"Have you seen that light too?" Ina asked frightened.
Alessandro was preparing to leave and, seeing the girl cross the threshold of the house with that agitated way of doing, he worried. Since they had arrived in Adocentyn, the tension had skyrocketed without ever giving the boy a break. He felt constantly under pressure and Ina's reactions only increased the load on his shoulders.
"Did something happen to you?" Alessandro asked, hiding his anxiety.
"No, no... it's just that... that light... sorry, I'm not the only one who saw it, right?"
"No, but it didn't seem dangerous to me," Alessandro replied, continuing to put some food in his backpack.
Alessandro was preparing to leave and, seeing the girl cross the threshold of the house with that agitated way of doing, he worried. Since they had arrived in Adocentyn, the tension had skyrocketed without ever giving the boy a break. He felt constantly under pressure and Ina's reactions only increased the load on his shoulders.
"Did something happen to you?" Alessandro asked, hiding his anxiety.
"No, no... it's just that... that light... sorry, I'm not the only one who saw it, right?"
"No, but it didn't seem dangerous to me," Alessandro replied, continuing to put some food in his backpack.
"Sorry if I ask you... but... um... are you okay? You seem a bit too... calm."
"I'm trying not to get emotional, that's all. You should do it too. Getting scared of every single thing won't help you—" He stopped. He realized that he was being too rude. "I mean, you're right to be cautious, but... don't let your emotions control you."
"I'm sorry," she said, lowering her eyes. "I'm sorry, really… it's just that it's all so difficult and I don't know what to do or how to behave. I don't know what's normal and what's not."
"I understand that," he said, smiling. "I don't expect you to be a rock, on the contrary— forget it. Now we just have to find a way out."
"Do you think there is one?"
"There must be."
Caesar appeared and, with a regal attitude, sat down on the table and, crossing her legs, stated:
"So, Comrade, are you going to tell me what your plan is or not?"
"I'm trying not to get emotional, that's all. You should do it too. Getting scared of every single thing won't help you—" He stopped. He realized that he was being too rude. "I mean, you're right to be cautious, but... don't let your emotions control you."
"I'm sorry," she said, lowering her eyes. "I'm sorry, really… it's just that it's all so difficult and I don't know what to do or how to behave. I don't know what's normal and what's not."
"I understand that," he said, smiling. "I don't expect you to be a rock, on the contrary— forget it. Now we just have to find a way out."
"Do you think there is one?"
"There must be."
Caesar appeared and, with a regal attitude, sat down on the table and, crossing her legs, stated:
"So, Comrade, are you going to tell me what your plan is or not?"
"What do you say, Caesar? You'll already have an idea about this place..." he put his backpack on his shoulder.
"Mm... well, there is nothing that I'm particularly familiar with in this city, perhaps there are some exceptions but in general I've never seen anything like it. I've to commend the people who designed the city, seriously, it looks like a real labyrinth."
"Is this a good thing or a bad thing for you?"
"It depends. It can be used to our advantage, but it can also be our biggest drawback. In war, every terrain hides its pitfalls... however I believe that in this specific case everything is much more complicated. We're not in a natural place or even in a common city, this is the wolf's lair—"
Octavian appeared. "Or the house of a deity. I saw the light my Master was talking about, I have never witnessed anything like it in my entire life. I felt a strong magical energy. Probably our enemy has powers—"
"My Little Octavian, listen," Caesar said, "could you, please, keep superstitions out of this conversation? There is no divinity, it's just a magus."
"Have you seen the light, mom? That light is proof that there are divine powers at play."
"You know perfectly well that there are forms of magic that disguise themselves very well. There is nothing divine."
Ina, confused by Caesar's words, intervened in the least hostile way possible and asked:
"But... do you believe in gods?"
"Of course," she said, shrugging. "I believe in divinities, I myself am descended from them. However, I am not superstitious and I don't believe that gods can always be involved in mortal matters. They have no interest in our affairs."
"However," Octavian interjected, "the gods can do whatever they want and most likely have given our enemy miraculous powers."
"Be calm," Alessandro said, "there's nothing to fear. I know Adocentyn very well. In the 'Picatrix' it is said that there were lights that illuminated the city like the one you have just seen. It's not a dangerous thing and divinities are not involved."
Caesar, hearing the words of the Master, raised a triumphant smile and, kissing his cheek, said:
"The advantages of having a comrade who has the head of a sage."
Ina, however, was still not convinced and asked skeptically: "And, sorry, what do you think it is? Some sort of... er... lighthouse?"
"I can't say exactly," Alessandro replied. "Probably its purpose was to catalyze the power of the stars or something. Its exact function is never described in the 'Picatrix'. So, let's try not to get upset, okay?"
"I'm sorry, it's just that..."
