Being the Holy Grail is Suffering... [Worm/FSN Quest]

For a moment Theo saw something that was not there. A great tree growing from the ground, spreading its branches and reaching up towards the heavens. Then he saw a wall, and upon it stood a great giant, a god in the flesh of a man, and behind him grew the great tree. And the man said, "So perish everyone hereafter, who should leap over my walls."

And then he blinked, and the the vision was gone, yet before him the man stood. Skin of bronze, eyes of fire, features chiseled from stone. His head adorned with a crown of leather and gleaming metal, a cape the color of blood draped over his shoulders. Dark cloth struggled to contain him where they guarded his pectorals and his modesty. His musculature was so great that it could even be seen through the hide that was wrapped around his shins and forearms.

In the man's han was a lance, or something resembling a lance. Red. Red stone, one end short, cylindrical, blunt, the other end extended outward, flaring out like a tree. Both natural, like roots entwining around each other. Theo found himself overwhelmed by the sheer presence of the man, yet he remained standing. Even as every instinct in his body demanded that he kneel, he remained standing.

The man's fiery gaze locked onto him, and Theo met it. They remained like that for a time, then the man nodded. The man's voice, deep, calm, but imposing, like a great hill that blocks the horizon, weighed heavy in the air. "You...I sense Rome in you. Tell me, you who call upon the divine founder, what is it that you think that means?"

Theo could not answer. The air was suffocating.

The bronze man stared down his nose at the child and rose his chin in disinterest. "I see...it does not need an answer. Rome is Rome. That is all that matters."

The Grail stepped away from the two, but did not leave, watching with some interest as a jagged smile spread across their face. Theo swallowed. "Who are you?"

"I am Ro-" A bright light, an impact, an explosion. All in an instant. The great lancer did not stumble, did not flinch. Instead he merely lifted one arm, pulling an arrow from where it had driven into his shoulder blade, and glowered at it. Blood dripped down into a puddle at his feet.

Three more lights, like stars, could be seen for an instant as they appeared on the horizon, the view now unobstructed with the wall of the building being completely annihilated. Three arrows too fast to be seen, impossibly fast, flew through the air.

The red lance, the great tree, blocked each one. In a single movement it was swung in a wide arc, catching each arrow in the grooves of those red roots. Lancer, now facing the horizon, slammed his weapon into the ground, breaking the arrows as he did so.

More lights on the horizon. Too many. They would not stop. It was only a matter of time.

"MY LOVE REACHES ALL!" The shout itself was enough to shake the earth. "MOLES NECESSRIE!"

Great wooden walls rose from the ground on all sides, cleaving through all that was in their path as they did so. Those wooden walls, stained with blood, blocked out the horizon. Great explosions could be heard as a thousand arrows beat against the walls of Rome, but Rome held firm.

The divine founder laughed. "Rejoice! For you now reside within Rome!"

Theo could only gape in awe. Next to him, the Grail twitched.

---

"...Chiron, what were those explosions?"

"This new Servant has some sort of defensive Noble Phantasm. I tried to break through it with my arrows, but it is stronger than I expected."

"Wait, so your arrows are what made all those explosions?"

"Yes."

"...Um...I know you are the experienced hero and all, but could you not blow up the city?"

"I'll be careful. It seems I'll need to retreat anyways. I've lost the element of surprise, and it will take too long to get through those walls."

Chiron stood up, then in an instant he moved. A red blur sped past him, too fast to see, but the Greek Archer's instinct combined with his limited clairvoyance allowed him to grab onto the speedster. Pulling him back by the arm, Chiron flipped him over his shoulder and onto the ground. He wrapped his arms around the hero's neck, one around the front gripping his other bicep and the other arm pushing down on the back of the head. The red clad man struggled for a moment before going limp.

"A red man just tried to attack me. I took him down as gently as I could."

"...please don't tell me he was fast."

"Would you prefer I lie?"

"...right, so the PRT are going to be on their way then. We should probably get away."

"I would do that, but it seems this new Servant has other ideas."

Chiron lifted the unconscious man and slung him over his shoulder, leaping away to another rooftop just as the bronze lancer slammed his lance down onto the spot that they had previously been occupying. The building could not withstand the force of the impact, and thus, faced with the might of the divine founder, it collapsed.

"Master, I can't fight him effectively while protecting this man."

"Give me a second."

