Disclaimer: The works of Type-Moon and Jō Taketsuki are their own despite my most fervent wishes. This is a fan work and if anyone does pay me for it the only thing it will accomplish is to get me into trouble. This is being done purely for fun, constructive criticism is welcome, and flames will be ignored. Please be gentle though, this is the first fanfic I've put on the net.
WOOHOO! I've just reached over 510,000 views on my story! It's really amazing, when I started to write this I had no idea it would become so popular, I'd like to thank all my readers and reviewers for their attention and their comments.
A lot of people have commented on how they thought that Shirou's love for Sakura shouldn't have lost to Venus's Authority. Please allow me to make one thing clear; it DIDN'T lose, indeed the first Authority that she used on him proved to be almost totally ineffective due to the strength of his feelings. Heart Thief is such a dangerous Authority because it doesn't fight the emotions, indeed the strength of those feelings is turned against the victim. This Authority essentially usurps the ties of the heart rather than attacking them and as such was pretty much the only Authority Venus had that could do more than make her seriously attractive to Shirou and not much else.
Also a lot of people have said that Shirou's distortion should have protected him from those effects. Don't worry I haven't forgotten about Shirou's distorted nature, I have plans for it, but I can't say anything without spoiling my future plot so I ask that my readers be patient with me, I promise you it will be worth the wait.
Another thing a fair number of people were less than happy about was the attention I gave to Godou in the last chapter. I'd like to say that I'm sorry that I can't please everyone but I ask you to understand that I have my own style of telling this story. Godou IS the main character of the Campione universe and as such I feel that simply brushing him aside would cheapen the story. I suppose I could have written this fic as Shirou flat out replacing him, but then I'd have lost the opportunity for their interactions as well as the chance to cook up my own Authorities. Some have claimed that I've focused more on Godou than on Shirou, in response I'd like to point out that to date Shirou has had four major battles in my story while Godou has had only two and a half. I ask that my readers trust me in my pacing, after all a lot of people were initially dissatisfied with how I handled the Monkey King affair, but in the end my climax was my most popular chapter to date by far.
I'd also like to apologies to those who weren't quite happy with Apollo in the last chapter, in all truth after rereading my own chapter a couple of times I wasn't quite satisfied with him, but he was as close to what I wanted as I could get. My problem was that I wanted a character that was dangerous enough to be a credible threat and yet flawed enough to be defeated in a single battle. The result was Apollo's tendency to monologue like a Bond villain since in many of his legends Apollo is depicted as a performer god. On occasion he even cursed audiences that were less than fully appreciative of him. With that in mind I thought it wouldn't have been out of character for him to end up talking in battle even if he was completely serious about killing his target.
SPOILERS.
I've revealed a large part of the plans of my Divine Ancestors in this chapter. I'd like to say that since there hasn't been too much concrete info on them so I've had to cook up a bit of my own. As I understand it these goddesses have had the large portion of their divinity and memories sealed to become the brides of those who defeated them. Hence the legend of the hero defeating the dragon/monster to save the maiden who then loves the hero. It's still a little unclear how things work after that, but in my story the goddess's memories will eventually return as well as a portion of their powers, however this will only be after a long time, say two or three human lifetimes. In that time the Divine Ancestors will have lived their lives, had children and grown old. The return of their powers will restore their youth to a childlike state.
I don't know what the rules are for when they die; do they become goddesses again in their Legends or do they reincarnate as Divine Ancestors once more like Guinevere? As such I've had to invent some stuff of my own that may become non-canon in the future. The same goes for the ritual that they're using to restore their power, I have no idea if it is canonically accurate, but I hope it entertains.
As for Shirou's preparations and contingencies, I am aware that they might be somewhat out of character for the original Shirou from Fate/Stay Night, but I feel that the Shirou that has developed in my story would think like that. My thoughts on this are that Archer was quite the schemer when he put his mind to it, though his terrible luck usually got in the way of his plans, and this trait has rubbed off on Shirou due to their merger, if only on a subconscious level. Also the Shirou here has been forced to be a bit more thoughtful and cautious than his original self due to finding himself in such new circumstances as well as in possession of such enormous power. I imagine that some people might disagree with my thinking, but this is how it seems to me.
This chapter is also my first time trying to really mix the magic systems of the Nasuverse and Campione! I hope Illya's explanation comes across okay, because it was quite hard to write. In my opinion a Reality Marble is an ability on par with even powerful Authorities, and Shirou's is an exceptionally powerful example due to it being able to produce so many weapons with different powers. Bear in mind that at this point in my story Illya is aware that Shirou has a developing Reality Marble, but she doesn't know its complete form or that Shirou knows of that complete form due to the memories of his other selves.
The Omake at the end isn't so much intended for humour as it is to simply get that scene out of my system. I mean, if I wanted to I could probably write a 20,000 word chapter about the meeting between Luo Hao and the three Kings of the Fourth Holy Grail War. But for some reason the thought of her comparing Gil's wine of the gods to the wine Yusuke provided just wouldn't leave me alone. Since I was a bit uninspired for a comedy scene I decided to simply write it and hope that some of my readers might find it entertaining. It's not meant to be taken too seriously since I'm well aware that there's a good chance that in such circumstances Gilgamesh might well have smashed the bottle and then tried to blast Luo Cuilian into bits, as I said this is just a scene that stuck with me and I felt like writing.
Once again I'd like to offer my most sincere thanks to my Beta for his hard work in making sure this chapter is fully up to snuff. Believe me, without his help this wouldn't be nearly as polished as it is.
Chapter Nineteen: Darkened Clouds
"So, this is the child of Pandora that slew Sir Mordred? One would not know it to look at him would they?"
Despite her dismissive tone Brynhildr was well aware that the young man standing silently where Venus had instructed him to wait was every bit as powerful as his achievement indicated. She'd watched through her own scrying spells as he'd faced one Authority of her champion after another and had been victorious. Still, she could not help but feel some spite for the young man, little more than a child really, that had slain the powerful god that had been her ally.
A grimace made its way to her face as she turned away, and was then quickly suppressed before any others could see it. She knew that she should bear some sort of enmity to the Devil King for robbing her of an ally, but why was it that she was having such a hard time keeping her animosity under control? This urge to just lash out at him was out of character for her, her preferred course was always more subtle and patient.
"Perhaps," replied Andromeda from where she was carefully inscribing a number of designs into the stone floor of the cave. "However regardless of how he looks he still contains the power that I need, the power of the one that sealed my Divinity. As long as he has that power I care not if he looks like a warrior or a goatherd, in the end it makes no difference."
"Oh, I hardly think that his appearance it that of a goatherd, far from it in fact."
The sweet voice that spoke those words came from Venus as she entered the chamber in which the two Divine Ancestors were working. In the hours since her return she had regained some of her strength and this was now reflected in her appearance. Gone were any signs of her former exhaustion as were the dirt and smoke stained clothes that she'd been wearing. Instead she now wore a dark purple dress that clung to her in such a way as to accent her every curve while allowing her freedom of movement. The sleeves of the dress were transparent so as to allow the outline of her slim arms to be visible and her wrists and throat were adorned with slim golden bands.
Her entire attitude was one of smug satisfaction as she swayed past them in a sensual strut that would have enflamed the blood of any man who saw her. Well, any man in full or at least partial possession of his faculties. Though his eyes had locked upon her as soon as she had entered the chamber King Emiya gave no other indication that he was even aware of her existence.
"So, how long until I can have him back?" Venus asked as she leaned against her enthralled captive deliberately pressing her body against him in an almost blatantly enticing manner.
"All conditions for the ritual will be met in less than two hours." Andromeda answered as she carefully poured a thin trickle of molten silver into the symbol that she'd just carved into the stone floor. "After my godhood has been restored then you may do as you wish with him."
"Two hours you say?" the beautiful goddess tilted her head slightly as she seemed to consider something. "No, I suppose I shall wait until more time is available before I play with my new toy. After all I wouldn't want to feel rushed would I?"
Brynhildr gritted her teeth as she fought down a curious mixture of disgust and respect for the Roman goddess. On the one hand her indolent interest in only her own pleasures was sickening. This deity had succeeded in claiming one of the God Slayers as her servant and yet all that seemed to occur to her to do with him was to indulge her desire for a new lover.
On the other hand despite her hedonistic attitude Venus had been both cunning and powerful enough to succeed where the black Knight of Betrayal had failed. Emiya Shirou was to all intents and purposes her slave now, every part of his immense power was at her disposal. How could one not respect her for such an achievement?
"So, is this the ritual that you two have been working on for all these centuries?"
Venus's voice was for the most part simply bored, but there was also a hint of curiosity there. Looking up from her own work the blonde Divine Ancestor saw that the rogue goddess had conjured up a chair, had her thrall sit on it and had sat herself in his lap.
"Indeed," the bi-hair coloured fallen divinity answered, "It's something that I stumbled across millennia ago but wasn't able to refine into a workable form until I gained Brynhildr's expertise with runecraft. In the past many fallen goddesses have tried to regain their lost Divinity by absorbing strength from mass human sacrifices. However more often that not all this does is draw the attention of some Devil King to them. In addition the increase they gain in power may place them closer to their original selves, but it's never a true restoration.
"You see while the power they gain may be sweet and potent it's ultimately corrosive as well. Such goddesses might regain as much as nine tenths of their lost power, but they also lose much of their rationality and become drunk upon the sudden rush of sacrificed life force. Not only that, such a huge quantity of human mana is a poor substitute for their original power. If they somehow manage to survive they'll find the power isn't fully compatible with them, even as they clutch and grasp at it it will slowly slip away because their core divinity isn't suited to holding it."
This was all information that Brynhildr was well aware of, indeed she'd helped in assembling the evidence that had led the pair of them to form their hypothesis as to why the attempts of Divine Ancestors to regain their divinity through mass sacrifices never seemed to work.
"However if a goddess can find a repository of her own old divine power, or that of a goddess that was compatible with her, then she can reach a point where she'll begin to heal her own reduced state. That is why there are goddesses such as honoured Athena. She had been reduced, but she still retains more than enough of her divinity that it in effect reinforces itself. It might not be growing due to the wound it had taken, but her divinity is completely stable.
"Of course just knowing that isn't enough. After all it's very rare for goddesses to leave caches of their divinity under any circumstances; I know I never did it when I was a full goddess. But then I got to thinking of one thing; where did my divinity go when I became what mortals call a Divine Ancestor?"
The elder of the two fallen goddesses ceased her work and stood up. As she brushed the dust from her elaborately ruffled sea-green dress she glanced up at Venus.
"For us Earth Mother goddesses that become the 'brides' of the gods of Steel that defeat us there is only one fate. To have our divinity sealed and to become the mortal brides of our conquerors. What I wished to know was just where that power was 'sealed'.
"As it turns out our divinity is returned to our legend when we are defeated however our minds and bodies remain in the mortal world. It is due to the wrench of losing so much of ourselves that the minds of such 'sealed' goddesses are left vulnerable and easily shaped. The natural dominance of the aspect of Steel combines with the Mother aspect of the goddess to shape her into a subservient wife for her defeater."
-()-
The final part of the explanation was spoken with clear venom and a bitterness that said louder than words that such an experience, such a violation, had been forced upon her.
Venus raised an eyebrow at that, as the goddess Ishtar she had been a Mother goddess herself, however her subsequent incarnation had taken her away from her origins and made her more a creature of beautiful lust than a mother of the earth. Others might have found the change to be a lowering of rank, but Venus had been content with it. As a goddess of love and beauty her responsibilities had been few and that had left her with far more time to pursue her pleasures than she would otherwise have had. Another welcome effect of it had been that she'd never had to worry about the heroes of Steel coming after her for battle. As a goddess of love she was the one that people came to when they wanted their feelings returned by the object of their passion. People prayed, wept and begged to her, but few had ever been those that would raise their hands against her.
"As soon as I learnt of where our divinities had been sealed I began my search for a means to once more access them," Andromeda continued as she began to inscribe a new set of symbols into the wall of the chamber. "However it is no small feat to access the realm of Legends from the realm of the mortals, and much to my chagrin I found that even if that obstacle could be overcome there was an even greater barrier to be dealt with.
"When a goddesses divinity is sealed that seal is formed from the power of the Steel that defeated her. Should she somehow return to her legend then she could undo the seal easily enough, but otherwise it's to all intents and purposes impossible. Even other gods on the plane of Legends would find it difficult since the trapped divinity essentially reinforces its own cage."
"Then what is the purpose of all this?" Venus asked as she waved at the chamber in general.
"With Brynhildr's help I was able to find a way by which the seal could be undone," the elder of the two Divine Ancestors replied, "The key is that we need to use the same power as the one that created the seal in the first place. That has always been the difficulty with this method; if Brynhildr wished to regain her power then we needed the power of Siegfried to undo his seal. If we wished to recover my power then we needs gain the power of Perseus.
