They Call me Vox

Singularity 1: Act 4

"Mornin' gang!" I exclaim after waking up in the rather embarrassing, but not unwanted, position of having my head in Artoria's lap, and then taking a few minutes to stop myself from becoming a stuttering mess.

"Good morning, Vox," Artoria replies, now on her feet but staying close to me.

"Morning, Miss Vox!" Gil shouts before going back to playing with Fou.

"Master," Ushiwakamaru says from off to the side.

"Good morning, Senpai. Did you sleep well?" Mash asks from where she sits beside Jeanne.

I blush faintly, determinedly not glancing at Artoria, "Yes! I slept very well."

I see Sionnach grinning at me out of the corner of my eye and shoot the familiar a glare.

"Alright, what's the agenda for today?" I ask after I stop glaring at Sionnach.

"First, we should..." Jeanne trails off, staring at me as I nonchalantly pull a sandwich out of my seemingly empty satchel, "Forgive me, Master, but..."

I freeze mid-chew, "Hm?"

I swallow, "Oh, this? Yeah, my satchel is like one of those bags of holding. You could probably fit enough food to feed an army in here."

Jeanne continues to stare at me in bewilderment for a few seconds, before shaking her head, "As I was saying, we should cut through this forest and head to Orleans. Of course, it will be difficult to enter directly, but we might be able to get some information from surrounding towns and forts."

"You're the local here, Jeanne," I say, "Lead on."

"Yes, Master. This-"

"Just let me finish my breakfast."

"O-of course, Master."

Timeskip(brought to you by Vox training with Mash)

"We're almost at La Charite," Jeanne reports as she leads us down a road.

We had left the forest behind a few hours ago, and the Sun is now high overhead as noon comes around. Jeanne is at the head of our group, with Artoria and I behind her. Mash trails behind as a rearguard, while Gil walks between her and I. Ushiwakamaru flanks our little group.

"If we can't get any information here about Orleans, we'll have to get closer," Jeanne says, pausing for a moment, "I'd rather we try to avoid that as much as possible."

"Agreed. I'd like to have some idea of what we're up against before our next confrontation," I say.

"Hey, guys, I hate to ruin what must be an interesting conversation, but-" Roman begins to say.

"Just get to the point!" I exclaim.

"Gah! A Servant is detected just ahead of you, in La Charite!" Roman exclaims.

I furrow my brow and focus my senses, feeling the distant concentration of mana that can only be a Servant.

"I sense it," I relay to my Servants.

"As do I," Jeanne says, "Wait! It is fading."

"It's getting further away!" Roman announces, "Drat, I've lost it!"

I see smoke rising over the crest of the hill we're climbing and narrow my eyes, "I don't think that's our only worry, come on!"

I sprint ahead of the group, only stopping when I reach the top of the hill and come upon the sight of La Charite burning.

"La Charite, it's... burning?" Mash mutters.

"Let's hurry!" Jeanne declares, rushing down the hill and towards the town.