It had been a few days since the initial Servant summoning, and the (relatively) young Enforcer was all the better for it. Though he was by no means as young as the rest of the motley crew that the Wizard Marshall had gathered up, that lack of "youth" was by no means any form of detriment to him. Rather, the fact that he had experience over his "companions" in this mess might even prove all the better...

Considering the fact that everyone else was more or less a college student in terms of age, that might have been for the better. Well, the Servants aside, of course, though worrying about matters of age at this point in time was something of a moot point. Almost like how he had noticed that almost every other participant (Master or otherwise) was female. There was a crossing thought within Keisuke's mind here about if Zelretch had planned this from the start, but he brushed them off for the moment; male or female, a job was a job, and if that old man had chosen them, he probably had a damn good reason for doing so. Not that he didn't look upon the whole situation with a tinge of suspicion regardless, but details.

"Hell, children of magi are a lot crazier than normal people their age; why am I even worrying about how they'll fare in an actual danger zone?" Keisuke muttered out loud, leaning back against the wall of the room he was in. The blade in his hands quickly dissipated into nothingness as it returned to the form of a ring. The enemy he had been facing—a training dummy built of stone—was riddled with slash marks, and though the self-regeneration cast on the golem was repairing it, the damage done was clear.

A simulation room. Yes, they actually had one (actually, more than one) here, and by god were they useful. There had been talk on finalizing the preparations for the first mission they were to tackle, so while the other Masters did... Whatever the hell they were doing, he had spent a bit of time here instead. That wasn't to say he didn't spend time with his own Servant, but... Well, with a job on the horizon practice was probably the ideal objective. Even with that in mind, it wasn't as if his Servant, Atalanta, was one he wanted to order around in any way; Independent Action in this mana-laden environment meant the best he could really do was suggest actions to take. For all he knew, she could be either as close as an adjacent room to the other side of the facility...

"Attention: All Masters and Servants, please report to the bottom floor for mission debriefing. The location transferal procedures have been completed, and the coordinates of your destination in time-space have been confirmed. I repeat, please..."

The mechanical voice caught Keisuke by surprise as he stepped outside of the room, brushing off his suit as he glanced at the speaker above-head. The timing for that announcement... Could have been better, admittedly, but it wasn't as if his practice had winded him in any way. Nothing more than a warm-up, really.

"Atalanta, you heard that, right?" he asked the Servant, briskly walking towards the nearest elevator. "Meet up with me as soon as you can; looks like we have a job to handle."

@KoL

---

"Hmhm... Is that how my legacy is now? Not as the great pharaoh who kindly ruled his people with the grace of the gods, but instead as a foolish king who attempted to stop a 'savior'—my dear friend Moses—from escaping with his people? How disappointing. Hm... Yes, 'disappointing' is what I should call it, but even so..."

With a quick 'snap' as the book in his left hand was clapped shut, the tanned Rider calmly placed the object of his ire back into its place on the bookshelf before turning around dramatically.

"...Well, while I cannot say that I like how this era has come to paint me as a villain, I can at least laugh about how the times have changed. Like the food! Oh, how I wish I could share this food with Nefertari. A meal... Yes, that would do. King of Kings, Ozymandias, sharing a meal with his wife... What did they call them again? Photos? Yes, I would very much like to have one made, given the chance. The mage who brought me to this era from the Throne of Heroes... I wonder if I could convince him to let me see my wife, if only for so long."

Though his monologue dipped into the territory of melancholic by its conclusion, Ozymandias' expression did not betray a hint of want nor greed; he and his wife had lived long and happy lives, and this dedication only served to showcase his bond through time immemorial to whoever might happen to be listening.
...
Even if this was the library. Petty rules be damned, he was a god among men, brought back from his role as the sun god Ra to deliver upon these unknowing people the salvation they so needed!

Or, at least, that's what he was told. There was no way to verify those claims at the moment, and even he in all of his splendor could not see the future. That job was one for the magi in his court, not him.

"Attention: All Masters and Servants, please report to the bottom floor for mission debriefing. The location transferal procedures have been completed, and the coordinates of your destination in time-space have been confirmed. I repeat, please..."

"Annoying. The sound of that voice irritates me to no end. But a pharaoh honors his promises, and so I shall depart. It is time for a new chapter in history, one that I shall carve for myself!"

With a boisterous smile, Ozymandias slammed the cane in his right hand onto the ground before promptly leaving the library, striding forth towards the nearest elevator. The ability to simply disappear and reappear did exist, but... Why would he miss the chance to continue presenting himself to those who roamed this dreary building's halls? There was no sun down here, after all, so he had an obligation to be one for them.

Now, though... it was more a question of where his Master was than anything else. The Rider had lost track of the girl to which he was bound contractually ever since their last meal and had stepped into the library, but... Well, inquiring the location of that strange girl might be for the better, but she would probably make the first contact. Like a servant giving a report.

Yes, that would do.

@Riegal

If there was one thing that Yumi had definitely learned about the Servant she had summoned, it was that the tall, quiet girl was highly concerned with the conservation of electricity. Perhaps too concerned. In fact, definitely too concerned. It seemed as if Yumi's Servant was quick to turn off the lights if she believed when they were no longer in use, and was also frequently too hesitant to ask if it was the case. This resulted in Yumi having the lights turned off on her on multiple occasions. Once when she was in the bath. This had contributed to a mounting level of irritation. Couldn't the tall girl simply ask her if she was using the lights? So Yumi wouldn't have to go calling for her, submerged up to her neck in water, to return and turn the lights back on?

To put it simply, the fascination Yumi had initially felt upon summoning Frankenstein's Monster of all Servants had been promptly replaced with exasperation at the Berserker-class Servant's dedication to electrical conversation and unending hesitation to speak up about it. In any case, the short, dark-haired girl had begun to ask her Servant not to turn the lights out. It was hardly one of the concerns she'd believed she would be faced with when she became a Master, to say the least.

That being said, as Yumi laid on her stomach, legs kicking in the air as she rested on the couch and flipped through her book, that annoyance didn't entirely dampen her spirits. She was the Master of a Servant. While Berserker would not have been her first choice had this been a proper Grail War, the negatives associated with the class were hardly as much of an issue in a mana-rich environment such as this. Providing prana was almost effortless. She'd been surprised when Frankenstein's Monster was revealed to be a rather beautiful girl, but she supposed that it wasn't out of the question that it could have been the case.

... Not that she'd go telling her Servant she was beautiful. What would be the point in that? Their relationship was strictly one of Master and Servant, anyway! It wasn't as if there was any reason to make comments like that, now, was there? It wasn't like she sought some kind of friendship or something!

She didn't need something like that.

Of course, right as Yumi neared the end of her current page, she heard the announcement to gather downstairs. Folding her page and placing her book to the side, Yumi drew herself up into a sitting position and then got to her feet.

"Come on, Berserker," she said, glancing towards her Servant, "Let's go. We don't want to waste any time getting there. I don't want to look like some lazy idiot who dawdled making my way the the debriefing."

@Rin

---

"Ah, perfect."

Her maids were quite busy, ensuring that she was completely presentable. They were busy with bathing her, scrubbing her back, every single detail needed to be perfect. For Estelle was a Master of a Servant, not for a Grail War, but for the purpose of preserving the universe itself. Repeating that thought in her mind made the tiny, tan-skinned girl feel self-satisfied. It wasn't unlike some of the heroes that they were summoning, was it? The Servant she had called was under the class of Berserker, but with a combination of the location's incredibly high background mana and her own enormous prana reserves there was not the slightest burden. Had this been a regular Grail War, summoning Berserker would have been of no concern. However, the Servant was a bit of a curious sort. An Amazon, which explained her... manner of dress(Estelle had immediately elected to tease her about the fact regardless, just for fun and to see how she'd respond), and from the battle of Troy no less. A contemporary of a figure who, if she recalled her mythology correctly, she'd be very unhappy to hear about.

At the moment, however, that was hardly an important matter. She wasn't going to be babbling about Achilles, now, was she? Why would she? No, instead, Estelle relaxed, feeling her maids scrub her body and clean her hair. Ah, how wonderful... It was nice having people do do everything for you, even if they also served to restrict her movements. But here, well... they couldn't, now, could they? She could simply appreciate their other duties. After all, they wouldn't be following her into the other timelines, so they couldn't attempt to restrict her movements beyond 'Mistress, do be careful' or 'Mistress, don't be rash'. It was perfect.

Soon enough, the tiny girl's body had been cleaned, and shortly after she was dried and brought out of the bathing area to be dressed.