"However in the last few years both of our targets have been vanquished by newly risen Devil Kings. We both made the same error when we learnt that the subjects of our hatreds had been vanquished, we both tricked deities that we'd learnt were in seclusion into attacking the God Slayers that we thought had robbed us of our rightful vengeance. My partner sent your husband against the slayer of Siegfried while I sent Hades against King Emiya. In both cases the gods we sent were slain and their power added to that of the new Kings."
Andromeda paused in her work to shake her head at her own actions.
"In truth it was a good thing that we both failed. Had we succeeded then our plans would have been ruined beyond any hope of salvage. It was only after the death of Hades that we realized that the power need not come from the god that made the seal himself. As long as the power was the same as that in the seal then it mattered not from whence it came.
"Each of the Kings that had slain the gods that had sealed us had gained an Authority from that same deity. That meant that they had the same power within them as that which made up the seal. Of course the problem was placing those Kings in a position where we could drain that power from them, no easy task given that the ritual is somewhat lengthy and easily disrupted.
"It was because of that that we chose to target the newest of the Kings first; we hoped that being the least experienced of the ones that we had to capture would make him the easier target. As it turned out though he's proved himself to be far from an easy mark, he slew our second ally, your former lover, and his capture has also cost us lord Apollo. Still, with your invaluable assistance we have been able to achieve what we sought."
Both the fallen goddesses were now on their feet and facing Venus where she sat on her new toy's lap.
"After this ritual is complete my full power will begin to return to me," Andromeda stated, "Once that has been done then the pact between us will be complete and you may do as you wish with your thrall. I shall aid Brynhildr and honoured Athena in the recovery of what they have lost, and thus shall we all be restored to what we once were."
The childish looking former goddess certainly had a gift for speeches, Venus thought absently. Her words were well thought out and delivered in a passionate tone that caught at the heart and moved the soul. Well, it would if she was a mortal anyway.
In all truth the Roman goddess of love didn't really care about what it was that they needed her toy for. The only reason that she'd consented to bring him here to take part in their ritual was to discharge the debt that she owed them for helping her remain concealed up to this point and for creating the diversion that had made his capture merely devilishly taxing rather than completely impossible.
Still she wished that they would hurry up with their preparations, what was the point of having this marvellous new toy if she couldn't play with it.
A thought occurred to her as she glanced about the room, where had Athena gone?
-()-
Illya sat at her desk and stared at the objects on her desk. A letter, a long slim box and a bottle, three simple objects and yet they seemed to exert a sort of personal gravity that refused to let her eyes wander from them.
It had been roughly three hours since her adopted brother had been spirited away by that . . . that witch. The young Einzbern felt her hands curl into fists once more as she thought of the harridan; the mere thought of the beautiful woman's actions was enough to enrage the white haired girl almost beyond reason. Still, right now she couldn't let that distract her; there were far more important things to worry about right now.
The first thing that she'd done as soon as she got back home had been to dig the letter that Shirou had given to her out from where she had stashed it in her large carved European style desk. It had still been where she'd left it, closed with a wax seal that bore a stylized 'S' upon it. That seal had been one of the gifts that had been sent to Shirou by some of the Russian agents that operated small businesses in the Tokyo area. She'd shown him how it worked and he'd taken to using it on his 'official' letters as a way of lending them a bit more gravitas.
Pulling herself out of her memories she'd broken the wax and hurriedly read what was inside.
Dear Illya,
If you're reading this then it means that I have somehow fallen under the influence of an outside party and am no longer in control of my actions.
As you know I have spent a considerable amount of time researching past Campione so as to have a better idea of what I've become. It was in the process of this research that I discovered a somewhat disturbing trend.
Many people regard Campione to be utterly beyond control. For the most part this is true; in the past such attempts have proven to be utterly disastrous for those that tried it. Supposedly one of the most advanced and powerful mage cults of the Roman Empire united in an effort to gain control over a young God Slayer that had only recently come into his power.
Pompeii was the result.
However despite this my own research showed that in the past it has been possible for a Campione to be controlled by either a god or one of their own. All that is required is the correct type of Authority. So far as I can determine there are several ways that a deity or God Slayer might control or influence a Campione.
The first is simply by driving them berserk. This is not an unknown Authority among many of the older war gods since in those ancient times it was not uncommon for warriors to abandon skill and reason entirely in exchange for pure mindless ferocity. There have been several accounts where a god might use such an effect on a Campione or where a Campione might use such an effect upon a god.
Another method by which a God Slayer might be controlled is through illusion and deception. Though a Campione's magic resistance can protect them it isn't impossible for their senses to be tampered with. In such cases a God Slayer might think that he or she is aiding a friend against an enemy based on what they see when in truth the reverse is what is happening.
The last method is perhaps the worst, the flat out alteration of the mind of the Campione. In legend there are many gods and goddesses that held such abilities, Aphrodite of the Greeks was one such example as she could make others fall in love as she saw fit and could use this to bring misery to her enemies. Other gods could inspire hate, loyalty, envy or a myriad of other emotions as they saw fit, and in the past such gods have used these Authorities to control mortals and even Campione.
I honestly hope that I'm simply being overcautious in my preparations, but to be honest I don't think that my luck is that good. So I have taken a few steps in preparation of the worst happening and one of these methods is used on me. In my room there are two hidden compartments that I made only a few days after we moved in, there are instructions on the other page that'll tell you how to find and open them. Please be careful, I was able to use a couple of drops of your blood from when you had that little accident in the kitchen to set up a basic Bounded Field over both of them. I know they're nowhere as elegant or sophisticated as the ones you can put up, but the knowledge I gained from Archer was enough for me to make them strong, if not complex.
Go get them now and before reading the rest of this letter, it'll be easier if you have them in front of you before we continue.
Illya followed the instructions and retrieved the two objects. In all truth she'd been rather proud of the fields that Shirou had managed to put up. Granted they'd been graceless and crude, but in spite of that they'd been infused with enough raw power that it had made up for their flaws quite neatly. A thief trying to pick their way through without her link to get them through would have had to be very careful unless they wanted to lose their hands, face and just about everything else above the waist.
Once she had removed the box and the bottle from their hiding places she returned to her room and continued to read the letter.
If I'm under someone else's control then it will probably fall to another Campione to do something about it, probably Godou since he's the nearest one. In the box is a sheaf of papers that detail everything I know about my Authorities and how they can be used in battle. I'm trusting you to be the one to determine if the situation is bad enough for it to merit giving up those secrets.
Of course I don't want them to have to kill me, that's why there's something else in that box, a Traced copy of Rule Breaker.
As soon as she'd read that line the snowy haired girl reached out and opened the box. As the letter had stated there was a small stack of papers in there that were covered with his handwriting. Underneath them was the jagged and iridescent dagger that she'd heard of. Even though Illya had never seen the Noble Phantasm of Caster herself Shirou had described it to her in considerable detail after she'd asked him how he'd been able to free Sakura from Angra Mainyu. She was well aware of its formidable ability to undo spells and contracts. Admittedly she wasn't sure of how it might measure up against the power of a deity's Authority, but given that it had already been able to break the bond of All the Evils in the World she felt justified in experiencing a surge of hope.
If I am being controlled by an Authority then I think there's a chance that it can be used to free me, however this is dependant upon which form of influence is being used on me.
If I'm caught in some sort of illusion then I think the odds would be fairly good. If my senses are being messed with then I probably wouldn't even be able to tell if this is being used on me since whoever is controlling me wouldn't know the significance of Rule Breaker and what it can do. With any luck by the time they do realize what it's capable of I'll already have been freed.
It's the other two methods that a more on the troublesome side. If I've been sent into some form of berserk fury then it will be purely dependant upon the nature of the Authority used on me. If I'm reduced to some sort of mindless and savage animal then there shouldn't be any trouble using it on me besides the obvious complications of battle. However there are a number of 'berserker' Authorities that do not rob one of one's senses, instead they simply remove inhibitions or heighten existing drives. Alternately I might be under some sort of control that leaves my intellect untouched but somehow leaves me the servant of another.
The problem with me if I'm under these forms of influence is that I'll have enough rationality to recognize Rule Breaker as a threat to me. In a situation like that I could simply eliminate it as a danger by willing it to return to simply being ambient Prana.
Simply put dealing with me in such a state isn't going to be easy. I'm sure that you will have the aid of Godou and his companions as well as Kaida and Manaka, however I feel that I can say with all humility that even if all of you came against me I'd be more than a match for you all if I held nothing back. The combination of Noble Phantasms and Authorities is too potent a mix, I may hold Kusanagi-san in some respect, but I feel that if I went all out on him it's unlikely he could win against me.
Quite simply you're going to need reinforcements, and that's where the bottle comes in.
The most obvious help to go to will be my fellow Campione, however I'd rather keep this confined to the Kings that I'm familiar with. As such after the Feast I got in touch with one of the heads of the Chinese circles that operate in the Tokyo area and obtained a pre-cast Daoist spell. That's what's in the bottle, a message I've already recorded and set to carry itself to both Luo Hao and John Pluto Smith. The message to them will explain the situation and ask them to aid you in subduing or defeating me. This will be my calling in the debt that they each said they owed me.
I'm hoping that they'll consent to letting you be the one to plan whatever course of action you choose to follow through in the end, but if that isn't the case then I hope that you can at least advise them as to what they can expect from me. I honestly can't imagine it as being the easiest or most pleasant task in the world, but I'm afraid you're stuck with it.
Now here's the hard bit, I want you to take care of yourself. If the worst comes to the worst and whoever I'm up against has to use lethal force against me I want you to promise that you won't interfere. I don't want to die, I want to live and go back to Sakura, but I realize that there's a chance it might come to that, to think otherwise would be childish.
Illya stared at the lines on the page as she felt a cold knot grow in her belly. Shirou had actually sat down and written that? She'd thought that he'd been making some progress in reaching a certain degree of 'normality' as opposed to his previously distorted state. She thought . . . oh, she didn't know what she'd thought, but then this came along.
Well to the pit with that. If Shirou thought she was going to simply sit back and let him die then he had another thing coming. She'd just have to . . .
Her train of thought came to a screeching halt as she read the next part of the letter.
If I know you at all then you're probably deciding to ignore what I've just asked you, but please do what I ask this one time.
I know from the memories I got from Archer's arm that you were dying when we first came to this world. All the things that the Einzbern family did to you to make sure that you were the best Master and Grail vessel that you could be left you with only a year or two at best. I didn't get it at first, the memories were there, but they were all so jumbled up that I couldn't put them together, that's why I didn't mention anything about it in the first few weeks we were here. After that, when I finally fully assimilated the new memories, I realized that you'd been able to recover and decided to just keep quiet about it so that you could go on as you wished.
You can live now Illya; you've spent almost your entire life being forced to live for others, for their wants and ambitions, to the point where you were going to be their sacrifice. Well now that's not the case. You've got your whole life ahead of you now and it's going to be as long as anyone else's could be. Please don't throw that away for me. My life may have been a bit battered and twisted, but I have been able to live it, you have been denied that chance. Don't throw it away.
The snowy haired girl actually felt tears start to sting her eyes as she read the last paragraph. Stupid, stupid onii-chan. How could he be so observant and so utterly dense at the same time? Of course she didn't want to throw her new life away, but what the lunkhead didn't get was that he was a part of that life. If she let him die so that she could preserve that life then it would be a hollow existence. Shirou was the only family that she truly loved that she had left.
Well she was going to have to be stubborn. He might ask her to accept that he might have to die but she wasn't going to have any of it. Aside from anything else it was just like when she'd rushed into that collapsing cave to save the dying Shirou.
She might not mention it, she might not act it and she might not even remember it on occasion, but she was the older sibling, and it was the duty of the older sibling to protect those that came afterwards. Shirou was the most precious person in her life; the only circumstances under which she'd even consider someone ending his life would be when they'd stepped over her cold dead corpse.
Intellectually she was well aware of how ridiculous a thought that was. Shirou was a God Slayer and was powerful in a way that she could never hope to equal. Yet despite that her heart wanted to protect him, to fight in his defence.
Well, this time she was well aware that she wouldn't be able to take the lead in the fighting, but if she was to be involved then she was going to do her best to make sure that her adopted brother came out of this alive.
Her mind made up she went back to reading the last part of the letter.
To send the messages all you have to do is unstopper the bottle. I suppose you could also just smash it if you're feeling frustrated, but then you've got all the glass shards to pick up, and I find that's more frustrating than any venting you might be able to get done.
As for getting in touch with Godou, well that shouldn't be too much of a problem for you after all you are fairly good friends with his sister. You shouldn't have any trouble accessing any of my resources to aid you either, I have left specific instructions with both Yusuke and Asuka to be of as much aid as they can if they're available and to have set things up so you can do it alone if they aren't.
