Fate: Apocrypha

Ch. 7

Shirou stood with the woman from hours before, they seemed to be talking about something. I played with my fingers, nervously. Just ask him what task I need to complete. That's all. I spoke inside my head. Then I arrived at the church and opened it. Shirou was there facing the cross symbol. "Mr Shirou?" I asked in a small voice. He turned around, his eyes widened. "Ah, Victoria. I was about to get you."

I walked up to him and spoke, "You were?"

"Yes. I have a quest for you." He then placed his hands on front of him, "Ruler has been summoned recently and is coming our way fast." I tried to remember what a Ruler was for, but not much came up. All I got was they were kinda let a referee in a sports match, making sure the rules are done. "Are they a threat?" Shirou nodded, his eyes becoming serious. "This Ruler has no intentions of helping the Grail War. It's more they are on their own." I nodded, a misguided Ruler perhaps. "Ok. I'll go find them." I said and turned around. "Ah. And Victoria, make sure you are in a good hiding spot. The Yggdmillennia have made an army. But you do have Karna, it's said he is loyal to his masters."

Except I'm more of a sub master... I thought. Soon I walked out the church and sighed. "Master, are you feeling alright?" Karna's voice spoke. It spooked me at first and turned towards the voice, he wasn't there. I was confused. "Where are you?"

"I'm not summoned by you yet. I'm in your thoughts." He explained. My jaw dropped, Ah that's so cool! I shook my head and then clenched my teeth a bit, "That means you heard him right? About having to stop Ruler?" I asked. I heard Karna's usual hum. I took a deep breath, "This is my first fight you know?"

"I do. But like he said, you need to be in a hiding spot. I'll be mostly fighting." Karna said, it was more blunt. Even though he's always blunt. "I know... But even though you are a servant, I don't want you injured..." Karna didn't respond after that so I spoke again. "That means you have to be safe as well, ok?" I asked and he hummed once more. "Oh and yea, I need to get you casual clothes!" I shouted out. "Clothes?" Karna asked and I nodded, "Yea. What's a cool servant being inside a head when you have the world to discover?" I asked and then I realized I spoke too much, "If you wanted to..."

"I do...?" Karna asked. I muttered, "We can go into town and grab a hotel room on the way." I stated. He hummed. That meant I had to pay for a lot of things for so little money. I took a deep breath and calmed my nerves. Then I started walking away from the church and towards a small village like town, not like the one from before.

It was decently small and seemed more closer. I was definitely surprised it was this close. I then walked into a small clothing store. The bell to the store rang and then fast footsteps were heard. My eyes widened as a woman with dark hair and eyes came from the back. I blinked and watched as she smiled largely, "Welcome to Daily Bloom! What can I help you with?"

"H-Hey... Um... I was wondering if there was any men's wear around here?" I asked. The lady nodded, "In the back, you have a boyfriend?" She asked. I froze and swallowed a lump, "Y-Yes!" I squeaked. She smiled, "Well go and pick something out for him then." She said and walked back to where she ran from. Leaving only me in the room. I walked towards where the lady mentioned and looked at the different styles of clothing. It wasn't something I would see men wear, I'm use to more "I'm a bad ass" look. I picked up a red sweater and gazed at it, it was soft to the touch and the cloth was bright. "Karna. How's this?" I asked in a whisper. "Seems alright." He replied back in my head still.

I rolled my eyes, "You don't have to be inside my head forever, you can come out." And just like that he did. With his big pink floof and all. I gasped, "Matter of fact, get in the changing room." I said and lead him to one, I opened it. "I'll get you some outfits to try on, let me know when you're done and we can discuss the price." Karna nodded and went inside and closed the door. I breathed out and started gathering other types of clothing.

One was a red shirt with black pants, shoes ,and a leather jacket. Something a biker would wear. Then I picked a graphic t shirt with grey pants, and dark shoes. Lastly I picked the red sweater and along with it blue jeans and black converse. I then went towards the changing room, "Karna, I got you some outfits. Try them on." I said and threw them over the top. Then I placed my back towards the door.

Was this a normal thing to do with your servants? Am I even being a proper master? I love how a question things after I do it. Why couldn't my mind think first before acting. I sighed and took out my phone to see it was already three in the afternoon. We needed food, or me... I don't know if servants even eat. Frig it, ima say yes.

Suddenly the changing room door opened and it reveal Karna in the red sweater. I raised my eyebrow and put my phone away, "You goin with the sweater?" I asked and he hummed. I then looked at the other outfits that were still hanging. "Did you even try the rest on?"

"No." Karna said almost automatically. My eyes widened, "May I ask why?"

"You like this one, right?" Karna asked and gestured to the red fabric and jeans. I nodded, "But that doesn't mean you can always pick it." I said, "You pick what you want. I just kinda looked around and picked something random." Karna looked down at his clothing he wore. I noticed the pink fluff and golden armor were away. Where'd he put them? "I like this one..." He mumbled. I placed my hands on my hips, "Alright. Now get back into your outfit and-"

"I want to wear it."

"Karna... I have to pay for it." I said. Karna then suddenly started to rip the tags off everything. "Woa woa woa! You can't do that!" I said and grabbed his hands, which were very cold. I stood there for a bit before speaking, "You can't just rip off price tags you know? It's called shoplifting." He opened his mouth slightly like an o, he then looked away, "Sorry... I'm a terrible servant..."

"No no... This is your first time with this it's no biggie." I said and let go of Karna's hands and started picking up the price tags. I then went to the front and rang the bell. The lady came dashing in, sweat covering her forehead. "Ready to buy?" She asked out of breath. "Y-Yes!" I said and placed the price tags on the counter. The lady looked at them dumbfounded, "Um... Where's the items?" I bit the inside of my cheek, "I-I... Uh..."

Karna then walked up next to me, it caught the lady by surprise. "Is this your boyfriend?" She asked. I gasped and looked at Karna who was staring at the lady blankly. I gulped once again, "Y-Yes he is... and um... He wanted to wear the outfit... so..." I kept trying to seem like Karna was my boyfriend from another country who didn't understand some traditions. The lady understood though. Thank god. "Alrighty. So the price is 45 Leu." Oh frig I forgot that this was a different area... So no Pounds or Eros. I struggled a bit, "I... Have only Eros..."

"That's fine." The lady said and then I put down a fifty which was a huge chunk of my money. Only having 23 left over. "Thank you! Have a nice day you two!"

"Y-Your welcome!" I smiled and went towards the door and Karna followed behind. I sighed hugely and looked at my left over money. I didn't know how much a hotel would cost let alone have food. Man I wish I had a better job back in London. "Tori, May I ask why you're doing this?" Karna asked which kinda kicked me out of a trance. "I just thought that we could hang out a bit, ya know?"

"I understand, but the mission about Ruler... We need to find them and eliminate them." Karna reminded me. "I know that... But we could just have fun for a bit before that." I explained, "And probably Ruler would be close and we could stop em." Karna's turquoised eyes widened and he nodded. I did a small smile and we walked around looking for a nearby cafe to eat at.