There's any number of reasons you could agree to what she's saying. The obvious one, that it's better to have a powerful, famous, ancient witch on your side than it is to have her upset with you. The fact that you've stayed in her seat of power, and she could potentially have ruined you, but didn't. Perhaps even because the seduction she's aimed at you since you met is working. There's as many reasons to say yes as there are buildings burning in the city right now, but one sticks out to you a little more than most.
Circe is watching someone she loves be twisted and tortured by some other, corruptive power, and it hurts her. Hurts her so badly that she's willing to kill her family just to spare them the pain that they're going through. The woman Circe taught magecraft to, if you're recalling your stories right, her beloved niece. And Circe just asked you, with no hesitance, no wavering, to help kill her.
Getting attached to Servants is a terrible idea, and generally it's best to humour them, but not let your emotions rule you when they're around. But you can't help but remember another fire you've been in, a little village that was populated only by the shambling dead by the time
he and you got there, and the Apostle that created them all. Your heart aches as memories scratch at your mind like some hideous monster trying to push through a door, and even when you close your eyes and still your mind with a deep breath, you've already made up your mind.
No one should have to bury the ones they love alone.
"We'll help. I promise."
Four words and a single outstretched hand, and you've bound yourself almost as tightly as if you'd really used magecraft. Archer looks a little suspicious, and poor Roman seems to be craning his neck to hear better, but you can explain on the way, talk to him a little more after the rapid-fire shifting priorities that you've been having since you walked into Circe's den.
The witch in question looks into your eyes as if seeking for any hint of treachery, before glancing down at your hand. For just a moment, she hesitates, maybe some last minute doubts finally clouding her decision to kill her niece...but then she reaches out and shakes, her delicate, soft hand hiding a surprisingly firm grip.
"I will hold you to that, Shielder. Once my...once Medea is dead, then we'll fix things up with your other crew. It'll be easy to find them from the skies once she's gone."
Circe's smile is back now, but the energy she carried herself with is taking a little longer. She wasn't going to be able to defeat Medea herself, and now that you've been dropped here after who knows how long from her perspective, she finally had her chance. Even if she was certain, that didn't mean it was going to be easy for her to decide to kill the husk her niece had become.
It's honestly a pleasant surprise for you. If she had been anything like the magi you knew, she wouldn't dream of trying to kill Medea. She'd capture her and use her as a test subject instead, and then figure out if there was any way to spread the corruption to other subjects too, just to see what happened, to see if somehow you twisted a Servant enough, a path to the Root would open up. It's actually a little funny that one of the greatest witches in history that you're sure magi would have
killed to meet would be disgusted by their own practices. More than a little reassuring as well, you suppose, though you're quick to remind yourself what Circe is most famous for.
Magi are monsters. That Circe is less so than some you've met doesn't mean you should start getting chummy.
With that agreement out of the way, there's not much left to do in Circe's workshop. She mentions something about getting some last few things thrown together, which suits you fine. There's one person you haven't had much of a chance to chat with between Circe, Olga, and Archer all but ambushing you as you come to terms with the fact that you're a miracle of magecraft and you have no idea
how.
Roman brightens up as you approach him, but not enough that you miss the nervous glance he casts over your shoulder towards Archer. Whatever about you being nervous, him being a normal human must make it about a hundred times worse for him. Thankfully, he's currently in the safest place in the world right now, this world at least. And hey, your class is all about protecting people, apparently. Maybe you'll actually make it through this with everyone alive.
"...So." You begin, realising you don't have any idea how to follow up on it. You're talking with him...to make sure he's alright, you're pretty sure about that, but how the hell do you start that? You missed your chance for something professional and impersonal, and you don't think you can open up in her workshop with
"hey there Roman, just checking to see if Circe spiked your food or anything, is that a pig's tail I see?". Fortunately, he seems to be as eager to talk as you are eager to not, and the moment he gets a chance, he launches into it.
"I'm alright! I mean, I'm, I'm in the past in the middle of a war and it's
really terrible but I mean, I'm not
hurt or anything like that, I think." Well, that's good to know, even if he's babbling a bit too fast for you to really get a word in. "Circe found me and brought me back and- and she was actually kind of mean to be honest, she called me useless a lot, but I, ah, I didn't eat anything? Or drink anything, I haven't needed to yet. I've had to go to the bathroom though, that's a good sign I suppose, I don't...I wasn't ever meant to
be Rayshifting since I'm just a mundane, so I'm a little...you're different!" The stream-of-consciousness focused on making sure you know he's alright suddenly shifts, and you're left trying to pick up the conversation like it was a bar of wet soap someone tossed you in the middle of a shower.
