Chasing the Huntress

Alexander lunges at Atalanta again, not having much else besides his sword and brute strength to rely on.

azetidine carried out 1 launched of one (CLASH.) :

Atalanta tries to dodge!

Kittenboxxing carried out 1 launched of one (CLASH.) :

The attack landed.

Atalanta
HP: 260/300
MP: 500/500

Kirei moved to throw his Black Keys, but it was too late. Caster had gotten to him. His arms and legs locked up, and the Keys fell from his hands. He hit the ground hard, unable to move.

Damn it. It was too late. Rider and Medea were close, and he felt the presence of three--or even four--more Servants approaching at high speed. Within a few seconds, nearly every participant of the War would be upon them.

Damn it.

If Bazett lived, she would kill him. But there was no other choice.

"Atalanta," he groaned through gritted teeth. "Come!" A Command Spell on his shoulder flashed.



Just after Atalanta was struck by Rider, space twisted around her, and she vanished in a flash of light. She reappeared standing over Kirei's frozen body. He could barely see her out of the corner of his eye, unable to even turn his head up toward her.

"Time... to go."

Meanwhile, Yui continued chanting her spell. [[Turn 2]]

Turn Order – Turn 3

Servants

A: Archer
B: Saber
C: Paracelsus, Medea
D: Rider, Fran

Masters

A: Kotomine
B: Tohsaka
C: Sato, Himeno
D: Lazarus, Carlotta

Atalanta struggled for a moment to remove the boar's pelt. She growled and strained, tugging at it's fur, before finally it relented, disappearing into thin air as it was seperated from her. She quickly picked up her master and ran as fast as she could to the church. If she could keep him safe there for awhile, she might be able to broker peace between their groups.

Doffing her Noble Phantasm, she streaked away through the trees to the north. A second later, Lancer arrived on the scene, with Astolfo and Avenger shortly behind them. From what Lancer could see through the trees, Bazett was still unharmed... or still alive, anyway.

Turn Order – Turn 4

Servants

A+: Archer
A: Lancer, Avenger
B: Saber, Astolfo
C: Paracelsus, Medea
D: Rider, Fran

Masters

A: Kotomine
B: Tohsaka
C: Sato, Himeno
D: Lazarus, Carlotta

Lancer immediately went to Mari's side. "What happened? Which way did Kirei go?"

"H-He got away with the Archer chick!! That way!!" She pointed north, finger quivering.

Scathatch nodded, " What will you have me do if I catch them?"

"Fuck if I know!!" She took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts. "They're going after this Bazett lady, I guess? So maybe you should make sure they don't get to her first, stall 'em for time without getting hurt? Sato's Servant is going after Bazett to keep her safe, so you guys could work together."

"So...you want me to go keep Bazette safe? Or chase Atalanta and her master?"

She stood still for a moment, feeling the warps of mana around her. "Look for Bazett. Archer and Father Fuckoffski aren't going to bother her."

Lancer nodded, and shot off to find Bazette.

Bazett lay in the clearing where Kirei had first left her. At a glance, there was almost no way she could be alive. An old pool of sticky blood surrounded her from the stump of her severed arm. Her skin was papery white, and her eyes were glazed over. But Lancer could detect the slightest life in her. Soft breaths and a weak heartbeat.

Shortly after Lancer found her, Avenger arrived with Astolfo. He jogged to her side and sighed with relief. "Good. Sorry to cause you all so much trouble over someone you hardly know. Still, I have to thank you all for your help."

After Fran and Saber exchanged a few more blows, the madness affecting the Servants finally wore off. Fran looked around in confusion for a second. "Ah... aaah! Su--... su...." She waved her hands frantically at Saber seemingly apologetically.

Medea touched ground as soon as the Lancer had reached Bazett's side. "Be still, Miss. It's not quite my forte, but I'll look after your wounds."

She began chanting, her hands hovering over Bazett's chest. Mana flowed from Medea's palms over her body, stitching the wounds and injecting life into her body. "If you'd like a new arm, I think the other Caster can take care of that - that is, if he's managed to shake off his insanity."

