FATE\Deus Decipit

Chapter 75: Beyond the Sea

11:16pm, The Shores of Glyfada

Monica, Saber, Lancer, Assassin and her Master wandered onto the thin beach, the familiar place, now isolated in all senses by the fog that overtook the city each night.

The clock was ticking, and the anxiety ate away at her. She, a know-nothing runaway entrapped into working at a strip club, was about to conduct a military-style raid aided by mystic beings shot through time, characters literally out of story books, in order to rescue a girl she didn't know from a fate of which she wasn't aware. Her life was on the line, and yet, there was still a part of her that was struggling to find a way out, still looking for a way to claim it was all a dream, or, alternatively, that all her life up to this point was what was truly unreal.

Compared to the leap of logic it took just to accept the truth, the leap of assuming the thoughts she'd heard every now and then were indeed a product of telepathy was barely noticeable.

'So...' She ventured her thoughts, hoping they would indeed reach her Servant, 'Are we sure that Assassin's Master can actually help us? It seems like a little bit of a leap, doesn't it?'

She quietly wondered what her name was; she knew she'd heard it before- then her eyes went wide, wondering whether he'd heard that as well.

'It was Massiah, if I remember.' He responded in her mind, 'As for the rest- well, you never know with Mages. It's worth a shot.'

'Sure...' She mentally stuttered, 'But we really don't know anything about them. Echo seems like the only one who can pass the language barrier... surprisingly.'

She reflected back on her own experience. Maybe Servant speech could always be understood? It could be that Echo's curse made that impossible, or was it the only way they could really communicate with Massiah at all? There was another thought as well: times when she didn't just hear Chrysaor in her head, but felt his emotions. Not so much telepathy as... empathy. Maybe that was the answer.

Her eyes flitted to Chrysaor and then away, 'So... Do you, like, hear all my thoughts?'

She blushed, instinctively reacting to the worst case scenario.

'No, no. I only hear the ones you broadcast.'

'What does that even mean?'

'You'll understand eventually.'

She wondered to herself whether she really would, and, hearing no response, recorded the sensations to be more careful with her inner monologues in the future.

Monica sighed, allowing the built up emotions to evaporate in the crisp night air as she stopped in the sand. The beach was small, a few more steps and she'd reach water, but, to her shock and surprise, Massiah and Echo kept walking, wading out into the shallows of high tide- not even flinching as the icy water creeped up their bare legs.

"W-wait a minute-" She looked to Echo, "You guys can get us to the island, right?"

Echo rolled her eyes and placed a hand on her hip, "Us-can get- you guys- to the island,"

She gestured out to the open ocean.

Monica took a deep breath. This wasn't quite what she was expecting, but, at the same time, she had come without any real expectations in the first place, so she couldn't call herself surprised, especially since she'd come prepared enough with a waterproof bag and a bathing suit under her clothes.

She took the blue bag off her shoulders and handed it off to Saber, "Hold this for a minute- thanks."

She stripped off her white jacket, feeling the goosebumps raise on her arm in the cold, and handed it to him as well. She saw the corners of his mouth turn, on the edge of complaining about being a coat hanger, but an apologetic smile sent his lips back to where they belonged. She continued her ritual, pulling up on her pink tank top and revealing her navel before a shiver shot down her spine, and not just from the night air.