Detection, Deception, Decimation, Declaration

[William de Torquemada]

William was not happy with the state of things, but it seemed that they had bought themselves some small respite with the gambit. The Harpy at his back leaned away and acted as if she was harmless, though only a fool would ever assume a Servant was unable to kill them at a moment’s notice. With choice of field, Nightmare in his hand, and enough prana to sustain his reinforcements, William de Torquemada would have been a match for this Servant.

Probably. The existence of Noble Phantoms and other such powers beyond human ability to copy were, obviously, beyond his ability to defend against or even predict. Knowing a Servant’s identity was the only way to predict a Noble Phantasm before seeing it; and as the boy magus understood, usually you learned a Servant’s identity only after seeing their Phantasms.

A curious problem. William de Torquemada took five steps away from the enemy, which in most cases would have been far enough to be safe from a melee attack. Against a Servant, against this one, Will was certain he was still in the danger zone.

With a hand gesture, Will ordered Chiyome to release the white haired girl. “While we wait, witch, may I assume that you’ve poisoned me?” It was a safe assumption to guess that she would not let him escape unscathed, and perhaps such a question would set her off guard and let slip something about her true nature. Such a thing was entirely possible; though she was a Servant, she was still human.

There was little he could do while he waited for the small girl to approach. Will momentarily considered killing her as they past, simply slicing her throat with his knife, but it was too risky. Without knowing how long the enemy Servant would be able to last without a Master, he couldn’t know if he would be safe or if she would be able to counterattack. No, they would simply make this exchange. William had lost the first few plays by allowing himself to be bewitched, but the situation had been mostly salvaged. Now was the time to regroup and prepare for the next meeting.

[Hakugi Rima]

*this post was made with the permission of the other members of the thread*

As Rima had described previously to be done, so it was. Most likely with a few more amusing pleasantries exchanged and without anyone being poisoned and killed, the exchange took place. One Servant exchanged for the other, with both sides upholding their side of the bargain. Neither side saw it profitable to prolong the current activities and proceeded with the operation without a hitch. It was not friendly at all, but the agreement lasted long enough for each pair to obtain their respective relative freedom and part ways. There was little else to be said to one another. They had both lost this encounter, after all.

Rima would go and recover the clothes that she had bought previously to her Big Sis and give them to her, having finished up this. Rima would be in a rather sour mood, which may not be particularly surprising considering what had just transpired. That... was unlucky. How come that they, the most undetectable pair in the entire War (or hopefully they were, anyway) was found by sheer chance in a street in the middle of the day by not one, but two other Masters? On top of that, it would appear there were more than seven Servants in the War, unless some classes had been skipped for multiples of another... How many? If they were many enough, that would mean it was warranted for them to be found in the middle of the street...

The young white-haired Master didn't even want to consider that possibility. It would mean an unmentioned amount of other Masters might have watched their little antics there before, and also that her chances of winning this before that were already abysmal just went even further down the gutter. It was a fearful shudder which went through her thinking about all those killers capable of killing her. It wasn't a pleasant thing to consider, and Rima's mind was therefore filled with overly depressing thoughts at this moment. However, it shouldn't be over quite yet.

'Big sis. In case of followers, I do not want to go home. Am I right to assume you can use your Magecraft to get us temporary free lodging in a home of our choosing, as long as Magi don't coincidentally happen to live there?' Rima did not trust in the unlikelihood of coincidences. Not after this, not ever.

If Big sis had something to say on the way before Rima spoke, feel free to still say it and Rima will respond in turn.

[Mochizuki Chiyome]

Before letting go of her, Assassin would previously have put a hand on her shoulder for a little bit and whispered.

'It goes without saying, but if I find my Master poisoned, I will go to the ends of the world to ensure you die before he does.'

So she said before letting go of Rima's shoulder and stepping a few steps away. However, the words had been a cover-up. Assassin had actually grabbed Rima's shoulder to remove the node from her network from there. While it could potentially be useful for finding the girl again, there was a risk that the other Servant would locate the node. If she did, not only would she be able to destroy the node resulting in no use for the scout, she'd also have a major clue on the nature of Assassin's Noble Phantasm and by that also potentially become a major and lethal threat to their combo only because of this small hint which she would have let them get away with. Just in case they do get away, it simply wasn't worth it to leave it there. As such, Assassin had it removed. She was confident she could locate these two easily anyway should the time come to it.

