said with a mean face, not accepting Carmilla's excuse.

"Hmmm...you're right lány..." Carmilla lowered her head, staring at the broken mask on the ground. "What...was my head thinking...?" And the cruel countess of blood was gone, being the third Dragon Witch's servant to go down. Slowly, they were winning the battle.

"Humm...what did she called me?" Nala asked to Elizabeth, still at the lizard girl's arms, not understanding the word Carmilla used before vanishing.

"Oh! She..." Elizabeth look to the side, thinking on something. "She basically called you a clown." Elizabeth said with a convincing tone.

"Really? Well, screw her then." Nala said. "But I wonder, if I can reach to that speed again..."

"Now Sanson, those screams aren't very melodic, don't you think?" The musician played notes on his violin as he dodged the attacks from the corrupted executioner.

"Moz...aaaart!" Sanson screamed in his broken state.

"Well yes, that's my name. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Good to see you remember of it." Mozart joked a bit. Even if he had been hit a couple of times, Mozart also was able to deliever some good blows on Sanson. The fight was quite balanced. It could go to any one of the two servants.

"Gggraaah!" Sanson launched an attack to Mozart again.

However, Mozart didn't even needed to try or block it, as a shield blocked the attack.

"Need any help, Mozart-san?" Mash asked to her fellow ally.

"Things are stable enough. But yes, I think a little help to accelerate the things would do good." Mozart told her, accepting Mash's help.

Mash nodded, now aiming her attention at Sanson.

"Ma...rieeeeee!" Sanson launched himself torwards Mash.

The shielder reacted by blocking the first swing, dodging the second and hit Sanson with the shield before he could do a third swing.

"Nice moves Lady Mash!" Mozart praised the shielder, before summoning other pigeons and sending them to attack Sanson, successfully hitting the servant.

"Is it over?" Mash asked to Mozart.

"Amadeeeeussss!"

"Guess this answers your question Lady Mash." Mozart said. "He is so angry at me. Perhaps I'm playing a music that he doesn't like?" Mozart wondered.

"Mozart-san please, don't make fun of a servant's dreadful situation!" Mash told him, thinking it wasn't the best time to crack some jokes.

"Make fun you say?" Mozart looked at Mash. "Lady Mash, I may be joking from outside but from the inside..." Mozart looked sadly at Mash. "...I'm disgusted by this."

Mash didn't even said nothing, letting Mozart to continue talking.

"The Charles Henri Sanson I knew, was a man with honor and humility. Seeing someone take control of him and breaking his mind and body like that, is indeed a bad joke." Mozart said as he saw Sanson slowly getting up from the distance.

"Mozzzaaaarttt!"

The musician closed his eyes, hearing the screams of the executioner. "Remembered what I told you that night?"

"About protecting the things we love? Yes I do remember." Mash said, wondering why Mozart was bringing that up now.

"The problem is...Sanson has nothing he loves left to protect anymore." Mozart said. "Everything he cared about in this Singularity, is long gone." Mozart remembered of Marie. "And when there's nothing left to love, the person has no purpose to keep fighting. Completely at the mercy of vile people that want to use them the way they see fit."

Mash looked at Sanson and the way his body was completely corrupted, alongside his mind that was beyond repair, completely at the will of the Dragon Witch.

"Such people like him, like Sanson that I once heard and knew about it...should never be puppets of terrible fiends!" Mozart shouted as he blocked an attack from Sanson.

"MOZZZZZZAAAAAARTTTT!"

"So help me Lady Mash!" Mozart turned to look at Mash. "Help me free this fallen man from his cruel shackles!"

Mash was dumbfounded by Mozart's words, but now it wasn't the time to think about that. It was time to help her ally has requested. "You can count me on!"

Mozart smiled. "Good." He then looked at Sanson. "Let's finish it for good."

Sanson, fixing the broken bones from his body, stared intensily at Mozart. His mind only tought about one thing: kill his enemies. Kill Mozart. That's all he knew.

"Amadeeeeussss!"

As Sanson was reaching out to the musician, Mash put herself between the two, blocking the attack of the enemy. She saw the black eyes of Sanson, exactly the same ones Atalanta had before being killed. They were devoided of anything.

"Yes! Keep him occupied Miss Mash!" Mozart exclaimed, dematerializing his violin.

"What will you do Mozart-san?" Mash questioned him.

"Hold him for about seven seconds. After that, push him away with your shield and cover your ears!" Mozart instructed Mash.

"Do you really think it's going to work?" Mash doubted.

"Trust me! When it comes to music, I never let any listener dissapointed!" Mozart reassured.

"Okay!" Mash said.

Seeing the perfect condition, Mozart started to wave his hands as if he was leading an orchestra.

"Please enjoy.

Mash start to count the seconds on her head as she was tanking Sanson.

It's time for a public performance!"

Mash felt Sanson trying to push her away but the executioner was wronged if he tought he could get rid of her that easily.

"Prepare to listen!

A golden aura surrounded the area, with giant faceless angel figures carrying instruments appearing.

The seconds on Mash's head where almost over.

To the sound of a demon!"

With the seven seconds counted, Mash reunited all her strenght and pushed Sanson far away from her, proceeding to cover her ears.

"Requiem for Death!"

The angels started to play the music wich affected greatly Sanson that was hearing it's melody.

"Aaaaaaaaaaah! Amadeeeeussss!"

And with a final note, the music and Noble Phantasm of the musician was over. Mozart made a signal to Mash that she could finally take the hands from her ears.

"Did it worked?" Mash asked to Mozart.

"See by yourself." Mozart pointed ahead with his head.

Mash turned around and saw the executioner in the ground, weakly trying to get up.

"Mo...zart..."

Seeing that the enemy was greatly weakened, Mozart walked over him with a sad face. He then stopped right next to Sanson who was to weak to even try and swing his giant blade at the musician.

"You loved her too, didn't you?" Mozart said to the executioner, not expecting an answer to come from his mouth.

"..Ma..rie..." Was all he could say.

"Hmm." Mozart closed his eyes. "I tought so." And on opening his eyes, Mozart descended the fatal blow on Sanson with his baton.

The black liquid from his eyes and mouth started to dissapear, revealing the normal looking Sanson. At the same time his body started to fade.

Mash walked torwards the two, seeing another servant from the Dragon Witch about to perish.

"You knew it...all along...didn't you..?" Sanson said, his body on the ground and all of the energy gone to even look directly at Mozart.

The musician smirked. "Of course. The few times we where together on the same room I noticed how you'd look at her." He giggled.

"Amadeus...you bastard..." Sanson said a bit annoyed.

"Oh don't worry my friend! I didn't tell her about that during the time we where together in this Singularity." Mozart told him.

"My Spirit Core was...messed with...I had no control of myself any longer..." Sanson explained. "I...let myself be turned...into this monster..." Sanson started to tear up. "I could only think...of how I let down my queen..!"

"True. She wouldn't be pleased of seeing this grotesque figure of you." Mozart agreed with Sanson. "But for everyone's luck, she has a good heart. Too good for you and me perhaps." Mozart looked to the sky. "And do you know the best part?"

"Hm? What?" Sanson asked, his body almost completely fading away.

"You can apologize to her right now when returning back to the Throne of Heroes!" Mozart smiled. "Don't also lose this chance to say how much you love her. Do you hear me?"

Sanson was a bit shocked by the musician's words, but he couldn't help but let out a little laugh. "Amadeus...you really are...a weird man..." And Sanson whole body faded.

Mozart smiled even more. "Well thank you for the compliment my dear beheading friend." Mozart summoned his violin. "Because unlike you, a love of mine while always endure the test of time." He started to play the violin. "Loved by many..." He then looked at Mash. "Do you know why, Lady Mash?"

Mash sighed but showed a little smile of joy. "Yes I do, Mozart-san."

"Because when compared to me, everyone else sucks."

"Ah!" Georgios clashed with D'eon's sword, trying to land a hit on them.

"They've been trying to hit him for a long time and yet D'eon looks almost unharmed." Peko said to Ritsuka as the two watched the fight unfold.

"Hmm. Even with Kiyohime and Georgios attacking together, D'eon can still block the attacks." Ritsuka observed. "They are probably the most skilled out of the Dragon Witch's servants."

"Not for long enough." Kiyohime said. "They must have an opening or weakness. Every servant as one."

"Even so, this is a servant that lost their sanity and can still fight pretty well." Georgios commented.

"Marie...my queen...dead..." D'eon's head contracted from left to right, showing how messed up their mind has become after Marie's death.

"Hmm. Peko." Georgios called the boy.

"Y-Yes?!" Peko didn't expect for his name to be mentioned all of a sudden.

"Do you think you can help us?" The bronze saint asked me.

"I'll try to do my best." He answered.

"Ritsuka." Georgios then proceeded to call for the master of humanity. "Do you think there is a possible strategy to win this?"

"Hmm." Ritsuka put a hand on his chin, looking at Peko, Georgios, Kiyohime and then D'eon at the back. "Something that could work..." Ritsuka was thinking.

"All...of you...must...die!" D'eon jumped in the group's direction, but was stopped by Kiyohime.

"Hum, Anchin-sama, I know you need some time to think but could you be more quicker about that?" She complained a bit.

"Hmmmm a strategy to win. C'mon Ritsuka you're the master! Of course you need to think on strategies in order to win the battle!" Thinking some more, Ritsuka looked at Peko, before reaching to a conclusion. "Yes! That's it!" He exclaimed like if he was some kind of scientist.

"S-so? What's the plan Ritsuka?" Peko asked to his friend.

"Peko, can you make that ball of light you made when we were fighting Saint Martha?" He asked to the boy.

"Hum. I think so. Why?" Peko asked.

"Have you tought about making bigger until it explodes? Like a flashbang grenade?" Ritsuka asked, sharing the idea he had.

"Hum..." Peko stood a bit silent, scratching his head. "What is a 'flashbang grenade'?"

Ritsuka just felt like slapping himself. Of course Peko wouldn't know what those things were. "Look. All you need to know is that it can stun the enemy by creating a huge light and you can give it a try with those ball of light of yours!"

"You sure about it? Peko asked, not knowing if he could pull it off.

"Well I'm not entirely sure but we need to try. Alright?" Ritsuka put an hand over Peko's shoulder. "I believe in you."

Peko didn't said nothing for about two seconds, before nodding at Ritsuka. "Sure! I'll try and make one of those 'flashgang' things."

Hearing that Ritsuka then stared at Kiyohime and Georgios who where handling D'eon. "Hey guys! I have a plan!" He shouted to the two servants. "When I scream 'COVER!' you Georgios, cover yourself and Kiyohime with your cape! Understood?"

"What's that plan of yours?" Georgios asked him, wanting to know more details.

"You'll see!" Ritsuka replied.

"Well, if it's anything that Anchin-sama has planned, I automatically approve it!" Kiyohime went on board with Ritsuka's plan.

"Then you better put it in practice Ritsuka!" Georgios parried a hit from D'eon. "Or else they'll start to get the upper hand on us!"

Ritsuka looked at Peko. "Ready?"

The boy nodded. "Yeah."

Peko rised his left arm, sticking out his index finger. He took a deep breath. "Focus." Peko started to concentrate his mana into the tip of the index finger, starting to form a tiny ball of light.

"Yes that's it! Keep going!" Ritsuka encouraged the boy.

"Control all of your mana..." Peko tried to empty his mind, making the small ball of light a little bigger now.

Ritsuka was happy but stayed quiet, not wanting to break Peko's concentration.

Meanwhile Georgios and Kiyohime were doing their best to keep D'eon away from Peko and Ritsuka.

"Imagine it flow, through your nerves..."

The ball was getting larger and larger. However, as it grow, Peko would feel more exhausted, having to concentrate more mana into his ball of light.

"C'mon you can do it." Ritsuka whispered.

"Lead everything, into a single point..." Peko started to sweat as the ball of light was now on the size of a basketball. His left hand was trembling. It was visible that the ball of light was getting unstable.

"Peko! You can release it! It's good enough!" Ritsuka told him worried, not wanting the ball to end up exploding on them.

Peko however still find he could give a little more mana. Leading some unhealthy amounts of magic into his index finger, the ball of light grew sporadically, reaching almost to the same size of Peko who now was feeling his magical circuits and nerves burning inside.

"Aaaaaaaaah!" With a scream that couldn't be said if it was either of pain or determination, Peko fired the huge ball of light from his finger, going at high speed torwards D'eon who was occupied with Georgios and Kiyohime.

"COVER!" Ritsuka shouted at the two servants as he covered his eyes with his arm.

Georgios quickly put an arm over Kiyohime's shoulder and covered both of them with his long cape.

"?" D'eon, not understanding what was happening, just stood there as the ball of light closely reached them. "!"

It was too fast for the musketeer to dodge properly and upon making contact with their body, it exploded into a huge bright white light.

Some seconds passed and D'eon was with their vision completely witish and their ears wouldn't stop to make noise. The servant was stunned.

Taking this as an opportunity, Georgios and Kiyohime both went torwards D'eon and attacked him from each side, slicing the servant.

"Yes! We did it!" Ritsuka closed his hand into a fist in victory. "Well done Peko!"

Peko panted as his body felt tired and with no energy left, his head feeling dizzy and soft. "Y-yeah..." The boy smiled weakly. "We...did..it..." Peko then fell to the ground.

"Peko? Peko?!" Ritsuka went to his side, shaking his shoulder.

"Ritsuka what happened?" Georgios looked behind, seeing Ritsuka next to Peko's body. "Is he alright?" He said worried.

"He got unconscious." Ritsuka told him. "It isn't the first time it happens."

"He shouldn't have done that extra effort." Kiyohime said. "He has low mana. It could have ended up killing him!"

"What matters is that he has done it and did it just for us be able to find an opening on D'eon." Ritsuka smilled to the unconscious Peko. "Good job, Peko."

"Kkgh!...It...hurts...!"

All the three looked in shock as they saw D'eon walking torwards them with their body now oozing out blood.

"It...pains...me..!"

"They're still alive?!" Ritsuka couldn't believe that even after his plan, D'eon was still able to fight.

"Hmm. Not for long. With those wounds, their agility has certainly diminuished." Georgios took a step forward. "Wich means now is the right opportunity to unleash it."

Georgios put his sword in front of him.

"Make sure to not miss it." Kiyohime told the bronze saint as she went next to Ritsuka to check on Peko.

"Let me show you!"

Georgios sword started to shine.

"This is the truth of Ascalon!

An armoured horse appeard next to Georgios, the bronze saint getting on top of it and heading torwards D'eon.

"I...need...to...kill..."

Thou dragon with sin!"

Georgios quickly got near D'eon and slashed the musketeer with and horizontal cut, jumped out of his horse and slashed them again with a vertical cut.

"AS-

Georgios with his sword, then pierced it into D'eon's body.

-CALON!"

The two cuts Georgios made previously then exploded brightly, causing Ritsuka and Kiyohime to cover their eyes.

Once the light had come back to normal they opened their eyes to see Georgios standing overca defeated D'eon, their body dissapearing.

"My queen...My prescious queen..." D'eon said in sorrow. "I...need...you..." They pleaded.

"You can rest easy now musketeer." Georgios told them. "No one will abuse of you now. You're free." He tried to comfort D'eon.

"A-ah...ah..." D'eon tried to smile and look at Georgios face. "T-thank...you..."

And they vanished in the air, no trace of the body left.

Georgios put his hands together in a prayer. "May you find peace at the end, Chevalier D'eon. And may the Lord accept you of good will."

With that, Georgios walked back to Ritsuka and Kiyohime. "So how is he?" He asked about the unconscious Peko.

"He'll eventually wake up." Ritsuka told him.

"That boy has quite the spirit." Georgios observed. "And Ritsuka, thank you for the plan." Georgios smiled at the master of humanity. "You did well."

Ritsuka blushed a bit. "W-well. It was just a simple plan! B-besides, I didn't even do that much compared to you really!

Kiyohime hugged him. "Oh don't be silly Anchin-sama. You did splendidly!"

Ritsuka laughed a bit nervously, still holding Peko on his arms. "Well, if you say so."

"Your blade is nothing short of magnific." Vlad told to his opponent.

"I'd say the same thing abkut your spear." Siegfried replied.

Both servants had been fighting for quite some time now, with both their bodies being wounded and dirty with blood, both coming from them or the adversary. The area around them was full of spears appearing magically from the ground.

Siegfried had avoided majority of them, only getting caught here and there.

Vlad was also injured with some blows delivered from the Dragon Slayer's sword, Balmung.

"Since you're the first one in a long time that gives me a challange, I'll be more than willing to share this personal secret of mine." Vlad told to Siegfried. "Intreasted in hearing it?"

Siegfried got a bit curious but still didn't let his guard down. "You're free to say it."

Vlad smirked. "Good. But I'd also like that we

continued this fight while I tell you about it. What about that?"

"It's fine by me." Siegfried responded.

"Then I'll tell you... a story about a monster's creation. About me." Vlad said as he attacked Siegfried with his spear who then blocked with his sword.

Fate Apocrypha OST- Fate/Apocrypha

"So, it was during my period as ruler of my great kingdom! Where everyone loved and respected his king." Vlad said, remembering the good times.

Siegfried then tried to hit the vampire, but Vlad had anticipated and dodged his sword as he continued talking.

"As you definetly know already, I'm Vlad III, the Impaler. The man who was once king of actual Romenia." Vlad smirked. "All those titles, I'd wear them with pride. After all, it showed my great feats and importance, as well as it gave the people someone to cheer on. However..." Vlad sound colded and outright villanious. "...there will be always a title I'll never forgive the people of the enemy for trying to associate with me!"

Siegfried had already concluded what Vlad was trying concluded. "I know about tha title already. It's the main reason why you became such a famous figure, much for your discontent however."

"Yes, but..." Vlad attacked Siegfried managing to scratch his cheek. "Do you know how I got that name of 'Count Dracula'?" Vlad asked Siegfried.

"If it was to guess, I'd say it was because of your ruthlessness in battle if I'm correct." Siegfried answered.

"That's partially true." Vlad said. "You see, the enemy during the war will always try to diminuish and humiliate their opponent, wheter they are men with values or not." Vlad blocked an attack from Siegfried. "So when I was captured by the ottomans, they iniciated a goal of demolishing all my feats and honrable statues I had until then. I was stripped of any titles that I had at that moment during my imprisonment, being left with only one. The Count Dracula, a title to demonize me and ruin my reputation throughout all of the known world at the time."

"And your point is?" Siegfried asked. "Sorry but why are you telling me this?"

"Because just like me, you are a tragic figure that had an inglorious end, Siegfried." Vlad pointed to the Dragon Slayer. "Mine was to die in the battlefield against my brother." Vlad said that last word with anger. "And yours was to be killed in order to stop a conflict, am I correct?" Vlad smirked.

Siegfried knew it would be of no use to lie. "Yes, you are correct indeed. It's an ending that puts me thinking till this day that I wished it could be different. However..." Siegfried jumped torwards Vlad. He tried to attack Vlad who blocked his attack again. "...we shouldn't let those endings haunt us forever!"

"Hmm. Well said." Vlad pushed Siegfried back. "Your sincerity is something to be commended. I'm blessed that this Singularity brought us together for this nice chat. I'm truly grateful for speaking to someone like you. But now..." Vlad tried to impale Siegfried's chest. "...the time to talk has ended."

Siegfried stayed on alert, preparing himself for Vlad's attacks.

The dracula swinged his spear multiple times at Siegfried, with the dragon slayer having to block everything in a short amount of time. The hits were quick. Any slip and Siegfried would suffer a blow.

"Do you love this life, Siegfried?"

The dragon slayer got a scratch on his shoulder, his mind thinking on something else for a second. He immediatly regained his concentration after and continued to block the attacks.

"Kriemhild. I'm sorry for screwing the things up. You were right. I was an idiot and perhaps still am."

Siegfried took a chance and risking it, he managed to parry one of Vlad's attacks with his sword, using his strenght to unbalance the vampire a bit and let him totally open.

"So, next time I see you, I'll apologize for being too much selfless. I don't expect for you to forgive me and perhaps you'll never will after the things I've done. But by aknowledging my errors, I feel..."

Siegfried aimed Balmung to Vlad's unprotected chest.

"...that would be a thing your hero would do!"

"Blergh!" Vlad spit out blood as Siegfried's sword impaled his chest, right in the heart.

The two stayed like that for some seconds, before Vlad started clapping slowly. "Well done...You've...won..."

Siegfried took out his sword from Vlad's chest, allowing his enemy to fall on his knees. "You fought well. But, I can't help but feeling that you were holding a bit back. Why that?" The dragon slayer asked.

Vlad smirked. "Look around you then..."

Siegfried was a bit skeptical if he should really give his back to the enemy, but after feeling that Vlad couldn't keep fighting ,he turned his back Siegfried saw all of his allies still alive and trying to reagroup, showing that all the Dragon Witch's servants, had been defeated.

"If I won against you I'd had the rest of you to fight all alone." Vlad looked behind him. "And my master is occupied with her other part right now." Vlad put an hand on his big wound. "Not that...I'm a coward who cannot fight many enemies at the same time but...what difference would it make now..?

"So you recognize your defeat then." Siegfried looked to the sky, seeing now that there was less wyverns now, not even reaching to a hundred anymore.

"Is that...I also wanted this to end..." Vlad said, receiving an 'Hm?' from Siegfried.

"You didn't liked being a vampire in the end?" Siegfried asked.

"The taste of blood is...an odd one. I don't find it horrendous nor delightful. My greatest fear when serving the Dragon Witch...was that I might had fallen to the tales of monstruosity that I once rejected. You see...all of us servants who served her...ended up not having any dignity left. Just empty and mindless husks...seeking for blood and destruction...miserables." Vlad giggled. "But I find it fitting...the Dragon Witch's existence in itself...is already miserable."

A roar from the distance catched Siegfried's and the others attention. Fafnir was still in the air, returning from his charge torwards the french army, aiming his attention at the servants and Chaldea group now.

"Well..." Vlad looked at Siegfried. "I guess that's your cue..."

Siegfried, without saying nothing, turned his back to Vlad and faced the evil black dragon, not seeing Vlad's body starting to dissapear.

It was now or never.

"Prepare yourself!"

The blood on Balmung dissapeard, being eliminated by a bright blue light.

Fafnir in the distance saw the Dragon Slayer and immediatly recognized him. The dragon seemed intrigued in having a rematch with his killer.

"The evil dragon shall fall

Siegfired put his sword way up in the air, as it started to form a tall ray of blue light, penetraing the skies above.

Vlad who still was in the process of vanishing contemplated Siegfried silently. "Ah...so this is the power of the great dragon slayer..."

And the world will reach its sunset!"

Balmung was nearly charged. Fafnir flied faster, wanting to stop Siegfried from unleashing his Noble Phantasm.

"I will bring you down

"I hope someday...we could be on the same side..."

Fafnir roared in dispair, using it as a cry to try and intimidate Siegfried. However, the hero did not flinched, the sword in his hands ready to unleash it's massive power.

BAL-MUNG!"

Siegfried descended his sword and beam onto Fafnir, hitting the dragon.

"ROOOOOAAAARRRR!"

"What's the matter saint? Can't keep up with me? Or is your combat skills as soft as your heart?" Jeanne Alter mocked Jeanne.

The fight beetween the two was disputed, with either one having a possible chance of winning.

Jeanne didn't respond, instead concentraring on her alter's next moves.

That was until the two heard a loud roar and a light appearing from the sky.

"What is tha-" Jeanne Alter stopped talking as she saw what was really happening. Fafnir had been hit by the Dragon Slayer's Noble Phantasm. As soon as the beam from Siegfried's sword stopped, Fafnir's body was almost entirely eradicated, with the dragon fall slowly to the ground. Jeanne Alter had just lost her main piece.

"H-How?" She watched in shock and incredulity, not believing that Fafnir had fall down. "T-This can't be!" Jeanne Alter started to sweat as she looked around and saw that Fafnir wasn't the only one that she had lost. All of her servants had been defeated by Jeanne's allies. She also saw the last of wyverns being shot down by the french army, the sky now all cleared from any sign of them. This was when Jeanne Alter realized she was all alone on the battlefield now.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck! How could these morons win against MY servants?! They are nothing but insects!"

"It seems you're back is against the wall." Jeanne told her. "What is happening now is the result of many of us never losing hope, even when the situation seemed completely lost. As long as these soldiers and allies of mine had people and things that they cared about, they would never give up until they saw those things dear to them safe!"

Jeanne Alter right eye twitched as Jeanne took some steps in her direction. "You..." She hissed in total anger.

"Your servants on the other hand never had something to held their hope onto." Jeanne said. "Being only instructed to destroy and controled by you. Some even having to be manipulated and corrupted. We were fighting an army of no will. If you really are me, then I hoped you to be a better leader than this."

Jeanne Alter clenched her teeth in fury. She was close to lose her temperament. This situation was the worse thing that it could happen to her. Her hatred for Jeanne was growing by the second.

"Also..." Jeanne remembered her mother. "Dragon Witch-No. My alter. My feelings for you really are unfriendly. So, with all honesty, I'd say I dislike you." The saint said directly to Jeanne Alter. "Perhaps, even hate you. However, that hate that you await for me to show you will remain in check, altough now acknowledge. Deep down you were right about one thing about me."

"?" Jeanne Alter rised an eyebrow in confusion. "What are you even saying, you stupid moron?!"

"I was trying to ignore my flaws as much as I could. Not wanting to accept feelings that are part of every human. My ignorance for it is why you are here now, causing all of this. I tried too much to act as a saint, forgetting how to act as a proper human first. Thankfully, I had people here that showed me how to live with those emotions. So, even if I hate you right now..."

Jeanne pointed her sword at Jeanne Alter with the flagpole on her other hand, looking to the Dragon Witch in the eyes. "Dragon Witch! I'll kill you not because of personal hate! But because of justice for all the suffering you have commited!"

To be continued...

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author.

Fate Apocrypha OST- Hope

"Hey, Jeanne." An older woman called out for her.

"What is it mother?" A much more matured Jeanne D'arc asked her mother as she helped her bring the water from the well to their house at the end of the afternoon, the sun slowly hiding into the horizon.

"Did you really had to forgive that boy?" The mother asked to the young woman. "He called you such awful things. Someone who calls my daughter those names don't deserve such forgiveness."

"Oh please mother, don't be like that. He's still young and a bit immature. Everyone around my age is a bit like that." Jeanne tried to explain to her mother.

"But you arent. You were always so well behaved and benevolent." The mother smirked. "Guess it was truly the Lord's blessing to have you as my child."

"Well, I try not to let anger go up my head. Those feelings will only hurt us in the end." Jeanne said as the two reached to the small area of their house. "After all, that's what I learned by going to church all sundays. We should forgive one another and not embrace the devil's emotions. Altough I'd say there was one time were I may had felt anger."

Jeanne's mother looked at her daughter with some curiosity. "When?"

"It was some years ago. When I heard a kid with my age insulting you when we where playing with other children." Jeanne looked at the ground, trying to hide her sad expression from her mother. "At that time...I felt something within me, burning in my head and chest. I tried to not pay attention to with but, the more I tought about it the more I felt that sensation grow. I know we where kids and all but, I just...couldn't forgive him at the time. Sometimes I asked to myself, if the devil himself was trying to tempt me with that? If this anger was his-"

"Jeanne..." Her mother stopped Jeanne's talk and looked at her with a small smile. "There was no devil's work in there. You just felt like any other kid would." She went to hug her daughter.

"M-mother?" Jeanne stood there, not knowing how to react at her mother's sudden hug.

"The fact that you are my daughter is already motive enough for me to love you. You don't need to forgive anyone or exclude any anger within you." She looked at her daughter with a warm motherly smile. "In the end, I'll always see you as my dear child."

"Dragon Witch! I'll kill you not because of personal hate! But because of justice for all the suffering you have commited!" Jeanne shouted to her evil counterpart, her sword in hand and ready to fight it's opponent.

Jeanne Alter lowered her head, her eyes covered by the hair. "So, you do really hate me uh?" She asked to her original self.

"With all sincerity, yes I do." Jeanne replied with her alter, with no single hint of lie in the words she speaked.

"Yet, you will kill me because of justice rather than hate?" Jeanne Alter rised a bit her face, a glare of dissapointment on her eyes.

"Yes. Bringing justice to those who died and suffered because of you over these last days is more important than the hate I have torwards you." Jeanne replied again.

Hearing that, Jeanne Alter sighed. "Oh well then..." She smiled at the same time she brushed her hair with her hand. "Guess that's your opinion in the end." She said in almost a defeated tone.

But looking with attention, Jeanne spotted some flames growing into her alter's left hand. She was just pretending.

"Hehehe. Right." Jeanne Alter laughed a bit, bringing an hand to her face. "How righteous of you, a saint after all..." she murmured to herself, before deciding to finally drop the act. "What a load of fucking BULLSHIT!"

Jeanne Alter launched her flames that grew wildly torwards Jeanne.

Jeanne quickly avoided the flames, that went to surround the two in a now small arena for them to fight.

"Hahahaha! This is fucking hilarious and infuriating!" Jeanne Alter shouted as she sprinted in Jeanne's direction, her sword burning in flames. Already next to her, she and Jeanne clashed once again, with the maiden's sword resisting to the witch's flaming one. "And I don't know wich one of the two I should feel more right now!" Jeanne Alter screamed in utter insanity, pushing Jeanne away from the clash.

"So now, you finally admit the hate inside you! That you always had it! And you still want to play as the saint and morally superior one here?! Pfahaha ahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" Jeanne Alter laughed maniacally as the flames around the two were getting more intense. "Seriously Jeanne D'arc...fuck you!" Jeanne Alter smiled wickedly at Jeanne. "The fact you and I are the same must be an error. No way I could be such a pretensious bitch like you!" She growled in anger.

"Are you done Alter?" Jeanne asked the Dragon Witch with all her seriousness. "Or will you rant some more instead of fighting?"

"Oooh, developing a sharp tongue now saint?" Jeanne Alter smiled, approaching her sword to her own face. "I'll make sure to cut it alongside the rest of your body."

"Self-Modification!"

Jeanne Alter runned torwards Jeanne after using her skill. Seeing that her alter self wouldn't save efforts to kill her, Jeanne decided to do the same.

"Revelation!"

The two runned torwards each other, both sword and flag poles in their hands. Jeanne was fighting to save France while Jeanne Alter was seeking to destroy it. Two persons identical in appearence, but different in the mind.

As the two were in one meter of distance from each other, Jeanne swinged her sword first.

"Heh!"

Jeanne Alter was expecting for it and instead of swinging her sword too for the clash, she bowed her back, dodging the blow.

"My turn!" With a small opening available, Jeanne Alter cut Jeanne in the chest. Altough the hit wasn't that fatal, it was enough for Jeanne to retreat a bit.

"Tsk!" The maiden of Orleans touched her wound but still had her eyes locked on Jeanne Alter who happily stared at her now blood drenched sword.

"What's the matter saint?" She licked the blood from her sword. "Scared?" She mocked Jeanne, who didn't respond.

"Despite being in rage, she's still with her head in battle. Her hate is a fuel to her. I'll have to be careful." Jeanne analyzed.

"After I'm done with you I'll proceed to kill those clowns you are with." Jeanne Alter burned her sword, cleaning the blood. "And then all of this shitty country called France." She took some steps upfront. "Only then will I have my revenge complete!" She threw more flames.

Jeanne ,with her flagpole, was able to cut the attacks. "I'll make sure you won't!" She rushed torwards her alter.

"Then dodge this!" Jeanne Alter casted more flames to throw at Jeanne.

Jeanne, never letting her focus slip, dodged the first attack, jumped over the second and finally cut the third. "Dragon Witch!" She screamed with determination, pointing her sword to the alter's chest.

"No you won't bitch!" Jeanne Alter put her flagpole in front of her body, ready for the impact.

However, Jeanne quickly took a step to the right and change her sword's trajectory slightly to the right.

"Wha-"

Jeanne's sword manged to pierce Jeanne Alter in the right side of the abdomen. The saint quickly took it out of her alter counterpart body.

"cough cough" Jeanne Alter's mouth spited some blood out. "F-fuuuuuck!" She screamed in rage. "This was only a lucky strike!"

"Then I'm more than willing to show how wrong you are!" Jeanne proceeded to attack her, leaving small time for Jeanne Alter to recover from the wound.

The two Jeannes went on clashing with their swords.

"You hahaha, I bet you were waiting patiently for this moment right?" Jeanne Alter smirked as she continued to clash her sword with Jeanne. "To see your weapon nailed in my body ever since you've first saw me. You can be with all that serious and stoic face from the outside, but I know damn well you're smilling from satisfaction on the inside. That justice crap is only an excuse to not show your full hatred." Jeanne Alter smiled devilishly. "Admit it saint, you're as monstrous as me. After all my rage is also yours."

"Shut up!" Jeanne used her strenght and pushed Jeanne Alter away.

"Ahahaha! What is it saint? You don't like hearing the truth?" Jeanne Alter smirked.

"I've already said I dislike you Dragon Witch. I was clear when telling you that." Jeanne replied.

"Then why aren't you using that hate now? Why are you holding back what could be your greatest ally in this battle?" Jeanne Alter asked a bit annoyed.

"You only want to see me at my lowest. More low than my first days here in this Singularity. Killing me in such state would be satisfying to you right?" Jeanne revealed her alter intention.

"Hmphm! Not wrong at all. Either way, with or without hate..." Jeanne Alter's sword made sparks with Jeanne's sword. "You'll end up dying anyways!"

The maiden and the witch clashed fiercely until Jeanne Alter used her left leg to kick Jeanne in the stomach and stabbed the saint's shoulder with her sword.

"Gyaah!" Jeanne let out a scream in pain.

"Hahaha! Say goodbye to your arm!" Jeanne Alter moved her sword within Jeanne's shoulder, trying to cut the maiden's arm.

Jeanne cleenched her teeth, trying to ignore the burning pain. "Gggrrrrr!"

"Scream saint! Or try to pray to your god now! If he truly existed he would help you right now would he? Then where is he now?! Like where he was when we were being burned at the stake?!"

Jeanne grunted, already biting her tongue in order to not scream from the constant pain coming from her shoulder. "Gggghhh!"

"Come on! Scream!" Jeanne Alter shouted, smilling like a psycopath.

"Ggrraaaaaaaaaaaah!" Jeanne muster all her strenght in her body and slowly started to stand on her feet.

"Ghg! H-How?!" Jeanne Alter wasn't believing on what she was seeing.

Jeanne scream wasn't one crying for help or begging for mercy or even reacting to the pain. It was a scream of a soldier and warrior that had once led an entire army to the battlefield during the Hundred Years War. With the sword on the other arm, Jeanne powerfully stabbed Jeanne Alter in the stomach.

"Blourhhg!" Jeanne Alter vomited blood and immediatly took the sword out of Jeanne's shoulder. The saint decided to do the same and took the sword out of Jeanne Alter's stomach, dripping blood.

The two took some seconds to recompose themselves from the wound they had inflicted on each other. Jeanne was thankful that her shoulder was still intact and able to move. As she was inspecting it, she could only hear Jeanne Alter's rageful scream. A scream of a being that had nothing else but hate in the soul.

"WHY!?" Jeanne Alter yelled in frustration. "Why won't you die?!" The Dragon Witch had already lost all her patience and composure. Her head and blood was boiling in full rage in seeing her saint counterpart still on her feet. "Maiden of Orleans!" Jeanne Alter launched herself at Jeanne.

Jeanne blocked the Dragon Witch's attack. The first of Jeanne Alter's assault.

"You had nothing! NOTHING!" Jeanne Alter continued her attacks relentlessly. "Everyone hated you and despised you like me! This country is your own enemy! They never saved us! So why save them again?!"

Jeanne soon find an opening on Jeanne Alter and saw the grip of the Dragon Witch's sword getting a bit loosened. That was her chance. Jeanne quickly hit Jeanne's Alter sword and flew away from her hand "Because..." She remembered of her mother, Marie, Gilles and everyone that helped her on this Singularity. "I'll never let hate control me!"

About to have her face pierced by Jeanne, Jeanne Alter made a desperate move and put her hand in front of her face, being perforated by Jeanne's sword. Having no time to think about the pain, Jeanne Alter let go of the flagpole in her other hand and quickly grabbed Jeanne's face with it.

"Hm?!" Jeanne saw how Jeanne Alter quickly turned the tables to her favour.

"BURN BITCH!" Jeanne Alter shouted and concentrated all the flames into the hand holding Jeanne's face. Immediatly, the flames erupted like a flamethrower on Jeanne's face, burning with huge intensity. It continued like that for some four seconds. Powerful flames that could desintegrate any normal human and possibly defeat a servant. Jeanne Alter had used all of her mana power on those flames. Eventually they died down with Jeanne Alter still holding Jeanne's face. The saint arms went limp, showing no sign of resistence.

"Hehehe..." Jeanne Alter panted and sweated. She was completely exhausted and drained from all her stamina. "Finally..." She said with a tired smile. Altough she didn't want to admit, Jeanne fought well. Well she was her after all, but even then the Dragon Witch didn't expect to have such a narrow and hard fought win against the Maiden of Orleans. "Keh..! Stupid saint..! See what happens when you dont let the hate flow inside you." She looked at the ground, seeing her own sweat drop to the floor. "Now...those mices are next!"

A tight grip on her arm made Jeanne Alter look back at Jeanne. The dragon witch was shocked with what she was seeing. "No fucking way..." She hissed, her face showing both anger and utter shock.

Jeanne's hands were pressing Jeanne Alter's arm, the one that was grabbing the saint's face. The Dragon Witch could only ask to herself how much strenght Jeanne had to keep going on.

Fate Apocrypha OST- Confronting

"This...isn't over..yet!" Jeanne said as her tight on Jeanne Alter's arm would get stronger. Through the tiny gaps of her fingers, Jeanne Alter could see Jeanne's charred face, her skin almost totally blackened. Despite that, Jeanne's eyes were still with a will to fight, that she still had some fighting in her.

Jeanne Alter didn't say nothing, only watching as Jeanne was releasing her face from her hand by sheer strenght. "What drives her...to keep fighting this hard?"

"Dragon Witch..!" Jeanne got her face free from Jeanne Alter's hand. "Your revenge ends here!"

Summoning back her sword, Jeanne sliced Jeanne Alter's arm, forcing the Dragon Witch to let Jeanne go from her grasp.

"Gah!" Jeanne Alter screamed in pain.

"God's Resolution!"

All of Jeanne Alter's body immediatly freezed on the spot, not being able to move a single muscle. "What the hell is this?!"

"Punishment. For all the tears and blood you caused." Jeanne's flag unfolded to the hot winds of the flames. With the sword on the other hand, Jeanne was ready to end this. "Dragon Witch! Upon my blade you shall know divine chastiment! Your actions are about to meet their consequences!" A shinning yellow aura surrounded Jeanne's body.

Jeanne Alter gasped. Another fatal blow from Jeanne would certainly end her. "No! Wait!" Jeanne Alter tried to move desperatly but her body was stuck, not being able to move even a muscle.

"Time to pay for your crimes!" Jeanne flagpole started to shine intensly, as if God himself had blessed the weapon.

"No! It can't end like this! I WON'T ALLOW IT!" Jeanne Alter screamed as she tried with all her strenght to move her arms.

"La Grondement-"

Before Jeanne Alter could use her Noble Phantasm, Jeanne dashed torwards her enemy, ready to strike her with her shinning flagpole. Jeanne Alter couldn't do nothing but to watch slowly, her eyes contemplating the light coming out of the flagpole.

"Did I...lost..?"

"Jeanne, Jeanne."

Jeanne Alter heard a familiar voice in the blank space she was in.

"This voice..." Jeanne Alter walked a bit more until she saw a figure appear in front of her. There was no doubt it was her. A voice that could pacify her raging nature.

In front of Jeanne Alter, the mother stretched her arm to her daughter, offering the Dragon Witch her hand. "It has been difficult, hasn't it? You must feel devastated. How about you close your eyes and rest for a bit, Jeanette?" She asked to Jeanne Alter, smilling.

The dragon witch could only feel one thing at the moment. Grief. Her chest filling up with pain, as if something was stuck in it. Her throat also felt the sorrow and her eyes were starting to tear up. All of her hate and rage were gone, replacing a vengeful and bloodthirsty corrupted warrior with a sad and broken young woman who was being offered rest by the face of someone who was once dear to her.

"Mother..." Jeanne Alter went next to her mother and hugged her, tears falling down. "I'm tired...of all of this...I just want to spend time...with you, father and everyone at the village again...just like...those simpler times."

As the light of Jeanne's flagpole went out, Jeanne Alter looked down at her own body. Her entire stomach had been impaled by Jeanne's flagpole, creating a hole in her body.

"Your revenge has failed. You've lost the battle." Saying it with a stoic expression, Jeanne took out the flagpole from Jeanne Alter's body as the flames around the two had extinguished.

