/Clone Zulu/

It feels good to have my old body back. You know, the one with the present parts and all. But apparently, Fate wanted to throw another fastball at me, since currently Alaya was giving me the details of the deal that the stupid Alpha made. I mean sure, it was...nice? (heartwarming? I don't really know) to see Alpha accepting a deal to solidify his existence in the World, but to be chucked back to being a Servant, of all things? Yeesh, talk about a nerf. "And that it all."

"So that stupid clone- I mean Enki", I corrected, watching Alaya's eyes narrow, "Was summoned to this Chaldea place you speak of as a Ruler-class. Which deals less damage to the Beasts that are supposed to destroy the Human Order." As Alaya nodded and her blue hair swayed alongside her, I couldn't help but let out an exasperated sigh as I pinched the bridge of my nose. "...Alaya, were you high when you made this?"

"He will borrow the power of the Counter Force should he come face-to-face with those...things." She frowned as she stared at the cup of tea that Shirou had brewed for her, and I couldn't help but snort at that. True, the Counter Force was one to be reckoned with, but all that raw power isn't going to necesarrily make up for the amount of finesse that Alpha lost when he became the Heroic Spirit ENKI. "Additionally, I have sent Frea to help in from time to time."

My eye twitched. So that's the reason why I haven't seen her around lately. "I was wondering as to how you even managed to convince her to go with even one of your zany schemes, and at this point, I am too afraid to ask." I sigh, my tired orbs finding Shirou who was in the middle of cleaning his blade. "Brat", I said, calling his attention as the redhead perked up, "Don't do that in the dining table. it's disrespectful manners." Shirou immediately put away the blade and grumbled to himself, by which I replied with a smile on my face. "So, did we get any mail?"

"We have mail?"

"It's a house. Of course we have mail", I replied, rolling my eyes at my apprentice's apparent naivety. Really, he should've noticed this by now. No apprentice of mine should be completely unaware of his surroundings. "...That's it. You'll be doing the mail for at least a year after today."

"Sensei, is it alright if I turn the mailbox into a sword?"

"I meant checking the mail, Shirou. I said you'd be checking the mail for a year after this." I sighed. Alas, it seems that my apprentice in the absolute heights of puberty. Truly, if it weren't for me guiding him back into the path of morals, he would've been lost a long time ago. "In any case, I'll check it now."

With a simple shift, I stood outside the house, reaching inside the mail (or 'suggestion box', as Frea would like to put it) and blinking in surprise. One, two, three seconds later, I check into the box again, and could barely contain my suspicions at the single piece of bark inside. Gingerly, I reach out towards it, noting the crispness of the paper, and unfurled it with a single hand as I looked at the text within. It was written in elegant prose, and the handwriting itself was carved into the wood. I don't know how they managed to do that on a paper-thin sheet of wood and still be recognizable by their recipient, but I'm willing to bet that they were just simply showing off.

Then I began to read the writing, and I could only frown a second later as it burst into flames.

The original...the original needs to know.

/Original/

"...What?" I snarled, consciously trying to keep my grip from crushing the pendant to pieces. Zulu had contacted me about something, and given the serious expression on his face, I knew right then that it was not pretty. "Did I just hear you correctly?"

"Yes." Zulu said, his tone blank of any emotion, but his amethyst eye stared at me with a fire burning behind his eyes. As should be. Since clones are simply recreations of the original, then it should stand to reason that Zulu should be doing the same thing as well. "Apparently, now that their 'vaunted daughter' is alive again, they're forcing us to give her back. Lest they revolt."

"Did you talk to Gaia about this?"

"She said to do whatever you want, but make sure that no Elves would be killed." Zulu narrowed his eyes, a snarl escaping his lips. Fury welled up inside me as well, but I learned to control it and push it through my body. Fighting Angra Mainyu while shouting curses at him would well...You get the idea. "I swear, if it weren't for that, I would've leveled their place to the ground."

"How are the others?"

"They noticed that something's wrong, but they aren't too keen on asking me about it yet." He sighed, rubbing a hand over his eye while slumping his shoulders forward. "It's probably been a week...It's not long till the facade holds." The clone was sullen, his singular eye going through various shades of emotions that I immediately understood. "Alaya sent her out to Alpha- no, Heroic Spirit Enki - some time back, and so she wouldn't be coming back home for the foreseeable future. Cabin fever. You know what it does."

"It bites us in the ass, yes."

"Damn those Elves", Zulu snarled, his eye quickly shifting into a vibrant gold before flickering back into its original color. I was sorely tempted to switch places with him, knowing that I could've handled the situation better...but nothing else. There was absolutely no reason for me to continue on ignoring this. Angra Mainyu was already defeated some time back, and I've just been mooching off the loot since then. Now however... "Original, I...I can't exactly take this much longer."

"Switch, or decommission?"

Confusion went through Zulu's eye, before they gleamed and hardened in understanding. "Decommission." He said, his tone set, "I do think it'll make you a lot less strained considering that Alpha is now a separate entity under the Throne, and I'm the only one that's actually using up the pool."

"Got it." I snapped my fingers, and Zulu winked out of existence, the pool of prana that I held (and was continuously growing larger) was changed to once again having a single recipient. I heaved a long sigh, feeling the tingles running through my body, and quickly tossed the pendant towards the space in front of me, watching it shift and turn into the inside of a familiar shack.

If those selfish assholes wanted their Queen back...then they better be prepared for a war.

/~/

"Sen...sei?"

This was weird. After Zulu-sensei suddenly disappeared, another portal sprung up and another Sensei came in. I recognized him as the original Sensei, since Sensei had trained me to differentiate between the different clones in a 'just in case' scenario. Judging by the stormy expression on Sensei's face though, I'd like to see what would happen next. Rarely was Sensei ever pissed at something, but seeing as that single eye shone with murderous intent, I could only finish polishing Ergele and smile at him.

...For all his quirks and flaws,