Yards away, the madness drained from Phillipus like wine from a shattered bottle. The conjured stone dropped from his hands back over his shoulder. He sighed heavily and rubbed his temples. There was no beginning to imagine how much backlash this could cause to the alliance with the other mages.

Saber stopped their arm mid-swing and blinked, eyes wide. Their cheeks turned red under their helmet and they sheathed their sword. "Are you.. badly hurt?"

Mari peeked over the edge of the chariot, legs shaking. "Is it... Is it over?"

Life seemed to flow back into Bazett's body. She took a deep breath and shuddered, but didn't wake up yet, her head lolling to one side.

Fran checked her wounds quickly and shook her head.

"For the time being, it seems," Yui answered Mari. "Let's catch up with the rest!" She held out her arm toward Berserker. "Let's go!"

"Unh!" Berserker jumped toward Yui, grabbed her firmly around the waist, and carried her off in Bazett's direction.

Avenger looked over Bazett's condition with worry. She would live, but would she wake up? Perhaps she'd lost too much blood. "Is there somewhere safe we can bring her?"

Seeing the servants finally stop battling, Lazarus sighed with relief, "Yes, it's over." He attended to his family and servants, making sure everyone was alright, before heading off to see Bazett's situation. 

Carlotta wandered over to Daichi, "I'm sorry dear. I didn't want to use any command seals until it was absolutely necessary. After what we just witnessed, clearly we may need them in the future. Are you alright?" she knew her servant would more than likely be fine. The wild-woman had run off and she hadn't felt any disruption in Alexander's existence. 

As Medea attended to Bazette, Scathatch helped as best she could with some of her runic knowledge, boosting both Medea's magical abilities and Bazette's ability to heal, "It seems your friend has only one sure alliance..." she said softly as she laid her hands to draw runes on both of the women. She had meant the words only for Medea, but it struck her that the phrase could apply to both of them. After she had been knit up a bit, Lazarus and the others arrived. Lazarus heard Avenger's question, "Of course! We can bring her to our mansion. Please come with us. Carlotta could you pass a message on?" His sister nodded. Feeling an odd breeze she put her hand up to her mouth and whispered into the wind, as if telling it a secret. 

Back at the temple, Avalon sent breezes back in forth, gaining divined visions from the breezes through the window as she watched over the young girl. She saw lots of battles, but no death. She poured herself and Ilya more tea, "This is getting pretty crazy huh? You still doing okay?" before she could receive and answer though, her breezes carried a voice to her. "Oh...the rest of them are heading to the mansion. They want us to meet them there." Avalon's brow furrowed. She didn't like that old italian woman hijacking her magic. It gave her a headache.

Medea pressed her lips into a hard line. "Apparently. I have several questions, primary of which being her exact reason for her actions... Gods willing that it's an acceptable one."

Alexander grunted as the madness wore off, and wandered toward the main group. That... was not pleasant, he thought.


Daichi kept a neutral expression and weighed his words to Carlotta. "I understand. You're simply... preserving what you care about." His expression turned steely. "Anyone would do the same." He cracked his neck and adjusted his clothes, and turned to the conversation between Avenger and Lazarus. "I would like to accompany you to the mansion, if you don't mind," he said.

" Allies are always welcome," Lazarus assured. Carlotta turned to Alexander, "I'm glad you're alright dear. Could you transport this poor woman on your chariot so we may get her to the mansion as quickly as possible?"

"A simple task," Alexander grunted. He summoned his chariot once again, this time with a padded couch across the back. He gently laid Bazett on the couch, then offered Carlotta a hand up. He looked surly though.

After Bazett was settled in, Carlotta gave her servant a look of sympathy and rubbed his upper arm. She would have rubbed his shoulder but she simply couldn't reach, "If you wish to talk, we can talk later." 

Eventually they all made their way to the mansion in their seperate groups.