The Search for Rameses

Artoria chuckled. "I'm only doing my duty." Now that she was feeling better, they circled back around to head back to the hotel. "I hope I get to meet Mordred again. Perhaps we can come to an understanding."

"Yeah I know a lot of people want servants back. I hope we can get them all..." they eventually arrived at the hotel. To keep her focused on herself, Avalon asked the king about her favorite things. Weather, color, food, season...anything to get her in touch with herself and get her grounded. Meanwhile, she almost fainted because she was friends with motherfucking king arthur.

While Artoria and Avalon chatted, Yui waited until she was alone with Lazarus.

"There's something else I heard in that cavern. Firstly, Manaka was Ayaka's biological sister. The reason she captured her, though, was... Apparently, Zouken infused Ayaka with the pieces of the Grail we shattered. He turned her into a second Lesser Grail."

Lazarus blinked in amazement, "Really? Now that is interesting..." as he pondered what that meant, he continued, "and speaking of Zouken, we really do need to take care of him at some point..."

"Yeah... He's still very dangerous, but you're immortal now and everything. We just need to find out everything we can about his immortality. Ayaka might be able to tell us more, but... not right now."

"Oh absolutely not; I wouldn't dare bother her with that. But what do you make of the information you learned about her?" He always loved to hear his wife's analyses.

She scratched her chin. "Honestly, I'm not sure. I would say that she'd be no use to him now after the War was over, but I can't be so sure if Manaka thought she could use her. Also, he still didn't seem to be in any hurry to get her back after we liberated her." She crossed her arms. "That's what creeps me out the most about him. He just too... patient. I'd feel better if he just openly went after what he want so we at least knew what he was up to."

"Well, I think that's why he doesn't," Lazarus chuckled, "Also keeping in mind we haven't seen him since the grail was claimed, I have a feeling he's a bit more irritated than we're used to at the moment."

Yui smirked, though she still looked unsettled. "You're probably right. I wonder if he's gonna try to come after us. Doesn't seem like his style, but definitely losing his chance at the Grail might push him over the edge."

Lazarus shrugged, "I'm not too worried. I think I can defeat him easily at this point."

"Oh yeah. I'm more worried about Ayaka than anything. He's probably not above making her suffer to spite us."

" That's a definite, but without Manaka type powers at his disposal, I believe we can protect her."

"I certainly hope so. Anyway, shall we just stay here in Egypt while we try to track down Lancer? Or should we go back to Hawaii?"

"Let's stay here. I think moving around so much has been hard on everyone. And I have a lot of notes to organize..." his eyes strayed to a hurridly stuffed suitcase that was nothing but loose papers and journals...

By the time Avalon and Artoria returned, Phillipus was halfway through the bulging case of notes Lazarus had hastily towed along. He gave them a warm smile, Mari still glaring at a particularly muddy hypothesis written on a cheap napkin.

"I'm glad to see you in better spirits. The walk went well?" He leaned over to Mari, looking over her shoulder. "That's a 'g', it's 'grammaton, not qrammaton.'" She wrinkled her nose.

"Like I know what the fuck any of this is!" With a huff, the young mage dropped it in an expanding file-folder marked "theories." Phillipus chuckled.

"You're still being a very good helper. Thank you very much for your time." He wedged a yellow highlighter back into a bun piled high on his head before flipping to another page.

Artoria looked somewhat bashful, but still smiled. "Yes. I'm feeling better, thank you. Your... work going well?"

He beamed. "Oh yes! It may not be the most glamorous aspect of magecraft, but cataloging ideas and making indices is just as important as the practical, especially where posterity is concerned! Behind every gifted author is a beleaguered editor, you know." Cesar pecked into the bag of puffed snacks between Phillipus and Mari, scratching apart the foil.

"And behind every know-it-all is a hungry chicken." Mari scooped some seed into a shallow dish and filled another with fresh water before stroking Cesar's tail-feathers into a high arch.

Artoria smiled and stroked the chicken too. "Ah, yes. I may not know much about magecraft, I'm familiar enough with bureaucracy to know how it goes sometimes."

Mari poured some seed into the Saber's hands, Cesar eagerly following the trail. He ate contentedly for a while, then looked up and clucked approvingly at Artoria. It seemed the once and future king had the eye of the People's Emperor. Mari ran her finger over Cesar's comb.

"Hey, Saber... D'you... how would you feel about me summoning Mordred? I miss Hachi, but I don't want the two of you to miss out on bonding. Besides," she smirked, "they're a total badass."

Artoria smiled. "Yes. I saw her take down Rider; rather impressive."

"Truly, I would like the chance to talk to her again. She won't remember the talk we had, but perhaps we can still reach some kind of understanding."

"I know you went through a lot, and, shit, I wouldn't wish that on anyone... but I think they'd be impressed with where you are now. I can't wait to see how you work together!"

She flopped onto her back and stretched, wiggling from side to side. "Of course, as soon as I start really relaxing we're gonna find out where Lancer is..." She looked over her arm at Yui, brow raised in expectation.

Yui shrugged and held up a stack of printouts. "Gonna take some time."

"Don't feel obligated, of course," Artoria said. "I will understand if you'd rather summon your previous Servant."

Mari sighed with relief. "The curse is broken!" She lightly swatted Artoria's knee. "I wouldn't'a offered unless I meant it. If there's another way, of course I'd like to summon Hachi again, but I already made my mind up if you want the chance."

"I understand. I appreciate your kindness." Artoria gave a short, respectful bow. "In the meantime I suppose I shall try to relax. It's not something I am used to, but I have much to process before the next fight. We may not be as lucky in our fight with Lancer."