"Uh...yeah, I...I'm a Demi-Servant now, apparently. I don't actually know who it is or anything, but it's, ah, it's kept me alive? So that's good." Hopefully Chaldea isn't monitoring this. "I was able to summon Archer too, which...also kept me alive." You're amazing at this, really. Archer gives Roman a quick but formal bow in the corner of your vision, which he responds to with a weak smile and a wave, before taking a deep breath. When he opens his mouth again, his voice is a little stronger, a little firmer.
"Okay, that's good. We'll need all the help we can get, really...the Candidate who's trapped here, do you know who they are?" When you shake your head, he gives a little sigh, before forging onward. "Thirteen would have joined up near the beginning, in practically the first quarter of recruits. I don't remember exactly which person got the designation, but I'll recognise them when I see them. I mean, they'll be only living person here who isn't one of us or Lev, so that'll be easy to figure out, I guess. Lev will be fine too, I don't know if you met him but he's kinda eye-catching, giant of a man, green suit, tie with spikes on it, hair is a mullet that looks like he just got hit by lightning..."
The description makes you snort despite yourself, and Roman grins at your unexpected reaction. Even if he's freaking out and clearly outmatched by anything in the Singularity, he's focusing on making people better, huh? Chaldea really does need to keep around a medical head like this guy. The fact that you think you might get along with him factors more into that than you'd like to admit, but hey, if indulging your own unhealthy habits keeps you alive for now, you'll let yourself fantasize about having a friend for as long as it takes.
"Right, got it. We've made a deal with Circe to kill Rider, so just stay down and keep yourself safe, alright? She's tough but she's manageable now that we've got three people on our side." Though you'll have to fight the Soldier if they've spread far enough and have enough eyes on the fight, and if there's one Servant you wouldn't want to screw with when you've got a mundane target, it's them. Still, this way you have Circe on your side. Maybe that'll be enough to protect you all a little more? "We'll get you out of this, Roman. The others too."
You sound a lot more certain than you are, but that's just common sense. If the Demi-Servant career killer is letting on how nervous they are about the whole ordeal, then the mundane doctor isn't going to be able to keep calm. The first step to keeping calm was to pretend that you were calm, then just fake it til' you make it. You can do that, for now. You did nearly kill Medea yourself first try, after all...albeit that "nearly" could have meant you dying if the Soldier hadn't had excellent timing. The main point is that she's weak up close, and you just have to be a little more thorough than trying to snap a neck and call it a day. Your reassurance seems to go a long way, and after letting out a quick breath, Roman reaches out to squeeze your arm gently. It's more for him than you, you know that, but it's kind of nice to be relied on like that, specifically for protection for once.
"Okay. Okay, I'm ready. Just give me the go-ahead and I can start moving."
You're about to reply when you feel a sudden weight wrapping itself around your arm, and hear Archer's grunt of displeasure, the creak of her bowstring. For your part, you manage to not jump the moment Circe appears out of nowhere to tug you by your arm, though you
really wish you were anywhere else right now, and not just because Archer's pointing a nocked arrow in your general direction.
"All done! Come on now, Shielder, you need to be out in front! You're the tough guy of all of us right now, aren't you? Our knight in shining armor!" She gives you another grin, before turning to Archer and rolling her eyes. "Oh, put that bow down you silly girl. I'm not going to hurt him, you've all just agreed to help me, after all. I'm a witch, not a monster. Besides, I like him!"
Archer doesn't move, and you're glad for that. Apparently she's exactly as discomfited by the idea of a Servant being close to you as you are. Gently as you can, you pry Circe's arms off of yours, trying to find that little balance between "i don't want to cause you offense" and "please stop
touching me thank you". Still, you don't want her dead, or to start a fight so close to Roman, so you glance back at Archer and shake your head.
"It's..." not
fine, you're not going to give Circe that kind of encouragement. "She's let go, Archer. We're all on the same side. But, Circe, please don't do that anymore. Archer's just trying to keep me safe, so don't spook her." Your Servant lowers her bow at your command, and Circe gives you a half-shrug that you have to hope is acquiescent. "Can we start moving now? The sooner we find Medea, the sooner we can get the others."