Another maid was waiting for her when she was finished.

"Please do be careful, Mistress," she said, bowing her head. Estelle nodded, folding her arms.

"Of course, of course, besides I have a Servant, it won't be a problem," she said, waving her hand and brushing the maid off.

"Berserker, let's go!"

@Riegal

Whew!

Bethany sighed in satisfaction as she removed the last batch of cookies from the oven. She'd been baking all day, just to make sure there were enough for everyone... And she'd had to make more than usual thanks to her Servant.

She'd honestly been surprised that she had managed to pull Saber of all classes. The fact that her Saber was not only King Arthur himself, but also King Arthur herself was even more of a surprise really, but she wasn't too phased by it. After all, Arturia (she refused to just call her "Saber", since that was just her class name and really she'd rather be friends with her Servant than treat her like some kind of tool) was a wonderful young woman, polite and well-mannered, and... And to be honest, exceptionally pretty. That was the first thing that ran through her mind when she summoned her really, how pretty her Servant was. It was to the point that she kept half-forgetting that she was supposed to be a legendary hero.

What really surprised her, however, was Arturia's appetite. The first thing Bethany did after they had introduced each other... Well, the first thing she'd done was insist that Arturia call her "Bethany" rather than "Master". From someone like Arturia, "Master" just sounded so... So... Aaaah, her cheeks turned red just thinking about it and that wouldn't do at all! But after that, she'd decided to cook a meal for her. It had always been her plan no matter what Servant she had drawn, really, to help strengthen their bonds and really to just start off on the right foot, and since Arturia was the King Arthur she figured something British was in order. So her first day with the Servant was spent preparing a good old Sunday roast; crowned with a succulent, juicy rolled sirloin joint, the flesh so pink and soft that each bite seemed to melt in the mouth, surrounded by golden Yorkshire puddings that were nice and crispy on the outside but so wonderfully fluffy on the inside... Added to that, some baby carrots roasted in honey, their stickiness glistening as they were layed next to pillowy mounds of mashed potato, and to top it all off a rich, thick gravy... She'd worried a bit that she'd overdone it, but Arturia seemed fine with it. In fact, she ate enough to feed an army, something that confused Bethany greatly. After all, the two of them were around the same height, but Arturia was... Was a lot slimmer, to put it simply, and yet with the amount she ate... Maybe it was a Servant thing? They needed a lot of mana, after all, so maybe that was how they acquired it?

The fact that her Servant seemed to work a bit... Differently from others was a bit less confounding, really. But it seemed as though she couldn't dismiss Arturia into her spiritual form, which led to the problem of what she was going to wear when she wasn't in battle; after all, the armour wasn't exactly practical for everyday life. And despite being the same height as her, it was clear that her clothes would probably be a bit baggy on the Servant, especially in the chest and hip departments. They eventually figured something out, but still, it was a bit concerning for a while.

And so here she was, a few days later, baking cookies. She'd never really made such a large amount of cookies before, but she knew she had to compensate a bit for Arturia's appetite. Besides, if she really wanted to open a bakery she'd probably have to get used to making such large batches, so Arturia really was a boon to her.

"Arturia! The cookies are ready!" She called on her Servant as she hung up her apron for the time being, before placing some of the cooler cookies on a plate. "Want to try th-"

She was cut off as the call to action came. Aw, and she was so looking forward to Arturia's reactions! She was clearly going to be so cute as she practically inhaled her cookies... Sighing again, this time in slight exasperation, she began to bag the rest of the cookies.

---

For a "Berserker", she had seemed oddly quiet. Some would have went as far to say she was acting rather shy, but that would have just been ridiculous, right? But there she was, sitting quietly in the corner of the room, breaking another Berserker stereotype by how engrossed she'd been whilst reading.

Her Master, this Yumi girl, had come off as rather abrasive, but two points made Berserker tolerate her: she was nowhere near as bad as her creator in that department, and she had books. Lots and lots of books. It seemed so many had been written since she'd last been around, and whilst the first thing she looked up was her old favourite, Paradise Lost, after quickly rereading that she had moved onto other, more modern tales. Whilst there seemed to be so many different genres now, she had found herself almost instinctively drawn to the fantasy and science fiction genres, reading tales of hobbits and dragons, boy wizards, sentient automata, great ships that sailed the stars themselves rather than the seas...

She also read something by a woman named Shelley. She didn't like that one very much.

And currently... Well, after that one, Yumi had shoved a more lighthearted book into her hands whilst in a huff about how "mopey" her Servant was. Whilst she enjoyed this current book, she didn't quite understand the main characters' obsessions with tea and towels. She emphasized somewhat with the mechanical man, though.

As the call rang out, she quietly closed the book whilst silently pondering the significance of the number forty-two. Yumi was being so serious right now, though and she knew she'd call her "stupid" for asking about such a thing, so she kept her lips shut. Her Master could be rather inconsiderate at times, really, especially when Berserker was just trying to save electricity. Did she not realize that energy was a precious resource? That wasting even a tiny amount was akin to atrocity? Once more, she kept quiet about this, since her Master... She didn't seem to understand. She was like all the rest of them, really. Humans were so inconsiderate, so selfish...

Stiffly, she got to her feet, and in silence followed closely after Yumi. Almost too close, really. "Personal space" seemed to be a concept Berserker had difficulty grasping, really.
@VitaVitaAR

Among the first things that the blonde-haired, green-eyed girl had realized upon being summoned was that this was not a Grail War. She had briefly been confused, not understanding how she had been summoned under a different circumstance, but that matter had swiftly been resolved. Her grievances from the previous war and her desire to rectify her mistakes as King had been pushed to the back of her mind. This was of grave importance, the safety of the universe was at stake. This was the reason that Servants had been summoned. Not to battle for the Holy Grail, but to protect the world.

It was a duty that Arturia Pendragon, King of the Britons and summoned into the Class of Saber, would fulfill with honor and bravery. Of course, there were a few days before they would undergo their first mission, and as such Saber had taken the time to speak with her Master and attempt to plan strategies with her. She had accepted her Master's insistence on being referred to by her given name, but when her Master began to do so in return, Saber could not help but feel somewhat awkward deep down. She was not used to being called 'Arturia' so casually, to say the least. However, the King of Knights could certainly not say that this experience had been unpleasant thus far.

At first, Saber had not placed any importance on food. The meals of her time were, well... dismal, to say the least. Food preparation in Camelot was depressing. However, when she had tasted Bethany's cooking... Ah, it was exquisite! The flavors were absolutely perfect, and the warmth of delicious food felt like it had exploded in her mouth. Since that first, delicious meal, Saber had consumed such a vast amount of Bethany's food and not at all tired of it. Every day was a different example of fantastic cooking. The small blonde looked forward to every meal every day, including the scent of the biscuits that Bethany was now baking.

There was another reason that eating so much food was valuable. It supplemented Saber's mana reserves, though with an effective Master and her own traits these were hardly low to begin with.

Saber had also eventually agreed on a casual outfit with her Master, as well, as her armor was not required at all times.

At the moment the cookies were being finished, however, the announcement for the Masters and Servants to gather downstairs rang out.

Saber rose from her sitting position(where she had been eagerly awaiting the cookies) and extended her hand towards her Master.

"I look forward to trying your biscuits later, Bethany," she began with a small smile, before her expression quickly hardened, "But we must quickly proceed downstairs. Our duty is of the utmost importance."

No matter how much the blonde girl loved food, this duty came first.

---

"..."

As they walked, Yumi couldn't help it. She could feel how closely her Servant was following behind her, a tingling sensation travelling up her spine as she walked. She didn't like invasions on her personal space, and it felt like Berserker had no idea what personal space was. She supposed it made sense given what the Servant actually was, but still! She could at least give her a little more space then this. As they walked, the small black-haired girl could no longer take that sensation of overwhelming closeness.

"... Berserker, is it necessary for you to walk that close?" she asked, glancing back over her shoulder as she went, "Do you even know what personal space is? You keep intruding on it. Hmph."

... Admittedly, there had been a few times where she worried that she was a little hard on her Servant. She was so quiet, after all. But then, well... sometimes what the tall girl did was simply irritating! Nothing more and nothing less then that. The multiple times Berserker had walked in on her in the bath to turn out the light or just stand there like she was guarding the door attested to that.

@Rin

To say that the former Roman Emperor was happy about being summoned was to severely understate the situation. Though she forgave her subjects for not returning the love that she had for them and allowing her demise, to be alive once more and to see how the artistic landscape had changed... it was a glorious day, made all the better by the others summoned. From the cute Legatus who so mirrored herself, albeit lacking her most wonderful assets, all the way to the handsome man that marked their only male Servant. Yet all this paled in comparison to one of the heroes she had always wished to meat. Atalanta! So beautiful and with such unusual features...