My one recommendation is that you mustn't use the Gem Sword. As something created with my Authorities it would be as easy for me to dismiss as I could a Traced weapon, however if I did so then all the Prana I've stored in it would be uncontrollably released. I'm honestly not entirely sure of what would happen if that took place, but in the worst case scenario it might well be akin to a nuke going off.
After that the letter went on to detail a number of suggestions and warnings, but at that moment Illya couldn't seem to take them in. Her own mind was trying to figure out a way by which she could rescue Shirou.
She hadn't had much of a chance to observe him before he'd been taken last night, but judging from how he'd seemed oddly expressionless and how he'd reacted to the commands given to him by the harlot it probably meant that he was under mind control rather than being trapped in some sort of illusion. That made things extremely tricky since Rule Breaker was probably the surest way to free him but at the same time it was also the circumstances under which the Noble Phantasm would be most vulnerable.
She needed a plan, but she also needed allies. Reaching out she clasped the bottle in one hand and reached for the stopper with the other. She then paused for a moment as she weighed the potential consequences of calling upon the two Kings indebted to Shirou. Could she trust them to help? Could she trust them not to simply treat her adopted brother as they would a Heretic God? John Pluto Smith she was pretty sure of, but Luo Hao worried her.
That God Slayer seemed to crave a challenge far too much. Perhaps she'd relish the thought of fighting Shirou in his current state. Under that goddess's control he wouldn't hesitate or hold back, he might well come at any who stood against him with lethal intent and no reservations, wouldn't that be the sort of battle that the Chinese Campione longed for?
It was a hard choice, but in the end she did pull the stopper out. The Ruler of the Martial Realm had shown herself to be battle hungry and egotistical in a way that would have been considered lunacy in a normal person, but she had also shown herself to be honourable and concerned with her public image. With any luck those two factors would be enough to ensure that she wouldn't try to kill Shirou.
As the cork came out a sort of silver haze flowed out of it despite the lack of any wind currents. The haze divided itself into two flows and then seemed to vanish through the walls.
Right, the messages had been sent, she'd better start getting ready on what she'd be telling whoever answered the call.
-()-
Guinevere was in a state that could justifiably be called 'absolutely furious'. This could be deduced bit the fact that shortly after she'd returned to her manor she'd begun to break things through a combination of magic and physical violence.
She'd started out by blasting most of the furniture in her sitting and dining rooms into little more than kindling, however despite her anger she'd realized that if she kept on in that vein then before long she'd run out of furniture and most likely start on the manor house itself. Given that she didn't want to have to find another base of operations again so soon she'd managed to rein in her temper long enough to make it to the kitchen where the crockery shelves provided her with plenty of convenient breakable objects. As it turned out smashing plates on the floor was only slightly less cathartic than blasting sofas apart with magic.
The source of her ire was the Heretic Goddess that had abducted Sir Shirou. The Witch Queen had arrived at the train station just in time to see the glowing white form of the King of Steel's Pegasus depart at speeds she couldn't follow. Sensing that the divine power she had noted earlier had been riding with him Guinevere had decided to investigate what had happened. A few spells had rendered her invisible and undetectable so she could listen in on the aftermath of the brief confrontation between the rogue deity and the Campione's sister.
Given that everyone had been frantically trying to work out what had happened it hadn't been too hard for her to get the few facts available together. Some Heretic Goddess had shown up and had somehow managed to place Sir Shirou under her control. That had been enough to worry the Witch of Briton, having had more than her own fair share of dealings with the Devil Kings of the world over the past centuries Guinevere was well aware of how difficult it was to place one under one's sway. That this goddess had managed it spoke highly of her power.
Seeing that the building was nearing the point of collapse the Divine Ancestor had used several spells of her own devising to 'read' the left over signatures of divinity within the burning building. The spell was a complex and costly one, something that no single mortal could cast without risk to themselves, but for a former goddess such as herself it was well within her abilities. The vast majority of the structure had been suffused with flames that bore a distinctly masculine divine signature, but there were also a number of comparatively smaller signatures that felt feminine.
Another spell had reached out and took an 'imprint' of that signature. While it would have been preferable to find and contain one of the remaining tiny sparks of power left the circumstances were hardly ideal enough to allow her to accomplish such a difficult feat, the 'imprint' would have to do.
It had only taken her a few minutes of investigation to recognize the signature and hence the identity of the goddess. It had been that realization that had led her to being so enraged when she'd reached her current base.
Venus, why did it have to be that wretched harlot?
Of course Guinevere had encountered the Roman goddess of love and beauty before. It had been back when she had still been a full goddess and stood at Artus' side. In those long ago days Mordred had still been a loyal knight and one of the mightiest members of their company. Together with the other knights that had rallied to Artus' cause they had faced insane God Slayers and destructive gods, and it had been during that time that Mordred had introduced them to his lover.
Even as a full goddess the deity that had become Guinevere hadn't liked Venus. There was something to her, a quality that she couldn't quite put her finger on that seemed to be too . . . hungry to trust. Of course there had also been the way that the beautiful goddess had looked at Artus, there was no way that wouldn't have put the white Mother Goddess on edge. Her King had been a paragon of a god, an existence that seemed in some ways to surpass 'mere' divinity and reach into some higher realm. It had been that quality that had led her, a goddess of the Earth, to ally herself with a deity of Steel even though in many ways they were natural enemies.
Venus had also seen this aspect of the King of the End, but where the White Mother Goddess had felt loyalty and admiration for Artus Venus had instead felt lust and greed, it had been clear on her face to those that knew what to look for.
Yet despite her evident desire the Roman goddess had made no move upon the King of Briton, instead her passion with Mordred had grown more ardent.
The future Guinevere hadn't understood it at the time; however she had not really cared to. All that had been important to her was that the goddess of love and beauty hadn't set her sights upon Artus.
The Divine Ancestor Guinevere didn't have all the memories of her 'mother' of the great reign of Artus, the centuries and her two reincarnations had left her with sizeable holes in her recollections. However one thing that she did remember was that the seeds of treachery only appeared in Mordred after Venus's departure. Looking back the signs were almost blatantly obvious, the increased number of times he tried to outdo their King, the glances of jealousy slowly replacing looks of admiration, the increased violence of his fighting. Betrayal had never been a part of Mordred's make up before, Laran, Ares, Mars, they had all been gods of war with their flaws and vices, yet for all that they had been untouched by treachery.
Something had happened between him and Venus, something that had made him begin to compare himself to the King that he served. Guinevere didn't believe that the Roman goddess had deliberately done it or that she had intended the results, but the fact was that the Witch Queen was willing to gamble the Holy Grail itself on the fact that Venus had planted the seed that had led to Mordred's betrayal.
And now she had somehow taken control of Sir Shirou.
This was not good, not good at all. Putting aside the fact that she regarded the young God Slayer as a friendly acquaintance if not ally he was also her best lead so far in her quest to find and revive Artus. If he was spirited away by Venus then Guinevere would hardly be able to investigate the connection between him and her beloved King of the End would she?
Kusanagi Godou would most likely try to free his fellow King, but that depended on a number of factors. After all it was still unknown as to just what Venus wanted with Sir Shirou, perhaps she intended to use him as a weapon, or perhaps she simply sought him as a sort of challenge. Given her decadent nature it would be in keeping with her character for her to simply try to acquire the most powerful slave that she could.
There were also the questions of how she had managed to remain concealed up until now and why she had been working with Apollo? Neither of them had ever been very close and hiding from the spells that the Witch Queen had set up should have been far beyond the skills of Venus. She might be a goddess, but the subtle art of weaving magic and channelling forces had never been an interest of hers. Both those questions suggested the existence of further factors that had yet to reveal themselves. And those were the kind that could be the most dangerous.
The serving bowl in her hands paused in mid-swing as her foul mood began to subside. Rather than smashing it to the ground, where there were the smashed remains of a great deal of other crockery, Guinevere instead placed it on one of the work tops. With a wave of her hand a spell gathered up all the shards of porcelain and glass that littered the floor and brushed them into a tidy heap in the corner. With the way cleared before her she stepped out of the kitchen without having to worry about impaling herself through the soft slippers she wore.
She had to make preparations. Aside from her need of him as a lead in her investigations there was also the fact that she owed Sir Shirou her life from when he had saved her from Mordred and she owed him for the impossible spear that he'd gifted her with. If she were to leave him to languish in thrall to Venus it would be very poor payment.
The thought that if she did rescue him then he might praise her and embrace her and . . . well, anything else, was firmly suppressed and ignored.
Doing her best to fight down a rising blush the Witch Queen of Briton began her preparations.
-()-
Athena was back on the roof once more. From her vantage point she could gaze down into Kusanagi Godou's room, since he'd forgotten to lower the blinds, and watch him lying on his bed.
All in all she was quite happy with how the night had gone. The other Campione had been secured and would soon be used to complete the ritual that would return Andromeda to her full power, Venus was too distracted with her new toy to bother her and, best of all, her beloved prey had not only emerged victorious but he had also gained a new Authority.
The one time Queen of the Dark Realm had watched the battle between the seventh Campione and Apollo from a distance so as not to give away her presence. From there she had observed as the site of the fight had been changed and then as the tide of the battle had shifted back and forth between them.
Apollo had been as deadly as she had feared, however his desire for the kill had been offset by his nature as a performer. Several times in the battle his foolishness in pausing to speak had allowed Godou the opportunity to retake the initiative. Of course there was also the fact that the Seventh King had not fought alone, his servants had joined him on the battlefield and granted him the means by which to snatch victory from defeat.
Still, despite some of the errors he'd made in his battle her prey had made satisfactory progress in honing his fangs. He was growing more comfortable in his ability to merge his Authorities. His notion of merging his lightning Authority with the blade of a storm god had been inspired and the results had been admirably potent. With each battle Godou was growing in power, becoming a fitting foe for her once she regained her lost completeness.
"Back again? Really Athena, if the boy so fascinates you then you should really do something about it. This act of stalking him as though he were some wild buck to be slain with arrows is more what I'd have expected from Diana than I would from you."
Any peaceful calm that the childlike goddess might have been feeling vanished like mist before a summer sun.
"Venus," though her voice was soft there was iron in it, very cold iron, "What brings you here? It is unlike you to leave one of your conquests so soon."
"Well, they said that he had to stay in that circle for a few hours so that it could become attuned to him. They also said that I couldn't have any fun with him while it took place because it would disrupt the tuning. I got bored, so I made sure that he had some food and water and then came to see what you were doing."
The Roman Goddess's face took on a look of somewhat malicious curiosity.
"So tell me, have you made up your mind as to what it is that you want from the young King yet? Are you sure that you wouldn't like for me to . . . intervene on your behalf?"
The fallen goddess of earth and darkness was careful to keep a rein on her temper this time. When last they'd met she'd allowed the younger goddess's words to rattle her, this time she intended to maintain her poise and not let herself be flustered.
"I need none of your aid in dealing with my prey Venus," Athena retorted calmly, "Indeed of what aid could you be to me at this time? Is not all of your strength currently invested in the controlling of the Devil King you have in thrall? Are you so arrogant as to believe that you could place two God Slayers beneath your sway?"
That seemed to stab at Venus's ego. Her lovely features gained just a hint of chagrin before she regained her composure and smoothed them out once more.
"Perhaps most my Authorities are indeed solely invested upon Emiya Shirou," She admitted, "However do not think me without resources Athena; I still retain some powers in waiting for when I need them."
As she spoke those words she ran a single finger over the length of the sash that was tied about her waist. In response to her touch the cloth rippled and altered, it gained a golden sheen and a metallic cast. In moments the sash was replaced by a golden Girdle.
The sight of the new piece of clothing was enough to make Athena take an involuntary step back. This was an Authority that Venus had gained during her incarnation as the Greek goddess Aphrodite. The Golden Girdle was a tool that magnified her own sensual presence to the point where it could even overwhelm her fellow deities. With it the goddess had almost succeeded in persuading Zeus, the ruling king of the pantheon, to set his wife aside and take her in her place. In the end only Hera's swift engagement of the beautiful newcomer to her deformed son Hephaestus had kept this from happening.
The only problem with the powerful Authority was that it was not an Authority suited for combat since its effects started slowly and then grew in potency over time. In addition the Golden Girdle was in many ways a physical manifestation of the very core of Venus's power and identity. It might grant her near irresistible allure, but to use it also left her vulnerable in a way that mortals couldn't truly comprehend.
Athena felt the power of the Authority running along the edges of her awareness, thoughts of how beautiful the goddess before her looked and whispers of how she could aid her in seducing Kusanagi Godou. To any mortal it would have been beyond even the thought of resistance, but Athena was a deity of wisdom and thought and as such her mental defences were easily strong enough to keep her from being swept away for the time being.
