One more memory presented itself to Sakura. It was like watching a tragic movie, whose sequels only continued to be worse than the previous ones. It was a depressing saga that no one would like to watch. But still she was compelled to watch this tragedy.
The voices of the socialites echoed like a hellish chorus. It was a fancy meeting place. The ceiling was far above the floor, painted in the most extravagant gold color anyone could have found. There were crystal chandeliers that surely cost a fortune. The walls were the color of snow, combined with some pale brown colors to contrast the pure white. Tables filled with food of all kinds stretched around the great hall, and men and women in their elegant robes swarmed with friendly conversation nearby. Sometimes arrogant laughter could be heard that anyone would have found unpleasant to listen to.
In the midst of it all was little Alek, who had been brought to this adult party by his mother. He was nothing more than a trophy that was brought along to be shown off. Although the boy didn't know that. What's more, at his age, he wouldn't have understood anything that was going on. He simply felt happy that his mother had brought him to this place.
He had an adorable smile on his face as he passed by the food tables to pick out some snacks. With a plate in his hand, he grabbed some pieces of expensive ham exported from Spain and put them on his plate. He did it all with a strangely captivating elegance, which made the adults look at him with smiles on their faces. After taking as much as he could, he made his way to a chair that was in the far corner of the room. When he sat there, he swung his legs back and forth as he ate, as the chair was too high for his feet to touch the floor.
'There are a lot of bright lights in here.'
His eyes felt a little tired because of the lights, so he took his glasses out of his white shirt pocket. Putting them on, not only could he see better, but the burden of the lights on his eyes lessened quite a bit. This had happened a few months ago. His vision was deteriorating quite a bit. This was because he had been studying for a long time in front of the PC screen. That affected his vision to a great extent. It was a disadvantage, but Frederica accompanied him to the ophthalmologist to have his eyes checked. In the end he was prescribed these fancy glasses very similar to his father's glasses.
The party was proceeding normally. However, at some point Alek lost sight of his mother. He thought that, if he did not move from that place, she would sooner or later appear and they would go home together.
...
...
That didn't happen...
Alek stayed waiting until the party was over late at night. He was quite sleepy and his face showed only a little sadness. He waited and waited, but she didn't show up. He stood up and looked up at the roof which was about to turn off its lights.
Some of the few people who were left were murmuring about it. The mother had gone away leaving her son alone.
'I remember the way...', he whispered. He left the great hall in silence. He walked and walked down long dark corridors where nothing could be heard but his own footsteps. He opened one door after another, five in all, and suddenly found himself at the exit. Truly his instinct had led him to the back exit of the establishment. As he exited through that door, he found himself in a dark alley. He looked around the scene looking to recognize something. Fortunately, he remembered all the surroundings as he came in the car with his mother. He smiled a little and made his way back home.
...
...
...
Hours passed, Alek was in front of his family's large mansion. He looked at the large gates that protected the outside of the mansion, as well as the two guards armed with shotguns that guarded the entrance. Upon seeing the boy, both men immediately opened the door without saying a word.
"Thank you very much. Have a good evening."
The little boy gave a slight bow, which made the men nod silently.
He walked a little further, just a little further, but he felt his little feet ache from all the walking. The time? It was possibly three in the morning. At least that's what Alek thought. In itself it was very lucky that nothing happened to him on the way here. Fortunately the streets he passed through were not busy at this hour.
It was very lucky indeed.
'I'm really cold...', it was normal. His clothes were quite light. A white shirt with long sleeves. Knee-length black shorts and black socks that came halfway down his calves. He was pretty bare for being in the middle of the cold night in this city.
But he made it home safely.
"I came home alone, uh..."
I don't need anyone to accompany him. Somehow he felt proud of himself.
When he was at the door of the mansion, he knocked twice for someone to open it. Almost immediately, the door opened and there she was, that black-haired maid.
"Frederica... shouldn't you be sleeping?"
The woman said nothing. She just walked over to him and bent down to look him in the eyes.
"Ouch...", he received a small smack on his forehead.
"I've been waiting for you, Master."
Her voice was so soft and gentle that Alek felt reassured. He looked down and closed his eyes. "Thank you, Frederica... I'm home...", he whispered. He looked up showing her a cheerful smile. "I'll go to sleep now, I'm very tired."
"I'll accompany you."
