Mousse au Chocolat
There were many things Shirou had learned over the past weeks about the Knights of the Roundtable – mostly small things, but there were bigger ones.
One of the biggest unspoken rules seemed to be that no-one asked Merlin where he lived or who his family was.
As such it came as a stark surprise that a dark skinned woman entered the cafe one sunny afternoon, while he was helping Bedivere clean the glasses.
They glanced at each other, Shirou raising an eyebrow.
"Is there something wrong, miss?" Ever the gentleman, the knight put down his rag and turned his attention to her.
The woman only raised an eyebrow, her mouth set in a thin line. "...you are Marvin's friends?"
"Yes." Bedivere shifted slightly, and Shirou could see the worry in his features, as well as the alertness.
The woman seemed unfazed however. "Perfect! Listen hun, that man has been missing for some time from work already, right?"
True. It was why Shirou was helping out today as well. The magus was gone for the better part of two weeks, stating that there was some kind of 'family matter'.
She continued, "He's been missing from the bar for over a week already, and if he's not here, then I'm afraid something has to have happened to him."
Now, this got a reaction. "He's missing?!"
The woman nodded. "The name's Telma, honey. I'm the proud owner of a small bar in the RL district."
Her gaze hardened again. "I've been looking after the good-for-nothing and his mother since he was a wee lad, and now he's gone."
Bedivere's gaze widened, and he glanced around at the relatively empty cafe and back to the kitchen. Shirou sighed.
"Get in the back, I'll manage it alone."
"Are you sure-?"
The knight's eyes were frantic, though, and Shirou nodded. Bedivere mumbled a short 'Thanks,' before he motioned Telma to follow him into the back.
There were indeed many things Shirou had learned over the past weeks about the Knights of the Roundtable – mostly small things, like who got along better with whom, but there were bigger ones, too, like the fact that no one was allowed to hurt even one of them, because the others would take matters into their own hands, to protect a family-member. And they would do so with vengeance.
The redhead fished out his phone. Looking down at it, he dialed Rin's number, waiting a few beats.
"Tohsaka, hello? Listen, you should come to the cafe..."
Brioche
Agravain couldn't believe his luck.
Well, actually, he knew that the woman would call him, it was a logical conclusion, but he was mildly surprised that it would be scant a week after he visited her.
She'd said to meet him at a cafe in downtown London, because one (or maybe more) of her 'kids' were missing, and this particular one had frequented that place often enough that he had a job there.
As such, the detective packed his belongings relating to the case together, and called Henry. "Listen, Watson, I'm off to a cafe called-" he shuffled his paper with the address scribbled onto it, "-Cafe of the Round." Huh, now if that wasn't nostalgic. "The crazy barwoman called me, we might have a lead on the case. Call Dawid and tag along with him – maybe tell that 'Lord' as well, to tell him we're off; he's still on his case."
Ah, Dawid Bashir. Palomedes. Whatever, really; but he was Agravain's intelligence in the police, so he should be informed.
And his useless co-worker, whom he could care less about right now. Grabbing his jacket, Agravain stepped out of his office.
–o-
The former knight-assassin had to pause before the local and blink back a strange feeling of longing. Now was not the time.
He opened the door and stepped inside, walking focused to the front counter, where a young adult was standing. He expertly ignored the decorations around the shop.
Walking next to the wary looking redhead, Agravain flashed his badge. "Private Investigator Cox Anastas, I am here on behalf of the Yard. I was called by one of my clients, Telma Hyrore."
Golden eyes blinked, before they widened shortly. "She's in the back; talking to the working staff and boss. –"
He was about to say something else, probably, but Agravain pushed past him, muttering curses.
"Stupid woman, making me come all the way here! Really, who does she think she..."
A cluster of over twelve heads turned at his loud entrance, but only one had him stop dead in his tracks.
Well, four, if he were to be true to himself, but only one really mattered.
"... sire?"
Green eyes blinked, surprised, and he had the faintest feeling that she -and the others, really- had something to say, but his client butted in at that moment.
"There you are, 'Inspector'. Honey, this took you way too long."
Telma had her arms crossed, a frown marring her face.
Right. Back to business. "You are the one speaking, woman?" Agravain sneered, "I came as fast as possible, but there are certain things like safety that have to be followed. Now," his gaze traced over his former comrades and back to his client, "you go outside. I have some questioning to do that a hobby-detective like you has no rhyme or reason to ask, after which we can have a nice, long chat."
Strangely enough, the woman obliged, walking outside without a word, a small grin forming.
There was silence as he looked back at the Knights of the Round.
