FATE\Deus Decipit

Chapter 25: Vermilion

11:30pm, Outside a hotel in downtown Athens

Heping walked out of the hotel she'd been staying in and onto the sidewalk outside. The streets of Athens, even in the busy downtown, were thin and claustrophobic, as if the buildings on either side were a cage, a cage that threatened to collapse in on her at any moment. When she walked them during the day, she felt anxious, mainly due to all the people on the street that further added to the closed-in feeling. But now, in the dead of night, in the dense fog that had coated Athens every night she'd been there, it was a different kind of dread, as if some evil would jump out of the next corner.

Pigsy shared her anxiety.

Speaking to her telepathically, he began to stammer, 'W-why do we have to go out like this -oink-! You know the kind-a people that hang around at this time-a night dontch-ya? You're just askin' for something bad to happen -oink-!'

"We are going to meet with the master we met earlier. That is final, Pigsy."

'No it ain't -oink-! The hotel's right there! We can just turn around and go through the door! It's easy!'

She turned around to the hotel behind her. The tower climbed into the sky, and at this angle it was terribly imposing, like a great mountain, or a waterfall made of stone. Having spent her whole life secluded in the mountains, sights like these, even after a week in Athens, were still difficult to comprehend.

She sighed. Was this really a good idea?

An alliance seemed like a good way to stave off the war, but at the same time, she wasn't really supposed to get involved, was she? She was here to study, not fight. She had no interest in the Grail or the War beyond its relation to her family.

-But that wasn't right either, was it?

Her parents fully intended her to participate as a member, as a "Master". That would mean fighting for her life against the other Masters...

-No, it wasn't about preserving her life, it was about killing everyone else.

But why? She still didn't understand. Why was any of this necessary?

Suddenly, as her eyes began to wander to the sidewalk beneath her, a change in light brought her eyes back up. The lights in her hotel were flickering erratically, up and down and up and down through the windows like a snake. She couldn't help but stumble back in confusion, but it only lasted a few moments. When it ended, she could swear there were a few less lights on than before.

"Pigsy..?"

He whispered back in her mind, 'D-d-don't call me Pigsy... -oink-'

"I suppose we are headed to the Acropolis, then."

Somehow, she could hear him gulp in her mind, "Yeah... yeah, okay."

She turned and began to walk away into the night. The fog was thick, but the lights that surrounded her kept her grounded.

After walking for what felt like a few minutes, she felt comfortable enough to speak again, "Was that an attack from an enemy Servant?"

'Hell if I know! I'm not the friggin' Buddha!'

"Can you not detect other Servants?"

'I mean... a little... Servants can control their presence a bit, so whether or not I can detect them depends on how much 'presence' they give off, ya know? They're like demons -oink-, more powerful ones have stronger presences, but the real strong ones, the tricky ones, -oink- can hide their presences better than even the weakest demons, even though they're ten times as tough.'