The battlefield was calm. No sound of fighting or weapons clashing. And the sky was no more full of wyverns or grey clouds, instead being totally free of the creatures and with a clear blue alongside some white clouds. The giant ring was also there, present during the whole battle and fights that took place in the area outside the castle. The field was no more filled with evil creatures and servants who would eat peoples's body and drink their blood. Now, it was the stage for a grand battle. A battle wich the allies from Jeanne's side were all still standing, walking torwards Jeanne who was near the castle gates. It was a very clear sign of who had won this battle.

Jeanne Alter fell to her knees and hugged herself, trying to stop the bleeding from her belly. She saw all the fellow servants and allies of Jeanne behind the saint. It was real. She had lost. No servants left to help her. Jeanne Alter couldn't do nothing more.

"You..." Jeanne Alter took a look at Nala who was so with the group behind Jeanne. After the saint she was probably the second person she hated in this Singularity. "I should have killed you...when I had the chance back then.." She angrily lamented, reminding how she chosed to spare the girl instead of killing her back when they met for the first time.

"But you didn't. That was your mistake." Nala replied to Jeanne Alter, stepping a bit forward and standing next to Jeanne. "However, if it wasn't for that mistake, I wouldn't be able to see how much I still have to learn and also..." Nala turned her head around to look at Peko, Ritsuka and Mash. "...I wouldn't be able to see them again." She smiled to the trio, who all smiled back. "So despite of all the awful things you did, I have to thank you for that."

"Are you...trying to rub your victory on my face...you damn brat...?!" Jeanne Alter tried to stand on her feet, only to cough more blood and fall on her knees again. Even in defeat, she was a sore loser.

"Do you have any memories of our family?" Jeanne asked to Jeanne Alter, the question catching the Dragon Witch by surprise. "If you are me, then you surely must remember it."

"Yes...I do..." Jeanne Alter weakly tried to stand up again. "Moments that you took away from us...by indulging into your savior of France fantasies..." Jeanne Alter took deep and long breathes. Just to talk was getting very hard for her at this moment. "You replaced a happy life that we had...to have a miserable ending...left alone to die by those you and I served...I'll never forgive you...for that-cough cough" Jeanne Alter coughed. "I'll make sure...to haunt you forever Jeanne D'arc...for as long as you exist...I will coexist within you...cursing your soul and mind..."

"But what if you can be more than that?" Jeanne asked to her alter who raised an eyebrow as response. "I acknowledge you as my own dark feelings who were ignored by me until my death. I too have a part to be blamed in all of this. To keep you silent even in my most dire situation was a mistake. One that led to your creation." Jeanne tought about the conversation she had with that mysterious figure. "But, if there's a next life for all of us, then perhaps there is for you as well." Jeanne looked at the blue sky. "A life that is more than hate and revenge. One where you can perhaps live happily again, and be your own person instead." Jeanne looked at Jeanne Alter. "No mere copy or feelings of Jeanne D'arc, just being yourself with your own likes. So my alter, even if I dislike you, I hope you find peace and redemption in your next life."

Jeanne Alter didn't know if she once again should laugh or be angry at the words of her original counterpart. "I..don't give a fuck...about your words..." Jeanne Alter said harshly to Jeanne. "Because of you...I'll never find peace...I won't rest..until I see you in the mud just like me..!" Jeanne Alter painfully picked her sword from the ground. "And this...isn't the end...I'll-huh?" Jeanne Alter suddenly stopped talking as she heard something on her head. "G-gilles..? Do you want...me to go back..? W-why..?" Jeanne Alter's eyes were more calm and serene. "O-okay Gilles..I'm coming back..." And shortly after, Jeanne Alter dissapeard in front of Jeanne and her allies.

"She's gone?" Ritsuka asked, not knowing if Jeanne Alter was gone for good.

"Then it means we've defeated all of them! The Dragon Witch has been defeated!" Mash almost exclaimed happily.

"No. Not yet." Jeanne said seriously, not even looking at the shielder. "I knew I didn't heard that name wrong..."

"There's still more?" Peko asked to Jeanne.

"Yes. Still one left to be exact."

Fate Apocrypha OST- Affection

In the throne room, Jeanne Alter now in a moribund state, walked to the throne."That damn saint...talking about me having a redemption...How dare she..?" Jeanne Alter slowly sat on it, her vision already getting blurry as the sunlight penetrated through the holes on the roof of the room.

"Jeanne..." To her right, Jeanne Alter looked at the man standing next to her. Gilles de Rais. Her one and only friend throughout this whole Singularity. The only person she could always trust and rely on. In the end, she wasn't alone. "I'll deal with those intruders. You just worry about taking a rest now."

"Gil..les.." Jeanne Alter's body was starting to dissapear. This was really the end for the Dragon Witch. But Jeanne Alter instead just smiled in seeing her friend besides her in her last moments. A smile with no vile intentions. "That's...right...You will crush them..." Jeanne Alter's breath were getting slow. "I'll wake up...with you already having the job done...just like you've always done so..in the battlefield.." Jeanne Alter closed her eyes, her smile still standing on her face as Gilles sadly watched his friend vanish. "I trust you...Gilles..."

And the Dragon Witch was gone, leaving no trace behind. The main menace of the Singularity no longer present. Now, only her right hand man was left, waiting for his friend killers to arrive.

"Rest well, Jeanne..."

To be continued...

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author.

Gilles de Rais was known for being a prestigious noble man and baron of 15th century France. Like every other noble men at the time, Gilles had a militar duty to serve the army of France. There, he would find a great friend of his life, the young commoner girl named Jeanne D'arc, who had pleaded to let the army recruit her.

Many laughed and mocked Jeanne, while others were angry and adversed to the idea of letting a woman in the army, thinking she was trying to make fools of themselves. However, Gilles de Rais, the very own general was one of the few that decided to give a chance to the peasant girl. He believed in Jeanne's words of hearing angels voices ever since she was little, and that they were the ones who advised her to join the army. The noble man saw this as a possible sign of God to help them in the figure of Jeanne D'arc.

Gilles had never been happier with a choice he has ever done before. Jeanne proved to be a skilled warrior and leader. The soldiers beneath her guidence felt nothing could stop them as long as they had their great leader with them. But Jeanne didn't do this all by herself. Gilles de Rais was saw by everyone has her right hand man, always close to Jeanne, following her rules and issuing her orders to the rest of the soldiers. They formed an incredible duo.

In their journey to reconquest lost areas of France, Gilles de Rais could say with total assurance on his words, that Jeanne was the most skilled warrior and best companion he ever had while serving the army in the one hundread year war. They eventually took back Orleans and saw the coronation of the new king of France taking place in Notre-Dame where Gilled de Rais himself received the title of Marshal.

Everything from this moment onwards however, was all downhill.

After the coronation, both Gilles and Jeanne went their own separate ways, with Jeanne getting captured later one by the enemy. Gilles wasn't present to save his friend, nor could he do nothing to rescue her from the enemy. All that the noble man could do, was to pray and hope that the royal court would do an effort to try and negotiate Jeanne's freedom. After all, she was one of the main reasons for why they were winning the war at the time. The man tought there was no way they would abandon such prescious and important person like Jeanne. But they did.

The news would come to Gilles three days later that Jeanne was burned at the stake. This event would completely shatter Gilles mind and start his decadence to madness. The God he had prayed so much to save his friend, ended up doing nothing. Jeanne, who was to Gilles, the entire and sole reason to believe in God's existence, was now dead. So, he turned his back against the religion he himself believed in and went down to a road full of attrocities and the utmost sinful acts and cruel deeds a man could do, thinking to himself that if God really existed, then he would have already rained down his punishment on Gilles for such vile crimes. In the end, the broken man concluded that God did not exist and his heart and soul fell entirely to an unhiged darkness.

All his riches and fortune from his household were quickly wasted to the point his finances were short. The now wicked man had spent everything on buying and studying alchemy with a friend of his that happened to be a cleric and cover Gilles financial wastes. He would learn black magic and get involved in demonology thanks to that same friend, who would teach Gilles some spells and rituals to get new ways to torture his young victims.

Time would pass as Gilles would continue to practice his horrible actions and go more insane, eventually changing his whole face and body structure to that of a more macabre man. He would even get a new name of 'Bluebeard' after commiting many attrocities that always happened on the decaying noble man's castle.

Unexpectedly, his death would come some years after by the hand of other noble men. Unfortunately, it was a death brought by the fear and envy of those nobles that were afraid of the possibility of Gilles to sell his lands to hostile nations in an attempt to raise his personal money. So, in 26th of October of 1450, the insane and monstrous man that become Gilles de Rais was hanged, not by his vile and cruel deeds torwards the innocent young commoners that the other noble mens of the area saw nothing more as disposable livestock, but for political and selfish reasons of people who wanted to make sure they would stay on the top.

It couldn't be said in the end, if his death was God's way to punish him. Gilles de Rais altough dead, was never brought to justice by all the crimes he did.

Perhaps, he would this time.

"Gilles de Rais!" A familiar voice shouted behind Gilles back as the man heard footsteps entering the throne room where he was located. They had arrived. Ready to put an end to his existence as they did with the alter copy of his dear friend. Altough he got to spend time with a Jeanne during this Singularity, it was somewhat comfortable to see the one that he always knew again.

"Ah, I see you have come Jeanne." The man turned his back to look at Jeanne who was standing at the door's entrance alongside the Chaldea group and the other servants. "But of course you would come. No matter the situation you were always able to change the situation to yours side's favor." He smiled kindly to Jeanne.

The saint however, didn't seemed happy in seeing him. "So it was true all the rumours that I've heard of you? All those...acts and crimes. You really turned your back to God didn't you?" She asked to her former friend in a mix of anger and sorrow. Seeing a great friend of hers becoming a monster was painful to hear. More so to watch.

"It is true indeed Jeanne." Gilles confirmed, his face not changing a bit after the confirmation.

"Then I suspect you are also the one that molded the Dragon Witch. Do I stand correct?" Jeanne asked to Gilles.

"In a certain way, yes. You are correct." Gilles closed his eyes, thinking back on the moment. "I was the first summoned servant by this Singularity. And with me came a kind of blackish mud. You probably know what that thing was."

"My dark emotions..." Jeanne whispered to herself.

"So this Gilles de Rais is a servant? That could explain why there are two Gilles here." Ritsuka said.

"Yep. The Gilles de Rais we met previously, the one that was leading the army, is original from this Singularity." Mash told Ritsuka. "This one right here, must be his future self, from when Jeanne died."

"So we defeat him and this Singularity is clear, right?" Peko asked to Mash.

"If he has the Grail, then yeah." Mash replied to the boy.

"Hehehe." Gilles laughed, getting everyone to stay in their battle posotion, waiting for any sudden attack of the enemy. "Does this answers your question, girl of the shield?" Gilles put his hands in front of him, as if he was holding something. Shortly after, a circular aura appeard on his hands.

Everyone else watched in complete surprise.

"W-what is that?" Nala asked, wondering like everyone on her side what was the aura that Gilles was holding.

"That...is the Holy Grail!" An hologram of Romani appeard, discovering what was the aura before anyone else. "The amount of mana and type is without a doubt the grail! Watch out everyone! We don't know what he could do with such a magical artifact like that!" The doctor warned them.

"When did you get it?" Mozart pointed to Gilles, demanding an answer from him.

"I've heard the mud's anguish Jeanne. All those emotions and feelings, you know?" Gilles speaked with Jeanne, ignoring Mozart's question in the meantime. The Maiden of Orleans decided to not say anything. "The frustration, rage, anger. It was so real and almost palpable. The hate it had for the people who betrayed it was on the same level as mine. However, it was too weak to properly get in any shape or form. So I searched for the Grail. Since I was the only servant here at the time, it was easy to take the Grail without any opposition. And once it was in my hands..." Gilles grinned evily. "I used it's power and wish to give form to that mud. You, Jeanne. The mud, composed of your feelings, transformed into the things that had inside of it."

"My alter." Jeanne responded. There was no doubt Jeanne Alter was the negative emotions of Jeanne taken into a physical manifestation. That was already known. But what wasn't known was how it took shape. Now she knew.

"After so many times wishing for your revival, I finally was able to achieve it in some way! I must confess Jeanne, discovering that you had all those emotions within you was deeply saddening. In the end you are like just everyone else. But on the other hand..." Gilles smilled happily from ear to ear. "Seeing how you hold back those feelings for your entire life, is nothing short of admirable! I wish I could do the same."

"So in the end, it seems you got that wish you always wanted." Jeanne said with a face of dissaproval, condemning her friend's actions.

Gilles giggled at hearing those words. "Oh my dear Jeanne, you are deeply wrong." Gilles smiled transformed into a big frown. "This mystic wish device still wasn't able to grant my other wish!" He shouted angrily. "The destruction of France and it's people! They are all scum that wronged us!"

"So even after he got his friend back...he still isn't satisfied?" Ritsuka tought to himself, not believing someone could still want more after having a dear friend back from the dead.

Nala also wasn't happy to hear what Gilles said. "You are really dispicable, aren't you?" She confronted the man. "Having a beloved friend back isn't good enough for you?" She accused Gilles.

"I agree." Peko responded. "Why wish for chaos and innocent's suffering, when those people never done anything to you?"

"Peko, it's no use." Jeanne replied to the boy. "He's...already long gone."

"I know. I just can't understand how he wants to kill people that didn't have anything to do with your death. That's brutal."

"The whole world is brutal boy." Gilles responded to Peko. "You may see me as a monster but I'm probably one in the middle of thousands. The population of this country did nothing to save my friend after everything she did to keep them safe. Wouldn't you say that alone is an act of a monster with no empty would do?"

"That's ridiculous!" Ritsuka protested. "What do you wanted from normal people to do in that situation?!"

"Anything!" Gilles de Rais shouted back. "Press the king to negotiate Jeanne's rescue. Form a large group to try and rescue her. At least an act that showed they greatfulness torwards their hero! But instead they all chose to stay silent and watch!" Gilles yelled angry. "Now they are all getting the payback for leaving the Maiden of Orleans behind! There's no such ungrateful population as the people from France! I'll destroy all of you and soon my second wish will become true!"

"Do you think a person like you deserves that?!" Nala yelled at Gilles who shown a face of discontent torwards the girl. "Get real! I've heard the crimes and murders you did! Many of us here knows it too! People like you have no rights to get wishes granted but death instead!"

"She's right. The moment you started interacting with black magic and commiting killings, was the moment that you had any reasonable anger lost." Georgios said. "Doing that to children, is an act even the Devil himself wouldn't dare to do, Gilles de Rais!"

Siegfried took some steps forward. "Wishes should be used to help someone or make a person happy, altough never harmful or at the expense of others pain. Wishes like that, should never come to fruition!"

"Gilles, after everything you have done, there's only one way you can redeem yourself." Jeanne rotated her flagpole and stuck it to the ground. "And that is through death!"

Gilles veins could be seen on his forhead for how angry the man already was. Hearing his enemies talking and not wanting to see his point of view, was making the man lose his patience. "Fine then!" He said harshly. "I'll kill you anyways in the end! Just in time to get Jeanne back!"

"!" Mash noticed something. "Master, I'm detecting a creepy amount of mana coming from him!" She warned Ritsuka.

"That can't be good!" Ritsuka replied as he saw a dark aura around Gilles. "Nala! Peko! Get behind Mash's shield!" He ordered to the two kids as Mash already put the shield on the front, prepared to block a possible attack.

"What is he about to do?" Peko questioned as he and Nala joined Ritsuka who was standing behind Mash and her shield.

"This sensation..." Jeanne watched Gilles as she felt the mana getting larger.

"Is it the power of the Grail?!" Elizabeth said as she and the other servants were preparing for the attack.

"It isn't just the Grail!" Jeanne shouted to them. "I can feel something else there-" Looking with attention, Jeanne tought she saw something behind Gilles. Something sinister and familiar.

"...be sure to not let the darkness and evilness consume your entire soul. Or else, the consequences will be tragic."

Jeanne immediatly remembered of someone or something she talked to while in this Singularity.

For a single moment, Jeanne was able to see Gilles soul materialize in front of him. It was completely dark, with no trace of light left. "That is-"

A huge explosion came out of Gilles. Strong enough to tear down the throne room and big part of the castle. A big gust of wind went against them. Thankfully, Mash's shield protected the Chaldea group while the servants also managed to stay on their ground.

"Grrr! Hold on everyone!" Ritsuka told to his group as the winds were starting to calm down.

And what they saw, seemed stuff that came out of a nightmare.

"It's that...giant tentacles?" Ritsuka watched in horror as a giant tentacle creature emerged from the fog.

"Behold Jeanne and my enemies! Witness my greatest weapon of revenge! My very own Noble Phantasm! This demon from the underworld! Yes, YES! My wish, the revenge of my beloved saint...this dragon hundred years war..."

Gilles's body appeard in the middle of the creature as it finished from fully showing up. "...is far from ending!"

"What...is that creature?" Peko was trembling in fear. He know he had to fight but this was perhaps the most scariest thing he has ever saw. How they were supposed to defeat that?

"Peko! Y-you need to remain calm and focus! We can do this!" Nala tried to calm down her brother but Ritsuka and Mash noticed that she was sweating, showing that even her was scared of this monster.

"All that power..." Jeanne watched fully in shock. "...is his hatred? His raging soul?"

"Do you see now Jeanne? It's useless trying to fight. So instead please, join me. I saw your negative and true emotions." Gilles extended his hand to Jeanne, begging her to team up with him. "You despise this country has much as I do, so let's-"

"Gilles." Jeanne stopped the mad caster's words. "Even if you resurrected my original body and not just give form to my dark emotions, I would never become the Dragon Witch!" Jeanne shouted to Gilles.

"Jeanne..." Ritsuka watched from behind with everyone else.

"Wha-what?!" Gilles was incredulous. "But Jeanne, you're emotions! They were-"

"Yes that's true! It's true that I was betrayed! That I felt anger and hate! That ending, you could even say, it was my final regret!" Jeanne was starting to tear up. "But despite all of that, I would never be able to resent my homeland! My family, my friends, you! I could never hate this country because all of you live in it!" She screamed in top of her lungs.

"Jeanne..." Gilles felt sad in seeing Jeanne telling him all that. Seeing Jeanne like that, was sad for whom was once a proud noble man.

"So please, Gilles..." Jeanne looked to the ground. "Stop this already. I don't want this!"

"Jeanne, you're words are truly kind. It's incredible that your best side can overshadow your worst feelings." Gilles said with an happy smile. "However, that makes you forget about something. Even if you don't despise your homeland, I on the other hand..." Gilles smile vanished and the man looked at Jeanne with a face full of sorrow and anger. "Hate this country!" He declared. "That scene always scratches the surface of my mind. How many nights I tortured myself thinking about that?! I always tried to reach it with my hands! But of course, I could never reach it! I wasn't even there at all! And the ending would stay the same. Oh, why I couldn't be there? Why did no one saved her?!"

"W-what's happening?" Elizabeth and everyone started to feel an earthquake.

"Look over there Liz!" Kiyohime pointed to the kraken creature. "I think it's changing!"

"You may forgive them Jeanne. But I won't!" Gilles continued to scream. "God, the king, this country...I'll kill every last one of them!"

Jeanne watched in terror the creature Gilles was on, mutating and getting more dangerous.

"This is mine and my saint's wish! Dont try ti get in my way then, Jeanne D'arc!" Gilles yelled.

"Wait!" Ritsuka raised is hand and stood right next to Jeanne, much to Gilles confusion.

"What are you doing by trying to get in the middle of me and Jeanne's conversation? Are you going to also reject my viewpoint? If so then I'm not even willing to let you say a word!" Gilles told Ritsuka, not liking the way the master of humanity stopped the conversation he was having with Jeanne.

"It's that..." Ritsuka put an hand close to his chest. "I agree with your feelings. You aren't wrong at all."

"Senpai?!" Mash reacted in shock.

"What did you said?!" Nala also tought she wasn't hearing well what Ritsuka had just said.

"Ritsuka, what are you talking about?!" Peko couldn't understand how Ritsuka could just agree on Gilles viewpoint of murdering everybody.

"Ritsuka Fujimaru!" Even Romani who was still connected was completly stunned by what he just heard.

Jeanne chosed to not speak.

"Oh? So you understand where I'm coming from?" Gilles seemed surprised. "You can see how cruel this people are and that my acts are justified, right?"

"Well, as Jeanne's master, I'm speaking for her. So I'll tell you this. What you're feeling. That hate. It's understandable. I guess every human in your place would end up having the same fate." Ritsuka told to Gilles, who happily smiled on seeing someone was seeing on the same perspective as is.

"Then join me." Gilles offered his hand to Ritsuka. "Together, we'll destroy this country and-"

"Hell no if you think I'm letting you erase this country!" Ritsuka shouted. "Listen Gilles de Rais! I don't know very much about you, but of what I've heard, I'd say you're in your right to hate this country! What isn't right however, is letting you destroy and kill innocents!"

Gilles was furious. "So despite of understanding and allowing me to hate this country existence, you will not allow me to destroy it, correct?"

"Yep." Ritsuka answered shortly.

At this point, Gilles was boiling in rage. "How you dare mock me you insolent fool!?" A tentacle descended torwards Ritsuka.

Jeanne instinctively protected her master, blocking the tentacle with her flagpole. "Gilles de Rais! I hereby declare here and right now your sentence! To be defeated by this group of heroic spirits and it's master!"

"But how will we even be able to defeat him?" Kiyohime asked to the rest of the group.

"By using all of our Noble Phantasms!" Elizabeth proposed.

"You really are stupid! It can't be that simple." Kiyohime found Elizabeth idea ridiculous.

"Actually, it's possible to defeat him that way." Romani informed the duo. Elizabeth smiled all happily and full of herself while Kiyohime got petrified and shocked at hearing that Elizabeth's way was a viable option. "I mean, not in the way that you are thinking where it's about unleashing all of the Noble Phantasms at the same time, but it could still work."

"And I'd bet that he himself is the weak spot." Mozart pointed out that Gilles de Rais was with half his body in the open, being subjected to any possible attack.

"So we take him down and the creature dies with him. That's a good logic." Siegfried said.

"Then we must open the path to Gilles de Rais body and slay him. For that we will have to keep the tentacles occupied." Georgios commented on a way to get to Gilles.

"I'll be the one who will try to get close to Gilles." Jeanne said. "I know what will be able to put a stop to him."

"Hey! What are all of you muttering about?!" Gilles approached to the group. "Whatever it is doesnt matter! You will still lose in the end!" One of the monster tentacles tried to attack Ritsuka and Jeanne.

"Master! Jeanne-san!" Mash quickly runned torwards them and put her shield up in the air.

"Lord Chaldeas!"

Mash used her Noble Phantasm and blocked the tentacles from hitting Ritsuka and Jeanne.

"I hope what I just did ends up helping all of us. Throughout this Singularity, everyone as been helping us, so it's my time to retribute the favour! I'll keep these ones occupied! The rest of you deal with the other ones!" Mash told to her group

Fate Grand Order OST- Grand Battle

"It's no use! Stop resisting and die already!" Gilles yelled as other tentacles tried to attack Mash from behind.

Nala quickly went to cut it. "You'll be the one dying here instead freak!"

With the tentacle cut, the way torwards Gilles de Rais body was slowly opening and getting clearer.

"There's still too many! We'll need to eliminate them fast!" Peko told them, joining Ritsuka, Nala and Mash.

"Then I guess it's my turn to unleash it." Kiyohime walked to the front and looked at Ritsuka. "Those words you used were very brave Anchin-sama. I felt no lie in them. You truly speaked what was in your mind. I'm glad I could make many friends here and you being one of them." She smiled at the master of humanity.

"Thanks Kiyohime." Rituska smiled back.

"Gyah! Anchin-sama thanked me!" Kiyohime hide her blush before composing herself. "Then watch this tentacles go away!" She opened her fan.

"Watch over me!"

"As of now,

Blue flames appeard from her fan.

I'll eliminate the liar!"

The blue flames grew and formed a dragon.

"Samadhi Through Transforming Flames!"

The blue dragon attacked the tentacles and managed to successfuly burn them.

"Grrr! Do you think that's all it takes to stop me?!" Gilles ordered more tentacles and protected himself by using more tentacles as shield.

"That wont shield you for very long!" Elizabeth grabbed her spear.

"It's our turn now! You guys did well so far!" Mozart said, accompaining Elizabeth.

"Mozart, today it will be a special occasion! I'll sing for my friend Marie! So make sure to match my rythm!" Elizabeth told to the musicians, sticking her spear into the ground.

"Hehe wow! You made me starting to think like a hero! But that aside..." Mozart summoned his angel musicians. "Of course I'll join you in making a song! I'm a genius after all!"

"Great! Then let's do this!" Elizabeth said as she summoned a castle with big sound columns. She took a deep breath, ready to use her musical voice alongside Mozart's instruments.

"Fresh Blood Demoness, Bathory Erzsbet!"

"Funeral March for Death, Requiem for Death!"

Numerous musical beams from the music the two had formed went straight to the tentacles that were protecting Gilles.

"That duet of music and noise is breaking it's defenses!" Peko said as they watched the combination of Mozart's and Elizabeth's Noble Phantasms break the guard of Gilles de Rais.

Nala saw that Gilles was now totally opened. "Great! The monster is stunned! Now's our chance!"

Mash fell to her knees exhausted, no longer having to use her Noble Phantasm to block tge tentacles impact from the creature. Ritsuka went close to her. "You did well Mash!"

"This isn't over yet! I won't give up now!" Gilles used more two tentacles to hit his enemies that were on the ground. But he was forgetting of two more servants.

"Balmung!"

"Ascalon!"

Two beams hit the tentacles, successfully erasing them. Now Gilles had nowehere to hide.

"It's sad seeing a knight's hate emerge because of his faith. However, I cannot let it harm any civilians!" Georgios said after unleashing his Noble Phantasm.

Siegfried who had done the same looked at Jeanne. "The path is now open. The rest is up to you." He told Jeanne.

"Thank you Siegfried. It was a honour fighthing alongside you." Jeanne showed her gratitude to Siegfried before charging torwards Gilles.

"Hm." The Dragon Slayer smirked. "Likewise."

"You fiends think that will be enough to stop this creature?! With the grail in my possession this momster will never go down!" Gilles screamed once again, not noticing who had just arrived and was standing in front of him. Jeanne was now looking at her fallen friend in the eyes.

"She reached him." Ritsuka said watching from below.

"What are you going to do Jeanne? Pierce me with that flagpole? Go ahead, it won't stop nothing! Even if you kill me now, I'll put the Holy Grail inside this monster! With it's infinite regeneration, no one will be able to stop it!" Gilles shouted right in the face of Jeanne, who heard the words unfazed.

"I know." Jeanne said. "That's why I'll burn it instead. You, this monster, and me." Jeanne let go of her flagpole and picked her sword, the armbands and gloves of her knight's suit dissapearing, showing her naked hands and arms.

Fate Apocrypha OST- La Pucelle

"The sword of Saint Chatherine? Is that...a Noble Phantasm? What did you meant by burn-" Gilles audibly gasped as he reacted in despair to what Jeanne had in mind. "No! Stop it! Anything but that!" Gilles pleaded, but Jeanne ignored him, touching her blade, letting her blood stain the sword.

"Lord I offer this body to you "

And the flower bloomed.

Gigantic flames aroused from where Jeanne and Gilles where standing. They were similar to that of Jeanne Alter except they seemed to burn with less agressivness.

"What's that?!" Nala asked as she fought against the strong winds going against them.

"I don't know! Those flames are certainly more instense than Kiyohime's Noble Phantasm!" Mash observed." Is that perhaps-"

"Yes. It's her Noble Phantasm. A second one to be more precise." Romani told the group. "Those flames are the materialization of the concept of her end. The sane flames that ended her life. And because of that, after using it, she will most likely die." That information landed hard on the Chaldea group. "It's known as, a suicidle Noble Phantasm."

"If you knew that why didn't you told us?!" Peko shouted to Romani's hologram, revolted.

"Yes! Why the hell didn't you stop her doc?!" Ritsuka yelled to Romani as well.

"Because I can't and I won't. It's something that only she can do. And I won't let you stop her either." Romani told them sadly. "Even if you all hate me for it."

"So...Jeanne has to die if we want to defeat him?" Nala asked with a sad face.

"I think so." Mash said.

"Gaaaaaaahh! Stop it! Stooop ittt!" Gilles screamed in pain as he felt his body being burned by Jeanne's flames. "There's no way that the flames who killed you are also a Noble Phantasm of yours! They should represent a pride of a hero! God!" Gilles tried to fight the flames. "How far will you defile her until you're satisfied!?"

"The Crimson Saint, La Pucelle!"

The flames opened way to allow Gilles see Jeanne among the flames. And she was smilling. Gilles couldn't help but feel dumbfounded. "How can you smile? How can you find joy in the middle of this burning hell?"

"It's because I don't see these flames as something terrible. It's true indeed that they may be painful, but even then, I don't hold hate torwards it." Jeanne kept her smile as she continued her explanation. "Even if I was saw as a saint by my own people, I also murdered people, took lives of fathers, brothers and sons of innocents from a country I judged as the enemy. What I did there was large amounts of sins, sins that would come to an end with my death.

"You're saying that you deserved these flames because of the people you killed in a war? Can such laughable story exist?!" Gilles started to cry. "It's not fair! It's just isn't! You shouldn't have died unrewarded!" Gilles sobbed.

"You are wrong Gilles." Jeanne said. "Those lives I have saved. The people I protected in the war. This country existence is the reward of my efforts. The fact that there's still a place and region called 'France' is proof that my acts weren't done in vain. It makes me be sure that the path I did take wasn't wrong. This was surely the correct path! This country didn't reached it's end even after I died! Of course that it had it's tragedies after thag but it continued on! Even until the master of Chaldea's time!"

Gilles anger was slowly erasing, the man not knowing what to think of Jeanne's words. "Jeanne..."

The Maiden of Orleans looked at her friend with calm and comforting eyes. "That's why it's time to stop this. No more vengeance or destruction."

A bright light appeard behind Jeanne. "So let's go Gilles. Let's go back to our own story and remember about the untainted light in the middle of our tragedies." She smiled to Gilles.

"Jeanne, I..." Gilles eyes were no more abnormal, and his anger had been totally tranquilized. The man remembered of the time when he was a proud knight, watching Jeanne standing tall in front of him with the flagpole, staring into the horizon of a upcoming day. She looked at the man and offered him her hand.

"Let's go, Gilles. My friend."

"...Yes, Jeanne."

"What's that huge beam of light there?!" One of the soldiers pointed to a giant pillar of light that was in the middle of the crater as he watched alongside his fellow companions. The beam of light eventually dissapeard, leaving behind an area of full calmness and peace, with no sign of monsters around or nearby.

"D-Did we won?" One of the soldiers asked to the rest, trying to understand the current situation.

"I see no sign of the Dragon Witch nor her evil creatures!" One of the soldiers said before starting to smile. "W-we won. We won!" He screamed happily. "The Dragon Witch has been defeated!" The man exclaimed as he and the rest of the army all jumped and celebrated in joy. What had terrified them for so long ceased to exist. France had been save. They could all go back to their families again, knowing that no threat such as the Dragon Witch would come to haunt them again.

However, there was still one man who wasn't celebrating. "First unit! Come with me and do a research of the area. Everyone else stay here and treat the wounded!" Gilles de Rais ordered to his men. "There's a person, that I should apologize to..."

"Hostility exterminated and the grail was recovered." Romani told them. "The first Singularity, has been restored." The doctor laid back on his chair with a sigh. "We've done it. Now the process of restauration will start and everything that happened in this Singularity will be erased from history. In the meantime, we will prepare the Rayshift to bring you back to Chaldea. Sit tight."

"Master, Jeanne is..." Mash prevented to say it to Ritsuka, knowing that he probably already figured out the outcome.

"Yeah." Ritsuka looked at the hand of his Command Spells. "I feel my body getting lighter..." He commented, not sensing the contract he made with Jeanne.

"Then she truly is gone..." Peko sadly looked at the ground. "At least she took out our last enemy."

"Hmmm." Nala stared sadly at her brother, before looking to the place where the huge beam took place. She caught sight of something. "Wait! I think I see someone there!" She shouted to the others.

Coming closer, they found Jeanne, now with her knight's armour completely gone, leaving behind only her civilian clothes.

"Jeanne, Jeanne."

A voice called for her wich made the saint slowly open her eyes. Getting up from the ground she saw the body of Gilles de Rais dissapearing in front of her.

"Gilles you..."

"Thanks for showing me that right path of yours Jeanne." Gilles smiled, a bit of his sanity returning to the dying man. "I used the Grail to return your Spirit Origin back before you unleashed your Noble Phantasm. " Gilles grabbed Jeanne's hand. "Now goodbye, my friend. I'll go back to hell. But at least these time..." Gilles smiled at Jeanne one last time. "I was able to save you from the flames..." And he dissapeard. The last opponent and enemy of this Singularity was defeated.

"Gilles..!" Jeanne let a tear fall down of her face while crying out for his friend's name. She wanted to say more things to him, but her friend already was gone. And so Jeanne accepted it.

"Jeanne!"

The saint heard the voice of her allies from behind, seeing them running torwards her.

A small smile appeard on the saint's face. "It's all over. My homeland is safe. And..." Jeanne felt a presence behind her, knowing very well at this point who it was. "...I didn't need to let hate control me to surpass my problems just like you wanted."

The mysterious figure behind her also didn't faced the saint directly, choosing to look the other way around.

"So you have refused to use thy hate within you, even when the situation demanded for it, O' Saint?"

"Yes. I don't need someone to tell me from now on how I should behave or use my emotions." Jeanne closed her hand into a fist. "I'll learn that by myself. My soul may not be pure but I don't need it to be in order to do what is right. These flaws, is what makes me be Jeanne D'arc."

"Then you have chosen the path of absolution with your evil self, rather than scourge it in it's entirety. Farewell then, Maiden of Orleans. It's thy choice to live with that defective and sinful soul in the end. "

"The fact of a soul being flawed, doesn't mea-" As Jeanne turned around to confront her only to see that it was already gone. "Wonder if I'll ever saw it again..." As Jeanne wondered, all of the group had reached her.

"Jeanne we did it! We've won!" Ritsuka and Peko jumped torwards the saint to hug her by surprise, while Mash also came to hug the saint.

"Now everything in this time period will go back to normal!" Mash said. "This war has oficially ended!" She said happily.

The trio undid their collective hug with Nala watching a bit from behind. As the hug was undone, Jeanne caught sight of the girl. "Well, I think we haven't properly introduced ourselves to each other, am I right?" The saint smiled to Nala.

"W-well, I guess it's the first and for now, last time I'm talking with you. So sorry for not going for the group hug." She rubbed her head, a bit sorry for inly having a chance to talk with the real Jeanne at the end of the Singularity. "But I see that you really are a formidable warrior! And less angrier than your alter self." Nala joked a bit. "Your mot-" Nala put an hand in front of her mouth, thinking better on the words she was about to say. "Everyone must surely be proud of you."

Jeanne, who saw what Nala initially wanted to say, laughed a bit. "No need to be afraid of what you were going to say." She headpatted the girl. "I know she would be proud as well. And you're also a very brave girl. Being able to escape the castle alone isn't an easy task. A decent fighter as well, for what I could see of your fighting skills."

The praise made Nala blush a bit. "I-It really wasn't all that incredible. I-I don't deserve any of that praise!" Her reaction caused everyone else to laugh for a bit.

"But you did well." Jeanne told her, looking at Peko, Mash and Ritsuka behind her. "For a bunch of first timers you did well. I wouldn't have made it without you." Jeanne looked at all the servants in front of her. "Without any of you." "And of course, you too, Marie."

"Hey guys!" The voice from Elizabeth made Nala turn her back, seeing both the lizard girl and Kiyohime starting to fade. "WHA!? You are dissapearing!" She shouted comically.

"Why are you dissapearing thou?" Peko questioned them.

"The Singularity was cleared Peko." Romani explained. "Now that it's correcting itself, all the servants that it had summoned are starting to dissapear. Their job here is done. Having a historical character that isn't from this period or location would surely cause some chaos."

Fate Grand Order OST- Bonds

"So, this is a goodbye huh?" Mash said to the two servants that were about to vanish.

"I guess it is. Why goodbyes always feel so down and sad?" Elizabeth lamented.

"Then let's not see this as a goodbye. But more so as a 'See you later'. What do you think?" Ritsuka asked to Elizabeth.

"Hmmm. Yeah it's much better that way. Don't you agree Kiyohime?"

"Well, for how much that pains me, I must agree with you for perhaps the first time." Kiyohime hide her smirk behind her fan.

"What?! Are you saying I generally have bad opinions?" Elizabeth said angrily at Kiyohime.

"Only some. Altough that some can represent 95% of your opinions." Kiyohime giggled.

"Oh you..." Elizabeth restrained herself from insulting Kiyohime. "Eitherway, it's still not 100%." She looked at Ritsuka and the rest of the Chaldea group. "So next time we meet, I'll give a big concert! Look forward to it! This will be the ascension of Elizabeth Báthory the new pop idol!"

"I also look forward to see you next time. Specially you, Anchin-sama." Kiyohime smiled to Ritsuka. "Farewell everyone! It was nice being friends with you!"

"Specially me, right?" Elizabeth asked to Kiyohime.

"Hehe, yeah. Specially to a idiot like you."

And the two servants faded.

"Peko..." Ritsuka called for the boy, with a feeling of doom on his eyes, not even looking at him directly. "We better make sure Elizabeth doesn't sing next time we meet her."

"Agree." Peko said with the same feeling of doom.

"Wait, is her singing voice really that bad?!" Nala asked the two in utter confusion.

"Believe me sis, you don't wanna know." Peko told her.

Meanwhile, Siegfried and Georgios shaked their hands.

"It was an honour to fight alongside such hero like yourself, Siegfried." Georgios told the Dragon Slayer.

"You were also and admirable warrior to fight alongside with, Saint Georgios." Siegfried told to the Bronze Saint. "Without you, I wouldn't have survived and defeated Fafnir."

"Then I was more than happy to help." Georgios looked at Ritsuka and the rest of the Chaldea group, noticing his body was vanishing as well. "I wonder if we'll help that young man more times in the future. Until then, my prayers are with them. Goodbye, to all of you." And Georgios body also dissapeard.

"And so the time of parting has come." Mozart told to the Chaldea group alongside Siegfried. "It must have been quite an introduction to your journey, wouldn't you say?"

"Yeah. And we have a lot to thank you for coming to our rescue at that time." Mash said. "I'll never forgive the lesson you've teached me Mozart-san."

"Oh, now I didn't expect people to hear the things I say with such attention. Normally they just want to hear my music and that's it. But I'm glad you were one of the few that enjoyed listening to my words, Miss Mash."

"I'd say I also got to learn some things from you Mozart." Ritsuka said to the musician. "You were a great company to have in our days here."

"Oh please! Even a musician like me can't handle such compliments." Mozart laughed.

Siegfried stared at Peko. "I hope the little training session we had was of help Peko."

"Of course it was Siegfried-san!" Peko told the Dragon Slayer. "Now with this sword, I'm sure that I can help my sister and friends. I have to thank you for opening a way for me to get stronger. I'll make sure to use what you teached me from here on forward."

Siegfried smiled. "That's good to hear. Always be sure to wield that weapon in order to protect and help the people you love." Siegfried touched Peko's shoulder. "Use it wisely and never abuse of it's power. That's how real heros fight." Siegfried told the boy.

"Wow! You got this man to train you?" Nala said to Peko. "That must be quite awsome. Damn! Why did I have to only met you guys at the end?" She protested a bit.

"Heh. Don't worry young girl. I feel that you too have the power to become a great warrior." Siegfried told her, looking at Ritsuka and Mash. "Same goes to you. That chemistry that you have, don't let anyone ruin it, and you'll achieve the goals that you are searching for."

"Thank you for everything, Siegfried." Rituska told him.

"Farewell to you as well, Mozart-san." Mash said.

"Hmm. I could play a sad song at this precise moment but that would just ruin it all together." Mozart giggled. "So long Ritsuka Fujmaru and all of your group too. Your performance as a master was brilliant. Truly deserving of an applause. I hope that your performance as a musician will also get better next time we see each other. Now it's time to leave the stage. A musician's life is never a slow one. But before I go, one last thing.." Mozart put two fingers beetween his lips, confunding the Chaldea group. " When parting ways with someone, always remember to smile. It's the most important thing. Good luck to the rest of the journey, my friends."

"Same here. Keep fighting, even if the odds are all against you. The future of your journey will also consist of meeting new people and having to say goodbye to them. So in those moments, always be sure to smile when giving a goodbye." Siegfried told them

Peko teared up a bit. But the boy knew that what the two men were saying was true, and so he decided to ignore his sadness and smile instead. "Don't worry! I'll make sure to be smilling at the end when everything is resolved!"

"Same here! We got it." Ritsuka smiled alongside Mash and Nala. "Thank you two, Mozart, Siegfried." And they saw the musician and the dragon slayer dissapear.

Now only the Chaldea group and Jeanne remained. The saint approached all the four with a smile in her face. "Everyone is saying their goodbyes. I think it's time for me to say it as well." Her smile dissapeard as she noticed a certain someone approaching her. "And also, to part ways with a dear friend again, Gilles." The saint said as she looked at the general who was behind her.