Yet the opportunity had not presented itself to make her acquaintance, merely the introductions had been done. With so much overlap between the classes, perhaps it was not a surprise that their real identities had been used--and her hand had been forced, as she had been recognised from the busts that still survived to this day. Inconvenient, but her Master had yet to show any signs of the loathing that she feared her enemies would have left of her reputation.

Since summoning, the blonde had worked on catching up with 'famous' literary works. Thus far, she had yet to finish reading and studying the works of Shakespeare--a progress slowed by finding fault in the stories and making aborted attempts to improve them. Sadly, the time and effort needed to redo so great a corpus was difficult to come by so soon after summoning. Made worse was how difficult it was to get anything done without her head becoming an anvil for Vulcan's hammer--as her earlier attempt to redo the play with all the fairies had proven. Quite how a story such as that had become popular was beyond her. Too many plotlines, names that clearly did not come from Greece...

And the fairies! How would a story with such creatures of the wild be so restrained? It should have been more libertine! With all the love potions, there was no excuse to avoid more exciting acts and partying! And no room in the plot for song? How could she ever act a part in such a play if her talents were not going to be used? But sooner rather than later, concentration had become impossible, and the blonde had claimed her Master's bed to rest. Of course, she was quite recovered now, when the message to assemble came off, and the diminutive Servant swung her legs down and rose to her feet. It seemed fortuitous that she hadn't removed a single item of clothing, as easily as it could be summoned aside, this time around.

"Praetor, lead the way!"

Studying a map had not been one of her tasks in the past few days.

---

The past few days had been an eye-opener for Ai. Who knew that such a famous part of her country's history was actually a girl? Of course, that had hardly been the only surprise... her Servant was spectacularly lazy for someone that had nearly united Japan. Looking around at the limited number of things, then demanding food whilst not even presentably dressed. It certainly wasn't what she had been expecting when summoning a near mythical figure but, on the whole, the girl hadn't taken too badly to it--though she drew the line at using the Servant's preferred form of address. Names were invented for a reason.

Ai, herself, had been only slightly more productive, spending time looking through fashion magazines and wondering if she could persuade the short girl to try on some of the cuter outfits. But the most important thing she had been doing was filling her quarters with origami paper cranes, folded as small as she could possibly manage and made from a single ofuda each. All in all, there were exactly 1,000 of the things carefully arranged throughout the room and with the mana in this place...

Well, anyone unprepared who came through that door without her was in for a shock. Hopefully, they would back out rather than try to disrupt the pattern, going from painful static to something more damaging might not leave identifiable remains.

With the alarm of course, she couldn't have finished a moment too soon, stretching and turning to look at the smaller Servant as she placed the last component of the unusual Bounded Field in place, "Ah, Nobu-chan, I hope you plan to attend this event properly dressed."

---

The white-haired alchemist had yet to properly introduce herself to the Masters; so far as they knew, she was just some random nobody working on the project. Well, that had a grain of truth to it--yet "random nobody" would be a stretch. Kaleidoscope was certainly an impressive component in this particular undertaking but it wasn't the entirety. The underlying systems to keep this running smoothly, to have it operate from something more reliable than the old man's abilities... that was where Atlas stepped in.

Now, down in the teleportation chamber itself--the Kaleidoscope World Altar, she thought it had been called--Meran was seated at a desk to the side, in front of what seemed to be a computer. Certainly, its monitor was sleeker than any modern box, and the keyboard seemed to rely on something other than mechanical switches... but what was interesting were the nine devices connected to a hub and then the computer. Eight appeared to be relatively ordinary smartphones, and the last a tablet of some description.

They were hardly going to go into strange scenarios with no means of keeping in contact, were they?

"Hmph, still not using my esteemed titles... You are how to say... 'bumming me out'." Pouting from her perch the top of the couch's upholstery instead of using the seat like a proper person (thank god for the Japanese custom of walking barefoot indoors), the dreaded Nobunaga looked like she was tired trying to convince the girl, simply sighing in slightly disgusted reproval at the recalcitrant summoner that now had her services.

Two inches shorter than the whole five feet and dressed in what one could call an overly large man's shirt that was used as an impromptu dress, the Great Demon King that had the entirety of the Land of the Rising Sun almost unified simply slothfully crunched away at the Haagen-Daz bar in hand while exulting in the smooth sweetness and crunchy texture held within. How indulgent... no wonder the youth of today were so spoiled. In her days, such luxurious ingredients would have equated to perhaps fifty times their weight in measurements of rice.

And the internet! What a glorious invention that was, an intangible but ever present entity that was equal amounts of archive, gallery, and communication device built into one easily accessible package. That wasn't even counting the various gimmicks that could help one while away the time such as games and perhaps the influx of pertinent 'education aids' concerning certain matters that most humans would have a fascination for.

As it was though, appearances had to be kept and the dignity of a warlord was not one to be tarnished outside of private matters so a bit of effort was to be put into things. Flashing with a red aura that smoldered for a few seconds before engulfing the miniature woman outright in a heatless blaze, the formerly sloven unifier was now dressed in a charismatic military uniform that mixed both occidental and oriental features together into one seamless whole, as expected of the one named Nobunaga. "But yes, I am done with the changing. One can only afford to be lazy when they can plan and scheme like I." Cape flowing heroically, the vertically handicapped hero gave a wide grin that was less like a human's and more like that of a hungry wolf's, ruby eyes flashing with a decisive glint that could end long-lived clans.

The professional Magus Hunter woke up early as was her habit, leaving Saber, or rather Nero as she insisted to be called and went for a morning workout and jog around the facility's corridors. When she came back to their room, Ascelia glanced at Nero's newest artistic pursuit over her shoulder before leaving getting into the shower.

Who could imagine that the legendary Roman emperor known for his unrestrained cruelty towards Christians, (questionable) artistic tendency, populist politics and, more than that, an impressive skill as public manager, would be a woman? It was indeed an intriguing consideration, yet something out of Ascelia's area of expertise, thus she didn't pay much mind to it.

Ascelia had already left the bath once the call for all of the Masters and servants to assemble reached their room. The blonde who still had a towel draped over her shoulders was in the middle of dressing herself when Nero called for her. "Sure, as soon as I'm done here. Not everyone can be as bold in their choice of attire as you..." Ascelia halted her commentary about Nero's attire, to ask something that she has been wondering for some time, "Thinking about it, given that you call me by a title different from Master, how should I refer to you? Emperor, Caesar, or simply Nero? Given your appearance, maybe even Princess?"

As soon as she was finished getting dressed and ready, Ascelia stepped out of their room and led the way for the briefing, despite the fact that she thought that Nero hardly would need her escort for a task.
The leonine Archer was resting atop some isolated high perch she found on the facility's upper levels, chewing a slice of an apple pie she 'procured' in the kitchen. Atalanta could feel very clearly the presence of Keisuke as he was enrolled in his training routine, but didn't feel like spending time watching he practice his combat skills.

As a hero of the Age of the Gods, the concept of training wasn't lost on Atalanta, in fact she regarded Keisuke in a better standing for being so diligent toward his practice. Even then, it was an activity that she didn't required at all. After all, it didn't matter anywhere in the modern world the searched for, finding a target for practice suitable of Atalanta's skill was an impossible task. Though, maybe some games could prove to be an efficient distraction sometime? Atalanta could certainly get used to other forms of entertainment since she didn't have the chance to mingle with nature very often in this facility and, even glancing at what mankind did to the world she once loved was enough to bring a bitter taste to Atalanta's mouth.

It didn't take long for Atalanta's break to be interrupted, though as a gathering of the MAsters and Servants was called for. "I'm right ahead of you, Keisuke," Atalanta sad as she materialized beside Keisuke barely a blink of an eye after he called for her. Such a feat of extreme speed made it worth to remember that, if there was someone who truly deserved the title of the fastest Heroic Spirit, that one was Atalanta.

Nanase sat with crossed legs a few dozen meters away from one of the building’s entrances, enjoying the bright sun and soft breeze. Perhaps ironically, she had never had as much freedom in her life as she did on this island that was far away from any other landmass.

It was a strange feeling, to not always have someone with an eye on her in some fashion. Despite having found the island’s scenery to be beautiful from the moment she had arrived, she had had a hard time convincing herself to spend some time outside, too used to the mansions full of authority figures she had lived in her entire life.

