Normal POV
Outside the hospital gates, Akivili waited.
His mother's friend was supposed to pick him up and take him home. Simple enough.
A shadow suddenly fell across the pavement in front of him before anyone announced themselves, and he glanced up to see a young woman standing there.
She had short striking red hair, purple-wine colored eyes, and was dressed in an expensive looking suit.
Said woman was also currently staring directly at him with a look that was usually meant for people who did something wrong.
Akivili recognized her immediately.
The girl. The myth. The legend.
Cu Chulainn's original master during the the Fifth Holy Grail War. Well that is until she ended up getting killed by Kotomine Kirei before the war had even started.
In the Hollow Atraxia route, she'd been saved by the Avenger-class servant Angra Mainyu a.k.a Angry Mango, one of his personal favorite nicknames for the servant.
'Bazett Fraga McRemitz.'
He kept the recognition buried deep and maintained a neutral expression.
'By my limited lore-goblin knowledge, she should be around fourteen right now... so why does she look like a fully grown ass woman?'
He filed that question away for later.
For now, they had arrived at a perfectly mutual stalemate. She was looking at him, he was looking at her, and neither of them had said anything yet so he simply waited.
"Are you Sister Rosalyn's child?"
Her voice was stern.
She honestly looked intimidating and Akivili knew she wasn't 100% a bad person but she absolutely looked like one right now.
'Yes, I am the chosen one. You may proceed with the kidnapping.'
He didn't actually say that.
"Yes. Although fair warning I'd advise you to never say something like that again when you're talking to a kid you've never met. The serious tone doesn't exactly help you here since you sound like a kidnapper."
Akivili answered quickly, keeping his expression neutral, 'she called her sister Rosalyn. They must be really close to each other,' he inwardly thought.
"W-what?" Bazzet suddenly stuttered in embarrassment and surprise.
The concept of being called a potential pedophile by a random four-year-old had visibly short-circuited something behind her eyes.
"Hahaha I'm just joking with ya. You're my mom's friend."
Her expression did a complete one-eighty after that. She released a slow exhale of relief.
"Thank goodness... You don't look much like your mother, you know. Only the blonde streaks in your hair. Everything else is just like your fath-"
Bazzet suddenly stopped mid-sentence. Her face went still. Then slowly, something that looked a lot like grief moved behind her eyes. She tried to hide it with a calm composure but completely failed at it.
Oh.
...Oh no.
"Is something wrong?"
He kept his voice even, though he already had a sinking feeling about where this was going.
Bazzet rapidly shook her head "ah- no, no, it's nothing. It's just that your father is on a... very long trip. He won't be coming back because-"
For someone that could fight a servant in a one v one and hunt down magi on the daily, she sure was quick to fall apart at lying and deflecting.
'Yep my Dad of this life either left to go get milk or is dead, that's just great. No dad for me because apparently I can't have one nice thing.'
Akivli took a breath.
"Oh well okay. Can we go home now?"
"Ah! Yes. Yes, of course. And don't think I was lying to you, alright?"
'Bazett. I am begging you. I am trying to escape this conversation and you are actively making it harder,' Akivli thought with some mild annoyance.
Before he could find a way to gracefully end things, an awkward laugh cut through the air from somewhere nearby.
"Hahaha Bazett, how nice to see you. Perhaps you best stop there."
He turned.
His mother Rosalyn stood a short distance away, staring at Bazett with an expression that wasn't angry but seemed rather disappointed somehow?
Had she been listening the whole time? Watching? Also what the hell was she doing out of the hospital bed? For God's sake woman you just gave birth you should be resting not walking out and about!
Bazett meanwhile looked both mortified and relieved in equal measure.
"Oh yes, right, I'll take him home now-"
"Actually, hold up a second." Rosalyn's voice shifted to something closer to amusement. She looked over sideways at Akivili, "son go play somewhere for a minute. The adults need to have a talk."
Then she turned to him fully and the smug look that crossed her face was entirely deliberate.
"Shoo," she said, waving her hand at him.
'One day woman,' he irritably thought, walking away with as much dignity as a four-year-old could manage, "one day I shall have my revenge. You mark my words.'
.
.
.
The moment he was out of earshot, a small bounded field sealed itself around the two women.
Rosalyn's expression dropped the warmth immediately and fixed Bazett with a steady look, "Bazett. You are a trained enforcer of the Clocktower. You're supposed to be cunning, composed, and difficult to read," she paused, "yet you almost got seen through by a four-year-old."
"I know." Bazett groaned pressing a hand to her face, "I'm sorry. Lying isn't exactly my strongest skill."
"Clearly."
Rosalyn let the silence do its work for a moment, then moved on.
"What actually brought you here?"
"I came to see my dearest friend give birth," Bazett said, giving an almost sincere smile.
The key word here being 'almost.'
Rosalyn stared at her for a long moment before chuckling,"nice try I almost believed you. If it weren't for the fact that you had your hands all balled up. Which I know is something you only do when you're nervous about something so spill it."
Bazett exhaled through her nose, "sigh as expected nothing gets past you...I was actually sent here for a Sealing Designation operation. Someone you might actually know."
Any warmth on Rosalyn's face vanished entirely.
'Don't let it be who I think it is,' she nervously thought.
"And who would that be?" she inquired.
"The one they call the Scarred Red, Touko Aozaki."
'...Root damn it all,' Rosalyn mentally cursed.
"Bazett, that's...not an assignment you'd be capable of succeeding in. You should pull back. Contact the Clock Tower and tell them you need reinforcements before you do anything else."
Sending Bazett after Touko Aozaki alone was like asking a coughing child to defuse a hydrogen bomb. She needed her friend away from this before things went downhill.
"You're right," Bazett admitted with a tinge of annoyance, "I'm not acting unilaterally. I was told to gather information and maintain contact. Tracking a genius puppeteer is nearly impossible. If you hear anything, even a rumor-"
"I'll reach out immediately. If I see or hear anything at all," Rosalyn quickly replied.
.
.
.
Outside, Akivili had been staring at a park bench and mentally going through his plans when he heard footsteps approaching.
He looked up.
His mother was walking toward him and she didn't look worried anymore. If anything she now looked like someone who had just won a game at the slot machines. She glanced over her shoulder once, then crouched down in front of him.
"There we go, that's my boy," she murmured quietly, with warmth, "I raised you right."
Rosalyn slowly embraced him. Then in a smooth and practiced motion she tucked something flat and folded beneath his shirt.
Her voice dropped to just above a whisper.
"Take that letter to the house my old teacher will meet you there. Make sure to give it to her directly. And one last thing son."
Akivli stayed still waiting to hear what she had to say.
"Don't tell Bazett."
He pulled back just enough to look at her face.
Then nodded once.
"Understood."