Fate/Heroes - Chapter 69

“I was hoping you could help me get rid of this….”.

Bekka raised her hand and gestured to the faint red smudge that came before the summoning of a Servant. The Grail had chosen this woman to compete in the Holy Grail War, but she had yet to summon a Servant.

Gray eyed the pretty woman in front of him with an expressionless gaze. His eyes narrowed as the woman’s gaze turned stern in return, picking up her strange black sword from behind her and sheathing it behind her back.

He arm still raised as she spoke,

“I came here to Earth a few days ago. When I arrived, I found this strange mark on my hand. When I detected an unfamiliar powerful energy emanate from the city you call Metropolis I followed you when I noticed the same mark on your own hand. That was when I saw you-“.

“Draw those summoning circles and summon Caster and the others….. You’re not human, are you Red?”.

“Red” raised an eyebrow at the strange nickname Gray had called her but his tone indicated no signs of a mocking expression or an angry one. It sounded intimate, although the look on his face looked anything but.

Bekka nodded but didn’t give a proper response.

“Indeed I am not human. What I am far exceeds the boundary of what the human mind can understand. My life span is hundreds of times higher than what a mere human could even imagine”.

Gray shrugged his shoulders and tapped Rengoku on the ground once more. The slight echoing ding that came with the blade tip tapping the ground sung out like music, despite its strange origins.

He smiled at Bekka although not even she knew whether it was real or fake. His figure vanished and reappeared behind hers, and not even a gust of wind was generated from this instantaneous movement.

The redheads eyes widened as she turned around and raised her sword. She swung out at Gray’s figure out of reflex, but found the tip of her sword caught between Gray’s fingers. No strange energy emissions like a few days ago came off the Pseudo-Servants body….

The smile on his face was dangerous, but not like the smiles she had received from her fellow New Gods….

“I guess it must be my lucky day then…. cause I’m not human either….”.

Bekka raised an eyebrow before relaxing her sword and and dropping her aggressive stance. She gave an equally dangerous smile to the Pseudo-Servant as he raised the hand carrying the plastic bag and gestured to the penthouse visible from this alleyway.

The words “ice cream” where unfamiliar to the alien, although something told her she wouldn’t not enjoy it.

“Ever had ice cream before?”.

The tilted head expression was all Gray needed to know before the two flew up towards Gray’s penthouse apartment. Unknown to both of them, a not-so-little purple haired kouhai saw them both raise up towards the bright blue sky. Her eyes widened as she tried to grab her older sisters attention but found that neither her sister or her friend noticed the handsome man and beautiful woman rise up towards the sky…..

Gray sent a side ward glance towards Bekka, whose strange white armor that was more than a little bit revealing reminded him of a certain Amazonian Princess.

The armor itself was mostly white with a black belt on her midriff and black pauldrons on her shoulders. Both had strange gold patterns embedded into them. Her white armor showed off most of her neckline as well as the deep valley that was just below said neckline. Bekka noted the look Gray was giving her before she raised an eyebrow with a smile on her face.

“See something you like?”.

The Pseudo-Servant received many positive comments from the Heroic Spirits inside his head, but just smiled as his gaze moved to the strange black sword on her back.

“Yeah. It’s not everyday you meet someone with a boom tube built into their sword. Makes me wonder just who you really are”.

Bekka’s smile froze for a moment before landing on the roof of Gray’s penthouse. The helicopter pad on one side with the three summoning circles still present on them drew her attention, but the sparkling blue pool on the other side caused the woman to walk over towards, almost forgetting Gray’s presence.

The woman ignored Gray’s presence behind her and took off her boots and jumped into the surprisingly cool pool, laying flat on her back as the sun radiated solar energy onto her body.

Bekka saw a shadow cast over her face from beside the pool and swam further away from Gray not caring about the raised eyebrow he was giving her.

“This is the first time I’ve had a proper bath in this world. And I’m your guest right? So you should be offering me every possible hospitality…..”.

Gray didn’t care about Bekka’s words and only moved towards a small ice box in the shade. The strange new Master saw Gray reach in and pull a small object out before throwing said object towards her, catching it before it hit the water.

She looked down at the strange label that said “Aldebaran Rum” before looking at Gray with another cute head tilt.

“What’s this?”.

Gray broke off the cap with his bȧrė fingers, making sure that he didn’t break the bottle itself with his immense strength. The twenty year old took a swing of the bottle before sitting down in the sun lounge beside the pool, raising the Command Seals on his hand.

Bekka looked at her own drink before tearing off the lid and taking a small sip, noting the strange taste as well as the buzzing sensation flowing through her mind.

It seems as though this is an alcoholic beverage, she thought.

She took another sip while Gray spoke.

“Before you decide on completely giving up your right as a Master, let me give you some information before hand. So you don’t completely regret it”.

The alien woman seemed to enjoy the taste of Aldebaran Rum and nodded as Gray continued.

“That faint red mark on your hand is proof of your capacity to be a Master in a Holy Grail War. A battle fought between Servants and the Masters that summon them. In this particular Holy Grail War, there are two teams of Seven fighting each other for possession of the Holy Grail. An artifact that can grant your one true wish”.

Bekka’s eyes narrowed as she came out of the pool and proceeded to wring the water out of her hair. Her beautiful orange locks cling to her body; the alien white armor that showed off most of her ċhėst area not helping in the slightest.

“A wish? Isn’t that a bit ridiculous?”.

Gray chuckled for a moment before nodding agreeing with her statement.

“It does sound crazy but nevertheless it is a real thing. In my…. personal experience many people have gone after the Grail, although none have succeeded. Few came close and one man held it, if only for a second before giving it up….”.

The potential Master of White showed a confused expression.

“Why would he do that? Couldn’t he have gotten his wish granted?”.

The air grew silent as Bekka awaited Gray’s response. The Pseudo-Servant remained silent for a moment before giving the alien a wistful smile that surprisingly suit the young man’s face. It was a look she had seen many times before, the look of someone who had lived far longer than what a “normal human” could.

She was a God. She had seen alien races crawl up from whatever barren rock they were born under and turn it into a civilization that could roam the stars. Although none even came close to her home world, it was still amazing to look at when they looked up at the stars with such wonder.

A Pioneer of the Stars….

Gray’s eyes still showed that look, but something else accompanied that gaze. Something…. unique. Something she had absolutely never seen before.

“Some things…. aren’t worth the price you have to give”.