The Search for Blue Lancer

The group spent the next week in Cairo while Yui scanned the news for signs of a rogue Servant. Artoria began to embrace the act of relaxing, going out and about the town and sampling the local cuisine. Marisbury and Caster continued to mostly keep to themselves, studying Lazarus' notes on the Grail and how to summon Heroic Spirits. Illya decided to head back to her family in Germany, but Ayaka stayed in Egypt with her adoptive older sister.

One afternoon, Yui finished compiling a stack of papers. "Well, I had hoped he would make his presence known like Ozymandais. Show up all flashy like 'I'm so-and-so from wherever and I'm here to conquer Earth,' but no such luck. I looked out for any odd news stories that might indicate the work of a Servant, but there's always plenty of weird stuff happening all over the world. Here's what I've got so far:"

She laid out a stack of papers and displayed the headlines.

• A beach in Norway froze so quickly that a school of fish were frozen in place while swimming
  
• An entire herd of 300 reindeer were killed by a lightning strike in Norway
  
• A murder and crime spree in Malawi is being completely ignored by the authorities
  
• Nigerian president disappears for 5 days, returns and doesn’t explain absence
  
• Large mysterious beast roaming Scottish wilderness eating farm animals
  
• Rash of unexplained disappearances in Romania
  
• Unexplained “knocking” noises coming from sewers underneath Derby, England
  
• French family disappears with no apparent evidence left behind
  
• Strange thunderous booms heard in Rhode Island with no apparent source
  

Phillipus frowned, paging through the reports. "Well, there's never a shortage of peculiarities in the world no matter what century you're in. And these are all from reputable sources, yes?" Mari lifted her head off of Avalon's shoulder, attention shifting from the TV.

"Oh, you mean like the kinda papers that talk about the president's love child with aliens?" She scratched her chin.

"Honestly, knowin' about magic makes me wonder how much stuff in those papers is real after all, like rainin' frogs and cursed websites and stuff..."

Yui chuckled. "Yes, well, even when mages do cause a lot of weird happenings, the Association is good at stopping the story from spreading. But yes, I made sure these are all reputable sources."

Lazarus looked them over, "My bet is still Romania. It seems like mysterious disappearances are usually indicative of a rogue servant from the wars I've read up on. However these other things also intrigue me..." he shook his curiosity into the back of his mind. "Let's try Romania first. Then perhaps we can investigate these other things. Well except perhaps the Reindeer, fish, and knocking situations. I'm relatively certain those are all natural phenomena...""

Avalon nodded, "Yeah probably, but if that doesn't pan out I think our next best bet is to check out the happenings in Africa. They aren't super close together but servants don't have a problem traveling a long ways..."

"Yeah, Romania seems like a safe bet. Mass disappearances are a little more out of the ordinary than usual." She read over the text of the story. "Looks like the disappearances are in an around Arges County. I'll read up on the way over if it has any connection to Vlad the Impaler." She looked up and smiled. "Shall we head there then?"

"Absolutely!" The mage beamed as he began to pack, and the others followed suit. Lives were in danger, but it was almost par for the course for the group at this point, so not everyone was in a great hurry. Flights were scheduled and bags were packed, everyone making it to the airport in a few hours, when the sun had set over Cairo.

As the plane crossed the Mediterranean Sea, Yui read over some papers that she had printed off shortly before departure.

"Vlad Tepes was born in Sighisoara in modern Mures County," she read, double checking the map. "Nope. He became Prince of Wallachia, after which he ruled in the Citadel of Tepes Voda, known now as Poenari Castle. Today it's located at Arefu..." She flipped a page and smiled. "Arges County, Romania. I daresay you hit the nail on the head, Lazarus."

She put the papers away and took a deep breath. "I apologize if I'm being overly anxious, but we had a really close call with that massive beam at Ozy's temple. If people are going missing, I assume Lancer's up to no good. Once we meet him... we might be wise to take him out the instant we see him."

Artoria looked irritated at the suggestion, but said nothing. She didn't approve of preemptive tactics, but still carried her share of demons for letting the Manaka situation get so out of hand.

Phillipus sighed, eyes falling closed. "Considering the figure's reputation, I can only imagine the worst happening to those poor people. Considering Ozymandias's divinity, he may be a unique case, but... well, you said it yourself. No need to extend the danger."

Mari sat up, her in-flight magazine folded to an article about Poenari Castle. "What if he's like a legit vampire?? Should we have brought garlic? Maybe he's weak to fire!"

"Ooo fuck yeah!" Avalon agreed giving Mari a playful punch. Carlotta chuckled, remembering the large wooden steak she had with her.

Lazarus smiled at Yui, "I certainly hope I did." He looked out the window, hoping this battle would go better than their other one, and held Yui's hand.

Julian read casually as Aaron napped on his shoulder. He was going through all of the legends he had collected about Vlad to see if he could glean any information about the servant.

"He could be," Yui said uneasily. "Heroic Spirits are warped by their legends. He wouldn't be a Dead Apostle, but he could share some of their attributes. I guess that means you could come in handy, Kirei."

Kirei briefly looked over, but didn't respond. He still carried his Black Keys, and still practiced his martial arts, but he simply wasn't as physically fit as he had been when he struck down the Apostle calling itself Malphas. He held Atalanta's hand discreetly to communicate his slight anxiety.

Atalanta gave Kirei her trademark wry smile, patting his hand. She leaned her head on his shoulder and whispered so only he could hear, "You're powerful. It will be fine." she removed her head from his shoulder, going back to watching the in flight movie.