The man was smilling in seeing a friend of him again. "It's hard to believe, that I'm seeing you again up close, even after you have died. It's like looking at a ghost." Tears started to appear in his eyes. "Even after what happened...Your death...This country..." Gilles couldn't control his tears as they started to fall from his eyes. "We betrayed you! France has betrayed you! And I couldn't be there to save you! I'm sorry Jeanne..!"

Jeanne went to hug him. "It's all right Gilles. What happened to me wasn't your fault. I'll continue to watch over you in the afterlife." Jeanne comforted her friend.

Mash was watching the two friends reunion before noticing that her body was starting to dissapear. Same thing for Ritsuka, Peko and Nala.

"Our bodies, they are dissapearing." Ritsuka said as Jeanne walked torwards them.

"So you will be leaving first then..." Jeanne said. "It's strange. It felt like we've been together for an eternity, when in reality it was just for a few days." Jeanne said sadly. "If doctor Roman is right, then everything that happened in this Singularity will be erased. And while I'm happy that my mother's death will have never happened, it's a little sad that all those moments spent with you, Marie and everyone else will also be erased. It pains me a bit to be honest."

Jeanne however knew that being sad wouldn't be the best way to give a goodbye, so she decided to smile instead and reunite the Chaldea group for a hug. "However, it isn't time to get too serious. Let's all say goodbye with a big cheerful smile!" Jeanne smiled radiantly. "And I have a feeling we'll see each other again. My hunches usually tend to be spot on, you know?" She giggled to her departing friends, who now were starting to float in the air.

"Sorry guys, but the Rayshift as to be done now!" Romani informed them. "Any more second and you'll get caught in the restoration of the history."

Ritsuka like everyone of his group, knew that for the time they had passed in this 15th century France, it was finally time to say goodbye to it's landscape and the very first friend they've encountered in the beggining of the Singularity.

"Jeanne!" Ritsuka yelled to the saint who observed them from below. "I'm glad I got too met you! Thanks for helping us!" He smiled to the Maiden of Orleans.

"Until a next time Jeanne-san! I'll never forget you!" Mash said, smilling too.

"I hope next time we can get to know each other more properly!" Nala was also smiling.

"It was nice being a friend of someone like you Jeanne!" Peko waved goodbye with a smile.

Without saying nothing, Jeanne just gave a big smile and waved goodbye to her new friends, finally being able to rest, knowing that her beloved country was saved, thanks to the collective efforts of people that now would always remain as a part of her heart.

"Fou, fou!"

"Hnnghh..." Opening his eyes, Ritsuka saw where he was. Back at Chaldea. They've done it. The first of seven Singularities had been cleared. "We...made it." Ritsuka smiled and saw Peko right next to him, still with his eyes closed. "Peko! You can open your eyes! We made it back!"

"Mmm..." Slowly opening his eyes, Peko saw that he was indeed back at Chaldea. "N-no way! We really made it!" Feeling that he was holding hands with someone, Peko looked to his left, seeing Nala still with her eyes closed. "Nala wake up!" The boy exclaimed happily. "We're back at Chaldea! We cleared the first Singularity!"

Nala opened her left eye, seeing what her brother was saying was true. "Yes! First Singularity completed!" Nala smiled happily as she put her arm around Peko's neck. "And with you back in one piece!" She jumped with immense joy.

"O-Oi, sis! There's no need for such tight grasp!" Peko told his sister, feeling his neck get stuck by Nala's arm.

Ritsuka smiled in seeing the two kids happy but most importantly Nala. After what she has been through after getting captured, Ritsuka feared that could end up damaging the girl's mental state. But he was glad in seeing Nala all well and happy cebrating with her brother who also had his fair share of suffering in this Singularity. Seeing the two siblings together again after such chaos and hardships was enough to give joy to anyone. Even Fou was running excitedly in circles around the duo.

"Oh Fou! I almost forgot you were also with us." Peko picked the animal from the ground.

"Senpai."

Ritsuka felt a touch on his hand, proceeding to look at the person who did it. It was Mash, also happy in seeing their first Singularity expedition was a success and everyone was able to return.

"Fujimaru! Mash! Peko! Nala!" The voice of Romani echoed as the man himself entered the control room. He seemed tired but equally happy as the rest of them.

"Humm. You're okay doc?" Ritsuka asked a bit concerned.

"W...Welcome back!" Romani said after taking some breaths. "You did it! The grail was retrieved! Good job!"

"Heh. Thanks Doc-" Mash was about to speak to Romani as she heard a noise of someons hitting the ground behind her.

Ritsuka, Peko and Nala were all lying tired on the ground, completely exhausted.

"Aaaah!? All of you three can't even have energy left to stand up!?" Romani shouted in absolute shock.

Mash on the other hand giggled. "It's understandable. They did their best back in the Singularity. They deserve a good rest for the day."

"After this...I think I only want to go to bed and sleep." Peko said weakly.

"Same here." Nala agreed with her brother.

"Really? That's sad then." Da Vinci entered the room. "Does it means you won't even be present to celebrate our big victory? I even made a strawberry cake to commemorate."

"Strawberry cake?!" Nala immediatly got up from the ground.

"Well that was easy." Da Vinci smirked.

Seeing that she was already up, Nala then decided to walk torwards Ritsuka and kicked him in the shoulder for the shock of everyone present.

"N-Nala!? What was that for?" Peko tried to separate his sister from Ritsuka.

"For almost making believe that you would side with that monster. Let alone agree with his point of view. You scared me there Ritsuka! Don't do that again!" Nala scolded Ritsuka.

"True. Master, what make you saw Gilles de Rais motives as understandable?" Mash asked him.

Ritsuka saw that he had to explain himself. "It wasn't really my intentions to affirm his actions. What he did is obviously wrong and thinking about it makes me angry, but what he loved and hated, I don't think that was wrong from his part." Ritsuka saw the silence of Mash in front of him. "S-sorry! You may not be able to understand it! I mean, of course you wouldn't be able to! I'm so-"

"But I think I do." Peko said to Ritsuka, gaining everyone's attention. "If I also lost Nala in the same way he lost Jeanne, perhaps I too would start to go around doing evil things out of spite. In the end, I guess he just couldn't cope with a friend's lost." Peko said, staring at Ritsuka.

The master of humanity was somewhat amazed by how Peko understood what Ritsuka was trying to explain here.

"Please Peko, don't say a thing like that again." Nala told his brother a bit harshly. "Not even as a joke! You'll never become that thing!" Nala hugged him. "I'll make sure you wont, as long as you have me and our friends here in Chaldea."

Feeling a sense of care in his sister's words, Peko hugged her back. "Then I too will make sure you'll never become a monster." Peko smiled a bit. "We will find our dad together after all. Just like we'll help Ritsuka and Mash save humanity."

Nala smiled back at him. "Hm! You're right. Also, I saw you have a sword now. Guess I won't need to be protecting you all the time then." Nala joked, giving a small smug to Peko.

"Okay, that was unnecesarily rude." Peko said with some discontent. "However, that isn't the knly thing I can do now. I also can use some magic and create some balls of light." Peko said proudly, seeing the reaction on his sister's face.

"What? No way! Can you show me?" Nala asked intriguingly.

"Hmm." Peko put a finger under his chin. "If you promise to not eat all the cookies while I'm still sleeping..." Peko showed his own smug face to Nala.

"Urgh! Fine then." Nala said with some annoyance, knowing she had no convincing way to make Peko change of idea. "But I hope it's something cool at least."

"Hum" Peko sweated a bit. "I don't promise you nothing just for clarification." He said.

"Don't care. All I care, is seeing that now." Nala told to her brother.

"I think what you should care first is taking a bath and change clothes." Da Vinci told Nala. "All of you should. The first experience in a Singularity was a rough one by the state you are all in. So no excuses as you all need to take care of yourselves first." She demanded.

Seeing that Da Vinci was absolutely right, Nala ended up sighing. "Fine then. But after that I want to see that ball of light." She pinched Peko's cheek.

"Yes yes yes yes yes, I understood it!" Peko said, feeling a bit of pain from his cheek.

"Great!" Nala let go of Peko's cheek and took some steps forward. "Last one to reach the bedroom gives half of it's cookies to the winner!" She announced, starting to run to the exit.

"Hey wait! That isn't fair!" Peko protested as he started chasing Nala with Fou running behind them. Despite that, the smile on the boy's face was visible as well as the one on his sister's. The two were true siblings.

"Ah. I kinda forgot how normal siblings relationships were like." Romani smiled as he watched Nala and Peko exit the room.

"True. It's quite wonderful." Da Vinci commented.

Ritsuka watched from behind, quietly smilling. "I wonder how my life would be if I had a sibling." Ritsuka tought to himself.

"Senpai." Mash called him, making Ritsuka change his attention to the shielder near him. "I guess I kinda understand what you were trying to tell." Mash remembered her conversation with Mozart. "But even then I want to learn more, so that I can understanda such emotions, even if it takes a while." She smiled kindly to Ritsuka.

The master couldn't help but to smile too. "Then I'm more than happy to help you learn those things, Mash."

Gilles de Rais, holding a small piece of Jeanne's clothing, saw the last remains of her body vanish in the air as well as her flagpole and weapon. The saint's duty was finished. She could go back to her peaceful sleep now. And from up above, she would be watching over her dear friend until the very end of the general's life. All the hate, sorrow, doubt and frustration she had to deal with, was over.

"Please, dream peacefully. May our Saint's blessings be here with us."

First Singularity: Hundred Years War of Evil Dragons: Orleans- Foundation Restored

To be continued...

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author.

Once again, the white haired boy stood on the middle of the vast green hills and blue sky. He was having the same dream the night before they went to the First Singularity. The blue sky was the same as the first time he was there. Nothing seemed to have changed. And by that, it meant that even the painter was there, sitting on the same chair and continuing his activity. Peko altough far from the mysterious painter, was now a bit closer to him than the other time he had this dream. The painting however, still could not be seen by Peko. But what all of this could mean? Nor Nala nor Ritsuka and Mash were present in it. Only Peko himself and this person he didn't know who it was.

Like the other time before, Peko walked in the painter's direction. Every step the boy made, he would feel his body getting heavier and heavier as gravity was pushing him to the underground. And the darkness started to appear again. The blue sky was now being covered by a dark mantle and the green hills were being painted of a black tone. Peko started to make an effort to take a step now, sensing his feet being swallowed by the dark mud.

Seeing the peril he was in, Peko tried to summon his sword but to no avail. It didn't answered his calling. With the air running low on his lungs and the skin already sweating, Peko was now some good meters away from the painter, being able to see his back. He had dark spiky hair, like Peko's but larger and the painter himself was wearing a priest's clothing with a red veil attached around his waist. And that was all Peko was seeing of the painter. Only his back for now. The front of his body and face, would be delayed for another time, as the darkness was covering Peko's entire body now.

He tried to reach out for the man, his arm stretching out in a effort to try and touch his shoulder. It was getting closer.

Just, a little more...

Feeling a whole weight coming out of him, Peko opened his eyes and gasped heavily, taking a large amount of air in, no more feeling suffocated by the darkness of his dream. He took his whole back off from the bed, allowing his body to be now in a sitting position.

The lights of his bedroom were turned off. Despite that, the boy still had visibility of the room. "That dream again. Who was that person?" Peko asked to himself. Looks like it would remain a mystery for a little longer. Nala's bed was empty, indicating that his sister had already woke up and left their bedroom. Spotting the plate of cookies on top of the desk that stood on front of the two siblings bed, Peko got up from his bed and went to eat his cookies.

He saw that there was a little paper on it with a message. It was written:

'Just to prove that I didn't took the chance and ate your cookies as well you sleepy head :P'

Peko smiled. Just like he had promised three days ago, Peko showed his new magic ability, the ball of light, to Nala right before they went to sleep. It took some emberassing long seconds to do the trick but he eventually nailed it. Nala was quite impressed and complimented him at the beggining, before teasing him a little by saying that a normal lamp could do the same. But Peko knew that Nala actually felt happy for him as her brother. Soon Peko could catch up to her and manage how to fight with his new sword.

Right now the boy had many questions. Did he already had this sword? Who gave it to him? Who was he? Did his and Nala relationship was always like that? Where and who was their father? What was his and Nala's life before encountering Ritsuka, Mash and the rest of Chaldea? Many questions that didn't seem to have a visable answer at the time. All that Peko knew, is that he and Nala were siblings who were searching for their father. And that was it. No more memories of his past could be revealed. It seriously frustrated him a bit.

But with the help of Ritsuka, Mash and Chaldea, they might find those answers along the journey. Or so Peko hoped for.

Either way, he had to meet the others. Today they would go to their second mission. The Second Singularity. To not be as difficult or a near train-wreck like the first was, Nala trained alongside Mash in a training facility that Chaldea had inside here. Peko also did a bit of training with his sword, hoping that he would be more able to fight this time around.

Eventualy the group took these days to train and heal their wounds sustained in the First Singularity, even thou Peko didn't suffered any. And with enough preparation now, they were all ready for the next mission.

So Peko decided to hurry up. He changed to his clothes that had been beautifully fixed by Da Vinci, wich lead to the genious inventor saying how genious she was when she arranged them, made his bed and quickly exited the room, heading torwards the cafe room since they would meet there every morning now.

"So you call those things Dango?" Nala was speaking with Ritsuka as she picked a strawberry with a fork and eat it. The young girl was sitting right next to him. The two were talking and discussing about food.

"Yeah. They're really sweet. You'd like it." Ritsuka replied as he took a bite from his own breakfast.

"People really do those kind of sweets?" Mash asked him, sitting to Ritsuka's left side.

"In all shapes and colors." Ritsuka smiled to the shielder. He stared at the small plate with blueberries in front of him. They were for Peko but he was taking a while to show up. He didn't thought of Peko to be such a sleeper. And as Ritsuka was thinking of that, Peko himself appeard on the cafeteria.

"Morning everyone!" He told to the three on the table. Or rather, four.

"Fou, fou." The little creature, Fou, was the first to greet him in his own way.

"Hi Peko. I was already thinking you would spend the whole day sleeping. And on such important day no less!" Nala greeted her brother as well as tease him for a bit, showing her smirk as Peko took a seat in front of her.

"At least it means I've been sleeping well. Also..." Peko smiled as he saw the plate in front of him. "I would be a fool if I'd lose the opportunity of eating these blueberries." His smile grew a bit on seeing the tiny blue fruits.

"Meh! Blueberries are midiocre and that's why no one talks about them. Strawberries is the real deal." Nala took a bite of one of the strawberries, enjoying the sweet taste in her mouth.

"Hum, in my honest opinion strawberries are actually overrated. People tend to put it in almost everything, until a person gets tired of eating that same thing over and over again. Blueberries on the other hand should deserve more recognition." Peko explained to his sister, starting a small squabble with no intention.

"You're wrong!" Nala slammed her hands on the table, caughting Ritsuka by surprise and almost choke on his own food. "Strawberries are definetly better!"

Peko wouldn't let Nala win this argument. He would prove to his sister that blueberries were superior. "No they're not! Blueberries are way better!"

"Strawberries!"

"Blueberries!"

"Strawberries!"

"Blueberries!"

As the two siblings argued, Mash was helping Ritsuka to cough off the food that had been stuck on his throat. "C'mon Senpai! You will be okay!"

"Strawberries!"

"Blueberries!"

"Straw-"

"Hey, could you please stop that?" Dr. Romani entered the cafeteria with some nervousness on his voice. "This whole fuss could be heard on the whole hallway." He asked for Peko and Nala calm down.

"Sorry Doc."

"Sorry Doc."

The two apologized with some regret on their faces.

Ritsuka in the meantime managed to spit out the food from his throat, desperatly coughing and breathing for some air as Mash touched him in the back.

"Was the food terrible Ritsuka?" Romani asked, trying to not find this situation somewhat funny.

"Oh no no." Ritsuka stabilized his breath. "On the contrary it was pretty great."

"Yeah. I didn't knew you had some cooking capabilities Doctor." Mash comment on Romani's cooking skills made him blush a bit.

"Ohohohoh. It was just some basic stuff. Not really that special. Also when you live alone for some years you need to start learning on how to cook for yourself right?" Romani tried to avoid everyone's eyes, looking at the ceilling instead.

"But hey! Which one do you guys think is better? Strawberries or blueberries?" Nala asked to Ritsuka, Mash and Romani, hoping to end the debate with a victory for her.

"Hummmmmm. I think both are great." Ritsuka was the first one to respond, causing shock on Nala.

"I never got to eat those two quite much but I also agree that they are equally good." Mash sided with Ritsuka's opinion.

"Both are good for me." Romani also decided to stay neutral, much to Nala's discontent.

"Guess we'll never have a true ending to this then." Peko sigh, willing to stay at a stalemate for now.

"What?! No! The purpose of existing two sides is to chose one! You can't just decide to not take one! It defeats the whole purpose of it!" Nala protested angrily, frustrated that her debate with Peko ended in a draw.

"Do you two at least have something you like in common?" Ritsuka wanted to see if the twins similarities were more than just the hair color, thinking that siblings had many mutual opinions despite never having a sibling.

"Hmmmmm." Peko tried to think for a bit. "If there is, I'm not being able to remember. What about you sis?" He asked to Nala who close her eyes and rubbed her head.

"Nope. No idea." She said.

"Not even a favourite animal? Try to remember it." Romani motivated the two kids to jog their memories. "L-like a wild animal of sorts!"

Peko and Nala went deep in their own minds to try and find what their favourite animal was, if even they had a favourite animal to start. It took some seconds until sparks flickered inside their brains and the two managed to remember the answer.

"Monkey!"

"Monkey!"

The two kids shouted in unison, somewhat happy that they shared the same liking.

"Aha! Not a bad animal to have as a favourite at all." Romani smiled in joy, happy to have restored a tiny fragment of Peko and Nala's memories even if it wasn't the most important one.

"Really? That's kinda weird." Ritsuka laughed a bit. "I mean I also like monkeys but I don't think I would have them as my favourite animal."

"They're funny and cool! How can you nkt have it as your favourite?" Nala explained to the master of humanity.

"And they can also have the capability to socialize with us. What's your favourite animal then Ritsuka?" Peko asked to his friend.

"A raccoon of course! They are cute, fluffy and funny. Best animal to have as a favourite!" Ritsuka shared his choice to the rest of the group.

"Hphm. That would explain the amount of raccoon videos on your phone." Romani said, putting a thumb under his chin.

Ritsuka almost felled off the chair. "H-How did you know?!"

"Hahahaha. Just joking Ritsuka! Of course I didn't spy your phone. Rest easy." Romani laughed in seeing Ritsuka falling for his trap. He was proud of himself for coming with that in a short amount of time. He then realized something "Oh and what about you Mash? Do you have any favourite animal?" He asked to the shielder.

"!" Mash who until now was only watching the conversation didn't expect to be asked to participate in it. She didn't even had exaclty a favourite animal at the moment. "Hum...well I..." Mash blushed a bit shyly as she noticed everyone was now looking at her, waiting for her response. What she would even say now? Thankfully for Mash, she quickly got notice of someone who was also in the cafeteria at the time right besides her.

"I..I think Fou is my favourite animal." She pointed to the small creature that was resting on the top of the table. "I mean he's really cute don't you think? And also Chaldea's mascout so to speak."

"Now that you say that..." Nala walked torwards Mash and grabbed Fou. "He is indeed adorable."

"Fou!" Nala's words seemed to have brought some energy to the little fur animal.

"Sorry for what I was saying earlier Fou. You are everyone's favourite animal." The girl patted Fou's body wich the creature seemed to like.

"Then I can agree with you on something else sis." Peko also approached Fou to pat him.

"A hand of affection coming right out for Fou!" Ritsuka went along and pat the animal as well.

"Hey now. He may die if you give him that much affection." Romani giggled.

"It doesn't sound like a bad way to die. I wouldn't mind honestly." Mash said to the doctor.

As the group was occupied with Fou's cuteness, they didn't noticed Da Vinci arriving to the cafeteria. The genious inventor also took a bit of her time in appreciating the scenario in front of her, before revealing herself to the rest. "Everybody, attention please."

"Hi Da Vinci!" Ritsuka greeted her. "What do you want to say?" He asked her.

"The preparations for the Rayshift are almost done. Be at the control room in ten minutes." She announced. "I hope you are all ready this time. Including you, Peko." She blinked to the boy.

This time, they were also counting with his involvement. He had proven to be able to support amd be another important member to the Rayshift group. And unlike the first time, Peko now had a weapon and some spells under his sleeve. And it wasn't only him that was better prepared. All the other three also make sure to come to their second mission more well prepared in order to not become an almost disaster as it was in the first Singularity. Now they could somewhat expect what awaited them.

"Understood Da Vinci-san!" Peko adopted a soldier posture.

"Remember that just because you have a sword now doesn't mean you can fight literally everyone." Nala told him.

"And?" Peko looked at his sister, expecting her to say something else.

"And that also applies to me..." Nala said in a low tone and with some anguish. She was saying to Peko to not get cocky but she was the one who got captured on their first Singularity due to her own cockiness. So deep down, Nala knew she wasn't exaclty the best person to be saying that to Peko.

"Hey cheer up sis. Whatever happened back in France happened. Besides we still managed to do the mission either way." Peko tried to cheer her sister up. "Let's make sure this time we can do the same but better."

"That's the way Peko." Romani told the boy. "The important is always to make out alive with the grail. Of course that I also wish it to go better this time but I also want to see you all coming back here alive and well, understood?"

"Ay ay doc. I don't plan in dying that soon." Ritsuka said with certainty.

"Please don't jinx it Senpai." Mash told him.

"Anyway you better come with me to the control room in order to give the final touches Romani." Da Vinci said to the doctor, requesting his presence. She then stared at the others. "All of you get prepared. See you later." Da Vinci turned around to walk away from the cafeteria.

"Wait Da Vinci-san!" Nala stopped the italian inventor from exiting the room. "Can I ask you something?"

"Oh? Sure. What is it Nala?" Da Vinci gladfully accepted to hear what was Nala's question.

"What is better? Strawberries or blueberries?" The girl asked to the grown woman.

"...Both suck."

"REALLY?!"

Now inside the control room, the group was formed and prepared to embark on their new mission.

"This time the grail is located in 1st century Europe. Wich means the time period is set in Ancient Rome, during the golden days of it's empire."

"Is Rome a country?" Peko asked, not remembering of a country that existed with such name.

"It never was seen as one. And it doesn't exist in the present time." Romani informed him. "However, it's main geographic location is nowdays that of the country known as Italy."

"So we are going to Da Vinci's country? That's cool!" Nala said a bit enthusiastically. She knew that they shouldn't treat their mission as an adventure but the fact of going to a place she heard about a lot in the past few weeks was very intriguing.

"You are both correct and wrong Nala." Da Vinci told the girl. "You are indeed visiting the location of my country, but a lot of centuries earlier before being what it is today and from I even being born."

"Seriously? Then how old are you Da Vinci?" Nala couldn't understand that despite Da Vinci being from Italy, neither her or the country were a thing to time location they where going in.

"It's rude to ask a lady how old she is." Da Vinci pinched Nala's cheek. "But if I tell you from what time period I am and the current year I believe you can do the math yourself."

"That's a bummer. I'd like to meet the normal version of you and see what inspired you to be such a genius." Ritsuka said, putting his hands behind his head. "Guess that will have to wait."

"Probably some huge pervert that liked to spy on women." Romani said to the side, trying to not caught Da Vinci's attention.

"Hey! I heard that!" Da Vinci shouted to Romani. "And no I wouldn't spend my time doing such things. The office is where I'd generally spend my time. Creations and inventions were my hobbies. Of course my mind couldn't have time to think of such trivialities. But I would be lying if I said I wouldn't like going to Rome and meet an emperor. Perhaps I'll join."

"Really? You will Da Vinci-san?" Mash smiled happily as well as the rest of the group.

"No. Sorry but you can't." Romani started to push Da Vinci out of the room. "You have analysis to make in the meantime."

A collective sorrow and dissapointment could be seen on the faces of the Chaldea group as they saw Romani push Da Vinci away.

"That was rude of you Doctor." Mash said with dissaproval.

"Really evil." Peko said next.

"Lame." Ritsuka provoked him.

"Party pooper." Nala said loud and clear.

"You guys know she still wouldn't join in the end right?!" Romani screamed, feeling wronged by having all four of them critizing his action. But now wasn't tome for that. "Anyway, we should proceed now. The Rayshift will start in a short time. Find the grail and obtain it as it will resolve the Singularity. But most importantly, come back safe. We'll be dropping you near the heart of the empire, the city of the same name, Rome. Make sure to also find servants that can become allies like you did in France. Ready?"

"Wait Doctor!" Mash raised her hand. "About that of ally servants, does Chaldea have a system or method that can destinguish allied servants from hostile ones? Also in hopes of avoiding unnecessary battles." Mash question was a very good one to ask.

"Hmm. I too would like to know. Making allies and avoiding enemies would spare very much of our time." Ritsuka said to Romani.

"Does it have anything like that Doc?" Peko asked Romani.

The doctor sighed. "I hate to say it but no. Even Sheba and Trismegistus don't have an ability like that. I'm sorry but that is something you'll have to find out by yourselves."

"That will be difficult. What if one of the servants is just pretending to be a nice person?" Nala said to the rest. "It's not like anyone bad will be wearing some evil outfit with a plate saying 'BAD GUY'"

"You are right. Appearances can illude people. So we will need to pay attention with their behaviour even if it seems misleading." Peko told to his sister.

"Well, what the problem may be, we will make sure to get past through it." Ritsuka put both arms over Nala and Peko's shoulders. "As long as we are a team we can make it." He smiled to the two who then smiled back at him.

"Sure Ritsuka!" Peko exclaimed.

"I'll do my very best!" Nala responded too.

Ritsuka turned his head around. "Don't you also think that Mash?"

Seeing the positivety from her master, Mash couldn't help but to agree as well. "That's right master." She went next to the trio. "Having to fight or not, we will be coming back with the grail."

Romani just showed a little smirk. "Why do you behave like a protagonist from a shounen manga Fujimaru?"

"Hum, was that a compliment or an insult?" Ritsuka frowned in doubt.

"It depends of the manga." Romani replied. "I see that you are all ready."

"Yes we are." Ritsuka said with a lack of fear or doubt, smiling alongside everyone else.

"Then let's commence the Rayshift!" Romani announced. "Everyone to your positions!"

"Iniciating operation Rayshift...

Starting in 3...2..1..."

"Rayshift successful." Mash looked to the surroundings. "And no sign of hostility nearby. A good start."

"Hmmmm." Nala looked a bit dissapointed.

"Why the long face sis?" Peko asked her.

"I expected that the scenario would look different, but it looks exactly the same as France. And Rome is supposed to be older right? It's not like I don't like of vast green hills and all, it's just looks a bit samey."

"Well you're not wrong at all." Peko stared to the sky. "Even that big ring is still there."

"The doctor already told us that thing will appear in every Singularity, so it's not like we can do something about it for now." Mash told the two kids.

"Then I guess you still haven't seen this." Ritsuka said while observing something on top of a hill. "Over here!" He called.

As the rest went to him, they all saw just a little further from the spot they where, a big ancient gate made of bricks being guarded by a soldier. Behind them there was a lot of people and other seemingly old buildings. The people looked to be trading stuff to each other as they walked on a well paved ground. The road to the entrance was decorated with tall white columns from each side as well as two statues on the big gate.

"Forget what I said. This is already different from France." Nala spoked while watching in awe.

"And all that I could see of this was in history books." Ritsuka commented, never expecting that months from now, he would be able to visit the old Roman Empire himself in a time travel sort of way. "So is this..."

"Yes. We are just on the doorstep of Rome itself." Mash replied. "It is indeed beautiful."

"Even the people's clothing is different from the one's we saw in the previous Singularity. It would make kinda sense since this is centuries before." Peko paid attention to the soldier standing in front of the gate. "He appears to be monitoring the people who enter the city." The boy took a look at himself. "Do you think we can nake through him with our current clothes?"

Mash put her hand in front of her mouth. "You're right. Our outfits would stand out very much. The soldier would definetly start to question us." She looked to both the left side and right side of the gate. "And there are other soldiers around making sure no one enters Rome without being through the main gate."

"Then our only option is...to steal someone's clothes." Nala said, realistically being the only way to get past the guard.

"The road is too big and in the open however. Also there are many people passing by. We'd clearly be noticed if trying to lure someone out of the road." Ritsuka told, revealing that Nala's suggestion had flaws.

"Then what will we- Oh." Nala realized something as she was about to lament and started to laugh. "I think we are truly idiots."

"What's so funny Nala?" Ritsuka asked her.

"Our magic abilities." Nala looked at her brother. "Peko, I think you could use that magic light ball of yours to disperse the guard, can you?"

"Oh that's right!" Peko slappes his own forhead. "How could I've forgot about it- what?! Are you serious now?!" The boy exclaimed as he saw two other soldier join the first one at the gate.

"Crap! Now there's three of them!" Nala said in revolt. "There goes the plan."

"Does this mean we will have to fight?" Ritsuka asked to the rest. "I don't think we could convince them with talking."

Mash looked displeased at the idea. "Hmm, I said I didn't want to engage in useless fights but..." She then felt a movement on her back. "What'a this?"

Mash was feeling that her back was being touched by something fluffy and with a lot of fur. She realized that the answer couldn't been any other thing.

"Fou!" The small creature appeard behind the shielder's back, much to the surprise of everyone.

"Did Fou went to us while hidding again?" Peko found it weird how this was already the second time in a row that Fou had sneaked behind Mash to go to another Singularity with them.

"Seems like it. But it's okay. He is cute." Nala said with a small smile in seeing Fou joining them to the mission.

"I also guess it's something we can't do nothing about." Ritsuka giggled. "Welcome to the team again Fou."

"Fu!" The animal jumped a bit.

"Hmmmmm." Mash was thinking on something now that Fou had appeard. "Master, Peko, Nala. I think Fou coming here turned the things a bit easier for us." She smiled. "We can use Fou to distract one of the guards!"

Ritsuka put his hands together. "Oh! Nice thinking Mash! And Peko can use his light ball to distract the other one!"

"But there still will be one remaining." Peko said despite the 'eureka' moment of Mash and Ritsuka. "How will we deal with him?"

"That's easy Peko." Nala said with a smug. "I have a great plan actually."

"How great?" Peko doubted.

"One that involves me and you so of course it will be great." Nala continued to keep her smug.

"Huh? What do you mean with 'me and you'?"

"Phew! This is getting hot." One of the three soldiers said, putting his arm above his face while looking to the sun. "How long did the temperatures didn't stop raising?"

"I guess for about a week now." The second soldier replied. "Wish I could be on the emperor's pool now. It must be refreshing."

"You two need to stay focus on your job! The emperor trusted this duty to us and we shall carry out with big devotion." The third one told the other two soldier.

"Yeah,yeah I know. Long live the emperor and all." The first one said bored. "But damn wouldn't you say that-huh?" Feeling something touch his legs, the soldier looked down to caught spot of a small fur creature sitting right next to him. A creature that he never had seen before.

"Fou fou."

"W-what?" The soldier tought he was seeing this. He had seen such creatures as lions and bears but never one like this before. "I-is this some kind of cat or-GAAAAH!" The man screamed and let go off his shield as the small animal bite him in the feet. "You damn..!" The angry soldier tried to kick the creature, only for it to go away. The reaction of the present public was of laughter.

"Grr! Come back here you nightmarish creature!" The soldier abandoned his position and went after the animal.

"Hey you are a soldier of the emperor! Do not abandon your position like that!" The third soldier screamed to the first one but the running soldier didn't seemed to care or have heard. The second soldier on the other hand couldn't stop laughing.

"What a moron ahahaha!" As he was laughing, a flying small object passed in front of him, calling his attention. "Oh? What's this?" He said curiously as he was about to touch the small espherical object. The ball of light then slowly backed off from the soldier's hand and was starting to get away, as if it was calling him to follow or catch it. The curiosity got the best of him.

"H-hey." He told to the third soldier. "I have something to do. I'll be right back!" And he went away chasing afted the flying ball as it went more inside of the city.

"Damn it you two!" The third soldier now left alone exclaimed in anger. "Why do I-"

"Yo sir! We are waiting here!"

JJBA: Battle Tendency OST- Day Job

Looking at who was calling him, the soldier saw two white haired kids standing in front of him with a very snobbish expressions on their faces. The clothes they were using were definetly something he had neved seen before, not even of people from distant lands.

"Is this the way the main city of the empire works? Pff what a sham! I was expecting better honestly." The girl said arrogantly to the soldier. "Now be fast and let us in. Me and my brother had been standing on this infernal sun for far too long." She demanded to the soldier.

"Hm hm. What she said." The boy behind her said, equally as arrogant as his sister."Dang it Nala! I bet no one in this time would approach an agent of authority with a Yo"

The soldier in front of them frowned. "Who the hell are you kids? And what are those clothes you're wearing?" The soldier questioned the two kids.

"Pfha! Hahaha!" The girl started to laugh annoyingly. "Did you heard that brother? This absolute clown doesn't know who we are." She pointed to the soldied mockingly.

The boy shrugged. "It seems education was never a concept in his brain." He shaked his head in disdain.

"Oh is it really?!" The soldier smiled frustrated. "Then please enlighten me of your importance."

"Hm, alright then you filthy peasent." The girl brushed aside her hair. "First things first, this clothes are actually very expensive and have a huge importance to the land where I come from. Idiots like you would never understand."

"Oh yeah? Wich land are you from then? Is it even part of the empire?" The soldier asked seriously.

"A land that every important person knows about. Even the emperor. The kingd-" Realizing what she was about to say, the girl put an hand over her mouth. "Crap! At this time there was no kingdoms in Europe, was it? It would be good to name a land that exists in this time and age so that what I'm saying has more credibility." She looked at her brother trying to hide her own nervousism. "Peko, some help please!"

Seeing that Nala was driving herself into a corner, Peko had to try and get a convincing lie from his head. "What my sister is trying to say is that we come from the land of...the land of...G..." "Damn it! Wich land starts with a G?"

"I'm waiting." The soldied corssed his arms, seeing how these two kids were failing miserably to try and fool him.

"G..G..Ge.." Peko was now looking at everything around except the soldier in front of him. "Ge..Ge..Ger..Germ-GERMANY!" Peko almost yelled. "Me and my sister come from the land of Germany." Peko quickly tried to went back to his snobbish posture.

Nala did the same. "Yeah! We've come from there and everyone with a brain knows that Germany obviously exists." She smugged.

"Do you two actually meant Germania?" The soldier raised on of his eyebrows.

Peko and Nala looked at each other for some seconds.

"Yeah of course you idiot!"

"What did you think we were saying huh?"

The two siblings said harshly to the soldier.

Meanwhile, in some bushes nearby, Ritsuka and Mash were hiding and observing the situation.

"Is Nala's plan working Mash?" Ritsuka asked as he painfully took a tiny stick from his back.

"Hum...kinda." Mash said as she peeked a bit. "As longs as they stay like this we will be able to sneak inside the city."

"Yeah. And then change that guard's attention to us so that Peko and Nala can also enter while we are chased for a bit inside the city." Ritsuka said. "Once together, we should start seeking clues for the grail. I mean, it must be here I hope."

Back to Peko and Nala, the two kids were still wasting time with the soldier at the front.

"So is your father an important political or figure in Germania. Is that what you are trying to say?" He asked to the two kids.

"Of course! Our dad is a very important figure there and is very well liked by the emperor. He sent us here earlier because of stuff but will also arrive to Rome today altough a bit later." Nala told him. "Do you understand fool? Our father has bussiness with the emperor and you are denying entrance of his two children to the city."

"Yep. The emperor would be furious if he knows about this." Peko smugged alongside Nala.

"Ok. Sorry for trying to disturb you then. You may enter." The soldier bowed in a apology.

"Hphm! Finally." Nala said. "Hell! My plan actually worked! I must be a genious of deception!" On the inside, Nala was smiling and celebrating like there was no tomorrow. "Wait! But now who will we bring Ritsuka and Mash inside too?"

"Brother..." Nala called Peko.

"Hm? What is it?" He askes her.

Nala slowly turned her body around and gave the thumbs up. "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!"

Peko tried to hide his smile and gave a thumbs up. "Yay! Celebration!...for later. Also thank god for that. I wouldn't able to keep the light ball on for much longer and at such distance. Fou also must be tired of running around."

"But just one more thing." The soldier called the two siblings. "What's your father's name? For when I know he arrives here."

"Julius Ceaser duh." Nala said without thinking.

"NALA NO!" Peko silently screamed to himself.

"The great Julius Ceaser has been dead and in heaven for a long time now. What you're saying proves the lies in your words brat!" The soldier speaked agressively.

"So what? Great and remarkable people tend to have their names being used by others in the future due to how influential they were, right?" Nala tried to explain, seeing that she accidentaly messed up.

"Enough! I won't support anymore of your nonsense! Using the name of the great Julius Ceaser as a way to mock and fool others is the utmost disrespectful and disgusting crime! Leave now or be imprisoned!" The soldied demanded with anger.

Peko however, tried to still save the situation. "No! Please let us in!" He had dropped all his snobbish act. "The sun has been affecting her brain! She isn't thinking clearly!"

"I do not care! It's evident you are trying to enter the city without paying first! And aren't clearly from here either! Are you an enemy?!" The soldier took out his sword.

"Crap! Or cover has been blowed!" Peko saw that the plan that was nearing to success had completely fail.

"Do you really want to pick up a fight with two kids?" Nala said as she slowly raised her arm, ready to summon her sword.

"Do we really have to?" Peko asked to his sister as he also prepared to fight.

"We have no choice." Nala told him.

"Senpai hurry!" Mash shouted to Ritsuka. "The plan has failed. It seems we will have to fight!" She came out of the bushes and runned torwards the gate.

"Right behind you!" Ritsuka said as he also came out of the bushes. "Wait!" He screamed to the guard at the entrance.

"More of them?!" The soldier exclaimed, fearing that Rome was beggining to get under attacked and he didn't know. "I'll sound the alarm!"

"No!" Peko exclaimed. Chaos was something he and his group didn't want to cause when arriving here.

Nala quickly summoned her sword. There was only one way to stop the soldier from rinnging the alarm. "That's it! I-"

"What's happening here?"

An old voice full of authority sounded from behind the guard, getting his attention.

"Does the commoners been bothering you?" A tall old man with a dirty golden beard and curly silver hair talked behind the soldier. He brought in his shoulder a brown bag full of scrolls and was wearing a white and red tunic with a black toga that had yellow patterns on it. He clearly looked like someone in a position way above of the soldier. His deep green eyes with a serene look.

"S-senator! This two kids and their accomplices were trying to trespass the gate and invade Rome! I believe this is all a distraction for the rest of their army to attack us!" The soldier tried to explain to the older man who put his hands behind hia back and patiently waited for the soldier to end only to release a good laugh.

"You're saying two kids would try to orchestrate the fall of Rome? Please man, go and take some rest. The work has clearly been exhausting you." The old senator advised him. "Altough I do admit that their uniforms seem rather peculiar." He then noticed Nala's sword and Mash's shield. "Perhaps, peculiar is what I would describe these individuals whole appearence."

"This man talks very calmly and cordially." Mash said to the group. "Do you think we should trust him?"

"As long as he let's us inside the city." Ritsuka whispered back to the shielder.

"Say. You are not from here nor from any other lands of the empire, do I stand correct?" The old man asked them with a gentle smile. "If so, then what brings you all here to the heart of the Roman Empire?"

"I think, it's something a bit difficult to explain." Ritsuka rubbed his head. "I don't know if you would understand mister."

Taking some seconds of good looking at the group of strangers, the older man closed his eyes. "I see. I may ponder that you are also not from this time and that you are here for just some mere reasons. If so, then I as the supreme senator of Rome and it's capital, give you the absolute permission to enter it." He respectfully gestured to the Chaldea group.

"Wow! Thanks!" Peko smiled happily. "This undoubtly turns our objective a little easier for us."

"Yeah! Appreciate it!" Nala thanked the old man before looking at Mash. "Hey Mash! Do you know what's a senator?"

"Hum well..." The shielder tried to remember. "It's a person that belongs to the Senate."

"A political assembly of other senators or something like that right?" Ritsuka asked Mash for confirmation.

"Yeah. You're right master." Mash answered.

"So he really must be an important person here." Ritsuka said. "Hum, excuse me? Is it rude if I ask what your name is mister?" The master of Chaldea politely asked the old man for his name.

"Oh true. Where are my manners after all?" The old man giggled. "Telling you my name will help build up more trust between us. My name is Lucius Annaeus Seneca." The old man introduced himself. "Or like I'm known as, Seneca the Younger."

"Seneca? The philosopher Seneca?!" Mash exclaimed upon knowing the identity of the old man in front of them.

"Is he another well known historic figure?" Peko asked.

"A servant or Heroic Spirit like the ones we met at France?" Nala asked as well.

