The sun was gradually setting, orange rays bathing the countryside in warm light. The night sky was starting to make itself known in the furthest fringes of daylight, the stars glittering faintly. All in all, it had been a peaceful day. Unfortunately, the day’s march had been stolen from the Chaldeans. Ren hadn’t woken up the whole day, his condition at times fluctuating. Roman had been sending various medical supplies via rayshift and instructing others to care for him as necessary. There was still brain activity, thankfully, so Ren wasn’t in a coma or braindead. It was just a waiting game at this point.
Mash had taken turns running patrols or maintaining a vigil alongside Morgana over Ren throughout the day. Saber had come over to relieve her, however. As dedicated as she was, she was still a demi-Servant, and more liable to tire out than the others. Now she was at the campfire, staring at an MRE. She knew she should eat but didn’t feel all that hungry overall. She still worried for Ren. He had been pushing himself to greater and greater extremes with his gift. They were potent, but incredibly draining, and every mage knew that reckless usage of magecraft was flirting with death, if not outright suicidal.
She still remembered the curry and coffee Ren had made. They had only been out in France a few nights but she missed them. He seemed to always have a certain touch and skill to it that the automatic chefs just couldn’t replicate (and she tested it once or twice). And she saw Ren with Archer as well, learning new dishes. Archer seemed impressed with how deftly Ren handled various ingredients after a bit of teaching and how quickly he learned the recipes.
The omurice he had made was delicious, the only flaw being that the yolk was a bit less runny than it was supposed to be, according to Ren. Archer in turn simply told him that it was more than good enough for a first timer.
Sighing, she opened the pack and popped her meal and the flameless ration heater into a small sleeve before pouring a bit of water into it, then tucking it into a heat-insulated outer sleeve and setting it on a rock. It was supposed to be a spaghetti with meat sauce, though it was hardly as flavorful as the actual dish. It was serviceable enough though – they were supposed to be field rations, not high cuisine. There was an MRE pack of Asian style beef strips with peppers sitting on the side. Once Ren woke up, he would get that one ready for him. He might appreciate something a bit more familiar.
“Oh? It’s good to see you finally eating, Miss Kyrielight.”
Blinking, Mash looked over to see the smiling Mozart walking towards her. “Er, yes,” she stammered. “I have to be nourished and energized so that I might be ready for action at any time. I’m sorry for worrying you and the others about my lack of care. It won’t happen again.”
The composer easily waved it off. “Oh pish posh, you need not address those apologies to me,” he said. “I’m merely a musician – one of the best, in fact – not some military commander. But even if I were, I would say that your actions are hardly unreasonable and unsporting.” He sat down next to the fire as well, perpendicular to Mash, and glanced over at her. “After all, a young maiden in love rarely acts rationally. If anything, compared to others I’ve seen, you are the very model of rationality.”
Mash immediately spluttered, her face turning into the hue of a tomato. “M-Maiden in l-l-love?!” she stuttered out.
Mozart burst out laughing. “Ah, such precious, innocent love and youth!” he exclaimed happily. “Ah, rare is it to hear such a sweet melody. Fret not, Ms. Kyrielight. I only mean it in some jest and concern. I’ve had my share of loves myself, of course.”
“You have?” the shielder asked, blinking.
The musical Servant smiled fondly, recalling the memories. “Oh yes,” he replied. “Have you heard that once, I proposed to Marie when we were but children? I was six at the time I believe. I had just fallen down and was about to pick myself up, when Marie offered to help me up. She was radiant and beautiful, just like an angel. I said… I said… what did I say…?” He closed his eyes in thought then snapped his fingers. “Ah yes,” he exclaimed. “‘Thank you, nice lady. My name is Amadeus. If a beautiful lady like you has no fiancé yet, could I be your first one?’”
Mash’s eyes widened as she leaned forward in interest. “And what did she say?” she asked.
“Why, she rejected it, of course!” he responded, laughing. “As a princess, she had no say in who she could marry, no matter how our affections would’ve burned for one another.” His laughter dwindled down as he smiled wistfully at the fire. “And no matter what loves I would’ve gained, what friends I made, what bliss I would’ve found, I would’ve traded my life for music all over again. The kind of scum who would discard all manners of human virtue. And thus, here I stand as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – or sit, rather.” He chuckled a bit at his own joke.
