FATE\Deus Decipit

Chapter 74: Letters and Numbers

2:03pm, Athens

Monica strolled down the streets of the city with her entourage, hands in her pockets and staring at the sky. Her legs were starting to become sore, but there was really nothing to be done about it. If any part of their skeleton of a plan was to happen, they needed to find Lancer's Master, and the only way to do that with their limited resources was to wander aimlessly and hope something came to pass.

Today, her entourage was simply two. Chrysaor followed dutifully behind her, but, like her, seemed to be losing himself in the monotony. Over his shoulders was her blue backpack, and inside that was Lancer.

For the sake of ease, they had left Assassin and her Master at the apartment. After all, Echo still wasn't in a position to run away, and, even then, losing her as an ally was hardly a worst-case scenario.

The backpack rustled impatiently, "Oi -oink-. Haven't we been here before?"

Saber sighed, "You can't see. How would you know?"

"Because I've smelled these falafels before- it's the same stand!"

Saber shushed him, "Quiet! What if someone hears you?"

"What if someone hears you, huh!? Some creep talking to his lady's purse!?" He grumbled, "Why can't yer Master carry me? She's the only one who's nice -oink-."

The best part of having Pigsy trapped in a bag, and having that bag on someone else's back, was that she could get away with ignoring him. It's not that she hated him, or that he was a bad person -er, pig-, but he was a blabbermouth. Having someone with so much energy and so little self-awareness was exhausting, especially for a girl who had spent her life deliberately avoiding as much social interaction as she could.

Chrysaor's sacrifice would be honored.

But he, Lancer, was right. They had made a long walk around uptown and were approaching where they started. The plan was to head back into the subway and try another part of town, perhaps the East side where she was least familiar.

But she was not a hopeful person, and watching the sights was sometimes the only way to distract herself from her own pessimistic musings. So she watched the sky, and kept her surroundings in mind, always looking for something to start a train of thought which would keep her occupied.

And she found it. Above her, perched on a building, was a seagull. It was a normal sight to her, but what was odd was that they were too far inland.

'Oh well,' She thought, 'Stranger things and all the rest, you know?'

"Do you see something?"

Chrysaor could always be counted upon for his curiosity, not that there wasn't a part of her that enjoyed the attention.

"Just a seagull."

He looked where she was, and, by this point, she was more than capable of seeing the concern trace across his features.

"Monica."

"Yeah?"

"Is there a place around here where we can be alone?"

Her heart skipped a beat at first, until she remembered that Chrysaor was far too innocent and straightforward to flirt, and that, thanks to the annoying talking bag, they couldn't be alone anyway, even if they wanted to.

"Huh? Oh- yeah, there should be a garden area up the road."

"That should work."

They retreated into the small green. It was secluded, covered by trees and partitioned by above-ground gardens and cobble paths. At first she was confused, but as Saber held out his palm for her to pause, that same seagull landed on a perch in front of him. Then she noticed the holster on his leg: this was a messenger bird, though she'd never heard of a seagull being used for something like that.