Veda stares at the now six command seals on her arm. She sweeps her fingertips over them letting the tingling sensation of their magic circuits prick her. Taking Medusa as her servant was quite taxing. She was a needy servant and Veda felt she was constantly pumping out twice the amount of mana Cu needed. But over time it was getting easier, she was getting used to producing more mana. What she wasn't used to were visions that came with Medusa. To take a servant from a master was harder then they had all thought it would be. Neither of them had witnessed the process before, and it put that poor child in so much pain, she shudders at the thought of it. Never again..she thought.

Although a servant can switch masters at anytime, it would seem in each switch they take a length of magical circuit from their original host. Which is then adapted into their next master. The child was...what they called an oracle or prophet, he could see the future...or many futures through his visions, and he definitely had visions of her. All of them ended up in blackness, all of them ended up in her death.

She sighs, at least she has enough commands seals now to make her servants nearly invincible to what is coming next. But would she be able to take Yan and supply him with enough of her mana? "I hope so." She whispers to herself. Shirou glances at her as she scratches at her command seals.

"You alright?" He asks.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just a little nervous." She replies.

She had stopped listening to Fergus and Cu debate about how strong Yan Qing actually is an hour ago. They were jealous and being harsh and she found herself thinking of darker things as she listened.

She looks over to Shirou's hand resting on the shifter, searching for his command seals to compare their design and notices a red wrap covering half of them. But as she looks closer at his hand she subconsciously grabs it with both of hers and forces it into her lap. She pulls it up close to her eyes ripping the wraps off in disbelief and fear, he has no seals left? Why would he hide this from me? How did I not know?

Cu and Fergus jump at her sudden movement. They had both grown to fear her slightly, even though they out due her in almost every way, when she turned into that half zombie it was the worst thing they could ever witness.

"Shirou!" She yells and everyone in the Jeep turns their focus to him. Shirou grips the steering wheel stabilizing it from her sudden pull at him.

"Why the fuck didn't you tell me?! What the hell happened?" She lets him go shoving his hand away and turns towards the back seat seething at Fergus. His face flushes a deep red and a shameful look washes over him.

"Calm down..." Shirou begins, but he is quickly put in his place as Veda bares her teeth.

"STOP THE GODDAMN CAR!" She shouts not wanting to hear his arguments anymore.

"Veda! This isn't a..." Shirou protests but is quickly persuaded by a demonic voice and Vedas black eyes, she squeezes his shoulder staring deep into his soul. He grunts at her.

"Now.." she says in a low rumbling two tone voice.

Shirou reluctantly pulls over cursing the entire time. Before the Jeep even stops she jumps out and slams the door shut, leaving everyone her in shock. She walks over to the side of the road and screams as loud as she can into the air. She is losing herself and she is not ready to accept that this war will be over soon, that her time with everyone is coming to an end. She had spent years with them, she loved them so much, her heart throbs in pain. She holds her chest as if she was having a heart attack, unable to catch her breath, she heaves and gulps air. With all of Shirou's command seals gone he has one chance left in this war, that's it, if he uses it they are both gone, for Shirou isn't a master without Fergus and vice versa. This is their last chance, if either one of them dies then there is no bringing them back. She tries to come up with a positive outcome for this, maybe she could take them both as her servants, then there wouldn't be such a risk. But how much mana do they require? She shakes her head, there is no way she can have them all. Tears stream down her face, why didn't he tell me?

"Veda?" Cu quietly saunters over.

She doesn't answer.

"Veda please get back in the Jeep. This isn't a safe place to stop." He looks around, they were on a highway in between Hiroshima and Fukuoka, there were forests on either side of them, and who knows what is lurking inside.

Cu watches Veda stare deep into the thick of the forest ahead. Approaching her was risky, but he had a sense something was off around there, he was getting used to the silence in this world but there are some places that left the air stale and darker than usual, those are places to avoid. Then shivers run through his skin making the little hairs stand on end, and a crack from a branch in the distance forces Cu towards Veda. He takes her arm and begins to pull. She pulls back and glares at him and without words he shakes his head, points his eyes at the forest then sweeps her up in his arms. Veda took one look at his face and saw his stern cautious stare and decided that his instincts are something she should be following in this moment. She too was feeling something strange.

"What is it Cu?" She asks still staring at the forest.

"I don't know, but it's not good. Please get back in the Jeep." He whispers.

"Alright." She complies and he puts her down.

Cu opens the back door and orders Fergus to get out and sit shotgun. He doesn't argue about it, he knows he's in trouble and doesn't want to cause anymore problems. He gets into the front passenger seat and Veda gets in beside Medusa with Cu beside her. Shirou throws it into gear and speeds out back onto the road.

They were all silent, Medusa pats Vedas' hand in her lap in an attempt to console her. Everyone seems to understand what the issue is. Shirou and Fergus are on their last lives, there is no safety net for them. Veda can feel Shirou's eyes on her in the rear view mirror. He consistently looks at her, waiting to see her expression change, and hoping to catch her eye. But she avoids him, only stares down at her lap as her eyes twitch back and forth deep in thought.

We will have to be very careful from now on. I can't lose them to anything. She thinks.

Shirou sighs and Fergus throws him a sympathetic look.

And the last person you would think to start conversation is Cu, but he does and he brings everyone out of their gloom.
"So...looks like Shirou's taking Yan Qing for command seals... huh?."

Vedas eyes snap towards him in shock. She didn't think of that, and from the look on everyone else's face neither did they.

"Cu!!!!" Veda squeals.