She was growing accustomed to this temporary home of hers, though, as was evident by the diminishing anxiety in her stomach at being outside of the facility.

The girl let herself fall into the grass, splaying her body out as she lifted her hands above her head to eye the compression bandages wrapped around her wrists and forearms. Fiddling with the bindings idly, her thoughts continued to drift.

It wasn’t like there weren’t any authority figures here—Zelretch cut quite the confident figure, and even the Servant she had summoned herself wasn’t very interested in fitting the definition of ‘servant’ much.

Ozymandias, summoned under the Rider class. Nanase suspected many of the other Masters would have found him... overbearing as a Servant, but truth be told, she was grateful for his personality. She’d do her duties as his Master, and he could do as he saw fit—he was one of the stronger Servants summoned, and he appeared to be quite on board with the their goal of saving the world. As such, in the few days since she had summoned him, she had come to trust he’d stay on her side as long as she stayed useful herself—which was not something she was worried about.

A voice from the speakers lining the outside of the facility caught the girl’s attention. She glanced over towards the building, causing blades of grass to tickle her cheek. As she scratched it, she shifted onto her knees and stood.

So it was beginning.

Her expression lost all hints of the relaxation she had been experiencing moments before, replaced by an emotionless focus.

”I may be a minute later than others, Ozymandias,” she said to the Rider as she began a light jog. “I’m outside.”

_@PKMNB0Y

---

The Amazonian Queen had been in the bathing room where her Master was, musing on the girl’s many maids while in her spiritual form. She had been learning bits and pieces of the small girl since her summoning, and one thing that had been obvious from the start was that she was of some high status. Penthesilea herself had had handmaidens in life, but she found it strange how her Master let hers do so much for her. A difference in culture, of course—being summoned as a Servant allowed her to not be completely shocked by the current world thanks to the knowledge innately granted to her—but it still seemed like an unnecessary show of weakness to allow oneself to be doted upon in such a way.

Estelle though, despite her appearance that seemed several years younger than even the Amazon’s own teenage appearance, was not quite what one would consider weak. In physical prowess, she was certainly leagues below an amazon child, but her ability as a magus was another thing. The Servant could tell simply from a glance.

She had a... strong personality as well. Perhaps gratingly so, but Penthesilea could appreciate it, despite what it sometimes brought on... like the mention of her outfit only moments after being summoned. She hadn’t reacted much to the comment at the time—after all, her state of dress was practical and had been completely normal in her life. But as the few days had gone by, the Berserker had found herself dwelling on her Master’s words more often than she would have liked, and with an uncomfortable measure of self-consciousness.

Her clothes were quite out of place among her new companions. Modesty was far more valued in this time and society, causing her to begin to wonder and worry if the clothes were drawing attention to her femininity.

For now, at least, she had convinced herself that this was how an Amazon queen dressed. Though it would have been simple to wear another outfit, her pride kept her from doing anything more than keeping her weapons in their spiritual form. Any who took issue with it could bring it up with her. And any who made mention of whatever ‘beauty’ they found in her as she wore such clothing would likely end up with a fist to the face... if she was feeling particularly merciful in that moment.

A call to gather the Master and Servants rang throughout the facility, and moments later came her Master’s command.

Berserker materialized just behind Estelle as the girl walked off. She glanced to maid and nodded reassuringly. “She’ll be safe,” the Servant said, before following after Estelle.

It was difficult to tell just how much the maids cared for their charge and vice versa, but Penthesilea could see there was at least something genuine behind the somewhat robotic personalities. She felt it important to acknowledge them, at least—she knew how much she had cared for her own handmaidens in her life.

_@VitaVitaAR

Atalanta's sudden appearance received a quick nod from Keisuke, and with that being nearly in sync with the elevator arriving, the Enforcer couldn't help but be pleased with the timing of it all. It was times like these where he really appreciated the benefits of modern life, as compared to... Well, having to travel up and down half a dozen flights every time he wanted to get somewhere. Being diligent didn't mean he didn't want to be lazy at times, after all.

"Well, I have nothing else to pick up from my room, thankfully, so we can head straight down," he said, entering the elevator car with his Servant and hitting the relevant button before waiting for it to descend. The long hallway leading up to their destination—the room preceding the Kaleidoscope World Altar—was empty, which... Probably meant that they were the first ones to arrive. Well, barring the ones who called everyone to action here, of course. All the better to get a front row seat.

"Even so... Using magic to traverse through time and space... This is on an entirely different level of 'new' for me..." he muttered as he strode forth, still slightly tense about the situation to come.

@KoL

---

"Outside, hm? Though the situation inside calls for you, to bask in the glory of the sun before your mission... Very well. I shall allow your momentary absence, but do be quick about returning. I would rather not have to repeat what was said by the one gathering us, after all," the Rider responded, a smirk on his face as he traveled down to the bottom floor in short order, taking note of those who he passed by with a grand smile and a nod. Most of them, sadly enough, were researchers or scientists with their noses stuck in their books, but since he was not petty to the point of forcing everyone to look at him, Ozymandias allowed that to slide. He, too, had a job to handle, after all.

@Riegal

---

---

A few minutes after the rest of the Masters and their Servants had gathered in the room and were seated at the large U-shaped table, the Wizard Marshall (who had thus been reviewing documents off to the side at his own pace) suddenly got up and, after a quick clearing of his throat, began to speak.

"I thank you all for arriving in such a timely manner; as you have heard, I will be giving each of you a quick summary of the current singularity and its location within the world. As of right now, I shall clarify one thing: the Holy Grail that you are seeking is on a different scale of the one used within the Fuyuki Holy Grail War system. More specifically, these Grails are imbued with the ability to bend space-time rather than the ability to simply 'grant a wish'. They are still bound in accordance to some set of rules, but as to what those are... Well, the researchers here would need more insight before coming to any conclusions. Regardless, though these objects may not be omnipotent, they still act as a central catalyst to the changes in these eras, and thus must be retrieved, if possible, or destroyed. That is your primary goal during these journeys, and no more. Due to the warped space-time, anything that you do that might have otherwise thrown history off course will rewrite itself as normal once the Grail is removed from the singularity, but that does NOT mean that you can do things for the sake of greed and no more. I should hope that the people I have chosen would be above such things.
In any case, your first destination is Greece in 1180 B.C.—in other words, around the middle of the Trojan War; for the sake of safety, however, your arrival point will be to the northeast of Greece itself—more specifically, the kingdom once known as Colchis. Now, do take note that history might not always go as you expect it to; in fact, it may have already been warped to the point of chaos. Take caution. Accompanying you will be an aide that Atlas Academy has supplied us with; she has a few Mystic Codes prepared for you all for the sake of convenience, so do make good use of them. I await your safe return. Dismissed."

With that, Zelretch nodded to the group and left the room, returning to who-knew-where to do who-knew-what.

Keisuke sighed as the speech ended, some of the tenseness in his shoulders released as their destination was made clear. Greece... Trojan War...
"Huh. I guess we're pretty lucky, aren't we, Atalanta? You should know this place like the back of your hand," he remarked, standing up from his seat and glancing over at his Servant. "Well, there's no time to waste, I guess. Let's get moving."

---

The Kaleidoscope World Altar—a grand name for what was essentially a giant magical formation constructed to manipulate a derivative of its namesake—was already active by the time the Masters and their Servants entered the next room; at the center of it all, of course, was a large, spiraling portal that seemed to be leading to... Well, as far as everyone there could tell, a shining white pathway that seemed to stretch on for eternity. This was only a visual effect, of course, but the intent of such magic (and the effort required to recreate such a thing) was very much clear. The sound of the magic pulsating as it waited for entrants, though, seemed to reverberate around the empty room, creating a somewhat eerie effect even if the place was bathed in light.

Keisuke sucked in a deep breath as he stared at the portal, subconsciously touching the ring on his hand before shaking his head and stepping through, hoping that wherever they ended up wasn't going to be... Too much of a mess.


After stepping through the portal (and the accompanying experience of feeling like he was just tossed around in a washing machine), Keisuke held his head for a few moments before noticing the stark change in scenery; it was to be expected, of course, but a wide open pasture of nothing but green grass was most DEFINITELY a far cry from the cold, sleek feel of the facility he was just in. With a deep breath, the Enforcer took a moment to stead himself before looking around. Nothing seemed... Particularly out of the ordinary.
...
Well, save for the giant pillar of black smoke off in the distance. That was probably an issue.

Oh, and the skeletons that seemed to be (very sparsely) dotting the hillside and walking around, weapons in hand. Those too.

