The Queen of Shadows

Chapter 23: Change of Tune (Part 1)

"Fairborough has gone missing?"

Gudao, Gabrielle, and Mashu were communicating with Roman through the Demi-servant's shield. The trio looked at the hologram of Roman speaking directly to them from Chaldea's monitor room, and what he revealed to them so far was not a pleasant surprise.

"That's right," Roman replied with a nod. "The Association said since escorting YOU guys, she never reported back. In fact, NOBODY has seen her in nearly two days..."

Gudao and Gabrielle briefly looked at each other. The representative's disappearance was somewhat concerning, albeit muddled by the fact that Fairborough's meddling was something they'd accounted for when all of them left Chaldea to seek out Scathach.

"And this concerns us HOW?" Gabrielle asked cautiously, knowing she sounded inconsiderate for saying such a thing.

"Because they questioned me about it since last I checked in with all of you," Roman replied. "They think YOU had something to do with it."

"We've been in the hidden forest since we gave that nosy woman the slip with Da Vinci's teleporter," Gudao told Roman. "She should've have easily found the nearby town unless Da Vinci's gadget did not work as she intended-"

"EXCUSE me..." Da Vinci suddenly came from out of frame in front of Roman, looking pretty offended. "Everything I make works! Masters, remember WHO you're talking about here. I DARE you to name one person, living OR dead, or who could invent something as well as I can..."

In the background, some Chaldea technicians muttered:

"Edison?"

"Tesla...?"

Da Vinci turned to look off camera to acknowledge her patronizing naysayers.

"Alright, whoever you all are, you're NOT funny!"

Gudao and Gabrielle looked on anxiously, as it was rare to see the famous inventor so agitated. Roman expressed his annoyance at Da Vinci's antics with a sigh.

"Enough, Leona..." the doctor said gently. "No one here thinks less of you."

"Sorry Da Vinci," Mashu said to her through the hologram while petting Fou on her shoulder. "Senpai didn't mean anything by it."

In response, Da Vinci straightened her posture and crossed her arms.

"Apology accepted," she said with lingering irritation in her voice. "If I built my teleporter well, and I ALWAYS build my inventions well, then Ms. Fairborough would've at least landed somewhere well away from a "relatively" large body of water."

The masters saw a grin form on the Caster's face, and it prompted Gudao to inquire:

"What did she mean by that, Roman?"

"Oh, Margaery ended up in a bog after she teleported. Forgot to mention that last time..." Roman struggled to hide his amused smirk as he said that. Gudao and Gabrielle had the urge to laugh until the doctor quickly added in seriousness, "HOWEVER, that was the last anyone ever heard from her. If you guys had nothing to do with her disappearance, then...?"

As soon as Roman trailed off, Gudao, Gabrielle and Mashu looked at each other again, lost for any rational answer. Gabrielle worked up the nerve to reveal that they had no idea how Fairborough could still be missing after tricking her back at Castle Dunscaith in Scotland.

"Wish we can tell you doc," she replies honestly with a shrug. "Can you keep us posted on how the Association is reacting?"

"Sure, Gabby," Roman answered before telling the masters, "Just get what you all need from Scathach and book it back to Chaldea before Solomon manifests another singularity. We've been monitoring for any temporal anomalies and so far, it's been dead silent. He still doesn't know that you are all outside the barrier but that can change at any point..."