A pair of ice blue eyes slowly fluttered open at the not-so-gentle prodding of the phone buzzing on her night stand. Groaning slightly, she used an arm and slowly pushed herself up from her comfortable prone position, while brushing some of her raven hair away from her face.
Glancing at the nightstand's alarm clock, she gave a slight sigh at the display showing that it was one in the morning. Pursing her lips, she picked up the phone, and checked the number of the irritating fool, who dared call her at such an ungodly hour.
The displayed number made her frown. It was unknown, or rather, she had never seen it before, but the area code number was +81, which was Japan. That alone forced her to answer the phone, as while only incredibly important people knew the number to the Pendragon Estate's work phone, she knew of only three that had the possibility of knowing it that were currently in Japan.
The most likely possibility, being Rosalind or Alistair, meaning that they had likely broken their phones, and were calling due to an emergency… or at least it better be an emergency if they were calling her at one in the morning…
Clicking the accept button, she pressed the phone onto her ear, before shimmying off the bed, and slipping on her slippers. "Hello, who am I speaking to?" She asked calmly while standing up, using her free hand to adjust her nightgown straps.
"Hello, this is Makihisa Tohno," came a male and slightly accented voice, from the now named Makihisa, causing Amelia to stiffen. "Have I reached the Pendragon Estate?" He asked, but it was clear that he was confident in his assumption.
Frowning slightly, she moved over to her bedroom's door and opened it up, swiftly exiting the room, heading straight for Rosalind's office. "Yes, yes you have," she affirmed, before continuing.
"I am the temporary acting head, Amelia Ashborn," she explained calmly, quickly finding the office, swinging open the door and flicking on the lights.
Shrugging up her shoulder, she used it to keep her phone in place, allowing her to use both hands, as she quickly sifted through some folders. "I was not expecting a call from you, or your house," she added, while plucking out a folder labeled Tohno.
"How may I be of assistance to you?" she asked, before unceremoniously throwing the folder onto Rosalind's desk.
"I am actually calling you due to being unable to come into contact with Lady Pendragon," he explained, causing her to frown as she sat herself behind Rosalind's desk, lowering her shoulder and moving an arm back up to hold the phone.
"She has been kind enough to periodically inform me of the situation down in Fuyuki, as it has the possibility of spiraling out of control, which it seems to already have."
His words made Amelia stiffen. She had looked through the last additions to the document on the Tohno Household, but that all became moot at his words. "Pardon?" She asked cautiously, but it was edged with clear nervousness.
"The Lady told me to contact you if I couldn't get in touch with her, and seeing as I have been trying to call her on and off for the past three hours, I believe that it was for the best for me to contact you," he explained, which caused Amelia to tighten her grip on the phone.
"I need to hang up. I'll inform you when I make contact with her," she said, not giving Makihisa a chance to say goodbye, as she hung up the call.
Quickly moving the phone in front of herself, she punched in the passcode, and quickly went to the favorite contacts list. Rosalind's number was listed on top, and Amelia wasted no time, clicking it before pressing it up to her ear.
The familiar sound of ringing halted almost instantly, and the voice of a woman spoke up. "The mobile phone you have called is switched o—" Amelia clicked the end call button, and tried once more, only for the same message to play just as fast. "The mobi—"
Frowning, she flicked down to the next number, Alistair. Clicking the call button, she almost crushed the phone with her grip, at the sound of the repeated message.
Hanging up, she practically threw the phone on Rosalind's desk, and stared at it for a few seconds in a daze.
One phone being turned off could be explained, but two of them being unavailable caused her to feel some internal panic. Neither of the two were irresponsible enough to leave their phones turned off for so long, so it forced Amelia to consider the potential disaster situation she might have on her hands.
Inhaling a deep breath, she wrenched her gaze away from the phone, and quickly thought through things she could and should do.
Off the top of her head, she concluded that she knew too little about the situation, only that according to Makihisa that the situation down in Fuyuki had 'spiraled out of control', which, while not the most helpful description, meant that things had likely gone so far to shit that information might be on the news.
The only problem being that the Estate did not have any Japanese News channels, let alone Fuyuki's own local news network.
Glancing back at the phone, Amelia was deathly tempted to call the Tohno head to get a situation report, but then another thought struck her.
