Ice cream in a shelter

[Bradamante]

[Morning, Day One, 10:07]

After eating the ice cream at the gelateria, Jacob decided to buy some to take away with him. Lancer followed as a disembodied mist her master inside the shop, and was amazed to see that refrigerating machine filled with creams of any kind of colors and flavours.
Every bowl into the fridge had a tag with a name, and she recognized some of them, such as orange, and strawberry.
Then an azure colored cream struck her, leaving her puzzled. On the tag, the word "Puffo", italian for "Smurf", was written on it.
What kind of fruit could it possibly be? The color was strange, and the name was not inviting at all.
Her master picked various flavours, and Bradamante suggested to take the pink cream he eaten before, with the hope to taste the cream with the flavour of her favourite fruit.

The sight of the ancient walls of the old city managed to divert Bradamante's attention on the white polystyrene box her master was carring with him. They looked much more familiar to her era than everything she saw that day.
They were now moving toward the ancient gates to reach a safehouse of Jacob's uncle inside the historical center of the city.

Lancer glanced briefly at her master, sensing his tension as he was walking like an automata through the gate.
When her master payed for the ice cream he was carring around in that white box, a shadow or worry passed on his face.
Lancer noticed his hand was shaking as he took the box from the hands of the shopkeeper.
Simply by looking at him, she could tell he was so nervous he could faint at any moment.

Yeah, it was understandable, given his situation. She decided to avoid falling in that loop of thoughts regarding their condition, and the old buildings with the paved street managed to divert her mind. That area on the city looked much more familiar, and even if many things were new the overall appearance was much closer to her era.
No metal coaches were roaming the streets, and people were walking freely around them.
After she asked if he had some place to go, when they left the shop earlier, Jacob mentioned a safehouse of his deceased uncle into the old district, and she immediately agreed in heading there: her master needed a safer place to draw conclusions and soothe his nerves a little if possible.
Now, they were walking through the narrow streets of the Old Town, bucolic pathways compared to the larger streets made for those iron coaches. Jacob was silently leading, clearly taken away by his musings.
"Are we there, master?" she asked "I can't wait to taste some of that frozen cream you bought" added then, hoping to distract him from his thoughts.

[Jacob Archer]

Jacob shifted the container of frozen desert between his hands, trying to keep his hands warm. The container was a welcome distraction from his current problems. Though he was wondering why his Servant seemed so interested in the strawberry ice cream. But the distractions were fleeting at best. As soon as his mind had drifted to something else, Lancer’s tenuous link to himself fluctuated. Or a police car speed by, sirens blaring. Or the echoes of the prayers of the devout echoed through the alleys. The entire city seemed to by conspiring to remind him just how in over his head he was. He had no doubt that if he thought about it too much that he would he’d pass out on the spot.

Lancer herself also seemed to be looking for a distraction, as she was showing the old stone buildings that made up most of the district far more attention than one would expect, even from somebody in her situation. As they rounded a familiar corner, Jacob paused mid-step. A trio of police cars were sitting on the street, while a pair of cops stood at guard near the door, police tape crossing the doors and windows. Well, this wasn’t entirely unexpected. Pulling out the folder that had started all of this, he flipped through it until he found his uncle’s file. A quick scan showed a series of older addresses, several of them local. A quick check of the map showed a recent one was nearby. “We can’t stay here. Come on.”

A little confused, Lancer followed him as he followed the narrow streets deeper into the maze of houses and aging buildings. After a few minutes, he came across a small garden, ringed by a wrought iron fence.

"Are we there, master?" Lancer asked after a moment. "I can't wait to taste some of that
frozen cream you bought"

Jacob checked the map again.” Looks like it. According to this, it’s the one on the left.” He was lucky he hadn’t left anything to important at his uncle’s place, but he wasn’t exactly equipped for an extended stay. With another item to distract himself with, he made his way up the stairs.

The inside of the apartment was simpler then the last one. It was basically one large room, with the only thing separating the small kitchen from the rest of the room was a stretch of counter. A door off of the entry way was ajar, showing the inside of a small bathroom. The entire place was a mess, books and artifacts piled on top of the only small bed, while the couch was unfolded into a bed, half of it buried under even more books. The only table was covered with files. Shoving a stack of reports on eastern European dig sites, he made room for the container of ice cream which was, by some miracle, still frozen. Dropping into a (thankfully clear) chair, Jacob opened the container of strawberry ice cream after scrounging up a couple of spoons. “Come on, take a seat. I’m guessing you can’t eat while invisible.”

