[Gallagher]

"Oh," was all that Erik had a chance to say before the woman had him following after her. He glanced back to where he thought that Saber might have been, though it was incredibly hard to tell for sure with only the servant's mana to rely on and the overbearing presence Merlin had in comparison to either of them. "Don't get lost, Saber, or you might miss the snacks." Erik looked to Merlin again when he asked, "Are there any snacks left?"

[Suzerain of Sheol]

"Indeed, mistress, as the will of Heaven doth yoke even the mightiest monarchs. Allow me, please."

Taking the dainty clasp in his long, gaunt fingers, the Fisher-King stoops to administer the restraint to the tiny animal. Mousse, for its part, does little to resist, only sniffing inquisitively at the open wounds it knows lie beneath his gauntlets and gloves. The Lord of Carbonec has the leash attached in short order, which he proceeds to offer to his Master.

[Suzerain of Sheol]

"You be patient, mister. I said snacks when we get back. Follow me!"

Having learned from the Madonna incident, Merlin does an admirable job of not tearing Erik's arm off as she tugs him along back toward the city. Technically, she could just carry him and fly them back home, or just teleport for that matter, but there's still time and she does enjoy this city -- even if it is French.

[Gallagher]

Lucienne didn't so much as look at the pair until after she'd pulled on a fur lined coat, rubber bottomed slippers decorated with small bows, and a soft, ribboned hat. Finally, she shoved several jeweled bracelets onto her wrists before she returned to the pair. With a haughty sniff, she eyed the leash for any obvious stains before taking it from her servant. "Merci, mon cochon."

[Doctor Gabriel]

Mr. Kite’s eye twitched like he was on the verge of having a stroke.

That snobby bitch just poured $30,000, 50 year aged whiskey onto the sidewalk like it was sewer water and turned one of the only two things my father left me into a scrap of paper…

He almost forgot to breathe in the face of the pure audacity and absurdity of what his Servant, the Heroic Spirit He had summoned and He commanded, had just done.

Eventually he sucked in all the air his lungs could accommodate without bursting and expelled it toward the sky in an earsplitting scream of rage that rivaled those of long dead battle crazed barbarians, tearing the map in half with fists clenched so tightly his fingernails almost drew blood from his palms and his knuckles threatened split the strained flesh covering them.

He stood there panting, face still contorted with rage for a moment before noticing the bewildered and terrified tourists and locals gawking at him.

“What the fuck are you all looking at?” he spat with eyes that spoke of eviscerations and maimings to any who dared answer. His tone translated perfectly despite the words being spoken in English. With that he stormed off, tossing the scraps of seemingly worthless paper, that had once been a priceless family heirloom into the gutter like the garbage it now was.

The scream had served to spew forth as much of the seething hatred and contempt that had been on the verge of overpowering him as possible, but there was still enough inside him that he needed to be alone, lest he murder the next person he saw.

Shaking hands

that begged to grip Berserker by the throat and choke the noxious air from her insolent body until her eyes rolled back, and she went limp with the almost seductive sound of her snapping neck

pulled a cigarette from his pocket and clumsily lit it. He took a drag so long and deep that it was little more than a the filter in a matter of seconds. He held the smoke in his lungs for an almost inhumanly long time, trying to let every molecule of nicotine from the tobacco and THC from the marijuana he’d hidden among it seep into his body before blowing it out a cloud almost the size of the ones in the sky overhead. He tossed the butt aside and lit a second which enjoyed leisurely this time as he scowled his way through the suffocating corridors of the city.

What does she know about me and what I’ve been through?

Did she ever opened the front door on a cloudy Autumn afternoon to find the uncle that raised her staring at the door from his favorite armchair with the cold, lifeless eyes of man who’d drunk himself to death mere hours before he’d gotten home?

Did she have to give up her dreams of going to college and getting a PhD. in Mythology and Occult Studies because that same uncle only left behind enough money to live off for a month, forcing her to drop out of high school and work five different part time jobs just to keep from starving to death?

Did she spend a year homeless, sleeping on the couches of anyone and everyone that pitied her enough to let her stay the night, even if it meant using herself as payment for the lodging, and sleeping in alleys that reeked of piss and fermented garbage when there were no couches to left to surf?

Did she mold a ragtag handful of outcasts and degenerates into an army and lead a revolution against some of the most corrupt and vile sacks of shit ever to lie, cheat, and kill their way into positions of power in North American history?

…

Was her family brutally murdered by zealots and bigots who were willing to kill every man, woman, and child they could get their merciless hands on because they believed them demons and monsters?

No, that was his life.

Those were his memories.

His suffering and his victories.

Mr. Kite sighed in exasperation, finally calming down.

Why did he want the grail?

Because he wanted, he needed power.

The power to make sure that no one else would have to live a life like that ever again.

“A child she calls me…” he muttered bitterly, pulling out his phone to figure out where the hell he’d wound up and how to get back to his garage so the he could spend the night trying to get drunk enough to erase this whole day from existence, “Whatever child I may have been died along with the rest of my family 20 years ago.”

[Gallagher]

Erik held tightly to the suitcase in his other hand, clattering and clanking loudly behind him while he kept up with Merlin. She wasn't anything like he'd imagined as a child, but he'd already decided that he was just as fond of her as he was his own servant. Maybe the three of them could all see the zoo. "The cathedral? Isn't that where we're supposed to meet with you?"