Later, after the exchange and with her Master, Assassin would go into Spirit Mode as soon as it could be deemed safe. She would follow her Master without an additional word unless it was needed of her. Currently, the ninja was aware that a major error she had made could have caused their downfall this day, and her pride felt somewhat wounded due to this. ... But she wouldn't let this affect her performance in terms of her ability to finish a job, or similar.

'Should I follow them? I do remind that we may be watched due to the earlier incident, so it may not be safe for the moment.' Assassin gave her question along with her own analysis on the sitation.

[Semiramis]

Before William could actually free himself from her clutches, Semiramis manages to sneak herself closer to him and gives the Magus a quick peck on his cheek, giggling as she lets him walk forward. If she really need to, it was just a matter to jump forward and stab his back with her bare hands, even though they were barely stronger than a human's. Either that or cast a quick spell to debilitate the Magus before she could home in to the kill. "Ah, I will cherish the time we spent together, William. A shame you are lying to yourself by saying that you don't feel the same." She says with a cloying tone of voice, half-sarcastically, half-sincere.

Yet deep inside Assassin is more cautious than she would let others think. This hostage exchange was less than optimal, and while she wanted to dose a slow-acting toxin to William, Rima's current predicament made that kind of trickery too dangerous to pull off. "What are you talking about, boy? I wouldn't do this kind of thing to a cute one like you." That was of course a lie, and while the threat of a poison that only she could treat could be an efficient way to shackle him, the possibility of him instead just order her Master to have her throat slit still existed. Perhaps on another occasion, though...

As Rima approached Semiramis to give her clothes back, she found herself on the embrace of the Servant, who glares at the disappearing enemy Assassin and her fleeing Master."Magecraft isn't needed. I can get us any place in this town with the right words, Little Dove. Just a matter of finding a suitable fool to shelter us. You are right, though. The apartment is not safe for now." By Ishtar, this situation is far more complicated than Semiramis planned to be. It was obvious that the enemy team would not simply let them go without trying to track them, and from the looks of the enemy Servant, she seemed to be a specialist on scouting....

[William de Torquemada]

William de Torquemada took a breath, mentally checking over his body. It was important, for someone with his disease, to be fully aware of exactly how each of his muscles would move when he was in perfect condition. Without the sense of touch, even if his movements were slowed or uneven, he wouldn’t be able to notice until he had already fallen. Poisons were, as such, incredibly effective against the Torquemada heir.

“How amusing this day has become, Assassin.” Will began to stretch his arms, checking for any slowness or strain in his musculature as he continued to move, stretching out his legs next, then flexing his stomach muscles. “As near as I can tell, I have not been poisoned or otherwise injured. I will have to do more tests after we return, but I think we are safe to withdraw.”

'Should I follow them? I do remind that we may be watched due to the earlier incident, so it may not be safe for the moment.'

Will thought for a moment and then shook his head. “No, we don’t need to follow them. From how easily both Masters were captured, we can assume that you are nearly evenly matched with the other Assassin. Additionally, we need to discuss how the advent of copies of the same class will affect our plans for the immediate future.”

Will was not the most sure of himself at the moment. His mind had been taken over at a glance by a Servant. Why had no one warned him of that possibility? Was the War evolving in a way that none had seen before? That would be a wonderful opportunity for the Torquemada family. Who else could claim that they witnessed the Throne of Heroes being mangled by human interference?

While he had to ensure that he was going to be safe while fighting this war if some Servants could invade his mind at will, it was still a wonderfully exciting time for him. This War would give him the answers he needed to be whole again. He might have to kill every other Master to gain those answers, but William de Torquemada was more than willing to spill blood for his goals.

