The jungle
Hessian POV
I might be in trouble. Especially when it was gramps Hassan that warned me.
FLASHBACK
"Mash gimme a sec" I say to her as I walk off the path for a moment.
Eventually I come to a stop in front of an old man seated within an alley way.
"Yo gramps" I greet while holding up some food knowing full well who he was. He lifted his head to look at me for a moment and accepts the food.
"Encompassing all, thy knowledge may not. Tis not however what thy should fear. To forget ones past, may be thy greatest downfall." He tells me. Odd, I remember he said something different in the original timeline.
"To fear or embrace, whichever thy choice. The time of decision cometh. Forget not, that the pained one is aware of thee." The words echo as he disappears in a gust of wind.
PRESENT TIME
It's annoying that he speaks so cryptidly, but I definitely can't ignore this warning.
"The pained one is aware of thee...." Who the hell is this pained one? Also forget? I don't forget things, I'm literally a magus that specializes in memories!
"Master?" I hear a familiar voice call out
"Oh, Mash. What's up?" I ask as my musings are interrupted.
"What are you doing up here so late? Do you have trouble sleeping?" She asks with concern
"Nah, I'm just thinking things over. Nothing to worry about." I assure her
"You never put much thought into things as before." she remarks
"Heh, I guess I didn't. It'd probably be easier if my emotions didn't fix themselves" She has a point, I feel like compared to the last 6 singularities. I'm overthinking things, but I just can't help it.
"I like senpai better this way." she says as she shakes her head "Before, I always felt like you didn't care as much. Despite everything that we went through. Everything you did just seemed... forced."
"Really? I was that bad?" I ask. It's probably due to the fact I was just emulating what I thought I would do back then.
She waves her hands "No, no I mean... whenever you showed any expression. It just seemed... fake. Not that I never appreciated you senpai. You just seemed distant before." she explains
After a moment she gently smiles "But right now, I'm glad I can see you like this. It makes me happy that I followed through with being your servant up to this point." Yo this is giving me some straight up heartwarming feels.
"Hey Mash... If I was the cause of half the shit you went through when we first met. Would you still feel that way?" I say as I look at her. "If I didn't exist, you would have been completely fine, and the person who was originally supposed to be your master wouldn't have died." huh, face is getting wet. Oh shit I got tears coming down my face. Guess this was a long time coming, I never truly cared about this much since my emotions never responded to this fact.
"I-i was never supposed to be your master. If anything I'm just taking their place because of my own fuck up..." fuck I hate this but if I don't get it out, it might cause issues later and I can't have that.
"Even so. Even if that's true, I cherish the journey we've had till now. I don't regret my choice to follow you. Master." Ahh shit she's giving me a hug. Damnit now I'm crying more when I just stopped.
"...Please don't tell anyone I cried"
"Of course, Master" she says warmly
"I'm serious, I'll use a command seal if I have to sniff*"
She didn't respond
Best kouhai ever
∞
Within the lush jungle surrounding the city of Ur. The magnificent sight of a jaguar could be seen making an escape from it's predator.... the giant humvee.
"NYAAA WHY DO YOU EVEN HAVE THAT IN THIS TIME PERIOD!?"
"BECAUSE I REFUSE TO WALK AROUND A JUNGLE IN THIS WEATHER!"
riding in the vehicle were Hessian, Mash, Ana and Merlin all wearing black shades. Ana was currently mounted on a machine gun within the vehicle, opening fire on the fleeing Jaguarman. After being sent on a quest to rescue the people of Ur, the young magician got 5 steps into the jungle before he decided that he wasn't dealing with this.
"Mash, get the rocket launcher" the young magician ordered as the demi-servant complied by revealing out a cylindrical item.
"EHH!? HOW IS THAT FAIR!?"
"FIRE!"
The following explosion sent the divine servant in a tiger suit flying in the air like a certain trio from pokemon. Only time would tell if she survived.
∞
Hessian POV
Dear gods I hate being in forests. Not that I dislike trees or anything. I just hate the bugs. I actually have a fear of roaches, especially the flying ones! I swear I get nightmares about it sometimes.
"Senpai, I think using too much bug repellent is a safety hazard" Mash said as she clamped her nostrils closed
"Don't care, as long as the mosquitoes and other flying insects stay away from me then it's all worth it!" I declare as I continue spraying bottles of bug repellent on every inch of my body
[Master Hessian, I could keep them away from you if you allowed me to activate the mana barrier.] Onyx's voice sounded out causing me to halt
"You mean this entire time you could do that!? Why didn't you tell me?!" I cry out indignantly
[You never asked]
"...Just turn on the damn barrier"
So we've gotten to the part where the residents of Ur inform us that they don't need rescuing. Honestly I don't have much of an opinion that they are sacrificing someone a day to survive. It's just human nature to want to survive, so I can't really judge them for it. Besides it's not like the sacrifices actually die, if I remember correctly then they were just put to work. Even if they were to die, everyone is gonna die at the end of this anyway. Wow that's pretty dark now that I think about it.
"Nyahahahaha! You thought I was gone!?" I turn my head to the familiar voice of Taiga. I actually met Taiga before in the first dimension I was in. I wonder how Shirou would react seeing her as Jaguar Man.
"The tiger still lives!"
"I'M NOT A TIGER! I AM A JAGUAR! THERE IS A BIG DIFFERENCE!" she begins to cry out
"You're an idiot" wow that's harsh Ana
"Merlin, your thoughts?" I ask as I honestly don't want to fight someone that could be an ally later
"Hmm, no matter how I see it. She's definitely a deity."
Our conversation goes on as we watch Mash and Ana get suppressed by the tiger mascot.
"If we went all out, it might affect the people of Ur." I comment
"I agree, retreat may be the best option for now" Merlin added
"Well then. MASH! ANA! RETREAT!" I yell out as I throw out a wall of pages to help conceal us.
"Understood!" I allow Merlin to transport us outside the jungle once they got in range
"Man I hate the jungle" I comment as we head back to Uruk