27Arriving in New and Familiar ways
Ritsuka Watched as Goetia disappeared while the temple collapsed around him and the few servants still with him. His eyes locked on the five standing around him even as they heard the others still fighting the demons outside and couldn't help but smile even as the end came for him.
Standing over to the far side of the area was EMIYA his red coat little more than red strips still hanging off of him as he bled from his wounds yet still holding his silent vigil over the others in case of another threat coming for them despite the situation. Ritsuka couldn't help but chuckle as he made eye contact with the red archer both knowing it was pointless at this point but old habits die hard as they say before moving on the others.
Standing near where Goetia had been were Jeanne alter and Artoria alter bickering between each other even as they leaned heavily on their weapons so as to keep standing despite the major wounds they had along with the lack of clothing to cover them which would be a personal delight but just drew a smirk from him more for their attitude than anything else. Still they were standing and ready if needed to continue the fight before turning to look at the other servant to the right.
Their leaning on some rubble was El-Melloi ll his red coat gone and his suit torn up yet still looking dignified despite the damage he has all the while a smoking cigar dangling between his fingers. Of all the servants he was the most damaged given the enemy had started focusing him down to take out their support and it showed with the large gashes and burns on him yet in the end he was still standing and the enemy was not.
"Hm well master looks like its the end isn't." the voice made Ritsuka look over his shoulder at the large form of Cu Chulainn alter standing behind him his spear planted into the ground as the monstrous servant leaned on it and despite showing few wounds they both knew the berserker was on his last legs and still willing to give more if needed.
"Hmph looks that way but who knows we might have another demon come for us given our luck." Ritsuka said as he took an unsteady step towards Cu. Of all the servants he had summoned Ritsuka had the odd luck of bonding with the Berserkers the most with the strongest one with his former enemy Cu. It was something that had baffled every ones minds back in Chaldea though they just moved past it and kept working though he was called in to help deal with them if they were acting up over something. That wasn't to say he hadn't bonded with the others as well each and every servant he had summoned had bonded to him on some level some more than others but the Berserkers always seemed to bond the easiest for the most part.
Cu laughed his eyes roaming the area most likely to check if their actually were any demons coming for them though Cu was reasonably sure EMIYA would give them a warning before that but it doesn't hurt to check for himself as well while his master moved to stand next to him as as the temple collapsed around them. None of the servants or their master had any delusions they were going to get out of this mess alive what with the way out blocked off and they lacked the strength to clear the way or make a new one. In spite of this they refused to simply lay down and die and would meet the end standing tall until the end.
"Hey Cu I know you hate what ifs but if we make it through this any plans on what to do?" Cu blinked at the random question and looked down at his master while said master was once again looking at the servants who had followed him through this war.
"Hmm Not really maybe I would get another sparing match with Scathach or a brawl with Heracles or something." Cu shrugged while Ritsuka snorted while turning his head to look at Cu to say something when he froze causing all the other servants to shift their attention to him in an instant.
Ritsuka for his part neither noticed the shift in his servants or them moving over to him as he felt started to feel a sensation similar to rayshifing yet it was different at the same time. He honestly couldn't tell what he was feeling but for some reason it made him thing of colors shifting around with each other like a kaleidoscope before he felt a sudden and strong tug on his body that jolted a surprised exclamation from him.
The others had felt the moment a different magic started to affect their master and while it was unfamiliar to most of them both EMIYA and El-Melloi ll recognized it for what it was and couldn't help but wonder just what the old troll was doing here. Suddenly the magic affecting Ritsuka spread from him to them as well before the whole area flashed with a mass of lights and they disappeared just as the ceiling above them crashed down where they had been moments before.
Ritsuka couldn't think as he felt like he was being stretched through a tunnel as a kaleidoscope of colors shined out all around him even though he couldn't actually see them but with his developing Magic Circuits he had stared to gain some of the more common abilities of a Magus such as detecting magic which in his case came in the form of sight with the different magics in different colors. This though he could tell was one magic but the pattern of colors was always shifting and changing on him to the point it hurt his head just trying to understand it.
Then just as quickly it had begun it ended and he felt his body crash into rock hard ground along with several others. Groaning through the pain Ritsuka lifted his head to see that yes his servants that had been near him had indeed traveled with him and were either on their knees or flat out like himself. Second he could tell they were in an ally of some sort and it was night out given how dark it was but beyond that he had no idea where they were.
"Damn that fang faced troll the next time I see him I'll fire as many anti undead Noble Phantasms at him he wont be able to see anything else around him." The words came from EMIYA as he started to push himself of the ground he had face planted into from the fall while El-Melloi ll grunted as he got off of his side and into a sitting position while the other three stood up and examined their surrounding for any dangers that might threaten them.
"Get it line Archer I plan to turn him into my next experiment when we catch him it would be interesting to see how well he will hold up to my Noble Phantasm while I dissect him though if you want you can help with supplying more Noble Phantasms to use on him." El-Melloi ll said once he was sitting up in as comfortable a position as he was going to get before looking around himself while EMIYA chuckled darkly at the invitation he was given.
"So I take it you know at least who if not what was done to us to send us wherever we are right now cause that did not feel like rayshifting that's for sure." Ritsuka asked while Cu lifted him up into a standing position as he tried to find anything to help figure you where and when they were. Sadly his search proved fruitless given there was nothing in the ally to determine anything as while it looked somewhat old but he could see what looked like a gas light at the end of the ally so he was at least in the 20th century most likely provided there wasn't a singularity of some sort disturbing the timeline or something. He really didn't want to think about something else messing with history and potentially incinerating humanity for whatever reason.
"Zelretch." Both of them said at the same time and with an equal amount of venom in their voices making the others look at them curiously since it was hard for Either of them to react to things unless certain servants were involved.