The Chaldean girl considered his words. “Do… do you still love her? Marie?” she asked tentatively.
Mozart’s eyes flicked over with a gentle smile. “I love her, but not in love with her, Ms. Kyrielight,” he responded quietly. “I have no more passion for her. She was merely a special divergence in my fate. My soul would’ve been committed to music one way or another. However,” His smile widened a bit. “If there was someone who could change my fate, I think it would’ve been her. She certainly has the strength and will to do such a thing, no? Much like you and Ren over there.”
Mash’s eyes widened as she glanced over at the cave entrance nearby. Mozart easily followed her gaze and nodded. “He is a most intriguing individual,” he mused. “Ren is like a concerto, his notes and melody wild yet steady. But a concerto is hollow without the accompaniment, and he is sadly missing his.” He sighed. “But I will admit, I am not the greatest judge or aid to people. I am a composer and musician – no more, and certainly no less.”
The shielder gazed down upon the ground. “Senpai is… different,” she murmured. She had to organize her scattered, muddled thoughts. “He saw more of the outside world than I ever have, so I wanted to know what it was like. I hadn’t assumed he was a magus – merely a Master candidate. Then he begins to utilize magecraft that we’ve not seen or heard of before, with power rivaling that of Servants. And our Lancer had said that he was experienced. Like he has seen all this before. And senpai… senpai confirmed it. He even said it wasn’t his first or second time.”
She sighed. “I know I don’t know senpai well,” she continued. “But he feels far different than any person or magus, even in Chaldea. He seems afraid yet is more tired than anything else. He smiles in the day but cries during the night.” She had heard him quietly crying when they camped a few nights ago. It had taken all her instincts to not rush to his side. She bit her lip nervously. “I’m supposed to protect senpai, yet he’s already far beyond me in experience and strength. Despite everything, he still trusts me and relies on me but…”
Mash squeezed her eyes shut, a few tears spilling forth. “I don’t know if I’m worthy or even able to stand by his side,” she gasped out. “If you called me a maiden in love, then… is this love pure? Even if I’m so weak and might end up being a liability?”
Mozart said nothing, hearing the girl before him spill her heart out. Instead of answering directly, he nodded over to her MRE. “I believe your dinner’s getting cold,” he notified her. The shielder blinked through teary eyes, startled out of her reverie. She slowly took the sleeve and slid out the little packet of food, settling her hiccups as she took a plastic spoon and quietly ate. A few bites helped settle her mood somewhat.
“Simply because something isn’t pure doesn’t mean it’s not beautiful in its own right,” the composer said, looking up the darkening sky. “Humans are ultimately filthy things after all. Music is beautiful, yet it is composed by those same humans. Perhaps it would be a blessing for something to be utterly pure… or a curse. Unable to grasp the minutia of notes, beats, and melodies, the grandiosity of the concert.” He looked over at Mash. “I do not think that you need to concern yourself overmuch, Ms. Kyrielight,” he reassured her. “Your concerto has only just begun. Your accompaniment will follow soon enough. What symphonies will you and Ren play together? I must admit, I am more than tickled to find out.”
Mash blinked in surprise at the Caster’s words. Her trust wasn’t pure and she wasn’t free of doubt… and that was okay? She mused as she took another bite. Her duty was to protect her Master. That hadn’t changed whatsoever. He may be able to fight on a level she hadn’t expected, but he still needed someone to watch his back when Morgana wasn’t available. If so, then she would do her duty. And she would get stronger to do so. Mozart was right. Things had only just started. She couldn’t get discouraged.
Ren still trusted her, after all.
Then there was a rustling. Her eyes shot up to see Mozart struggling with the other MRE package. The one she had been saving for senpai. “Confound it, how do these blasted modern confections-!” he growled out. Then he yelped as it tore open, with everything flying into the air.
Or maybe she should take slightly less stock in Mozart’s wisdom.
