FGO Specter of Glass

Rome Ch3

The flamed died down a bit to reveal it was the man with crimson hair, a member of Rome's council. He stood ready for a fight as Mitra met his gaze; he charged, his gauntlets surrounded in flames, and the ground was scorched below his feet. Mitra caught his attack, trying to hold it back so it didn't reach the others. Helena raised her book to absorb mana and blasted the crimson-haired man back with a beam of water. Nero stepped to the side, her sword in hand as she swung it down. The man blocked it with his gauntlets and then pushed her back.

He created a wall of flames where it was just him and Mitra in the field, so no one else could interfere. The two were at a stalemate, both were powerful and their moves were predicted by the other. Mitra threw a punch that was caught, then the man created a spiral of flames and Mitra jumped in the center, avoiding the fire, and hitting the man when he got close enough. They kept fighting until they decided to stop. They weren't getting anywhere by fighting on equal terms.

"You're not bad," Mitra said.

"Neither are you," the man replied. "What's your name? I'd like to formally meet the person who's my equal in battle."

"Mitra, and you?"

"Karna."

"Karna?" Mitra's voice trailed off.

"Great, do you mind getting the fire OUT of my ice cave?!" Coco yelled from the other side of the flames. "You're melting my house!"

Karna waved his hands and the fire disappeared, "sorry about this. I didn't mean to intrude."

"No, you did. One hundred percent, you meant to intrude."

"Please, if you'll allow me to explain, then I will tell you what I'm doing in the mountains."

Karna sat down at the campfire with the others in front of him. He was tracking down someone from another realm, a man with a strange mask. He tried to describe it but decided to draw it instead. He took a stick and drew what the mask looked like, the left eye was normal with the right having lines poured it, the mouth was crooked, and there were old symbols all over the forehead. Karna said that it was from the times before the Specters, from a world that died years ago.

There wasn't much known about the symbols, not even the library in the castle had any books about them. The world they came from was also a mystery, only the gods who ruled the Specters knew about it, and they were impossible to speak with. Karna had been studying them since he became a council member, but little was found about them. Even the King had nothing to say, either he was hiding something, or he had no idea. Karna believed that if he climbed the ranks, he could learn more; at the moment, he didn't have access to many files or the inner sanctuary below the castle grounds.

Karna looked behind him, he heard a rustle in the bushes. He whispered to the group that he had a plan, whoever wore the mysterious mask was after Carmen, and he could catch them if the group worked with him. Coco had a hard time believing him, anyone who was with the council of Rome was untrustworthy, but she decided to go along to make sure he wasn't going back on his word. He hid with Carmen in the bushes while waiting for their target, he didn't want her getting in trouble if the target was dangerous.

A figure with a wooden mask stood at the top of a mountain, his hands were covered in black vines and twitched as he moved closer. Mitra held a ball of fire up to warn the figure, but it didn't do anything. The flames weren't enough to stop the vines from hitting him and knocking him to the ground.

"Not you," the figure said. Then he went over to Nero. "Not you either, where is the human girl?"

"You mean Carmen?" Nero asked.

"Her, the human girl from another world. Where is she?"

Helena held her book up, "Why do you want to know?"