Circe doesn't seem pleased with you boiling down the objectives like that, and maybe you could have phrased it a little nicer, but she'll just have to cut you some slack. Her priority might be freeing a family member from some awful corruption, but yours is saving all of freaking human history, and doing it mostly by yourself. Gods, you wished you could be going into this with forty-seven other Masters, or at least forty-six. You haven't forgotten the flash you saw in that room before the explosions, but you can compartmentalize, focus while you need to.
Niamh might already be dead. That's a strange feeling. You always half thought maybe you'd be the one to do it.
Not the time. You start moving out, pulling Roman along behind you. Archer's not pleased to change her position, but it makes the most sense to keep Roman between you both, and Circe just seems to be doing whatever she pleases, floating alongside the rest of you as you exit her Bounded Field. A thought occurs to you and you turn to voice it, but Circe's already one step ahead, cutting you off before you can speak with a speech that almost seems practiced.
"Bringing her into the workshop is impossible, and I can't fight her from within it. Besides, if things go south I want a place to retreat to, and I don't want to draw Assassin towards us by fighting close to it. We'll find somewhere relatively uncrowded, and then I'll draw her towards us."
Can't really argue with that. If she dies in the attempt, the Bounded Field will dissolve anyway, so leaving Roman there wasn't ever an option. You'll just have to do your best to not get him killed in the middle of combat with a extremely agile foe that can fly and attacks mostly from range. Gods, you hope that Archer and Circe will actually be able to do this, because the more you think of it as two sides volleying spells and arrows and dragonfire at each other with you being the main thing protecting your side, the more you're starting to wish that you'd been a little less firm about helping Circe. Fundamentally, you know your battle plan makes a certain kind of sense. Two ranged attackers, an Archer to supplement the Caster who has to overcome high Magic Resistance, and a Shielder there to protect everyone else. It's about as simple as can be, even with the addition of a non-combatant, and you're certain Archer and Circe are going to play their parts properly.
The only issue is you.
This whole thing, dressing up like a half-knight and holding a big shield, that isn't
you. You've trained yourself to skulk and sneak and be beneath notice so you can slip a knife between someone's ribs before they even realise they're in danger. Failing that, you're meant to be the kind of person who can tear people apart in close combat, too fast to touch and too dangerous to get close to. You're a fighter, a killer, and now you're being relied on to stand in between the one person who can't fight worth a damn and protect him from everything that Medea can do, while keeping Archer and Circe safe too. You've seen the stats and skills you're working with, you know the technicalities of it all. You know that you're fast enough and tough enough to make it work, but just knowing something doesn't make you believe it. At the end of the day, some people are meant to stand up and take the blows others can't, and some people are meant to stand up and kill the people making those blows in the first place.
You've been comfortably slotted into the latter for nearly a decade, and now...what, pure chance, or some intentional joke, or
something has put you in the role of a guardian, and you just can't escape the fear that maybe you're going to screw it up.
Some part of you must have given away how you were feeling, because all of a sudden you feel Roman's hand on your shoulder and you jump a little, turning back and giving him a look that's halfway between a frightened animal and a tired glare. He bears it without complaint, giving you another easy, warm smile.
"You can do this, Ed. I trust you."
Just words, meant to make you feel better so that you'll be better at protecting him. But they're nice words, so you're not complaining.
Your group continues in relative silence, Circe's magic enveloping you in a bubble that blocks sound from getting out. You're moving quietly and quickly, taking great pains to avoid any of the skeleton soldiers that you sometimes see patrolling around the city, and keeping an eye out for Medea as well. No other Servant is approaching you, and Circe swore blind she could sense it if either Saber or Lancer were making moves, so at least things are proceeding about as according to plan as you could hope. It's only after about twenty minutes of skulking through the city that Circe plants her staff in the ground and turns to you with a serious look on her face.
"This is it. We need to be fast once I call her, or Assassin will catch on. Are you ready?"
You nod, as does Archer, and Roman too, even though he's looking almost green. You give Archer a nod and she readies her bow, eyes on the sky, leaving you and Circe to deal with Roman. Most of the shelter happens to be burning, structurally unsound buildings, but you manage to find one that's mostly already collapsed, more rubble than building really, but it's rubble Roman can hide behind. A few murmured words from Circe springs a barrier of purple light around him, and he gives a nod.
