FATE\Deus Decipit

Chapter 41: Night and Day

6:12pm, Filopappou Hill, on the Outskirts of the Acropolis

Heping stood among the trees and bushes, off the beaten path. From here she couldn't be seen from either the walkway that moved through the park or the streets that surrounded it. In the brush, the only sign of civilization was the Acropolis behind her, barely seen through the waving trees, which reflected the orange light of evening like a second sun over the city.

She set her bag down on a clear patch of rock that poked out of the scattered dust and grass. As she straightened her back, she made out the glowing, ephemeral form of Lancer, Pigsy, emerging from his Spirit Form back into physical reality.

She often had a hard time taking her Servant seriously, he was like a child in both mind and body. In any other context, his pouting face might've been amusing, but she could sense this was no laughing matter. It was easy to forget, but he was a warrior, a general of heaven who must have lived through several mortal lifetimes before arriving in his current form, and it was that wisdom, that military mind, that she saw in this moment.

Right now, he was no longer her Servant, no longer her companion or friend. Right now, he was her teacher.

-He had offered to train her.

She limbered her aching body as well as she could, but anyone who watched her move could see that she was rushing the exercise, and anyone who saw her eyes could make out her excitement in their shine.

"Hey! Slow down -oink-. We're gonna be here a while, so don't waste your energy."

"Ah, yes. How long will these exercises take?"

His stout form compressed with visible frustration, "This isn't a damn exercise, girly! I've seen you move! I've seen you fight! You an' I both know you're done with basic drills."

She kept stretching, this time more deliberate and slow, ignoring the pain in her back from her previous injury, "I thought you were going to instruct me in some ancient arts, yes? Do you not always start with drills before moving to more advanced techniques?"

"Master, this IS the advanced technique."

She stopped in place, half-bent over.

Lancer sighed, "If we had years, months, even weeks, then sure, yeah, maybe we coulda started from the top. But we don't have that kinda time, we might not have any time at all. Instead-" He slipped his small arms out of his robe, letting the two sides fall so that his entire belly was exposed, flexing as much as he could with his plump body"-we're gonna jump straight to application -oink- with the assumption that the skills you already got will be enough."

She straightened herself and began limbering her shoulders, her eyes drifting to the leaves blowing in the breeze, "... Is that wise?"

"Pfft- No. But fake it 'til ya make it, right? If you're able to copy the technique, I figure you oughta be able to work out how to really do it through practice- what feels right and what don't -oink-."

She took a deep breath pushing her worries to the back of her mind, emptying herself to become a proper vessel for what she was about to learn. She widened her stance, straightening her back and placing her arms at her side, forearms out and forward, fists with palms up. "Ready!"

Lancer nodded, and one couldn't help but notice his toothy smirk, barely hidden underneath his nose. "Hehe- Alright! Step One!"

Heping nodded resolutely.

"-Which way is the wind blowing?"

"Huh?"

Lancer manifested his rake with a flash and smacked Heping in the shin with the shaft.