The Thirsty Girl's Guide To Summoning (Fate/Isekai)

Chapter 33

"Ooh," said Hyde. "Are we going to kill this other Master? I like that!"

"I don't know," said Ren. "If we have to. I can't let Ritsu stay here. Astolfo?"

Astolfo scratched his Hippogriff's head for a moment. When he lifted his hand, the Hippogriff faded in a swirl of magic. "Sure, I can take you there. But you gotta keep Hyde under control."

Hyde bared his teeth at Astolfo, who stuck his tongue out. Ren put her hand on Hyde's back again and felt a shudder ripple through him. He said, "Gonna play dirty, Master? I'm down for that."

"You're useful," she told him. "So I'll give you the self-control you need. Astolfo... lead on."

Astolfo pulled his mouth to one side, closing one eye. "Yup, yup. Except you're just going to walk through walls the way you are. Hm." He took her free hand. "I've got to show you what you're missing first."

"How come you can see us and the fairy tale?" grumbled Hyde.

"'Cause I'm a total idiot, of course," said Astolfo blithely. "I mean, sometimes when you jump off the cliff, you fall, and sometimes you land on the invisible bridge, right? But you're not going to prove the invisible bridge is there unless you jump first!" He closed his other eye and concentrated before saying, "Do you see it yet?"

The mist swirled over empty stone. Ren said, "No?"

"You're clinging too hard to reason, Master," chided Astolfo. "You have to relax."

Hyde yawned. "Whatever. Let's go. I can borrow Jekyll's vision and I'll carry her if I have to."

"There's a lot of stairs in the Raven Tower," Astolfo warned. "And they start right over there."

Ren's stomach flip-flopped. "You'll carry me up invisible stairs?"

"If we do find Merlin, I'm totally going to stab him," said Hyde. "That'll help, Master."

Shaking her head, Ren said, "No, I can do this. I'm going to close my eyes, though."

"Huh," said Astolfo. "You've got your own Evaporation of Reason, Master? But that's right! Trust the you that trusts him!" He dashed away and then turned back to wave. "Come on!" Then he jumped up and landed on the mist, two feet above the ground.

Ren immediately felt sick to her stomach and her touch on Hyde's back became clutching at his shirt. He twisted around and scooped her up again.

"What does it look like, this fairy tale?" she muttered as she closed her eyes. "What do the stairs look like?"

"They're stairs," said Hyde. "Wooden, polished, broad. It looks like that Clocktower place."

It wasn't much of a description, but Ren concentrated on imagining it as Hyde moved. It was much, much better than visualizing him climbing empty air.

Hyde's breathing slowly harshened as time passed. Ren asked in a small voice, "Is it steep? Am I tiring you out?"

The Berserker's movement stopped and then he was nuzzling Ren's face. "It's boring, Master. So boring. And you smell so good..." His grip on her shifted as he adjusted how he held her so he could nuzzle more of her.

"Hey, Hyde, if you take advantage of Master, I'm going to have to kick you off the stairs. Come on, you can do this, we're halfway up." Astolfo paused. "Or I could carry her? Ooh, I want to carry her! Gimme."

"I'm not a toy," said Ren and gently pushed Hyde's face away from her own. He didn't lick her this time, which she found a little worrying. "Keep climbing, Hyde. Rewards and refreshment come later."