[Bradamante]

Air condensed near the table, as her body took form. She could feel her weight again, followed by that of her purple bordered armor. Her first breath entering her lungs was a welcome sensation, and a satisfied smile was painted on the woman's face.
While small and incredibly messy, the place seemed safe, and no sign of menace was tingling her senses.
"With no mouth at all, it's difficult, i agree"
She took a step over a small pile of books lying on the ground, gracefully avoiding touching them, and politely sat on a chair in front of Jacob's, on the opposite side of the table. Still smiling, Bradamante took the spoon her master was handing her.
"Thank you, master" She added, pointing her attention on the opened container lying on the table "With your permission..."
Without really waiting, she took a small amount of the pink cream with the tip of the spoon smirking, and put it into her mouth with a slow and well mannered movement.
A cold sensation on her tongue was closely followed by a soft taste of strawberry. Trying to define it as delicious was an understatement for the knight, and she closed her eyes to better taste that flavour.
It was good, maybe even more that the wood stawberries she used to eat when she was young.
"Mmh!" She moaned with an ecstatic expression painted on her face before commenting "This is how Ambrosia should taste!"
Her spoon quickly dove inside the ice cream box for another piece.
"Divine!"
A third piece of ice cream flew into her mouth almost instantly, and she couldn't help but thanking Jacob for letting her taste such a delicacy.

[Jacob Archer]

Jacob couldn’t help but grin as he watched Lancer eat the Ice Cream. There was something inherently funny about a being of such power having such a decidedly over-the-top reaction to….well, anything. If it wasn’t for the fact that she had spent most of the day so far invisible, then he could almost be forgiven for mistaking her as normal. “Well, let’s get down to business.” He started as he scooped a bite of his own out of the container. “Seeing as the Church didn’t go entirely as planned, I’ve had to rethink whatever semblance of a plan I had. To start with, I think I might be better off with you following me around in solid form.” The stares he was getting at the Ice Cream shop had been a little disconcerting, and there would be other perks to having her around in physical form if his guess was right. “It’s either that, or I get a Bluetooth, and those tend to make my ear itch.” He paused as he noticed Lancer staring at him for a moment. “It’s a device I can put on my ear.” He explained. “It lets me use this…” He quickly pulled out his phone to show her. “Without having to use my hands. If I was wearing one while talking to you, people would just assume I was talking to somebody on the phone. Anyway…” He trailed off, trying to remember what he had been talking about before. “Right, you. Being…corporeal. We’d have to get you some clothes, since your current outfit would tend to stick out…” Then again, so would trying to actually buy her any normal clothing. Well, at least it would be an interesting day. “After that, well, I have no idea.” Actually, he had a few idea’s. He was just fairly certain most ended in a horrible death, possibly with his head being carried off by some crazed mage for god knows what. Or maybe that was his overactive imagination. “Well, that’s all I’ve got. Any ideas?”

[Bradamante]

"Hmm..." she pondered, taking another piece of ice cream "I agree with you, in corporeal form i may react faster, and people won't stare at you. Also, it will be useful for our exploration of the city."
After another spoonful of ice cream she explained her motivations "Spiritual form confuses me. No weight, and freedom of movement in any direction may distort the perception of my surroundings. From a tactical point of wiew, i need my body to gauge what i might do"
She then took a long stare at her master with her azure eyes. The young man before her had an impressive sense of self control, but she didn't miss his trembling hand in the ice cream shop earlier, nor his occasional shiver. He was already trying to plan what to do, but his tension was depicted all over his face. She decided he needed to take some time to put order in all the events of the preceeding hours before moving on: he probably was so shocked he still had to realize he was.
Out of concern, she smiled and spoke: "Before moving on to search for clothes, it may be better if you rest for a short while. You do look tense, and I understand why. The day is still long, and you need to be in shape for what's going to come. Take your time, I'll keep watch while you rest."
Her spoon reached the polystyrene box once again. That cream was delicious, but the thought of the recent events, and of the abominable monsters she killed made it taste bitter. They were an additional burden to their situation. She concluded they could use some help.
"After that, and the clothes, I think we should consider the idea of looking for allies. I'm sure we'll find other masters and servants willing to cooperate to increase their chance of survival in this game. At least in its first part, and especially considering those monsers..."

[Jacob Archer]

Ah, yes. Rest. It wasn’t even noon yet and Jacob already felt like he was ready to sleep for a week. He earnestly hoped that it was just from the effort of containing the shock from this morning. Part of him really wished he would have his delayed mental breakdown and be done with it. Slowly rising from his seat, he gave Lancer a tired nod. “Good ideas on all accounts. You’re probably right about the allies, though I doubt we’ll find any here.” They’d stayed under the radar so far this morning, but things were going to heat up eventually, and it would nice to have some back-up before then.