Agravain expected many different reactions – especially from the likes of Tristan or Lancelot (who, along with the Queen was there, to his distaste, but it seemed that the King had forgiven all of them), or his younger siblings – but none of them were present. Instead they seemed to be tense and there was a nostalgic, tragic trance, until the King snorted.
Agravain had to blink at the strange sound.
"It figures that you would end up working for the law, Agravain." Her voice held no animosity, her expression one of serene happiness.
The tension was lifted, mostly; Tristan grabbing some strands of hair and combing through them uneasily. The others had similar shades of (un-)ease, with the exception of Galahad who was smiling way too brightly, and the King and Mordred.
The latter was rushing to him and hugging him, and Agravain froze from the unused sensation, combined with whom was hugging him.
His expression must've been funny, because Gawain shook his head slightly, smiling lopsidedly at him. "Yeah, that was our general reaction too, I guess."
The detective leveled his former older brother with a flat glare, showing his distaste. Prying himself off Mordred, he turned to the King once again.
"At this point I take it that the one who's missing is one of us as well?"
The mood shifted instantly.
"Merlin is gone."
And the excuse of a plot moves along! :D
Don't expect too much along the lines of a great detective plot, though, because it'll be resolved fairly quickly. It's only the device to get Akkun and Palomedes to join the main lot ;)
Other than that, hello Telma!
And poor Akkun, he's confused about a lot of Things, even if he's not admitting it xD
There won't be a regular scedule for the next three (four) weeks, because School thought it funny to throw exams and classtests at us, before the vacation starts. (Ugh, math. Brr~) But I'll try updating as often as possible :')
Other than that, onto the Reviews:
death0887: Hehe, yeah xD Mine's Hoods :3
AznPuffyHair: I think that, if he'd ever discover it, it'd be accompanied by much tears and laughter 3
Dunno if Shirou will meet her, we'll see.
PS: Nope, he won't.
PPS: ...maybe? ;)
Isame Kuroda: Hehe, nope, it's Ywain, our as-of-yet rather chill Knight. Wonder what he'll say about King Arthur being a woman, though xD
I'm just a Guest: Well, Akkun's here, more customers will come and Ywain and the others will find out... don't worry ;3
Silvercrystal .ct: ... didn't think about it before, but it certainly was unexpected, I think. Saber rolls with it :)
Delca: Well, it was an integral part of her past, so I think it would be rather hard to let go of it. Old Habits die hard, as the saying goes ;) And there would be much tears shed if the parent's ever found out ^^
Aureolegends: Haha xD Well, two tsunderes don't mix well ;D (And early Mornings are the bane of my existence. And sleep)
SkySage24: Thank you! :D
No alternate selves will appear, but other than that, maybe some of them ;3
CG-3m1y4: The fight crime part had me cracking up with laughter ;) I can imagine it being some kind of superhero spoof xD
Indeed, Shirou's on the same Level of danger as the others. Hershel would be in for a surprise.
Hmm... I always associated Aegislash with Saber (and called it Caledvwlch once or twice) and Shirou with Pawniard/Bisharp c:
(And I suddenly got the urge to create an all canid-team, based on the Knights. Ugh, I still have to finish the main game first! xD)
And EXTELLA in English would be nice... then I'd actually understand what they're saying in the playtroughs. I first thought there were two new servants when I read Alter Santa Lily xD She's cute, I'll give you that. And no alternative selves.
TheCharredDragon: I know the Feeling all to well, believe me xD
...you'll have to be Patient; they're only cameos, after all.
I'm happy that you read my other fics as well, and that you liked it ^^ Reading Reviews like These makes my heart flutter with glee, believe me!
...I actually had to look up what parenthesis meant xD Well... it kind of happens simply, I guess. I write for the flow, (if that makes sense?) so my sentences get kinda interesting, sometimes. (I do it in class too. My English teacher praised me, my German teacher said I should try again :''))
To tell you the truth, the only Anime that I finished was the DEEN one and Fate/Zero. UBW was started, but I never managed to finish it, and every time I want to start it again, something else catches my interest xD
And I'm happy that my Interpretation on the not-yet-released Knights are readworthy! ^^
(I do keep a nice, handy, cheat sheet with their modern names. Or I jump back to chapter 2 for them ;3)
And the Fate series did influence my interest in the stories, like Kid Icarus: Uprising did it for Greek Mythology. It's always interesting to learn new things this way xD
Yaay for language abuse! The next Segment where I get to torture- I mean, enlighten you, will be out... probably after Christmas. Stupid School -.-
Answer: I update Sunday-Monday if everything is going according to plan, but the next few weeks will be random. And who do you mean by Faerie Queen? There are a few, as far as I know ^^'
Everyone have a nice First Sunday of Advent!
Happy Baking Everyone!