"Had a faint idea of already hearing about him, but the name never stood out to me." Ritsuka told the two.

"You should learn more history master." Mash gave Ritsuka a look of dissapointment.

"Who are you talking to, Seneca?" A female voice called out the old senator.

"Ah, looks like the praetor as come to see you with her own eyes." Seneca said to the group. "Quite the lucky opportunity."

"Praetor? Do you mean the emperor?" Mash said to Seneca.

"That's right, umu!"

In the middle of the large street, everyone stopped to bow down at the figure in the middle. A young and small woman with blond hair tied up in a braided bun and big light green eyes. She was wearing an elegant red dress with golden threads and a transparent soft tissue in some parts of the dress. She radiated an high level of elegance and royal power, showing right there that she was in fact the emperor. The young woman took a sip from a golden chalice she was holding with her right hand.

"Behold the grandeur of the Roman Empire visitors! I, Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, welcome you."

To be continued...

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author.

"N-No way! Is that the famous Emperor Nero?!" Mash exclaimed in the presence of the roman emperor who had appeard in front of her group.

"Yes I am umu!" Nero smiled all proudly. "But no autographs please. I've been very occupied lately. Also..." Nero looked to the crowd that was all bowing down to her. "Don't you guys think something is missing? Something that I, the all mighty praetor, request when I show all of my radiance in public?" She questioned her people.

Right in a short amount of time, the people started to clap and cheer in a burst of joy, with thousands of compliments and praises thrown at Nero.

"Emperor Nero is here! What a blessing!"

"I'll tell my kids of this day that I got to see such magnificent figure as the emperor!"

"We all love you Emperor Nero!"

"I love your arts and music Emperor Nero! Truly the greatest genius of our time!"

"Please marry me Nero!"

The Chaldea group alongside the old man now known as Seneca, watched the round of applause of the crowd.

"Wow! They really love her." Nala commented. "The way they clap and celebrate is so...festive?"

"Then she probably is a great leader for them to love her that much." Peko crossed his arms.

"Yeah. She must be..." Ritsuka said, altough with some hints of not being very enthusiastic about it. Seneca was near him realized that.

"You seem dissapointed young man." Seneca looked at Ritsuka. "Why so?"

"Is that...I don't know. She's just...more shorter than I'd imagine." Ritsuka told to the senator.

"Hmm. Now that you say that Ritsuka, I may be around the same height as her!" Peko replied, now seeing that what Ritsuka was saying was very true. For such glorious title and power, Nero was quite the shortie.

"Haha. Is that so?" Seneca laughed happily. "Then a little advice to you young men. Never have expectations for anything." Seneca told to the master of humanity. "Then, you'll never be dissapointed."

Ritsuka was somewhat shocked to see how true that statment could be. Seneca speaked in such wise way. So taking his advice didn't looked like a bad idea. "That is some good advice. Thank you Seneca-san!" He showed gratitude to the old man.

"Oh please now. There's no need for such formalities." Seneca told Ritsuka. "I have people treat me with such high respect and honour all day so it would be nice to have people who'd speak to me as their equal instead of their superior."

"Then it's a honour to be talking with an equal like you, Seneca-san." Mash greeted him. "My name is Mash Kyrielight. This person here is Ritsuka Fujimaru, our team leader. Pleasure to meet you!"

"The pleasure is all mine, ." Seneca smiled of good will to the two, before noticing Peko and Nala. "And you two must be the little tricksters at the gate. I presume you are also with them."

"Pleasure to meet you ol' geezer! Name's Nala!" She said happily to Seneca. "And about the gate thing, sorry for that."

Peko side eyed to his sister. "Did you really had to call him geezer?" He then looked at Seneca. "Anyway, nice to meet you Mr. Seneca. My name is Peko. Me and her are siblings."

"Thanks for saying that young boy. Otherwise I wouldn't have known." Seneca said amused, joking about the fact that Peko and Nala didn't need to share that information to be known by anybody that they were twins just by looking at it.

"Fou!"

They all heard a sound as Fou appeard behind them running back from fleeing the guard at the gate. He was tired. The little animal went straight to Mash's shoulders to rest.

"Glad to see you came back Fou." Mash said. "Sorry for making you run for so long. You deserve your rest now."

"Fu..." Fou said weakly before closing his eyes.

"Now that's quite the exotic creature. I've never seen anything like that before." Seneca commented, rubbing his own beard.

"It's a mix up of a squirrel and...rabbit? Or so I believe." Nala told Seneca.

"For now we think it's that." Ritsuka said.

"Hm! Nature seems to always be full of surprises." The old man said. "Or perhaps...is it magic instead?"

"Both. Perhaps more on the magic side." Ritsuka told him.

"Hey Ritsuka." Peko called his friend. "I never heard about Nero or Seneca, but both are surely important. Can you tell me what do you know about them?"

"Yeah! I too would like to know more about them." Nala was also intrested in hearing more about this historical figures that she never heard of.

"Really? Do you want to hear from my mouth?" Ritsuka felt that he wouldn't be able to explain properly to the two kids. After all, he was never that good in history classes. "I'd say Mash is more suited for-"

"I think it would be nice for you to explain them master. I give you my approval." Mash told to him, wanting to see how knowladgeble was Ritsuka when the topic was Ancient Rome.

Seeing that he was stuck in a corner with no way to avoid the request, Ritsuka just sighed to himself. "Hope my memory doesn't fail me now."

"So to start, about Seneca right here..." Ritsuka said all serious, proceeding to look at the man himself. "...I don't know much about you, sorry."

"What a terrible way to be honest Senpai!" Mash yelled inside herself.

Ritsuka felt that he had just disrespected the old man's whole existence right in front of him just for being ignorant.

"There is no problem young man." Seneca put an hand on Ritsuka's shoulder as consolidation. "I never was a man with power and fame as goals in mind. All that matters is being happy with yourself and the life you have."

"Thanks for that Seneca-san. But I still feel a bit ashamed..." Ritsuka told to the senator.

"Meh. No problem. I don't blame you." Nala said to Ritsuka.

"What about Nero? Do you know something about her?" Peko asked him.

"Well about Nero..." Ritsuka looked to the short woman in the middle of the crowd, still receiving applauses and cheers. "They're still clapping even after all this seconds?" All that adoration and love from her people seemed weird, specially that Ritsuka remembered when he had studied about this emperor at school. Ritsuka not only expected Nero to be different in appearence, but also how the population viewed her. "It's a bit funny. Like, what I learnt abiut Nero is that she was an act-"

Seneca smiled at that moment dissapeard. "Please! Don't say that in public with the Praetor herself near you!" The old man hastily raised his hand, stopping Ritsuka from talking.

The master and the rest of his group were confused. "Huh? Why?"

"Believe me. You are better by not uttering such words about a person like Nero in public. Specially not now." Seneca for the first time was speaking dead serious with them, as if he was warning them of a mistake that could lead to a great danger.

Feeling that the senator was being true in hiw words and expressions, Ritsuka believed in him. "...Okay."

Before any of them could say another word, they noticed that the sounds of the claps had finally stopped.

"Thank you! Tibi gratias omnes! Now that were celebrations worthy of citizens of Rome, umu!" Nero exclaimed happily. "I'm a happy soul knowing that such emperor like me got such amazing crowd like you!" Nero lifted her golden cup in the air. "Cheers to all of you, cives Romani!" She drank the liquid from the cup.

The crowd cheered some more, altough shortly this time, as they saw that Nero had no more reason to continue receiving their applause and so she dismissed them. Now with the brief ceremony over, she could focus on the newcomers that were next to her advisor.

"Did you all saw how they fervently cheered for me? This is how an emperor should be treated in all it's splendor, umu!" Nero said.

"Does she says that 'umu' thing very frequently?" Nala asked to Seneca.

"You could say it's her trademark, so better get used to it." Seneca told the young girl.

"So what brings you strangers to my domain? An audience perhaps? That would be predictable, everyone is always seeking to have an audience with this great emperor after all." Nero put an hand on her chest, full of herself.

"Yeah. That's kinda it. We do seek to speak with you, Emperor Nero." Mash informed the small woman. "If you allow us, that is."

Nero didn't respond immediatly, instead taking another gulp of her golden cup. "Haha. You're more than welcome to have an audience with me." She turned her head to look at Seneca. "And what do you think of my decesion Seneca? Did I do the right choice of inviting these people?"

Seneca smiled in a instant. "Of course my dear Praetor. You never fail when always deciding something. That ability of decision making and intelligence of yours shouldn't need of the councils of an old hermit like me anymore."

"Oh thank you so much Seneca." Nero chuckled. "But I do like your company, so don't bother with me dismissing you any time soon. Either way..." She looked at the Chaldea group. "We should discuss and speak the topics and instrests you might have in my palace. Talking of important things with the emperor herself in public is very...simpleton. You might even help me against an enemy of mine in the mean time."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Peko asked her.

"I'll tell you once we arrive to my palace." Nero told the boy, before changing her attention to the senator. "Seneca, show them the way if you will."

"Of course, my praetor."

The Chaldea group, now following Nero and Seneca, observed the area around them. It was quite lively, with people walking from a place to another, buying and selling products, chatting and doing their daily things.

"Rome seems nice. I'd never imagine this place to be full of life during this period." Mash said, observing someone buying apples from a local store.

"Yeah. And even after all this centuries Rome still continous to be very popular." Ritsuka replied to the shielder.

"Does it still look like this?" Nala asked him.

"Hmm. Probably not." Peko told his sister. "I mean, I think it would be impossible for a city to stay the same for so long throughout history."

"But it still exists. And as the capital of Italy no less." Mash told Peko. "So what matters in the end is that it still endured to the test of time. Just like France."

Seneca, who was hearing their conversation, got curious when hearing that the location he was walking in right now still existed a thousand years later. "That's intresting. I wonder how different the future Rome is from the one I live in the present."

Ritsuka smiled to the old senator. "I never been there, but from what I saw-"

A static noise sounded in the middle of the group. That could only mean one thing.

"Aaaand contact established. Does anyone hears me?" The voice of Doctor Romani sounded as his hologram appeard in front of them.

"Hearing high and clear doc." Ritsuka told him. "We successfully entered Rome, altough we could have used some extra help."

"Yeah. Why did it took you a long time to contact us doctor?" Mash questioned Romani.

"Do you guys always need to blame me for anything?! I just went to check MagiMari's site, that's all!" Romani explained them.

"Really?" Nala looked at the doctor with some dissapointment.

"It was important!" Romani almost yelled.

"More important than our current mission?" Peko frowned.

"Both have the same importance." Romani tried to avoid eye contact.

"Hum, sure." Ritsuka smirked.

"Who is this mysterious man? Is he with you too?" Seneca asked them as he watched a bit confused to the movable image of the person he was seeing in front of him.

"This is Dr. Roman. He is kinda of our boss." Ritsuka explained to the old man.

"Kinda? I AM your boss." Romani cried a little. "But I think I should think about introducing myself first to then complain after. As he said, my name is Roman."

"Hmm. You look quite the individual . Is that magic that you are using to transmit the image of yourself to us?" Seneca asked him.

"More or less. It's a mix of magic with technology in the end." Romani said.

"Technology..." Seneca hummed as he put an hand on his chin. "Is that some type of magic?"

Romani sweated a bit. It was something very hard to explain to people like Seneca who lived way before technology was even a concept. "Let's just say it's a thing from our time."

"Then the future must be intresting. Also pardon me. I still haven't told you my name. It's Seneca the Younger."

"The famous philosopher?! Now that explains your wise like appearence." Romani smiled. "I'm glad to meet such intelectual man as y-"

"Seneca?! Is Seneca there?!"

The voice from Da Vinci behind Romani could be heard as the italian woman shoved the doctor aside from the hologram, making herself appear in front of the roman senator.

"H-Hi! My name is Leonardo Da Vinci and I'm-"

"Do you really think he would know anything about you or your works?! He's way older than you!" Romani pushed Da Vinci aside from the hologram, much to her struggle and defiance. Ritsuka and the others could only watch the struggle beetween the two without saying anything. They acted like some weird couple.

"No! Please! I wanna talk to him!"

"No way! Besides, you still have work to do at the office right?"

"Screw you Romani! You'll pay one day!"

With the situation on Chaldea controled, Romani backed his gaze to Seneca who was windering what he had just saw. "Sorry about that. She seems to be a big fan of you. Oh! Also, how do you know about magic?" Romani pointed to Seneca. "Aren't you suppose to be still alive by this time and just a philosopher and writer?"

"Well, my new friend from the future, some things changed..." Seneka looked at the scrolls on his bag. "And so did my curiosity for knowledge."

"Those scrolls." Peko said.

"Huh? What is it about the scrolls, Peko?" Ritsuka asked to his friend.

"They arent just some normal scrolls. I feel some sort of magic in them." Peko told him.

"True. I can also feel the mana emanating from them." Nala said.

"Oh. Then that explains how you know magic. Those scrolls are some kind of magecraft right?" Mash questioned the old man.

"You are all indeed correct." Seneca chuckled. "From my time of exile, I learned and explore other paths of knowledge. One of those paths leading me to the discovery and use of magic, allowing me to create these magical scrolls."

"So in a way you are an ancient magus. Cool!" Romani smiled. "Philosophy is in some ways connected to magecraft, so I guess it would be a question of time until you discovered it."

"Well, I never expected my life of following my ideology would lead to this. But you could say one of the life's beauty is on how unpredictable it is." Seneca rubbed his head.

"I also think that makes life more intresting." Ritsuka said to the old senator, before looking back at Romani. "Anyways, is that all you wanted to say doc?"

"Hmm. Actually there's more." Romani smile grew a bit. "And this is some unbelivable news. I bet you won't even believe it."

"What is it then?" Nala like everybody from the group was now in suspense to know what Romani was about to say.

"My monitors detect some huge signs of mana nearby. I think it could be way too good to be true but, the Hol-"

Some noises of commotion could be heard up ahead. It looked like something had happened.

"What is happening?" Mash asked to Seneca.

"Don't know. But something good certainly isn't." Seneca told her. "Follow me!"

Reaching to the place of the disturbance, the group saw that Nero was already there. As for the disturbance itself and it's cause, a group of roman soldiers had just kicked a civilian out of his house, with some people nearby watching.

"No please! Spare me!" The man begged in the floor, fearing for his life.

"What's happening here?" Nero stepped up. "As the emperor, I demand an explanation!"

"Of course, my praetor." One of the soldier's said, handing her some papers that he had on his hand. "We found this inside his home."

Nero read the content of the papers. Whatever that it was written on it, made Nero go fully mad, throwing the papers on the ground violently. "You traitorous pig! How could you do this to the empire!?"

"I-It's not mine Emperor Nero! I don-" The man received a kick in the stomach from ine of the soldiers, stopping his excuse.

"You have no right to talk traitor!"

Nero furiously went torwards the man, leaving the pages on the ground for Peko to go and see them.

"What do they say?" Nala asked her brother, joining him in seeing the pages.

"I don't know. It's in some language that I'm not familiar with." Peko told her, showing the words of the paper that belong to a language that both siblings didn't know anything about.

Mash, who took a quick look, was able to recongize what it was however. "Isn't that latin? It looks like it."

"Would make sense, since were in Rome and all." Ritsuka said. "Do you know how to read it Mash?"

"Hmm. I'm afraid I don't know latin very well." Mash told to her master.

"Then allow me." Seneca stepped in, since latin was his mother language. He asked politely to read the papers to Peko, wich the boy gave him willingly.

When reading what was the big problem that made Nero so angry, the senator's eyes widened. This pages had content that while in the present would be fine and okay to read, in the time of Nero's reign as roman emperor, they were a very severe sin. "Oh no." Seneca said painfully.

"What does it say, Seneca-san?" Ritsuka asked to the old man.

"This man...is a christian." Seneca revealed to them.

The information seemed to have shocked Mash while Ritsuka was a little confuse. Peko and Nala however, were even more confused.

"What's a christian? Is that a bad thing?" Peko asked in pure ignorance, not knowing what that word was even supposed to mean.

"Is it some type of creature or something?" Nala asked in ignorance as well.

"It's people that follow a certain religion. I don't know if you two would get it immediatly if I just explained briefly." Romani who was still around with his hologram, informed the two kids.

"Religion?" Peko put an hand on his chin. "I think I know what that means. The concept itself...doesn't sound strange to me. What about you sis?"

Nala wondered a bit. "Hmmm. I too think I know what religion means. That man is christian, wich in itself is a religion, right?" Nala asked to Romani.

"Yeah! You two are right. That man follows a religion called Christianity, wich makes him a christian."

Ritsuka still didn't understand why Nero seemed so pissed at the man for being christian. "Even then, I don't know why Nero would get angry at someone just by-..." He then remembered of his history lessons again. "Oh. Now that makes sense."

"It does make extreme sense in this era master." Mash told him. "It was during her reign that they were..."

"How do you dare to have other beliefs than those of the Roman Empire?!" Nero shouted at the man on the ground. The crowd could only watch in fear.

"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! I didn't mean to!" The man started to cry, pleading for mercy.

"Those shallow words don't mean nothing from a mouth of a traitor like yours!" Nero wasn't planning of giving him any second chances. "You aren't allowed to worship a god that isn't a roman one!" Nero stepped on the man's hand who yelled in pain. "Your devotion should be aimed to them! To the Empire! TO ME!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH NERO!"

Seneca yelled as best as he could to the emperor in front of him, telling her to stop. His voice was enough to make any noise from the crowd stop and everyone change their attentions torwards the old man.

Nero slowly turned her head to look coldly at Seneca "What do you want, old fool?"

Seneca took a deep breath and focused on remaining calm, bowing down to his emperor. "Please, not in front of the citizens, my praetor."

Hearing her advisor's words, Nero took a look at the normal people surrounding her. All of them with faces of fear and horror, as if Nero had just turned into a monster that was now among them. "Hmphm! Fine, I'll do as you wish." The emperor calmed herself down. She then looked at the group of soldiers near her. "Take him out of the city and kill him when you are far enough from the gates. Understood?" She instructed them.

"Yes Praetor Nero!" The soldiers said in unison.

"Good, umu." Nero took a sip of her golden cup. The liquid seemed to have no end by how many times Nero had drunked from it just today. "And what are all of you doing here?" Nero said with annoyance to the people. "There's nothing to see and everything is in control. I order you to go back to your activities now."

Like robots who had received a command, the frightened people obeyed their emperor and returned to walk and do their mundane things as if nothing had happened just now.

As everything had apparently went back to normal, Seneca approached the group of soldiers. "Here." The old man discreetly handed them a bag full of golden coins. "Take this man out of the city and let him go when you arrive to the outskirts of Rome please." He whispered to them.

Without sayin nothing, the group of soldiers took a moment to then accept Seneca's subordination. "Understood Senator." One of the soldiers took the bag of coins and hide it within his clothes. They grabbed the crying man from the ground and started to drag him out of the city. "Alright. Time to answer for your crimes traitor."

The man sobbed silently, not knowing that his life would be spared thanks to the action of Seneca.

"That was intense. Is he going to be okay?" Ritsuka felt sorry for the man.

"I made sure so." Seneca said with sorrow. "May he find a way to get a new life." He turned around. "Now we shall continue our walk to the palace. Come." The senator started walking, following Nero who was ahead. The Chaldea group felt the same.

Mash however was kinda anxious. "Something here just doesn't make sense."

"What do you mean Mash?" Peko asked her.

"Nero is already chasing christians in the empire. However, due to the year that we are in according to the mission information I saw before the Rayshift, it shouldn't been happening now."

"You're right Mash." Romani told her. "The christians persecution started under Nero's reign but only some years later after the year we're in."

"Could it be that's the cause that this Singularity came to existence?" Nala pondered. "Since they are created from anomalies of human history and stuff."

"That's a good hypothesis Nala." Ritsuka saw how the girl's theory wasn't so far fetched.

"That might be the cause, if I'm being honest." Romani tought.

"And something seems off about Nero herself." Peko told them. "The way the crowd applauded her for so long when we first saw her to have this reaction of fear then. It's...suspicious to say the least."

"From what I remember, Nero was used to be some controversial emperor." Ritsuka said. "We better keep an eye on her."

"And what about Seneca-san?" Nala asked him.

"Hmm. He does seems like a more open minded and benevolent person." Peko said. "Altough he's also Nero's advisor so I don't know."

Mash ended up sighing. "That's why I talked it would be better for Chaldea to have tools and systems that could see if a person could be our friend or foe. Judging by ourselves is a lot harder."

"Then as the leader I can say we might trust him for the time being." Ritsuka said to his group.

"Do you think so Ritsuka?" Peko said to his friend.

"Yeah. I can feel he's a guy who we can trust for now." Ritsuka remembered about what the Seneca said regarding about the man that was arrested by the soldiers. "Anyway. We should get going to the palace. There we might have more clues to what's happening to this Singularity. Let's go!"

All of the three nodded to Ritsuka's words.

Arriving at the palace, Nero and Seneca guided the group to the throne 'room' of the small emperor. It was actually the palace's rooftop with tall columns wrapped in red sheets surrounding it and a nice view to the rest of tge city. In the middle, there was Nero's golden throne wich she sat on it while Seneca brought a small table near her. The Chaldea group approached and saw that the table was actually a map of Europe, or in this case, of the entire Roman Empire at the time.

"It's of good hospitality to let the visitors talk first and make them feel well as if our home was also theirs. What does your Imperial Majesty thinks of that?" Seneca asked to Nero, already sharing his opinion of letting the newcomers talk first.

"I'll allow it, umu." Nero gave it permission as she took a sip of the golden cup.

The whole group looked at Ritsuka, knowing he was the leader and so he should also be their main speakman. That put him a little bit nervous, since Ritsuka was still new to this whole thing of negotiating and being a leader, however he would try is best to make his and Chaldea's intentions clear.

"First of all, thank you for accepting us. Knowing that we can cooperate with the emperor will turn our goals a little bit easier." Ritsuka started by thanking both Nero and Seneca. "We are mages from the future, a future that is at risk of no longer existence."

Both the emperor and the senator's curiosity grew, finding Ritsuka's words and backstory intresting and quite out of this world for the times they lived in. More to Nero than Seneca, who already spent some years training magic.

"We are here to find a magical artifact called the Holy Grail. You see, we are here to fix human history, wich has been screwed all over by an enemy of ours. The time period Your Imperial Majesty and it's advisor live in is very important to what happens in the next centuries of our history. So we believe our enemy came here in order to change the events of what happened, in order that humanity goes extinct. So if we find the Holy Grail that he hid here, we'll be able to fix some part of our problems and maybe all of your too." Ritsuka ended his explanation, believing that he delievered it the best way he could.

"Hmmmm..." Seneca rubbed his beard. "If I may ask you, what's your enemie's name?"

"Lev Lainur." Mash answered to the old man. "Also a mage from the future we come from. He's a traitor who's making an effort to erase all of humanity in the future."

"He's also a huge jerk. Don't forget that." Nala said, remembering of their encounter back at Fuyuki and what he has done. She could barely know the man but just from that first interaction, she could tell that Lev Lainur was a dispicable man.

"Yeah. He's an individual that you shouldn't trust if you ever find him." Peko told Nero and Seneca. "Don't ever believe a word from what he says, even if it sounds good for you."

"Have you met him or know that he's at least here?" Ritsuka asked to the two romans.

Seneca stared at Nero who also stared back at him, the two saying nothing to each other.

"We have never met a mage called Lev Lainur." Nero put an hand on her forhead. "You're the first ones that we saw and say that came from the future. And believe on the emperor's word when I say you that. If that Lev Lainur came here, we would heard something about him by now." She explained to the Chaldea group.

"The emperor is right. The man you speak of, was at the moment unknow for both of us until you told us about him." Seneca scratched his golden beard. "Perhaps he may truly be the cause for the turmoil that has been happening lately in our empire."

"You did mentioned that you are at fight with some enemies of yours." Peko said. "Who are they?"

Hearing the question, Nero stood up from her throne. "An army that calls themselves United Roman Empire. They already occupied some west part of my territory." She put an hand on the map of Europe, more precisely on the west. "The battle has been waging for months now. I hate to say it but they are truly formidable on their startegies." Nero gave a quick punch on the table out of anger. "Always like they're a step ahead. What's their bussiness in invading my stage?!" Frustrated, she took another sip of the golden cup.

Seneca looked briefly at his emperor with sorrowful eyes, before looking back at the Chaldea group. "From the information we could get from our soldiers, it appears that this United Roman Empire it's composed of former roman emperors and some other known figures. We already know the identity of one of them."

"Really? Who?" Nala asked.

"My uncle, Caligula." Nero revealed.

"He also was a roman emperor, correct?" Ritsuka asked Mash for confirmation.

"You're right master. Caligula was indeed a former roman emperor and also Nero's uncle. A very famous one too." Mash said.

"Wait! There can be more than one king or emperor ruling an entire nation's throughout history?" Nala was flabbergasted by the information.

"It makes sense. I mean, at the end of the day no one's immortal. Not even nation leaders." Peko said to Nala. "Why you would even think that?"

"...I don't know." Nala stared at the ground.

"He's the one who leads the troops to battle majority of the times." Nero told them. "And our soldiers reports have told me that he's been last seen here." Nero moved her finger down to the south of the Italian Peninsula and stopped at an island near it. "At Mount Etna. Some even say he established an accampment there. We need to take care of that. I plan on him being the first to take down of the enemy."

"And perhaps who knows, while we defeat the United Roman Empire, you can also find clues or even the Holy Grail itself along the way." Seneca said. "This partnership seems rather beneficial to both of us." He smiled. "Your appearence seems almost like it was fated to help us."

"You are indeed right Seneca." Nero also smiled. "Perhaps this people came from the future to help us in the end. As a sign that we'll indeed come out as the winners of this!" Nero went to the edge of the rooftop and raised her hands in the hand as she stared at the entire city of Rome. "That I'm indeed the main star, umu!"

Ritsuka and the other's sweated and smiled nervously. "She's really way too extrevagant huh?"

"So, people from the future. What do you say of becoming my generals and aid me in getting back what was always meant to be my domain?" Nero happily extended her hand to Ritsuka. "I wouldn't mind of having more support characters in my story, umu!" She said with joy.

Ritsuka looked at the rest of his group. He was the leader but also wanted to hear the opinion from the others. "What do you all think? Mash?"

"I'm going with Seneca's words and say that this is indeed beneficial for both of us. Having allies this early on is a good thing to have master." Mash told him, being in favor of the partnership.

"Hmm. I too think having allies now and support from an entire army of an emperor would do us good. We can't let this Singularity be an almost disaster like the first. " Peko told to Ritsuka. "Altough Nero seems a little...crazy."

"Seeing that the majority is at the favor, it would be useless if I was against it." Nala smiled. "But I too think we need an alliance right now. We already know from the previous Singularity that trying to do this all by ourselves will only turn the things harder. Then yes, I say that we shoud form a partnership."

Seeing that everyone wasn't opposing to the idea to ally with Nero and Seneca, Ritsuka knew what the final decision was now. "Well, guess it's decided then." Ritsuka smiled to Nero. "A partnership is about to be formed right here and now." And he shook hands with Nero.

With an alliance formed early on, Seneca revealed to the Chaldea group that they planned on attacking Caligula's accampment at Mount Etna on the day after tomorrow, since they still needed to reorganize their troops who had come back from previous battles as well as let them rest. As for the Chaldea group, Seneca managed to get them some rooms of the palace where it would be their stay during this Singularity. Mash and Ritsuka in one room and Peko and Nala in the other one. The night eventually arrived and everyone went to sleep, thinking about the tomorrow.

Well, everyone except Ritsuka.

"Damn, why the romans couldn't be more specific when pointing the way to the bathroom! I tought I would have to do on the bushes!"

Now on his way to his room, Ritsuka couldn't help but notice when looking to the exterior that the moon was full and there were countless stars in the sky as he also spotted the city of Rome in the distance. And just ahead of him there was a couple of stairs that would lead to the exterior of the palace, to a vast garden to be more precise. A garden full of of red and white flowers that extended way ahead, all nicely organized into their own groups.

"At least this palace has quite the garden. It's beautiful. Hm?" As the master of humanity looked at the garden, he noticed someone standing on front of it, calmly staring at the view while sitting on the tiled ground.

"Is that Nala?"

Kingdom Hearts II OST- Missing You

"Hmmmm." The girl stood there watching the flowers move slowly to the wind. It's movements were almost hypnotizing for the young girl. All this silence and calmness felt relaxing for her. Until someone saw her.

"Can't sleep?"

Hearing the voice from behind, Nala turned her head around to see Ritsuka walking torwards her.

"R-Ritsuka?!" Nala exclaimed, not expecting that he would still be awake by this time. "N-No! I was just doing some surveillence, that's all!" She clumsly tried to lie.

Ritsuka could see that she wasn't the greatest of liars. "With dozens of soldiers of Nero already doing that? I didn't know you have decided to volunteer and help them." He smiled.

Nala saw that Ritsuka could see through her lie easily and so she sighed. "Fine. You caught me. I went here to look at the garden. It's just, so peaceful you know?"

Ritsuka sat next to her. "Sure is. Almost like a big soft carpet. The romans have a good taste for decoration."

"And it somehow..." Nala touched her chest. "It feels, nostalgic to me. As if this garden and it's flowers were something that warms my heart. Something that I've seen before." Nala looked at the full moon in the sky. "Or perhaps it's just my liking for flowers spiking, I don't know." She talked quietly.

Ritsuka noticed how this was probably the first time he had saw Nala talk in such a calm and peaceful tone since she usually was a very energetic kid. The garden truly was making her feel something. Ritsuka then remembered of a thing. A memory of his childhood days. He chuckled just by remembering it.

"Well, now that you say that, you've just reminded me of something." Ritsuka said. "When I was around your age, my mom used to have a small garden on the backyard of our house. It wasn't as big as this one or anything like that but..." Ritsuka laid his back on the ground. "It was equally beautiful for me."

Nala looked at him, with a puzzled face only to smile shortly after. "Heh. I think I understand." She went back to look at the garden. "No matter if it's big or small in the end. As long as we're happy, it will always look beautiful to us. Also, do you have a mother?"

"Well, yes." Ritsuka answered her.

"It must be really nice to have one." Nala said. "What mothers generally do?"

Ritsuka smiled happily. "They usually take care of you, tell you when to sleep, what's good for your body and also pamper you if possible. That's what I remember my mom of doing."

"So is it just like a dad?" Nala continue to question Ritsuka.

Ritsuka smile slowly dissapeard "...Yes, I guess."

Seeing that she made a question that was unpleasent for Ritsuka, Nala tried to excuse herself. "Oh, sorry! It wasn't my intention Ritsuka!"

"No,no. It's alright. You had no way to knew it. I don't blame you." Ritsuka forgave her. "How about another question?"

"Okay!" Nala went back to smile. "Soooo, what's your mom doing right now? I mean, before all this crazy thing happened to you?"

"She..." Ritsuka remembered of another memory. This time a memory he wished to forget. "...I rather prefer to not speak about it."

"Crap! I make you uncomfortable again, sorry!" Nala slapped her forhead, calling herself an idiot for commiting the same mistake in a span of seconds.

"Hehehe. I already told you I don't blame you Nala. You had no way of knowing this." Ritsuka forgave her again.

"Then I think it's only fair for you to question me now. Your turn Ritsuka." Nala told Ritsuka to ask something about her now.

"Okay." Ritsuka tought about a question he could ask. "Why do you and Peko only remember of your dad. Do you have a mom?" He asked.

Nala stood silent for some seconds. "Now that you talk about it...ghghhgg!" A sharp pain in the head erupted as Nala squirmed in pain.

Ritsuka immediatly went to check if she was alright. "Nala! Are you alright?!" The master of humanity put his hands on her shoulder. "If so say something please!"

Nala didn't respond, taking a short time to take some breaths as sweat rolled down her face. "Y-Yes...I am." Nala took some deep breaths, feeling that the sudden headache had gone away. "I'm feeling...a little bit better now..." Nala went back to breath normaly, cleaning the sweat from her face.

"Sorry. Shouldn't have provoked your amnesia." Ritsuka told her, feeling guilty for the pain he had caused on the girl now.

"It's alright. I don't blame you too." Nala tried to comfort Ritsuka with a smile. "But that thing you said about me and Peko having a mother..." Nala stared at petals flying in the air. "I honestly don't know. All that I and my brother remember, is having a dad. And even then we can't remember of his face, body, voice, nothing. Only the fact that we have one." Nala said sadly. "But as for a mother. We don't know if we ever had one or not."

Without knowing what to say, Ritsuka decided the better now would be to stay silent and observe the large garden in front of them. As the seconds and even some minutes passed, Nala finally broke the silence between the two.

"Hey, Ritsuka. Can I ask you something?" She asked to him without looking.

"Sure." Ritsuka replied, not looking at her either.

Nala slightly, lowered her head. "Am I...your friend?"

Ritsuka was caught off guard by that question, even looking at the girl at his side. "Hum, yes. Why?"

"It's that when I was kept as a prisoner of the Dragon Witch back in France, she told me you wouldn't be rescuing me. That you'd rather abandon me then having to go through the pain and effort to save me." Nala revealed to Ritsuka. "Of course that I didn't believe in any word she was saying. But, I started to have doubts. At that time, we had just met for some couple of days and the way I treated Peko when we arrived to the Singularity was...I feared that you and Mash would have a negative perception of me. And so I tought if you really would find easier to just leave me in that cell..."

Ritsuka heard with attention every word from Nala's mouth, thinking how hard was her time as prisoner of the Dragon Witch. And she was still just a kid.

"I-I know it was stupid of me to think like that! That you would-" As Nala tried to lighten up the mood, she felt Ritsuka's arms wrapping around her body. "R-Ritsuka..?"

"Nala..." Ritsuka said stoicly, resulting in the girl to meet his eyes.

"There wasn't a single night, that me and Mash would sleep comfortably without thinking about you." He smiled as some tears appeard in his eyes. "Of course we are friends! We would rescue you not because you are Peko's sister, but because you're also our friend and member of the team!"

Hearing those words, Nala felt a pain in her chest as she also started to tear up. "R-Ritsuka..." She hugged him back. "Thank you. Both of you." She let some tears fall on her eyes. She could let that doubt finally die, knowing that both Ritsuka and Mash alongside Chaldea also saw her as a friend. She could trust in them.

The two stayed like that for some seconds before eventually breaking the hug apart. Their attention had now returned to the garden in front of them again.

"Also, thanks for protecting Peko in the meantime." Nala told Ritsuka. "It was good to see him all well and alive."

"Hm." Ritsuka smirked. "He also made sure to keep himself alive. He really did train and pushed his limits just in the hope of seeing you safe."

Nala smile grew a bit. "Yeah. I love that idiot." Nala then gasped. "Ah! But don't tell him that cried! Please, I beg you! Tell him and I'll punch you!"

Ritsuka couldn't help but laught. "Hahahahahaha. Don't worry." Ritsuka put a finger on his lips. "They're sealed."

"Heh. Good."

"Hey, do you think it was a good decision that we made an alliance with Nero and Seneca?" Ritsuka asked Nala.

"Hm? Why are asking that now?" Nala raised an eyebrow.

"It's that I too have some doubts. And I'm supposed to be the leader. So I want to know if I make the right thing as a leader." Ritsuka told her.

"Hmmm. That emperor Nero seems,well...a bit unhinged." Nala told her opinion about Nero, wich curiosily was the same opinion that Ritsuka had about her. "But Seneca, he looks a person we can reason with just like you said. So on my eyes, you did the right choice Ritsuka." Nala smiled to him.

"Glad to hear that Nala." Ritsuka smiled back.

"Altough something continues to irk me. Like, that man the soldiers arrested earlier this day, he was christian. Were they angry and arrestem him because christians are evil like some sort of cult or anything?" Nala asked Ritsuka, still thinking about what they saw today.

"Jeanne was also christian." Ritsuka mentioned their friend from the previous Singularity.

"Ah! Then christians are good people!" Nala said.

"But I think that Gilles de Rais guy was also christian..." Ritsuka said soon after.

"Then...christians are neither good nor evil? Or they can be both? Hurhg, this whole thinking is messing up my brain." Nala scratched her head in confusion.

"All the groups have good and bad people. That also applies to religion." Ritsuka told Nala. "I think it's all about the nature of some persons."

"...Yeah, I'll think like that too." Nala laid her back to the ground, now staring at the moon. "So, even if this Roman Empire is all powerful and big, it no longer exists in the present, right?"

"That's true. It ended eventually, like so many other things" Ritsuka told her. "That's just how time works."

Nala found Ritsuka's words to be somewhat sad. "Then, I don't want our group to end.' She said sure of herself. "I want to make sure it lasts for long enough. Until we find our dad and fix this whole human history problem too."

Ritsuka smiled at hearing her words. Now he couldn't help but see Nala has his little sister. He would make sure that both her and Peko would see their father and protect them. He would also protect Mash too. As a leader, that was his duty. "Then I'll guarantee that our group will last, perhaps even after all of this is resolved."

"Huh?! Really?!" Nala exclaimed with a big smile.

"Of course. That's a promise Nala. That no matter what happens, this group will never end." Ritsuka smiled to her.

"Heh. It's good to hear that Ritsukaaaaaaaa..." Nala yawned, showing that she was tired from staying awake at such late hour.

"Looks like we better go to bed." Ritsuka got up from the ground. "We'll need to be at our best for when the next battle comes up." He extended his hand to Nala. "Ready to go?"

Nala smiled all happily to her friend. "Of course!"

To be continued...

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author.

As a new day had come, the Chaldea group now resided in Emperor Nero's palace where it would be their main headquarters during their time in this Singularity. It was nice to have a stable base instead of having to always flee or change camp. Even better if the base was a huge palace from a powerful and wealthy ally. It helped in having now a giant army supporting them and not fighting them. The start of their mission this time was looking smoothly. This day would serve as a reorganizment of Nero's troops and preparation to do their next move on Mount Etna, where the enemy Caligula resided at the moment. In order to get ready for that confrontation, the Chaldea group was now training at a small training camp just outside of the palace.

"Wow! That was fast!" Nala exclaimed as she was doing a fighting session with another woman who was also one of Nero's subordinates. The woman herself had an asian look and wore a white kimono with flower patterns. Her eyes were sharp and her black hair was tied into a long and thin ponytail. The woman's nails were painted in a greyish tone and she also wore sandals. She was one of the emperor's generals.

"Thanks! Your reflex was also decent." The woman smiled. "But it can be better."

Nala smirked and rubbed her nose. "I know. Don't think I'm satisfied enough for making that block." She pointed her sword at the woman. "I plan to grow more skilled!" "And reach to that speed again." "So come, Jing Ke!" Nala called the woman by her name.

Jing Ke, the legendary and famous chinese assassin who was most known for her failed assassination attempt at the chinese emperor of her time, Qin Shi Huang. But that wasn't all of the female assassin. Jing Ke also loved reading, mainly poems, talk with friends, most of whom were wise and drink large quantities of alcohol, the last one being the thing she loved doing the most. For the short time the Chaldea group met her in the morning, they could see she was a nice person to hang around with.

"I'm happy to hear that." Jing Ke laughed. "Show me what you got!" And she and Nala went to clash again, continuing the training.

On the sidelines, Ritsuka was watching the fight with Seneca. Romani's hologram was also there watching it.

"I can't believe that Jing Ke, an assassin famous for trying to kill an emperor, is serving an emperor!" Romani said in bewilderment. "It's just weird."

Seneca chuckled. "The world is a strange place my magical friend. But Jing Ke's servitude is the result of the great and influential charisma that Nero causes on the others." The old man stated. "For her, it's an honour to serve such emperor. Besides, Jing Ke is a great company to chat with. She told me many great scripts from the Far East that were unknown to me. A good and cultured friend if I say so. Also a good drinker." Seneca said. For a man like him, Jing Ke's company was equal to great times discussing things. It expanded the roman philosopher's horizon in knowing there was also other philosophers from another part of the world.

"But Nala seems to not wanting to get behind." Ritsuka smiled. "She's really trying to keep up." He remembered of the conversation he had with Nala at the garden on the previous night. "An energetic kid like you will go to places Nala."

"She has a great ambition and energy for the looks of it." Seneca closed his eyes, thinking. "After all, ambition is like the wind. We need it to get the ship moving. Without it, we will never reach anywhere."

"How many of your toughts do you turn into philosophy quotes?" Romani asked him genuinely.

"That is a philosopher's job my friend. To think about our lives and try to find mean it. The quotes can be seen as advices on how to enjoy it better." Seneca explained to the doctor.

"And what advice do you think I should follow to live my life to the fullest Seneca-san?" Ritsuka askes to the old man, who just smiled and put an hand on his shoulder.

"None, young man. Be the master of your own destiny and the maker of your own choices." Seneca smiled gently to Ritsuka. "These advices are only tips to help you. If you try too hard to follow them, you will never live your life freely. Instead, live naturally and the way you think life should be spent. I am no owner of you to tell you how to act, feel and behave. You'll do that yourself."

"Hehe. No wonder why you are a philosopher." Romani giggled.