"Don't worry, Ina, everything is fine."
The two Servants immediately noticed the way Alessandro looked at the girl. Caesar was the first to make a comment and accompanied it with a shrewd smile:
"You worry so much about the young girl, huh?"
"What...?"
Then Octavian arrived and, embracing the boy in a masculine way, stated:
"Good boy! Every good Roman has to take care of women. My sweet and fragile Master can receive all the romantic and physical love you have."
"Huh?!" Alessandro was stunned.
"Haha! Right, absolutely right!" Caesar exclaimed, clinging to the boy's arm. "You're going to do a lot of oriental filth with her, aren't you? I like it. Will you do it like the Egyptians? Uuh, I love the prostitutes of Egypt..."
"No, no! No prostitutes," Octavian said solemnly. "He will marry her and be a faithful husband until her death. Better to put a stop to lust."
Caesar opened her eyes wide in amazement. It was as if she had just seen a ghost.
"My Little Octavian dear, what are you saying? You sound like Cicero!"
"I'm just saying that when this guy makes my Master a woman, she and he will be destined to be together forever—"
"That's a possibility, but he can always fuck her and then move on to the next one and then the one after and then—"
"But it makes no sense to live in lust! We must respect the customs of Ro—"
"But by the balls of Jupiter! I get a headache just hearing you speak, my Little Octavian!"
Alessandro saw Ina turn red as a pepper, she seemed to be about to explode and she was hiding behind her scarf. The boy sighed and, annoyed by the immaturity of the two Servants, exclaimed aloud:
"Enough. Both. Can you avoid do the babies? We have a war to fight and we can't waste time with these games."
The boy walked away from the Servants and collected the last things for departure. Caesar didn't take it personally, she had got used to the reproaches of her Master, but Octavian, wounded in his imperial pride, stood before Alessandro and asked:
"I see you're good at raising your voice to an emperor, but you haven't been smart enough to explain why we're still here. We took a long time to leave this... modest house and you didn't tell us why."
"Caution," he replied in cold blood.
Alessandro proceeded towards the exit.
"Yesterday my poor Master had to repeat that strange practice of the Orientals because of your 'caution'."
Ina exclaimed promptly, "No… wait… no-don't make it sound like a problem. It wasn't, I swear!"
The boy sighed. "It doesn't matter, now is the time to go. For safety, I would advise both of you to disappear in order to save us magical energy and also to have a strategic advantage."
When the house was abandoned, the boy began to wonder how right it was to act as a shield to Ina. Part of him was aware that he was acting quite selfishly, but what else could he do? He knew he was responsible for Ina's condition. It was he who had unwittingly dragged her into the Holy Grail War and he couldn't afford to let her die.
Alessandro and Ina walked side by side and she tended to be very close to him, it was clear that she was afraid and also extremely fragile. He sighed, not out of annoyance but out of anxiety; he was afraid of losing her... he was afraid of not being able to protect her from Vergil. Her eyes were always turned downward, her simpler movements wore a submissiveness that unleashed a strong pain in him.
"I understand my limits..." Ina murmured. "But I promise you I'll get better."
"Why?" he asked heartbroken. "Why do you want to improve? To do what? You have too many connections with your human life, you're not fit to be a magus. Look at what happened to your aunt... do you want it to happen to the rest of your family too? I bet you have parents you love, I don't think you want to give up everything just for—"
"Be with you...?"
There was a prolonged moment of silence. The two looked into each other's eyes. The bewilderment was painted on Alessandro's gaze. The girl later realized that she had spoken too freely and she, taken by agitation, exclaimed:
"Sorry, forget it. I was just—"
"Don't ever say that again," he said gravely. "There's no reason to be with me."
"But—"
"Ina," he said the name with two reproachful eyes. "Don't do it."
At the first corner, Alessandro had the impression of hearing footsteps coming from behind a building. He sensed some magical energy and stopped Ina. The boy snapped his fingers and exclaimed:
"Adversarium Ferio."
The magical push destroyed the door of a building, crushing the wall as well. The two Servants appeared and prepared for battle.
Alessandro looked around in search of the enemy, but there was no one. Ina, who was behind the boy, had the impression of seeing movement and exclaimed:
"Over there!"
Alessandro immediately turned and prepared to use yet another Magecraft, but Henry Allison's blade was already a spit from his throat. Caesar's intervention was lightning-fast, the two swords collided. Henry jumped away, Caesar followed him and her attack collided with an invisible magical barrier.
"What devilry is this?!"
"Saber, get away!" Alessandro exclaimed.
"Why?"
"There's no need to fight this guy, he's not a Servant and he's not even a Master."
"Wai—what?! So what is he doing here?" Caesar asked confused.
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." He turned to his assailant: "Who are you?"
