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'Most impressive Altera! I can envision the Goddess Venus smiling upon your form!'
The child Altera spun around clumsily to face her teacher, Emperor of Rome, Nero Claudius. 'Venus? Shouldn't it be called the God of Mars?' she asked as she rested slightly on the Sword of Mars. Even if she could wield it, it was still too heavy for her.
The Red Saber placed her hands on her hips, 'The Rosa Ichthys demands only beauty; a passionate declaration of life and love that can never be snuffed out!' Nero spun gracefully and lifted her arms to the heavens, a shower of rose petals drifted about her.
Altera's tiny face twisted into confusion. Tamamo, who watched from the sidelines, was becoming increasingly bored without her "Husband" to keep her company. 'I wouldn't try to understand our little Emperor's line of thinking. Even the Gods have trouble interpreting how she manages to function,' she teased.
Before Nero could respond, a man dressed in red and black rushed into the arena they were training in. As stoic as he was, Nameless now carried an air about him that fell somewhere between alarm and annoyance. 'Emperor! Where did the Master go?'
'My Praetor is accompanying Astolfo today on one of his more fanciful adventures.' Nero appeared regretful for a moment before recovering to her usual grandeur.
'He simply barged in with Praetor and yelled, "Heyo! I'm borrowing Master for a while is that ok, OK BYE!" Nero did her best impression of the pink haired Paladin. 'Then they left without so much as a how do you do!'
Tamamo yawned, 'nice try, but Rider speaks in a higher voice than that. My Husband is truly too compassionate towards others it makes my blood boil. However– ' her ears twitched in annoyance, 'the love we share is too strong for me to deny her freedom.'
Altera descended into further confusion, 'is jealousy considered bad civilisation?' she thought.
Archer pressed his hand to his forehead in contemplation. 'So the last Master on the Moon, the one who is consistently a magnet for danger, is currently without protection?'
Nero crossed her arms and chuckled,' Archer she is with Astolfo. While I reproach such whimsical behaviour without my permission, I must admit the look of compassion she showed for a grieving friend was too beautiful to ignore.'
Tamamo nodded in agreement. 'Indeed Mr No Name, you seem to act more like my Husband's Mother than a Servant. Hakuno is a mature adult!' Tamamo smiled, confident in her decision. 'So unless you wish to be called my Mother in Law, relax! My Husband will return for me soon enough!'
Archer sighed. True, Hakuno was an adult– but he didn't want to mention the fact that she never even got an option to experience childhood either. Instead he mentioned what he thought should be obvious. 'Astolfo? The magnet for danger is accompanied by a magnet for chaos?'
The room fell silent.
Tamamo spoke up first. 'Rider is capable, in his own way. If he wasn't he wouldn't have been made a Heroic Spirit in the first place.' She reclined back into her sofa.
Nero agreed jubilantly. 'That is the truth. Besides if she were in danger I would know– we are deeply connected through our bond– remember that Altera!'
Archer was increasingly irritated. 'Oh well, then it seems you have everything under control. I suppose nothing would faze you. Not even if I said that Captain Drake was currently holding the Master hostage?'
'YOU COULD HAVE STARTED WITH THAT FACT!'
*
Waves crashing.
A swaying feeling.
The smell of salt, gunpowder and spices.
The hallmarks of a life lived in passionate grandeur.
'Maaaster! Please wake up!'
Hakuno's back ached– rough wooden planks bored into her spine, and she felt soaked through to the bone. Her world swayed to and fro, up then down. Hakuno peeped one eye open and slowly her vision blurred back into view. With one eye she saw the blue, cloudless sky. With the other she saw the face of an upside down knight. Strands of bubblegum pink hair fell over Astolfo's face as he cocked his head to the side in an attempt to get a better view of his Master.
'Phew!' he sighed in relief, 'I thought you were dead!'
Hakuno groaned. 'Astolfo? Why is the ground moving?'
'...yeeeah about that,' Rider said, helping his Master back to her feet. They both wobbled as the ground shifted again. 'Remember how we were flying on Hippogriff?'
