You listened intently along with Gilgamesh to Arjuna's information, as he explained the last of Roa's servants "Rider of Black is a young girl who can't seem to keep her mouth shut I would probably know more about her if I didn't tune her incessant blabbering out." He looks at you guiltily as he says this, you don't mind however knowing more about your opponents is merely icing on the cake. "Rider doesn't willingly go along with Fiore's schemes so she's having a hard time with that servant, I'm not sure of anything else master, I apologize."
"No, no, what we learned is already quite good." you wave your hands in denial, why was this guy so harsh on himself? The Indian hero seems to relax as he gives you a relieved smile before continuing "Assassin of Black on the other hand, how to say this, she's obviously not human nor much like an Assassin in my opinion, she's not stealthy at all but she's strong, dreadfully so in fact. I had to face her in combat while Roa took on her master, if it ended any later even I might have been pressed if I didn't go for the kill."
Arjuna doesn't look happy to admit this but he dutifully continues "Assassin may seem to be a small girl but don't let that fool you, she's anything but. Her personality is what I would call carefree, that girl does whatever she wants so it's hard to expect what she's going to do; however, it's also quite twisted she didn't care one bit about her change in master's or about her new Master's atrocities."
Arjuna's face twists as he mentions this, but you let it go more concerned about what you've recently learned, it seems none of Roa's current servants would mind if you killed their master or not, most would probably prefer it in fact. While you were distracted it seems your younger servant has finished with his golden pool, since you don't see him staring into it anymore or it being anywhere at all in the first place, probably back within his gate.
"Sha Naqba Imuru" Gilgamesh intones from your side, closing his eyes in concentration before quickly opening them again. "Okay I've got it, the rider is the paladin Astolfo while the Assassin is a famous monster Shuten-Douji."
"A monster, I thought the Grail could only summon heroic spirits though? Are monsters really included among heroes?" You can't help but ask in confusion as one of the rules you knew for this war was thrown out the window.
Archer of Red looks towards you before answering "It seems Assassin's former master was a bit ambitious and tampered with the Grail system to summon something other than Hassan or an old man of the mountain as they are called. So instead of one of the Hassan-i-Sabbah they received something that could not normally be summoned instead, whether that was a stroke of luck or misfortune is up in the air. On another note before we start our hunt there's one last piece of business we have here." Well that explained how a monster was Assassin but what could Gilgamesh want with this dusted place?
"What?" You look at your desolate surroundings trying to spot anything other than ash, what could possibly be important here? Gilgamesh gives you a mischievous look before giving you his answer. "Just follow me, they say seeing is better than believing after all."
You and Arjuna exchange a glance, it seems he also has no clue what Gilgamesh is on about actually seeming far more surprised than you if that look on his face is anything to go by; but before waiting for your assent Gilgamesh is already leaving the two of you behind.
"Ah wait for me Gil!" You shorten his name into a nickname in the hopes it unbalances him, it doesn't seem to work however since he just briefly turns his head to give you an amused look. Your other archer merely shakes his head in exasperation, but you can tell he isn't unhappy by the slight smile tugging at the corners of his face.
"We're here." Gil, announced, you inspect your surroundings and you see… absolutely nothing but more dirt and debris you give your first servant a frown of disappointment "Here for what exactly, to play in the dirt?"
"Master you should have more faith in me, of course we're not here to play with dirt." Archer of Red gives you an affronted look, just as he begins to do what he said he wouldn't, flinging a few of his golden items towards the ground.
"Gil you liar! You're playing with the ground don't deny it!" The newly coined 'Gil' just ignores you now as he continues to excavate the ground until it collapses revealing a hole leading to what seemed to be a glowing ball. "What is that?"
Gilgamesh finally deigns to answer you "That Master, is the Greater Grail the reason for this whole war in the first place and my newest possession." He gives you a smug look just as he finishes talking to you, the huge sphere is rapidly consumed by a equally large golden portal, uhh so that just happened.
"Okay we're done here, let's go get Roa now." The small hero seems to be in a good mood all of the sudden, does he like collecting new toys that much? Arjuna merely frowns, oddly silent during this weird turn of events.
"Just like that?" You can't help but question your servant.
"Yep" Gilgamesh responds popping the P, he was in an extremely playful mood for some reason, but you guess he couldn't act like an adult all the time, oh well, you knew you were pushing the little guy; Anyways he could use a break from acting so serious all the time.
"So, Gil you said you knew where that dumb Serpent is, can you show us already?" That doesn't mean there wouldn't be repercussions for his earlier antics, your going to keep using his new nickname until the squirt apologizes for teasing you. However, it seems your actions backfire as he seems to take a shine to it tch, it seems you would need to find an alternative method.
"Yes, but before that we need a plan, going in blindly won't help us much and while I don't believe we're at any huge risk without one, it won't hurt to have one will it master?" He gives you a look of childish innocence while tilting his head for maximum cute, you can feel your heart making odd flutters, this again?
It seems Gilgamesh's teasing was far more effective than your own, you'll remember not to make this your field of battle next time "Ahem, perhaps you should tell us your plan Gilgamesh and how you figured out the identities of Assassin and Rider so easily." Arjuna interrupts your battle, Nice one Arjuna, you couldn't afford to lose to that kid.
Ah wait, Arjuna didn't know yet did he, but should you tell him? Before you could come to a decision Gilgamesh takes it out of your hands answering the older archer "It's my Noble Phantasm, Sha Naqba Imuru it allows me to identify servants with a mere look and with your descriptions I was able to scry them with my pool."
Arjuna brings a hand to his lips considering the implications of such a thing before he responds once more "So this also applies to the servants of Red?" it was more a statement of fact than a question.