[Suzerain of Sheol]

"Yep! That is where we're going! We can find your actual house place after the meeting. There's like a million bedrooms in the living part, so you can stay the night. That way you can be three-hundred-percent on time for the sit-down! Trust me, this city is easy to get lost in."

[Suzerain of Sheol]

It is his first time to stand in the open air of this new era. The first remarkable truth to assault his senses is how little of nature remains in this place -- everywhere to be seen, shaped stone dominates the land and much of it is old, some as near as old as he.

Next, his sight wanders to the impermeable Heavens, the orbit of the stars at once familiar and slightly deranged. They seem somehow less personal now, than in centuries past. The moon is shrouded, leaving little in the way of light, and scarcely a soul disturbs the deepening night.

[Gallagher]

“No, I really think he mightn’t like the surprise.” Her attention finally flicked back to her partner, “Perhaps you should warn him.”

"He was so worked up before," Askr said with a sigh, a sigh that was punctuated by a slow riiip of paper. He'd been seated by the window with a dusty old book he'd found for some time, obvious by the scraps carelessly dropped on the floor around him. "What if he wants to do all the fighting?"

She shrugged a single shoulder, watching the newest page fall. “Then you, the light of my world, will gently suggest he stand aside?”

Wide eyes looked up at her. "Oh, no, no. surely not I. I've not nearly the charm you do, my lovely little Fallow-tail."

“Please,” she did her best to keep the twitch of a smile off of her lips, “I’m positive he liked you far better.”

"Nonsense. No man, woman, or beast would look twice at me so long as you were there, shining as radiantly as you do."

“There will come a day,” she pointed a warning finger at him, “Where your flattery fails to sway me from my stance. Until then, I suppose I will go warn our dear and loving master of the impending visitor.”

"Loving is hardly the word I would use, but I wish you strength all the same."

“You’re very lucky,” she murmured, not finishing her threat as she headed towards the door she had seen their master disappear through some time ago. She stood before the door, smoothing her skirt straight for a moment before she knocked. She did her best to ensure it was loud enough to be heard, but not so loud that it was demanding. It was an art.

[Suzerain of Sheol]

He knows why she has come, but the knock is unexpected all the same. A small sign of respect, but one with the hint of promise, at the very least. Still aware of the male's philistine pass-time down below, Father Heinrich praises Almighty God that he keeps the Black Bible secured on his person at all times.

Not bothering to rise from where he sits, legs folded, on the carpeted floor, the priest answers his Servant. "Enter."

[notDEADyet]

She didn’t hesitate to take up the invitation, leaving the door open even as she entered. It took much of her self control to keep her curiosity to herself, and not start wandering around his chambers. She was positive he wouldn’t appreciate such a breach of personal space, “Sir,” she offered just the slightest bow of her head, “We feel that you should know we are expecting a visitor. We’d hate for you to be taken by surprise.”

[Suzerain of Sheol]

"Indeed." The Executor suppresses a wince as Askr inflicts further damage to the no-doubt priceless tome. "I have no interest in parleying with the enemy under this enforced armistice. If you wish to meet with them, I give you leave. Further knowledge of our foes will never go to waste."

[Gallagher]

Erik thought it better not to mention that they had, more likely than not, already been lost before they ran into the great wizard. "Oh, yes, alright. That seems like an awful lot of bedrooms, doesn't it? Are you the only one staying in them all?"

[notDEADyet]

“Of course,” she nodded once more, controlling the grin that wanted to sneak into place as she heard the pages ripping. “If there is anything worth relaying to you we will be sure to do so.” Without glancing around the room again she left, shutting the door quietly behind herself, glancing back to her troublesome partner. She let herself smile and shook her head. “I suppose you’re too busy to go say hello?”

"As keen as ever, my beloved." In fact, he would need to find something else to tear apart in short order. "If nothing else, I suppose that Master of ours may have some... reasonable strategic suggestions."

“Indeed so,” she glanced to the door over her shoulder, “It was a good suggestion. One rather than both. I suppose if our little team needs a face it really should be mine.”

"Sometimes, my sweet Fallow-tail, I think you intentionally wound me."

“I’ve absolutely no idea what you could be talking about. Enjoy your reading, my everlasting light.”

She left him there, enjoying his destruction. It wasn’t particularly difficult to hone in on the visitor, she still took her time, ensuring that her clothes were just so. She so hated to make a bad first impression. After finding the woman she waited, a few paces back. Eventually, she was sure she had a question that wouldn’t be particularly inflammatory, “How do you find the weather?”

[Gallagher]

Lucienne pulled her coat tight around herself, Mousse busy snooting at the ground immediately outside of their hotel while Lancer, to no great surprise, looked as though he were ruminating on the state of the world. Muttering under her breath, she tugged her familiar's leash until it trotted to her side, and the pair started down the street.

[Suzerain of Sheol]

"Well, I think they're technically not supposed to be for anyone anymore, but would you say no if the Holy Grail came and asked to use your dusty, old tourist-trap as its home base? I mean, there were people visiting when I showed up and whatever, but I took care of that, too. Privacy is guaranteed!"

The great wizard is aware, as they make their way through the city, finally nearing the walls of Avignon proper, of the converging presences around the cathedral. It seems everyone is finally almost ready.