A Dishonored Demigod

First Day of Servitude

Perseus lumbers through Fuyuki, ice cream in hand and Sakura sitting on his shoulders,"I have to give the people of this country credit for being so creative."
He gives his coffee ice cream another lick while Sakura delightedly bites the top off her own rose flavored treat,"Thrafsma," and she swallows,"are you sure you can't be detected? I mean even if it is daytime some masters might try and stop us."
Perseus chuckles,"No need to worry little master. My power at this moment is being suppressed to the point where I can pass for a human."
The girl leans forward so she's visible at the top of the servant's sight,"Is that a noble phantasm of yours?"
Perseus shakes his head,"No, but it is close to one. I'll explain it you later."
The girl nods and rests her elbows on her servant's head to enjoy the ride he's giving her. They continue in silence as they pass numerous people rushing to work or couples walking by with children. At one point they pass a toy store and Sakura eyes the teddy bear in the window,"You want it?"
She starts and quickly glances down at her servant,"No, it's fine!"
Perseus ignores her and reaches up to grab her before gently setting her on the ground,"Nonsense. Whatever you want will be yours."
Five minutes later finds Sakura skipping ahead of Perseus with the bear held tightly to her chest. For the fifth time that day the servant for the does a mental comparison between Anna and Sakura, and again reaches the conclusion the two are very similar. Their little walk concludes in a park and Perseus is drawn out of his thoughts when he hears his charge yell,"Uncle Kariya!"
He notices a man wearing a blue hoodie and black cargo pants jolt in the park bench he's sitting on as the young girl runs over to him,"Uncle Kariya!"
The man keeps his head down and Perseus' keen eyes are unable to get a glimpse of his face, but there's no mistaking the relief he hears,"Sakura! Wha? How are you out here?!"
Perseus chooses then to approach,"That would be me, Kariya-san."
The man looks up and one obsidian eye narrows while the other is a milky blue. Perseus meets his gaze without hesitation,"It's nice to meet a member of Sakura's family that cares for her," he greets coolly,"master of Berserker."
Kariya's eye widens in horror,"You mean you're?"
"Yes," Perseus nods,"I am servant Joker. My master summoned me with her wish for help from the worms that tried to enter her."
Kariya's glare softens somewhat,"Then you have my thanks, Joker. I actually entered this war as a way to get Sakura away from the wrinkly bastard who put her there, but now I can rest somewhat easy knowing he won't come after her with you nearby. Still, it doesn't change the fact that she's now a part of this war."
Perseus grins and tips an imaginary hat,"Your thanks is noted and appreciated. As for this war you needn't worry. I'm no stranger to possible death, and I have no plans to die anytime soon."
Kariya nods solemnly,"Good," and looks down at Sakura,"Sakura, have you registered your servant yet?"
Sakura' face twists in confusion so Perseus answers,"She hasn't yet. In fact, can you keep watch over her while I go register? I don't want anybody finding out my master is a child, at least not yet."
Kariya looks delighted at the chance to spend time with his niece and Perseus notices a hazy figure behind him,"That behemoth behind you certainly looks capable enough for me to trust my master to you. Thanks."
He grins and vanishes in a burst of speed while the knowledge provided by the Outsider lets him know that he has to register at the church so as to keep Sakura from loosing her command seals. As he runs he calls on his magic and casts an illusion that makes him look like a 10 year old child. He eventually comes to a stop at the entrance of a church and walks through the doorway,"Hello?"
He hear feet shuffling before an old man appears from around a corner,"Ah, welcome my child. Why have you wandered into this place?"
Perseus gives a little bow as he introduces himself,"Servant Joker here to register!"
The old man stiffens before asking,"Where is your master?"
Perseus shrugs,"They were unwell and sent me ahead. If you don't believe me, I can swear on the Styx. My Greek origins should make it so it applies."
Risei nods,"Very well. Make your vow."
"I, servant Joker, swear that I am indeed a servant summoned by a human master for this war! I swear it on the river Styx."
Thunder booms overhead and nothing else happens so Risei relaxes,"That will do. However I need to see what your command seal looks like."
Perseus nods and takes a pen and paper offered to him to draw out Thrafsma's eye while labeling the parts that have color. When he gives them back he bows again and races out of the church. As he leaves he breezes past a blonde haired man with an air of arrogance around him and makes out the hazy form of a man with two long objects,"Lancer."
He blinks and vanishes from the scene while Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi pauses and looks around for a moment before continuing on to the church to register. Perseus slows down as he gets close the industrial area of the city, deciding to take some extra time so Sakura can spend more time with her uncle. He closes his eyes while activating Dark Vision, the technique having been fully maxed out a few weeks after he started taking jobs for the Egyptian's. Now the power reveals not only enemies but also weaknesses and anticipation points, places where the enemy could pass by or that he could use to hide in wait. The whole area is glowing blue to confirm his theory of it being one of the first places where the other servant's will fight.