Ritsuka just stared at the old senator, in wonder of Seneca's words. They felt powerful and meaningful to the ears of the young master. "So this is how a wise man thinks..." Ritsuka smiled. "Geez! I almost forgot what it was like to talk with an elder. Oh! No offense Seneca-san."

Seneca cackled and raised his hand a little. "No offense taken."

Meanwhile, other fighting sessions were happening simultaneously to Nala and Jing Ke's training.

"Peko to your left!" Mash yelled at the boy who was narrowly able to dodge the hit of a big ironclad sword, wielded by a giant and muscular man who was dressed in gladiator clothes. He had a very greyish skin and short dirty blond hair who was tied into a tiny ponytail. The gladiator wouldn't stop smilling.

"Woah! Thanks Mash!" Peko told the shielder.

"Training your body and swordsmanship are the first crucial steps to overthrow the opressors!" The muscular man said excitedly. "Continue like that young warrior, and all the opressors that you might have in the future will fall!"

"...That's...very motivational of you Spartacus." Peko said with some nervous smile. "He is strong and helping me get better. Quite the tank and strong warrior. Altough a little bit obsessed with opression, opressors and etc."

"Let's try again boy!" Spartacus, the famous gladiator who would lead a revolution in the Roman Empire some years later from where this Singularity happens, with the goal of achieving freedom against his and his brotherly gladiators opressors. The man was known for being strong and resilient, fighting till the end despite of his wounds. His figure became one of praise among other gladiators who also seeked freedom at the time. Now as a servant of the Berserker class, Spartacus toughts were all about fighting the opression that hurted the opressed. Truly, seeing such rebellious figure now serving as a general of a roman emperor was a thing that many would consider weird and bizarre. Yet, it wasn't a lie. Spartacus was really serving what was once, his long life enemy.

"Do you always stay eager like that or only during a fight?" Peko asked with some concern and doubt of Spartacus mentality.

"Haha! When facing opression, you always have to stand courageous and sure of yourself! The eagerness also helps in facing the opressor face to face!" Spartacus explained, his smile staying impeccable. "Now let's try again! Those sword swings of yours need to get stronger, as well as your grip!"

"Understood!" Peko replied.

As for Mash, she also was training with other servant, altough this one wasn't capable of speech. Another giant and muscular man, except this one was wearing an chinese style armour, one that generals used. He also had short red hair and red feathers on his head. The man's eyes were fully white and his skin was of a light brown colour. He was Lu Bu, another chinese figure from the Three Kingdoms period, famously known for being a treacherous general, backstabbing and betraying anyone that he usually ended up siding with. It was weird to think that a historical character known for betraying would end up as a general of an empire's army.

Now thinking about it, all the three general servants of Nero had characteristics that every emperor would like to avoid when recruiting someone to his army. Yet they all served Nero with seemingly no complaint and rather okay with the idea of working under her.

"Lu Bu-san is attacking very wildly. Berserkers are good for training any blocks or defense with my shield. If I become able to stop his blows with little effort, my endurance will certainly grow for when having to deal with more powerful attacks." Mash said to herself, positioning her shield in attack mode. "Let's do it again, Lu Bu-san!" She told to the servant.

"Peko and Mash are also giving their best in training." Romani said. "Altough I don't know it would be okay to let a Berserker be Peko's opponent since he is still new to fighthing." The doctor said with some apprehension.

"I think Spartacus knows how to hold himself despite all that enjoyment in fighting." Ritsuka tried to calm Romani.

Seneca nodded in response. "Altough a Berserker, Spartacus holds himself well." The philosopher then looked to the side. "When not fighting opressors that is..." He whispered.

"Hey! Seneca! Apprentice Ritsuka!" The voice from Nero drew the attention from the two and also Romani. The three saw Nero entering the training camp with a clean piece of wood and a wodden cup of red paint. She seemed very happy. "See this beautiful art that is in the making by me, umu!"

"Apprentice Ritsuka?" Ritsuka tought how weird it was that Nero all of a sudden decided to call him an apprentice.

"Oh is that she sees you and the rest of your groups as mage apprentices while is your master." Seneca explained with a smile. "She has quite the creativity."

Romani crossed his arms with a smug. "Hm hm. Did you heard that Ritsuka? I'm your master."

"As if I would care about that!" Ritsuka exclaimed, trying to shut down Romani's smugness.

"Quiet now!" Nero told them. "Instead, see this amazing work that I, the emperor, have been so tiredly working on." As she said that, Nero turned the wooden piece around, revealing her painting. Somewhat a red flower. Or at least it looked like that. Ritsuka and Romani couldn't fully understand the painting since it was obvious that Nero wasn't all of a great paintor.

"Is that suppose-"

"Great work indeed my emperor." Seneca interrupted Ritsuka. "Such talent and emotion expressed in that piece of yours. I can't wait to see the finish product my emperor."

"Thank you Seneca." Nero smiled and laughed like a child that just had received a good grade. "I can always count on you for a wise opinion, umu!" She said happily to her advisor. "And what do you think Apprentice Ritsuka?"

"Hum..." Ritsuka tought carefully on what he would say next. "I think it's pretty good my emperor."

"I know right?" Nero said, putting an hand on her chest and smilling proudly. "However, pretty good or great aren't enough for a person like me! The most talented of individuals need to produce the most perfect of works, umu!"

"You are right my emperor." Seneca said. "As a senator, I plan to eventually organize an art exposition of your works for all Rome to see one day." He told to Nero in a appealing voice.

"Yay! Just like I always dreamed haha!" Nero then went to sat in a corner and continue her painting. "Look out world! It will arrive the time when you will discover the genius of Nero Claudius!"

Seneca gave a small smile as he saw Nero returning to her work. Ritsuka couldn't help but to smile a bit also. Perhaps Nero wasn't all that bad.

"Hey now that I think of it..." Romani stared at Seneca. "You never were a senator. Some even disliked you. It got to a point where you got exiled! So why and how did you become a senator now?!" Romani questioned the old man, noticing how some historical aspect of Seneca didn't make sense in this Singularity.

"I was asked to come back as a request to help and guide the emperor when she was younger." Seneca explained. "The motive of my exile is that politics are always a dangerous topic." Seneca sigh. "People controlled by power will always try to take down someone who they fear it might take that power away from them. Nero's mother that married to the previous emperor was the one who made the request. She saw my capacity in guiding her child. Heh, however a cunning woman in the end."

"So you were hated by everyone in the senate?" Ritsuka asked with some curiosity, seein this as an opportunity to know more about the old man.

"Majority yes. I was even despised by Caligula of all things." Seneca chuckled. "That man was never able to stand criticism. However I also had some friends and supporters in the senate. Wandering on the philosophical and political path gives you some intresting people to meet." Seneca closed his eyes. "Good times of debate with actual understanding and intelectual people."

"Still, how did you become a senator?" Romani asked him with some inpatience.

"And those friends of yours in the senate? Do you see them often? When it will be the next reunion of the senate? I myself ain't much of a guy for politics but it would be nice to see how roman debates were handled." Ritsuka said with a smile, willing to know more and explore the roman culture.

Seeing the enthusiasm of the teen, Seneca's lips slightly twisted into a smile as he closed his eyes and let out a 'hphm'. "There isn't anymore debates to have..."

"Huh?" Ritsuka reacted in confusion to Seneca's response.

The old man raised is head and opened his eyes. Despite of the smile, the eyes of Seneca told another thing, as if he wanted to cry.

"I'm the only one that there is left..."

"!" Ritsuka's eyes widened in shock. "W-what does he mean by that?"

Even Romani wasn't expecting such thing. "H-hey. Are you implying that..."

"Eventually I entered the senate and became a senator myself in order to keep control and order of the things in Rome. I'm the one that generally handles all the aspects of the city and in charge of resolving it's problems. Nero is more turned to the military and cultural side of the empire." Seneca stared at Nero who was happily painting her work. "I for some time felt lonely in being the remaining senator. Even those I didn't like made me miss them. Whether it was to hear the most stupid opinions ever or just to prove our own perspective of things. Hehe, they were quite the memorable fools..." Seneca smiled sadly.

"Then what happened to them?" Ritsuka asked to Seneca, feeling bad for the old man.

"Let's just say, that fear and conspiracies lead to the end of many." Seneca got up from his seat, wanting to finsih that topic quickly. "Now then, I guess I'll take this time to stretch my arms a bit." The philosopher said as he walked into the training arena.

"What is he saying with that?" Romani scratched his head.

"Uff! That was close!" Peko said as he cleaned the face from sweat after blocking an attack from Spartacus. He almost felt his wrist breaking. "I clearly need to get more prepared for the weapons impact in the future, or else I'll be stunned easily."

"Gotcha!" Jing Ke exclaimed as she hit Nala on the shoulder altough not in a fatal or harmful way for the girl.

"Aw damnit!" Nala exclaimed, unhappy with herself. "You hit me first again. I can barely even scratch you from how fast you move." She said, pointing out the woman's abilities.

"Heh. Assassin's agility you know? Need to be quick and with fast moves when doing an assassination." Jing Ke smiled. "But keep like that and you will eventually have some quick reflexes too."

"Thank's! I'll be sure to keep training!" Nala smiled back to the assassin.

"Ggh!" Mash grunted as she blocked a strong blow from Lu Bu, making her feet get dragged some meters away. By the end, she was also sweating too. "I'm okay Lu Bu-san!" Mash said to the chinese Berserker. "This was probably he's strongest attack until now. I'll need to do better than this!"

Seneca who had entered the small arena, clapped for the three's effort. "Very well done, all of you! It's clear that you already have some fighting experience even if little. I see potential."

Mash smiled. "Thank you Seneca-san."

"I'm trying my best, but even then I don't feel satisfied." Nala said with her mood a bit down.

"Well, I think I have gotten a little better with this." Peko said, altough with not much joy in order to not make his sister feel bad.

"That is good to hear." Seneca stared at Nala. "And is also good to strive for a better improvement of ourselves."

"Well I guess. The more powerful the better, right?" Nala asked to the old man.

Seneca crouched down. "To protect and help others yes. But beware young girl. Power can be the servant of a wise person or the master of a fool." He told to Nala. "The same goes to you young boy." Seneca said to Peko. "Always keep your morals and things that you cheerish inside your minds."

"Understood Seneca-san! Thank you for the advise." Peko smiled to the old man.

"Same. I'll make sure of that!" Nala said to Seneca, a little bit more fired up than before.

"You have quite the choice of words Seneca-san." Mash commented.

"Thank you ." Seneca nodded gently. "However, I need to do some exercise now. My body is feeling a bit rusty you know?"

"Wait! You wanna fight us?" Nala asked, not expecting such old man as Seneca proposing to fight them in a training session.

"Yes I do. Emperor Nero!" Seneca called for Nero who was still painting her work.

"What is it Seneca?" She took her eyes out of her own painting for a second, looking at her advisor.

"Will you grant me permission to participate in this training session with the newcomers?" Seneca asked politely.

"Hmmmmm. Sure! Give your best Seneca! I'll be cheering for you!" Nero yelled energetically, showing the support for her advisor.

"Thank you my praetor." Seneca bowed in respect, before dismissing te three general servants, with him and the members of the Chaldea group being the only ones in the arena now. "Anyways, I guess I'll start with the basic." Seneca took out a scroll from his bag.

"What is he gonna do?" Ritsuka wondered, watching the senator with attention alongside Romani's hologram.

"Seneca-san isn't a servant nor was he a fighter. But he knows some magic spells. So we need to be careful with him." Mash prepared her shield in combat mode.

"Heh." Seneca smirked, putting the scroll in front of his face.

" Gladius."

The scroll reacted to the philosopher's words and started to shine a pure gold. It didn't take many seconds for the scroll itself to open and unfold around it's owner. Then it's lenght reduced and it's shape transformed. The golden glow stopped and what was now in Seneca's hands was a well sharped and long roman sword with latin characters on it.

"He...He turned his scroll into a sword!" Peko exclaimed, surprised by the magic Seneca pulled off. "So that's what his scrolls can do."

"A lovely gift from my works on magic." Seneca said while slightly touching his fingers on the metal part of the blade. "Who knew such things like this were possible?" He laughed. "Now, are all of you ready?" Seneca asked the trio as he took out another scroll from his bag and pointed his sword to them.

Mash, Peko and Nala all looked at each other and made the decision in their minds.

"Sure!"

"Bring it!"

"I'm ready!"

With the little fight over, Seneca called back his last scroll as the trio from Chaldea finally saw as a signal that they could finally rest. All three were exhausted and painting. Despite not being a fighter, Seneca's spells were not short of being good. The power of elements that he could summon with his scrolls such as fire, earth, thunder and etc. was pretty amazing. But it isn't as if Seneca himself was all unscathed from the battle. The sweat was visible on his face and after calling back the scroll, the old man fell to his knees, completely tired.

"Hahaha." He couldn't stop of being happy however. "This...made me felt like a youngster again. Quite the...training to have my body acting like new again. Now I know...why people go so many times...to the colosseum."

Ritsuka and the other three servants entered the arena to see if they were all right.

"Are you all good? Anything broken?" Ritsuka asked to his friends.

"Just a...little bit..tired. That's all." Peko said between breaths.

"For a old man...he surely knows how to...give a proper fight." Nala said, cleaning the sweat from her face.

"True. Seneca-san...sure has his tricks." Mash said, stabilizing her own breath and her heartbeat calming down.

On the other side, Jing Ke was helping Seneca to get up. "Are you okay Seneca?" She asked him.

"Fortunately...no broken bone." The philosopher said. "Age really does not forgive." Seneca moved and stretched his body a little, to see if he was feeling any pain.

"Age is a great obstacle for men with ambitions and dreams! Slowing them down in the process with getting weaker and weaker! Aging is one of the worst opressors of all time!" Spartacus shouted to the year, being followed by a scream of Lu Bu.

"You two are complete airheads." Jing Ke critizise both berserkers as the Chaldea group approached all them.

"I have to say Seneca-san. You have nice skills of a mage. Didn't knew you could use your scrolls in that way." Mash complimented the man.

"While I'd say there's more powerful mages out there, you actually do very decently for someone who is not a servant." Romani also gave a little praise to Seneca.

"Hm. Why thank you-"

"Seneca! Seneca!" A scream from Nero erupted as they all saw her enter the arena with tears in her eyes and a body moviment telling that she wasn't happy with something.

The old man tought that she was worried for him during the battle, seeing that Nero was found of Seneca. Smilling, the advisor tried to comfort his emperor. "Oh don't worry my praetor! Exhaustence will not be the reason for my dea-"

"It isn't that!" Nero comically started to hit on Seneca's chest as the old man stood immobile and confused. "It's my red paint! I have no more of it to finish my work!" Tears started to appear from Nero's eyes. "Now how will I be a famous and lovable star who will receive the praise of everybody?"

"That's what she was worried about?" Everyone minus Seneca and the two berserkers said to themselves.

"There, there, calm down yourself Nero." Seneca gave some light taps on the emperor's back, as she would sob on his chest. "I think that I can still arrange some jar of red paint at the store if I go to the city now." He told her.

Nero's tears quickly dissapeard and she stared at her advisor euphorically. "R-Really!? Thank you so much Seneca!" Nero yelled happily. "My career as an artist is safe, umu!"

"Wait." Mash walked torwards the two. "Seneca-san must be tired from the fight he just had with us. I don't know if he should go to the city now instead of resting."

"I'd say Mash is right, my emperor and senator." Jing Ke agreed with Mash. "Seneca 's body should take some time to recover from the battle."

"Yeah. And with his age and all..." Ritsuka speaked as well.

"Hehe. I appreciate your value about my well being." Seneca told them. "But as the emperor's personal advisor, I-"

"It's all right Seneca." Nero said. "You need to rest."

Seneca was surprised by Nero's words. "But my emperor-"

"That's an order." Nero interrupted him. "You shouldn't push yourself hard all the time. Rest for now Seneca."

Taking a sigh, Seneca agreed with them. "If you say so, my emperor." He smiled gently to Nero.

"Then who will go to pick the paint instead?" Nala asked to everyone, since Seneca was out of question.

"I can go." Peko volunteered.

"Are you sure?" Nala asked him, deep inside not feeling okay with letting her brother go to the city alone. "You barely know Rome. You'd get lost."

"It's just getting some paint sis." Peko told her relaxed. "Give me some instructions or a map and I quickly do this. Besides..." Peko show Nala his sword. "I can defend myself now."

"He has a point." Romani commented.

"..." Not saying anything, Nala turned her head around to look at Ritsuka and Mash, hoping that they would have different opinions.

Ritsuka stared at Nala's eyes and saw how they pleaded for Ritsuka to not let Peko go to the city alone. The master of humanity knew how much Nala loved her brother, specially after last night. However, he also knew how much Peko wanted to become strong and how useless he felt at the beggining. So denying permission, would mean that Ritsuka didn't believe in Peko's capabilities. And Ritsuka wouldn't risk in putting the boy's mood down again. "I'm sorry Nala but I think Peko can do this with no problem. As a leader, I trust him and give him permission to go to the city."

While Nala slightly lowered her head, Peko stared at Ritsuka with a huge smile. "Thank you Ritsuka!"

"What about you Mash?" Nala asked the shielder.

"I also think Peko is capable of doing this. Just give him a little bit of trust Nala." Mash told to the other female member of the group.

"I'll be okay Nala. I promise." Peko put an hand on her sister's shoulder, giving her a small smile.

Seeing that the decision was made, Nala just sighed. "Fine then." She smiled back to her brother. "Just be sure to return before the sun goes down, understood?"

Peko nodded. "Crystal clear sis." He then walked torwards Seneca. "Say where does that painting store is located and I'll be on my way."

Now in the middle of the city, Peko seeked for the painting store, looking at everywhere to see if he found something indicating a painting store.

"Hmm. Seneca said it was a bit ahead from here." Peko put himself on tiptoes, trying to see anything in the front of the huge crowd. Nothing. There was many people for Peko to see anything ahead. This is how a big city felt like.

"Dang it! With all these people it will take some time for me to spot the painting store." Peko realized that perhaps it would take some time to do this task. The boy looked at a small bag of golden coins that Seneca gave him. "If someone tries to rob me, my sword will be enough for them to run away."

As Peko was busy with his own toughts, he didn't noticed someone approaching him.

"Hey."

Peko, caught by surprise, immediatly jumped in a scare as he turned around to look at who was calling him.

"W-what do you want?! I know how to-" Peko stopped at his failed attempt of a threat as he saw that it was just two boys with the same age as he. "O-oh."

"Hahaha. Are you okay in the head or something?" One of the boys laughed.

"You seem lost too. First time here?" The other boy asked him.

"Yeah it is. I'm trying to look for a painting store, but with all this people it will be kinda difficult." Peko told the two boys what he was here for.

Without Peko noticing, the two street boys looked mischievously at each other, with a plan in mind.

"We know a shortcut that can make your trip to the painting store easier." One of the boys told Peko as the second one tried to contain a laugh.

"Really you do?" Peko asked, oblivious of the two kids intention.

"Yeah. Follow us!" One of them said as they gestured Peko to come with them.

After some seconds of running and trying to keep up with the other two boys, Peko finly stopped as they reached to the location of the shortcut.

"It's right here." One of them said, pointing at a small barricade that was covered by a huge white sheet with a giant red painted 'X' on it. The barricade was blocking the passage to a narrow alley that seemed to have seen better days. It was clear that the passage was forbidden to anyone.

"I think we aren't allowed to go there." Peko said, suspecting the decaying aspect of the alley and the existence of a barricade.

"Ah! It's nothing really." One of the boys tried to dismiss it.

"Yeah. The place is just under a rebuilding process. Just turn two times to the right and then one to the left and you'll exit right in front of the painting store." The other one said.

"...Okay then." Peko said, choosing to believe in the words of the two boys. He had no reason to believe they meant any harm to him or anything like that. They were just kids like him after all. And it would help if this was really a shortcut. Peko started to climb the barricate, not being that hard since it wasn't that tall either. "Thank you for the help you two. Bye!" Peko waved to the two boys goodbye as they waved back at him.

Once Peko had dissapeard from their vision, the two boys started to walk away from the place and laugh.

"Pfahahahaha! What an idiot! He really believed in us!" One of the boys said.

"That guy must be the stupidest idiot I've ever seen!" The other one mocked Peko. "I wonder how much time he will spent going in circles there?"

"I give him a minute to start crying for his mommy hahahaha!"

Already passing to the other side Peko now focused on remembering the directions the boy had given him. The smell of rotten quickly invaded his nostrils.

"Urgh!" Peko recoiled in disgust. "Is this the smell of sewers or something?"

Trying to ignore it, Peko walked more deeply into the alley. No matter where he looked at, every corner of the alley was dirty as hell, needing some serious cleaning. Rotten and spoiled food in the ground that attracted flies and rats as well as houses and buildings in awful condition. Not even the light of the sun could shine through the roofs of this area. It was completely different from the vibrant and glorious Rome Peko had saw previously. But that wasn't all.

"H...Hey...you there..." A voice weakly called for Peko. Looking at who said that, Peko saw a palid and sick man lying in front of a door, much probably to his own house. The man was completely skinny, his skin incredibly dry and contracted, with the shape of his bones showing against his skin. The clothes he was wearing were totally in the worst conditions possible, ragged and dirty. And his hair was almost entirely gone.

The sick man extended his scrawny arm torwards Peko. "A..Are you...Emperor Nero? D...Did you come...to save us..?" The man asked, confunding Peko for Nero. He almost acted more like zombie than a human.

Already frightened, Peko decided to say nothing and instead walk fast and away from the man. Now there it was the why for no one being authorized to enter here.

"W-where the hell am I?" Peko asked to himself as he was now trying to look for a way out.

"E...Emperor Nero..." A woman who was in the same state as the man and lying on the ground called Peko, also mistaking him for Nero. "P...please save us...Give us shelter..." The woman begged.

Peko ignored her too and his search for an exit started to give him more anxiety. Even after some seconds, Peko was now walking faster and faster as his feet would step on a unclean and messy ground and his ears tried to silence the voices from the other sick people begging him.

"Give us...clean food...Emperor Nero.."

"Give us...clean water...Emperor Nero..."

"Give us...health...Emperor Nero..."

"We all...love you...Praetor. I tought...you also felt the same..."

The delusions of the sick people didn't seem to stop. All this was making Peko extremely uncomfortable, almost at the verge of yelling them to shut up. "I..I've been tricked! This people here are all sick and got abandoned! I need to get out of here fast! Damnit, why did I had to believe on those two pricks?!"

As Peko was going around and trying every path only to pass through places he already has been to, going in circles, all the noise and voices of the sick people stopped as another noise appeard. The sound of metalic swords and armours.

Peko stood still, hearing the sound getting closer. As he slowly turned his head around, he saw from the bottom of the alley three roman soldiers appear right around the corner. Except the way they walked seemed unnatural. Their mouths were all open and the flesh was exposed. The three were in worse shape than any of the sick people here.

"Are they dead?!" Peko couldn't believe someone could still move their body in such terrible condition. "H-Hey! Do you hear me?" Peko tried to call the three roman soldiers.

All that he received were some agressive grunts and growls. No instance of a word coming from their tongues. Those soldiers were clearly long dead. Or half dead in this case.

Peko didn't waste time and his right arm shinned as he summoned his sword. "They don't seem to have a consciousness anymore. The only thing they are thinking now is killing me!" Peko got himself ready for the fight, sweating a bit. "First time fighthing alone. And against three enemies no less! If I lose here, I'm done for good!"

Peko took a deep breath as the undead roman soldiers slowly approached him. "Remember what Siegfried-san taught to you Peko. What you learned with Spartacus and Seneca today too! It's time I put all that learning into practice!"

With his mind seemingly on focus, Peko dashed torwards the trio of undead soldiers, raising his sword above in front of the first one. "Take this!" He yelled swinging his sword down. However, the enemy blocked it easily. Peko didn't enter in panic despite that.

"Just like Siegfried-san taught me..."

"When in battle you'll have to find the enemy's weak spots. You need to act fast since they generally don't show them for too much time. So when given the opportunity..."

Peko kicked the undead soldier's left leg, making his defenses go down. With many openings, Peko quickly striked his sword on the undead soldier's neck.

"...take advantage of it right there!"

With the throat sliced, the enemy fell to the ground, defeated and this time dead for good.

"Nice! First one is down!" Peko looked to the two remaining enemies in front of him. "Two more to go!"

Peko this time waited for the second one to attack. As their swords clashed Peko waited some seconds before unmaking the clash.

"Now, a useful technique to use while clashing with the enemy. If you are quick and smart enough, you can apply some strenght to your sword during the clash, forcing your opponent to also apply more strenght in his own sword. So in that precise moment, you quickly unmake the clash, caughting your enemy off guard and all opened."

Peko then horizontally cut the undead soldier's chest, the sword being able to cut the armour. "This one I have to thank Spartacus too. His muscles were really hard."

"That sword needs to be stronger in order to cut more powerful things young boy! You will need to train your weapon to the maximum so that one day it can even cut opression itself!"

And the second one was down. Only one remaining.

Peko cleaned the sweat from his face. "Phew! I don't even know why I was so afraid before." Peko smiled. "Things are actually going smoothly." He then looked to the last enemy. This one seemed a little bit stronger than the other two.

"Let's end this." Peko said as he went to slash the last undead in the shoulder. But this one enemy proved to be more difficult as Peko's sword didn't deal any damage to his armor.

"What?! My sword isn't cutting it!" Before Peko could try anything else, the undead soldier parried the hit and cut the boy's left arm, proceeding to punch him strongly in the stomach.

"Gghg!" Peko was sent with impact to a wall nearby of one of the houses, hitting the ground and letting the grasp on his sword go.

"K..Keh..! Damnit!" Peko slowly tried to get up from the ground. "He's definetly harder. How can I-uh?" Peko felt something wet and warm rolled down his face. As he touched his own face to see what it was, he felt his hand getting soaked. Looking at it, he saw his hand now painted in red. Painted in his own blood. That's when Peko started to feel the pain from his injuries. "G-gah! It hurts!" Peko flinched in pain as he looked at the blood.

"I'm..I'm bleeding aren't I?" This was the first time that Peko had been hit, injured and bleed. He knew it would eventually come the day were he would have to sustain injuries along the journey but he never expected to hurt this much. Now he knew how the rest felt while fighting in the first Singularity.

"C-crap! My body is hurting a lot! I-I can't ignore it!" Peko then heard the steps of the undead soldier as he watched the enemy starting to get closer to him. "How can I defeat him? My sword isn't strong enough to cut his armor." Peko then flinched again from the pain of his wounds. "D-damnit! Will I die here?!" The grim situation that Peko realized made the boy start to get nervous. "I can't do nothing! This pain is too much for me to bear!" Tears started to appear in his eyes.

"Fuck! I'm starting to cry again! I promised them I'd be stronger from now on, but guess I'll die as a weak!" Peko tried to grab his sword as the undead soldier was getting closer.

"I don't want to die! I don't want to be worthless! I-I'm scared! What Nala, Ritsuka or Mash would do in this situation?!" Peko then looked at the undead soldier that put his sword way up, ready to put him down. "Crap! I don't want this to be the end! I don't want to die as a pathetic weak kid!" Peko was in full panic, about to meet his end. "WHAT CAN I DO!?"

One Piece OST- To the Grand Line (00:00-01:56)

"It sounded more like a promise that came from the bottom of the heart. Of a kid that really desires to become stronger."

"!" Peko fist clenched as he went to pick up his sword. "What the hell am I even thinking?"

Peko's face of fear turned into one of courage and determination, a face that looked in the eyes of the enemy. "Our promise can't end here Ritsuka. This isn't the time to cry!"

His left arm started to shine. "I'd be dead if you all saw me doing this sad figure. If I want to be strong to protect anybody, the crying needs to stop now!"

He then pointed his arm that was glowing with such intensity at the undead soldier. He was concentrating a large amount of mana in it. "Whatever it takes, I'll need to stand up on my own from now on! I'll become stonger!"

With the arm fully charged and aimed at the enemy, Peko released all it's power. "AND IT WILL START WITH YOU!"

A blast erupted from his hand and pierced right through the enemy's upper body who couldn't do nothing to stop. It was so powerful that erased his entire torso and face to ashes, also obliterating the roofs that where in it's way, going as high as the clouds above.

With all the enemies done and the blast gone, Peko fell to the ground, utterly exhausted. His whole left arm was also aching on the inside. He was lucky that all the mana he used on it didn't caused any significant damage.

"That's...the same arm that I use to cast my light balls. Was this...an evolution of it?" Peko wondered as the sun shined through the hole Peko's blast made on the roofs of the somber alley. This new move he discovered could open a lot of new possibilities now. At least until he could master his mana with success.

For now, Peko was just happy for winning a fight and surviving it. The boy looked at the sunny clouds and sun on the bright blue sky. "I won it, for all of you guys." He smiled weakly. "Wherever you are dad, I hope you saw this too."

Slowly getting up and feeling the left arm dormant, Peko heard some more noises. It seems things weren't about to get over. More of the same enemy appeard, this time being around ten units or something.

"They never end do they?" Peko sighed before pointing the sword at all the enemies in front of him. He was ready to fight, even in a weakened state. "Then come! I'm ready for any of you!" Peko this time wouldn't show any tears. This time, he would fight them face to face, eye to eye. Even if it was pratically impossible, he would still fight.

As the group of undead soldiers walked torwards Peko, ready to kill him, they all came to a stop. As if they were staring at something beyond their comprehension and horrifying at the same time, even if they were just some couple of undead people, they didn't took another step further. Paralyzed in fear for some seconds, wierdly enough all of them decided to retreat and dissapear back into the shadow corners of the alley, not daring to come any closer to Peko.

The boy himself was confused by this. "Am I really that frightening to them now?" Peko looked at both of his hands. "I just killed three of them. It's not like I'm super strong or anything for them to be afraid of me now."

Noticing something on the corner of his left eye, Peko saw a small gap between the buildings, allowing him to observe what was on the other side of them. Putting his eye close to the gap, Peko saw glimpses of the normal roman streets with people walking back and forth. But more importantly, the painting store.

"Is there! I finally found it!" Peko smiled all happily. "Then that must mean the exit must be around here somewhere." Before going, Peko looked at his clothes that were now dirty and the state of his body. "Nala will definetly not like to see me like this." He then looked at the huge hole he created on one of the houses rooftops. "And this alley will definetly need some rebuilding now."

And with that, Peko went away, not even bothering to look at what was behind him or what caused the undead soldiers so much fear that they retreated. And probably, it was better this way.

Shadow of the Colossus OST- Black Blood

A tall and gruesome shadow with monstrous features now stood in the place where Peko was previously. It's dark face only receiving shine from it's two deep red eyes that could haunt and daunt anyone who looked at them directly. Ten sharp horns were sticking out from it's forhead as well as a couple of spikes coming out from the demonic shadow's shoulders. It's presence was both macabre and creepy, but also mysterious. One could wonder what was this repugant shadow's purpose and business in here. Why did it appeard to those undead soldiers? What exactly was it? Did it come alone?

A nearby fly who was hovering over the spoiled food decided to fly higher and above the alley's rooftops. It went high and high until it was above the buildings of the area, only stopping it's travel once it landed in a finger. An almost meager and dark pitched finger, with only some small inches of normal skin showing. The fly rested it's wings as if the finger it landed on was the thing that was calling the insect. As if it was it's master.

A figure mostly covered by a dark rag, was standing at the top of the roofs, staring at the fly that had come to it's finger. The figure's aspect couldn't be exaclty described, as most of it's body, was as dark as shadow and clothed with the black rag.

"So that's what you beholded."

The shadow and mysterious figure touched the fly gently with its other hand, before looking at the entire city of Rome surrounding it.

"The presence of a elevated sin, is nigh."

To be continued...

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author.

"Hey dad, what exaclty are stars? And why there are so many of them up in the sky?"

"You see Peko, every star up there represents every individual dreams and ambitions. They look endless because it also contains the dreams of people from long ago from the past and all the way to the present. The ones that shine brightly, are the ones with the most powerful of dreams and ambitions."

"Wow. That sounds amazing."

"Also, why do the stars only appear at night?"

"...Well, that's because people usually sleep and dream at night. No one would spend a day full of light in bed haha. Hence why for the stars only appearing at night Nala. The darkness of the night altough may appear scary, are the things that invite and teach the stars to coexist. It's existence is as important as light."

"Oh! A shooting star!"

"Hey dad, dad! And what are shooting stars? What do they mean?"

"Hmm, when a shooting star appears, it means someone's dreams have become true, and so their star existence is no longer needed in the sky. It's purpose has been fulfilled."

"Then that's sad."

"Why do you say that Nala?"

"Because there is plenty of them right now. Wich means many people still haven't accomplished their dreams."

"That might be true. Some dreams would take more than one life to make it become real, or the opportunity just wasn't presented itself while these people where alive. However, if their star is still there, it means their dream is still alive, eventually to descent to Earth when their respective individual attains it's dream through the ambition. People's dreams will eventually become true, even if takes several lifes to do so."

"Then, where's your star dad? Has it already fallen a long time ago?"

"Heh, yes it has Peko. My dream has already came down in it's shooting star."

"Really? Then what was your dream dad?"

"Easy. To have two kids that would never stop making questions to their father haha. Here goes!"

"H-Hey! Hahahaha."

"Who's ready for some flight?"

"Me! Ready when you are dad!"

"Alright! Hang tight you two!"

And so, the father brought his children to make a journey at the stars company while running across the wide opened rooftop, with it's steps touching the grass as he carried both kids on each arm while running. It eventually reached it's destination, with the father lying in the middle of his two children in the grass as they all continued to stare at the nightsky.

"Hey. Listen carefully you two. I need to tell you something..."

"What is it dad?"

"When...I'm no longer here and-"

"Don't start with that talk! Just please, don't!"

"...Heh. Then, if I happen to get into a very good sleep, one that will take me some time to wake up, and you two get into some kind of trouble, make sure to take care of each other's back, understood?"

"Hm! Understood dad!"

"You can count on us!"

"Always stand with your head tall, no matter the adversity and remember: That I'll always love you, Peko, Nala."

Opening his eyes slowly, Peko looked at the ceilling from the bedroom that was given to him and Nala by Nero and Seneca. What the boy had dreamed, couldn't just be that. It was way more than a mere dream. Everything felt so real, so believable, so credible to be only a product from Peko's mind. Of course Peko now was wearing a bandage on his head due to his fighting earlier that day and maybe he was just imagining things. Everyone, specially Nala, got worried about the condition in wich he had arrived. Peko felt that telling about that alley's existence near Seneca and Nero wouldn't be the most wise thing to do, moreso that the two may had not believe him.

So instead, Peko told a small lie that he was actually attacked by some group of kids that threw stones at him. Altough he doubted that the lie would sold on all of them, Nala wanted to immediatly go after those kids for what they did to him, only for Seneca to quickly dismiss it and change everyone's attention to the dinner they were about to have.

"There's no way it could be any other person." A tiny smile appeard on the boy's face. "Even if I couldn't see his face or vaguely remember him, this was definetly a memory. A memory of a person I called dad." Peko then turned his head to the side. "Sis was also there." Peko said to himself, as he saw Nala sleeping in her own bed with a happy smile on her face. Something could say that she was also having a pleasent dream. Peko smile grew a bit. "Are you perhaps having the same dream, Nala?"

Outside of the palace, Mash was in one of the building's balcony, looking to the city of Rome below and the area around. She decided to spend sometime looking at the view since she wasn't feeling the need to sleep yet. And what happened to Peko was bothering her. Even if the boy told them it was just some kids trying to mess with him, she suspected that wasn't true or the whole thing. Ritsuka and Nala tought the same. A group of kids wouldn't be so cruel to the point of making injuries and wounds on Peko's body and that he himself wouldn't let someone such as kids hjs age to beat him up, specially with a sword now.

"Was he perhaps attacked? But that would mean that something hostile is wandering inside Rome. It's hard for me to believe that. This city seemed secured of any enemy attack. Was it something else then?" As Mash was thinking more and more about the situation, she ignored Seneca's presence who had just arrived at the balcony.

"Does something concern you Miss Kyrielight?" Seneca asked Mash, making his presence noticeble to the shielder.

"Oh! Seneca-san I'm sorry! I didn't saw you coming." Mash apologized to the old philosopher. "But it's true that something concerns me. It's about the situation that envolved Peko today..."

Seneca took some steps forward. "Thankfully he's alive and well. No permanent damage that could put the boy's life at danger. Altough I presume you are thinking more on what he told you."

"What Peko told sounded a bit off to me and the rest of the group. I doubt that kids could hurt someone like this just for pure fun." Mash told the senator. "That doesnt make much sense to me."

"Kids sometimes tend to be cruel without knowing how much pain they are causing. All that matters to them is having fun, no matter if someone is hurt or not." Seneca told Mash. "But at the end of the day, they are still kids. Once old and mature enough they will look back at these moments as regrettable things in their lives. Learning from your own mistakes is one of life's many essences."

"Learning from my own mistakes huh? Is that what maturing and growing means? To become someone who recognizes it's own mistakes?" Mash tought. "Then, does Seneca-san believe that what the kids did to Peko wasn't really out of malice?"

"Well, as I can say that their actions were indeed bad, their minds never tought of a 'what we are doing is bad?'. They think only about 'what I'm doing is entertaining and amusing to me, so I must keep doing it'."

"Then what if a kid knows what they are doing is bad but still does it?" Mash asked Seneca.

"That means the kid prioritizes it's own enjoyment over others well being. That's why guidance and education are very important things. Mentors and older people will help the younger to shape and define their morals as well as what is good and bad in this world. History is a big event that each generation creates it's own pages until passing down onto the next one. The people and environment surrounding the youngster is what will mold it into the person that it is today." Seneca told Mash, putting his hands on the balcony's fence. "Growing up from one's mistakes and mature however, is totally on the individual's responsability and choice. You don't drown on a river by falling in it. You drown because you choosed to stay in it."

"People that surround me as well as the environment, is what helps me shape into what I am today..." Mash closed her eyes and reminded herself of some memories, resulting in a small smirk and chuckle from her. "The education he gave me truly helped in molding what I am today."

"Did this conversation awakened good memories, Miss Kyrielight?" Seneca asked her with a smile on his face, seeing that the shielder's smile was of someone who had a great mentor figure to guide her.

"Yeah. You made me realize Seneca-san..." Mash looked at the stars up above in the sky. "How lucky I was to have people who cared for me in the beggining and still do now. And that I also want to grow and learn from possible mistakes. How can I help my team even more than now. Heh, deep down, I guess we are all feeling that." Mash stared at her own hand. "Senpai, Peko and Nala also want to do their best. As a friend and member of the group, I'll do my best as well!"

"That is a pleasent thing to hear." Seneca said happily. "I can tell that you were raised and mentored well." He brushed his beard.

Before Mash could say thanks to Seneca, she spoted a scroll underneath the old man's armpit. "Excuse me about the question but, what does Seneca-san bring there?"

Hearing loud and clear, Seneca took the scroll out of his armpit. "A poem for emperor Nero." Seneca put an hand closed to his face and approached to Mash. "No one know this but she requests me to read her some poems at night right before she sleeps in her bed." He whispered.

Mash found that very cute. "Hehe, that sounds lovely. What type of poems do you read to her?"

"Majority of the times is about the Praetor's greatness herself. But I also read her some epics about the great ancestors of the empire as well as other tales and feats. It has been like this ever since I became her advisor. It has been difficult to think of new poems without recicling some ideas lately." Seneca scratched his head.

Mash saw that he and Nero had a deep connection, one that has been present throughout Nero's entire life and a quarter of Seneca's. Wherever Nero went, Seneca was always with her most of the time. The two knew each other almost as family. And Nero also seemed to care for her advisor's well being. As much as she was the main star of the empire, Seneca also shined brightly next to her as the secondary protagonist.

"She is a good person, you know?" Seneca said to Mash, not looking at her. "She is a good girl, despite of what you may have tought of her when arriving here. One that wants to be an incredible artist and bring smiles and joy to the people of the empire through her art. I know it sounds too egotistical of her, but Nero genuinely believes in that. If the people are smilling due to her presence and art, it means to her she is doing a good job as an emperor. All that she wants in the end, is to feel loved and approval by everyone, as that is what I, her, and everyone believes an emperor and ruler should be: a figure loved by everyone."

"So that's her way of thinking." Mash looked to the floor. "I honestly can see where she's coming from with that. But the way she behaved was kinda odd when we met her. The way she was so angry at that one person..."

"These last two months have been stressing her out. Many problems and insecurities have appeard. An enemy with almost as much power as us, some reports of an epidemic starting and people getting sick everyday and also this thing with the christians. All of this makes her uncomfortable and nervous. She even drinks endlessly from that cup recently as a way to endure all of this. Nero fears that the presence of Christianity may take the attention and love of the people away from her, hence why she hunts them so obsessively." Seneca sighed. "I myself don't care much about the religious aspect of one person. But to Nero, none should devot themselves to another god and beliefs that isn't her or the empire's beliefs. Doing art is her way to cope. As her personal advisor and only senator, I try to keep her calm and the things in control." Seneca sadly looked at Mash. "Altough, I don't know if I can keep like this for much longer."