In response to her wishes her scythe appeared in her hands as she settled into a relaxed but ready stance.
"Do you really wish to use your power against me here and now?" she asked allowing some of her anger to slip into her tone. "With most of your strength caught up in King Emiya do you wish to gamble it all upon your Girdle? I am permitted to protect myself from you, but the oath you have taken prevents you from calling back your Authorities from your captive so long as he is needed for the ritual of our allies.
"And also think of where it is that we stand. We are barely more than a spear's throw away from where another of the Devil Kings sleeps, do you wish to rouse him and his ire should we clash here so close to him? I have confidence in my own ability to escape his wrath; can you say the same thing?"
There was now tension crackling between them, a sense of barely contained aggression. This time though the advantage unquestionably belonged to Athena, weakened though she might be she was undoubtedly the stronger warrior of the two, and with Venus's Authorities largely tied up it became a simple question of the power of her Girdle against the child like goddess's will.
The odds were not good for the Roman deity, while her Golden Girdle was a powerful Authority its power was best employed in conjunction with her other Authorities rather than alone. Yet at the same time the goddess of love and beauty refused to back down, Athena could see it in her eyes, her pride would not allow it. Instead she was quite obviously readying her stores of power and preparing to channel it to her Authority.
Athena on the other hand was thinking furiously despite her calm outward appearance. Under these circumstances she could indeed slay the other goddess. Her will was certainly strong enough to protect her from the enthralling power of the golden Girdle for the time it would take her to slay Venus. The problem was that if she did then she'd be sabotaging the efforts of her allies to regain their own lost divinity. Certainly she was within her rights to slay the arrogant Roman, it would not stain her word or honour to do so, but was it the wisest option available to her?
She was a goddess of many things, but one of the few aspects of the lesser self that had come to be after Zeus had taken her throne and reduced her to his daughter had been her excellence in matters of strategy and warfare. As her original self such things as tactics and long term planning had been almost foreign concepts to her. She had been wise, gifted with all the womanly wisdom of a mother goddess of the Earth, but in combat she had been more of an elemental than a warrior. She had simply thought to crush all who opposed her beneath the dark juggernaut of her power. However when she had been reduced she had also been civilized in a way. Her thinking and planning had grown more sophisticated and complex until she had been the goddess of all crafts, including the arts of war.
It was to that aspect of herself that she now turned as she weighed the gains and losses that would be incurred by her slaying Venus.
On the one hand there was the simple pleasure that she'd derive from slicing the arrogant divinity's head off. There was also the elimination of a threat, since it was becoming clear that the Roman deity seemed to receive a certain enjoyment from tormenting the fallen queen of darkness. In time and with the full use of her newly gained slave that might lead her to try to harm or slay Athena in the future.
On the other hand killing her here would be devastating to her allies, as soon as the Roman deity died her hold on Emiya Shirou would vanish and he would return to his full senses in the middle of their base of operation with them right next to him. Even if the pair of Divine Ancestors were to survive they would almost certainly lose all the resources they had stored in those caves as well as the chance to use him in their ritual.
And these were not allies that she was eager to lose; in the time that they'd been working together she had been secretly quite impressed by the level of competence that they'd both demonstrated in their efforts. Though their power was much reduced from that of their original selves they had none the less honed their skills and learnt how to employ what they had to the maximum effect. They had also gained obscure knowledge and devised strange arts. The ritual that had allowed Apollo to return to the mortal plane early was an excellent example.
Was momentary satisfaction worth the loss of those allies? Was her pride more important to her than one of the best chances to recover what she'd lost since the Gorgoneion?
With an effort of will that made her grimace internally Athena allowed her scythe to fade away as she relaxed her combat stance. She could still feel the power of the Girdle licking at the edges of her awareness, but the urgency, the aggression, seemed to have gone out of it.
"A confrontation here would not serve either of us in any useful fashion." The white haired goddess said in a calm and quiet voice.
"It would be rather dull to simply settle things right here." Venus agreed as the Golden Girdle faded from around her waist.
The two divinities stood in silence as their gazes locked like crossed swords. Then, with some unspoken agreement, both faded from the roof.
-()-
It was now late morning, very nearly early afternoon in fact, but Illya had to say that Kusanagi Godou looked as though he were about ready to stumble back into bed.
The snow haired girl supposed that she could understand that, last night had been . . . fraught, to say the least, and she doubted that he'd been able to get a good nights sleep when he got back home. Certainly not after learning that not only was there another Heretic deity on the loose but they had somehow managed to get his fellow King under their control. Not a recipe that made for a good night's sleep.
With him were the girls that made up his 'harem', as she thought of them in the privacy of her mind. The two western mage knights looked only slightly less harried than their King, but Ena and Yuri looked to be in better shape, but even so they looked to be tired. It would seem that the younger of the Mariya sisters wasn't present, a fact that Illya was somewhat grateful for since though she might be capable the young Hime-Miko was still unprepared for the battlefield.
It was the other occupant of the room though that most weighed on her mind though.
"It would seem that now is not the best time for my sworn brother and his allies to be attending this council of war. Perhaps we should see to their refreshment before we proceed further."
Reclining in an armchair with as much dignity as if it were a solid gold emperor's throne Luo Hao, the Ruler of the Martial Realm, voiced her opinion before delicately taking a sip of the tea that Asuka had provided for her. By her side stood her pupil, Lu Yinghua, who was also enjoying a cup of tea.
In all honesty Illya hadn't been expecting nearly so prompt a response from the Chinese Campione as she had received, but she couldn't really complain. Though the beautiful Campione might be . . . difficult to deal with her presence did lend them a huge boost in 'firepower' in the event of a confrontation.
(-)
Flashback to the arrival of Luo Hao.
Once again there had been not a single indication of her arrival until the last instant. The alarm in her head had gone off at the same time as the miniature cyclone of flower petals appeared in the main entrance to the manor. Even as the swirl faded away to reveal the figures of Luo Hao and her student Illya made a mental note to spend some time trying to improve the wards around the house once this was all over.
"Ah, Illyasviel Von Einzbern," the female Campione said as she locked her gaze upon the young magus. "Under normal circumstances it would be inappropriate for you to address me without first allowing you brother to introduce you once more, however given the current circumstances I believe I can be gracious enough to make an exception on this occasion."
Remarkable, her brother's sempai had managed to insult and belittle her without a single trace of malicious intent; indeed she thought she was being generous and magnanimous.
End Flashback.
(-)
Kusanagi Godou had arrived about an hour or so after Luo Cuilian, but given that that time included however long it took for him to get dressed, his travel time to reach the manor was pretty good. Since then she'd brought them to the hastily prepared 'war room' that she'd set up in one of the spare offices and had briefed them on what she knew of the situation.
The problem was that despite his best efforts the seventh Campione kept on losing his train of thought due to his exhaustion. He was trying, she'd give him that, but it would seem that even the enhanced vitality of a God Slayer was having trouble coping with healing his wounds and dealing with his lack of sleep.
It was this that Luo Hao had been commenting on.
"Agreed your Eminence," Illya said as she nodded her head. "I think I'll ask Asuka to provide us with a pot of her famous Phoenix coffee."
"Oh? I have not heard of this beverage, is it as fine as your cook's other creations?"
"Actually it tastes pretty awful," The Einzbern heir admitted with a small smile, "The thing is though that even though it burns your throat a bit it's got enough of a kick that you'd think it would bring the dead back to life. That's why we call it Phoenix coffee."
The Ruler of the Martial Realm seemed to give this some thought and then shook her head.
"Perhaps some other time, at this moment such a crude method of revival is hardly worthy of a King. Allow this Luo Hao to demonstrate a method suitable for a Devil King."
As she spoke she raised one hand as though holding something and intoned some spell words.
"Maiden that dwells within the orchard, tricked and stolen, changed and returned. The blessing that even the gods do crave is mine to grant, mine to keep, mine to use."
As the last word was spoken a golden globe of energy appeared in her hand. In only a second or two it had moulded itself into the form of an apple, one complete with stalk and a couple of leafs still attached. As the warm light it radiated fell over Godou and his companions Illya could practically see the tiredness draining out of them and being replaced with vitality. The bags under Godou's eyes faded, the slump went out of Erica and Liliana's shoulders, even the snowy haired girl herself felt re-energized, as though she had just gotten a few hours sleep injected into her.
"There, now we may proceed without fatigue hampering your efforts. Be sure to thank me suitably for my magnanimous aid."
Illya really didn't get it. That absolute self certainty in her personal superiority should have made for a hateful personality, one that was easy to loathe. Instead, even though she did find the elder King's attitude grating and irritating, she found that she couldn't dislike the Campione herself. For all her annoying qualities Luo Hao's simple lack of any malicious intent as well as her regal bearing was likeable. She recalled how Shirou had tried to explain how he found the Chinese Campione to be a fairly pleasant company despite her odd attitude and wondered if this was how it was for him.
"W-Whoa, that's a really useful Authority to have Nee-san." Godou commented as he straightened up all signs of tiredness now gone.
"It is of minimal use in a battle," the older Campione stated as she waved off his comment, "Now let us be about the more important matter that we now face."
"Agreed, thanks to her Eminence's excellent aid we are all now in much better shape to handle what we're up against." Illya said as she reached for the photocopies of the papers Shirou had left her. "Onii-chan left me these and told me to ensure that any that came to aid in this crisis would be fully informed as to what he was capable of."
"Most impressive," Luo Hao commented as she read down the list of Authorities and their descriptions that had been provided to her. "I was aware that King Shirou had fought and slain an unusually high number of Heretic Gods for one so new to his station, but I had not thought that he had usurped such a wide variety of Authorities as well."
The members of Godou's 'harem' were reading their own copies of the documents and Liliana was the first to speak her opinion.
"If I had to make a decision I'd say that this Authority called the Bloodstained Fields is the one to be most concerned about him using."
"Why that one?" her King asked as he looked up from his own copy of the files.
"Many of the others are strong, but the Bloodstained Fields give him the greatest advantage in a battle of attrition. The longer the battle goes on the more likely it is to rob his enemies of reason while he can use the harvest that the fields produce to heal himself and to retain his own rationality."
"An excellent analysis." Luo Hao declared with an approving nod of her head. "Such an Authority is among the most troublesome to contend with as they tend to slant the situation in their wielder's favour. That this one attacks the mind and rationality is particularly irritating."
"As I understand it is not one of King Godou's Authorities capable of severing a Divinity?" Illya asked, "If that is the case then couldn't it be used to seal up the Bloodstained Fields before they can become too much of a problem?"
"Perhaps," Erica allowed as she leaned against Godou's side in a way that 'coincidently' pressed her chest against his arm, "But there are a number of other dangerous Authorities here that might also require the Golden Sword to bring them down. Both this 'Titan Knight' and 'Curses without End' are powerful Authorities which shouldn't be underestimated if what's written here is anything to go by."
"What of the monsters that King Shirou has already created using that Authority?" Liliana asked as she flipped back to the relevant page, "If we are forced to face him will we also be facing them? If that is the case wouldn't it be more prudent to destroy them now while they're in their dormant state?"
"I don't think so," Illya replied, "One of the safety precautions that Shirou took was that if one of them was destroyed while they were dormant without him giving the correct command then all the rest would immediately wake up. It was meant to ensure that if some hostile force did manage to infiltrate the grounds then they couldn't destroy our last card without setting it off in their faces and alerting us.
"I'm not too sure that they'll be a problem though, they have to be close to where he is for him to contact them mentally. I think that as long as the fight doesn't take place anywhere too near to here then he probably won't be able to use them."
"What about creating new ones?" asked Ena, "It says here that Shirou-sama can form new monsters with his Authority, but that doing so will leave him incapacitated. How long would that be for?"
"That depends on how strong the monsters he makes are, but anything that would be of significance to a Heretic God or a Campione would probably leave him incapacitated for a day or so." the eighth Campione's adopted sister replied, "I think us fighting the monsters will depend on how much of his independent thinking he has despite the mind control and on what orders he's given. If they say 'destroy them' then I think he'd just attack straight out. But if they say something like 'prepare yourself as best you can because in a week you shall fight your fellow Campione' then he might use the time to create some monsters to aid him."
"King Shirou has written here of a trump card that we may use to release him from whatever Authority has him in thrall," Luo Hao spoke as soon as Illya had finished her statement, "Show this to us now, it would be best that we know what we are working with before we enter the battlefield."
Gritting her teeth in barely restrained frustration the homunculus hybrid reached down to open a drawer in the cabinet next to her and took out the long box that contained Rule Breaker. She had of course intended to show it to them; she'd just been intending to wait for them to complete their analysis of Shirou's Authorities before doing so. There was no reason not to do it now, yet the fact that she was being directed rather than following her own plan irked her.