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Morgana sat glaring at the phone. He had taken it from Ren’s unconscious form and unlocked it – a rather simple feat given that he had seen him unlock it countless times. The Metaverse app had been opened and he had been trying to puzzle through it. It was easy and intuitive enough to use: It required a name, a place, and the distortion. Currently saved was Archer’s – respectively, ‘Shirou Emiya, ‘The world’, and ‘Unlimited Blade Works.’ The map portion was blank, however. That wasn’t too surprising – there wasn’t exactly a GPS to beam a map to the phone, after all.
During this time, however, he had decided to see if he could find a Palace among the Servants. He started with Chevalier D’Eon. However, no match came up for the fencer. Whatever was going on with D’Eon wasn’t a distorted desire, then. But still, that made things frustrating. And thinking about it, they really didn’t know much about the other Servants. They had been far too busy fighting for their lives than asking for names or trying to identify them. He decided on a lark to try another Servant: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Candidate Found.
The catlike Master’s eyes widened as he immediately looked around fearfully. It was just him and Ren at the cave. Everyone else was either out patrolling or keeping watch. He breathed a small sigh of relief that no one else heard it. So that clinched it. Servants could have Palaces, not just ones with reality marbles. Though the way Roman acted, reality marbles didn’t seem to be a common thing either. That was his hunch anyway. He’d have to ask and make sure later.
Still, he decided to discard Mozart for now. There wasn’t any point in delving into Palaces belonging to their allies. If anything, he needed to have a very long talk with Ren about how to approach this situation. Distorted desires may be found in humanity, but it wasn’t their job as Phantom Thieves to deal with every single one of them. No, that wasn’t their purpose. They were meant to take down those that couldn’t be dealt with more ordinary means and bring hope to everyone else.
And besides, people could change. Distorted desires could be removed naturally. Wasn’t that what they did with Sae, after all?
But now he had a new conundrum. It was clear that the source of all this trouble would be that doppelganger. If they could change her heart, it would most likely result in a chain reaction that would lead to them being able to deal with her and secure the Grail. And he had absolutely no doubt someone with that amount of rage had twisted desires and a Palace.
So theoretically, it was simple: They would lock onto her Palace, infiltrate it, and do what they always did. They would definitely bring their Servants along though – he wasn’t about to disregard Lavenza’s warning about a Servan’t Palace being far more dangerous than anything they’ve done before.
However, he was already falling flat at step one: The name. ‘Jeanne d’Arc’ obviously yielded no results. The saint herself held no twisted or distorted desires. Neither did ‘Joan of Arc’. He tried ‘doppelganger Jeanne’ or ‘fake Jeanne’ or ‘The Dragon Witch’ or some variation thereof. None of them yielded results. The cool woman’s voice only kept repeating ‘No candidate found’ like a broken record. He even took to yelling out some curses and unflattering names about the doppelganger, hoping that SOMETHING would stick. But it hadn’t. The Metaverse app remained as blank as ever.
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Sitting down with a huff, he hit the power button on the phone to close it to sleep mode. Ren’s phone still had plenty of power but that didn’t mean he wanted to waste it, especially when he had nothing to show for it. He was stuck on ideas. He would have to get a pencil and a notepad sent to him so he could brainstorm a bit.
“I can see you are troubled.”
Morgana nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden voice. Placing a paw on his chest to still his heart, he looked over to see Siegfried walking in. “Jeez,” he gasped. “You know, for someone as large as you and in full armor, you can be rather quiet when you want to be.”
Siegfried gave a rueful smile. “My apologies. I did not mean to surprise you.” He sat down in front of Morgana on the opposite side of the cave. Glancing over at Ren, he asked, “How is his condition?”
The catlike being’s eyes followed Siegfried’s gaze and sighed. “Still recovering,” he replied dejectedly. “Roman said that he hasn’t shown any signs of worsening so it’s likely he’s just sleeping it off at this point. I encourage him to get good sleep all the time but from this…” He shook his head. “This is the worst I’ve ever seen him.”
The dragonslayer raised an eyebrow. “You’ve seen him in other states?” he inquired.