@Raineh Daze@VitaVitaAR@Rin@Grey Star

As soon as the word "Princess" left her lips, Ascelia was confronted by a face-full of frowning blonde, a stare with an alarming amount of intensity behind it despite the Emperor's less-than-intimidating appearance. "Praetor, whilst it is true that I was the most esteemed holder of the position 'Princeps Senatus' and 'Princeps', the dignity of such titles has long been diminished. I am a grown woman and ruler in all regards. This slight shall be permitted once and once only, refrain from making such a faux pas in future."

With that, the Servant backed away somewhat and addressed the original question: "Should you wish to use one of my titles, Augustus would be the most prestigious. Emperor shall suffice in this language until you have proven yourself worthy of more familiarity."

True to form, of all the many titles that the blonde could have picked, Augustus was by far the most self-aggrandising, directly calling attention to her supposed majesty, rather than those that would imply civil or military power. She was, of course, an amazing person--why not use the most suitable of all the titles in her mind?

Had Ascelia noted Nero's movements over the past few days in detail, the need for an escort would not be surprising in the slightest--barely had the Servant gone off to explore their base of operations, favouring sticking close to her Master except for venturing to collect the manuscripts.

Once their destination was announced, missing the grin on the blonde's face was impossible. To be going to Greece... ah, all the heroes that she had missed in life would be present or somewhere to be found! It was a shame that it was the Trojan War rather than any of the stages in the voyage of the Argo but this presented the opportunity to meet Aeneas. Unusual as it would be, the prospect of meeting one of her ancestors was quite exciting.

---

"But you're too cute for me to like any of those titles," Ai teased, somewhat envious of the Servant ability to simply manifest clothing as they desired. If it extended to changing outfits... ah, so much money could be saved whilst keeping up with fashion! Not that shopping was at all an unpleasant thing to do but the costs associated with buying no clothes? That would be something amazing to dispose of entirely.

The trip down to the briefing chamber was mostly silent, as the magus was focusing on not taking a wrong turn and ending up in the kitchen or something instead, and she didn't dare interrupt someone like the Wizard Marshall as he explained their destination. And... some alchemist was going to be coming with them? She had better not be a liability... though if Zelretch was recommending the Mystic Codes, at least they could be satisfied the things would work.

---

The white-haired alchemist was prepared as the other magi came in to use the portal, interposed herself in their path, choosing to introduce herself fully before handing out the phones: "I am Meran Briefort Marzikek, Alchemist of Atlas. As your aide in this endeavour, I will be accompanying you all to offer planning advice and gather further information on these grails than that which can be analysed from captured data; I hope that we can establish a mutually beneficial relationship."

"To facilitate co-ordination upon arrival, I have constructed a set of mobile phones, with assistance from the Wizard-Marshall, that can communicate across dimensional lines and function even in the absence of a network to operate upon. Currently, there is one for every Master, and they have facilities to communicate with each other and access the internet. Should it be desired, I will be able to manufacture more for the Servants after our expedition to Greece.

"If there are any features that you wish to request, or assistance required in using the phones, then I shall be happy to be of service," she finished, though it was hard to see how someone that had delivered the entire speech in a near-robotic monotone could be happy about anything. Nevertheless, she started handing out the phones to the Masters, retaining one for herself--and the tablet that would allow her to record more information when they were there.

---

"I believe, Praetor, that if we wish to start anywhere we should head towards the smoke over there," Nero said, helpfully stating the obvious.

"Of course. It only makes sense that a Servant summoned by a powerful Master would be able to protect their Master," Estelle commented with a smile as she glanced up to her Servant, then back towards her maids. She could see the concern her maids felt, of course, but they really didn't need to worry at all. Smiling up at her Servant once again, the small, white-haired girl proceeded onwards through the halls and downwards.

Shortly before she arrived, she decided to tease her Servant once more about her garb.

"Does it feel liberating, running around like that~?" she asked, before giggling and heading further inside.

Indeed, she kept quite when she listened to the Wizard Marshall spoke. The haughty girl still respected the man, after all, as out of any magi he was the most deserving of being respected, and this was important information by far. And indeed, as he spoke, she found herself intrigued. Greece? The Age of Gods? A place where her Servant would be incredibly powerful? It was almost too perfect for their first outing!

Nodding to her Servant, the child magus(at least, in appearance) headed through the portal...

... And found herself disoriented as she stepped onto grassy hill thousands of years in the past. Shaking her head, she looked about, and quite quickly noticed the moving skeletons.

"Berserker, that's where we'll be heading!"

She stepped forward and pointed immediately.

@Riegal

"Ah, where there is smoke, there is fire." Giving the air a sniff, Nobunaga who had just arrived in Greece let her gaze travel through the verdant but foreign landscape, noticing flora greatly different from what she was used to. Japan was like a well and she the frog, an island nation so pitiably small compared to those other great behemoths out and about in the world at large. Still, now that she had free(ish) reign throughout history itself, the story of the carp who transcended the waterfall to become a dragon came to mind. She would commit to her knowledge all the information, learn everything, grow greater... They say everything ends with death but was she not here because of how splendid both her life and ending had been?

Chuckling at those thoughts, the Demon Archer realized that the scent of the smoke actually held something familiar- yes she had almost no doubt what it was conveyed in those gaseous plumes. Growing slightly more serious given her own familiarity with the kind of fires that would birth that sort of smoke, Nobunaga simply stayed put where she was. "I will move with and protect the Masters. My job is that of the great DEMON ARCHER, so I shall keep my distance and act as a first line of defense against what threats are about with my range." Left unsaid was that she didn't want any of the untried Masters to try to muck up and throw themselves into businesses that could potentially risk the whole group due to a flash of hotheadedness for they were essentially infants on the battlefield.

"Fine, fine, if that's how you wish, I'll call you Augustus," Ascelia said as she and Nero walked towards the briefing room. She placed a hand on her Servant's head in an awkward gesture of affection, probably meaning to communicate that she meant no harm. Saber was quite a lot to deal with. Especially considering that Ascelia was hardly used to this type of relationship.

Once the briefing was done, Ascelia couldn't help but notice the fiery glint on Saber's eyes. Based on the kind of literary works she had been reading in the past few days, as well as the stories regarding Nero's artistic tendencies, it was pretty obvious that a destination such as the Greek Age of the Gods. Admittedly, the Trojan War was very late in that time period, if Ascelia's memory was correct, that was the 4th or 5th generation of Greek Heroes, whereas the one that stood among them as from the 2nd generation.

"This is certainly an useful device," Ascelia said, accepting the phone given to her by the Atlesean Alchemist, just before following Saber.

"I think that you might want to take pay attention to the skeletons as well," Ascelia said to Nero, pointing at the other obvious bit of information she was missing. For herself, Ascelia reached inside her coat, producing eight metal rings —one between each of her hands' knuckles, infusing some prana into them, creating dagger-like blades, each of them marked with runes.

The Magus Hunter didn't attack yet, merely taking a defensive stance, ready to react in case the skeletons chose them as targets.
"The Trojan War, huh? It happened not long after the travels of the Argo came to an end. Even if I have never been there personally, I can't say that I feel any comfortable. In the end that both of us were doomed by the same thing," Atalanta said to Keisuke as he commented on them being lucky. A quick recalling of the Greek Mythology would make the reason of Atalanta's comment very evident. The Golden Apples were the reason of both Troy's demise and her own doom. Not to say the least about the fact that the Trojan War had the greatest concentration of morally dubious (read: freaking jerks) heroes in one place of the whole Age of the Gods. It was no wonder that a Heroic Spirit as old and dignified as Atalanta frowned at the very mention of that pitiful conflict.

Nevertheless, once all preparations were said and done, Atalanta followed Keisuke on their trip down the tunnel of time.

"The Witch shouldn't be in Colchis by the time of the War, but if the past is as scrambled as that Old Sage said, I expect that she'll be involved. She's a woman that was capable of cutting her own brother without thinking twice. Do not listen to anything she says, Keisuke," Atalanta warned her Master of the dangers of dealing with Medea. "However, I still have a pledge of honor with that woman, after she saved my life. If possible, I would like to avoid fighting her," the leonine archer added.

Neither the smoke raising in the background, nor the skeletons prowling around escaped Atalanta's perception. This was the age when she was supposed to be at her best after all and, certainly the Huntress' looked imposing enough in her natural habitat. "If the Witch is really here, this is sure to get her attention," Atalanta said, taking a step forward and nocking an arrow with a letter for the Gods at it. Certainly, Keisuke was already aware of it, but if any of the other Masters still didn't know Atlanta's powers, they would be able to witness it firsthand now.