Gilgamesh looks up at Arjuna before realization hits his face "Speaking of Red faction you don't know yet do you? Nearly the entire Red Faction is also controlled by a single person, he's aiming for something that will destroy the world."
The Indian hero looks positively aghast at that revelation, before his stoic mask slides back into place. "So, this war has been something like that from the beginning, to think…" Arjuna mutters to himself, starting to trail off until his monologue becomes an inner one.
Gilgamesh ignores this continuing with his explanations "The person who has done this is the Ruler servant from the previous Holy Grail War, we cannot afford to let him gain his wish, but it will be difficult since he has his entire faction united with him being a servant himself while the Black has already been torn apart. We have our work cut out for us, yet we must still try as we cannot afford to lose." Arjuna looks at his younger counterpart closely his eyes narrowed as if looking for any excuse to call the child a liar or fool but when he see's Gil's serious expression he looks away in thought before pinching the bridge of his nose.
"If the situation is truly that dire then I suppose we cannot afford to kill our enemies lightly, how troublesome. Still it is a heroes' duty to save those in need and that of course includes the whole world, I would be honored to help the both of you with such a noble goal." It seems you've obtained Arjuna's full cooperation, if you didn't have it already. You can't help but pump your fist in excitement, after all Roa was going down and you were going to save the world, it was just so interesting!
"Yes, we would love to have someone as strong as you to aid us, but back to the task at hand, Master I have two plans for you. The first is that I give you something that can cloak your presence to ambush Roa alone leaving us to cause a commotion to distract her four servants, if you can kill her and steal her Command Seals quickly enough we'll have all of her servant's." Gilgamesh pauses here for a moment looking into the distance for some reason. "There are a few problems with this though while you can sneak past Roa's servants Arjuna and I will have to fight four while holding back putting us at risk and if you're too slow Roa can use his command seals to summon a servant to protect him, there is also a chance that she'll keep one or two nearby regardless."
Gilgamesh brings a second finger up next to his first "Second is that you simply fight alongside us while I equip you with the noble phantasms required to deal with the servants in question, hopefully we can subdue them but it's quite likely that one or two of them will die in the ensuing fight, but we'll definitely beat them. Now I want you to think about this for a while before you come to a decision since we have an hour's travel before we can catch up to the Serpent of Akasha."
Ughhh more decisions, why couldn't Gil just tell you what you should do, instead of making you have to decide? Actually, now that you think about it, if he did do that you wouldn't like being told what to do and probably do the opposite…
To take your mind off another headache inducing choice you ask you're newest servant something that was on your mind "Arjuna what's your wish for the Holy Grail? I'll tell you mine first; it was well, to be able to kill Roa once and for all but that's kind of already happening right now, so I guess I don't really have one right now but maybe I'll get something cool like uncle Zel's Kaleidoscope he keeps bragging about, just to see the look on his face when I show it to him."
Arjuna pays attention but he seems reluctant to share his wish, so you continue hoping that'll get him to share "Gil's wish wasn't something regarding the Grail, he just wanted friends didn't you Gil?"
You slam Gilgamesh into a bearhug while ruffling his hair, it was surprisingly satisfying perhaps this could be your new pastime?
"Master! Don't tell him that, you're embarrassing me!" the kid couldn't help but whine as he tried to escape your smothering attention. Ohoh, while it seems most teasing didn't work, the combo of hugging him and ruffling his hair did. You now had a reliable weapon against him, grinning you responded back. "Well it's only fair if Arjuna knows our wishes so he can tell us his own after all."
Arjuna looks at you two with a face torn between a smile and a frown, you've never seen an expression quite like that, he sighs before finally telling you "It seems I have been put into a bind, but if I must, my wish master isn't something so noble, my desire for the grail is to be left alone so no one could see the ugliness that was within me… That's what it was at any rate but now… I am rethinking it, so my wish is undecided for now Master."
Ah did he just give you a non-answer? Still you couldn't bring it up especially after he spoke such heartfelt words you pondered on it but ultimately let it slide, you still had plenty of time to hear out whatever he decided on.
"Master, could you let me go, please?" Gil begged you with quivering lips, you give him a mischievous grin "Nope" you popped the p just has he did earlier, he looks at you in despair as he resigns himself to his fate, revenge was sweet!
Arjuna merely sighed at your antics seeming to not care much for the fate of his compatriot, your journey seems to have paused though since Gilgamesh was no longer leading you, it seems the young archer realized this as he cleared his throat before putting on a serious tone "Master it would be prudent of you to let me go, as I cannot lead you efficiently in my current position, you want to reach Roa as soon as possible right? The night is still young, but we don't want to waste it by doing nothing do we? Letting me go would be in your best interests Master that much is fact."
Augh, He was right you really couldn't, so you reluctantly release him and when he's finally free of your grasp he gives you a smug smirk in return. There would be a reckoning for this, with far more hugs and hair ruffles!
It wasn't long after that, merely a few minutes before Gil announced, "Master we're nearly there what have you decided on fighting with us, or ambushing Roa?"
This again, well you've had enough time, you've decided you're going to.
Which Plan does Arcueid pick?
[] You'll fight with your servants protecting them from harm, you'll risk the lives of the opposing servants but they're not as important as the friends you have now.
[] You'll take Gil's cloaking item to ambush Roa, you're servants are strong and while they will be outnumbered, you're confident you can take out Roa quickly enough to claim his servants as your own.
A/N: Sorry for the excessive fluff but I felt like I needed to pad an otherwise short chapter with something, do you guys like it or would you prefer to not have as much?
