And he knew the Galilei would like to have a glass or two of wine while pondering over some of their plans.
As for him, he would just take fruit punch until the end of the mission to keep sober.
...
Lyle took a moment to inspect his room and considered the integrity of the area. It was a little too open for attacks and the window was basically a godsend for anyone trying to attack them in the event of an ambush. He would need to rectify that immediately. Maybe he should also fortify all the doors to ensure they can withstand a bomb blast at least, and perhaps add a few more traps and detection charms to the corridor just in case they were to have any unwanted visitors. While he was at it, he could put a couple at the elevator shafts to check the passengers and kill off any enemies at the same time. And after that…
Further thoughts about fortifying their living quarters got put to a halt when Lyle felt the sword cases vibrating slightly and the handles felt a little warm to the touch. He looked down to see a light glowing through the gaps of the cases, with a hint of smoke coming from them. He quickly laid them down on the table and checked the seals before removing the locks to find the swords pulsing with light, with an odd humming emitting from them.
"Lord Galilei, there seems to be some sort of reaction with the shards." Lyle said as he looked at the glowing swords.
"What do you mean?" Galilei came into the room with Creed to see the swords. "Oh my, this is very interesting."
"What do you think this is about?" Lyle went to pull the curtains at the windows and checked the locks to ensure they were secured.
"Maybe they are sensing all the devils in town and just want to let loose?" Creed shrugged with a bored expression. "I mean we are in devil's territory right now, and I would think that the shards are bored from lack of activity, having been stuck in the vault for all those years."
"I don't think that is the case." Lyle lightly prodded one of the swords with a thoughtful expression. "The feeling I get seemed more 'joyful' if I had to properly describe it."
"Intriguing…" Galilei mused as he inspected each one of the blades before reaching out to touch one. The reaction was immediate; the sword glowed a light red before letting out some static electricity that shocked Galilei and caused him to stumble backwards with a small yelping of pain. The sword continued that reaction for a few more seconds before the glow diminished.
"Yes, this is very interesting." Galilei commented excitedly as though he did not get shocked by the sword and received a bleeding hand; if anything he was more thrilled at the reaction. "They are reacting to something, or better yet, someone."
"Someone?" Lyle frowned at his words.
"Looks like my informant was right about something." Galilei let out a weird chuckle that send shivers down Lyle's spine. "It seems we are going to be meeting someone very special very soon. HEHEHEHAAAAA!"
"What the fuck?!" Creed took a step back while looking at his boss crackling like the mad scientist he was. "The hell is he talking about?"
Lyle did not immediately reply back to Creed as he looked back to the swords. He was not sure what information he may have gotten, but he recalled meeting the informant during one of their operations, and that person had said something that struck a chord in him.
"The one you seek will appear shortly, be prepared for his welcoming."
At that time, he was standing the furthest from the informant and he was technically talking to Galilei at the time, yet he could not shake off the feeling that the informant was giving him a message in his own way.
It would seem that this trip was going to be extremely eventful.
...
"…" A blue-haired girl in a white hood paused to look around her, ignoring the stares from the people around her for her odd choice of clothes.
"Xenovia, what is the matter?" A twin-tailed girl dressed in similar attire turned around to face her.
"The shard is reacting to something." Xenovia muttered softly as she gestured with her hand. "It has been doing that for the past few minutes now."
"Hmm…" Her partner touched her arm that wrapped in bandage. "It seems Mimic-chan is also reacting to something. I don't think I ever felt it this excited before."
"Do you think it is reacting to the other shards?" Xenovia frowned in thought. "After all this is the first time the Excalibur Shards are being brought together since the time they were broken and forged into their separate forms. The shards taken by the thieves may have started reacting to each other and are trying to call out to the others. This may be a good chance to find them if that is the case."
"We can think about that later." The both of them turned to the woman who was accompanying them. She was a very attractive woman around her mid-twenties to thirties and wore nun's clothing that clung tightly to her very shapely figure, and seemed to be oblivious to the males opening gawking at her while their girlfriends or wives were looking on jealously. "You know we should not speak of such matters in the open. And we must go and get to our hotel to check in if we want to let Irina meet her childhood friend tonight or tomorrow at the very most."
"Ah that's right!" The twin-tailed girl started to run along the path. "Hurry up Xenovia, I need to go and meet Ise-kun tonight! It is my job as his childhood friend to do so!"
"Right~ on my way." Xenovia rolled her eyes as she started to follow them. Her partner could be so excitable at times it was a little tiring.
Well, at least they have a possible lead on the other shards.
...
Okay, something was seriously wrong with me.
For the past few days, this odd pain in my chest had intensified to the point that others had started noticing the reactions. Kano and Kawako had insisted that I went to a doctor and take some time off from work, and even some of my course mates had noted that I was looking a little off. So it was with great reluctance that I made my way to the nurse's office after lessons to try and get some medicine, but my body gave out halfway and I ended up slumping against the wall in an isolated part of the school.
This was really weird; Avalon was supposed to be able to heal and prevent all types of illnesses and poisons, heck it can even reattach my limbs in some of my more serious fights, yet something was clearly wrong with me. If anything, I think Avalon may be partially responsible for this weird feeling.
'Blood and death…'
I was feeling extremely feverish, my body was burning, and my hands were trembling uncontrollably.
'Fire raining from the skies…'
Man, this was really making me feel weird, now it looked like I was starting to see things.
'Screams in the sea of fire…'
My heart was racing, my vision started going dark, my sense of orientation was going off…
'A boy walking through a wrecked town consumed by flames, desperately trying to escape the hell he was in as the screams of people being burnt alive filled his ears…'
"… Iya-kun…"
Oh man, I seemed to be really losing it. Now I was also hearing things…
'The boy stumbled on to the ground, exhausted beyond physical and mental capacity, and the last thing he saw was the towering figure of darkness, and what look like a bright eye of fire glaring into his soul…'
"Emi..kun!"
Ah I can't breathe…
'Dark voices telling the boy to accept the inevitable and just die…'
"EMIYA-KUN! Wake up!"
"HAHH!" I gasped loudly and panted hard as my eyes went wide open and I was barely able to make out the concerned faces of some of the Student Council looking over me. Seriously what was wrong with me?! I couldn't even sense them when they were this close!
"Get him to the wall now." Tsubasa and Saji grabbed my arms and lifted me to lean against the wall while Reya took the bottle of water out of my bag and gave it to me. "Better drink up while you can." Tsubasa said as I took the bottle gingerly and clumsily drank the contents.
"Ha~ thanks for the help." I placed the bottle down after letting out a tired sigh.
"What happened man? You looked like you were going into cardiac arrest or something." Saji remarked as he made sure I was not slipping down.
"That makes two of us." I shook my head to rid of the dizziness. "This is the first time that ever happened. I think I am fine now."
...
if you want to read ahead of the public release you can go to my p atreon :
p atreon.com/Aerle