"Gods, hear the pray of this humble Servant. With all the reverence you deserve, I ask: bring your wrath down upon my enemies— Phoebus Catastrophe!" Atalanta said, calling upon her Noble Phantasm. A moment later the only thing left in the hill were the skeletons once scampered, was a veritable forest of arrows that fell from the sky upon Atalanta's prayer and slowly began to dissolve back into the thick mist of mana that still enveloped all of the world at this Age.

The young woman couldn’t help but giggle lightly at the Servant’s words, finding his (understandable) love of the sun amusing. ”Of course,” she responded.

She made it to the meeting just as Zelretch had begun to speak, which brought a light blush of embarrassment to her cheeks, as she had been the only one not to arrive in exactly a ‘timely manner.’ Thankfully for her though, she hadn’t interrupted or missed anything, so no harm had been done.

Her focus rezeroed as their mission was explained. This is what she was entrusted with. Enter the singularity with her allies, and work to retrieve the Holy Grail at the center of it to set history back on its rightful course. A clear mission.

She felt more at home than she had since first heading off to the facility.

Her attention was brought to the girl who introduced herself as Meran—an alchemist and support for the Masters and Servants. As Nanase listened to the girl speak in her monotone voice, she found something about her to be greatly intriguing. Nanase stepped forward, gently taking one of the phones from the girl with a small smile and light bow of her head. “Thank you very much,” she said quietly, gaze moving from Meran’s eyes to the phone. She found it quite impressive, to say the least. Making things was not a talent of hers in the slightest, let alone something so high tech—destruction suited Nanase better, however much that fact may have pained her to dwell on. She gave Meran another quick glance and smile to convey her gratitude before turning away to head towards the light spilling from the portal. Meran was certainly interesting, and Nanase wished to perhaps speak with her just for the sake of having a conversation, but such an activity would have to wait for now.

Stepping through the portal that connected the building to the singularity, Nanase took a moment to glance around her new surroundings as the strange dizziness brought on by the Altar subsided.

She watched the distance as the Archer Servant, Atalanta, used her Noble Phantasm to clear the skeletons that walked the hills. Seeing a Noble Phantasm in action for the first time was impressive.

Nanase glanced towards her Servant, a half-smile on her lips. “I wonder how your Noble Phantasms compare, Ozymandias. I bet they’re as pretty to look at as they are destructive.”

The girl paused, watching how her allies were choosing to act for a moment. “How would you like to proceed?” she asked the Rider, already beginning to reinforce her lower body in preparation.

_@PKMNB0Y

---

“Does it feel liberating, running around like that~?”

The question brought the faintest blush to Penthesilea’s face, though she did her best to not show any further reaction. After moment of pause, as they stepped into the room where Zelretch awaited them, she replied. ”You may use a Command Spell to have me change clothing, if you wish,” she half-joked, though her tone was flat.

The Berserker listened to Zelretch speak, not all too interested until the location of the singularity was revealed. Body and mind tensed. Greece. The Trojan War.

The words of warning that Zleretch had preceded that information with were all but forgotten by the Amazon.

▉ ▄ █ ▌ ▌ ▌ ▄ ▄ .

The odds of him being there, alive, were high. Penthesilea could find him.

In this life, she could kill him.

She could feel the madness brought on by her Servant class beginning to take hold of her. It was undignified, to be summoned as a Berserker. But she would take the power such a vessel granted her, if it meant revenge. Of course, that was exactly why she had been classified as such.

Easily keeping her urges in check for now, Penthesilea followed after Estelle.

From the first step, she hated everything she saw.

The Servant watched as Atalanta laid waste to the skeletons Estelle was pointing to. Antsy to get on the way, she nodded at girl’s command, and moved to scoop her up in a princess carry. Though Penthesilea herself was fairly small, Estelle’s childlike body proved easy to hold. The Amazon briefly wondered if she would feel indignant at being held in such a way... but it was the fastest way for them to travel together, so either she would deal with it or slow them both down by insisting to walk.

“Hold on, Master,” the Berserker said before taking a few steps and leaping powerfully off the ground. Being sure to land as lightly as possibly to minimize any force placed on Estelle, she jumped again, through the field of arrows and towards the smoke.

_@VitaVitaAR

"Uuuuugh..."

Bethany's head was spinning, and she was really starting to hope that she didn't suddenly lose the cookies she'd taste-tested. She hadn't expected the Kaleidoscope whatsit to be so... Unpleasant, really. Hopefully she'd get used to it, but for now it took all her will to stay on her feet and keep the contents of her stomach inside. Taking a deep breath, she unconsciously leaned against the closest source of support.

Said closest source turned out to be her Servant, and as soon as she realized just what she was doing her cheeks went rather red.

"Ah, um, Arturia, I didn't... Um... S-sorry, um, I, um, sorry!" And yet for all her apologising, she didn't budge an inch... At least, not until Atalanta filled the sky with arrows. Snapping out of her fatigue, she was finally able to take a look at the situation, and was somewhat glad the Archer had decided to quickly deal with those skeleton warriors.

So this was Ancient Greece? That would make this the Age of Gods, a time where magecraft was vastly more powerful than back in the modern day, which made her realize she wasn't going to be much help here. After all, what's the value of formalcraft versus... Well, pretty much anything this age could deal out? At least she had Arturia to protect her, although the thought made her cheeks turn red again.

---

Berserker had remained still and silent all through the Wizard Marshall's debriefing, the only indication that she was actually still alive being the occasional blink as she stared at the lights. Did there really need to be so many? It seemed like a waste of electricity, really. Humans were so inconsiderate with natural resources... And in general, seeing how her Master had complained about how close she had been to her. As abrasive and offputting as she was, Yumi was her Master, and as a Servant it was her duty to protect her. And the best way to do so was to stick as close to her as possible, even if her Master didn't seem to understand such basic logic. How many times had she yelled at her to get out of the bathroom? Hopefully she'd make Yumi understand eventually. After all, she didn't want her to end up as inconsiderate and illogical as her creator.

Maybe if she actually talked to her Master a bit more she'd make her understand, but... It was just so uncomfortable to talk so casually, or so much. And they were Master and Servant, which meant that they really should be able to understand each other without having to talk much. It only made sense.

---

And so did Berserker set foot in Ancient Greece, immediately becoming the most anachronistic thing in the immediate vicinity. After all, in such an age of high magic, surely a creature so steeped in alchemy and science was incredibly out of place. If she'd suffered any ill effects from the Kaleidoscope World Altar she didn't show it, as she stepped out no more awkwardly than she usually did.

...And immediately upon seeing the plume of smoke and the skeletal adversaries, she raised her colossal mace, electricity sparking from the apparatus on her head as she stepped in front of Yumi. One of the other Servants had seen fit to fire a barrage of arrows at the undead foes, but Berserker didn't want to take any chances. If anything else came near, she would be ready.

The transport to a past time period did not affect the King of Knights. Rather, she was entirely unaffected, placing the tip of her invisible blade down and causing it to bite into the earth beneath her as she surveyed her surroundings. There was a distant hill... with a large gathering of skeletons upon it. Certainly, an army of animated skeletons was easy to assume to be the forces of an aggressive magus, and it was clear one of their comrades had felt the same way. Saber watched as a rain of arrows fell upon the hill, tearing through the skeletal warriors in a sudden flurry of violence before fading away. While in most cases a preemptive action on that scale could perhaps be too much, the nature of the targets and of their situation meant that a quick action seemed appropriate.

Of course, that was not the only matter to be attended to. Her Master had leaned on her back to stay up, apparently rather ill-effected by the transport using the Kaleidoscope World Altar. She allowed herself to be leaned on until her Master was able to stabilize herself.

"Do not worry, Bethany," the blonde girl said, glancing back at her Master with a small smile, "I am here to support you however I must. That is my duty as a knight."

Turning to help steady her Master as she stepped away, hands on the other girl's shoulders, Saber's expression changed swiftly to a firm, serious look.

"If there are any more of those skeletons," she began, "It is in our best interest that they are cleared as quickly as possible. Please remain here, and use a command seal to summon me immediately if you become placed in any danger."

With that, Saber ensured her Master was indeed steady on her feet, then turned to face the hillside. Brilliant flashes of blue occurred across her body, replacing the outfit she was clad in with her familiar blue dress and armor.

The King of Knights broke into a sprint immediately, crossing the distance to the hill with incredible speed. Indeed, as she suspected, some skeletons that had been just out of view lingered, Without a pause, she passed right through a group of three, her sword cutting one apart as she moved, bones scattering to the ground. Planting one foot down, ripping through dirt and grass as she did, she spun and immediately cut the other two in half before they could even respond to her appearance.