It actually makes sense since any noise can be passed off as heavy machinery at work, and any damages could be blamed on a machine malfunctioning and dropping something heavy. His vision returns to normal and he climbs up a crane to where he thinks is a good sniper position. He takes a moment to make sure he can see all the yard, or at least most of it, clearly. It's acceptable and he quickly tests it by reaching into his shadow and withdraws his guns before trying a trick he'd been using for government contracts. They glow purple from the Darkness pumping into them and merge together when he sets one on top of the other.
The end result is a beautiful sniper rifle made of solid Darkness with silver etchings of two creepers crossing over each other until they reach the barrel and converge to make a small silver bust of the head with the barrel poking out its mouth,"Still can't get over how terrifyingly cool this thing is," Perseus mutters.
"I gotta agree with you on this. That gun leaves on heck of a hole."
"I personally prefer when you put a little bit of my power into it."
Perseus grins and leaves the sniper behind as he glides down from the crane and lands next to a pile of piping. That grin however is wiped from his face when a regal voice calls out to him,"What have we here? A loyal dog out searching for blood?"
He turns his head and glares at the figure,"I hadn't expected to encounter a third servant so soon. And no, I'm just here checking out the area."
He dodges a weapon that imbeds itself where he was standing a second ago,"Worms like yourself should know better than to talk back to the king!"
Perseus doesn't reply but waits for a cloud to cover the sun before slipping away through the shadow. The gilded figure lets him go and an faint smirk makes its way across his face,"At least this worm knows when he's outmatched."
****
Perseus reappears next to Sakura,"Hello little master."
She squeaks and would've fallen off the swing she was on if Perseus didn't catch her while assuming his adult form,"Sorry, couldn't help it."
He looks up at Kariya,"Again, thank you for watching my master. You and Berserker both."
Kariya nods and winces while the skin on the left side of his face crawls,"I could get rid of them for you. The worms I mean."
Kariya ponders the offer he's given,"I'll keep them for now. They're the only reason I can use magecraft at all to sustain Berserker."
Perseus accepts this and picks Sakura up,"We should get going little master. Kariya-san, if you ever want to find us use this."
He hands him a Darkness created bracelet,"It'll allow you to contact us or lead you to us one time only."
Kariya nods and Perseus lets him hug his niece goodbye before the servant races away with his master in his arms. When they make it back to their temporary home he lets her down and takes a seat across from her,"Master I need to know something. Do you know any magecraft?"
She fidgets and pokes her fingers together,"No," she says dejectedly,"I was told that I'd learn magecraft after the pit."
Perseus sighs and ruffles her hair, wiping the sad look off her face,"Don't worry about it. I only ask because when I removed the worms from you some of your power was drawn out. It felt familiar for some reason."
He taps one of his fingers against his chin for a few moments before brightening," Oh! Is it okay if I take a little prana from you? If I do so I might be able to find out which spells in my list would suit you."
She nods and Perseus does a partial shift into Thrafsma's form, letting the tattoos cover his whole body while refraining from assuming his true form. A steady trickle of energy provides him with enough to analyze and retreats into his mind to do so, dropping his transformation as he does so. Thrafsma and Empathy gather with him as they examine the dark blob that represents Sakura's prana and the beast experimentally pokes at it with his tail. He's totally unprepared for it to race down his tail and latch onto his face,"Hrf!"
He falls on his back and claws at it while Perseus and Empathy enjoy the show until the energy solidifies into a bone white mask of a tiger's visage,"Well," Perseus states,"now I know her affinity. Thanks Thrafsma!"
He exits his mind and looks back to Sakura,"Your affinity is...interesting. Yeah, lets say that."
She looks unsure but lets it go in favor of Perseus explaining what her affinity is,"I've only come across your affinity in beings that hover between life and the realm of the fully dead. Your affinity is hollow, or nothingness."
She pales but stays calm as he finishes explaining,"Thankfully I have a few techniques that make use of such power, and I can probably even teach you one today."
He charges up a bala and pulls his arm back,"Watch closely little master," and fires.
The blast of energy flies into the wall across the room and leaves a fist sized indent,"That was a low powered bala. Bala itself is one of the fastest techniques I have, but also one of the weakest unless I invest a large amount of energy into it. It should be fairly easy for you to copy."
She nods and looks down at her hands while Perseus guides her through the process,"You need a trigger when you first access your power. Each person's is different depending on their personality. Mine was a sword being drawn from the scabbard, but one of my apprentices' was a lunar eclipse. Simply find something that's you."
Sakura doesn't respond as she looks deep within herself for a trigger and latches onto something. The image of the tree she's named after comes into focus and she watches the buds along its branches bloom into sakura flowers. She comes back to reality as a coldness fills her magic circuits and her hands are veiled in black energy. A few drops of sweat drip off her chin and Perseus rushes her to fire,"Now imagine the energy flying from your hand and hitting the wall."
She locks onto the stone wall and tiredly pulls her arm back and throws it forward. Almost instantly a hole forms a few feet away from Perseus' own and he whistles,"Impressive. Now then, next we'll work on..."
His master is breathing heavily while sweat pours down her face,"Yeah, we can call it a day."