So I pulled Chiron from the Apocrypha event and it was great.
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Normally, students weren't supposed to be out passed curfew— save the ones who were working with the heroes they were inturning under— but Gray was an exception.
She didn't exactly have a reason to be in the Kansai district, other than she didn't want to be in the dorms and dealing with Midoriya's gloom, Bakugou's rage, and Todoroki's indifference. It was quite suffocating, if she did say so herself.
That, and Add was bugging her to let him go and eat.
Aizawa had been irritated to bend the rules for her, but relented when she told him that Add's preferred food just so happened to be the spirits of the dead. And Kansai had over thirty temples to choose from. Restless spirits that would be there to feast on and if she didn't get them, then the Church would deal with them— or they'd go rampaging.
The Church was very meticulous about it, but there would be spirits that got overlooked.
The Erasure Hero sighed before signing an off-campus form and shooing her off after she got additional confirmation from Nighteye, Chiron, and Toshinori that she could enter combat.
It was nice to be out alone instead of following someone around or being watched. The night air was nice and Add was finally satisfied after they visited and cleansed three shrines.
It was nice.
Gray stretched as she walked through the streets. She still had time before she told Aizawa she would be back. She hadn't been to the Kansai area before and there were so many things to look at. The street vendors were nice and understood that she was only looking, one of them calling out to a large hero as he walked passed on the other side of the street. Gray glanced over, blinking as she saw Kirishima's shock of red hair vanish into the crowd after the large hero.
Then the hero was Fatgum...
If that red hair was indeed Kirishima, it would make sense. There weren't that many men who were above eight feet tall, even in this world. Chiron had said that in a Grail War previously he had met a Rider Classed Servant who had been over fifteen feet tall, though he was a strange abnormality like she was. Even so, it was rare to see people who still had humanoid forms that were over seven feet tall.
She hummed, blinking a bit as the smell of food caught her attention again. It wasn't as if she was hungry, after all, Servants didn't need to eat... but the yakitori stand nearby was starting to smell really wonderful.
The Assassin hummed, walking over to it and waving to the man running the stand.
"Two skewers, please," she said and the man nodded.
"That'll run ya three-hundred yen, missy," he told her and she dug into her pockets, pulling her wallet out. Toshinori kept giving her a sort of allowance, even though she told him she didn't need it. Shaking her head internally, she handed the vendor the coins before she took both skewers in hand. Bowing to him briefly, she headed back off as she ate, looking around.
The gray-haired girl had just finished the first skewer and was starting on the second one before screams reached her ears.
"A fight! Somebody help!" someone cried and in an instant, Add was in his Scythe form and Gray had taken off in the direction of the scream— holding the skewer in between her teeth.
In the end, it seemed as if she wasn't needed, as Fatgum and Amajiki caught the perpetrators moments before she arrived.
"Oh, hey, Gra— ah, Grave Keeper," Kirishima greeted, waving a bit as he pat Amajiki's shoulder.
"A friend of yours?" Fatgum asked as he handed the thugs off to the police. Gray nodded, finishing her skewer before bowing a bit.
"Nice to meet—" she stopped short, seeing a glint in the crowd as people started shifting away, yells coming from the people within it.
"Get down!" Fatgum cried, seeming to have seen it at the same time as she did. Amajiki startled as gunshots went off and Gray moved to push him behind her. Kirishima moved first, shifting in front of them both and his head jerking back as he was shot. Gray winced in the next moment, feeling something pierce into her arm.
"Red Riot! Sun Eater! Grave Keeper!"
Kirishima fell back into his usual, semi-crouched fighting stance, the bullet having glanced off of him as Fatgum glanced over to check on them.
"I'll capture him!" the redhead roared before taking off in a hurry. Amajiki made an attempt to assist but Gray was no longer paying attention as she felt her blood catch aflame. She dropped to her knees, clawing at her arms as she gasped and panted— it felt like her circuits were on fire.
Blood welled up in her eyes and in her throat before spilling over as she gagged and coughed.
"Whoa—! Grave Keeper!" Fatgum cried, stopping in his tracks from going after Kirishima. She coughed again as Add rattled in his cage.
"Get going, Fatto!" He barked, "Riot needs you more than we do!"
The BMI Hero seemed unsure, but Amajiki nodded.
"I'll take care of her," he said and the hero nodded in return.
Gray caught her breath, coughing again before she collapsed on the pavement. Her breathing was still ragged but she forced herself to relax, swallowing blood.