That's right. She remembered studying mage craft basics with Nameless when she noticed Astolfo's face squashed up against a nearby window– which led to her ducking out on Archer to join him on one of his whimsical adventures.
Normally she didn't mind joining him, but this time she felt compelled to. Hakuno was getting better at reading the petite Paladin's body language. As cheerful and quirky Rider made himself out to be, he was also hiding his suffering; the emptiness that his beloved King had left behind. After all, Hakuno felt it too.
'Well, we were flying over the ocean when, BAM, BOOM!' he waved his hands to emphasise his story. 'Hippogriff was like "WAAAH!" and popped back to the other side for a little while.'
Hakuno could see the shoreline, but it was too far for them to swim. 'And we landed on this ship?' Strange, it looked familiar.
Astolfo hummed in agreement, 'Yeah! We got real lucky huh?'
'Seems to me your luck just ran aground.'
Hakuno and Astolfo whipped around to see a group of twenty pirates, armed to the teeth (what few they had), and steadily surrounding them. From within the crowd emerged their Pirate Queen, tall, buxom and lethal. Re-summoned by the Moon Cell she swaggered forward to greet her stowaways.
'El Draque,' Hakuno breathed. Astolfo edged closer to his Master.
'The King of Storms, in the digital flesh,' Drake announced. Her voice reflected the avid and delicious greed she held in life. 'I'm honoured you carved my name into your memory, Master of the Moon.' The crew snickered at their Captain's remark.
'If you wanna hurt my Master you'll have to deal with me!' Rider growled, pushing Hakuno behind him. His threat earned him a boom of laughter from the crew, and a smirk from the one eyed Captain.
'How adorably chivalrous you are, small fry!' Drake mocked, 'It makes me want to keelhaul such gallantry.'
'You better not underestimate me– I'm Astolfo of the Twelve Paladins of Charlemagne. I'll not fall!' In response, the crew aimed their pistols towards the stowaways. Hakuno just held on to Rider's arm; at best she could summon a shield to temporarily protect them. She wished she could do something more to help.
However the Captain just waved at her men, motioning them to stand down. 'Tempting as it might have been in the past, I've no desire to shoot down the Moon as well. Rather–' she said, her full female figure strutting forward even closer. 'I'm more interested in getting to know the Victor of the Holy Grail War. We do go back that far after all.'
Astolfo hesitated, staying put until Hakuno lightly tapped his arm, signalling him to stand down. 'It's okay, she's telling the truth. I can't believe you still remember me from back then.'
'I can't believe you can either,' Drake replied, and grinned.
Touché.
'Gentlemen, this is the Master who defeated me in the very first round of the Holy Grail War! A weak little whelp she was, an amnesiac! She couldn't even so much as string together a sentence without her Saber's help.' Francis placed one hand on her hip. 'Do you still remember the last thing I asked of you before I disappeared?'
Hakuno's memory may be strewn and patched at best, but she hadn't forgotten. 'You told me to get stronger' she stated, staring the Captain square on, 'you hated losing to weak enemies.'
'Look at you now.' The wind picked up, carrying a crisp ocean mist that bellowed through the ship's sails. The Captain's bright blue eye shined with satisfaction, as if a long held regret was finally put to rest.
'So...what was the reason that you had us shot down?' Hakuno asked.
'Yeah you could have hurt Hippogriff!' Astolfo added.
The Captain just laughed, 'Ha! You can't expect me to just let a rare beast like that get away without giving chase– hauling in the last Master was a bonus!'
Hakuno couldn't help but be attracted to such a vicarious life. Nero was the first Servant she met; however Francis Drake was the first zealous and audacious spirit she'd ever encountered. Compared to Hakuno's newly fabricated soul, Drake's own was the entire opposite. A raging storm, taking everything and leaving nothing; a true testament to the life she once lived.
The Captain moved away from the two, commanding the crew back to work. As they rushed about with vigour she continued speaking. 'Welcome to the Golden Hind, Master.' She turned back and faced Hakuno with a rogue glee.
'Want to do something bad together?'