Still, she wasn't about to disrupt things simply because she was thrown off from her pace. Drawing the strange iridescent blade from the box she placed it on the table before her and opened her mouth to explain its properties.
"Ah, I have seen this weapon before," Luo Hao commented before she could even say one word, "King Shirou utilized it to break the enchantment upon the cave that we were both locked in by the Monkey King. Will it be able to likewise destroy the enchantment upon him?"
"Yes," Illya confirmed, making sure that her irritation at being cut off once more didn't show itself in her tone, "This is Rule Breaker, the dagger given to Medea of Colchis by the gods of that time. It's totally unsuited for any sort of combat, but its ability allows it to undo any form of magic by returning them to a state of 'before they were made'. In many ways it can be regarded as the ultimate anti-magic weapon. The problem is that neither Shirou nor I know how it will function against an Authority. Your Eminence, you said that it was able to dispel one of the magics of Sun Wukong?"
"Indeed," the Ruler of the Martial Realm confirmed, "As soon as King Shirou stabbed it into a crack in the cave wall the enchantments upon the cavern were immediately dissipated."
"That . . . that is good to know," The snow haired magus commented as she tilted her head slightly, "If it is capable of dispelling a Divine magic then the chances that it can work on an Authority improve considerably."
"Then our strategy shall be simplicity itself!" Luo Cuilian declared as she stood up, "I shall subdue the ensorcelled King Shirou with my martial splendour while my sworn brother shall deal with the goddess that is so foolish as to enslave a King."
She said it with the absolute certainty of one that felt they had simply voiced a foregone conclusion. Illya's mind flashed back to the Feast of Kings when the Chinese Campione had voiced her desire to seek defeat. It would seem that on this occasion she'd decided to seek victory instead, and having made that decision she felt that the outcome was completely inevitable.
However before she could voice her reply there came a knocking at the door. Walking over to it she opened it to find Yusuke standing there with an envelope in his hands.
"I'm sorry to disturb you Illya-chan," he said as he held out the letter to her, "This was just delivered to one of the staff at the door by . . . by a fairy."
". . . what?" Illya's voice was as flat as a sheet of glass.
"I know it sounds ridiculous," The undead accountant acknowledged, "But that's what Carmada-san says happened. He was just returning from getting the final report from the Committee on Kusanagi-sama's battle with the Heretic God he faced and as he came through the gate a fairy appeared to him and gave him this letter that's addressed to you."
Glancing down at the envelope she saw that her name was indeed written on it in neat crisp letters. That left the question as to just why a fairy of all things would be-
Wait . . . a fairy, that sparked a memory of a conversation that she'd had with Shirou shortly after the Feast of Kings. She'd been asking for a bit more information about the Campione that had saved her, Godou and the rest of their party during the mess with Sun Wukong and he'd given her one of the files that he'd compiled on his fellow Campione. She'd been more interested in reading about his past exploits, but she had skimmed over the known Authorities of John Pluto Smith. While his Metamorphosis and Artemis Arrows were his most famed Authorities he was also known to possess another, less known, one. Its name was-
"Mastery of Faerie." She muttered as she took the letter in her hands and opened it.
The note within was fairly short, but it was to the point.
To Illyasviel Von Einzbern,
I fear that I will not be of much help to you in this current crisis unless whichever goddess has King Shirou under her thrall waits several days before making her move.
I am unable to depart to aid you at this time due to the current crisis here in America. A cult has taken a number of young maidens captive and seeks to use them as sacrifices to hasten the descent of the god Malsumis. The situation requires my aid due to the cultists having a number of divine beasts as their allies.
As soon as the situation is resolved I shall make every effort to come to your aid; however the Authority that allows me to send this message to you doesn't allow me to make the trip as easily myself. Consequently I'll need to use mortal transportation to reach you, and I fear that will not be swift enough.
I do apologise for the situation; I only hope that I can resolve the crisis here in time to be of aid to you and King Shirou.
Illya tried not to feel betrayed. She'd been aware intellectually that the other Campione wouldn't simply be waiting and doing nothing, but emotionally she'd expected both the Kings that owed her brother personal debts to respond. Instead she tried to focus on something else. Idly she noted that the message sounded oddly sincere for the seemingly . . . overdramatic man that she'd observed in their previous meetings.
No, she mustn't let her mind wander; she had to stay focused on the situation at hand.
This altered things considerably; she'd been hoping to field an overwhelming advantage against Shirou and that goddess by having three Campione to use against them. Two kings might still be a huge force, but she was also well aware of what her adoptive brother could do.
"Who was that?" Erica enquired.
"It was Yusuke; we've just received a reply from John Pluto Smith. It seems he won't be able to join us due to some cult trying to sacrifice innocents to raise a god. He says that he'll try to join us once the situation is under control, but that might take some time."
"There is no need for concern," Lou Hao declared from her chair where she had once more settled herself, "Between myself and my sworn brother there should be little difficulty in subduing King Shirou and the goddess-"
"Shirou's more dangerous than you know. If you go against him with that attitude he'll kill you."
As soon as the words were out of her mouth Illya wanted to snatch them back. This was not going to be easy.
-()-
Luo Hao allowed a frown to crease her forehead as she stared at the impudent young girl that had just been so ill mannered as to dare to cut her off with her absurd declaration. Internally the Ruler of the Martial Realm reminded herself that this was the adopted sister to one of her fellow Kings and as such could not be treated as just another one of the masses. No doubt she was distraught by the fate that had befallen her adopted brother, but even that didn't account for her outrageous claim.
"Explain your reasoning behind that statement," she ordered, "While I will fully acknowledge that Emiya Shirou is a fine young King and one able to match me in contest not merely once but thrice I do not understand how you can claim him to be such a grave threat."
She watched as frustration and indecision chased each other across the girl's features before she slumped slightly in place.
"Shirou's greatest strength isn't his Authorities, it's his magic."
That . . . made no sense. The entire nature of Authorities was that they were divine powers that surpassed anything mortal magic was capable of. With even a single weak Authority a Campione could easily overwhelm even ancient Sages, so what could the eighth Campione's sister possibly mean?
Her confusion was apparently shared by most of the others in the room because her sworn brother's companions were also likewise perplexed by the declaration.
"You've seen Shirou's ability to create weapons haven't you your Eminence?" At a nod from the King in question the young girl continued. "There's much more to that ability than first meets the eye. Shirou can immediately comprehend all aspects of any weapon that he sees and then replicate them with his magic, he calls it 'Tracing'."
"That sounds like a formidable ability, but I can do something similar with my own Iron Alchemy," Erica Blandelli said, "I don't see how that could be greater than an Authority."
"Shirou doesn't just copy their forms," Illyasviel answered leaning forward in her chair, "He recreates their powers, he recreates their unique traits, he even recreates their entire history. Tracing allows him to use any weapon that he's ever seen with the same level of proficiency as their original owners. I can promise you that those swords you and Liliana-san wield, if he chooses to Shirou can recreate them and use them just as well."
The Ruler of the Martial Realm was beginning to understand why the young mage regarded her adopted brother's ability as so formidable. Both of the Knights that served her sworn brother were formidable and for one to be able to perfectly emulate their skills with but a glance . . .
"The thing is that Tracing on its own isn't enough to equal an Authority, it's when you combine it with other things that it gets dangerous.
"The first thing is that for normal mages the costs of Tracing are high, the more powerful the weapon then the higher the cost. Before becoming a Campione Shirou was much more limited in how many weapons he could Trace, now though he's got the reserves to fully take advantage of it.
"Another thing is that he can only Trace weapons he's seen before, that would normally mean that he'd not have seen many weapons that are truly formidable apart from the swords of Erica-san and Liliana-san and the weapons of the gods he's fought. But during-"
"Hold one moment!" Luo Hao snapped as she held up a palm, "He can even recreate the weapons of gods?"
"As long as it's not beyond his understanding he can recreate any weapon he sees regardless of its origin. He could probably Trace the Ruyi Jingu Bang and wield it with all the skill of its original owner if he so wished. The same goes for the swords of Perseus and Hades. However that's not the main problem."
She paused for a moment and she looked up at both the Kings with an odd look in her eyes.
"Your Eminence, King Godou, do you both find the gifts that Shirou gave you after the Feast to be worthy?"
"Umm, yeah." The seventh Campione replied hesitantly, "I haven't had a chance to use it yet, but I can feel that there's lots of power in it. It's a bit like an Authority actually."
Luo Hao was much less unsure in her own response.
"It is the finest weapon that I have had the pleasure of wielding in all the years of my life!" She declared, "In all aspects its perfection surpasses even the weapons I can myself form using my Daoist mastery. And not only is it ideal, it is also strong enough to survive clashing with a divine beast without breaking and it serves to bolster my own strength with its own if I synchronize myself with it. Of all the gifts I have ever received King Shirou's is without doubt the most magnificent."
"So you would both say that the weapons my brother gifted to you are powerful? That they are not insignificant even when compared to an Authority?"
That gave the Chinese King pause. It was true that the Ji that had been gifted to her was unlike any weapon that she'd ever had the pleasure of wielding before and its ability to lend her further strength and speed when she employed it correctly was beyond anything she had expected. It was an arm that she could confidently bring into battle with foes of her own calibre without having to fear its destruction due to the forces levelled against it. In the past century the only such weapons she could find had been the ones that she'd made through her own magic.
Yes, it wouldn't be incorrect to say that the gift the King of Steel had given her was at least on par with a minor Authority.
As she silently nodded her head in agreement to Illyasviel's statement her sworn brother also spoke up.
"Well . . . yes, I think it is."
There was a pause as the white haired young girl looked at them all.
"Those weapons are called Noble Phantasms; they're a breed of weapons that are formed from the crystallized legends of heroes. Those that you hold are ones that Shirou recreated so as to give them to you as gifts. They're fine weapons, arms wielded by great heroes of the past.
"Shirou can Trace thousands of them. And every single one of them he can use as skilfully as their original owner and some of them surpass even the power of Authorities."
There was another moment of silence as Luo Hao and the others in the room took a moment to digest what they'd just heard.
Thousands? King Shirou could form thousands of them? Weapons as fine as the Ji called Houtengeki that he had given her?
"But . . . but how can he have so many?" The voice of the brown haired Hime-Miko that served Godou was hesitant, as though she feared to offend those present by breaking the tense silence.
"There was a huge mess when me and onii-chan first met," Illyasviel said as she once more slumped into her chair. "At the time I was only just realizing that I didn't hate him, there was a ritual involved that my family had set up years ago that had been altered in about the worst way possible as well as family rivals interfering. The entire situation nearly got us both killed several times and Shirou ended up being implanted with a . . . well, I suppose you could call it a store of information in physical form. At the time it was the best thing we could do, but when he unlocked it later it started to slowly kill him."
Her words caught in her throat for a moment and the Ruler of the Martial Realm paid close attention to her face. Quite clearly she was telling them the truth, those emotions couldn't be falsified so perfectly that they could slip past Luo Hao's expert eye; however it was equally clear that she wasn't telling them everything. Well, that was to be expected given the mysteries that enshrouded the origins of the eighth Campione and his adopted sister.
"In the end Onii-chan was able to survive by becoming a Campione; doing so integrated the store of knowledge into him and healed all the damage it had caused. However once it was a part of him it . . . reacted with other qualities of Shirou's and he was able to access all the recorded Noble Phantasms within it. I honestly can't even guess at how many he might have access to, thousands, tens of thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands."
"But how can King Emiya Shirou hold such knowledge in his mind? Surely he can't simply remember them all, not so many."
Liliana's question drew a sort of twitching flinch from their host. Luo Cuilian wondered if perhaps she'd accidentally touched on a subject that young Illyasviel would have preferred to have remained silent upon.
"Shirou . . . has the beginnings of a . . . magic in him," the young snow haired mage said haltingly. Once again the Chinese King could sense see her honesty yet she could also see that whatever she said wouldn't be the whole truth. "It's a very rare, very dangerous magic, so much so that human practioners are even rarer than Campione."
"B-But Campione are extremely rare," objected the pale haired Italian Knight, "Even if there are an unusual number at this point there can't be more than five hundred in all recorded history."
"In all of history no more than six humans have ever fully realized a Reality Marble," the young Von Einzbern replied, her tone oddly flat and yet compelling, "Reality Marbles are inhuman powers that mankind cannot use under normal circumstances, regardless of how powerful or knowledgeable they are. The simple fact that they are humans means that it's beyond their reach.
"Shirou is an utterly unique case and even so his Reality Marble isn't complete. For now he simply uses it to analyse and record every weapon and defensive armament he encounters. Given its pretty much infinite storage capacity Shirou can sidestep the issue of remembering the weapons he sees by simply storing them in his Reality Marble and then accessing them later."