"Hey... are you alright...?" Amajiki asked and Gray only grimanced.
"I... I don't k.. know... Ama— Sun Eater... please contact the school... ask for Chiron-Sensei... he'll know what to do..." she managed, eyes half closed. The pain hadn't subsided, but the blood was no longer welling up in her eyes and throat.
Was it because of whatever shot her?
She didn't know.
She didn't know, and that's what scared her.
What would happen to Toshinori?
That was the last thought that crossed her mind before she lost consciousness.
(x)
Gray woke and instantly felt disoriented, closing her eyes almost the second she opened them. Her body ached and her throat felt raw.
Slowly, she opened her eyes back up and glanced around. She was in the infirmary, back at U.A., it seemed. Chiron was resting next to her bed, Astolfo sleeping on top of him while Toshinori was settled in what had to be an uncomfortable position in a chair not too far away.
She shifted, sitting up slowly.
"Oh, you're awake," An unknown voice sand and she jumped. Seemingly out of nowhere, a young girl with short pink hair and fair skin appeared. Her ears were pointed and she had what appeared to be hawks wings draped over her shoulders.
"Good thing you're so cute while you're awake, I hate being pulled from my Island for trivial matters," the girl continued before she floated over, placing a hand on Gray's cheek. "Poor thing, your Magic Circuits were disrupted heavily. You're lucky you have such good friends."
Gray swallowed. "Th-thank you, Miss...?"
The girl frowned. "Oh please, don't give me that title, just... hmm... call me Okeanos for now," she said before patting Gray's cheek. Both girls looked over as Chiron stirred.
'Okeanos' smiled before she put a finger to her lips. "Go back to sleep, for now, little Assassin. There are many things that need to be discussed later."
(x)
When Gray woke back up the second time it was daylight and instead of Astolfo, Chiron, Toshinori, and 'Okeanos' in the infirmary it was Recovery Girl and Toshinori.
The blonde had leaped up when he saw that Gray was awake, startling the old nurse, who hit him with her cane. She moved over to Gray as she sat up, rubbing her neck a bit.
"How are you feeling, dearie?" the woman asked, handing Gray her cloak.
"I've felt better," she admitted as she pulled it on, tugging the hood over her face. "What day is it?"
"You've been out for two days," Toshinori said, pulling his chair up. "Admittedly, what happened caused a huge stir in the Hero Community. And you finally managed to get me and Sir Nighteye on speaking terms again."
Gray ducked her head. "I'm sorry..."
"Oh, it's nothing you need to be sorry about," he assured her as Recovery Girl took her vitals. "The Mages' Association was also on High Alert, though apparently they had already been on edge before. Seems that they were already paranoid to the point of having Chiron being back a powerful alley the day you got shot. The two were just meeting with the rest of the staff when Young Amajiki called."
"This alley... 'Okeanos'...?" she asked and Toshinori nodded.
"That's the name she gave us to use, though it's not her real one," he said, "Either way, a meeting's going to be called tomorrow about a situation pertaining to it. Sir Nighteye want both you and Midoriya there, but..." he frowned. Gray just nodded.
"I'll be able to go. Don't worry... I'm assuming it has to do with the girl that Midoriya and Mirio met those days ago...?" she asked and he nodded again.
"Something like that..." he said, sighing before he reached over, ruffling her hair under the hood. "You had everyone worried, kiddo."
She ducked her head again, frowning. "I know... I'm sorry..." she said before she jerked her head up. "Wait— How are you doing?" she asked, "Did anything happen to you that night?"
The blonde gave her a quizzical look. "No...? Was I supposed to? I mean, aside from almost choking when Amajiki called the school and reported that you had been shot."
Gray let out a breath of relief. "Oh... thank god..." she said before she fell back against the infirmary bed.
"Whatever those bullets were... if a Magus were to get shot with one, or anyone without a Quirk but with Magic Circuits..." she closed her eyes again, recalling the pain before she sat back up.
"No one can go through that pain..." she said, gripping her fist. Toshinori gazed at her before he nodded.
"Just... be careful at that meeting and whatever comes from it..." he said and she nodded.
She had to figure out what had been done to her. The feeling of one's own Magic Circuits rejecting and then stripping themselves away from their body...
No magus should be forced to feel that— not in such a brutal way, that is.
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Here is the final Servant who will be a major part of the story. If you've finished the Salem EoR arc then you know who she is already. I also have no idea if Add needs to eat, but Casefiles Add mentioned that he saw spirits of the undead as a "feast" of sorts.