"We're here," said Lancer.
"What do you mean?" said Aeglesia. This was an unremarkable expanse of open ground - dry earth, sparse trees. Open savannah.
"I mean we're here," said Lancer, taking a seat on a low rock. "This is where you fight."
"But -" Aeglesia froze. "But that doesn't make sense. This is open ground."
"Mmhm," said Lancer, flicking open her book.
"But - but have you seen her?!" said Aeglesia desperately. "I can't fight that in the open! I thought you were going to take me to a - a cave or something so she'd at least have to shrink down to fight me!"
"Hmm," said Lancer, flicking up her eyes. "You seem to have thought about this a lot."
"Of course I have!" said Aeglesia. "I've been planning this for ages!"
"Let me ask you a question," said Lancer. "Why did you pick Princess Jezara as your opponent?"
"I - I mean, I wasn't planning on fighting her this quickly -" said Aeglesia shiftily.
"Why didn't you pick Princess Qiu?" said Lancer, turning a page. Aeglesia started.
"Are you kidding!? I can't beat Qiu! She's the strongest of the Princesses -"
"What about Chen?" said Lancer.
"She's a prodigy, I can't keep up with -"
"Kikil?"
"Technomancy is scary and -"
Lancer snapped her book shut. "So you picked Princess Jezara because you thought that she was the weakest," she said. "And there's no shame in that, but let us be direct: you are not a strategic mastermind, and you are not alone in wanting the easiest fight. What I'm saying is that right now [i]you [/i]are nothing special - Princess Jezara knows that she's the weakest too and as a result she's surrounded by climbers like you all looking to steal a quick win and get their names on the board. Fight her in a [i]cave[/i]? As if that's not the first thing every insecure wannabe will do to try to even the odds against the warrior who advertises herself as fighting in open spaces. She probably has more experience fighting in tight areas than you do."
Aeglesia looked down, cheeks burning with shame. Lancer didn't seem to notice, flicking her book back open to the bookmarked page.
"Do you know what I bet she doesn't have a lot of experience with?" said Lancer. "Fighting in this giant terror monster shape. Everybody who sees it will be terrified - oh no, there's no way I can fight something that big! They'll hinge their strategy around not letting her use the big lion and in so doing play into her actual strengths. It's human nature. People see a giant cathedral with stained glass windows and their brains overflow. They can't see that it's just a wasteful building made by humans. They flinch in cowardice before the big thing and then call it [i]spirituality[/i]. It's the same simple trick that Saber uses. It's why I feel confident in having her as an ally - because I can see through that ridiculous lurching combat style to the fragile, unarmoured girl underneath."
Aeglesia's cheeks burned hotter. She'd thought that Saber was cool. Maybe unbeatable. But she hadn't seen Lancer fight, so she'd probably just been taken by the illusion again.
"Anyway, here's my advice," said Lancer, standing up and approaching. "You want to be a Roman? Then be a Roman. Meet the enemy army in the field and destroy them. Fight barbarian size and strength with discipline and formation. Mark your brow with the blood of Mars and go to war as a crimson star of battle. Do not steal your victory, seize it! It is your due and your destiny. Rome only fell the day Hadrian sinned against Terminus and accepted a smaller, more 'practical' Empire. Do better! Accept no limit! Cross every milestone! Become the greatest and never flinch from it! That alone is Rome!"
She held a silver bowl before Aeglesia, filled with the dark blood of an ox. She saw her face mirrored in the vitae.
"Will you accept the mark of eternal conquest?" Lancer asked.
Aeglesia took a deep breath. She looked up.
"I will," she said, and drew a line of blood across her face, shadowing her eyes in Imperial crimson.