"That's terrible." Mash said in lament. It looked like the Roman Empire was on the verge of collapsing with all this. And Mash knew that if the Roman Empire went down in this specific age, there wouldn't be anymore humanity or Human Order. "I hope our presence here can help to ease the things a little."

"It surely turns the problem against our enemy a bit easier to manage." Seneca looked at the scroll on his hand. "And speaking of it, I council you to rest now Miss Kyrielight. Tomorrow you'll need to be in the best conditions for the battle at Mount Etna. Staying awake at late hours would only prejudice your performance."

Despite Mash wanting to continue her talk with Seneca, she had to agree that it was best for her to go to sleep now rather than being awake for the entirety of the night. "Perhaps I really should. Either way, it was a pleasure talking to you Seneca-san. You made me think of some things on another perspective. Good night."

"Good night to you too."

Then the tomorrow arrived and the Chaldea group alongside Jing Ke, Spartacus and Lu Bu would start their journey to Sicillia, Mount Etna, where their enemy awaited. Behind them there was a whole legion at their disposal, ready to help them at the battle. It really showed the man power of that the empire had. As for Nero and Seneca, the two would stay behind in Rome.

"You sure you don't want to go Emperor Nero? Your presence would be very up lifting to the soldiers." Ritsuka asked to the emperor before going for his horse.

"I already decided umu!" Nero responded with certainty as she took a sip from her cup. "The sheer fact that they are all sons of the empire and fight for it, is enough motivation. They were all well casted by me and Seneca to help you in what will be a victory for us."

"Is everything around her a theatre play?" Nala asked to Peko and Mash who were next to her.

"Seems so. Perhaps that's how rulers of nations see things." Peko said, wondering what felt like to be in such position of power as Nero.

"We don't know what goes in a person's mind so who knows?" Mash told them, but after that talk with Seneca she couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for Nero. Like doing art, perhaps this was another way of the emperor to relief herself.

"At least she's very happy. So something good must be." Nala said, watching Nero's happy gestures and expressions. "I think it makes sense for the leader to show positivity to it's men before a battle. I mean, no one would like to see their leader down and pessimistic before a battle that's for sure."

"Yep. And the huge numbers we have on our side must boost the moral way up. They clearly look more confident and cheerful than many soldiers we saw in France." Peko commented, seeing how large was the army that was willing to fight for the empire and Nero.

"They indeed seem to respect her a lot." Mash said.

Seneca who was with Nero, explained the why she would be staying behind. "The emperor decided to stay here due to bussiness she must attend to in the city. We both agreed that the presence of the emperor here with the defenseless civillians is more important." Seneca smiled to Ritsuka. "We also believe that you and the rest of the generals will be able to guide the army during the battle. Our trust is in you, mages from the future."

"Geez! No pressure or anything." Ritsuka felt a bit flattered. "I-I'll do my best! We promise to come back with a victory, Seneca and Emperor Nero!"

"That's what I like to hear umu!" Nero was pleased by Ritsuka's words, putting the cup aside after taking another sip. "It even makes me do a little speech. So Seneca if you don't mind..."

Seneca nodded his head. "You can do the honor my Praetor."

Nero proceeded to look on the large army that was in front of her. She cleared her throat and saw that it was now the moment where the spotlight would be focused on her. So, she proclaimed loud and clear. "My ligion!" She shouted, making everyone quiet and stare at her. "What are you?"

"CITIZENS AND CHILDREN OF ROME!"

The words were spoken loudly and clear by the collective voices of the soldiers. It was enough to send chills to the enemy, if they were present at the moment.

"What is your duty?" Nero asked to her army again.

"FIGHT AND DIE FOR THE GLORY OF ROME!"

"What do we do to the enemy?"

"ANNIHALATE THEM WITH THE STRENGHT OF ROME!"

"Is there any opponent that can conquer or stop our centuries of grandeur?"

"NO! ROME IS INCONQUISTABLE AND WILL ALWAYS BE! IT'S THE WILL OF THE GODS!"

Nero clapped to the response of her soldiers. "Good! Excellent! Whorty of serving as the swords and shields of the empire!" She then stopped clapping. "However, there is now an enemy who thinks that we can be defeated. That we can be conquered! One that wants to strip us from the glory! Wanting to burn and destroy everything that our great ancestors built during these last centuries! It hides behind the figures of great respect in our past, in hopes to deceive and separate us! Are we going to let them do that?"

"NO!"

"Then go forth my soldiers! To Mount Etna, where will shall make the enemy realize how bad of a mistake it was to try and conquer those who can't be conquered! Now all with me! GLORIA AD ROMAM!"

"GLORIA AD ROMAM!"

The entire legion raised their voices as well as weapons in the air and cheered in a big euphoria, the noise being comperable to that of a football stadium.

All of the Chaldea group stood in awe seeing how much effect Nero's speech had on the whole army.

"Wow! I'm not even roman but that left me an impression." Nala commented.

"It kinda gives a certain emotion. But I don't know what it is." Peko said, touching his own chest.

"I guess that you are feeling patriotism." Ritsuka said as he was now reunited woth the rest of the group.

"Patriotism? What is that?" Nala questioned Ritsuka.

"It's wanting to fight and protect your homeland, kingdom, country, etc." Ritsuka told to the boy. "You want to make sure it prospers and no harm comes to with, like if you were defending your own house from a fire or thiefs."

Nala looked intrigued by that idea. "Oooh! Do you think our homeland also makes us feel patriotic Peko?" She asked to her brother.

"I don't have a way to know since we can't remember where we even came from, but I'd like to imagine it could also makes us feel like what these soldiers are feeling." Peko said to his sister. "I wonder if our homeland has a ruler and what type they are or would be. Also if Nero feels so much her people and empire, then why those people in the alley looked so miserable?"

"I never experienced that sensation Senpai." Mash said to Ritsuka. "This might be the first time feeling it. It must be a nice thing to feel your own nation like this."

Ritsuka was confused. "Wait! You didn't know what patriotism was before this Mash?"

Mash blushed a bit in shame. "...No."

"Well, looks like I also know things that you don't." Ritsuka smiled. "But if you want, I can teach somethings."

Mash smiled back. "Oh, I'd love that mas- I mean, yeah of course."

Nala giggled. "Someone looks way too eager." She then turned to Ritsuka. "Altough I can't lie that I also would want to learn things that I may have forgotten."

"I too would like that. There's probably many things I had forgot about. What do you say about teaching us, Ritsuka?" Peko asked to his friend.

"H-hey easy there! I'm not a teacher here! Besides, Romani and Da Vinci would be more suited to explain some more complex things than I." Ritsuka said, feeling overwhelmed by the requests.

Seneca clapped to Nero's speech as the two walked torwards the Chaldea group. "Brilliant performance my emperor. Your words were well spoken. I couldn't have chosen better myself."

Nero smiled cheerfuly. "Thank you Seneca! I took some inspiration from your works too! So my words were also yours! But damn did all that shouting left me a bit hoarse." She said before taking a refreshing gulp of her cup. "Hah! Much better umu!"

Seneca proceeded to look at the Chaldea group. "Now I assume all of you are ready. Mount your horses and good luck my friends. Me and Nero will be counting on you."

"Understood Seneca!" Ritsuka said. "I won't let you down." The master of humanity said as he went to mount the horse they had given him...only to fall from it in mere seconds.

"Ritsuka are you alright?" Peko went to check on him.

"Well, that was a dreadful first attempt." Nala tried to contain her laughter as she also went to help alongside Mash who moved her head in dissapointment.

"You should have asked for lessons first master." She sighed.

Meanwhile Seneca laughed. "Hahahahaha! You reminded me of the first time I saw emperor Nero trying to ride an horse!"

Nero immediatly tried to shush him. "O-Oi Seneca! That was supposed to be a secret damn it!"

Even the hologram of Doctor Romani appeard to laugh. "Pffffffffhahahahaha! That would definetly enter in some sort of fail videos compilation haha!"

"Like those video compilations of MagiMari you were watching when I first met you?" Ritsuka replied with a smug to the doctor.

"...You win this time, Ritsuka Fujimaru."

A day had passed ever since the Chaldea group alongside the three other servants and the army were on their way to Mount Etna. They would lead the long and large line of roman soldiers behind them, making some stops to eat or drink every five hours. Thankfully, the weather was nice and places they would pass by were beautiful, making these journey less tedious.

Mash and Peko were sitting both on the same horse with Ritsuka and Nala on another horse. Jing Ke was following them right behind with Spartacus and Lu Bu staying more down the line.

"Do you not feel tired of walking all these miles by yourself Jing Ke?" Peko asked to the chinese assassin.

"Hehe, no worries. Walking for long periods with no pause for us servants is of no consequence. We can't feel tired by doing it." Jing Ke responded. "Our bodies are normally way stronger and resilient than that of a normal human."

"Then you are able to lift a giant rock with no problems?" Nala asked her.

"Every servant is able to do it. Even the weaker ones." Jing Ke said, telling the different aspects of physical strenght of servants and normal humans.

"Then every servant must be pretty strong! Is a human even capable of defeating them?" Nala asked.

"An average one has no chance, but an average magus has against weaker ones." Mash said. "It all depends of the mana and training that the human mage can do to reach the same physical status of a servant."

"Then that means servants are in a league of their own." Ritsuka commented.

"Correct. If an average human went to fight a servant, even the most weak of them would win against the human 100% of the times. Now if it's a human mage that can cast spells and use magecraft, it can have very great chances against weaker servants and even average ones."

"Then how powerful can a servant be?" Peko asked with curiosity.

Jing Ke smiled evily. "Powerful enough to blow up the enitre planet with one attack."

All of the Chaldea group stared at her in horror, seeing that servants could be that broken in power.

Jing Ke then started to laugh all happily. "No worries! I may be a servant but I don't have that kind of power. Even Spartacus and Lu Bu that are the strongest we have here don't reach to those levels of destruction." She looked to the two giant servants behind. "I myself am more agile than raw strenght."

"Thank god we didn't face any servant of that kind yet." Ritsuka said in relief. "We would stand no chance."

"Doctor told us that the journey would get harder as we went further sooooo, I think we will face that type of servant sooner or later." Nala said a bit nervous. "We can barely go toe to toe with a normal servant. In France we were lucky that we had other servants on our side too. But facing off a enemy that can blow up the whole planet?! We better be prepared for when that time comes." Nala remembered that time she broke the chain while being held captive by the Dragon Witch. "A normal human wouldn't be able to do that, would it?"

"Yeah. Whatever happens we need to get ready for that!" Ritsuka said to the rest. "As the enemies will get stronger alongside the journey, so will we!"

"Well that's why we've been training." Peko said. "The mere tought of such destructive power existing is...frightening. But we just can't cower in fear like that. Ritsuka and Mash are on a mission to save humanity and me and Nala decided to help them! It's too late to regret a choice like that. I promise Ritsuka to help him until the end!"

Seeing that the Chaldea group was starting to talk between each other, Jing Ke decided to leave. "I'll go check the things with Spartacus and Lu Bu. If anything happens on the front call me, okay?"

"Understood Jing Ke-san." Mash said as the assassin went down the line.

"So this isn't your first time on a horse Nala?" Ritsuka asked to the girl that was sitting in front of him.

"Already had some bit of experience back in France." Nala responded. "Feels nice doing it. Horses are quite the beautiful animals." She patted the horse's neck.

"I never tought I would ride one ever in my life. Nowdays it's kinda difficult." Ritsuka told her.

"Hm? Why? Everywhere we went had a lot of horses." Nala asked confused.

"Well, it's that there are now things like cars and other vehicles that move a lot faster than a horse. No offense buddy." Ritsuka said to the horse.

"Really? How fast are they?" Peko asked to Ritsuka.

"It depends of the type and model of the car. Some can go very fast. The fastest one can travel at the speed of sound if I remember correctly."

Both kids were surprised by such information. Specially Nala.

"I-Is that faster than the speed of light? Can any car reach that?" She asked to Ritsuka.

"Nope. That would be awsome thou. The light is the fastest thing ever, so it's pretty impossible that any normal car even with the highest technology can reach that speed. It travels way beyond our eye sight."

Nala heard with attention. "I need to reach that speed again. I did it somehow that time and I'll do it again."

"Then that means we would be at Mount Etna in seconds instead of traveling for a whole day! That's crazy." Peko said.

"That's the speed of light for you." Mash said with a smile.

Some minutes passed as they were now passing through a bridge that connected the two sides of a river. The group was a bit silent, choosing to look at their surroundings and see what nature had to show them. The landscape while being almost the same as France, it was also nice to stare at.

As Mash was enjoying the moment, she noticed something on Peko's face. The boy seemed to be thinking on something very deeply. Was it perhaps something related with that time Peko went alone to Rome? "Is something bothering you Peko?" She asked him.

"...Yes." Peko told her.

Ritsuka and Nala were also hearing it. "It wasn't some random kids who did those injuries to you was it?" Ritsuka said.

"Hmmmm..." Peko didn't know if he should tell, since it could create some damage to their allience with Nero.

"Please say it Peko. I want to know." Nala told him. "Whatever it was we're here for you."

"Nala's right." Mash put a hand on Peko's shoulder. "It will be hard to work as a group if some of us keep secrets from the others. So please tell us, so that we can help you out."

With everyone of the group wanting Peko to tell the truth of what happened at that moment and believing on Mash's words, he decided to spit it out. "What actually happened when I went to the city, was that I went to some dark alley as a shortcut for the paint store. In there I saw some people that were in such horrible sick state, almost if they were not even living. They all mistaken me for Nero and begged for my help. To take them out of the misery. Then I was attacked by three roman soldiers. Except, they didn't even looked alive. Like if they were..."

"Zombies?" Ritsuka speculated.

"Yeah. Fortunately I was able to fight them off and escape that alley. But ever since then, I can't stop but think of the faces of those poor people and their pleads. Rome looked like such a beautiful city, so to see that is just shocking."

Mash, Ritsuka and Nala all heard in apprehension, not expecting literal zombies to wander among Rome.

"Well, every city has it's poor zone with the homeless and all but that sounds way more serious." Ritsuka said.

"And Nero does nothing about it? Who let's such things happen like that in their own city?!" Nala said a bit angered. To think her brother could've died because the emperor decided to not deal with such problems was honestly making her blood boil.

"The area was denied to anyone's entrance, so it's not like everyone could walk there." Peko tried to calm down his sister. "But still, to let sick people to rot there and with zombis...maybe she didn't knew all the details."

"Seneca told me that signs of a plague is starting to appear in the city." Mash revealed to them. "You have entered in a quarentine zone Peko. And it would make sense for them to not alert about the zombies to the rest of the population. It would be utter chaos. But I do agree that a situation like that should be treated more properly. Locking the area and just ignore it won't be good for the situation."

"There wasn't a plague that happened way before that black death one? And right around the time of the Roman Empire?" Ritsuka asked to Mash, triying to remember about any plague cases that he has heard of.

Mash tought for a second before reaching to the answer. "The Justinianic plague. The first ever major outrbreak of a plague in the world. It's also the world most old pandemic known to mankind."

Before Mash could say anything more, the hologram of Doctor Romani appeard. "Wait wait wait! It doesn't make sense! The time periods don't match! That plague won't happen until the next five centuries from where you are now! And by that time half of the Roman Empire didn't no longer exist and the other half changed to the Byzantine Empire." Romani was sweating, trying to think how could something that was yet to happen in the distant future, was happening now.

"Another anomaly of the Singularity then!" Peko said. "Things are happening way before they should!"

"Right! Something tells me this Singularity is already changing. The history of this era is being slowly distorted. The persecution of christians and now the Justinianic plague. All happening at the same time isn't good." Ritsuka said, seeing that the creation of another empire to rival the Roman Empire wasn't perhaps the weirdest thing here.

"And Seneca is the only senator right now. But of what I was told a Senate is much more than just one man, right? That also doesn' make sense. Like, what happened to the others?" Nala put the question of Seneca being the sole senator at the time in question.

"True. He also never become a senator so that counts as another anomaly." Mash said. "This Singularity looks a lot more broken than the one in France. The only thing that didn't make sense and wasn't supposed to exist was the alter of Jeanne D'arc, but here there are many more odd things that shouldn't exist. At least not in this year or time."

"Damnit! This is bad! The Roman Empire won't be able to resist to all this problems happening at the same time!" Romani said clearly worried. "While not as bad as the Black Death plague, the Justinianic plague was also devastating for it's time, wiping out millions of people. If a plague like that happens at this age of the Roman Empire, where the medicine isn't very advanced, and adding the other problems...Yeah, the civilization of the Roman Empire totally falls and humanity goes extinct. We must avoid that, understood guys?"

"Understood!" They all exclaimed.

"We should tell Seneca and Nero about this after the battle Senpai." Mash told Ritsuka, thinking that they should inform the two.

"Sure! They must know something about this. We need to demand some answers for why this Singularity is screwed up." Nala agreed with Mash.

"I don't know why, but something tells me they may not share any information they may know with us." Peko felt a little skeptical.

"Either way, we need to get some answers." Ritsuka said. "But first we need to focus on the battle ahead."

"The map tells me you are almost there. You must arrive at Mount Etna in 2 hours. Good luck guys." Romani informed.

At the start of the night, the had finally arrived it to Mount Etna. Or at least to it's foot. After stepping the sandy grounds of the beach, they went inside the local village on their way to get near to the Mount Etna. All the civillians had either abandoned the area or locked themselves inside their houses. They knew that a battle was about to start.

The volcano of Mount Etna was quite lively, with it's lava dripping from it's center and going all the way down. The hot temperature could be felt in the air despite of being the beggining of the night. The moon was even clouded by the smoke coming out of the volcano.

"Finally here." Ritsuka said, arriving to their distination after quite the long journey they made on their horses to reach here.

"And there they are." Peko said, pointing at a large group of people that were standing a little higher on the Mount Etna.

From above they all saw the soldiers of the enemy, as ready to fight as the soldiers from their side. Altough shorter than their army, the enemy had almost the same number of soldiers as them.

But what caught attention of the group, were two persons that stood out from the rest.

The first was a tall adult man with short dark blue hair, full red iris that stood out in his black eyes. The man had a very well built stature, wearing an incomplete set of golden and black armour alongside a very worn out red cape. He was obviously the general of the army there and their main target to take down, the emperor that came before Nero and also her uncle, Caligula.

"Nero..." The former emperor said in a vedy bland tone, looking down at the enemies that came for him.

"Sorry to dissapoint you, but it looks like she didn't come with them." Said the person next to Caligula.

A woman with a long greyish blue hair and green eyes. The woman herself looked more she was going to a fashion show than a battle with the clothes she was wearing. It was very modern for the era she was in. Wearing leather trousers and a jacket as well as very golden pieces of jewelry on her clothes. One could mistake her for a fashion model.

"Anyway, ready to beat the crap out of them?" The woman asked to Caligula.

"..." The man didn't respond, instead choosing to only grunt.

"I take that as a yes." The woman smiled sheepishly.

Ritsuka looked at his group. "Alright guys. You ready? Just like in France."

"Ready to engage on combat master!" Mash said, preparing her shield in fighting mode.

"Count me ready!" Nala said, summoning her sword.

Peko did the same. "Ready to battle!"

Ritsuka then looked at Jing Ke. "Jing Ke, are you and the others ready to fight?"

Jing Ke nodded in affirmation. "Yes we are. Spartacus and Lu Bu are-"

"Let's destroy the opressors Lu Bu! Come with me on our odyssey for liberation!"

Spartacus yeld excited as he and Lu Bu both screamed and advanced into the enemy troops, not waiting for any orders to attack, resulting in a dissapointed Jing Ke and a very confused Ritsuka. The noises of the two Berserkers euphoria was the only thing that could be heard amidst the dead silence of both armies.

"Are they..."

"Whatever. Mindless Berserkers will be mindless Berserkers." Jing Ke tried to shove it off. "Let's just give the order to attack already."

"...Okay." Ritsuka said simply. "Attack!" He screamed to the soldiers behind them, who all roared and started their charge and climb to the Mount Etna, full of fearless determination.

"NERO!" Caligula shouted as a sign for his army to charge as well, with his troops responding with a roar almost as loud as his.

And the battle of Mount Etna had finally started.

To be continued...

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author.

As the orders were given, the soldiers from both sides chraged in a powerful confront. Swords clashed, arrows flew and soon enough, the lowest area of Mount Etna was full of noise and screams from the battlefield. Every single man was giving it's best. Yet, the ones from the United Roman Empire could have the advantage of attacking from above but many that went ahead were being efortlessly dealt with by Spartacus and Lu Bu, who were both having a huge pleasure in dealing with their enemies.

"Hahahaha! Come as many as you want opressors! Me and my friend will destroy anyone who stands in the way of the opressed!" The muscular spartan declared enthusiastically, as he and Lu Bu where way up ahead, opening a path to their troops who were following behind.

"As bold and reckless that was, they make up for it with that brutal strenght!" Jing Ke said as she alongside the Chaldea group and the troops were running uphill and starting to clash with the enemy faction. "We better separate and help others in the areas of the battlefield. Rituska, I'll be going to the right! You should go to the left!"

"Okay! You sure you will be able to fight in such opened area?" Ritsuka asked to the chinese woman.

Jing Ke smirked in response. "Just because I am an assassin doesn't mean I'm not efficient in fighting my enemies face to face. I'll be okay, no worries!"

"Understood then!" Mash replied to Jing Ke and looked at Ritsuka. "I'll be going to the left with you too Master!"

"Then me and Peko will go to the right with Jing Ke!" Nala told the two. "What do you think Peko?"

"I too think Ritsuka and Mash can take care of each other well. Right we go!" Peko took the same opinion as his sister.

"Then good luck to you two and be safe!" Ritsuka wished to the two kids.

"You too! Be careful!" Peko said as he and Nala went to the right with Jing Ke while Ritsuka and Mashe went to the left, separating from each other.

At a more higher zone of the active volcano, Caligula and the woman both watched the confusion happening below from where they stood. The temperature from the lava was starting to get so hot that any soldier that was in the same area as the two would start to sweat. However the two 'generals' of the United Roman Empire seemed to be handling the hot temperature pretty well.

"Eish! Things look nasty down there." The woman said as she observed Spartacus and Lu Bu obliterating their soldiers who tried to fight them. "Those two muscular idiots are tearing up everything. Thankfully..." She smiled as her eye gazed at Caligula who was next to her. "We also have a muscular idiot on our side. What do you say, O great mad emperor?"

Caligula's eyes went up to the sky, to see the moon that at the moment was clouded by Mount Etna's smoke. It was almost unnoticeable to any eyes, but Caligula's red ones could see it, altough they also weren't able to watch the moon at its fullest. "Grghh...Nero..." The previous roman emperor grunted again, in a tone of dissatisfaction.

"So?" The majestic woman was waiting for what would be Caligula's next move.

Stretching his neck and moving it to both sides, making a cracking noise in the process, Caligula took a deep breath, preparing himself for the battle ahead. "NERRRROOOOOOOOOO!" The man roared insanely as his whole body jolted to the front and with great strenght on his legs, Caligula sprinted downhill all the way to Spartacus and Lu Bu location, leaving the woman alone.

"What a hot head." The woman said as she played a bit with her hair. "Guess I should be going down there too."

"Peko, stand down!" Jing Ke warned the boy as she threw on of her knives at an enemy that was behind Peko. It hit the enemy right in the head, killing him in an instant.

"That was a close call! Thanks Jing Ke!" Peko thanked his allie.

"Be careful next time Peko! We are in a battlefield!" Nala briefly scolded her brother as she went back to clash her sword with another enemy soldier. Despite being a kid, she outmatched the soldier and kicked him in the head, putting the soldier unconscious.

"I'm trying my best here sis!" Peko said as he shifted his attention to another soldier who was about to attack him. Peko reacted fast enough to block the attack. "How did I felt the enemy presence that one time in France? There must be a way to do that again."

Seeing that the soldier was tottaly occupied with Peko, Jing Ke took the opportunity to sneak up on him and knock the soldier down. An assassin like her could be very stealth even in the battlefield.

The trio continued to fight when all of a sudden the ground beneath them was illuminated by a flying flaming boulder that was heading down to their direction.

"Dodge!" Jing Ke told the two as she helped them to avoid the incoming attack that hit the ground with impact and released the flames from the boulder, killing many soldiers nearby. "Are you two alright?" Jing Ke asked them.

"Yeah. Still intact." Nala said, trying to see from where that burning rock came from. "Ah! There!" She pointed to a group of catapults that where situated in one of the highest points of Mount Etna. They wouldn't stop shooting the flamming rocks to the bottom of the mount.

"We're in big trouble!" Peko saw the amount of boulders that the enemy had in stock and ready to shot. "They will keep shooting at us everytime throughout the battle!"

"They look to focus on us the generals more than the rest of the army." Jing Ke putcher knife ready in hand. "So they are after someone like me. My presence with you here will also make you an easy and constant target for them." She told Peko and Nala. "I'm sorry but I'll need to get some distance from you two."

"That's alright, we understand." Peko said as he was watching his surroundings. "We'll try to win this area over here."

"We will be fine. See if you can find a way to deal with those catapults." Nala told to Jing Ke.

"Ok then! I'll try to do that. You two get careful!" Jing Ke then went away from Peko and Nala, not putting them at risk of the catapults attacks. Now the two siblings were on their own to try and help the soldiers of their army.

"Do you think we can hold on against all of them?" Peko asked to Nala, seeing the chaotic battlefield that was happening around the two. It felt somewhat weird that no enemt soldier was coming to attack them now.

"We'll sure as hell try our best!" Nala responded, waiting an attack from all the sides at any moment. Yet, all the enemy soldiers were busy fighting their own soldiers or instead of fighting the duo they instead would go against another soldier of their army. It was certainly odd.

"Hey, why aren't they attacking us? Did they forgot we exist?" Nala couldn't understand why the sudden ignorance of both the siblings existence to the opponent.

Peko was just as confused as her. "It really doesn't make much sense. Why they won't fight with us?"

"That's because I ordered them not to." The sound of a voice and steps came from behind, making the two kids quickly turn around to see who was the newcomer. It was the woman who was next to Caligula when they first spoted her in the top of the mount. "Turned your life easier I know, no need to thank me." She smirked.

"So you are one of their commanders too!" Nala put herself ready to battle, as it would appear this woman wasn't just like the rest of the soldiers.

Seeing this, Peko also entered in his battle posture. "Why do you talk like we should owe you a favour now, eh?"

The woman cleared her throat and checked her golden pieces of garment before replying to Peko's question. "First of all..." She pointed a finger from her two hands at each kid. "Your names. Can you please say them to me?"

Both Nala and Peko were dumbfounded by what they just heard. The enemy asking for their names wasn't something normal in a situation like this. The battlefield wasn't a place for such formalities as telling your names to each other.

"Why should we tell you? Get lost with that!" Nala shouted at the woman, not showing any bit of willingness to say her name to the opponent.

"Is that some sort of tatic you are trying on us?" Peko asked with an accusing tone.

The woman frowned slightly, seeing that neither kid would be saying their names to her. "Then what if I tell you my name eh?" She smiled to her two adversaries. "The name's Cleopatra. Does that sound familiar to you?" The woman, now with her name revealed as Cleopatra, asked them.

Once again, Peko and Nala just looked at each other, trying to see if the other knew what the hell this woman was trying to tell them.

"Sorry but I don't know any woman with that name." Peko replied to Cleopatra "Even if I'm with amnesia, I know for sure I have never met a woman like her in my life."

"Yeah! If you are planning in making us believe in some sort of lie you have there in your mouth, then you can already forget about it!" Nala pointed her sword at Cleopatra who lowered her eyes in some kind of sorrow.

"I see...So you are not them." She muttered to herself.

"What did you said?" Nala demanded, thinking that se heard Cleopatra say some words.

"Nothing of your interest kid!" The woman raised her voice in a authoritive way, showing that she was still the two sibling's enemy. "I'm just not a very huge fighting adept. Specially with kids like you two. I mean, look around you." Cleopatra opened her arms, signaling for Peko and Nala to see their surroundings, full of figthing, blood and dead corpses of soldiers already in the ground. "A child shouldn't be subjected to such cruel and harsh vision."

Peko and Nala heard Cleopatra's words while they where watching the battles around them. And in a sense, the woman was right. Seeing large amounts of bloodshed and bodies in such brutality was still a new concept to the mind of the two young kids, and they still had to get used to seeing such things. After all, the memories of the dead civillians and soldiers in the first Singularity was still fresh in both minds. Any other kid would be traumatized at this point by such violence on these past few weeks. And perhaps, they where already traumatized, knowing that those images wouldn't get off their brains so easily. But one thing they could be sure.

"Are you sure you want to fight in this war? See more people die as you go along? I noticed that neither of you have killed any of my soldiers so far. Only knocking them uncounscious." Cleopatra then narrowed her eyes. "However, how long will it take for you to start killing them? Can a mere child wash the blood of men with families off their hands so easily?"

"Hmm..." Nala stared at Cleopatra, anguishing in silence by knowing that the woman's words this time were making sense in her head. "Can I really be able to go on without killing normal persons? Servants and those monsters are one thing but the soldiers..."

Peko then took a step forward. "Someone has already helped me on that doubt." He said, staring at Cleopatra in the eye. "He told me that despite being wrong to kill, there will be times that to protect myself and the ones I care about, I'll have to do it. I admit that as much as I wouldn't like to do it, I accept and get prepared for when that day may come." Peko said, staying firm and certain of his words. "Also, these soldiers are ready to fight and die for their beliefs and homeland. So dying is something that they don't fear. Seeing how they all shouted their emperor's words, made me see that death for them in a battlefield, is nothing more than a honour."

Nala stood behind Peko, getting surprised by such conviction and statements being speaked by her brother. "Peko..."

Cleopatra tilted her head to the right. "Then you are saying that you are okay and ready for any rough time that may come ahead?"

"Yes I am! Of course that the tought of killing a person still makes me hesitant! That I may not have the courage to do that yet! However..." Peko raised his sword. "If I want to help my friends and achieve my goals, I need to surpass those barriers that are in the way!"

Nala went right to his side. "I dislike killing people that have dear ones as well, but if I have to defend myself and others I love by killing them, then I have no choice! And as Peko said, these soldiers were raised to fight and die in this situation. That fact eases the pain a little."

Peko stared at Nala. "Ready then sis?"

Nala smiled to him. "Yes. In the battlefield, we need to give everything from us!"

Cleopatra smirked a bit. "These kids are really willing to go through all this then eh?" She looked at both of them. "You are more decided than I expected. I'll give you that." She brushed her hair aside, with some flashy sparks coming out of it. "Now let's see if you can reallyhandle it or it's all just talk."

"Master! Spartacus and Lu Bu are fighting Caligula at the moment!" Mash informed Ritsuka as she observed the enemy emperor changing blows with the other two Berserkers. Being outnumbered and smaller than Spartacus and Lu Bu didn't hindered Caligula from going toe to toe agains them. The brawl between the three servants was getting intense. It was hard to see who would come out as the winner. "What should we do?" Mash asked to Ritsuka, waiting for any order as she was dealing with some soldiers.

"We should help them Mash! If we defeat Caligula I'm sure the enemy troops will have to retreat!" Ritsuka ordered to Mash, seeing that Caligula alone against two servants and a half would increase the chances of defeating him.

"Understood! Then let's change from area!" Mash exclaimed as she made sure Ritsuka was behind her and proceeded to use her shield to run across the field with Ritsuka and reach to where the servant fight was happening.

"Nero!" Caligula screamed as he throw a punch at Lu Bu who blocked it with hi giant spear.

"GGGRGGGHHH!" The chinese general made a defiant sound as he pulled Caligula away. As soon as the mad emperor recovered his balance from being pulled away, Spartacus was already on his side with the sword ready to slash him.

"Die opressor!" Spartacus yelled, descending his weapon at Caligula who instead of dodging, boldly used his hands to grab Spartacus sword, being able to handle the whole impact as blood from his hands flew upon contact.

"Gghgh!...Neeroooooooooo!" Caligula concentrated a lof of strenght in his muscle arms and the emperor parried Spartacus sword, kicking the gladiator in the face. Caligula wouldn't go down that easily. But he didn't predicted what would happen next.

"Ah!" Mash came from behind and bashed her whole shield against the opponent's body, making a surprised Caligula flew some meters away. "Spartacus-san! Lu Bu-san! Need any help?" The shielder asked to her two allies.

While Lu Bu make some random noises that could be better translated as a 'Yes. We appreciate it.' Spartacus was replied with actual words. "A help to take down the opressive forces is always welcome! Do join us general Mash and Ritsuka!"

Mash smile didn't last lonsg as Ritsuka gently tapped her in the shoulder. "He didn't liked that." Ritsuka pointed at Caligula who was getting up from the ground, already with some scratches and wounds showing in his body. "Nerooo..." The man hissed,not liking to have been caught by surprise.

"A Berserker when angrier also tends to get more dangerous. But, it also gets easier to find open spaces in them to attack." Mash told Ritsuka as she watched Caligula slowly walking torwards them.

"Attack goes up and defense goes down?" Ritsuka asked to Mash.

"Yeah. It's like tha-!"

"Nero!" Caligula, in a rush of adrenaline, passed by Spartacus and Lu Bu and at an incredible speed punched Mash's shield who reacted just in time to stand up against the fist. The blow was hard enough to push Mash's body who stopped abruptly by making contact with Ritsuka that tried to help her stand on her ground.

The shock of the impact could even be felt on the master's arms. "It felt like stopping a swinging punching bag at a high speed with the arms. Hhgh, so this is the power of a Berserker." "Mash, you good?" Ritsuka asked concerned for her well being.

"I'm alright Master!" Mash said while still tanking Caligula's punch. "This is almost like that fight against that servant knight in France. As much as it's a pain to be fighting against the physically strongest class of servants..." Mash, putting a huge effort, pushed Caligula away from them and put her shield in the offensive. "It helps me a lot to become more resilient and put me train with the shield in practice!"

Spartacus and Lu Bu went back to engage in their fight with the mad emperor who seemed to have forgot abou Mash and Ritsuka's existence, being now fully focused on the other two servants.

"He's not paying attention to you Mash! Strike him!" Ritsuka ordered Mash, who immediatly rushed to Caligula.

Finding opening on his back, Mash used the sharp parts of the shield and attacked him, making a cut on Caligula's back. The emperor couldn't divert his attentions to the shielder since Spartacus and Lu Bu striked him at the same time as well. The situation was turning difficult to Caligula. The hits of the two berserkers sent him flying to a nearby rock, crashing on the impact.

"Good one Mash!" Ritsuka exclaimed happily. "You too as well, Spartacus and Lu Bu!"

"Thanks Master-" Mash spotted a burning boulder coming down from the air. "Watch out!" She threw her shield in the air, right into the boulder's trajectory, taking the attack and protecting Ritsuka at the same time. The flames fell to the ground but fortunately not a single one hit Ritsuka's body.

"Are they throwing boulders on us?!" He said after recovering from the quick shock of seeing what was about to kill him if it wasn't Mash.

"Seems so! They have been raining this on us for some minutes now!" Mash said, avoiding another burning boulder. "This is causing serious loses on our side! We need to take these catapults down as quick as possible!"

"Fou fou!" Fou then came out of Mash's back, giving signs that the creature wasn't enjoying all this heat of the volcano. Both Ritsuka and Mash were surprised by seeing that Fou had come with them.

"Fou? What are you doing here? This is a battle-" The animal creature interrupted Ritsuka as it was pointing with his nose up to the higher grounds of Mount Etna.

"Master! Fou has spotted the catapults they are up there!" Mash pointed to the same location as Fou, helping Ritsuka to see them. "Now we need-"

"I'll deal with that!" Ritsuka said to Mash, taking his decision as a leader. "Help Spartacus and Lu Bu defeat Caligula!"

"But master, it will be dangerous for you to go alone!" Mash warned him. Ritsuka was just a normal human with no combat experience. Going to destroy those catapults all by himself would be near impossible.

"I'll be okay Mash! Trust in me!" Ritsuka smiled to her. "As the master of humanity and leader, I promise to you I'll be fine!" "I can't stay here just watching and giving orders. As a master I also need to act and help the rest of my group!"

Mash saw that Ritsuka was right. That she needed to trust in him as part of the group too. Ritsuka wanted to prove to himself that he was capable of being a leader and Mash would always support him in that. "Understood Master! Good luck!"

Ritsuka nodded at her and runned away from the battle heading uphill to the catapults as he would dodge from all the fights that were happening in the way. Fou also followed him behind, jumping to his shoulder.

"Fou!"

"Hm? Ok, you can come with me Fou." Ritsuka told to the fluffy creature. "Now it's me and you againt those catapults!"

"Lady Mash, the battle isn't over yet." Spartacus called Mash who was still observing Ritsuka. "The opressor still draws breath." The gladiator said as he and Lu Bu saw a silhouette of Caligula walking out of the smoke. Despite being more injured and wounded, the bleeding wouldn't stop Caligula from giving up of the fight. And the veins on his head showed that he was more rageful.

"Nerooooo!"

Mash put her shield ready. "Then let's make sure to end his rage here!"

"Ggh!" Nala grunted as she blocked Cleopatra's leg strike that would have gone directly to her head.

"Not bad at all! But how about if I do it repeatedly?" The woman said as she continued her kicks, each one stronger and faster. It came to the point where Nala's stamina was running out.

"For how long can she does this?!" Nala thinked as her defence was eventually broken and one of Cleopatra's strikes hit Nala in the chest. "GAH!" Nala coughed as her body fell a few meters away. The blow was almost strong enough to break a rib or two. Nala was lucky that wasn't the case. But it would definetly leave a mark.

"And as for the other..." Cleopatra took a quick glance to the side, stopping Peko's sword with her boot, foiling the boy's surprise attack.

"This strenght and agility...she has to be a servant!" Peko focused on Cleopatra's face who then kicked back his sword, making Peko exposed and then with a roundhouse kick, she hit Peko on his right shoulder and sent him also flying some meters aways.

"GRRGH! That hurt!" Peko cleenched his teeth in pain as he touched the shoulder that had been hit with his other hand. The nerves of his whole right arm were screaming from the shock.

"This was a warning." Cleopatra explained to the two kids. "I don't see the reason of going all out on kids like you. It's both pointless and cruel. So give up now and leave, before the damages on your bones get worse. I have better things to do then kicking children." Cleopatra threatened them coldly, showing her willing pity to the two.

"...N-Never..!" Nala coughed as she slowly got up from the ground. "We already told you. We have no intention...of turning around!" She said defiantly to Cleopatra, holding the area of her chest.

"S-Same here!" Peko tried to not groan from the pain that was moving his right arm now. He was still getting used to have his body hurt in a battle. "No matter how hard you hit us, we won't retreat!" Peko stood firmly on his feet, looking also defiantly to the opponent. Both him and his sister wouldn't run away because of some hits.

Cleopatra shaken her head in dissatisfaction. "Are you some kids from Sparta or anything? Or just not well in the head? Or both?" Cleopatra's eyes took a glance at both Peko and Nala's swords. It was clear that they couldn't be normal kids or even some of those kids that were taking military excercise. No normal boy and girl would go around and fight, specially with blades like that. Such prestige and clean white metal from both swords, as well as incredibly sharpened. The art and details on the pommel and hilt were also pretty astonishing. Those sword looked like they were forged with the most special materials in existence by the most skillful blacksmith. And if there was one thing that the egeptian queen was good at, was seeing the value of material goods. With her mind so focused on the enemy's weapons, Cleopatra gave a cheeky smile.

"Now, not only am I a woman willing of second chances and all, but my eyes also have a great ability for prices." She told them. "Aaaand what you have ther in your hands may be the most valuable treasure I've ever seen." Cleopatra pointed at the swords. "As an expert, those thing may value a great fortune you know?" She winked.

"So what?" Nala replied back, not intrested in hearing Cleopatra's views on valuable goods and whatnot.

"Look at my clothes kid." Cleopatra pointed at herself, showing the golden pieces she was wearing. "I'm a veteran when it comes to this type of things. And I can guarantee you that from west to east, there's nothing more valuable then those swords of yours." Cleopatra rubbed her chin, thinking of numbers. "Adding all the beauty and performance of those swords, I'm willing to give you two one thir-no. Half of my belongings to you. They are very good and expensive too." Cleopatra tried to convince Peko and Nala. "All that fortune can give you some nice lands to buy next to the Mediterranean Sea. So, what do you kids think? Do we have a deal?"

Nala stared at the woman with a dead pan expression. "Can we fight again already or you're not over yet?"

"Damnit! She refused my millionare offering!" Cleopatra yelled in shock to herself.

"Wait! I think I'm willing to do that deal!" Peko said, accepting Cleopatra's proposal.

"What?!" Nala stared at her brother in disbelief.

"Oh! A kid with a brain for monetary negotiations I see!" Cleopatra said happily. "I guarantee you will not regret it!"

Peko smiled to her. "I was thinking the same too. After all, I prefer having a mansion than having to risk my life in a stupid fight like this."