Morgana froze for a second at what he let slip, then sagged in resignation. Well, the (figurative) cat’s already been out of the bag for a while. “Yeah,” he admitted. “I’ve been with him through thick and thin. He’s had it pretty rough, to be honest, more than most other people. But this… well, this is beyond almost anyone. I’m here supporting him as best I can, but then he goes and acts like an idiot!”
He mussed up his head in frustration. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do here! I’m supposed to support him but here I am, unable to do a thing! It’s…! It’s…!” In lieu of finishing his sentence, he simply covered his mouth with his paws and let out a muffled scream.
Siegfried nodded sympathetically. “It is indeed frustrating when one doesn’t have the capability to render aid,” he murmured, glancing at the unconscious Master. “At the very least, he has proven to be a very noble soul. Of that, there is no doubt. And I owe you and Ren my life. Should you require me to lay my life and sword down for you, I shall do so without hesitation.”
Sighing, Morgana waved it off. “Cut it out, we don’t ask others to sacrifice themselves for us,” he replied wearily. “For us, we stick together no matter what. At least, that’s what we all promised each other. But…” He clenched his small paws. “But it’s just us now. Ren knows it all too well. I know it too. All our friends and family. He’s…” He let out a small gasp as his eyes watered.
“He’s all I have left…”
The Saber looked unsure of what to do. He quietly got up and sat down closer to Morgana, reaching up with a gauntleted hand to pet him. Morgana froze momentarily at the touch, then closed his eyes as he involuntarily began purring. “You know it’s not proper to pet a cat while wearing a gauntlet, right?” he snarked, grateful regardless he managed to distract him for now.
Chuckling, Siegfried replied, “My apologies. I’ll be sure to do so next time.” He glanced over at the phone that lay near Morgana. “What were you doing with that device, may I ask?”
Morgana blinked and looked over. “Oh, that?” he asked. He sighed as he activated the phone and unlocked it again. “This is the Metaverse app. It’s how Ren and I get into the cognitive world,” he explained. “It’s surprisingly easy to use. We just need the name of our target, the location, and the distortion – basically what they see that location as. I’ve been trying to use it for the Jeanne doppelganger but it’s not popping up for her. Jeanne doesn’t have a Palace, obviously, and I can’t find the right keywords to get to it.”
Siegfried blinked at the explanation and reached over to grab the phone. He glanced over at Morgana. “May I?” he asked. Morgana nodded and the dragonslayer took the device delicately, looking at the little interface. He had no experience with modern devices, admittedly, and the Grail didn’t fill him in with knowledge of how to utilize them. He quietly breathed out as he tried to consider. “Hrm, perhaps…” he mused.
“What, have you got something?” Morgana asked curiously.
“Of a sort,” Siegfried admitted, handing the phone back to Morgana. “As you can guess, certain Servants are not normal. Sometimes they are a different representation of who they were, or perhaps a being that had been tainted by outside forces. Often, they’re placed in a different class entirely. Most of the time, it matters little if we call them by their original names as their original counterparts aren’t here but not in this case.”
Morgana frowned. “Okay, but the original’s here, so what do we do now?” he asked impatiently.
The dragonslayer took a moment before responding. “I’m not sure if this will be of any aid but… we tend to call those kinds of Servants Alters,” he explained. “Named so because they are the same Servants as their original counterparts, just altered in some way. Perhaps this doppelganger is an Alter?”
The catlike Master shook his head confusedly. “So… what do I call her then?” he asked, flabbergasted. “Alter Jeanne d’Arc? Or Jeanne d’Arc Alter or what?”
Candidate found.
Both of them froze and glanced at the phone. The name ‘Jeanne d’Arc Alter’ had registered with the Metaverse app. Morgana quickly picked it up, staring at the name like it was a Grail itself. “We got a hit!” he breathed. “Now all we need is a place and a distortion!”
Siegfried nodded in understanding. At the very least, knowledge of Servants had been granted to him through the Throne of Heroes upon his summoning. “Perhaps the place of her birth, then Domremy?” The app responded negatively. “Hrm, perhaps the site of her execution, then? Rouen?” Again, the app responded negatively, causing him to frown once more. It seemed neither location was the right one.