Walking over to the only bed, he examined the items covering it for a moment before, after judging that nothing at rest on the piece of furniture was particularly fragile, swept everything on the floor at his feet with a deadened thud. Without another word, he simply collapsed onto the cot, pausing to adjust the worn and thinned pillow. Ah, yes, a few hours of sleep was looking very good right now. He took one last look at Lancer before pulling his hat down over his eyes. “Wake me if anybody shows up trying to ‘recruit’ us.

Jacob soon drifted off to sleep, far more tired from the morning activities then he had realized. He could almost feel the stress flowing out of his limbs as he collapsed onto the bed. He had heard that dreams were the brains way of processing excess information, but never subscribed to the idea. His dreams, though, seemed intent on disagreeing with him.

He awoke with a start, scanning around the unfamiliar room. Cobwebs filled the corners, and dim moonlight filtered in through the windows. Wind drove against the structure, every beam and frame seeming to groan under the strain. But something else seemed to be groaning in the wind…

With a crash, the beasts burst into the room, piece of flesh hanging from their maws. With a cry, Jacob ran. He ran down the hall, more monsters pouring out of the other rooms as he ran past, remains of his uncle decorating the main hall…

Jacob shifted in his sleep as Lancer watched over him, still eating her ice cream.

[Bradamante]

The female warrior silently moved through the large room, holding the ice cream box with her left hand, and reached the door leading to the bathroom. She peeked inside, with the spoon filled with ice cream in her mouth.
A very small room was containing large ceramic objects, similar to large bowls of different size. A mirror placed on the wall of the taller bowl was reflecting her image: a red haired woman's head with a curious expression and a spoon's handle coming out of her mouth.
She removed the spoon from her mouth, and stood still for a second, gazing at her reflected self. Her face looked the same she remembered.
From her position she turned, and stared at the room where her master was resting. Furniture was just the essential: the bed Jacob was on, a second bed half filled with books and wastepaper, a table with few chairs where they sat a few seconds earlier, with other books and paper all over, an almost empty bookshelf, and some strange appliances behind a counter.
Two rather small windows were the only access points for the light of the room.
She moved to the closer one, and opened it. The apartment was filled with stale air, and it could benefit from fresher air from outside.
Taking another spoonful from the box, she considered the situation.
She never liked the idea of housekeeping, but that place was a real mess. The least she could do was moving all the books and the papers on the bookshelf.

Jacob's rest was uneasy, and he often shifted around, making her eyes pointing him every time.
Alterning the placing of a book on the shelfes with a spoonful of icecream, the woman occasionally read the title of the book she was holding, or took a short look at the files scattered around. They were all about legends, folklore, and documents about excavation sites. Among them, some papers were reports from a place she knew: Arles. What a ferocius battle she fought there.
Jacob's uncle probably spent years searching for things belonging to warriors of the past, to bring them back to fight on his side in the grail war. Who knows where he found her sword. Who knows how many hands carried it after her death.

The ice cream box was empty, and all the books and the papers were now placed on the shelves. A satisfactory smile was depicted on Bradamante's face, as she closed the open window. She took a chair and sat close to it, ensuring herself to be between the entrance and Jacob's bed, ready for intervention.
With a hand on the hilt of her sword, the red haire woman in armor stared outside.

[Jacob Archer]

[Afternoon, Day 1, 14:23]

Jacob awoke with a start, quickly looking around the room. The room was scattered with random accouterments, books, and tagged artifacts. Where the hell was he?

Careful to avoid the various objects scattered across the floor, Jacob made his way through the apartment. A few pictures adorned the walls, mostly cheap landscapes. A few looked like they could have been his father, minus a decade or so. Stepping over another pile of artifacts, Jacob made his way over to a window. Outside was the telltale sea of tiled rooftops indicative of older Italian towns. That’s right; he had come to some town in Italy to look for his uncle. Nobody knew where he was, or what he was working on. But was he in some apartment?

He looked around the apartment through the window for a minute before he saw the girl out of the corner of his eye. The Red-haired girl stood out against the Afternoon sky as she surveyed the town before her. But what the hell was she wearing? It almost looked like…

His brain suddenly caught up with time as everything that had happened over the last 4 hours came crashing down on him. His dead uncle. Those black monsters. The Summoning Ritual. The Church, The War…

With a yell, he recoiled from the window as if it had suddenly caught fire. Scrambling across the floor, his footing slipped on strewn papers as he bolted toward the bathroom door. He flew into the small room, quickly locking the door behind him before he made his way over to the toilet and quickly re-saw his last meal.