"Ahhh! What?! I'm sorry! Please don't yell at me!" He shouts back in defense holding his hands up in front of his face.

"You did it!" She giggles.

"I did what?" He lowers his hands.

"You figured it out, you're so fucking smart! Eeee!" She kisses his cheek and ruffles his hair.

"Ahh!" He complains. "Of course I'm smart! I'm the smartest guy in this fucking Jeep."

Veda turns to Shirou and Fergus and flicks both of their ears sharply

"Fuck!" Fergus curses.

"Veda I'm trying to drive!" Shirou whines.

"And here's you two idiots, knowing this whole time you have one shot left in this war. Why the hell didn't you think of this first?" She flicks them again.

"Well...I...uhhh..." Fergus attempts to explain.

"How the hell did you use up so command seals many in the first place? I take it Fergus is the culprit. He is the only one who was away." Veda scorns them both and their shoulders hunch at her recoil.

"I took a risk while I was away and in order to save the men with me I had to sacrifice myself...a few times..." Fergus replies. "Shirou knew it, and we both decided that it was for the greater good. One stupid mistake, I'm just happy to have this guy." He pats Shirou on the shoulder and Shirou returns with a fist bump.

"It was a hard decision Veda, I should have told you but I was...afraid to. I didn't want to make things harder." Shirou says.

"Well, thank you for that, but you need to tell me this shit. Moving forward...you need to take Yan Qing. He will be an easy servant and shouldn't require as much mana as Fergus. He was a demon in a previous life, so his mana draw comes from the curse itself. He may not need any mana at all." Veda replies. "And I swear to god if you ever hide shit from me, I will never talk to you again."

"Ok...Veda...I promise never to hide anything from you."

"Thank you. And Fergie, thank you for telling me." She pats his head.

"Of course Veda, I should have told you sooner." He replies.

And Veda sits back in her seat to let her body relax. Medusa watches her curiously, the more time she spends with her, the more respect she gains. She wasn't just a pretty face with a gun, she was tough and could hold her own against a room full of idiots like these three. She was proud to be her servant. She was proud to finally have a master who was strong with a good heart.

Veda closes her eyes and leans her head back just as Cu slips an arm around her shoulders. He pulls her in closer and kisses the top of her head. She was exhausted from the events prior and found herself dozing off on his warm chest. They carry on down the road towards Fukuoka city as Veda slips into a deep sleep.

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Another vision:

A bright florescent light above her stirs her awake, her vision is blurry at first but as her eyes focus in she can see the outline of a girl. A girl with pink short hair, a cute smile, and a shy voice.

"Good morning senpai, how are you feeling?"
She asks. Her eyes squint a little when she smiles, making her even more adorable.

Before she can say anything her vision changes. She is walking the large halls of a round building, to her left is floor to ceiling windows that overlook a frozen snow torn wasteland. She stops to view it, the sun seemed to mist through the stormy clouds spilling a warm glow over the halls. It was beautiful even though stepping a foot outside would probably kill you within minutes from the cold.

Suddenly a white fluffy creature bounds its way towards her.

"Fou! Fou!" It squeaks. Veda crouches down time pet it, as she reaches her hand out she is pulled into another vision.

She is in a small white room filled with medical equipment. But she is not alone, to her right is a pink haired man writing notes on a chart.

"I'm glad you're ok Veda. We were worried, you're one of our best."

She speaks in an echo.
"W-where a-am i-i?"

He looks at her funny then bursts out laughing.
"Those narcotics will do that to you. Give it some time to get out of your system, you'll be fine." He winks.

Then she is torn once again from that vision and into a dark room, the only light coming from the ceiling above her. She is sitting in a metal chair just like when she had met with Medea before.

"Veda." Her voice calls from the darkness. It was barely recognizable, raspy and strained, as if she forced it out through gulps of air.

"Medea?" She calls into the black.

"Yes...help me...set me free.." she whispers.

"I am trying, I have one more servant. Then I'm coming for you." Veda replies.

And Medusa begins to laugh maniacally.
"See you soon." Her voice now split into several frightening tones.

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He watches her curiously as she sleeps out of the corner of his eye. She was whimpering and twitching as she slept. Then he noticed Medusa staring at him from bedside Veda.

"She's having visions. The same type of visions my previous master was cursed with. It was his mage type, he was a prophet and was able to see many futures of this world. I've seen a few, but never with Veda in them which seems strange. I would only see the world restored and the curse lifted. But now my visions are of a place and time not of this world. Veda is seeing it right now."

He gently strokes her hair making sure not to wake her yet.

"She's taken on so much, it's destroying her." He replies.

"Yes, her story here does not end well. But there is hope for you two." She smiles sympathetically.

"What do you mean "end well"?" He asks not favoring the taste of her words.

"I don't quite understand the visions. Some are pieced together for the fact that she is not a prophet. But I know she will die in this war... that is all I can tell you."

Veda jerks suddenly and opens her eyes as she clutches onto Cu's shirt.
"Hey it's ok, I got you babe." He continues to stoke her hair as she frantically looks around, finally setting her gaze on him. She lets out a breath she'd been holding and nuzzles into his neck.

"Veda, were you having visions?" He asks.

She nods against his shoulder.
"Do you want to talk about them?"

She shakes her head.

"Ok, whenever you're ready, let me know."

"Thank you." She replies and falls back asleep.

He could feel her mana depletion, it was very hard on her being cursed, and taking two mana hungry servants on all by herself. It was almost a blessing Shirou is taking the next servant, funny how things work out.

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