“Well, maybe it’s city that the doppelganger first destroyed?” Morgana suggested. “She seemed to have a heavy grudge against it. What was it? Orleans?”
Candidate found.
They both looked down at the phone as the place was registered. Morgana gulped. Of course it would be there. And as far as they knew, it was also there that doppelganger had her base of operations. This wasn’t like a Palace in the past where they could just walk right up to it. Here, it was in the heart of enemy territory. In order to enter her Palace, they would basically be going right up to her doorstep. They could possibly enter the Metaverse and just make their way over, but he had no idea just how dangerous stepping into the cognitive world of a Servant could be. He wasn’t chancing that.
Now the last one: the distortion. “You mentioned that the ‘distortion’ is what she sees the location – in this case, Orleans – as in her eyes, correct?” Siegfried asked. Morgana nodded. The dragonslayer frowned as he considered. “Hm, perhaps she sees it as a command center?” he suggested. The app denied that suggestion.
“Or, I dunno, an execution site?” Morgana said. That was also denied.
They went back and forth with different suggestions, from ‘castle’ to ‘throne’ to ‘torture chamber’. However, nothing seemed to fit. After about twenty minutes of guessing and brainstorming, Morgana flung his paws up into the air. “ARGH, this is getting nowhere!” he shouted. “We don’t have enough info! What the hell does that Alter think about anything of anywhere anyway?!”
Candidate found.
That caught both of their attention immediately. The phone had registered the distortion from Morgana’s outburst, however accidental. The catlike Master picked up the phone and stared at it. “Hell,” he stated, his voice hollow. “She thinks of Orleans as Hell.” Beyond a castle, a bank, a ship, or even the laboratory, the distortion this time was Hell itself. Just how dangerous would this Palace be? A Servant Palace with a distortion of Hell that could cover a city…
“I shall inform the others,” Siegfried stated, moving to stand up.
“No, not yet,” Morgana immediately countermanded, to Siegfried’s surprise. “It’ll be better if Ren is up as well. The two of us are more experienced in dealing with Palaces than you guys are, so we can fill you guys in and we can all plan on what’s going on. We can’t rush willy-nilly in like this. We’ve been to Palaces before, but only those of normal people. We don’t know what a Servant’s Palace is like and we’re not gonna chance it.”
Siegfried nodded in understanding, sitting back down. “Discretion is the better part of valor,” he noted, easily accepting Morgana’s argument. No sane warrior would charge straight into enemy territory without a plan, and the cognitive plane belonging to their enemy is perhaps the deepest enemy territory one can be in. Everyone could understand the reasoning. Once Ren was awake, they could begin their planning in earnest…
After everyone gave the boy a good drubbing on the head first, of course. With Morgana first in line to do so.
“These expeditions of yours,” Siegfried asked. “How long do they take? And how perilous are they?”
Morgana glanced over. “It depends, really,” he replied with a shrug. “Whenever we had to go into a Palace, we usually had a deadline of a couple weeks for some reason or other. Sometimes it takes us a couple days, other times only one. And sometimes we have to do something in the real world in order to make progress.” He thought back to all the times they had to bounce back and forth between reality and the Metaverse and blew a sigh. “Man, thinking about it, sometimes we just got really lucky,” he murmured.
The Saber smiled sympathetically. “Luck is as important a factor on the battlefield as anything else,” he replied. “Strategy, skill, strength, and speed can mitigate misfortune or bring greater results to a stroke of good luck, but to discount it entirely would be disastrous. And sometimes, fortune is beyond your ability to control, no matter your stratagems or intentions.”
After all, he himself stood as an insurmountable hero and warrior, yet circumstance after circumstance eventually forced him to a corner where he convinced his best friend to kill him like a coward, as invincible as he was. And in the end, it had all begotten nothing but pain and misery. Small wonder his luck was at a miserable E rank.
“Ugh, you’re telling me,” Morgana grumbled. Thinking back on it, they had been more than fortunate overall. Had Ren and Ryuji not stumbled into Kamoshida’s Palace, he never would’ve escaped and would’ve been executed by that lecherous gym teacher king. Had Ann not caught Yusuke’s eye for aesthetics, they never would’ve encountered Madarame or figured out how to delve deeper into his Palace. And that was just two examples out of far too many.