"Henry. Henry Allison. Nice to meet you, magus. How did you manage to understand that I'm not a Master?"
"The sword and your magical energy. The first is a bit too barbaric for a magus, the second is so low that you wouldn't even know how to throw a fireball. You have just 50 Magic Circuits, the minimum."
"You're good, buddy. Maybe you belong to the Coven? Only those of the Coven are able to perceive the exact number of Magic Circuits."
"Do you work for them or ...?" he asked confused.
"No, my job is to hunt people like you. I kill the magi for a fee—"
"A magus bounty hunter? A friend of Murakawa Tetsuya, perhaps?"
"Tetsuya...? Mm ... that name is not new to me, you know? Who are you?"
"Alessandro Serpi."
"Serpi? Did you take part in the Holy Grail War of Yggdrasil that took place in London? "
He didn't answer.
"I'll take it as a 'yes'. So, buddy, I hope you are ready to fight."
"You don't have to do that, do you know that? I don't want to kill anyone."
"It means that it will be easier for me—"
"However, I will hurt you if you don't leave. Give up while you can, Henry."
"I don't think I will." Henry pointed his sword at Alessandro. "This is a matter of business. I have to kill you magi and I will, whatever the cost."
"Fine." Alessandro took off his backpack and threw it on the ground. "Then I'll hurt you."
"Mm... well, there is nothing that I'm particularly familiar with in this city, perhaps there are some exceptions but in general I've never seen anything like it. I've to commend the people who designed the city, seriously, it looks like a real labyrinth."
"Is this a good thing or a bad thing for you?"
"It depends. It can be used to our advantage, but it can also be our biggest drawback. In war, every terrain hides its pitfalls... however I believe that in this specific case everything is much more complicated. We're not in a natural place or even in a common city, this is the wolf's lair—"
Octavian appeared. "Or the house of a deity. I saw the light my Master was talking about, I have never witnessed anything like it in my entire life. I felt a strong magical energy. Probably our enemy has powers—"
"My Little Octavian, listen," Caesar said, "could you, please, keep superstitions out of this conversation? There is no divinity, it's just a magus."
"Have you seen the light, mom? That light is proof that there are divine powers at play."
"You know perfectly well that there are forms of magic that disguise themselves very well. There is nothing divine."
Ina, confused by Caesar's words, intervened in the least hostile way possible and asked:
"But... do you believe in gods?"
"Of course," she said, shrugging. "I believe in divinities, I myself am descended from them. However, I am not superstitious and I don't believe that gods can always be involved in mortal matters. They have no interest in our affairs."
"However," Octavian interjected, "the gods can do whatever they want and most likely have given our enemy miraculous powers."
"Be calm," Alessandro said, "there's nothing to fear. I know Adocentyn very well. In the 'Picatrix' it is said that there were lights that illuminated the city like the one you have just seen. It's not a dangerous thing and divinities are not involved."
Caesar, hearing the words of the Master, raised a triumphant smile and, kissing his cheek, said:
"The advantages of having a comrade who has the head of a sage."
Ina, however, was still not convinced and asked skeptically: "And, sorry, what do you think it is? Some sort of... er... lighthouse?"
"I can't say exactly," Alessandro replied. "Probably its purpose was to catalyze the power of the stars or something. Its exact function is never described in the 'Picatrix'. So, let's try not to get upset, okay?"
"I'm sorry, it's just that..."
"Don't worry, Ina, everything is fine."
The two Servants immediately noticed the way Alessandro looked at the girl. Caesar was the first to make a comment and accompanied it with a shrewd smile:
"You worry so much about the young girl, huh?"
"What...?"
Then Octavian arrived and, embracing the boy in a masculine way, stated:
"Good boy! Every good Roman has to take care of women. My sweet and fragile Master can receive all the romantic and physical love you have."
"Huh?!" Alessandro was stunned.
"Haha! Right, absolutely right!" Caesar exclaimed, clinging to the boy's arm. "You're going to do a lot of oriental filth with her, aren't you? I like it. Will you do it like the Egyptians? Uuh, I love the prostitutes of Egypt..."
"No, no! No prostitutes," Octavian said solemnly. "He will marry her and be a faithful husband until her death. Better to put a stop to lust."
Caesar opened her eyes wide in amazement. It was as if she had just seen a ghost.
"My Little Octavian dear, what are you saying? You sound like Cicero!"
"I'm just saying that when this guy makes my Master a woman, she and he will be destined to be together forever—"
"That's a possibility, but he can always fuck her and then move on to the next one and then the one after and then—"
"But it makes no sense to live in lust! We must respect the customs of Ro—"
"But by the balls of Jupiter! I get a headache just hearing you speak, my Little Octavian!"