"What is a . . . Reality Marble?" the blonde haired Mage Knight asked, voicing the question that Luo Hao herself had just been about to ask.
"That's not important; if you're still curious after this mess is over I can sit you down for a three hour lecture on them if you want. What is important is that due to all these factors coming together Onii-chan has access to huge numbers of weapons, the reserves to Trace them and the skills to use them. Do you understand? I'm talking about weapons that can split mountains and slay dragons. Some of his weapons can warp the world to overturn the simple laws of cause and effect or even time itself. He's basically got thousands of Authorities at his command and if he's being controlled as tightly as I fear then he'll be more than willing to use them."
In the silence that followed that daunting pronouncement the Ruler of the Martial Realm allowed her mind to drift back to when she'd first received her fellow King's message.
(-)
Flashback to Earlier That Day.
Luo Hao had been going through some spear forms with the magnificent gift that she'd received at the Feast of Kings on one of her practice yards when the message arrived. Indeed when the small tendril of silvery mist had come darting towards her she'd almost lashed out at it due to pure reflex.
Fortunately she'd been able to bring her stroke up short just in time as soon as she'd been able to recognize the nature of the spell. Somewhat curious as to who would send her such a missive she'd shouldered her weapon and waited for the spell to deliver its message.
"Greetings your Eminence," the voice that issued from the spell was immediately recognizable as that of King Emiya Shirou. She wondered what had led her fellow God Slayer to get in touch with her in this fashion.
"If you are hearing this message then it means that a dire situation has arisen in Japan and I must entreat you to lend your strength to my sister and King Godou."
The Ruler of the Martial Realm's eyes narrowed as she looked at the spell mist. That had an unpleasant note to it, and it also quite blatantly did not mention the eighth Campione himself. Was this some spell meant to be sent to her in the event that a god should slay her esteemed ally? No, she had seen and felt the prowess of her fellow Rakshasa Raja, surely any battle that could slay him was one that would have shaken the earth and heavens. Besides, it didn't feel 'right' to her that King Shirou would fall so soon after rising. In the past she had seen some young God Slayers grow drunk upon their power and fall into complacency, which inevitably led to their deaths, but she had seen none of that in the newly named King of Steel. No, he hadn't died, of that she was sure, so then why . . .
All this went through her mind in a flash; however it was brought to a stop by the next words that were spoken by the spell.
"The threat that they face will be me. I have prepared this message to be sent to you in the eventuality that I fall under the influence or control of a Heretic God or a fellow Campione with ill intent. Since you are hearing this message it must mean that this has taken place and so I ask that you aid my sister and my allies in doing what is needed."
Ah, that explained the tone of the message's opening. The last daughter of the Lou family felt a knot of anger begin to form in her stomach at the thought of her young ally being subjugated by a rogue deity. He was a King, a Supreme Ruler just as she was, for him to be in thrall to another was an insult to all that held the rank of King. After she had aided in his liberation she would have to chastise him most stringently for his lapse in conduct. Certainly he was new to his reign and power but even so she supposed it was her duty as his senior to properly castigate him.
"It is my dear hope that you will be able to answer my call for aid," continued the message, "Due to your formidable reputation the appearance of Heretic Gods has grown somewhat less frequent in China so I hope that no other commitments will prevent you from coming."
Of course not. Any Heretic Gods foolish enough to show themselves in her territory generally didn't survive for more than a day before she tracked them down with her huge network of spells and agents. As for rogue mages and the like . . . well, given how she'd made examples of the first to rouse her ire they were never much of a problem.
"However I also have a personal request for you Sempai, one that I ask you to keep secret from my sister and my allies."
Oh? What was this? Did he have some request that she might take steps to ease the impact to his ego and image? If so then she was somewhat disappointed in him for being concerned over such a thing he could not protect himself. Granted Luo Hao might prize her own reputation above even her life, but she defended it with her own actions, she didn't ask others to protect it for her.
"My sister loves me and Godou is a good guy, he's a determined fighter but there isn't much of a killer in him despite the fact that he's become a Campione. My request to you is that if it seems that I'll cross the line and seriously hurt my sister or other innocents then you'll do what is necessary and end my life."
The voice coming out of the spell took on a hard and somewhat resigned tone.
"Godou won't kill me, not unless it's the last possible option, it's not really a part of his character. Illya is familiar with death, more familiar than anyone should be, but I fear that if it comes down to it she'd be willing to trade her life for mine, she's already nearly done it once. Both of them will either hesitate or not do it at all, and if they do I honestly fear for what could happen.
"I could depopulate the entirety of Tokyo in a day if I so chose. When I first came into my Authorities I tried to work out how best I'd go about defeating them if they were the assets of an enemy. This in turn led to me thinking of the most devastating way that they could be employed by such a villain. More than thirteen million people live in Tokyo, and I'm capable of having them panicking, slaughtering each other in less than a few hours. After that I could cease simply disrupting them and let the monsters loose. From national capital to necropolis, I could do it in less than a day."
King Shirou's voice had now taken on a disgusted and somewhat guilty note, as though in his mind's eye he could see the nameless multitudes dying before him.
"Stop that. Stop me from killing those dear to me and stop me from killing the helpless innocents that should be under my protection. You once said that you were in my debt King Luo Hao, well this is my only request to call those debts due. If it comes to it, if whatever control I'm under leads to me crossing the line, kill me."
Her Eminence watched the mist of the spell fade from view and allowed a frown to crease her features. Once again it seemed she had misjudged the eighth Campione. Far from asking her to save his reputation he had instead asked her to end his life if it seemed that it would be needed. It was good to know that her junior upon the path of domination was made of such fine mettle.
Still, regardless of his wishes she wasn't going to kill him; after all there would be no need. King Shirou may be formidable but she was the Ruler of the Martial Realm, her Martial Splendour had long since surpassed even the might of her Authorities. She was confident that she'd be able to subdue the younger King without needing to slay him.
End Flashback.
(-)
Was he really so powerful? She remembered the weapons he had so casually conjured up during their time together in the cave that the Monkey King had sealed them into. She'd at first believed it to be some sort of Authority that allowed for the creation of weapons, so when he'd claimed it to simply be a school of magic that he practiced she'd dismissed it as unimportant. After all what kind of mortal magic could possibly be of concern to one who was not only a King but also one who had mastered the Daoist arts to heights undreamed of ever before?
By the sound of things she may have been mistaken.
"There's one thing that we have to be very careful of."
The sound of her white haired host brought the Chinese Campione out of here reverie and back to the present.
"What's that?" asked Godou.
"All the weapons that Shirou has Traced, like Rule Breaker and the lances he gave you as gifts, he can easily will to fragment back into the Prana that he used to make them up. That means we only get one shot at using Rule Breaker and if you use your gifts against him he'll simply make them vanish."
That was not a pleasant thought. That strange jagged dagger seemed to be their best chance to free the captive King without having to force him into submission first, however by the sounds of it that wasn't a strategy they could use lightly. There was also the fact that her new favoured weapon would be of no use to her in this battle since the one who would most likely be her principle opponent could destroy it at a glance. More and more the battle that she had previously thought to be a simple affair was growing to be overly complicated.
"Do we have any information on who the goddess that has taken King Shirou is?" asked the mage knight called Liliana, "If we can learn her identity then Godou can craft a sword that can sever her divinity and free his Majesty even if this dagger is destroyed."
"But won't we need to use it to counter some of his Authorities?" question the black haired Hime-Miko, "Some of those are not ones that we want used against us if we can help it."
"We'll simply have to prioritize," Illya stated, "It would be for the best if King Godou could cut the divinity that's controlling Shirou, but I don't imagine that she'll give us a chance to. Whoever she is she was able to get Apollo to take care of him while she went after Shirou, that means she must have a bit of an idea as to what he's capable of. I doubt she'd let herself be an available target if she does."
"Most deities are vain," Luo Hao commented, breaking her silence, "And gods of such qualities as beauty and love are among those that suffer that trait the worst. If we come against King Shirou we can be assured that she will be there, she will need to be there to display the beauty that succeeded in capturing a King. She will need all to behold her and know that it is her that commands his power."
It was a fairly simple piece of wisdom, after more than two centuries of battling gods she'd learnt a few things about their general personalities and the qualities that certain 'classes' of deities shared.
"If she does come with King Shirou then maybe I can use my Spirit Vision to identify her." The chestnut haired Hime-Miko hesitantly suggested.
"But even if you can do that, Godou might need to use his Sword to defeat one of Shirou-sama's Authorities first." The other Hime-Miko argued.
That was true. Since their battle Luo Hao had ordered her agents to provide her with information about her newly sworn brother so that she could learn more about him. One of the notes in one of the files that she'd read had mentioned that in accordance to the number of abilities he'd gained from defeating the Persian Warlord Verethragna he'd also gained several limitations, the principle of which had been that after using an Authority he needed to wait twenty four hours before he could use it again.
Once she had learned that it had gone a long way to explaining why their battle had gone as it did. Indeed, she'd found her heart bursting with pride that her newly acquired sibling had been able to fight so magnificently despite the limitations upon him.
Well, if the problem was him not being able to use his Authorities again . . .
"I believe I might be able to overcome that obstacle." She stated as she began to grow the apple within her spirit once more.
-()-
Andromeda stood in the centre of the design and felt her lost divinity pour back into her.
There were simply no words that could describe it. More intimate than giving birth, more insidious than dying, ecstasy beyond sex and an ache beyond agony. To her left stood honoured Athena using her own divine might to ensure the flow was controlled. Before her was the ensorcelled Devil King acting as the key to the lock. To her right was Brynhildr using her own magic to empower the ritual and keep it running.
All was as she had envisioned it all those centuries ago when she'd first conceived of the ritual that would restore what had been so cruelly ripped from her, certainly there were some differences, but the core of her plan had remained intact. And now, at last, her long lost power flowed through her veins once more, not the power of a Divine Ancestor, but the power of a true goddess.
The flow was now growing, what had once been a stream was now a river and was quickly developing into a flood. That was just as she had instructed, Athena was performing her part to perfection. The initial flow had been small to allow her diminished core to accept the new influx of power without strain. Then as it grew so too did its capacity and the flow had been increased to match. The more she received the more she could take in, and the more she could take in the more she received. She could feel it now, she could feel the shadows of mortality that had always dogged her regardless of how she refined her power begin to fade away. Like mist before the rising summer sun she could feel her mortality being burnt away by her growing divinity.
The pain was terrible, a searing inferno that was not merely of the body but also of the soul, but despite the pain she didn't flinch. Indeed she welcomed it, gloried in it. To her this was like the flames of a phoenix's rebirth, the fires of purification that would leave her once more a true divinity.
Yet being trapped between such vast sensations that they would have broken a mortal mind Andromeda remained calm and silent. She stood in her spot as straight and stable as a pillar rooted in the earth.
Slowly but surely the flood of power died back down to a river, then a stream, and then, finally, to a trickle. After a few brief moments that too ended.
"The ritual is complete."
Athena's voice was as quietly monotone as it had ever been but behind it the fallen, and now rising, goddess could hear the suppressed tension.
"I can feel it," Andromeda said, her voice hushed yet echoing in the vaults of the cavern, "My divinity is restored."
"Then why do you still appear the same?"
Venus's voice was mockingly curious, but that didn't annoy the subject of her question. At that moment elation was all that Andromeda could feel, and before that the subtle barbs of the Roman goddess were easily ignored.
"It will most likely take some time for it to settle. Right now my body is containing all the power of my complete self, but the power is still . . . loose, unfocused. My core divinity will begin to absorb the power I've just regained into itself bit by bit. Once all the power has been integrated I shall experience true apotheosis and return to my complete self."
"Are you certain? There have been no flaws?" Brynhildr asked as she slowly approached her ally.
In response Andromeda simply held up one bare arm. The white skin of her limb was softly glowing with some inner radiance, not enough to be obvious, but just enough to give her an ethereal quality.
"The first signs are already visible," She confirmed, "We shall know within the next few hours if the ritual was a success for sure. However I have no fear, this feels right."
As she spoke the now former Divine Ancestor flexed her hands as the glow spread to them. It felt . . . warm, as though she had been experiencing a mild chill for so long that she'd forgotten it was there and then suddenly it was gone and replaced with a comfortable warmth.
"So . . . if the ritual is finished then you don't need my Shirou anymore do you?"
There was no mistaking the hunger in Venus's voice, not with the way she was resting against her young captive and caressing his face.
For some reason the sight of it disgusted Andromeda in a way that it hadn't before. This was a Devil King, one of the natural enemies of her kind, yet for some reason the sight of him being . . . debased in this fashion left her with a bad taste in her mouth. Certainly he was her enemy, and if needs be she'd kill him, yet at the same time this theft of his will struck her as unclean, immoral.