Nala was shocked by what she was hearing. "What the hell are you saying Peko?!" She couldn't believe hee brother would do a fast change of opinions just like that and without any consideration.

"Anyway, here's the sword. All yours." Peko threw his sword at Cleopatra's direction.

Cleopatra joyfully opened her arms, ready to welcome this majestic weapon into her hands. "This will be a huge success on the market! I can already imagine the prices for it!" As the sword was closer to make contact with her, Cleopatra immediatly realized that Peko had just given his sword way to easily after saying all those things before. Something was definetly off. "!" Cleopatra quickly got away from the swords's range as it fell to the ground, dropping some sparks and eletricity from it's blade.

The egyptian woman frowned slightly in anger. "What a sly boy you are. That trap almost got me."

"Yeah. I forgot to inform you but no one else can touch it apart from it's wielder. So I guess you can't walk with that on your way to home unfortunately." Peko smirked. Altough it didn't had worked out totally in the end, he was still happy for seeing that Cleopatra had fallen to his bluff from some moments. Even Nala.

"Wait! Our swords can do that?" She askes in surprise to Peko.

"Ups! I forgot to tell you! Sorry sis." Peko scratched his head nervously.

"You are keeping secrets from me now, you idiot!" Nala punched Peko in the shoulder.

"Argh! Nala, that was the shoulder where she hit me!" Peko exclaimed in pain to his sister as he grabbed the shoulder.

"Oh damnit! I'm sorry Peko! I didn't meant to!" Nala apologized all worried for having caused harm to her brother out of impulse.

Peko then stopped his grunts of pain and smiled to Nala. "Fooled you again!" He laughed a bit.

"T-T-That wasn't funny at all Peko!" Nala blushed embarassed, seeing that her brother was able to fool her twice in a matter of seconds.

Cleopatra just stood watching the two siblings interacting with each other. She had to admit, it was a bit wholesome. And then she stared at Peko's sword on the ground. "So it seems the value of this object has decreased to zero. What a shame."

"Not like you need it since you have all that fortune." Nala told to Cleopatra.

"And besides, this sword..." Peko called the weapon back. "Is something of importance to me. Something special. Same goes to my sister." Peko entered into a battle pose. "So there was no chance we would give them to you in exchange for money!"

Nala also adopted a fighting posture. "Now if all of your tricks to persuade us are over, let's already move on into finishing you!"

Cleopatra giggled, liking to see the perserverance of the two kids. They were really no ordinary boy or girl. "Okay. I see that you want me to go all out on you." She violently stomped her heels on the ground. "Then celebrate you peasents! For I will grant you that wish!"

"Imperial Privilege"

A golden aura shined briefly on Cleopatra's body. No holding back anymore. Peko and Nala now had to stay with ther attention high and on alert.

Cleopatra started walking torwards them. "You better know what you got yourself into."

Ritsuka put his hands on his knees has he had finally reached to the ground where the catapults were after running and dodging from the enemies while going up the hill. "Ok! Now for the next step." Ritsuka stabilized his breath and walked to the nearest catapult alongside Fou. The master of humanity started to get suspicious as he saw that there were no soldiers near them, wich was very weird. "Did they went downhill and left all of this alone?" Ritsuka tough to himself.

"Fu, fou." Fou touched the catapult, giving an inspection.

"You're right Fou. I need to destroy this things since that's what I came for." Ritsuka put his arms agains the heavy weaponry and started to push it. As expected, it was very heavy and difficult to push it off the cliff alone. But Ritsuka wouldn't give up because of that. Even Fou was helping him despite not mkaing such difference.

"Come ooooonnnn!" Ritsuka sweated as he felt the catapult slowly moving. Thankfully, it was really next to the cliff, so Ritsuka wouldn't have to spent much time trying to push it. "Keep it going Fou!"

"Foooou!"

Due to the ongoing effort of Ritsuka, and to an extent Fou, the front wheels were already out of the ground, now staying suspended on the air. Slowly but surely, the catapult was being pushed off. Ritsuka continued as the catapult was getting less floor to stand. "Almost there Fou! Just a bit mooooore!" Ritsuka's arms put all their strenght to keep pushing, and soon enough, gravity did the rest of the work.

"Woah!" Ritsuka lost his balance as he watched the catapult going all the way down and crashing upon touching the ground below. Ritsuka was able to regain it fortunately. "We did it! Good job Fou!" Ritsuka cleaned the sweat ooff his face as he smiled to the small animal creature. "Now..." He looked to his left side, seeing how many catapults remained. "...only four more to go." Ritsuka sighed with a hint of being tired for putting a lot of strenght in destroying just one.

Unknown to him, an enemy soldier had appeard behind Ritsuka, quietly approaching with his sword in hand, ready to stab Ritsuka from behind.

"FOU! FOU!" Fou jumped and tried to tell Ritsuka about the danger that was behind him. Ritsuka just looked at the creature a bit puzzled, but understanding that something wasn't right.

"What was it Fo-" As Ritsuka turned around to see what was causing Fou to act like that, the soldier that was about to stab him got pierced in the back by a knife, knocking him out, much to Ritsuka surprise and confusion.

"Thank god I made it in time." Jing Ke appeard from the shadows, right in front of Ritsuka's eyes. "Don't let your guard down that easily Ritsuka."

"You're really worhty of being an Assassin servant Jing Ke. Thanks for the save." Ritsuka said to her. "Are you also the reason for why this place is without nobody?"

"Yes, I killed some and made the rest chase after me, allowing our troops down there to get some time without being bombed by the burning boulders." Jing Ke confrimed Ritsuka's question.

"That was surely helpful!" Ritsuka cleaned the sweat from his face again. The hot air from the active volcano was clearly making his body temperature go up. "Man, so this is what's like to be next to a volcano. Ufff, it's damn hot. Servants don't get affected by it, do they?"

"No, we don't. Altough I also feel the hot temperature my body doesn't get affected by it since I am an Heroic Spirit who isn't 'actualy' alive." Jing Ke gave Ritsuka a short lesson on how a servant's body worked.

"There they are! Quick! They already took down one of our catapults!" The voice from the enemy sounded as Ritsuka and Jing Ke watched the remaining soldiers who had chased the chinese assassin return for her.

"And here they come again." Jing Ke held three knives beetween her fingers. "Go and destroy the rest of the catapults Ritsuka! I'll take care of them!" Jing Ke ordered Ritsuka before facing off the group of soldiers.

"Understood! Leave it to me and Fou!" Ritsuka said as he runned to the next catapult while Jing Ke engaged in the battle. "We won't let them use these anymore!"

"To your right." Cleopatra said as she moved behind Peko and broke his defense, proceeding to kick him in the stomach.

"Blergh!" Peko coughed some blood out of his mouth as he hit the ground. Cleopatra wasn't joking when she said that she would go more ruthless on them now.

"Peko!" Nala shouted, worried for her brother, before staring angrily at the woman. "You..!" She launched at Cleopatra, who dodged every swing of Nala's swords with not so much effort.

"A hot head in battle isn't a good thing." Cleopatra told to the girl as she found space and room to kick her in the right leg and then was about to kick her in the head if Nala wasn't fast enough to dodge slightly out of the way, with Cleopatra's attack only scratching right below Nala's left eye.

"This is bad." Peko slowly stood up from the ground. "She's been dodging all of our attacks. We still need more practice to wing against a servant alone. As of now we are just to the level of minor incovenience to them in a fight. Also she doesnt seem to be on that Madness Enchancement thing that the Dragon Witch servants were back then. Meaning that this woman is on total control of her own actions, capabilities and mind." Peko cleaned the blood from his lips and grabbed the shoulder that had been previously hitten by Cleopatra. "I can't move my arm with the sword too much or I may suffer a serious injury. This pain is quite annoying!"

"Aww, really now?" Cleopatra looked with disdain at her heels, now covered in blood. "These things cost a lot. I'll have to clean it with the utmost care when this battle is resolved."

Nala took this opportunity to check the cut on her cheek. "Her leg movements are really fast. If I tried to dodge it any second later, my skull would probably crack!" Nala grunted softly as she felt the hurt from her right leg. "I'm feeling like my bones are about to break anytime soon. If we get hit one more time by her, I doubt our bodies will be able to take it. Damnit! She's making us fight like some pair of cripples!" Nala stared at Cleopatra who was now making sure any other part of her clothes had been soaked with blood. "I need to stay with my head cold on this! Get a notion of her speed. If I try to attack her with no tought of what I'm exactly doing, I won't be able to hit her not even once! It would be like that time against the Dragon Witch all over again..." The girl tightned the grip of her sword. "I need to do better this time!"

"At this rate, me and Nala won't last very long against her." Peko looked at his other arm. "Now that I think, my other arm is still fine...that's it!" Peko make a gun sign with his fingers, pointing at Cleopatra. He started to concentrate his mana to the fingers. "I'll use it! It's our best chance!" A ball of light started to form on the front of his fingers. "Nala! Cover your eyes!" He shouted to his sister.

"Huh?! Why?!" Nala asked in confusion before turning back her attention at Cleopatra that had just finished checking her clothes.

"Trust me!" Peko told her as the ball of ligtht was getting bigger. "Last time it worked well. Let's see if it can do it for a second time!"

"What you two kids are chatting about?" Cleopatra questioned them as she jumped at Nala, trying to hit any kicks on her again. She knew that if she kept like this, the girl's energy would eventually run out, and after dealing with her, the boy would be next.

Peko stood some meters away, is mana from the light ball reaching to a perfect amount like the previous time. "This size is great enough!" Peko then focused on aiming to the ground near Cleopatra and Nala. "Nala! Cover your eyes now!" Peko screamed as he fired the light ball from his fingers, moving fastly to his sister and Cleopatra.

Giving trust to her own brother, Nala did as he told her and quickly covered her eyes.

"What are-" Cleopatra didn't have time enough to even question why Nala just did that, as the light ball the second after exploded on the ground near them, with the egyptian queen making the huge mistake of looking directly at the bright explosion that went to her eyes.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! FUCK!" Cleopatra covered her eyes with her hands, screaming in huge pain. Her eyes were hurting like hell. "My fucking eyes damnit!"

"She's blind Nala! Attack now!" Peko told to his sister, giving her an opening to attack the enemy.

Without saying anything, Nala rushed with sword in hand to Cleopatra. "Take this!"

However, in a split second of opening slightly her eyes, Cleopatra was able to feel the attack even if her vision was mostly blank now. "Tsk!" She moved her body out of the way, being able to dodge Nala's swords by centimeters.

"I was already counting on that!" Nala said, quickly changing the trajectory of her sword and making a second slash, this time caughting the woman off guard and cutting her in the chest.

"Blurgh!" Blood splashed out from Cleopatra's mouth. "Y..You pesky brats...!" She cleenched her teeth in anger.

"If you're angry that those clothes costed a fortune to you..." Nala was ready to swing her sword a third time. "...I'm sorry to inform you, but I couldn't care less about them." Nala proceeded to swing her sword several times at Cleopatra, with each time feeling closer to hit the opponent. "I'm already getting the notion of her speed. The fact that she's momentarily blind and losing her composure also helps. The training with Jing Ke helped me a lot to train my own movements and agility! And if what she teached me was right then..." Nala's eyes quickly spotted a small opening on Cleopatra's left side of the abdomen in a matter of short time. "This is when I attack!" Nala slashed with success the opening that Cleopatra had unknowingly given to her opponent.

"Ghargh!" Cleopatra left out a small growl from the wound she had just received. "I can't believe I'm getting wounded by two kids!"

"It still ain't over!" Nala declared, ready to strike Cleopatra once again.

"Again?!" Cleopatra said to herself in shock, not accepting the fact that Nala was still going on to slash her yet another time.

But that's when the Nala's injured leg had given up. The girl instantly sliped. "N-No! My leg can't give up on me now!"

Cleopatra smirked as her eyesight was slowly returning and just in time to still get the image of Nala's leg giving in. "Finally, you've reached your limit girl. Now I can end-"

Peko runned to the two, seeing the contrariety that had happened to Nala. With another light ball, except this time smaller, Peko jumped right to Cleopatra's side, pointing his finger gun at the woman who wasn't expecting his intervention at all. "This one is different. The amount of mana is fewer but the potency I put in it is still the same. I tought about trying that attack that I used against that zombie on the alley but...my arm could break with the amount of mana I've been using already on this battle. So this is the best chance we got!" Peko slowly descended his thumb to shoot. "Whatever happens, I hope it can cause some damage! It's all or nothing!"

Peko looked at Cleopatra in the eyes, about to send his attack in her face. The moment the thumb went down, a small bright projectile went off from his fingers like a bullet. The speed was so incredible that te fact Cleopatra managed to somehow dodge her head from it by just a few milimeters was even more shocking.

The look on both Peko and Nala's face was of terror. "I-I missed?!"

"Hphm!" Cleopatra looked at the boy with a stare if royal arrogance. "What a way to waste your little stun-!" Cleopatra suddenly felt her leg being pierced, causing a tremendous and painful shock on her. The bullet that the three had tought to have missed it's target, actually bounced off behind Cleopatra and penetrated her leg, leaving behind a small hole. "W-what?!"

"P-Peko you did it! The bullet hit her!" Nala exclaimed to her brother, relieved.

"I-It actually did it!" Peko was still in the heat of the battle and thinking about how the bullet hit Cleopatra. "I aimed for the head and she dodged it, so how and on what the bullet bounced off?"

More uphill of Mount Etna, Jing Ke was still fending off the enemy soldiers as Ritsuka, now only wearing his shirt on the top due to the heat of the volcano, was pushing the last catapult off the cliff with the little help of Fou.

"Lassssstt onneeeee!" Ritsuka said as with a final push, he and Fou finally threw the last catapult off the cliff. Exhausted from doing it five times and at such temperature, Ritsuka laid on the ground exhausted, with Fou also recovering next to him. "All the catapults were destroyed, Jing Ke!" Ritsuka informed the servant, going back to take deep breaths.

"Good timing!" Jing Ke said as she took down the last two remaining soldiers. "My task here is also finished." She went next to Ritsuka and left behind the bodies of her defeated enemies. "For a normal human, you did well." She smiled and complinted Ritsuka's efforts in taking down the catapults.

"I also had some extra help you know?" Ritsuka chuckled, looking to Fou at his side.

"Fu..." The animal said tired.

"You did well too Fou." Ritsuka gently patted the creature.

Before Jing Ke could say something, the air was starting to feel dry and hot, with the temperature getting higher. A shakening sound was enetering in their hears as they also felt the ground beneath them shake. This could only mean one thing. A very bad thing.

"We should move out of here now." Jing Ke said as she grabbed Ritsuka's arm and put him on her back. "It's dangerous to stay here any longer."

Ritsuka came to the conclusion that it could only mean one thing. "The lava will surely flow down quicker! I hope evryone is doing well down there."

Mash, Spartacus and Lu Bu were standing in front of a very beatened but still combatant Caligula. Blood and injuries where everywhere on the emperor's body. However, not even that would make him slow down. Mash hoped that at least the adversary was on his last strenght, sensing that she was also running out of strenght to keep fighting. Her body was also injured. Same for Spartacus and Lu Bu. It was incredible how Caligula could bring three opponents, two of them being Berserkers, to such a tiresome battle while fighting alone.

"Even if his strenght and endurance are incredible, he has to be out of energy to keep fighting at this moment." Mash looked at both Spartacus ad Lu Bu. "If we manage to hit him a couple more times, we defeat him. There's no way he will still stand up after that." "Spartacus! Lu Bu! Get ready for what may be the last round! If we attack him like we've been doing, we'll certainly win!" Mash said to her two allies, putting the shield in front of her and prepared to do the final blows on Caligula.

"..Nero..." Caligula said, his legs and body about to colapse from the massive exhaustion he was now feeling. It seemed what Mash was saying was true. Caligula was indeed about to run out of energy to fight. That would be, if at this exact time, a certain natural satellite would finally appear at it's full presence after being covered by the smoke of the volcano. Caligula looked way high to the sky, directly at the moon, as if it was calling for him. "Nero.." Now the emperor could finally unleash it's power under the full moon.

"Nero!" Caligula said agressively, as the earth beneath them started to violently tremble. "Nerooo!" Caligula shouted, with the temperature getting higher and the noises of the trembling louder. The man's rage was also going wilder, like a beast about to come out of it's cage.

"This feels bad." Mash said with apprehension, seeing that Caligula was acting in a very weird way. "Be careful! The enemy seems to not be over yet!" She warned both Spartacus and Lu Bu.

"Then we shall end that opressor before he gets the chance to retaliate!" Spartacus runned torwards Caligula, with Lu Bu doing the same.

"No! Wait!" Mash tried to call them back, but at this point the noise was so high that they might as well had not heard her.

"The volcano is about to erupt! We need to get away from here!" A soldier told the others, with soldiers of both armies retreating to lower parts of Mount Etna as the hot temperature was getting too much for them to handle.

"Nero Nero Nero Nero Nero Nero Nero!" Caligula's whole body and muscles were getting more tougher and slightly bigger, as if the emperor was getting a power up. He was so focused on saying Nero's name and concentrating his power, that he didn't even saw Spartacus and Lu Bu approaching him. "NERONERONERONERONERONERONERONERONERONERONERONERONERO!" The man's words were getting louder and at this point Caligula was shouting them than exactly speaking them. The trembling was also getting more louder alongside Caligula, with the emperor finally looking at the sky and...

"NERRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Like a thundering growl, Caligula's insane shouting came out at the same time as the volcano erupted, with both noises being able to match each other. It was enough to almost make anyone nearby go deaf. The previous emperor's eyes even went pure white. His fatigue went away, replacing with absurd strenght. And with that, he totally blitzed Spartacus and Lu Bu who now couldn't do much to stop him now.

"NERO!" Caligula was now crazily sprinting torwards Mash. The way this man had went from being near defeated to now stomping two of his enemies was scary.

"How did he got all that power?!" Mash instinctively put her shield in front to protect her. Caligula threw a punch at it, and this time the blow and impact was so strong that Mash was immediatly blown away and hit a rock that was some few meters behind her.

"KGRGH!" Mash spited blood out as she felt her back hitting the rock with great impact. Some bones were clearly hurt. "T-This stregnth...is way too much!" Mash legs fell to the ground, coughing and taking breaths. "His strenght is comparable to that berserker knight's strenght." Mash got up from the ground, ignoring the pain of her back. It was also becoming quite hard to breath with such temperature right now. The air was starting to lack oxygen. "We should be closer to defeat him, but now I fell that we just got far from it now!"

"Nero!" Caligula said angrily, walking torwards Mash.

"Right now I need to hold on! I doubt he will give me many chances to attack." And like Mash had tought, Caligula wasn't giving her any time and space to try to attack him.

"Nero! Nero! Nero! Nero! Nero!" Caligula was punching Mash's shield consecutivelly, with each punch making Mash's legs starting to worn out.

"Not...this feeling again!" Mash was doing her best to keep blocking Caligula's assault. But it seemed she couldn't kept going.

"NERO!" Throwing another powerful punch, Caligula was able to break Mash's defense, stunning her for some seconds. And right after it, Caligula threw another punch on Mash's stomach.

"Ah-!" The shielder felt all the air come out from her lungs and she let go off the shield, no energy left to fight back. "I...I can't...he's just...too strong..." Mash's body was slowly falling to the ground. "Senpai...Peko, Nala...everyone..." Her eyes were about to close. "I'm sorry...for being weak..." With her body now on the ground, all Mash could do now was weakly stare at Caligula who was about to finish the job.

As he was about to descend his fist to end Mash's life, Lu Bu appeard all of a sudden and bashed his body against Caligula, throwing him away.

"Lady Mash, are you okay?" The voice of Spartacus calling her, made Mash slowly open her eyes and stare at the gladiator in front of her.

"S-Spartacus..."

"Can you still fight, lady Mash? If so then give your everything. Your energy, power and will. Give everything that still remains of you to end that opressor." Spartacus smiled at her. "But if not don't worry." The gladiator servant turned around to look at Caligula who was now entirely shirtless and more wild than ever. "Let me and Lu Bu handle the rest."

"NERRRRROOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Honor of Suffering"

Spartacus casted a spell on himself and stretched a bit of his muscles. "Ready to free the poeple of Rome from this tyranical opressor my friend?" Spartacus asked to Lu Bu who did a random noise, showing that he was equally ready.

"W-Wait..." Mash used her shield as support to get up as she called the two. "I too...will fight!" Mash told them. "My whole body at this point can't continue on for much longer. I know the best now would be just to rest and hold the pain back. But Spartacus is right! If I'm still counscious and my body is still moving...then it means I will only back down when my enemy is defeated!" Mash looked with determination to her opponent. "My bones are hurting. My muscles is in pain. My nerves are telling me to stop. But if my mind is still telling me to fight, then I'll fight! For the perservation of humanity's future, I must fight!"

With her will to keep going, Mash now joined both Spartacus and Lu Bu in taking Caligula down.

"NEROOOO!" Caligula sprinted torwards the three, more so at Lu Bu who was at the front. The emperor's punch and the chinese general's lance clashed, with Lu Bu being able to fending off Caligula away again and then swinging his lance against Caligula, bashing it wildly with the emperor having no room to dodge and tanking each blow.

"NEROOO!" Caligula then hold Lu Bu's lance with his hands and hold it back, pushing it away from him after a struggle against Lu Bu.

Spartacus attacked him shortly after, with Caligula now having space to avoid the blows. But Spartacus, altough being described as a dumb average Berserker, tought outside the box and hold and entire boulder with his bare hands and threw it at Caligula, who also easily destroyed it with his hands.

That however, was something that Mash was counting on, and in the middle of the brocken pieces of stone she appeard right in front of Caligula. "Yha!" Mash used her strenght and bashed her shield against Caligula and sent him some meters away. However, what Caligula was not expecting as well, was that Lu Bu was right behind him, and so before he could land on the ground with his feet, Lu Bu hit him hard with his lance, sending Caligula flying to the opposite direction.

And Spartacus was right on the emperor's way, swinging his sword on Caligula's body. "Take this opressor!" Being thrown away for a third time, Caligula now was able to land on the ground but not in the best away. His rage was at the limit. "NERRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Sound steps came from behind the emperor, and when he looked behind to see the enemy, it was already too late for him. "This is..." Mash raised her shield and quickly with all her strenght, she pierced the sharpest part of it on Caligula's chest. "OVEEEEERRR!"

Mash still continue to do force on her shield, pinning down Caligula to the ground with it as he struggled to get up. "NERO NERO NERO NERO!" As much as he tried to fight back, Mash was making sure to not let the grip on her shield get any bit loose. Some seconds passed and Caligula's strenght was slipping away. "Nero! Nerooooo!" The emperor now was struggling on dispair, seeing all the blood coming out from his chest due to the shield. But that's when the mad roman emperor realized that what Mash was sying was true. This was over for him.

"Nero." Caligula tried to give one final struggle, but found it to be useless. He finally let go of the flame inside him and just give up from the fight, seeing now that he ended up loosing. "N-Nero..." Caligula used his last dying breaths to stare at the full moon, who now went back to hide behind the clouds of smoke. He always found it so beautiful and endearing, but also bothering and spiteful. And, he didn't know why exactly. In the last moment, a brief moment of sanity appeard on Caligula's face and eyes as his body was dissapearing. "Please...save...Rome..." And with those final words, the body of one of the most infamous roman emprors and Nero's uncle had completely faded, with Mount Etna also making it's last natural roar, before stopping it's eruption.

With the adversary finally gone, Mash dropped her shield and standed still, her body feeling soft and weak but happy for having the job done. "We...won..." Mash stared at Spartacus and Lu Bu celebrating in the distance.

"Mash! Are you alright?" Looking to her side, she saw Ritsuka and Fou coming along Jing Ke from the higher zones of the mountain. It looked like Ritsuka also did his task successfully.

Mash smiled at seeing his presence. "I won...Senpai..." And her body gave up.

"Mash!"

Cleopatra breathed heavily from the wounds she received, staring at a tired Peko and Nala who despite that, where still on their feet. "These two kids are clearly not normal. A normal human would have his bones broken by my kicks. Yet they can still stand." Cleopatra smirked. "I admit, you two are way more threatning than I tought. I underestimated you."

"That compliment won't change anything now!" Peko told her, pointing his sword at her.

"Yeah! We'll still beat you!" Nala said, adding it to her brother's comment.

The two however, were feeling exhausted and tired, doubting if they could keep fighting her. Their bodies were reaching their limits. However, Cleopatra was just slightly better than the two. The tought that two kids make her bleed and sweat could be both frustrating and funny. But now Cleopatra wanted to end this, now.

"Since you made me had to fight this long and ruin my clothes, I think you are whorty of my most powerful attack. Feel honoured, it isn't many who get to see them." Cleopatra told to Peko and Nala, smilling pridefully. "I initially felt bad about having to kill two kids. But after seeing what you're capable of and the lenghts you're willing to go, I think the guilt decreaces a bit."

"Tsk! Peko, do you think that she means..." Nala looked at her brother.

"If that's true, then...we will have no chance of winning this!" Peko said to her, narrowing his eyes in distress. If Cleopatra was about to do what both the siblings were thinking of, then this battle would end in their defeat.

Cleopatra giggled. "You better be prepared for it."

"I should experi-

"Cleopatra-sama! Cleopatra-sama!" A soldier came running out of nowehere, stopping the chanting of the egyptian queen.

"What is it now? Why are you looking like that?" Cleopatra asked for why her soldier looked so despaired and defeated.

"It's emperor Caligula ma'am! He's been defeated!" The soldier revealed the information to Cleopatra who reacted in shock.

"Caligula's down?!"

"That guy that was near her when we reached here?" Nala asked to Peko, trying to remember when she saw Caligula.

"I think so." Peko smiled to her. "It looks like Ritsuka, Mash and the others were able to defeat him!"

Nala smiled in return. "Great! One more to go then!" She stared at Cleopatra who was now trying to visualize the har situation her army was in now.

"The lava from the top of Mount Etna is also reaching here and getting closer! And the temperature is almost unberable now! What should we-"

"Retreat!" Cleopatra ordered the soldier with her authoritive tone. "Get everything and everyone thta is still not dead and flee from the battlefield! This battle is clearly lost!"

"Y-Yes Cleopatra-sama! We shall retreat now!" The soldier went back to where it come and ordered the troops to retreat.

Cleopatra sighed in anger. "This is bad. Why the hell did you had to die you brainless moron?! Now I'll have to explain the casualties all alone to him!" Frustrated, Cleopatra turned around to look at Peko and Nala one last time before retreating. "What you just did, was a big mistake. The Nero you work for, is nothing but a greedful monster." And with that, she went away.

"Wait! Come back!" Nala tried to went after the woman but a sharp pain on her leg make her give up on that.

"Let it be Nala. This battle is already won." Peko helped his sister getting up. "What she meant by all that though? Of making a big mistake?"

"Loser's speech or something. She's probably just angry for losing against us." Nala said before hissing in pain. "My body hurts a lot, goddamn!"

"Yeah. Mine too." Peko responded to Nala. "I'm grateful for just walking out of this with every bone intact."

"Nala! Peko! Are you two alright?" Ritsuka appeard in distance with everyone else, coming torwards the two.

"Yeah. A whole body in pain aside, we're fine." Nala told him. "Glad to see you are fine too Ritsuka."

"She tried to make us give up but we didn't." Peko smiled to Ritsuka. "We fought and gave our best until the end Ritsuka."

"Then you two must have down great then." Ritsuka laughed happily as he patted both kids hair.

"Oh, but where is Mash? Wasn't she with you?" Peko asked to the master of humanity.

Ritsuka immediatly went silent and his smile dissapeard. "About that..."

Jing Ke then stepped in. "She's alive but, her battle completely drained her out." As the assassin woman said that, Spartacus showed Mash's unconscious body to them.

Despite having injuries, Peko and Nala went immediatly to her side. "Is she okay?!" Nala asked with some worriedness for her companion.

"She will live, but will probably spent the next hours resting." Jing Ke told her. "You should do the same."

"I hope Mash can recover fast and didn't suffered any permanent damages." Peko said looking at the shielder's body. "Defeating that Caligula guy must have been harsh."

"Mash is tougher then what she looks like and that's why she ended up winning and now deserves a rest." Ritsuka told him. "Like you and Nala."

"Fou!" Fou tapped Ritsuka in the cheeck angrily.

"Oh, right! You two did well Fou haha." Ritsuka calmed the animal down.

The whole army celebrated the victory and cheered their generals as well as the Chaldea group. One of the main enemy's figure was taken down and they were able to retireve territory. Tonight was a night for all of them to happily smile and party, as they would return to Rome and be hailed by the citizens as heroes and warriors as well as congratulated by emperor Nero herself. What they've been training their whole life for had compensated. As for the Chaldea group all, they tought about was resting for the night and heal the wounds, mainly Mash who needed a more complete recovery. But they went to sleep that night with satisfaction in their faces for being able to defeat the enemy in the first battle of many that would come in this Singularity.

Next Day

"...hmmm..." Mash slowly opened her eyes, feeling her body resting on the comfortable bed she was lying in. Looking around, she saw that she was resting inside the tent. No one else was there besides her. Getting her back up from the bed, Mash noticed that amjor part of her body was covered in bandages. Then she remembered for why she ended up like this. "Heh. We ended up winning the battle." Mash looked at her hand covered in bandages. "Even if my body is...Even if my life is...I'll wont stop fighting for Chaldea no matter what." Getting up from the bed, Mash walked a bit cluncky to the tent's exit.

Coming out, she saw the whole accampment that the roman army had built during the night.

"Do you think someone could drink lava if cold enough?"

"Why are you asking me that right now?"

Looking slightly to her right side, Mash spotted both Peko and Nala sitting on top of some boxes while eating a sandwich. The siblings seemed to be chatting about something.

"Good day. Peko,Nala." Mash greeted them, caughting the siblings by surprise.

"Ah,Mash! You're fine already!" Nala said happily, hugging the older girl."We we're worried about you yesterday!"

"Those injuries that you suffered were nasty. But it's good to see you have recovered" Peko said to the shielder.

Mash then noticed the bandages on the kids arms and legs. "Oh, you two also got injured. Do you feel good?"

"No need to worry Mash. These wounds were fine compared to yours." Nala told her. "We showed that enemy we were fighting who's the boss!" Nala smugged.

"Well, she beated us pretty hard so I'd hardly say we showed her that." Peko whispered. "But she ended up retreating in the end as soon as she heard Caligula has been defeated."

"So she retreated with the rest of her troops." Mash said, getting a nod from both siblings. "Also, where's master?"

"Right here." Ritsuka appeard, walking torwards them. "It's good to see you fine Mash. Spartacus told me you fought like a warrior against Caligula." Ritsuka laughed. "That appearence of yours almost makes me forget you are strong as hell."

Mash blushed a bit. "W-well, I was just doing my best to defeat our main enemy. A-Also I wouldn't have defeated him if it wasn't for Spartacus-san and Lu Bu-san."

"Then now that you're recovered and well, as a leader I said we should celebrate for a bit." Ritsuka looked at his group. "What do you guys think?"

"Instantly approved!" Nala almost shouted, smilling with joy.

"I aprove too!" Peko smiled as well.

"And what do you say Mash?" Ritsuka asked to his servant.

Seeing all of them happy and together, made Mash feel well. She truly couldn't have asked for better friends. "I also think that-"

"Sorry for interrupting your conversation my generals." A soldier walked torwards them. "But some civillians are on the base's gates wanting to see you and talk with you."

"Really? Then we better see what they want." Ritsuka said as he started to go to the gates direction. "Come guys!"Ritsuka called the rest of his group.

"Do you think they will give us gifts or something?" Nala asked Peko.

"It's possible. We fought off the enemy that took this territory from the Roman Empire, so they'll probably thank us." Peko responded.

"Strawberry cake as a gift!" Nala said enthusiastically.

"I doubt that cakes like that existed at this time." Peko scracthed his head.

Reaching to the entrance of the base, they saw a small group of civillians from the nearby village waiting for them, standing right at the entrance.

"Alright, you are the local village citizens aren't you?" Ritsuka smiled to them. "How may we help you?"

A woman stepped forward and coldly stared at them."With all due respect, you should leave. Right now."

To be continued...

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author.

"With all due respect, you should leave. Right now."

Ritsuka and the others from his group stood in shock as they heard the woman say those words so coldly. They couldn't comprehend for why the rudeness in the woman's words. Their territory had been annexed by the enemy, so why weren't they happy for being freed from them?

"W-what?" Mash said perplexed.

"You took the people who were protecting this village away from us." An old man stepped forward from the civillians group. "They'd supply us with food, water and whatnot. Now how will we manage to survive without those resources?"

"They were helping you?" Nala asked confused.

"Yes! And now you cut out our main way to survive!" A man said agressively to them.

"But wait! Aren't you part from the Roman Empire too? I tought you disliked to be under the control of someone else that wasn't your own homeland and emperor. Don't you guys like Nero as your emperor?" Peko talked to them, not understanding for such unhappiness that the people from the village were having. They all should be smiling and celebrating to have their hometown no longer at the hands of the enemy. But that wasn't the case here.

The woman frowned upon hearing Nero's name. "That jerk has left us to rot here alone for some time now!" The woman said in anger, trying to contain her tears. "The so called 'emperor' has prohibited other regions of the empire to make commercial trade with us and make our entire population slowly run out of food. The crops that we collect here can barely feed all of us!" The woman was now crying more intensily. "All because we didn't had enough money to pay for a stupid statue that Nero wanted to built in the center of our village!"

The Chaldea group just stood paralyzed as they watch the woman now fell down to her knees and sobbing even more. The image and revelation just hit them hard, not knowing exactly how to respond.

"Since we couldn't provide attention and devotion to her, Emperor Nero had deemed us worthless and useless, isolating us from the rest of the empire." The old man said sadly, trying to comfort the crying woman. "You're only here because Nero's enemy has occupied this territory and she felt threatned by it. And while they like to spread viscious lies and rumours about the enemy, they actually treated us very well and helped our village prosper during the time period of their control."

The previous Cleopatra's words resounded on Peko's mind, making the boy make a short gasp. "That's the mistake she was talking about?!"

"Hey, look. We didn't knew about that situation and didn't meant to jeopardize your village." Ritsuka tried to explain to the angry group of people. "I...was thinking we were doing the right thing."

"Save your excuses for later moron!" A person from the group shouted at Ritsuka, pointing it's finger at him. "You still came here with Nero's army and generals to destroy the people who actually cared about us! You even killed the previous emperor Caligula who looked out for us! And you're now trying to feign ignorance?!"

With Ritsuka being unable to respond to such accusation, Mash stepped forward to back him up. "We didn't do it out of spite or to harm you! We really didnt-ggh!" Mash's nerves went into action as the shielder felt her wounds behind her bandages, recoiling her body in pain.

Ritsuka immediatly grabbed her by the shoulder. "Mash! Are you okay?" He asked to his servant.

"You shouldn't move too much Mash! You still have to recover from your wounds." Nala said to the shielder, advising her to make slower moves with the body.

"You guys are Nero's scum! You only set us 'free' to put our village into isolation again!" another person from the group said. "You might as well try but we this time won't give up so easily! We'll fight you to death if necessary! I'd rather die than having to serve that little piece of shit that you call emperor!" All the others from the group agreed in unison.

"T-There's no need for us to fight! Please understand it!" Peko tried to convince the village's people to not engage and create more bloodshed. One thing was killing soldiers. Other thing was killing just mere people.

"What's this profanity that I'm hearing out there!?" A roman soldier appeard at the exit of the gates, walking to the civillians direction. "Are you telling us that you pretend to do a treason on the Emperor?! Even after she sent her army to rescue you?"

"Rescue us? Pfff, what a joke!" The woman snarled at the soldier. "You are nothing more but disposable to that emperor of yours! Same as us!"

The soldier draw out his sword and pointed at the woman. "Watch your tongue wench! Many soldiers and brothers in arms of mine have died yesterday just to free all of you ingrateful bastards!"

"Eh, they died as Nero's mindless puppets then." The woman coldly responded with no remorse in her words.

Incredibly outraged by what he heard, the roman soldier raised his sword. "You'll pay for what you said bitch!"

Seeing this, the Chaldea group tried to stop the act of homicide from happening. "NO! Dont do it!" Ritsuka shouted to the soldier, stretching his arm to him. "I can't let an innocent die! These people have done nothing wrong to deserve this!"

Before the soldier could swing his sword at the woman's neck, a knife was thrown between the two, stopping the soldier from killing the woman.

"Are you out of your damn mind?" Jing Ke appeard from the trees to their left, showing her face of discontent to the soldier. "Were you really going to kill an innocent that so many of our soldiers died trying to freed?"

"But general Jing Ke, this people aren't loyal to the emperor and were planning to rebel against the empire!" The soldier tried to explain himself. "They should be dealt with now before becoming a possible danger!"

"And I as the general will tell you to control your anger better and ignore their words. It's not worth the time. Killing them now would make all that battle and sacrifice meaningless! Do you understand me soldier?" Jing Ke asked to the soldier, looking at him in the eyes.

"...Yes, my general. Sorry for my brief moment of lack of control. I sware to better myself." The soldier apologized to Jing Ke, feeling with the head more in place now.

"Then forget about what these people are saying to you. Their words should bare no concern to a trained soldier's ears. Ignore them and go back to the inside of the camp were you can be more useful." Jing Ke ordered to the soldier who nodded and went back to the inside of the base, saying nothing. Jing Ke then turned her head to the civillians in front of her. "Now as for you..." Jing Ke looked sternly at them, before turning her gaze into a defeated glare and sigh. "We will leave as per your request. I and the others don't wish to cause any trouble to you. And if by leaving all of you alone avoids it, so be it."

"Are you saying that we did all that fighting to now just some couple of hours after leave them alone?" Nala said to Jing Ke, a bit frustrated. "I tought we were doing the right thing here!"

Jing Ke looked at Nala. "Some things are...difficult to define as right or wrong." She responded to the girl before changing her gaze to the civillians again. "We'll leave behind food and other resources for you to use it. It's the best we can do for you in all of this."

The old man and the rest however, didn't seemed to want it. "Nowdays all the food gets poisoned. What are the odds that Nero herself just want to get rid of us?" The old man rejected Jing Ke's offering alongside everybody else.

"Fine then. We'll just leave. But please give us time to collect our things and dismantle the base." Jing Ke told them.

"Three hours." The woman said by showing Jing Ke her three fingers. "You have three hours total starting from now to pack your things and leave from our sight. Any longer than that and we'll have no fear to resort to violence if it means to expel you."

"Understood. Thank you for at least negotiating." Jing Ke respectfully bowed to them and walked past the Chaldea group, about to enter inside the camp. "Come with me. These people don't want to see our faces here again."

"So we are leaving just like that?" Peko asked to Jing Ke.

"I guess it's the better option..." Ritsuka said. "These people are already angry as they are. We can't do more."

"I would call them ungrateful but hearing their side of things makes me feel a bit sad for them." Nala said, thinking about how her actions and efforts of yesterday resulted in this village's population discontent. "I wish we could have known before the battle..."

"The way they talked about Nero was so agressive and repugnant. I tought every citizen would always love their rulers."

"Unfortunately that's not the case Peko." Mash told the boy. "A reality were everyone is happy with their ruler is almost impossible."

The hologram of doctor Romani appeard as the group was walking inside the base who now would begin it's dismantling process. "I know those people have told you to leave and leave you by, but my monitors have sensed a leyline nearby from where you are."

"Where then?" Mash asked to the doctor.

"Inside the base just to your left. Better establish contact with it before the soldiers remove the entire base." Romani infromed them.

"Alright then. Let's go." Ritsuka instructed to the group as they walked to the leyline's location.

"Contact with existing Leyline established." Mash said as they finished doing the task and the shielder picked up her weapon. "All signals clear and vital, working at a great efficiency."

"Good job guys." Romani told them. "Now that we have some good amount of spare time before going, want to discuss about the fact that those civillians seemed extremely pissed?" The doctor brought up the previous subject.

"They sure liked the ones that were occupying the area before much more than us." Nala crossed her arms. "Altough I tought initially that our enemies were as evil as the Dragon Witch and her servants, it seems here that's not the case."

"The woman we were even fighting, Cleopatra I think, told to me and Nala we made a huge mistake by kicking them out of here under Nero's orders." Peko told to the group, lowering his head feeling a bit guilty. "Now I know why."

Ritsuka put an hand on his shoulder. "None of us had a way to know. If we did, we would try a different outcome."

Mash meanwhile tought back to Caligula's words before dying. "Now that I remember, in Caligula's final moments he was looking a bit more...sane? Even if it's a bit foggy to remember due to all the rush and adrenaline at the time, I've heard him say something along the lines of saving Rome. It's certain now that the collapse of the Roman Empire isn't our enemies main goal."

"Then does that mean we where on the wrong side here?" Nala questioned.

"But Nero is supposed to be the roman emperor during this era. It's how history goes correct? Siding with her should be the right thing." Ritsuka responded, putting a finger under his chin.