@Rin

---

"... At least your work ethic is commendable, Berserker!" declared Yumi with a nod as her Servant took her place in front of her. To be perfectly frank, the transport to this new time and location had been severly disorienting for her. She'd never done well with riding in any vehicles and preferred other methods of transport whenever possible, but this was on an entirely different scale. Her whole world was spinning, but she was doing her best not to show it. She was a magus of the Kobayakawa Family, she wouldn't fail that name so easily just because of some travel fatigue!

"We need to get over there as quickly as possible Be... Berserker..." swaying weakly, the small girl found she could no longer help it, stumbling and colliding with her Servant's back in a desperate bit to remain upright. She couldn't show any weakness... but she already had, hadn't she? She was struggling to recover from that terrible throbbing sensation in her mind...

"To say that you don't want to engage her in combat, then deliberately raining arrows down upon them under the assumption that they'll get her attention... You really want to try and pawn off your work on others this time around, don'tcha?" Keisuke half-joked as he readied his weapon. Atalanta's Noble Phantasm had, in fact, wiped out a vast majority of the skeletons that had been milling about between their current location and the giant cloud of smoke in the distance, and seeing as how the Saber in their group—well, one of them, at least—was already moving to clear out the stragglers, Keisuke was inclined to direct them forward.

Doubly so considering that a few of the Masters with them had already shown signs of fatigue. The trip was honestly no worse than a... Rather bumpy ship ride across the ocean. Or a plane encountering heavy turbulence. Nothing too bad for him, at least.
...
Maybe being an Enforcer meant he was too used to that sort of problem, rather than those two not. Either way, though, there was something to be done about the whole 'leadership' thing...

"Alright, it looks like any semblance of 'stealth' may as well be thrown out the window, so I say we just rush on over to see what's been opened up to us. Clear out any enemy that tries to stop us, all right?" Keisuke said towards the group, glancing over them all before nodding and beginning to break into a sprint towards whatever the hell was giving off the black cloud of smoke. Of course, something like that heavily implied flames, and so the Enforcer already had something of a sneaking suspicion for as to what was going on. The question now, though, was whether or not they could arrive before any clues in the area could be burnt to cinders before that.

@KoL

---

His Master being slightly tardy made Ozymandias take pause, as he had never been the one to be made to wait during his lifetime... Well, as a pharaoh, of course. The time during which his father had control of the throne was a different story, as those were times of naivety and childish relaxation, but that seldom mattered now. With a slightly stern look on his face, Ozymandias turned to take in the words of the old man that had gathered them and listened intently. Though he only knew of the location he spoke of because of how a Servant's knowledge worked, it was no more than that. All he knew was that this was a war they were walking into, and he had plenty of experience dealing with those.

With that matter settled, the Servant followed his Master into the next room over and looked upon the object that had just been given to her with a bit of intrigue before shrugging his shoulders. What caught his attention, though, was the portal set up in front of him, shimmering like a mirage in the desert, yet eerily ten times as realistic (which, to be fair, made sense). The magicians under his command had tampered with no such forbidden realms under his watchful gaze, and so to see something like this in front of him gave rise to... Mixed feelings. On one hand, such petty things would be nothing compared to what could have been done, but at the same time...

Time passed forward and not backward for a reason.

"...Hm."

No more was said from the pharaoh's mouth as he stepped forward through the portal and into a grassy field so unlike the deserts of his homeland. The verdant greenery caused him to pause for a moment, but only to remember the fact that there were indeed more realms than his kingdom contained. Of course, the sun watched over all indiscriminately, but experiencing it up close was another matter entirely. If only there wasn't the faint smell of ash and the sight of skeletons, though; that left a slightly bitter taste in his mouth, for sure.

Nanase's remark following the cat-eared huntress' Noble Phantasm brought Ozymandias out of his (slightly irritated) mood, with him returning half a smirk as he planted his staff in the ground.

"The grandeur of a pharaoh's true abilities... You have yet to see them, correct? Let me say this: that hail of arrows is nothing compared to what I have. Of course, I will show a fraction of my power... If I must," he responded before noticing one of the other Masters—the one of the Archer, if he recalled correctly—taking charge and moving straight to the source of the smoke in the distance. While he would prefer to lead rather than not, it might be better to spend this time saving his energy for any fights where his participation became mandatory.

"Follow that man," he said to Nanase, lifting his staff and pointing at Keisuke as he ran ahead. "Do not fall behind."

@Riegal

---

As Keisuke moved closer to the giant black cloud of smoke, his suspicions were indeed confirmed—a city was in flames, and people were fleeing from it in chaos. The skeleton soldiers seemed to be ignorant of them, though, as none of them seemed to be attacking the civilians who were running for their lives. Rather, their focus was now on the Masters and their Servants who were now charging towards the city. For some odd reason, though, there seemed to be less skeletons grouped in that area than there had been on the outskirts, but to the Enforcer that mattered little, if at all. Expertly cutting his way around any enemy that dared swing its weapon at him, Keisuke soon found himself at the gates to the city. This would be less problematic, of course, if the skeletons that he had just cut down weren't being replaced by more that seemed to be crawling up from the ground, temporarily cutting him off from the rest of the group.

Closing his eyes and thinking for a moment (again, in the middle of a panicked crowd, no less), Keisuke breathed deeply as he began to run deeper into the city. The others wouldn't take long to catch up, but that didn't mean he could dawdle, after all.

As he worked his way closer to the epicenter of the chaos, Keisuke noticed that the amount of skeleton soldiers (as well as the amount of broken skeletons) had gone up exponentially, a fact that didn't necessarily bode well for him. What he did notice, though, was a quick glimpse of two figures fighting over his head. One, a blindfolded woman with a pair of daggers; the other, a cloaked figure wielding a staff firing absurd amounts of magic bullets from a series of giant magic formations that seemed to spontaneously appear behind her whenever she swung her weapon.

"Atalanta, do you recognize either of those two Servants?" he asked, cutting a few of the skeletons in front of him down in a single horizontal slice before diving off to hide behind a wall to try and monitor the Servant fight from below. "I'm almost certain that the rest of the group's going to raise enough of a commotion to make them retreat, so before they do, can you try to ascertain if you know them or not? Do NOT attack, though; I don't want them turning both of their weapons on you instead of each other, though you may be able to dodge their attempts without much trouble."

Of course, the giant mob of skeletons probably meant that the one who was controlling them (the cloaked one, if appearances meant anything in regards to Servant traits) was already aware, though, but at the very least it was possible that his presence alone might not be anything for her to worry about right now.

The faint sounds of explosions from behind him, though, might speak for the opposite.

---

Ozymandias, of course, took the lead in front of his Master, taking care to not move fast enough to the point where she might tire (though that in and of itself was quite unlikely), and his smirk turned (very quickly) into a frown as he noticed that there seemed to be a sea of skeletons (and people) in front of the entrance, and the skeletons seemed to be running straight for the rest of the group.

How vexing.

Slowing his movement down to a standstill, Ozymandias stood by on top of the hill he was looking down at the skeletons (who, unlike the civilians, were actively charging at their group) and, once they moved far enough away from them, raised and slammed his staff into the ground. In an instant, far above the group, what seemed to be a large cannon materialized in midair and fired a giant white laser onto the mob. The ensuing explosion scattered bone fragments and the like across the area, leaving a small spot of scorched earth in its wake as the pharaoh looked around for more. He couldn't exactly blast the people running from the fire; Nefertari would never forgive him if she knew he had done such a thing for no reason other than to speed his own life up. But this? This, he could do.

"Master! We shall remain here and provide support for the vanguard!" Ozymandias said, pointing his staff at another stray group of skeletons and blasting them apart with another laser from the sky. "Once a clear path to the city's gates is made, we shall move in with them! Is that clear?"

How strange it was for him to be giving orders as a 'Servant', though. Truly, this was a role he would have to get used to.
Well, if he was to be berated, then let it be so.

@Rin@VitaVitaAR@Grey Star@Raineh Daze

Hands clasped at the sight, Nero was frankly enthralled by the rain of arrows. "Umu! So beautiful, so graceful, so..." and then the blonde paused, raising one hand, "... completely unnecessary. My charming Praetor, rest assured that I shall never place such a strain upon your magical reserves without a good cause and worthy stage for it! Only the finest of foes are fit to grace my theatre. Certainly not the skeletons we see."