With a shake of her head the restored goddess did her best to dispel the odd thoughts. What did it matter to her how this young God Slayer was treated? In the end it made no real difference to her, he had served his purpose and was now of no real worth to her.
"Indeed," she agreed, "You may now do with him as you wish."
Without even waiting for privacy Venus wrapped her arms about the young man's neck and drew him into a searing kiss as she pressed her body hard against his own. For an instant Andromeda found herself shocked into fascinated stillness by the raw sensual hunger that was evident in the goddess's actions. This was not a kiss of love or affection; this was hunger and lust pure and simple, the kind of driving passions that had led to the destruction of civilizations.
Well, if that was what she wanted to do then that was her own affair. However as she turned and walked away the restored goddess couldn't help but feel that something foul was caught in her throat.
-()-
Yusuke was working frantically.
Ever since the terrible news had arrived he'd been doing his best to tie up as many loose ends as he could in the businesses and other enterprises that he'd been managing on behalf of his King. He knew what he was meant to do in these circumstances, King Shirou had taken him aside a couple of weeks ago to inform him of the contingency plans he'd put in place and of what Yusuke should do if they had to be enacted.
Under these circumstances there was no way of knowing if or when Shirou would cut the tiny trickle of power that he used to keep his resurrected servants incarnated on this plane. As soon as the flow was cut such souls as Yusuke and Asuka, souls that lived largely ordinary lives rather than engaging in battle, would remain incarnate until their own stores of Mana ran out. After a little experimentation they'd worked that out to be about four hours, and so a simple plan had been formed.
Should the eighth Campione fall beneath the influence of a hostile party then his undead accountant was to immediately take all necessary steps so that the growing business empire he'd constructed could continue to operate without him. All contacts he'd made and all relevant parties were to be made aware that if King Shirou and Yusuke were to somehow fall off the grid then Illya was to become the legal owners of everything that had belonged to the Campione.
With a few last stabs at his keyboard the undead servant reached the end of his current task. The necessary arrangements had been sent out; now all he needed to do was wait for them to get back in touch with him so he could confirm the actions he'd just taken. Once that was all done then at the very least Illya would be financially secure if the worst were to take place.
As he leaned back in his chair Yusuke tried to think of something to take his mind off the current situation. Anything would do, just some sort of distraction. Glancing over at one of his work tops he saw the tablet that had been delivered to him a few days back. After getting it out of its packaging he'd set it up leaning against the wall and had then promptly forgotten about it.
In his defence he had been distracted by a hostile corporation trying to pull a hostile takeover of one of the businesses that he'd recently set up. Since then his attention had largely been taken up with the metaphorical thrust and parry of the business world as he'd striven to preserve the enterprise that he'd assembled. Since then it had become a sort of simple office decoration that he kept on meaning to speak to Shirou about, only he kept forgetting to do so.
Now though he wasn't sure if he'd ever get the chance to. He'd been able to hear some of the planning that Illya-chan and the others had been up to. Things sounded serious, very serious. Battle plans were being drawn up and the tension in the room was great enough that one could sense it just by walking past the room's closed door.
The problem was that in a way his own faith was at war with his hopes. As a loyal servant of the eighth Campione Yusuke, as well as all those other souls that served Shirou, was absolutely certain of his beloved King's supremacy. He had felt his strength, his all ruling majesty, during the instant that he'd first been called by the red haired young man. And since that time he'd been convinced that his sworn liege was invincible. Oh' he might struggle and he might get hurt, but in the end victory would always be his.
Now though defeat might well be the only thing that could save his King, however despite the two Kings allied against him Yusuke simply couldn't envision Shirou being defeated, the image simply would not form in his mind. Idly he wondered if this was some aspect of the control that Rule of the Underworld gave the seventh Campione over his summoned servants.
Getting out of his chair the undead servant walked over to the tablet and picked it up. Right now he wanted to stop thinking about his predicament and the old artefact was something to use as a distraction.
The tablet wasn't too big, only about the size of one of those new high-tech tablets that he kept hearing about, it was pretty thick and quite heavy. He didn't know what kind of stone it had been carved of, he was an accountant after all not a mineralogist, but whatever it was polished up nicely and was quite smooth.
Still, for all its neat lines there was something distinctly odd about the carved slab of stone, something not quite right. There'd been something about that in the documentation that had arrived with it. Even though carbon dating had confirmed the tablet to be a genuine artefact from ancient Greece there was surprisingly little sign of wear to it. The lines and edges seemed a bit too crisp and sharp for something that radiated the feeling of age that this thing did. It was even at the point where there had been accusations of fraud, that this tablet couldn't be from such ancient times and was in fact a fake. It had been those accusations that had led to it being sold off in less than completely legal circles.
Now, as he looked at the scene depicted upon it, he couldn't help but feel there was something about it that didn't ring quite . . . well, not true, but something else. There was something off about it, something he just couldn't quite put his finger on.
Behind him there was a ping from his computer to indicate that he'd just received a reply from one of his contacts. Putting the tablet back to its old resting place Yusuke forgot about it and hurried back to his desk.
It was a shame that his back was turned, had it not been then he would have been treated to a most unique sight.
On the tablet the god carved upon it moved as though alive. His head turned slightly to regard the retreating form of the resurrected accountant and the tiny carved eyes glowed with a pale blue light. Then the inscribed figure returned to his original position so that none would be able to tell there had ever been a change.
-()-
It was now late evening and most of the guests in the manor had retired to bed. As Godou had pointed out, they had no means of knowing when the Heretic Goddess and the captive Shirou would resurface so there was no point in running themselves ragged while they waited. Rooms had been prepared for them all and suitable preparations made.
However it was not the room of any of the guests that Kaida and Manaka were standing outside of. In fact the door they were facing was that of Illya's room.
Reaching out the wielder of the Dragon's Roar knocked on the door's wood and waited for a reply.
They both knew that the snowy haired magus was both there and awake. The light coming from beneath her door as well as the sounds of someone moving within had been all the confirmation they had needed. Both the members of the History Compilation Committee waited until the door swung open and the childlike mage looked out.
"What is it?" The question was delivered in a polite tone, but the edges were tinged with irritation at having been interrupted.
"Illya, when you go out to face Shirou-sama we're coming with you all."
Kaida's words were calm and devoid of inflection, yet despite that there was a hint of accusation there.
In response Shirou's adopted sister blinked, then narrowed her eyes at them.
"Kaida . . . I can accept Manaka coming with us, but you can't be serious about coming yourself."
"I swore an oath to your brother; I have no intention of shirking it."
"This is going to be a battle though. You were able to help us during the incident with the Monkey King, but this time it's going to be direct combat. Your Dragon's Roar is very powerful, but you know you can't use it in rapid enough succession for it to be a combat asset."
Her words weren't cruel, but they were firm. However the Hime-Miko wasn't about to back down, not when she had reason to be determined to go.
"You haven't been the only one to be studying these last few weeks Illya-chan," she declared, "I have been receiving some instruction in defensive spells and I feel quite certain that I shall be of at least some aid upon the battlefield. I don't expect you to put me beside her Eminence, but I do believe that I can be of some use. As you said I can't use the Dragon's Roar repeatedly, but a single strong Roar at the right time should be of some use don't you think?"
Indecision showed itself on Illya's face, Manaka must have seen it because she stepped forwards and spoke as well.
"As I understand it Mariya Yuri will be joining you. I acknowledge that her Spirit Vision is of the highest quality, but her strength in combat is to all intents and purposes nonexistent. Kaida-sama can guard her, and I can guard them both. Also I can be an extra body to help in the battle. I know I can't take on Shirou-sama directly, but I can be of use if he calls up any undead servants or those curse monsters. If that happens then every person that can keep Godou-sama and Luo Hao-sama from being distracted will be important."
The adopted sister of the eighth Campione nodded slowly in agreement, but as she did so her brow creased in confusion.
"Why are you so eager to join us in this?"
"We have sworn oaths to Shirou-sama." Kaida said simply.
There was a moment of silence, one broken when Manaka spoke up again.
"You know . . . this is something like the third time that we've had a conversation like this. The first was when we asked to go with you and Shirou-sama to the Saitenguu and the second time was when we returned here afterwards. Both Kaida-sama and I are loyal to our King. You might not believe this due to our ties with the Committee, but it is true. Now is the time when those that can help him should help him and both of us can. The question is; will you let us?"
There was another pause, and this time Kaida could feel the air thicken. It wasn't tension, of that she was sure, but there was some odd weight to it, some pressure that she couldn't quite identify.
"We'll be holding another meeting after breakfast tomorrow," the white haired young magus finally said, "Be sure to be there."
With a final nod of her head to them she closed the door. Out in the corridor the two young women turned to each other and smiled. It looked as though they would be once more caught up in the turbulent eddies that marked the affairs of the Campione.
Well, that was just fine with them.
-()-
Venus sat up on her bed and tried to analyse her feelings. The cool air of the rooms she had taken as her personal domicile flowed over her naked form, but due to her divine nature it failed to raise goosebumps on her skin. Beside her lay the still form of Emiya Shirou, his skin slick with sweat and his eyes closed with sleep.
She'd brought him here as soon as the ritual had finished, after all she'd been eager to 'play' with her new toy. The next few hours had proven to be . . . interesting.
Under her control her captivated captive had been an attentive lover. He had seen to her pleasures and responded to her desires. He'd been in fine form physically and seemed to be somewhat experienced despite his relative youth in this era. His stamina had been excellent and his hard and corded muscles had thrilled her. Under her directions he'd brought her to climax several times until his enhanced but mortal flesh had finally succumbed to exhaustion. In many ways he'd been the best lover that she'd had since the last time she walked the mortal realm, certainly better than the shades that inhabited her legend.
So why did she feel unsatisfied?
It wasn't of the flesh, of that she was certain. Physically she felt fully sated, yet despite that there was something, some intangible aspect of what had taken place that she couldn't put her finger on. He had been attentive, obediently doing all she asked of him so why . . .
. . . doing all she asked of him . . .
That was it, though he'd been an excellent lover he'd only ever done as she asked . . . no, as she'd ordered him. His every effort and action had been at her direction, not of his own volition. During the act itself she'd been able to ignore this by losing herself in the physical ecstasy of the moment, but as she looked back it was oddly clear to her.
What was this? The Heart Thief might have been one of her strongest Authorities but it had never had this kind of effect on her victims before. Of course she'd never needed to use it to such an all consuming extent before. On other occasions it had been easy to steal an existing affection when she needed to, thus bringing a faithful husband into her arms or seducing some priest from their beloved religion. This time though things had been different.
Emiya Shirou had held onto his love for that purple haired girl with a tenacity that had defied anything Venus had ever seen before. She'd been able to take his other basic affections easily enough, his love of certain foods and art styles. She'd been able take his major affections, such as his love of friends and family. She'd even been able to take the loves that made up the very foundation of one's mind, such as his basic love of himself and the love of life itself. All of these he'd been willing to relinquish before she'd finally been able to usurp that last love of his.
Now though she hadn't gained a devoted lover, rather instead she now had little more than a living toy. The very power that had allowed her to claim his love had at the same time eroded his personality and suppressed his sense of self. He might love her, he might love her with every fibre of his being to a point beyond rationality, but he couldn't express it in any way she desired.
In a sense she'd been denied her victory despite having claimed him. Through the very act that had allowed her to gain dominion over his heart she had ended up burying the very aspects that she'd sought after in a lover. How could she expect passion from what was little more than an automaton of flesh and blood?
Suddenly anger flared up in the heart of the Roman goddess. What was this? Why was she being denied? She was the goddess of beauty and love, some of the greatest of mortal artworks were devoted to her, even thousands of years after her people's time had passed she was still remembered. Why then could she not claim what she wanted?
Turning she glared down at the sleeping form of her ensorcelled lover, no, not lover, he was her thrall. In a way this was an insult to her, that he had rejected her to the point that she'd had to reduce him to this.
And it was all that girl's fault, that girl with the purple hair and sad eyes. He'd loved her, loved her so much that he'd not been willing to let it be taken from him. If it weren't for her then right now this King would be her perfect lover instead of this . . . this nothing.
All semblance of her earlier good mood was now gone and a sour expression painted her beautiful face. This wasn't what she wanted. This wasn't-
With a deep breath the Heretic Goddess took control of herself again. This was absurd; she was not some mortal child that threw a tantrum when she was unable to have her way. She was a goddess, a being that surpassed all that humanity could imagine.
Yes . . .
She was a deity.
So why not play god?
An idea began to form in her mind, a notion that grew more attractive the more she thought of it. Once more she glanced down at the sleeping form of the King that lay in her bed, but this time her eyes were calculating rather than filled with ire.