"But then again, seeing how she handles the pest problem at Rome and now this situation of the villagers...I don't know if she's an emperor that cares much about her people." Peko mentioned the past problem of the pest that he himseld had seen with his own eyes.

"Nero was indeed a very polemic figure at the time. She had supporters as well as people who despised her." Romani said, bringing Nero's historical side. "Some people tought she was unfit to rule the empire and didn't liked her leadership."

"She's also a bit narcissistic. Seneca told me that as an emperor, she loves to be the center of attention when it comes to be loved and liked by her people. He also told me that despite of what we saw of her and her attitudes, Nero was still a good girl that only wants to see her people smile and happy." Mash informed them. "But hearing how these villagers were ignored and isolated makes me a bit skeptical into believing that..."

As they were talking and chatting, another conversation by some soldiers at the back brought them a bit of their attention.

"Man, I can't believe we are being treated like this after fighting so hard last night."

"Yeah. But can I blame them? Those villagers really looked distraught for having their main source of food taken away from them."

"Do you think what we did was right?"

As the soldiers were debating with each other, Spartacus appeard walking torwards them with a smile on his face as always. "Now it's not the time for doubt my friends! We did a good job in taking down the opressor and I'm sure our comrades that died are all celebrating in the afterlife! Cheer up everyone!" He told to the soldiers before walking away.

"We aren't the only ones with doubts it seems." Romani told to the group.

"I think the best we can do now is to speak with Nero in person once we arrive at Rome." Ritsuka shared his tought. "For now we should rest both physically and mentally."

"You sure it will work well?" Nala asked him.

"We have to clear some questions that we are having now. And the only way to clear that is asking Nero. Plus if she refuses to answer Seneca might do it instead." Ritsuka told to the girl. "He's her advisor after all. What she knows he must also know."

"We better not accuse her right off the bat with all this cases. If we do that, she certainly won't give us any answers." Peko advised.

"Sure. We will do a passive approach. Nero is clearly the type of person that wouldn't like to be acccused by someone ruthlessly." Mash said. "We have to be cautious with the words that we pick."

As a whole day and a half went by, the Chaldea group had finally returned to Rome, with it's population receiving them with great applause and celebration. A clear contrast from the villagers back at Mount Etna. While majority of the soldiers saw nothing more on the faces of the capital's people other than happiness and joy, the Chaldea group tought to themselves if these people were really happy and celebrating in all honesty. If deep down they weren't doing this because they were forced to. That behind those smiles was sadness and trepidation. That they were doing this because if not Nero would deem them as traitors. With all this new perspective it was hard to see if the roman people on the city were genuinely happy or not. If they even knew about the pest situation that was starting to manifest or even the village situation at Mount Etna. Were they cheering in glee or in fear?

As for Nero herself, she welcomed the army with open arms and celebrating enthusiastically alongside Seneca who did the same.

"Well done umu! This victory will bring the great Rome closer to it's stability!" Nero declared as she drinked from her cup. "You know what? This call for a great dinner tongiht at the palace!" She looked at the Chaldea group. "And you of course will be there! You are the guests of honour after all! Seneca!" She turned around to her advisor. "Make sure the food will be the greatest that I've eaten in my all life and on theirs as well!"

"As you wish my Praetor." Seneca smiled warmly. "After all, these soldiers have now turned into heroes blessed by the gods. A grand banquet is no short of appropriated for them." As the senator said that, Nero went happily away to her room, humming in the way.

Seneca then looked at the Chaldea group and immediatly could tell what their eyes were saying. He wished that they would get out of there wihtout knowing, but it seemed that wasn't the case. The old man closed his eyes and let out a small breath. "So, you all know now?" Seneca didn't tried to fool them. That would be just a waste of time. The philosopher was aware that despite young, they were not dumb and gullible. Manipulating someone was a thing he swore to never do in his life. Not after what Nero's mother was doing with her own child. Instead, the sole senator admitted and confirmed what they heard and suspected.

Ritsuka apprehensively looked at the eyes of the old man. "Why?" Was the only thing that he asked to the person in front of him.

As much as he wanted, Seneca couldn't ignore that. Now that they discovered it, the questions wouldn't stop until the answers would be achieved. The old man's eyes hesitantly looked to Ritsuka. "I simply tought...the things would end up to getting better."

"But they aren't." Mash stepped in. "This empire is slowly dying from the inside. The United Roman Empire is the lesser of it's problems. Seneca-san, I know you want us to see Nero the same way you do. But after what we heard from the villagers..."

Seneca slowly grabbed his own right hand that was starting to shake a little from the nervousism. The philosopher was trying to keep his cool. "It has been some hard months for her lately. Please understand that the mantle of an emperor is a heavy one."

"That doesn't excuse starving an entire village because it doesn't have enough money to build a statue of her." Nala said, confronting the old man. "Does those people deserve to suffer because they don't have nearly the same wealth as her?"

Seneca looked to the side and cleenched his teeth.

"We just want to know if we can trust Nero, Seneca." Peko told him. "We'd like to see her the same way as you do. Just please, give us a justification and response to our questions, so that we can see that being at her side is actually the right thing to do.

"You don't know..." Seneca hissed to himself.

Ritsuka tried to reach out to him. "Seneca ple-"

"YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT HER!" Seneca shouted in rage to them, shocking the entire group. Seeing such calm and composed figure like him act so agressively was completely out of character to him. Seneca tried to recompose himself. "Nero is still young. No ruler can be perfect and mistakes are bound to happen when a ruler is young and naive. That's why my whole purpose is to guide her. While perhaps she isn't making the best decisions now, she still wants to see the empire prosper and live under her reign. She also has doubts. She's also capable of feeling pain and sorrow! So don't speak as if you knew her like I do! The Nero I know isn't the beast that you are imagining now!"

"Then you would defend her always independently if the empire under her is doing good or not?" Ritsuka asked accusingly to Seneca.

"With every inch of my body! It's my duty as her advisor to make her happy and council her." Seneca responded immediatly, looking defiantly at the master of humanity.

"Even if it means making innocent people suffer just because they don't fit or don't please her?" Ritsuka asked again to Seneca.

"..." This time the philosopher had no response for that, being at a loss for words. Ritsuka had cornered him well with that question. A supposed wise and philosophical elder unable to respond to a question of a simple young man. It was a rare thing to see.

Feeling that Seneca would choose to ignore that question he just made, Ritsuka walked past him with the rest of the group doing the same. Before leaving the room, Ritsuka stopped at the door. "You know? I tought wise old men would always be open to hear others opinions. Guess I was wrong." Saying those words coldly, Ritsuka left the room, leaving Seneca to introspect himself in solitude.

The night had arrived and the dinner was ready with full plates on the long and wide table inside the palace. Sitting in it where the Nero, Seneca and the Chaldea group who obviously had to come and wanted to, but not for the reasons Nero ever imagined. The emperor herself was the only one enjoying and happily eating the fruit, while the Chaldea group and Seneca would eat it more moderatly, still resenteful from their talk hours ago.

"Hmm." Nala sadly frowned on her fork, looking dissapointed at the food on her front.

"What is it Nala? Isn't the food good?" Ritsuka asked her, wanting to know why the girl looked sad.

"...They don't have cake." Nala said monotonously, her hair overshadowing her eyes.

"Well in this era cakes weren't invented yet, so of course they wouldn't have it." Ritsuka sweated a bit and smiled.

Nero then stood up from her seat and lifted the cup in the air. "To Roma! To our ancestors and every child of the empire! But also, to me, its supreme ruler, umu!" The lack of immediate response caused Nero to find it strange. Looking at their faces, she saw they didn't look as eager as she was. "Something happened? Isn't the food to your liking?"

Saying nothing, Ritsuka looked at Mash and then Peko and Nala who also looked at him. They had to question Nero. Even if it would result into nothing. Ritsuka also looked at Seneca who stood silent, giving a small shrugging to him, as if he was saying to Ritsuka to ask it anyway. He couldn't stop them before and wouldn't try to do the same now. The old man could only watch.

Ritsuka took a deep breath and looked at the emperor, ready to confront her. "Emperor Nero?"

"What is it?" Nero asked, oblivious of the questions that were about to come.

"I don't want to be rude but, at Mount Etna, after the battle, the people from the local village were unhappy with the enemy's defeat. They said that you my emperor, has isolated them because they wouldn't built you a statue. Is that true?" Ritsuka asked to Nero, finally taking the words out of his mouth. And as expected, Nero's reaction wasn't a good one as her smile faded.

"Jealous people have always existed across the empire, no matter the emperor at the time. It's just normal hate. Pay them no mind. After all, if I didn't cared about them I wouldn't even send my army and generals there." Nero responded with bothersome and took a sip of her cup, trying to end the topic quickly.

"But they told us you did it not because you cared about them but because you didn't liked to feel threatned by the enemy getting closer to you." Peko told to Nero.

"Well that was another motive for me to take back the territory at Mount Etna too. It's natural that someone would want to take back what's been taken away from them. I just couldn't be okay with it. Still, I took back that territory because I love the people from there too. Any roman is a person deserving of my love." Nero said, forcing a smile on her face.

"What about that christian man when we arrived here?" Mash said. "Wasn't he a citizen from Rome too? Yet you ordered him to be killed because he had diferent beliefs from you."

Nero look away in frustration. What was supposed to be a good and fun night for her, was now turning into an annoying one. "...Those who don't worship the Roman Empire beliefs aren't roman. Simple as that. If the history of our empire is to be ignored and replaced by another's culture history, then those people never cared about the well being of the Roman Empire in the first place."

"And that's reason enough to kill someone? For having different beliefs that don't hurt no one?!" Nala said altough a bit more louldly than the rest of her group. "Or perhaps it hurts your ego." Nala accused.

"Nala calm down! You don't have to go that harsh too." Peko warned his sister. "We are in her residence after all."

"You like to be the center of everyone's attention. Being an emperor to you means that everyone should compliment and praise you no matter how bad your actions may be." Nala continued to criticize Nero and ignored Peko. "If they don't spend one second of their attention on you or don't have money to give you a tribute, their automatically traitors according to your mind. Talk about being a compulsive narcissistic."

"Hehehe,compulsive narcissistic." Nero laughed softly as she went back to take a bite of her plate, trying to ignore Nala's accusation. "That's funny..."

"Alright Nala you can calm down." Ritsuka told to the girl, seeing that she went more rutlessly on Nero. "We don't need to be that direct."

"I also would like to question the emperor if the rumours of a plague spreading in Rome are true." Peko questioned the emperor again who was still eating her food. "It's that when I went to the city to buy the paint, I wondered into a dark alley full of sick people that were calling the emperor's name to save them. Does the emperor have left them to rot there instead of finding a better solution? Does anyone else in Rome knows about this besides the emperor and Seneca?"

Nero suddenly stopped eating her food,and stared at her own plate. "Do we have a plague in here, Seneca?" She asked to her advisor, not even looking at him, acting like she never knew about the case in the first place.

Seneca looked at her for a brief moment. "...I think we do...my Praetor." He said defeated, uncertain if trying to pretend ignorance would really be able to fool the group from Chaldea.

"Trying to ignore a problem like that is very grave emperor." Mash tried to warn Nero. "If it spreads more and more without the people having at least a warning or aware of it, it will cause a huge calamity and the collapse of the Roman Empire. I beg you that the emperor should use it's influence and wealth to try and resolve this problem."

"And it's not even the only problem there is now. The United States Empire, the people's complaint of you and this plague. The empire is dying slowly emperor, and something needs to be done about it in order to not fall!" Ritsuka said to Nero as well as Seneca, trying to make the two akcnowledge and face the issues that the empire was having.

Nero however, seemed to have enough.

"Looks like my food feels spoiled as well." Nero grabbed her plate and among the room's silence, dropped it on the floor, much to everyone's anxiety. "Perhaps I need to get better cooks, umu." She said, taking her cup to her mouth, drinking the liquid again. "If the questions are over, allow me to do some too." Nero cleared her throat. "First of all, what do you think it's the most important aspect an emperor should have?" Nero pointed a knife at the group, asking them a question.

All the four tought for some seconds.

"To be benevolent." Ritsuka was the first to respond.

"Strenght to protect it's people." Nala was the second.

"Wisdom to know what choices to make." Peko said by third.

"Altruism to help anyone from it's land." Mash said lastly.

Nero smirked. "Those are all intresting traits I must say. Now another question. As any of you ever been an emperor?" She asked them.

The answer was clear and they knew it, but saying it would confirm a point Nero was trying to make.

"...No." Ritsuka responded shortly.

A loud punch on the table was made as Nero proceeded to look at them with an insane smile. "Then why the fuck do you talk like you knew what is like to be one?!" She said agressively, scaring Seneca a bit. Nero was losing control and that was bad. The old philosopher knew that better than anyone how bad Nero could be when loosing her cool.

"Please Nero, calm down yourself." He begged to his emperor.

"No no no Seneca. This people think they can go to my home, my empire, and tell me in THE FACE how I should rule as an emperor!" Nero got up from her chair and dragged the knife she was carrying alongside the table, walking torwards the Chaldea group. "Do you think it's easy?! That I haven't tried to do my job? It's just wishing for something to dissapear and everything is back to normal?"

Mash and Nala sneakly move their hands, ready to summon their weapons if Nero decided to attack them.

Ritsuka tried to calm the emperor. "No! We know being a leader of a nation is an heavy role but-"

"But! But but but but." Nero said crazily, still dragging the knife. "It's so easy to talk when you aren't in the other people shoes! I bet that if you became emperor for one month you wouldn't last a week!" Nero took the knife out of the table and started to walk behind their chairs. "You probably lived an easy life, with no one ever expecting something from you. No challenges or obstacles to overcome. You talk about me but I bet you are nothing more than a simpleton who never had to do an hard task in his life!" Nero shouted at Ritsuka.

"..." Ritsuka didn't confronted her nor replied back, instead looking down on his own hands, feeling his moral going a bit down. "An easy life eh?"

"That's not true!" Peko instinctively went to defend his freind. "Ritsuka is the leader of our team and as to save humanity as it's remaining master! Such hard task that if you were in his place, you wouldn't even survive the previous place we went. Ritsuka as went through a lot of difficulties such as the rest of us!"

"Yeah! You tell her Peko!" Nala said to her brother.

"Took some words out of my mouth." Mash said, happy for seeing Peko standing up to Ritsuka.

Even Ritsuka smiled a bit and looked at the boy. "Thank you Pe-"

"So what?! He's the leader of your nice little group and has to do someting out of the ordinary! Good for him!" Nero yelled at Peko, acting more insane. "But what about you?" She approached to Peko's seat. "What purpose do you serve in this little group of yours? Do you even know who you're speaking to kid?" Nero moved the knife closer to Peko.

Nala tighten her fist and was hardly controling herself in trying to not summon her sword to attack Nero. "If she hurts him I swear..!"

"Who are you? What are you? Do you even know what is like to rule?" Nero was bombarding the boy with questions, getting menancingly closer to him with the knife in hand.

"Hpm! I-I-I dont exactly-" Peko was having problem to respond, feeling a strong pressure of Nero on him.

"Are you an emperor?! A king?! A god?! A nation or kingdom to call home?! A family and parents to love?!" Nero was getting more relentless in her questions to Peko, who was feeling so pressure that he could feel some tears starting to form on his eyes. Having no rememberance of anything about one self was truly painful. That and the fact Nero was centimeters away to touch Peko's neck with the knife. "You are nothing more than a stupid and pathetic kid!"

Not supporting seeing Peko being pressured and disturbed like that, Mash immediatly went to try and separate Nero from him. "Hey! Leave him!"

Nala also followed Mash's moviment and was about to summon her sword. "That's i-"

"ENOUGH!" Seneca yelled loudly as he violently punched the table with both fists, causing everyone to stop and look at him. He hadn't talked or paticipated that much in the talking, making everyone forget he was even there in the first place. "Nero, put the knife down. Now!" Like an angry father, he ordered coldly for Nero to let go of the object and leave Peko. She might be the emperor, but Seneca was her right arm and an important one.

"Nero this. Nero that." The emperor carelessly threw the knife away on top of the table and started to walk away annoyed. "You're sounding like those fools from the senate Senaca. Must I start doubting you too?" She stared at him with a disdainful gaze, before grabbing the golden cup and walk away from the room. The night clearly didn't went out as she wanted to.

"Are you alright Peko?" Ritsuka asked to the boy, seeing if he wasn't hurt.

"I'm fine. The knife didn't touched me." The boy said as he touched hiw own neck.

Seneca got up from his seat. "I hope you are satisfied with the answers you craved for so much." The old man said in a emotionless tone and walked away too, leaving the Chaldea group alone.

"Something tells me that our alliance might have just went to dust." Nala said, feeling that the discussion they had with Nero would leave some serious damage to their allience.

"Hmm. Perhaps." Mash said shortly, thinking on the ways things were going. "We might had took a stepback here."

Some hours later, everyone went back to their bedrooms. Ritsuka was lying on his bed, being unable to sleep. The confrontation they had with Nero was bothering still bothering him, keeping Ritsuka away from sleep.

"You talk about me but I bet you are nothing more than a simpleton who never had to do an hard task in his life!"

Ritsuka closed his hand and stared at the ceilling. "These words shouldn't affect me. She doesn't know anything about my life. However, I also don't know much about her own life too." Ritsuka put a pillow above his bed, letting a frustrated grunt. Mash was asleep and he couldn't talk with her to spent time so he could sleep faster. Thankfully, someone else was available to talk.

"So how did the talk with Nero go?" Romani appeard in his hologram form to ask them how the talk with Nero went.

"Hurgh, terrible. I think she hates us now." Ritsuka said completely down.

"Really? Surprised that she didn't ordered you to be executed then." Romani scratched his head.

Ritsuka sat on his bed then. "Hey doc, are you on the right side here?" He asked to Romani. His mind questioning if what they were doing was right.

"Well, in our history Nero is the emperor and continued to be years after. I know that what she's doing isn't right but doing something like killing her would completely distort humanity's time history to a way that it would create a new parallel reality, no more being our own history. Nero has to live in this Singularity until the year of her actual death. If she dies, the Roman Empire collapses and the future of humanity is extinguished shortly after." Roman explained to Ritsuka, understanding that the position they where in now was a hard one.

"I know. I don't want to kill her. I just, want to stop her from mistreating her people. That is only making the empire collapse faster." Ritsuka laid his back to the wall. "I really don't know what to do Doctor. If we maintain her allience with her not. If those United Roman Empire guys are the threat here or not." Ritsuka put an hand on his forhead. "How can I be a leader if even I can't be sure of the decisions we are making are good or bad damnit!" Ritsuka felt he should do better as the team's leader, and having doubts was something that he saw as prejudice to be one.

"I think you shouldn't think of yourself like that Senpai!"

Ritsuka stared at Mash who was awake in front of him. "Mash? Were you hearing all this time?"

Ignoring the question, Mash walked torwards him. "Being someone who has to guide and lead is no easy task. But whatever what you and Nero might think, for someone who is supposed to be some random person, I think you've been doing your best master." Mash crouched down to look at him. "Peko and Nala must think the same too. The way Peko defended you shows that. We will always have your back. Remember you don't carry this task of saving humanity alone Senpai. You have all of us to help you."

Ritsuka looked to the side in apprehension. "But what if I end up making a bad choice?"

"We aren't asking you to be perfect." Mash smiled to him. "We just want you to try your best as possible."

"Sweet words Mash. You have a very gentle heart." Romani commented, smilling at her.

"Thanks doctor. I took after someone after all." Mash replied to Romani, who blushed a bit in embarassment.

Hearing Mash's words made Ritsuka realize that he was a normal human. And the rest of the group treated him like one. Whatever difficulty he may had, they would be there to help him. They didn't saw him as some kind of general, but as a friend. They believed in him as much as he believed in them. "You're right Mash. I forgot that I'm not doing this alone. Even if I am a normal person with no knowledge of magecraft, I'll do my best as a leader to make sure all of us have a future!"

"Hey Mash." Ritsuka called the shielder's attention. "Thank you for saying that. I think that I just needed to hear someone saying it."

"Always at your disposal master." Mash said happily.

Ritsuka closed his eyes and rised his head, thinking what they should do now. "Like Seneca said..." Altough he didn't want to think on the old man that much now due to also discussing with him and being Nero's right arm, there was something that the philosopher said that Ritsuka could agree with. "...I'm in charge of my own actions!" He opened his eyes and got up from the bed. "Mash. Doc. I've made up my mind." He told the two. "We are leaving this place and break the allience with Nero. We'll try to figure out what's causing trouble in this Singularity by ourselves."

"Hm. Altough that would mean we would lose the entire roman army as our support, I admit if we act independently, we may find the root of the problem faster." Mash told her opinion on Ritsuka's decision. "And what Nero is doing to her people is wrong and I can't stand working under people who make such things. So I agree with your decision master!"

"Well, that's the best option that doesn't involve harming or killing Nero." Romani said. "I think it's not a bad decision at all."

"Alright! Then let's go see Peko and Nala and ask for their opinion too!" Ritsuka walked torwards the bedroom's door to open it, only for it to open by itself and revealing to be Peko and Nala on the other side. "Okay, that was quick." He said to himself. "Why did you two came here?"

Peko and Nala looked at each other for some seconds, with Nala nodding to her brother who then looked at Ritsuka. "In our bedroom, we were talking about the incident we had with Nero and all the bad things that are happening in the empire. Se we both reached to the conclusion that we need to break our alliance with Nero and the empire." Peko told to Ritsuka.

"We can't approve of what she's doing to her people. We need to leave this place immediatly." Nala added. It was good to see that they where all on the same page. But saying this in a hallway of the emperor's palace was a dangerous thing to do, so Ritsuka immediatly grabbed the two kids and shoved them inside the room, proceeding to close the door.

"Guess what? Me and Mash were also thinking the same." Ritsuka said to the siblings.

"Great! Then we must leave while we still can." Nala said. "Something tells me Nero doesn't see us with a very positive light now after that dinner fiasco."

"Talking about that, Peko..." Ritsuka speaked torwards the boy's direction. "Thanks for speaking up for me at the dinner. But also, those thhings she said about you. They didn't affected you did they?"

"I'm fine Ritsuka, no need to worry." Peko responded with a smile. "Nero was trying to mess with me. Words like that don't bare actual meaning."

"She'll need to try harder than that to bring us down." Nala said.

"Okay, now that we are all here, does any of you knows a path that we can go without being spotted by the soldiers?" Mash asked to three who just stood silent and clueless. Even if they had been in the palace for a few days, they didn't bother to explore much of it. "You don't know, do you?" Mash asked with a nervous smile.

"Looks like I'll have to come to the rescue then." Romani sighed as he started typing on his keyboard. "I'll start doing a research and scan of the area and transform it into a map to guide you. It will take some minutes but-"

Suddenly, the door slowly opened. "Then that was your choice in the end." A voice said.

Everyone shifted into a battle position and summoned their weapons, aside from Ritsuka. If that person has heard them, then they had to make sure that their plan of abandoning Nero and the alliance should remain a secret.

From the door, Seneca appeard, looking at the group with stoic eyes as he closed the door.

"It is! And you won't stop us from doing it!" Ritsuka declared defiantly to the old man. The fact that was Seneca who catched up their conversation was bad. But at least wasn't Nero herself the one who heard them.

Seneca smirked in response. He had forgotten how lively young people could be. "Hphm. As if I could change the minds of someone so decided. I have no intention to fight you." Seneca approached the group who lowered their weapons and stare at him in confusion.

"What do you mean? Aren't you going to try and stop us or tell what you've heard to Nero?" Mash questioned him, not understanding the old man's intentions.

"No. Quite the opposite." The philosopher said. "I will help you to escape the palace."

Everyone got shocked and perplexed by what he had just said. The advisor,mentor and right arm of the emperor herself helping them escape?

"Do you really mean to help us?" Peko asked to Seneca confused.

"Yes I do." Seenca raised his hand, asking them to calm down. "Before any of you jump to hasty conclusions, allow me to explain." Seneca sat on a bed, being now looked by everyone of the Chaldea group.

"Explain then. And it better not be a trick." Ritsuka said, still suspecting of a possible trick that Seneca might try on them.

"To start, I'm a fool." Seneca said in scorn for himself. "Initially, when the problems started to appear on the empire some months ago, me and Nero tried to understand what was causing all of this to happen. At the time, her mental health was already deteriorating due to conspiracies of senators of trying to kill her so that they could achieve more power. Those attempts caused her to start a paranoia. Nero was always a very eccentric individual from the start, but also a cheerful and caring person for her people. She always had the population's best intrests at heart. Her mother, Agrippina, however, saw Nero as nothing more than a tool for her selfish and greedful purposes. She always influenced her child easily as a kid. She would be molded to suit her mother's intrests. But when I arrived to start mentoring the young emperor, Agrippina's influence on her started to weakened. So, in order to try and keep her strings on Nero, Agrippina would slowly poison her own child to make her easy to subdue." Seneca said the last part with sorrow, remembering of how cruel crime one could commit against it's own family.

"Wh-what kind of sick person would do that to her own child?" Nala said in shock. "That's not a mother! That's a monster!" She said revolted.

"Nala please calm down." Mash put an hand on the girl's shoulder. But she had to admit that hearing such thing would cause any justifiable anger. "Unfortunately that's how the history goes."

"I-Is it really?" Peko asked to Mash, in shock as well. He assumed that a mother was also like a father. Both were parents that should love and care for their children. So how could such terrible things like that be done by parents?

"It is Peko." Romani said to him. "Sometimes, children aren't fortunate enough to have actual decent parents to live with."

"But that's not every mother and father. Many still try their best and look out for their kids." Ritsuka said to Peko, trying to make the boy see that altough terrible parents existed, there was also good ones.

"You speak good words young man." Seneca told to Ritsuka, capturing everybodies attention again and wenting back to talk. "As I was saying, Agrippina would poison Nero in small quantaties to keep control on her. Whatever she ordered Nero to do, she would. Fortunately, I discovered it one day by caughting Agrippina poisoning Nero with my own eyes. Shortly after, we discovered of how much of a cruel and deplorable woman she was by using other people before to gain more power. She was immediatly sent to exile, mostly so on Nero's orders who had enough pity to not kill her own mother. She would die some years after, victim of her own schemes to try go back into power. Fitting end for such person if you ask me."

"Same here." Nala said, thinking that Nero's mother got the ending it deserved.

"After that, I tought the worst had already passed by. Oh, how wrong was I." Seneca shook his head. "Agrippina happened to also have acquaintances on the senate who also where in her organized scheme and wanted to dethrone Nero to claim the role of emperor for themselves. Almost everyday, assasstions would happen across the empire and many near Nero with some failed attempts being at her life. All of that because of men's greed. Despite that, she would still try to make her best and asure that everything was alright to the people while smiling. Eventually, we found out the conspirators among the senate and had them killed. But it was too late. Nero's paranoia had already started." Seneca said with a pain in his voice. "The senate was now smaller but with people of trust and good intention. However, if someone dared to critic Nero's flaws and way of ruling, she would believe they were also conspiring to kill her. And so, Nero would have them killed before they could kill her instead."

"The Roman Empire always had many assassinations throughout it's history. Nero must be living in that state of paranoia for quite some time now." Romani made that observation.

"Indeed. It came to a point where the remaning ones fled and never came back, afraid of Nero's lunacy. Only I remained. I couldn't bring myself to abandon her. I needed to be there to hold her back. But also because she would be lost wihtout no one to guide her. Nero is a happy and creative girl who's mind was corrupted by her own mother. She herself never wanted to cause all this harm. Now she loves the praise and attention that everyone in the empire gives her, because she sees it as a sign that people love her and are less suspicious to kill her. If one doesn't show support or love to Nero, she will assume that they plan to kill her. The constant fear of dying by someone close or be assassinated in her sleep drives her mad." Seneca explained. "And now that all these problems of christians, plague and United Roman Empire appeard, Nero's sanity is getting closer and closer to snap each day it passes. You might see her as a monster now and perhaps even after this. But for me, I see a girl that hasn't stopped being mentally tortured for years now."

"Then why are you deciding to help us now?" Ritsuka questioned the old man.

"Like I said before, I am a fool. When me and Nero saw the problem of the plague, we were trying to think on a solution until Nero proposed that we shouldn't worry about it too much. That it perhaps was just some normal disease. In reality, Nero didn't want to worry about two problems at the same time, since some people from Rome were starting to turn into christians, and Nero hated that since according to her, they wouldn't give her the attention she desperatly needs to feel safe. I went along because...my philosophy followed the path of being conformed with the pain. I tought, that it would eventually go away if I just learned how to live with it to the point of not bothering me anymore until it goes away. And also because I wanted to perserve Nero's sanity. Her mind with all of this can crack at any moment. Pressuring her isn't the best option. But during this last month, Nero has been growing more unhinged and her mental health gotten worse. The way she treats the civillians also has become more unhealthy. I'd blame that golden cup from speeding up the process. And this is the part that will probably catch your attention."

"What? The golden cup that she's always drinking on it? What that has to do with anything of this?" Mash asked to Seneca, wondering where the golden cup would fit in all of this.

Seneca made sure to answer that. "That golden cup that she's always holding in her hand and drinking, is actually the Holy Grail you are looking for."

By this time the group had been surprised and shocked a couple of times in a short time, and yet they were surprise and shocked once again.

"Now that explains that high signals of mana I was detecting when you've reached here for the first time! Nero detains the Holy Grail of this Singularity!" Romani exclaimed, thinking on how he himself didn't reached to that conclusion at the time.

"Listen Seneca! That grail is the cause for why the empire is like this!" Ritsuka explained to the old man. "It's problems and all of this chaos will be solved if we take it away from her and back to our time. Once we do that, everything in this specific time will go back to normal."

"Hm. I tought so." Seneca lowered his head. "The man who gave Nero the grail, is that mage you have been looking for. Lev Lainur was it? Some weeks before your arrival and shortly after the arrival of this plague, he appeard mysteriously at our doorstep, with the grail in hand. He told me and Nero that this grail contained huge power and magic to help us fight back our current situation. I myself was reluctant from believing in words of such equivocal stranger. Nero on the other hand, accepted almost in an instant, buying the man from the future's words. After that, he swore to help us fight an enemy from the United Roman Empire in the east and left us with the grail. Days after, she summoned the people that you call servants and formed into our army's generals"

"So you lied to us when you said you never met him." Peko said to Seneca with a dissapointed face.

"I wanted to believe that what the man was saying was truth. That the grail would indeed resolve all of this. Hence why me and Nero lied to you at the time. Now, I see that was a mistake. Nero's health has only went down ever since and the plague hasn't dissapeard. I acted more on my wish to see Nero happy than the overall happiness of Rome's people. Now I'm paying the price for it." Seneca then looked at Ritsuka and the group. "And it took me a couple of teens to admit that. I...want to change this situation while it's possible. You are people of good nature. I can feel that. You aren't like that Lev Lainur. You came here to help us." Seneca got up from the bed. "And so I'll help you in return."

Ritsuka smirked. "Glad to see that the wise man wasn't completely lost."

Seneca smiled back. "For a moment it was."

"Then why are we going to escape from Nero's palace if the grail is right here?" Nala asked. "We can resolve this Singularity already by going to grab it from her while she's sleeping now."

"I'm afraid that's not possible. Her bedroom is guarded by soldiers and those three servants you fight with at Mount Etna. Only I have permission to enter her bedroom and even then, she sleeps holding the grail tightly to her body. Trying to do that would be suicide." Seneca explained. "Those three if you know their stories, would never work under an emperor and yet they do for Nero. It's the grail that holds control on them and has long as Nero wields it, they'll obey her."

"So escaping the palace is really the only available option we have." Mash said.

"Then I better get back to work in order to scan this area's map." Romani told them.

"That won't be necessary my magic friend. I know a secret passage." Seneca told them as he went to open the door. "Follow me."

Believing that the old man was being truthful to them and really wanted to help the group, they followed him. Seneca guided them through some undeground tunnels underneath the palace, a place only the old philosopher knew about. After some minutes, they had finally exited just outside the palace and into a open field whith an unpaved road that would continue into the horizon, way far from Rome. Next to them, a carriage with two horses were waiting for them. Seneca helped them get inside the wodden carriage.

"These horses will get you out of Rome and lead you to a village near the sea. Once there, you must go to the port and get into a boat that you'll use it to reach Iberian Peninsula." Seneca instructed them.

"Iberian Peninsula?" Ritsuka asked confused, not remembering if he ever heard that place.

"The region where it's now modern day Spain and Portugal master." Mash explained to him. "But isn't that territory of the United Roman Empire?"

"Don't worry. The region has many empty areas with no presence of them. Make sure to stay in those areas and keep a low profile. Also, there you must find a woman named Boudica. She'll be a great first ally for you if you desire to solve this Singularity." Seneca told them, grabbing a scroll from his bag.

"Celeritas"

He threw the enchanted scroll at the two horses. "This will help you get to your destination more quickly."

"Wait. You aren't going with us too?" Peko asked to the old man, seeing that he hadn't got inside the carriage like the rest.

"I have to stay here. If I dissapear, Nero completely breaks and the city collapses all in the same day. I am what is holding all of this for now. My presence here is needed." Seneca said to the boy.

"Be careful then. If anything bad happens, try to tell us something." Nala told him.

"I will. I don't plan to die just yet despite of my age." The old man laugh. "But also, before you go, I want to tell you something Ritsuka."

"What is it?" He asked to Seneca, who immediatly grabbed the master of humanity's hand with both his hands.

"Thank you! Thank you so much for making me see how blinded I was until this moment!" Seneca said with guilt in his voice. "Throughout my whole life, I wanted to make sure to never act as an obtuse man. That I would serve it by teaching and educating the youngsters of the next generation. I always saw flaws in myself and everybody. My imperfect soul however, was too stubborn to admit this flaw that I had. In the end, I'm not a wise despite of what everyone says." Tears came to his eyes. "I'm nothing more than a senile who's moments of glory had already passed."

"And yet you still want to amend things." Ritsuka touched the old man's shoulder. "Not only that but you gave me good lessons that I want to value for life. Talking with you was a nice and expanding experience. A senile old man would have long lost it's ability to say such words and think in certain ways about life." Ritsuka smiled and comforted Seneca. "Doing mistakes is normal. You are just as human as I am, no matter the time or age. But that doesn't mean we can't still learn from each other. As a philosopher, you really deserve being called one!"

Seneca slowly cleaned the tears from his eyes and giggled. "An old man like me crying by a youngster's words. What a comedic scenario..." He then looked at Ritsuka with a friendly face and smile. "Thank you for appearing in my life. All of you. With such people like you, humanity's future is in good hands. Now head forth, my friends."

They all smiled to him. "I too enjoyed your company while it lasted, Seneca. Hope this can be a see you later instead." Ritsuka said goodbye to him like everyone else and the horses started to gallop into the horizon where the road lead. The moon was already hidding beneath one of the seven mounts of the city, welcoming a new day with a bright red-pink sky.

The Chaldea group now knew where the grail was and what they had to do. To clear this Singularity, they had to start a new quest now. Make new allies and let go of the old ones. To stop Nero's growing madness, the suffering from the empire and the restoration of this time period, they now had to go to the Iberian Peninsula, unknowing of what could await them there.

To be continued...

Chapter Text

DISCLAIMER: All the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author.

"Man...It's sure is hot in here." Ritsuka said while he and the rest of the group where now travessing the desert zones of Hispania. It's sun was shinning fiercely above them, with the area around having a very dry vegetation. No wonder why there wheren't many outposts of the United Roman Empire despite it being their territory. Spending hours in this climate would be a torture to anyone. The group was sitting on the wodden carriage, one different from the previous one they used to get out of Rome. The travel by boat was pleasurable and all, but this one was being pure tedium. They all hoped for a fresh breeze of air to come by and blew on their faces.

"For how much do we have to travel?" Nala asked, exhausted just like everyone else.

"Until we find some kind of woodland to stay." Mash replied to the girl. "There's no way we will be exposed to this sun in the open."

Hearing the answer, Nala lied back and sighed. "Then we better find one soon."

"Fou..." Fou who was sitting on Nala's lap also appeard to not support the heat, wishing for the same thing.

"We can still drink the water that we brought with us." Ritsuka smiled, trying to be optimistic.

"Master...We run out of water an hour ago." Mash told him, bringing him the unfortunate news.

"Then we just need to find some body of water and drink the from it." Ritsuka told the two. "Also, what are you trying to do Peko?" Ritsuka turned his head to look at the boy who was standing at the end of the carriage, doing something with his fingers while is back was turned to the group.

Peko was making handgun signs and pointing them at the horizon while inspecting them and slowly moving his thumb. He was so concentrated in what he was doing that he completely forgot Ritsuka had just asked him something. "Hmm..." The boy stared at his fingers. "I have to know how did the bullet went back and hit that woman Cleopatra." Peko tought before looking at the view in front of him. "But there's no object or anything in this area that I could shoot at to test it. Also it's risky to just shoot and the bullet come back all by itself, possibly hurting me or anyone at the back. Hmm, looks like I have-"

"Boo!" Nala suddenly went behind Peko and put her hands on his brother shoulders.

"Waah!" Being jumpscared by his sister, Peko lost his balance and fell to the ground behind. "T-That wasn't funny Nala! What if I had fallen from the carriage!?" The boy said angrily as he saw his sister laughing.

"But you didn't, did you?" Nala smirked. "So everything is alright in the end." She closed her eyes, still maintaining her smile.

"Youuu..." Peko hissed as he stood up. "You better watch your back from now on as I won't rest until I do the same to you!"

"Hehe, good luck with that." Nala sticked her tongue out, mocking her brother.

Ritsuka and Mash couldn't help but laugh aswell, with this sibling moment distracting them from the heat of the sun. And it was right in time as a blow of fresh air passed between their heads.

"Ah, feels better now." Mash commented as she made sure to enjoy the breeze while it lasted, with Fou putting himself on top of the shielder's head.

"Fou..." The creature also felt the air's embrace.

"Sure feels good." Ritsuka said looking at the sky. "But part of me wished that Seneca and the others would come with us too." He said sadly. "Running away just like that wihtout saying nothing to Jing Ke and the others feels...not correct."

"I know. But they are Nero's servants. There's no way we could bring them with us." Mash told to Ritsuka, altough feeling the same as him.

"Exactly. If we went to talk to them and try to make them join us, we would probably had to fight." Peko said as he and Nala sit back.

"I too didn't liked to go away without an explanation to them, but it was better that way." Nala said. "However, if we have to take the grail away from Nero, then expect for a fight with those three." Nala mentioned the possibility of having to face the Nero servants in the future.

"I wouldn't like to do it but if there's no way around it..." Mash said.

"Let's just focus on the present, okay?" Peko told them. "Meeting this woman named Boudica that Seneca told us about should be our top priority right now."

"Peko's right." Ritsuka said. "We should concentrate more in our next objective if we even want to restore this Singularity."

"Understood Ritsuka!" Nala responded.

"Aye master!" Mash replied too.

Nala then spotted something up ahead. She immediatly went to the front of the carriage to look better. "Oh! Hey, everyone! I see a forest up ahead!" She said while pointing to the treeline in front of them. Everyone went to see it.

"Good! Now we have a place to stay for the day!" Mash said with a smile.

A minute after, the carriage had finally entered the forest. It wasn't the same type of forest as the ones they saw in France but as long as it would keep the sun covered and give them a place to rest it was good. Walking a bit further into it, they decided it was a good place to stop the horses that had been pushing the carriage with them. The four exited the transport and put their feet on the ground, now thinking on setting their provisory accampment.

"My stomach is making noises..." Peko said, feeling the vibration from hunger in his stomach. "Do we still have food left?"

"I'm afraid that we will have to pick some food in the area." Mash told him. "Let's hope that the trees here have enough fruits."

"I'll go collect them then." Ritsuka said.

"I'll go with you!" Nala said to the master of humanity. "In case a monster attacks someone needs to be there to fend it off, right?"

"Yeah. You can come Nala." Ritsuka said as she happily went torwards him.

"Then I guess me and Mash will stay here preparing the accampment." Peko said.

"Be careful you two." Mash told to Ritsuka and Nala as they started to walk away.

"We will! Make sure you two are also safe!" Ritsuka responded back as he and Nala went to find some fruits.

"Aaaaaaaaaand there!" Nala stretched her arm in order to grab the apple from one of tree's branches as Ritsuka helped her by putting the girl's feet on his shoulders, helping Nala to reach for the apple. Once done, she descended back to the ground.

"Good job Nala." Ritsuka said as he moved his shoulders.

"Do you think we already have enough?" The white haired girl asked to Ritsuka who proceeded to look at an improvised basket they made.

"It's almost full. So I'd say we grabbed enough already." Ritsuka said.

Nala slowly rised her eyebrow. "Enough to make an apple pie?" She asked.

"Well, I myself am more of a cherrie pie fan." Ritsuka smiled at her.

"Does it tastes better than an apple pie?" Nala asked him again.

"I'd say both are good but I personally prefer apple pie." Ritsuka answered.

"Wow. How many variations of pies there can be?" Nala speculated in amazment.

"There's also a strawberry pie." Ritsuka smirked, knowing he had picked her interest even more.