And had Haru not had access to the Metaverse or came across him, it was all too likely he would’ve perished in Okumura’s Palace when he left the Phantom Thieves.
Was it all fate? Was it that damn God of Control pulling the strings so that they could continue along the twisted, rigged game he had set up for them? Was it Igor or the one above him? Or was it as Siegfried said: That sometimes, it was just sheer, dumb luck that they managed to pull through with victories? Whichever the case, it was certainly distressing to think about. They couldn’t exactly rely on luck anymore – hell, Morgana was certain that their luck couldn’t get much worse at this point, what with the Incineration of Humanity being the starting point.
… he cursed himself for ever thinking those thoughts and jinxing it.
“Neither you nor Ren lack for intelligence or courage,” Siegfried reassure him, smiling. “Nor do you lack for loyalty either, be it giving or receiving. At the very least, as I have said, I am indebted to Ren and shall assist him even if it should mean my life. Your Servants appear to be quite capable too. I would recommend you do not stress overmuch, lest you miss something a calmer mind would be able to spot.”
Morgana blinked over at the Saber, then sighed. “Yeah, yeah, you’re probably right,” he replied wearily. He stood up. He hadn’t eaten all day and he was getting hungry. Perhaps some food would alleviate his mood and worrying. “I’m gonna grab something to eat, hopefully they have some fish with the rations they sent us,” he stated, stretching. He glanced over at Siegfried. “Can you keep an eye on him? And do you want me to grab you anything?”
The dragonslayer shook his head. “Thank you for your generosity, but I am quite fine – Servants do not require sustenance and I would rather not strain your supply lines,” he replied kindly. “I will watch over your friend and will inform you if anything has changed.” Morgana nodded and walked toward the campfire, which was a bit noisier than he expected. He hadn’t expected to see Mozart groveling on the ground in front of a pouting Mash, though. His mouth dropped open for a bit, then he closed it and marched off to grab an MRE.
He was not dealing with this while hungry.
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“You have good companions and friends,” Siegfried noted as he watched Morgana leave, waiting until he was out of earshot to speak. “I can see why you would be willing to risk yourself for them, let alone a stranger like me.” He sat back as he looked over to Ren with a reassuring smile. “Still, I doubt their wrath will be any more mitigated if they see you like this. I highly recommend resting a bit more so you’ve the energy to handle them the next day.”
One of Ren’s eyes opened as he blearily looked over at Siegfried. “H-how long did you know?” he mumbled. His body still ached something fierce and felt oddly weak. He was definitely in no condition to move anytime soon.
Siegfried chuckled. “As soon as you woke up – right before Morgana figured out how to access the doppelgangers… Palace, I believe you two called it,” he replied.
The Chaldean Master said nothing. He quickly pieced together that Morgana had told them about Palaces at the very least, judging by their conversation, but wasn’t sure how much he said besides that. He would have to ask later. But regardless, he trusted Morgana. Whatever he told everyone must’ve been necessary, and he wouldn’t have revealed anything he shouldn’t have. But their conversation about luck… Ren had no right to talk about it. His terrible luck was what landed him that false police conviction and probation in the first place. And it was by consistent strokes of good luck that he had survived his adventures in the first place. How long would it last him? What would happen if it failed at the very last moment?
“Ruminating after waking up from a battle is common, but far from helpful,” Siegfried gently admonished. He had long experience watching recovering warriors in infirmaries dwell over their mistakes. “Focus on rest for now. Once you are hale and healthy once more, we shall head for the battlefield once more. And on my honor, you shall have my blade by your side.”
Ren let out a low chuckle, despite that small movement sending lances of pain throughout his system. “G-good to know,” he mumbled out. “Will be counting o-on you, th-then…” His single eye closed, and soon his breathing softened and steadied as he fell into sleep once more.
Siegfried watched as he fell asleep, then looked outside. The sun was disappearing beyond the horizon, the stars glittering like gems against the tapestry of the night sky.
A day of repose before resuming a war.