Opening the top left drawer on the desk, she completely ignored the contents of the drawer filled with pens, binders and loose papers, instead shoving her hand into the now open desk drawer, and pressed her hand onto the roof of the compartment.
Her fingers found a small indent, which she infused with trace amounts of Od, causing the desk to give a clicking sound. Removing her hand from the inside of the desk, she closed the drawer, before reopening it, however this time the drawer was filled with files and documents.
It took her only a second to pluck out the most recent documents pertaining to Alistair's purchases, specifically the same ones Rosalind had perused before she left for Japan. It should give her all the information she needed for the house he lived at, along with hopefully the house landline's number.
Giving the document a quick scan, she found the house's property deed, along with extra information pertaining to the house. Luckily, it included the landline's number, as Alistair had purchased it pre-furnished, so he simply kept the phone.
Maneuvering through the phone's call options, Amelia quickly punched in the number written on the document before calling it, and this time, it did not immediately end the call.
The sound of the phone's irritating ringing had never felt so therapeutic for Amelia as it did now, which caused a lot of the tension in her body to bleed out.
The ringing only lasted for a scant few seconds, as she heard the receiver being picked up. "Hello?" Replied a slightly tired, but clearly British accented woman.
The fact that she got a response made Amelia feel a rush of relief, even if she didn't recognise the recipient, but she had an inkling of understanding on who it was thanks to her daily calls with Rosalind. Apparently the girl was meant to be off the grid, or something like that, so Rosalind hadn't informed Amelia of her name out of courtesy, only calling her Alistair's little Fairy.
"Good morning, I am Amelia Ashborn, might I inquire whom I am currently speaking to?" She questioned calmly, earning a slight hum of recognition at the mention of her name from the other end.
"Ah, a rather early good morning to you as well, Ms.Ashborn, my name is Vivian Animusphere," she replied primly. Amelia herself suppressed a raised brow at the name, as it was rather unusual. She knew Rosalind used the nickname in reference to her name, but she had her own guesses, and she was a bit miffed that they had fallen flat, along with the fact that she had ignored Vivian, dismissing it as too old and 'unique', even for Magi…
"I see," Amelia responded with an undertone of interest. "It is nice to make your acquaintance, but I was wondering if you could put Rosalind on the line, as her phone has not been taking incoming calls for the past three hours," she explained, causing the woman on the other end to let out a tired sigh.
"Rosalind is not currently available," she said with clear bitterness, drawing a surprised raise of Amelia's brow. "That is… unfortunate, could you instead tell her a message for me? Rosalind needs to call the head of the Tohno family, as he has been trying to get into contact with her regarding the situation in Fuyuki for the past few hours," Amelia explained.
There was a beat of silence, before a long drawn out sigh came from Vivian's end. "I presume you don't know what has happened in Fuyuki, am I right in assuming this?" She questioned in a soft tone, causing Amelia to frown. "Yes… though you frame it in such a way that makes me worry."
The pause that followed her statement only made Amelia's unease increase. "How well are you informed about our situation here?" Vivian asked, causing Amelia to give a contemplative frown. "Rosalind has kept me well informed, usually calling around evening your time," she explained before continuing. "Last I heard, you all were going to confront Caster."
"I see," was the slightly tired reply from the other end, followed by a deep intake of breath. "The Grail War is over, there is no winner," she stated firmly, causing Amelia to blink in surprise.
"It's over?" She asked skeptically. "Yes, Saber blew up the Grail with Excalibur, and I have been running damage control ever since…" Vivian affirmed in a weary tone of voice.
There was a slight lull in the conversation as Amelia tried to piece together the implications of what she had just been told, before snapping out of it.
"That is… surprising," she said uneasily. "Though I suppose it is good that Rosalind was planning to have you all leave, as our plane is on its way to Fuyuki, so you should be able to leave once the crew refuels the plane."
The silence that met Amelia was disconcerting, causing her to speak up. "Are you all having problems on your end? Delaying the flight would not be an issue, especially if you still need to run 'damage control' as you put it. And Rosalind informed me of some good news regarding aid from the church, so you should be receiving an Executor on your doorstep in not too long, which could help you with cleanup," Amelia added, trying to sound as reassuring as possible.
Vivian had yet to speak up, which caused Amelia to pull the phone away from her ear, just to check if the call had ended without her noticing it, only to see that the call was still ongoing.