[Hakugi Rima]

... And all of a sudden Rima found herself hugged. She had been entirely overwhelmed with her mind considering all the possible ways a whole city full of killer-Servants and bloodthirsty Masters were going to slowly torture her to death while she had no chance of winning, when Big Sis took the time and effort to snatch her out of her thoughts and pull her into a hug. … For a moment, Rima couldn’t think. It was just… being comforted. Feel her bigger sister’s warmth around her, and feeling a great deal safer than when that enemy Servant had been on her neck and threatened her. Especially that last warning, there was no telling how much Rima had worried in that second if that kiss had been poisonous and that the enemy Assassin would have been able to tell that and killed her, but… Given how it went… it must have been a regular kiss. … Still… now Rima was safe, if but for the moment. She had survived the encounter… somehow. … Stop, tears. This isn’t your moment to come out. It doesn’t matter how frightened you were before, Rima, you can’t cry…

‘… It’s alright, Big Sis, I can manage… Thank you.’ Her eyes were probably noticeably teary, but she had maintained her front. Rima would then give a sign that it was time to let go and then turn around to walk down the street along with her Big Sis again, like nothing had happened. The young girl took the information her sister had shared with her about their position into her thought process and proceeded with walking and thinking at the same time.

‘… Our place of residue is not important. As long as it grants us reasonable protection and a point of origin, anyplace will do. Other than that, we need to locate that other Master that identified us. … If we can somehow eliminate them both, or otherwise neutralize the danger to us created from this incident, we might still remain undetected. … Assuming nobody watched us, which is a dangerous assumption to make.’ Downright foolhardy, even.

‘Come, Big Sis. We’re leaving.’ With that, Rima was going to exit the street and then have a talk with her Big Sis about what kind of place they should secure to themselves for the night.

[Mochizuki Chiyome]

Oh? He can be amused by situations like this? While Assassin considered what just happened a rather big failure on her own part, it would seem that her Master was in another kind of spirit. Well, except for the worrying about poison, that is. Which of course she felt she had to address.

'Don't worry, Will. If she had administrated poison on you, I would have noticed. Which of course in turn means, she would have noticed had I done the same to her Master.' With no Presence Concealment against each other in place after the previous incidents, both Assassins would have noticed the killing intent of the other killing their hostage, even if it was a delayed kill. And that would have ended in something undesirable for both of them. Hence it hadn't.

She did suspect that to be the case, that she would not follow them. It was just to smile and nod to that and address it as proper. 'Indeed, the at least single multiple per class does throw some wrenches into the grand scheme of things, does it not?' Yeah, this was something rather amusing. 'Not only does this prove that one of the rules are broken, it also hints that perhaps is it not the only rule broken. If perhaps there are multiples of every class and therefore a lot more Servants than there should be, this will be like a great family reunion for people who helped shape history. My, how lovely. It might also mean you'll get more opponents to watch than you first bargained for, Will.' Of course, that possibility came with the possibility that they were actually in a great deal greater danger than they actually thought, which came almost hidden behind her lines there. ... Assassin caught herself that she might have acted a bit more personal than she should have.

'Shall we return, then?'

[Semiramis]

“Oh please.” Assassin rolls her eyes at William’s remark. “Goodness, as if I would infect you with a contact poison that can’t be detected and slowly rots your body, impossible to be noticed until it’s too late.” She says in a snide tone as a devious smile forms on her lips. “It would indeed be a terrible death for you wouldn’t it, my dear? And the worse part is that you couldn’t even know if you were affected or not.” The woman shrugs theatrically as if to emphasize those words. Of course, such a poison doesn’t exist, on the contact kind at least. She could have used a stealthy killer if it got in the boy’s bloodstream through even a slight wound or perhaps kissed him and make him swallow a drip of it, but it would be impossible to do so without him noticing and then ordering his Servant to slash Rima’s throat. Still, getting this little monster paranoid and fearful for his life would be punishment enough for threatening Semiramis’ Little Dove. That… Was something that she would not forget.

Yet the priority for now is getting to safety. She looks down to her Master and then to the exit of the alley, grabbing the young girl’s hand as she takes her to a safer place… Or at least somewhere safer than where they were. ‘Hmph. While that Servant Archer is indeed powerful, the fact that he stepped out instead of killing us from afar shows lack of foresight. If anything, the most dangerous threat at this moment is the boy and his Assassin. And speaking of which, we should look on this matter further. Having more than seven Masters is something that apparently none of us knew.’ If the rules were different, then perhaps there was hope for the two of them. And indeed, the seeds of a devious plan began to brew inside Semiramis’ mind.