The rational part of his brain noted that this was his body going through shock, and quite delayed shock at that. He was beginning to hope that he would have dealt with it better though.

Well, at least that’s over with….

… yeah, right. He let out a groan between heavy breathes. He was a mage, dammit! He should be losing it over one… little….war….

“Dammit.” He cursed before finishing with the toilet and quickly moving on to the sink to thoroughly rinse. He took another deep breath as he looked himself in the mirror. Alright, so he was in a war. To the death. With ancient heroes.

Taking one last look at himself, he exited the bathroom. “Lancer…?”

[Bradamante]

When she first heard Jacob's steps, the servant turned her sight inside the apartment.
The boy was walking through the room slowly, a puzzled expression on his face as he was looking at the pictures on the walls. She decided to not say anything, waiting for jacob to announce himself, so she kept watching outside when she her master moved toward another window.
A few hours passed, and nothing came to disturb them. The city looked so normal from that window that she could almost...
Jacob's sudden yell made Bradamante turn in his direction with a sharp movement. Her master entered the door of the bathroom like he was chased by a monster.
She instinctively stood up from the chair, pulling out her sword and turning toward the window he was facing, just to see no one was there.
The sound of the bathroom's door quickly followed by sounds of vomiting gave her a clearer understanding of what was happening.
Sheclodes her eyes and took a deep breath. The warrior relaxed her stance and put away her weapon, before approaching slowly to the bathroom's door and waiting for Jacob to come out.
It didn't take long, and her master exited with an expression that was difficult to describe.
Their eyes met, and the young boy spoke: “Lancer…?”
"Master" she answered, trying to put out a reassuring smile "Are you ok?"
The tone of her voice came out worried despite her expression.
At least now he got over it.

[Jacob Archer]

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” Jacob assured the Lancer. “I guess this morning finally caught up with me.” Stretching his stiff limbs, Jacob headed toward the small kitchen before beginning to rifle through the cupboards. After a few minutes of searching, he found what looked like a box of energy bars. Pulling one out, he quickly unwrapped one and took a testing bite, taking another one with a shrug once he confirmed that it was, in fact, still fit for consumption. He was just glad to get that taste out of his mouth.

“So, it’s a little past two pm now, and we still have things to do. We should be able to find you some clothes in the market district, and hopefully we can find some other Masters.” It was comforting to have a plan, something for his brain to focus on. As a mage, his father had always taught them that the stood on deaths doorstep, a hair’s breath away from oblivion. Until today, he had never really believed him.

“Unless you have anything to add, I guess we should get going.” He took a moment to make sure he had everything he needed, before taking the lead and heading out the door. Pausing to lock the door, he headed down the stairs, Lancer following behind him still in physical form. The few people about in this part of town paused to stare at Lancer’s anachronistic outfit. “Yeah… we’ll probably want to make this fast.” Pulling out his wallet, he made sure he had the thin piece of plastic. Thank god for family bank accounts.

[Bradamante]

The woman felt the uneasy feeling of being observed like she was some sort of freak and shivered.
Those were the same stares she received when she began her training as a knight.
A lady with the unhealty idea of playing the role of a knight was something to laugh at back there. Now, she was just a woman with an armor on, and that was probably so out of place she was something to laugh at anyway.
She was proud of her armor, she earned it. But she also knew that her clothing was outdated of hundreds of years. Like she was.
After her first second of embarrassment, Bradamante decided to play along and returned an amused smile to all the people looking at her, like she was playing some sort of game.
Her sudden change of behavior apparently made people lose interest in her: she probably looked like a girl heading to a costume party in their eyes, and after their initial stare, all the passerby lost their interest.
Funny how people tend to consider you less, if you act like you are at ease.
Still smiling, this time for this simple consideration, the Lancer commented: "I wonder if clothing of this era is confortable"
She looked around distractedly, stretching her arms upward. Her shoulder pads lifted, sliding with a slight metal sound.
"Well, probably more than an armor anyway"
The sound of her footsteps echoed through the walls of the houses, as the odd couple was walking, in search of the closest clothing store.

[Jacob Archer]

Jacob shifted under the gaze of the crowd. Well, it was to be expected. After all, he was walking with somebody who looked like they just walked out of a renaissance fair. Thus, it was to his surprise that Lancer started waving back at them. He recalled the times he had stuck out like that. A couple visits to the Clocktower, some sort of High-class fundraiser. In all case, all he could do was fidget under the glares. He was never the sure of himself, especially in front of other people. The only time he ever thought he was all right was when he didn’t have time to think.