Alessandro saw Ina turn red as a pepper, she seemed to be about to explode and she was hiding behind her scarf. The boy sighed and, annoyed by the immaturity of the two Servants, exclaimed aloud:
"Enough. Both. Can you avoid do the babies? We have a war to fight and we can't waste time with these games."
The boy walked away from the Servants and collected the last things for departure. Caesar didn't take it personally, she had got used to the reproaches of her Master, but Octavian, wounded in his imperial pride, stood before Alessandro and asked:
"I see you're good at raising your voice to an emperor, but you haven't been smart enough to explain why we're still here. We took a long time to leave this... modest house and you didn't tell us why."
"Caution," he replied in cold blood.
Alessandro proceeded towards the exit.
"Yesterday my poor Master had to repeat that strange practice of the Orientals because of your 'caution'."
Ina exclaimed promptly, "No… wait… no-don't make it sound like a problem. It wasn't, I swear!"
The boy sighed. "It doesn't matter, now is the time to go. For safety, I would advise both of you to disappear in order to save us magical energy and also to have a strategic advantage."
When the house was abandoned, the boy began to wonder how right it was to act as a shield to Ina. Part of him was aware that he was acting quite selfishly, but what else could he do? He knew he was responsible for Ina's condition. It was he who had unwittingly dragged her into the Holy Grail War and he couldn't afford to let her die.
Alessandro and Ina walked side by side and she tended to be very close to him, it was clear that she was afraid and also extremely fragile. He sighed, not out of annoyance but out of anxiety; he was afraid of losing her... he was afraid of not being able to protect her from Vergil. Her eyes were always turned downward, her simpler movements wore a submissiveness that unleashed a strong pain in him.
"I understand my limits..." Ina murmured. "But I promise you I'll get better."
"Why?" he asked heartbroken. "Why do you want to improve? To do what? You have too many connections with your human life, you're not fit to be a magus. Look at what happened to your aunt... do you want it to happen to the rest of your family too? I bet you have parents you love, I don't think you want to give up everything just for—"
"Be with you...?"
There was a prolonged moment of silence. The two looked into each other's eyes. The bewilderment was painted on Alessandro's gaze. The girl later realized that she had spoken too freely and she, taken by agitation, exclaimed:
"Sorry, forget it. I was just—"
"Don't ever say that again," he said gravely. "There's no reason to be with me."
"But—"
"Ina," he said the name with two reproachful eyes. "Don't do it."
At the first corner, Alessandro had the impression of hearing footsteps coming from behind a building. He sensed some magical energy and stopped Ina. The boy snapped his fingers and exclaimed:
"Adversarium Ferio."
The magical push destroyed the door of a building, crushing the wall as well. The two Servants appeared and prepared for battle.
Alessandro looked around in search of the enemy, but there was no one. Ina, who was behind the boy, had the impression of seeing movement and exclaimed:
"Over there!"
Alessandro immediately turned and prepared to use yet another Magecraft, but Henry Allison's blade was already a spit from his throat. Caesar's intervention was lightning-fast, the two swords collided. Henry jumped away, Caesar followed him and her attack collided with an invisible magical barrier.
"What devilry is this?!"
"Saber, get away!" Alessandro exclaimed.
"Why?"
"There's no need to fight this guy, he's not a Servant and he's not even a Master."
"Wai—what?! So what is he doing here?" Caesar asked confused.
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." He turned to his assailant: "Who are you?"
"Henry. Henry Allison. Nice to meet you, magus. How did you manage to understand that I'm not a Master?"
"The sword and your magical energy. The first is a bit too barbaric for a magus, the second is so low that you wouldn't even know how to throw a fireball. You have just 50 Magic Circuits, the minimum."
"You're good, buddy. Maybe you belong to the Coven? Only those of the Coven are able to perceive the exact number of Magic Circuits."
"Do you work for them or ...?" he asked confused.
"No, my job is to hunt people like you. I kill the magi for a fee—"
"A magus bounty hunter? A friend of Murakawa Tetsuya, perhaps?"
"Tetsuya...? Mm ... that name is not new to me, you know? Who are you?"
"Alessandro Serpi."
"Serpi? Did you take part in the Holy Grail War of Yggdrasil that took place in London? "
He didn't answer.
"I'll take it as a 'yes'. So, buddy, I hope you are ready to fight."
"You don't have to do that, do you know that? I don't want to kill anyone."
"It means that it will be easier for me—"
"However, I will hurt you if you don't leave. Give up while you can, Henry."
"I don't think I will." Henry pointed his sword at Alessandro. "This is a matter of business. I have to kill you magi and I will, whatever the cost."
"Fine." Alessandro took off his backpack and threw it on the ground. "Then I'll hurt you."
 | |
| 'To protect what's fragile' by BikoWolf | |
Do you want to know the story of Fate/Yggdrasil? Click here to download the whole story!
