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Wiping her hands on a spare handtowel, Brynhilda tossed the scrap of cloth back onto the rack as she exited the bathroom of her one-bedroom apartment. There, with the last bit of blood wiped away, her preparations for the day – and possibly week – ahead was done. Provided that she isn’t forced to exhaust her arsenal of spells within the next few days. Pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose, her index finger brushed the unmarked spot between her eyes. She had foregone adding the ‘Eyes of Petrification’, for it was to be her trump card in the War.
A satisfied, triumphed smirk lifted the corners of her lips as she donned her grey long coat and equally grey fingerless gloves. For years, people had been trying to replicate the Mystic Eyes of a legendary figure, only to fall short and here she was with the means to it, all thanks to her proficiency in blood magecraft. A dark arts they shunned. Brynhilda was sorely tempted to rub this in the faces of other magi within the Association, and would have if she didn’t yet feel she could go even further with this. Currently, she could only use it once. Any more and she would burn out the circuits in her head, causing her to go blind at best and outright killing her at worse. But she hadn’t given up on improving it just yet, for maybe with a little help from her Servant, she could advance it to the point of multiple uses. Imagine it being another spell in her usual arsenal! Oh, the possibilities…
With a mental shake of her head, she focused back on the present. One quick glance at her watch told her it was 7:10. Right, that should be late enough, and she didn’t have anything more to do in order to stall the time of her arrival. Not that she needed more time to familiarise herself with the place as she had done so a while ago. As soon as Brynhilda had selected the Servant she wished to summon, she came to Fuyuki City, settling in the apartment the Yggdmillennia purchased under their name. She didn’t know when they had acquired it and she didn’t care. It was a place to stay before and during the War, assuming this block didn’t get caught in the crossfire before the War ended. At the end of the week, she summoned her Servant, using the fossilized skin of a Balkan whip snake. The book did not explicitly say what catalyst worked best, but Brynhilda figured a well-preserved part of an ancient venomous native greek species would work just as well, dipped in the fresh blood of another of its kin. She didn’t think the catalyst would summon her another Servant tied to a snake like Cleopatra, as that one required an Egyptian species. Fortunately for her, the assumption paid off.
That was a little over than a month ago and Brynhilda couldn’t be more pleased to have Rider by her side. The Servant was loyal to a fault, and didn’t seem to mind her more…dubious practices. She could take Independent Action, meaning Brynhilda could simply give her an order and know Rider will fulfil it to the best of her abilities and judgement. And one absolutely delightful fact? Rider had also been a Servant in the last Grail War, which so happened to also take place in this very city. Obviously, that little fact didn’t immediately made her out to be the Master with the best advantage as there would have been others who had lived her longer than two months. But at least she wasn’t walking into unknown territory completely blind. That was definitely a plus in her books.
Preparation done, she mentally reached out to call her Servant.
“Rider? You can stop scouting ahead and return. Let’s head to the cathedral. There’s no time like the present. Oh, this is going to be an interesting night, hmm?”"Yes, I can feel like things are beginning, Master. I shall be at your side in a moment." Rider responded through their mental link before returning to her previous task of observing the snowy spread of land around her one final time.
In the time she had been alloted by her Master, she had managed to cover a suprising area. As silence fell on her once more, she stretched out her enhanced senses, extending them outwards as far as she could. The awareness of her body slowly faded into the background, with the first being her breathing. Next, the steady beating of her heart. Soon, the clarity of things filled her mind - of the voices in the wind, the mana in the air, the crunch of gravel below wheels and feet - and the intensity of her focus determined what she could hear and feel. Not see, for she denied herself sight until there is no other choice. The echoes of the urban city life was a constant buzz beneath the various foreground noises, and overlapping it all, the sounds of cars. However, none of it was what Rider's watching out for. No, she sought a different catch altogether. Scanning through the overlapping layers her senses were feeding her, she listened to the sounds, tasted the chilly night air, smelled the city itself, felt the gentle breeze and sensed the magical activity permeating Fuyuki. Just as her Master said, just from sensing the heavy atmosphere around the city, it was obvious to her that tonight was going to be different. Inhaling sharply, Rider snapped back from her almost trance-like state of focus and immediately retreated to her Master's side as per commanded moments before. Dematerializing to hide herself as she moved, she made her way her way back to her Master's apartment and within a couple of minutes, she was present by Brynhilda's side.
"Shall we go then Master?" She asked, still utilising the link to communicate as her presence was shielded in her immaterialized form and would stay this way until further notice. She now had her full attention on one objective - her Master's safety, keeping her senses open for full comprehension of anything she notices.
Instead of replying her Servant, Brynhilda exited her apartment and into the cold night, footsteps muffled by the thick layer of snow. Her apartment wasn't very far from the catherdral, so even if she moved at the slowest pace possible, she would still make it within ten minutes. However, she was actually looking forward to meeting the other Masters of this War, and thus her steps were brisk and purposeful. She didn't bother scanning the surroundings for potential threats and such like, feeling secured in the fact her Servant - though immaterialised - was keeping a very close watch over her. Within five minutes, she was within view of their destination. Foreign mana brushed against her senses but her steps didn't falter or pause.
"Rider, how many potential Masters and Servants are within this area? Just a vague number. I want to know if they have started yet." Brynhilda questioned as she stepped onto the church's cobblestone porch. She didn't want to miss the initial meeting and be left to flounder about later. Whether or not anything meaningful would be shared this night would be for her to find out.
"Within in the area..." Rider said as she honed in both her physical and magical senses to feel around the area, reaching out to entwine and grasp at the surroundings, giving a running commentary for everything she discovered along the way.
"From what I can tell, there are four Magi (Overseer, Assistant, Leon) in the church and one assumed to be the Overseer who extended the invitation to you, Master. The other figures inside may be Masters or assistants to the Overseer. Outside, on the church porch, there seem to be two magi (Thorne & Amina) along with someone (disguised Saber) who seems to be guarding the church's main gates." Rider told Brynhilda, mental tone taking a curious lilt as she felt the mysterious figure by the gates, wondering what the being could be. "Besides those at the church there are two servants (Caster and unknown) and a single magus (Jonathan) directly opposite the church along with another Servant who I briefly felt (Thorne's Servant), I assume those four are merely scouting and will not be attending the meeting." "Is that so? Thank you, Rider." Brynhilda allowed a small smirk to touch her lips.
Quite a number of people had gathered already, which was rather surprising in itself. She would have thought the participants to be more paranoid and suspicious about each other, and be generally uncomfortable being in such close proximity to potential enemies. But who was she to judge, for here she was too, walking up to the front gates of the church. She spared the man guarding it a sweeping glance. Besides the almost knightly posture the man - magus - was adopting, there was nothing else remarkable about him. The Assosiation had bodyguards a dime a dozen and while he might have been a higher ranking member assigned to guard the Overseer - a wise course of action - he most likely wasn't anyone she would recognise.
Lifting a hand, Brynhilda threw open the gates with a firm push and stalked inside, head high and drawing forth the serenity she felt inwardly to the surface. It wouldn't do her any good to show her nervousness before these people. She didn't stop to exchange pleasantries with the two magi inside the gate, breezing past them towards the church's doors. Here, she hesitated, warring between her instinct screaming at her to keep her Servant by her side and the fact that there were no Servants within the room. Very reluctantly, she caved, mentally telling Rider to remain outside even as she headed into the room.
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