She had come to the mortal plane seeking a great warrior that could be her lover. So far the second half of that plan had proven too difficult to manage but there was no reason that she couldn't observe the first part. This young man was the slayer of Mordred, one of the strongest gods that she'd ever seen, and she wished to see the power that had allowed him to achieve his defeat of the old war god.
Within her mind the side flowered further and grew. Yes, she could see it. There was another Campione on this land, one who had already proven his strength by vanquishing Apollo in their battle. She could see it now, a marvellous spectacle for her enjoyment.
After all how many people could claim to have watched Kings battle to the death at their command?
-()-
The alarm that blared through the mansion was the same one that had woken Shirou up the previous night. It had pretty much the same effect upon Godou and Luo Hao that it'd had on him, both shot out of their respective beds in a way that suggested they were expecting attackers to suddenly leap out at them from the walls.
Illya was a bit more prepared for the ruckus, given that she'd been the one who set it up, and was immediately out of her room as she pulled her dressing gown over her pyjamas. Her objective was the main hall of the mansion, the place where she'd had her large golden Mystic Code moved to so that she could show it to all the involved people. Her own workshop had been a bit too much on the small side for them all to fit into, plus she didn't want anyone seeing some of her side projects.
She arrived just in time to see the final flash on her creation before the siren cut off as the divine signal Mini City Guide was detecting once more vanished back into hiding.
"What has happened? Has our foe been located?"
The Ruler of the Martial Realm strode into the entrance hall like an empress despite the fact that all she was wearing was a modest silken shift. Others came stumbling in behind her, all of them in various states of wakefulness ranging from alert to only a step or two above sleepwalking.
"That goddess showed up again, she was trackable for about three minutes then she disappeared again." Illya replied, frustration audible in her voice.
"Why would she do that?" asked Erica as she barely suppressed a yawn.
"I don't know," the eighth Campione's adopted sister admitted. "I'll get in touch with the Committee and ask them to send an agent there to investigate; maybe they can find out why she'd go there."
The agents of the History Compilation Committee were quick to respond and soon tracked the signal to its former location. As it turned out the location in question was an area next to the Sumida River. It was quite a nice location with a park on one side, the river on the other and a view of one of the more impressive bridges that spanned the flow of water.
However when they arrived they found a message carved into the concrete that ran alongside the rivers edge. The message was written into letters more than six inches high and more than an inch deep and the edges were rough, as though some blunt tool had been used to form them.
The message they spelt out was simple.
HERE
TOMORROW
SUNSET
No explanation was needed as to what the words referred to. The gauntlet had been laid down and the forces allied to save the King of Steel had only about a day and a bit to prepare.
()()()()()()()()()()
Omake: Luo Hao and Rider's Feast of Kings
"Is this all that you have prepared?"
The words that the Ruler of the Martial Realm spoke were filled with disappointment and a little bit of scorn as she glared at the single barrel that Rider had brought with him.
"It was the best I could find at the market." Replied the King of Conquerors.
"Truly lamentable," Luo Hao sighed as she graceful seated herself beside the King of Knights and Rider, "When King Shirou prepared his own Feast for the Kings on his land there was a banquet with the most delectable food imaginable as well as fine drinks from all the nations of the world."
She tilted her head slightly as she regarded the rugged red haired man before her.
"Still I understand that your summoning has left you unable to access your Kingdom," she said in an oddly consoling tone, "Also you are now possessed of but a single servant. Given this state of affairs I suppose it is understandable that you aren't able to provide as fine a spread as the all wealthy King of Steel."
"Oh, and who is this King of Steel? Some other worthless mongrel that sullies the title of King by his shameful existence."
Though she maintained a most admirable control over herself a twitch in her jaw gave away the barely concealed anger that bubbled within the Campione.
Of course she knew of this arrogant man clad in gold, King Shirou had regaled her with the unlived lives of his world and had spoken of the Servant version of Gilgamesh. He had said that even among the powerful Servants the King of Heroes was monstrously powerful, enough so that even powerful gods might have found him to be more than they could handle.
One thing that Luo Hao was absolutely certain of was that this man irritated her in the extreme. Certainly she could feel the power and presence that radiated from him like light from a star, but that didn't change the fact that he irritated her.
"King Shirou was a Supreme Ruler like myself who was able to claim his title through his actions rather than by the simple accident of his birth." She replied, allowing a slight hint of mockery to enter her tone.
Gilgamesh glared at her and was about to open his mouth to deliver a no doubt scathing retort when Iskander spoke up.
"Hey hey, we didn't come here to fight, this is a contest of Kingship, so sit down and drink up so we can speak."
In the end the proud King of Heroes agreed and sat with the other three Kings. However when the wine that Rider had brought proved unsatisfying to him the golden King drew some drink of his own from his Noble Phantasm.
"Behold, this is what 'the king's wine' should be." He declared as he handed it and four wine cups to Rider.
The wine was exquisite, fiery and clear, mellow and invigorating, yet despite its marvellous taste a look of discontent found its way onto Luo Cuilian's face.
"This is the wine of a god, is it not?"
"Of course," The golden Archer declared arrogantly, "Whether it is wine, weapons or finery only the very best is fit for my treasury."
"If you wish to make such a claim then you should not serve such an inferior drink at this meeting of Kings." The Campione declared as she extended an arm and upended her cup spilling the wine across the paving stones.
"Oi, oi," declared Rider as Gilgamesh's face grew red with rage. "That was some excellent wine, why'd you go throwing it away?"
Luo Hao sighed in a somewhat theatrical manner and waved her hand. As she did so a long and slim glass bottle appeared, drawn from her Noble Phantasm 'The King's Hoard'. Though it galled her to admit it her store of treasures held within the Noble Phantasm she had gained as a Servant was pale compared to the Gates of Babylon and also nowhere near as useful in a battle, still it did hold many useful artefacts as well as some other things.
The bottle she drew out was one of three that King Shirou had given her as a gift on the eve after one of their more successful co-operations. Remembering how much she had enjoyed the 1944 Goût de la liberté that he'd served at his Feast he'd acquired another three bottles for her at costs that could only be described as ruinous. Still, he was known as the 'All Wealthy' for a reason
Grasping the bottle in one hand she faced the three Kings before her as held it up to them.
"The wine of the gods is sweet, delectable beyond compare, how can it not be when it is crafted from their power? But since it's made from their divinity it is made without effort. There is no pride in it; there is no craft, no mastery. There is only the careless whim of a powerful child that knows far too few limits."
With a single flick of her finger the cork was removed and the rich red wine within was poured into four small crystal glasses.
"This wine was made by mortal men," she declared, "Men that tended their vines, harvested their fruit, crushed the grapes and prepared the wine with their own two hands. They were men that survived the most brutal war this world has ever known, men who fought when their land was conquered and lived to see it liberated. Afterwards they made this wine as a tribute to their freedom, the end of the war and to those of their friends that hadn't survived to the end. If you seek a wine fit for Kings then this is far more suitable that the careless leavings of some thoughtless deity."
She watched as the other Servants tried the drink she had provided and allowed herself a proud smile as none of them could hide their approval of the wine. It might not be able to surpass the godly drink of King Gilgamesh, however it being the finest example of the work of mortal men granted it a strength of its own. On an impulse she reached into her Noble Phantasm once more and pulled out one of her remaining two bottles and held it out to Gilgamesh.
"A gift from one King to another. After all it would hardly do for the vault of the First King to lack a treasure simply due to being somewhat behind the times."
The Ruler of the Martial Realm took a certain satisfaction in the fact that even though there was a vein visibly throbbing in his temple the Archer still accepted her gift. For a moment he held the bottle as though weighing it and in his eyes and posture she could see him debating whether or not to break the bottle. In the end though the gift faded into his Noble Phantasm and Luo Hao allowed herself a small smile. Pleased with herself she sat back to enjoy the rest of the 'Feast'.
Though she wished there was something to eat.
-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-
Godou's New Authority.
The Shining Chariot – O golden sun, O racing hooves, O chariot the traces the path of the skies. Come to me for battle and victory, come to me that all shall fall before the brilliant glory of the charging sun.
Apollo's Authority of the sun has been embodied in this vehicle which Godou can summon to his side at any time.
In appearance the Shining Chariot is a large golden Greek war chariot large enough to carry about three people and is drawn by two large golden stallions with silver hooves and manes. Both the vehicle and the steeds glow with their own light and radiate an aura of splendour.
In function the Shining Chariot is similar to the Gordius Wheel ridden by the Rider of the fourth Holy Grail war. The vehicle is capable of moving at great speed, is highly resistant to damage and is capable of flight by producing an elemental medium that the chariot and the horses can run upon. However rather than being attuned to lightning this Authority is aligned with fire, heat and light. The chariot, all its occupants and the divine beasts that pull it are surrounded by an aura of golden flames that will do them no harm, but will automatically inflict severe burning damage upon any hostiles that come into contact with it. Any flames that are lit by this Authority will be particularly difficult to extinguish without bringing greater force against them than they themselves contain. As with the Noble Phantasm should this Authority successfully run a target over it will effectively inflict multiple consecutive hits to a foe unless they have some form of protection that is either automatic or very swiftly raised.
Another ability this Authority possesses is that if he so chooses Godou can temporarily sacrifice the heat and fire aspects of the aura to channel all the chariot's power into light. When this is done the vehicle gives of such intense light that unprotected mortal will be temporarily struck blind and even divine foes will be dazzled. Doing so will however cut the attack power of the Authority to a third of its original capacity.
In terms of the damage that a single 'trample' can normally inflict the Shining Chariot isn't quite in the same league as the Gordius Wheel. If placed in numerical terms with the average attack power of the bull drawn chariot being 50 then this Authority would be about 39. Also due to the chariot lacking the blades and spikes of the Noble Phantasm this Authority's area of effect is also somewhat smaller. However should Godou combine the Shining Chariot with his White Stallion Authority then these values change.
When combined with the other powerful sun Authority a third horse joins the two pulling the chariot and the size and power of the aura of fire doubles. All damage dealt is also doubled as is the speed with which the chariot can move. It should be noted that using this combination places Godou under tremendous mental stress as he has to keep the two compatible but dissimilar Authorities in harmony by sheer mental force. Should he hold this merger for more than two minutes the mental pressure will build to the point where he will immediately lose consciousness as soon as the Authorities are released. Theoretically holding it for too long could lead to brain damage or even a coma.
This Authority also has a number of other abilities not directly related to attacking. Firstly while enveloped in its aura all wounds will heal at an accelerated rate. This level of healing is not on par with true regeneration, but it will help to stop wounds bleeding and make critical injuries less urgent. Secondly the sun aura of the chariot will dispel any shadow based magic or Authorities that it comes into contact with. This effect will not harm the wielder of those powers; it merely provides a defence against them. Thirdly while in flight this Authority will provide an atmosphere for those riding in it, this means that in theory it is possible to use the Shining Chariot to ride out of Earth's environment and up into orbit. The exact limits of this ability are yet to be determined.
Below are the stats for this Authority if it were a Noble Phantasm. The values inside the ( . . . ) represent it's stats when combined with the White Stallion Authority.
Type – Anti-Unit/Anti Army
Rank – A+ (A++)
Range – 1-50 (2-100)
No of Targets – 100 people (200 People)
-\-/-\-/-\-/-
Luo Hao's Newly Revealed Authority.
Revitalization – Maiden that dwells within the orchard, tricked and stolen, changed and returned. The blessing that even the gods do crave is mine to grant, mine to keep, mine to use.
This Authority was gained from Idunn, the Norse goddess of youth, fertility and apples, approximately one hundred years ago. It grants the ability to revitalize the life force of others, though not herself, allowing her to heal wounds, dispel certain curses and banish exhaustion. However in order to use this Authority she must first 'grow' the apple that she wishes to use upon them within herself before using the spell words of this power. One of the more interesting aspects of this power is that it can be used to revitalize the exhausted Authorities of others.
Each apple does not have to be used upon a single target, they can be focused if Luo Hao so chooses, but otherwise they will simply radiate their energy in all directions so that all present will be effected by them.
The amount of time it takes to 'grow' the apple is proportionate to the level of vitality she wishes to restore. For example if she simply wishes to banish tiredness then she hardly needs any time at all, just a few seconds is sufficient, should she wish to restore an exhausted Authority this requires several hours of preparation. Once an apple is used it will fade and Luo Cuilian will need to 'grow' a new one within herself. She also cannot 'grow' more than one at a time.
It should be noted that this Authority is one of the ones that she uses infrequently and think of as more of a badge of victory than a combat asset. Due to her preference to fighting alone this is a power that has few combat applications, though in the past she has used it upon her enemies so that the fight can be extended when it would otherwise already be won by her.