But Lancer… She just smiled and waved at them, as they slowly stopped paying attention.

"I wonder if clothing of this era is confortable" Lancer’s question pulled him out of his thoughts.

“Comfortable enough,” Jacob replied. “Though I might be a little biased. Helps if you’re comfortable in pants – I don’t” He cut himself off as a thought occurred to him. She was from the past. The far past. Would the grail have given her information like how to dress? Did it even expect such an event? “Uh, just what do you know about clothing in this age?” Depending on how she answered, this trip could get very interesting. As they approached a small store, dressed mannequins in the windows, Jacob took a quick look at his watch. “Alright, clothes, then we go mage-hunting, for lack of a better term.” A paused as he looked at Lancer. “Just look around and find something you like. They’re should be changing rooms in the back to try things on.”

[Bradamante]

“Uh, just what do you know about clothing in this age?”
Lancer's blue eyes pointed his, and she raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing more than what i saw while following you through the city. Some clothing looks rather odd, i should say, and others look unpractical at best. Just look at those...uhm..." she pointed at a pair of high heeled boots worn by a mannequin in the window "...well...those. How are you supposed to walk with them without tripping? How can you balance yourself properly should you run or fight?"
With no concern about fashion, her mind was simply stating things from a fighter's perspective.

The shop, albeit small, was full of any kind of clothing. The periwinkle knight got lost in thought, observing the mannequins with different kinds of attire on them, from underwear to heavy winter clothing. Everything was new for her, and she spent a good five minutes just walking through the shop back and forward under the puzzled gaze of the shopkeeper.
It was...well...rather fun to search through piles of sweaters, stopping and figuring how they could look on you.
After gathering a first set of things to try on, the female knight kindly asked the shopkeeper for the "changing rooms" Jacob spoke of, and was promptly pointed to them.
She entered the small room, closed the door behind her and found herself in front of a mirror.
With a simple command of her mind, Bradamante's armor faded, and she found herself naked with the clothes she wanted to try in her hands.

It didn't take very long, but the woman took half an hour just to find a confortable set of clothing. When she finally came out of the changing room the red haired girl was dressed with a white light jacket over a purple vest, with blue jeans and a pair of light purple colored sneakers.
On her neck, nothing more than a whim, she was carring a small silver cross pendant.
Satisfied with her choice, Bradamante stared at her own image in the mirror of the changing room before closing its door. She stretched her arms over her head, forward and backward, then moved her weight from a foot to the other to try her balance with her new footwear.
There was something funny in looking at her amused expression as she was testing her clothing that way. It was even funnier to look at the shoopkeeper, with his completely confused face.

Bradamante's choice was simple, practical, and she thought she looked rather good. She also managed to keep the purple tone of her armor on her new clothing, so she looked really satisfied when she approached Jacob and told him: "What do you think, master?"

[Jacob Archer]

Jacob chuckled a little as Lancer brought up the high-heeled boot. “Yeah, I don’t see them being very practical either.. Just look around and find something comfortable.” Jacob watched as his Servant walked off into the racks of clothing before he started loitering around the store. It was a small shop, and as such they had things you didn’t usually find in the larger stores.

Such as a large selection of hats.

An entire section of the wall was covered in various styles and sizes of hats, ranging from bowlers to something straight out of a Musketeer movie. He idly looked through the collection as his mind drifted elsewhere. After this they would be heading out to find other Masters, and quite likely into harm’s way. As much as he hoped that their first contact would be an amicable one, he highly doubted it. That meant he would need to be ready for a fight.

He should have spent more time studying – looking over figures, mythologies, fighting styles of various ages. Instead he bumbled around in a daze. He just hoped it didn’t get them killed.

“What do you think, Master?” Jacob was once again pulled out of his own musings as Lancer approached. To be honest, he was quite impressed with what she had chosen. Part of him was expecting a far more comical affair then what he saw before him. Dressed like that, he’d think she was normal if he didn’t know better.

And she was calling him master.

“Looks good, Lancer.” Jacob replied, as he checked one of the price tags. “Uh, You might not want to call me ‘Master’ in public – draws attention. Don’t want to attract too much attention. You can call me ‘Jacob’ if that’s all right with you.” He checked the price tags again before heading over to the cashier and handing her the card. Once that was taken care of, he turned back to Lancer. “Alright, let’s go Mage hunting.”

((A/N:That seems to be a good place to stop, I think.))