The Servant took a rather laissez-faire approach to the skeleton dilemma, simply removing with an over-exaggerated flourish the head of any skeleton that dared step close to her and her Master--until they reached the city and the source of the current conflict, embodied in the two Servants fighting overhead. The cheerful grin that had accompanied Atalanta's display was right back as Nero left her Master's side in an enthusiastic rush, cutting through the skeletons but doing more to dodge than destroy them. Her goal: a nearby mostly-intact wall and rooftop, a suitable vantage point from which to... do what, exactly?

Hm, she had no idea who the one with the long hair was, though despite her blindfold she seemed quite beautiful; the excessively long hair suited her well. The other was even more physically indistinct due to her cloak--but with the magic being thrown around, the Emperor reckoned that she could make an educated guess. Atalanta had already posited that Medea might be around after all... and if she was wrong, this was going to be mightily embarrassing.

One thing that everyone was about to find out was that Nero had a very healthy set of lungs.

"Beautiful ladies! Verily, you with the lustrous hair, and Medea! I, Caesar, request an immediate ceasefire, and an audience with myself and my compatriots!

---

Like many of the other Masters, Ai was left feeling woozy after the transmission--unlike those other Masters, her Servant was hardly going to provide a suitable support, seeming altogether too delicate in stature, even though she wasn't quite the shortest. This didn't stop her from using Nobunaga anyway, pressing against her back and throwing her arms around the Archer until her balance was regained. "Hopefully the return trip is less disorienting, eh, Nobu-chan?"

Trailing along with the rest of the group, Ai wondered if her abilities would be of particular use against an army of skeletons--the Servants seemed more than capable of handling it, so there was no need to expend her own abilities yet. Still... it was good to be prepared, and the onmyouji spread ofuda between her fingers. If their defences got breached by dealing with those other two Servants she saw fighting, an exorcism or two ought to deal with anything that got up to them.

---

Meran was another of those who took the transport in stride, appearing completely unruffled by the experience--though with her, it was hard to tell what was felt and what was real. Still, for one reason or another, the alchemist was unfazed by being warped through dimensions, looking at her tablet and making notes. "Hundred percent transmission success... mana consistent with the Age of Gods... minor calibration needed to smooth transport."

More notes followed on the sudden unexpected use of Atalante's Noble Phantasm, but Meran seemed content to keep her thoughts to herself on the approach to the ruined town--whereupon, setting the matter of the fighting Servants' identities aside for the moment, she crouched down to analyse one of the destroyed and dissipating skeletons.

"Not the Dead... not more advanced necromancy either. Magical constructs...?"

Of course, it was unlikely that any Master would have weighed much of anything to the Berserker-class Servant, but it was notable that Estelle felt like she weighed, well... nothing. Even for her size she was light, as if it was a reflection of her nature. Regardless, the tiny girl was a little surprised when she felt herself lifted from the ground and told to hold on. Her maids never picked her up, this was hardly anything she was used to at all, this was... this was... It was a little bit embarrassing if she had to be honest. She found herself instinctively clinging to one of the Amazon's arms as they were sent hurtling through the air. The speed of a Servant... the wind rushing past her... it was unlike anything she had ever felt previously.

Soon enough, Estelle was returned to reality when she saw the scene before her. Smoke. Fire. massive amounts of humans fleeing in terror as an army of skeletons swarmed the city. There were so many of them, a truly enormous swarm of such familiars. Estelle could conclude a number of things from the situation, one of which being that these skeletons were not the bodies of the dead. Rather, they seemed to be familiars of another nature, constructs resembling skeletons rather then being animated remains.

The other matter was the one who had created them. There were two women, one cloaked, and one blindfolded, fighting. The woman in the cloak was utilizing extremely powerful magecraft, which made the conclusion obvious: She was the one who made the skeletons, likely of the Caster class.

"Berserker, crush them until your heart's content," said Estelle, "We're cutting a path to that Caster!"

@Riegal

---

There was fire. There as enormous swarms of skeletons. There was civilians fleeing in fear. A Caster-class Servant and a Servant of unknown class, as far as she could tell, doing battle. It was easy enough to assume that the Caster-class Servant was the cause of the skeletal army, that was to say the least. And so the quickest path to relieving this besieged town and defending her Master while also preserving the lives of the civilians would indeed be to defeat her as soon as possible. That also meant clearing out as many of the skeletons as she could on the way. Planting one armored foot forward, her armored dress clanking, Saber raised her blade... and watched in confusion as her lookalike, the other Saber-class Servant, proceeded to try and all out to the combatants. For a few moments this took Saber out of the situation.

"... Wh.."

She shook her head. No. There were people in danger. Saber had to swiftly end the threat the skeletons posed to both the civilians here and her Master. It was no time to be distracted by the strange choices of an ally. While it was a baffling misstep in her opinion, she felt confident that the other Servant would not be overwhelmed. Especially if she did her best to clear out as many skeletons as she could. Raising her invisible blade once more, Saber tensed...

And suddenly erupted forward. Almost immediately her initial charge slammed into the familiars with enough force to knock several of them to pieces, scattering bones across the ground as the tip of her sword pierced not one, but two of the skeletons. Flicking her weapon to the side she cut them apart and spun, swinging her sword in an arc that tore through more of the constructs. Another step, another graceful downwards stroke, and more of the familiars were destroyed.

This was the power of a Servant. To a Heroic Spirit called into one of the class containers, these familiars were of little threat. Certainly, they possessed the capacity to harm a Servant, and perhaps due to her unique situation Saber may have been more at risk of such an occurrence. But they could not touch her, as she seemed to dance through the legions of skeletal foes, cutting dozens down in seconds.

@Raineh Daze@PKMNB0Y@Rin

"I appreciate your concern," Ascelia replied as she followed Nero while fending off any attackers that somehow still managed to pass through through the Servants' almighty push.

In retrospect, their roles as Masters in such a such a situation were hardly anything more than being a Prana battery for the Servants, instead of battling other Masters, like in a normal Holy Grail War. In fact, even this role was dubious when they are always immersed in environments so rich in Mana such as this one or the facility.

Perhaps, it was more correct to say that they were conduits, then?

Whatever the case was, Ascelia didn't have the time to dwell on it. Soon enough, she found herself in the heart of the current conflict. A mysterious battle between two purple clad female beings that could only be Heroic Spirits, one of which was very clearly a Caster. The last thing they needed to brighten their day was for someone to irresponsibly call for their attention and—

"What do you think you're doing?" Ascelia was shocked with Nero's brazenness. Nevertheless, now that the deed was done, the only thing left to do was brace themselves for any retaliation from the unknown Heroic Spirits, or hope that they would listen to Nero.

"Very well, whatever happens happens, now. I guess," the Magus Hunter said as she took cover behind one of the nearby temples, keeping Nero and the duo of Heroic Spirits in her line of sight.
Atalanta looked around right after unleashing her Noble Phantasm. It seemed like the reactions to it were a mixed bag between all of the other Master and Servants, not that the Leonine Archer gave them much mind. The pride of Heroic Spirit from the Age of the Gods had a far higher influence on her. Not to say that no one of them knew that it was in fact meant to be a 'greeting' so that the Witch could know of her presence in case she was indeed at Colchis, instead of Corinth.

Nevertheless, no reply came. Atalanta was left slightly behind as everyone else advanced, which wasn't a problem at all as, somehow she managed to arrive at scene of the battle between the two Heroic Spirits before everyone else.

As soon as Atalanta arrived at the scene of the clash between the two Heroic Spirits she replied to Keisuke, "The hooded one is the Witch. I don't know who the other one is, but I smell the scent of snakes, blood, and the Aegean Sea coming from her. I'm sure that she's from this epoch as much as I'm." In fact, Atalanta had quite a good guess of who that Heroic Spirit could be and so she added, "If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that she's the same as the beast slain by Perseus with the help of the Gods. It's said that she was a beautiful woman before being cursed. Now I can see why. If that's the case she's a more formidable adversary than I ever thought I would have the chance of facing."

Nevertheless, before she could do something else, one of their group decided to call for their attention in the most unpredictable way possible. Even though such an event was unexpected, Atalanta used it to her advantage. The huntress reached the top of one of the many temples and palaces of Colchis and drew her bow, silently aiming at the long-haired woman's back. If Atalanta's guess was right, this shot could mean the difference between life or death of all of them.

As soon as her quarry presented any signs of lowering her guard, Atalanta would fire with the intent to either kill or incapacitate her target.

Meanwhile, the Huntress' other senses focused on finding any other eventual nearby threats. It was unlikely that this much destruction was caused by just these two, the question is who else was waiting for them?