"Right just remember we might need him alive and whole if we cant set up a connection to Chaldea before you try to murder or whatever else you have planned for him okay." Ritsuka said with a wry smirk as he shook his head at the two before turning to look at Jeanne and Artoria who were once more bickering again before clearing his throat to get their attention.
"So do either of you two have any idea as to where we are given by your argument you seem to have some idea?" The question got Jeanne to smirk smugly while Artoria glowered at her while Jeanne answered.
"If the sign read right we are in the city Bucharest and from the look of things were in modern times most likely." Ritsuka couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at that before voicing another question that had popped into his head.
"What sign you haven't left the ally and unless you can see through walls there isn't any signs nearby." that got a laugh out of Jeanne while Artoria just sighed though he could see the small dusting of pink in her cheeks despite her face not changing at all.
"Master you might want to look up." was all Artoria said in a board tone of voice after the pink in her cheeks had faded and her amber stilted eyes focused on him in an unwavering while Jeanne calmed down but still looked very smug though her eyes were starting to glare at the other woman.
Ritsuka took said advice and looked up only for his expression to fall flat as the large billboard sign above them and was able to make out that it did say Bucharest as part of the location of the advertised business while feeling the strong urge to face palm himself for missing that but was saved from any embarrassment when his servants stiffened suddenly.
"Well well isn't this interesting I was coming to see what set off the bounded field only to find this." The voice came from behind Ritsuka almost causing him to jump but he held it in and turned casually to face the new voice. he had more than enough experience with servants and even Dr. Roman sneaking up on him to know better to react to it if only to throw the person off their game though Jack tended to just pout for not making her 'Onii-chan jump.
The person in front of him looked in every way average from his height to his looks and even his magic from what he could see was average though that might be from the big drain he could see it was under. The only things that stood out was his black coat which was both expensive looking and covered in protective enchantments and the Command Seals on his left hand he had bare for everyone to see which made Ritsuka and his servants tense slightly as a few of them looked around to try and spot the servant.
"Yes well from what my friends said earlier we were the unexpected victims of someone by the name of Zelretch." The man flinched at the name making Ritsuka inwardly wonder just who the hell was Zelretch and what did he do to scare and piss off so many magus' that even EMIYA hated him.
"Still this would be a waste of an opportunity to let slip by and the others look weak now I just need assassin to capture…" the man muttered most likely thinking they couldn't hear him. Sadly for him this wasn't the case and Cu decided to finish this before it became a problem and faster than anyone could blink had stabbed Gae Bolg through the mans heart while the others prepared for Assassin to strike back only for no one to try and stop them. The man also seemed surprised that he had a spear through him and let out a choked gasp before falling over dead revealing a small and familiar figure standing some distance behind them.
"Jackie is that you?" Ritsuka couldn't help but ask as he saw the small white haired girl walk closer to them her eyes focused on him with a confused look on her face like she was trying to remember something.
"O Onii-chan?" Jack the Ripper otherwise known as Jackie said as recognision flashed across her eyes and with a loud cry of "Onii-chan" tackled Ritsuka who once again ended up on his back while the little Assassin hugged him and rubbed her head into his chest. She was happy to remember her Onii-chan as her summoning had left her confused and a sense of Déjà vu when she saw the man in front of her and the woman who was bleeding out but was unable to stop the bad man from forming a contract with her to help. Not long afterward she felt a familiar magic and followed her bad master to it only to find her Onii-chan again as scary Cu killed the bad man for her.
"Jackie not that I'm not happy to see you again but whats going on I though you were with the others fighting the Demon Pillars?" Ritsuka asked as he started rubbing Jackie's head after sitting up while the others relaxed a bit seeing the immediate danger had passed. Jackie for her part stopped rubbing her head into Ritsuka's chest though she did lean into his hand more as she said.
"Big mean Demons all started dying off when suddenly Jackie and some others were hit by a bunch of big blasts and felt ourselves die only to be pulled back and in front of a bad man but we were confused and the bad man formed a contract with us while the pretty lady died than we felt you and the bad man came here and we followed and found you again but we didn't recognize you at first till we got closer, Onii-chan can we have a contract again we miss you." Ritsuka chuckled at the last part as he placed his right hand on Jackie's and felt the Assassin reconnect for a lack of a better word with him causing her to let out a happy "Yay" before snuggling herself into him once more while he though over what she had said.
"So it looks like not everyone made it through I wish I could say that was unexpected but I would be lying. Though that doesn't explain how we ended up here of all places?"
The question at the end was directed at EMIYA and El-Melloi ll who both looked uncomfortable though that might have to do with Jackie's attire more than anything given it was practically nothing unlike when back home he had made sure some proper clothes were made for the small Assassin so as to make her look decent in public even if most of said public was servants few had that kind of fetish and it was an unspoken rule that Blackbeard was never left alone with anyone female just for the safety of everyone.
"Master we will explain later right now we need to find a place to rest and recover from our last fight." Were what EMIYA said when he noticed everyone staring at him and El-Melloi ll as they waited for an explanation. Thankfully for the two Ritsuka agreed and Jackie quickly led them back to where her former master had set up base in the city.
Right just to let everyone know that A New Life will probably not be updated in a while as it was something I found on my old flash drive and decided to post it so ya sorry. As for this story I've been playing a lot of FGO lately and this story just would not go away even after I tried working on some of my older fics and I do apologize for the long wait of said fics I don't have an excuse for the long wait so I'm not going to even bother trying. hope you like this one and I'll try to work on the others as well.
that said if anyone knows a good artist I can contact for commission for some better pictures please pm me on how to contact them along with a link to some of their work I would very much appreciate the help.