"We might need an extra day," came Vivian's voice from the phone's speaker, causing Amelia to put it back to her ear. "While I have minimized the damages to an extent, Alistair will be bedridden until tomorrow, so it would be inconvenient to leave immediately."
"What?!" Amelia exclaimed nervously, before subtly shaking her head. "Is he fine? How did it happen?" She rattled off a few questions in a rush. "Is Rosalind taking care of him, is that why she is unavailable?"
The quiet she got in return only made her feel more nervous, forcing her to speak up. "Vivia–" "Rosalind is dead," Vivian interrupted Amelia before she could finish, but her words hit Amelia like a sledgehammer.
Her entire body stiffened, and her breath hitched at the news she had just been delivered.
"Rosalind was in the room during the Excalibur blast," Vivian added, and Amelia felt her heart sink at the news. "I've scoured the surroundings, and asked Alistair what happened once he awoke, and he confirmed that she was directly hit by the attack, so there is no body."
Amelia was now visibly trembling, as her body reacted viscerally to the news. Her throat was dry, her hands felt numb, and her vision felt hazy.
"I–" Vivian's voice audibly cracked, before she continued. "I'm so sorry," she apologized in a sad whisper.
That was the last straw, as Amelia slumped backwards, causing Rosalin— no, Alistair's chair to creak as it bent backwards.
As Amelia leaned back in the chair, she was for once, happy for Vivian's silence, as it allowed her to think, and calm down.
Neither of the two wanted to speak, allowing the silence to hang for over a minute, which allowed Amelia to calm her wildly beating heart, and get her breathing under control.
"I— I see," she responded in a subdued tone, finding it increasingly hard to act professionally.
There was a slight pause before Vivian spoke. "I know it's practically midnight for you, so I'll hang up to give you some time for yourself," she explained. "Try to get some sleep, and I'll call this number in ten hours. Don't bother to work before I call you, today is a day of mourning, no one will fault you for taking the day off," she said the last part in a gentle tone.
Amelia gave out a shaky breath before continuing. "I'll do that…" she wheezed out. "Thank you."
"Take care of yourself, I'll look out for Alistair, and will handle the church's envoy whenever they arrive. Just take your time, no one is rushing you, and I can wait an hour or two more if needed," Vivian said, and before Amelia could thank her, she heard the sound of the line ending.
Slowly she lowered the phone, blankly staring at it, before tossing it onto Alistair's desk.
Staring blankly at the desk, she shakily opened the large cabinet on the right hand side, revealing a crystal decanter bottle, half-full of whisky, and two crystal glasses to pair.
Unhesitatingly, she took out the bottle and two glasses, placing them on the desk with a thump.
This was Rosalind's secret stash, meant only for emergencies and celebrations. It was a tradition the two had shared, as more often than not, Amelia would have been next to her during those moments.
Pulling off the stopper, she slowly poured the whisky in each glass, only filling them a quarter of the way.
Shoving the stopper back into the decanter, Amelia placed it back into the desk, before picking up one of the glasses. Her eyes were practically glued onto it, as she swirled the liquid inside from side to side.
After what felt like an hour, she glanced at the lone glass, and tears started to prick at the corners of her eyes.
Slowly, she moved the glass, and tapped the butt of it to the other's rim, clinking them together, creating a bell-like sound, before moving the glass to her mouth.
"Bottom's up…"
----
A/N
Welcome back, my reader Overlords, please add this to your library and give me some comments, stones and reviews, as it would be much appreciated.
I am happy to be back, albeit in a part-time sort of manner, so unfortunately I will only be able to post once a week, until I am finished with the 12 chapters. My Uni professor decided that it was a good idea to throw a 40K ish word task, so I have been stuck doing that for a while, which means I'm not done.
Alas, I will still post, and once I get to the 12 advanced chapter goal, I'll post twice a week, and then give you all my patreon. Until then, I am unwilling to have people pay for an unfinished product.
So, for now, I'll post on Monday only, and once I'm done, I'll go back to my Monday - Thursday/Friday schedule.
Have a great day, and I'll see you all next week! And don't be scared to ask questions, I am always happy to answer a thing or two.
Here is my discord Server: https://discord.gg/HAPhryp5M2
Now, hand over those Power Stones, can't you see they are lonely when not used? Give them to me, and allow them to socialize, its for their best... I swear...