Frederica took Alek's hand and together they walked through this big building.
-Moon Tower-
"Aozaki Touko?", whispered Assassin. Gray looked at him with the same reaction.
Reines looked frightened. No, more than that, she was very worried.
"You didn't have a Sealing Designation?", at least that was what Reines knew about her, rather than pure rumors that circulated like gunpowder in the wind.
Aozaki Touko is quite famous in the Clock Tower and in the Magus world in general. However, much about her is just complicated rumors and even simple falsehoods created for entertainment. However, the Sealing Designation she received from the Clock Tower is real. A Sealing Designation as such was one of the greatest honors a magus could receive, as well as a death sentence, something only magus with special abilities could receive; magus with magecraft impossible to learn with study and research, as a sort of blood inheritance. An easier example of this would be Toru with his Shakuton. He is not really the creator of his own Shakuton. In fact, it is a type of ninjutsu inherited from his family. As such, no one could create that type of Shakuton due to it being an inheritance, something impossible to learn by researching or studying.
"Don't worry. The Designation was revoked years ago", Touko said, which made Reines sigh quietly.
"I see...", she leaned closer to Gray and whispered, "She's the Grand we talked about earlier."
In any case, Gray leaned next to Reines to say hello.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Reines El-Melloi Archisorte."
"I've heard of you, after all, I worked for the previous head of the El-Melloi family."
"Oh? Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald?"
"That's right. oh..."
Touko suddenly stopped to look at Gray for a few moments. She moved closer to her to get a closer look. She recognized the girl's face as something she had seen before or a story she heard in the past. Inevitably the woman let out a few words as she ran her hand across Gray's cheek.
"This face you have is very interesting."
But Gray just frowned and hid in the darkness of the hood. Touko pulled away knowing she had made her uncomfortable, so she backed away from her immediately. The next thing that entered her field of vision, and what caught her attention the most, was Assassin's presence. She looked at him silently for a few seconds and then smiled casually. Assassin, for his part, felt the woman's gaze, but decided not to pay attention. This conversation did not belong to him, it was better to stay out of it. The same was true for Gray.
However...
"I've heard many interesting stories about you, Assassin", she said, looking at Assassin as if she already knew him.
At that, Gray couldn't help but feel strangely curious. Even though she felt very uncomfortable about the interaction with Touko a second ago, she now had her full attention on this sudden occurrence. Almost no one was supposed to know of Assassin's existence, at least no one would know how to recognize him upon seeing him face to face.
This was something that would take Waver by surprise later on.
"If I may ask", Assassin said. He adjusted his glasses as if wanting to hide his face and then folded his arms. "How did you manage to recognize me? Moreover, how do you even know anything about me?"
Touko nodded calmly. "Rumors. A lot of rumors. There's been a lot of talk about you lately. And Assassin's presence for the Holy Grail War has already been made public. You should have at least thought twice before fighting in front of a small amount of magus. It's known of a few things you can do and some pretty glowing eyes."
Assassin clenched his fist tightly. It looked like for a moment he was going to look at Reines to blame her for this, but from Gray's point of view, Assassin regretted that as he realized that he himself was to blame and no one else. Part of his abilities have already shown and surely the other Masters and their Servants are already planning something against him. Still...
He let out a brief sigh. He calmed down and shook his head. "My mistake."
And so ended their interaction. After saying those brief words, something strange happened. All the people looked towards a specific place. It was like the scene where President Lincoln was assassinated, only without the respective seats. Over there two extremely identical maidservants, like twin sisters. with silver hair and dark skin introduced themselves saying:
"Lady Diadra"
"Lady Stella."
They raised their hands elegantly as behind them a curtain opened.
"Please come in."
-By Gray-
If this were the scene of some fairy tale it would be perfect. It would be something you would never see in real life, but somehow it has materialized in front of us.
Two women in black dresses, wearing beautiful veils decorated with flower designs around the edges, appeared up there. Instantly, the whole of this great hall fell silent, only to hear the gasps of the magus present here a few moments later. Some spilled their wine glasses, stunned, frightened, but above all, ecstatic in admiration. We all looked at these women. The most beautiful beings the human eye has ever seen. To even describe the two women would be impossible. Simply the word 'beautiful' would be the only description anyone could give to this scene. My breath stopped at the sight of them, as did many others here.