Lancer leapt again, his red lance lifted high above his head. Following his instincts, Chiron tossed Velocity to the side and leapt away. Space warped, and the red hero seemingly vanished just before that building too fell. "MAGNUS!" Chiron was forced to leap away again as another building fell.

The air rippled as the sounds of spinning blades began to dominate the sky. A voice called out from it. "This is the PRT! Drop your weapons! I repeat! This is the PRT! Dro-"

The man with eyes of flame laughed he pointed his lance at the helicopter. Trees sprouted from the ground, their branches becoming like spears to pierce the vehicle. One branch cut through the underside of the helicopter, and more rose to join it. Chiron spun on his heel and let loose three arrows in quick succession, each cutting through the branches, allowing the helicopter to retreat.

"Now the empire of Rome strikes back!"

Chiron could not move in time, despite seeing the attack coming in his mind's eye. The towering man was behind him now, his lance swinging around like a club. It slammed against the Greek hero's side, sending him flying from the rooftop into a building across the street. Lancer laughed as he came crashing into the building, slamming his lance repeatedly into the floor until the building collapsed.

When the dust cleared Chiron was gone. Romulus frowned, his frenzy cooling into a quiet flickering flame. "So he retreats…"

There was a loud crash and a great wave of force hit the Lancer. Romulus turned, unaffected, and rose an eyebrow. Before him was a man dressed in a white bodysuit wearing lion themed shoulder pads and helmet, as well as a belt. Behind him, perched on a roof, was a woman dressed in army fatigues with a scarf over her face and a sash around her waist. She held an assault rifle in her hand which she began to fire at the Servant. The bullets did not even leave a mark upon the bronze man's skin.

He grinned, lifting his lance up, he prepared to charge.

Then he froze. "Stop!" The command was loud and full of desperation. Romulus frowned. "To think you would try to shackle Rome…"

The Protectorate heroes watched in shock as the divine ancestor vanished before their eyes.

---

The Grail was alone now. The walls had lowered sometime after Romulus had leapt away, and Theo had wasted no time running after his Servant. They had not bothered to follow. The Grail had done as it had intended to do, and the new Master hadn't even remembered to take his phone back.

Returning to a familiar location, the docks, seemed wise, but what they did there was up for debate. They could simply wander, search for another Master. Alternatively, they could return to where they held the green hero previous and take time to acquire more knowledge about the world at large through the PHO.

---

OPTIONS:

[] Search for Masters

[] Use PHO

---

CANON OMAKE:

Jekyll sat in the cell he had been taken to. He could have escaped easily, but found disobeying the law so frivolously to be distasteful, especially when doing so would only create more complications for his Master.

The cell was quiet, at least. It was easy to remain calm within its four white walls. Easy to keep Hyde in check. He had lost control before and had endangered his Master. He hated losing control like that. Hated being locked behind his own eyes, unable to act, only able to watch as his body destroyed everything around him.

But he was calm now. In control. To him this was no prison. He new what real confinement was like, and this came nowhere close.

The door opened.

A large woman, her chest puffed out like some sort of penguin and her face stern, stomped into the room. She held up a rectangular device, video of a battle between an archer and a man wielding a great red lance of some sort playing on its screen.

"These people...these things...are they like you?"

Jekyll did not need long to understand what she was asking. "Yes." That answer was clear when he saw one enter astral form. "They most assuredly are, ma'am. I'm afraid that the Holy Grail War is beginning."

The woman's frown deepened. "Armsmaster...you are his projection, correct? You will follow his orders?"

"I will do the best that I can. Though, I must apologize, but Hyde is harder to control. I'm sorry."

"Is there a way to deal with...him?"

"I can do little, but he will protect his Master, if only to protect himself. Beyond that...I will do my best to keep in control, and should he go too wild my Master can use his command seals to suppress him."

"You mean the markings on the back of his hand."

It was not a question. Even so, Jekyll replied in the affirmative.

They held each other's gazes for a long beat, then the women turned and marched out of the room. Jekyll would be released only a few minutes later.

---

AN: Sorry this took so long. This has been a rough couple of days.

I think some people might have expected Chiron to get stomped in that fight, however, between his range, firing speed, and the power behind his shots (in Apocrypha his arrows could actually wound Mordred pretty bad, and her Endurance is equal to that of Romulus, and Romulus has no armor) there was actually a very real chance that Romulus could have been taken out had he not used Moles Necessrie.

Anyways, loved all the discussion I saw (even if it went off topic a few times). Hope you all keep it up!