"O-Okay. Good luck, okay? And, uh...I don't want to die, and Matthew needs me, so...y-you know."
"We'll protect you. Don't worry." You hope.
"That's a barrier created by the best witch around, have a little more faith!" Circe's clearly a little more optimistic than you are.
With Roman safely tucked away, all that's left is a plan of attack. You move over beside Archer and Circe follows, and once you're all hidden in a building together away from sight, you start to speak again.
"Okay, we're as ready as we'll ever be. Do we know how we're going to do this?" Circe pipes up immediately, all traces of her playfulness and mirth gone. Now she looks like a real ancient witch, her face grim and her voice resolute and steady.
"She's fused with her dragons, so it's harder for my magecraft to affect her. I'll need to hit her with the big stuff to really make a dent, but I can't afford to waste any mana now that I'm away from my workshop. Archer won't have that problem, so I think she should focus on keeping her steady so that I won't be wasting anything, hop around buildings, distract her, that sort of thing." It's a sound strategy, but Archer's not quiet now that the talk is of battle, and her voice cuts through the instant of silence there is after Circe finishes.
"Master, I believe that I will be able to kill Rider more efficiently than Caster. I do not rely on magecraft for my strength, and my arrows can pierced her last time we fought. I will not require my Noble Phantasm to kill her, merely my bow. If Caster is closer to Rider, she will be more easily able to disrupt her spells, and it will keep us safer. It is up to you, Master, but I believe that this would be the safest route for you and the doctor you have been sent to rescue."
Circe's not pleased with her plan being challenged, but she's looking over at you. Archer will listen to you, and the plan needs her, so like it or not, you've ended up as the one who's deciding how things are going to go.
So, then. How
are things going to go?
[ ] Follow Circe's plan. Archer is relying on your own mana, while Circe is relying on what she's been able to stockpile and store. Every moment here for her is a moment she's weaker and closer to death, so you can't have her waste all her power. If worst comes to worst, you might be able to get a Command Spell in time for Archer, and you can keep Circe safe down on the ground. Archer will have to hop from rooftop to rooftop, but she's proven herself to be agile enough for it, and she might even have better targets with less waste from up close. This will let Circe help you more after the fight, but you're aware that it means your own resources could be drained more having to provide for Archer to keep her alive.
[ ] Follow Archer's plan. Circe can fly, and she knows Medea's spells best. Getting her up close and distracting her while Archer snipes from the ground could be the best way for the two of you to make it out of this relatively untouched, though it means Circe would be weaker going forward, and you don't have the option to use your Command Spells on her. Still, this way you wouldn't be dealing with Magic Resistance, so the only gamble is whether or not Archer can hit her targets, rather than worrying about whether it'll work even if Circe scored a hit. This option is best for preserving your own status, but you know Circe's going to be less able for anything going forward, and potentially less agreeable.
[ ] Abandon the idea of protecting on the ground entirely. Both of their plans involve you staying down here, but you know that's a bad choice. Ultimately you'll just be a big steel shield between one of them and Medea, but they're both able to defend themselves, and you'll be contributing nothing. If you're up there you can distract and fight Medea plenty, maybe even score a kill if you're quick enough. With Circe and Archer both fighting at the same time, you doubt she'd be able to pull off the fakeout she did last time on you again, not when you're going to go for a decapitation instead of just a neck-break. It means leaving Roman alone, but he's in a barrier Circe made, and if you go all out, you might be able to kill Medea quicker than you think. This will drain you more than if you just let the Servants fight, but it's potentially the fastest way to actually get things done, and you can't imagine Circe will be disappointed in you getting more hands-on.
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Q/N: So, I really really really wanted to get this out sooner, but the day after I posted the last update, I got very badly sick. I've only really recovered in the last two days and starting up momentum again has been hard, so hopefully this is alright!
Cheers for the feedback @defenestrator, I did have it planned to have more Roman conversation this chapter already after deciding not to make Circe's workshop a "hub" type area where y'all picked out who to talk to, but yeah, I'm learning when it comes to balancing things out, so it's all appreciated! I don't want to keep us in Fuyuki for too long since it's a tutorial area in general, but I'll do my best to make sure I'm not just taking away opportunities for characters to show their stuff and have conversations and whatnot.
Updates should be faster from now on since I'm not sick or away with family, so thank you for bearing with me!