"Heiress to the name of the Golden Princess, my name is Diadra Valueleta Iselma", the woman on the right said.
Her sister followed her by saying: "Heiress to the name of the Silver Princess, my name is Stella Valueleta Iselma."
Not only was their appearance beautiful, but their soft voices caressing the ears of the audience.
I looked to my right to find Lady Reines, who somehow looked disturbed and breathless at such a spectacle. The same was true of Aozaki Touko. When I turned to look at Assassin, I noticed something strange. Unlike the others, who were admiring the beautiful Gold and Silver Princesses with tears streaming down their faces, he had only a dead expression on his face. His eyes were still as dull as ever and his aura of loneliness surrounded him like a shield that prevented others from approaching him.
Even if I consider those women to be the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life, he didn't seem to feel the same way. He just stood there, arms folded and looking opaque under those dark glasses.
"I never imagined the Iselma family would make it this far. They are certainly deserving of praise", Touko adjusted her glasses and turned away. "If you'll excuse me, I'll have to go get some air outside. Even I am shocked by this spectacle. Maio."
"Uh, yes."
Before Reines could say goodbye, Touko and Maio disappeared from the scene walking away among the riffraff.
I thought all the commotion was going to end here, but someone's applause was heard followed by an older woman's voice. She mentioned Byron Valueleta Iselma, then said something about a student. I assumed she was referring to Aozaki Touko, but that mattered little. Reines moved closer to the source of the voice, giving way to a conversation with a woman.
She is a Lord of the Clock Tower, who introduced herself as Inorai Valueleta Atraholm. The lady wanted to make some treaties with Reines that I didn't quite understand. After that, I didn't try to keep track of them. There was something that had me more intrigued. Even if I stood behind Reines like a bodyguard, my eyes were watching Assassin.
I've been thinking about what I should call him, but I'm sure if I call him by name he'll get angry. Things have been very strange between us since that day.
Haa... I did some really weird things and inadvertently messed everything up. I keep wondering how Assassin was able to be on his own without someone supplying him with mana. I should ask him myself, but, if I do, I don't know how that will turn out. Maybe I'm afraid that the result of my questions will just be another reason to be sad. Still...
It's all so confusing. In fact I... I never apologized to him.
And there he is. Assassin is alone, a bit away from us, but close enough to protect us. He's sipping a drink while silently observing everything. The reaction he had when he entered this place was quite disconcerting. We've only known each other for a short time, but I've never seen him be afraid. He was scared when he saw this big room, when we entered this fancy place. He was looking at everything with his eyes lost behind those dark glasses, his body trembling....
"Maybe a bad experience?", I whispered, asking myself if I could find an answer to this unknown. But as usual, I had no way of knowing anything.
-More later-
"You've been very quiet since Aozaki Touko left", Reines said suddenly as she lay down on the bed.
We are now in one of the guest rooms in the Sun Tower. Pale brown walls, an elegant chandelier on top of the white ceiling, two elegant beds with clean sheets were the things that attracted the most attention in this room. My gaze wandered around the place until I came across Assassin.
He was quiet, as usual, in a corner of the room staring at the floor with his arms crossed. Reines was quick to say something to that effect.
"..."
"And you're not going to say anything? You're just going to stand there like a stone staring at the floor?"
"I don't have anything to say. Not now."
I dare not say anything because I really don't know what to say. Touko seemed to know a lot of things. Maybe that somehow made Assassin, who now looked lonelier than ever, angry. Add's cage moved inside my cloak. Followed by that, the voice of my Mystic Code was heard.
"Ah... looks like someone's got you this time, boy", he didn't sound disappointed, indeed, he seemed to be amused by Assassin's reaction to all this. "Hahaha. You should have seen your face because I couldn't. But anyway, isn't there something you two should talk about? I mean you brat, and you Assassin boy, am I sure there's a lot you both want to talk about?"
Reines smiled and a shiver ran down my spine. I knew that being in the same room as Reines and Assassin would not be a good idea. Moreover, now I could only expect the worst. Although a part of me wants to know a lot of things, everything that happened with Assassin in those days we didn't talk.
"That's a good idea Add. I'd love to hear your conversation", she said. She looked excited.
Even though I know Add only says what he says for his own benefit, sometimes he can be quite timely even though all the time he's just annoying me with his words.
Tonight is going to be longer than I imagined....
To be continued...