Hello, everyone. Thank you for those that left comments on my work. I have read them all and will try to integrate all your feedbacks to better improve my work.
Here is the second chapter of Holy Grail/Sekirei War. Please tell me what you think and I ask what people suggest should be the name of this chapter.
Chapter Two
"What a dream," Homura groaned as his eyes fluttered open and he sat up. "A dream where I got to experience what all those Winged Sekirei gossip about and make Unwinged Sekirei such as myself jealous about having an Ashikabi."
"Sadly, nothing was a dream," Said a feminine voice that Homura had thought should only exist in his dream.
"You're really?!" Homura shouted in surprise as he pointed at the goddess.
"I am real, but I would prefer not to be referred to in third person. My name is Arturia Pendragon."
"Arturia…Pendragon…" Homura repeated the name several times to memorize it. He continued to memorize the name for several seconds before he realized something important. "The ARTURIA PENDRAGON? Duchess of Camelot?"
Homura refused to believe it despite what he saw. In fact, it seemed more likely that he was dealing with another wannabe person that pretended to be Arturia Pendragon, which was quite common and popped up in the news often. The lack of a large entourage of bodyguards and servants further reinforced Homura's conclusion as everyone knew the real Duchess of Camelot would do so. That was what the official social media accounts by the Duchess herself and House Pendragon reported.
Suddenly, the goddess smiled. Homura got the feeling that she knew exactly what he was thinking.
"It is not important if I am the Duchess of Camelot or not. That doesn't really matter compared to the fact I want to know who you are and what you did to me while those wings of fire appeared." The goddess demanded.
"Ahem," Homura coughed as he realized any Ashikabi after winging their Sekirei would want to know several things as his Ashikabi was asking about. "My name is Homura, and please take me seriously. I am an alien."
The self-proclaimed Sekirei Guardian was baffled by the sight of his Ashikabi not showing any signs of disbelief or questioning his sanity. It was almost like his claim of being an alien was something that his Ashikabi had been expecting.
"Why do you think I should be surprised?" 'Arturia' asked with a smile. "It wouldn't be the first time I met an alien."
That got Homura staring at his Ashikabi. If she had already been expecting the answer of his origins as an alien, then Homura had the feeling that he was not his Ashikabi's first Sekirei. Assuming his guess was right, that notion led to a question. What was his Ashikabi's first Sekirei doing? Given that Arturia didn't seem to know who he was or asking about Winging.
"Are you anyway related to Dead Apostles? I don't sense the usual signs of a Dead Apostle or you have done a good job in hiding." Arturia continued asking.
"Dead Apostle? How did my species get that name?" Homura asked in disbelief as the very last thing he could think that was associated with his species would be death. He quickly shook his head and berated himself. No, that is wrong. My people have abilities that are seen as supernatural and humans are inferior to Sekirei in many ways. The strongest Sekirei were capable of killing large numbers of well trained and equipped soldiers.
"So, your species is likely not a Dead Apostle given how common knowledge that term is." Arturia shook her head. "Your species must be new to Earth or I haven't known about it until now. Which celestial body of the Sol System is your species descended from? Are your species perhaps extrasolar in origin?"
Homura just stared at his Ashikabi. He thought the fact that he was an alien or had shown signs of fire manipulation with his winging would surprise and baffle his Ashikabi. The last thing he had expected to find was to be the one to be surprised and baffled about his Ashikabi.
Things got even stranger, assuming that his Ashikabi was in fact sane and telling the truth. It seemed like he like so many of his kind greatly underestimated humanity. If humanity had encountered an alien species before and managed to hide it so well that even MBI didn't know about it.
"My name is Homura and I am a fire-user Sekirei." Homura introduced himself again as he found that conversation had gone in a direction that hadn't been gone as he had wanted. "May I know your name, my Ashikabi?"
"My name is Arturia Pendragon," said the goddess with a smile. "You answered my first question about what you are, but not the second one. Please explain it if you are okay with that."
"The phenomenon with the wings of fire sprouting on my back is called 'Winging' amongst my kind. It is when my kind, a Sekirei, finds their destined one, which is often our beloved." Homura explained and he stopped as he started to blush.
"Destined one? As in you are my fated husband?" Arturia asked incredulously.
"That is right," Homura nodded embarrassingly.
"Destiny… prophecies… Why can I never escape them?" Arturia muttered in an exhausted tone.
"Is there something wrong with being my Ashikabi?" Homura asked in a concerned tone after hearing Arturia's muttering.
"I just dislike topics related to destiny, fate and etc. I have had quite a difficult life because of it," Arturia explained, but she didn't talk about the topic further.
Homura didn't ask more on the topic as he felt it was improper to do so. In response, Arturia smiled at Homura as if thanking him. This caused his heart to pound happily.
"If you believe that I am your destined one then I have no problem with that," Arturia continued. "You will not be the first person that I had a romantic or sexual relationship in my life. Just know that I may not be able to reciprocate those feelings."
"As long as you don't mind me being around you I will always be there," Said Homura whilst trying to keep a straight face. I hope you don't have any partners right now. If so or you don't I need to prove that I am worthy of you and you need no one else. He vowed to himself. "What don't you tell me about yourself? You kind of give me the feeling you are part of a society that might exist in conspiracy theories."
"My name is Arturia Pendragon, and I am a mage." Arturia replied.
Homura was about to ask what exactly his Ashikabi meant by mage as the word might have a different meaning to Arturia then it did to him. That question never came out in rapid succession, which wasn't fast, but his mind slowed down until it came down to halt after witnessing something that shouldn't be possible.
"Did you just use fire, water, earth and air!?" Homura asked in disbelief as he pointed at Arturia's hand that had just demonstrated a candle flame, orb of water, tiny doll figurine made out of dirt or weak breezy circling around her hand.
"This is just a basic demonstration of what most mages are capable of," Said Arturia as she dismissed the four basic elemental magic that she just performed. "I am capable of much more, but those can come later as we get to know each other. Can you explain the effects of this 'Winging' has on me? I detected small changes to my body and soul."
After the demonstration of 'magic' by his Ashikabi, Homura kind of drifted away into his own world. If his eyes and ears were working properly he had now found himself in an entirely different world. His understanding of Earth was completely upturned by what Arturia had done or was telling him.
He had found himself going down the rabbit hole. Earth was no longer as simple as what he had thought if magic was real. It meant that all the stories, myths and legends he had read or heard about might no longer be simple figments of someone's imagination or primitive mans' explanation of things before science had come about. They were likely contained elements of truth, which scared him. Homura had no way of knowing if things like fantasy creatures' abilities were exaggerating or understating what they could do.
What about the gods…?! Homura thought in disbelief.
"The correct term is Divine Spirits. What about the gods do you want to know about?" Arturia's words echoed in Homura's mind. In response, Homura snapped out of his pondering and stared at Arturia. "Yes, I can telepathically communicate with you, and no I cannot read your mind. I just used deductive thinking to predict what you are likely thinking about."
"What are the gods capable of?" Homura asked in a mixed tone of curiosity and fear.
"One step at a time," Said Arturia. "You need to know what magic first is before diving into the deep end of the water that is Divine Spirits. I will tell you about magic later, but I need to know now about the effects of Winging has on me."
"I only know the bare basics. You don't have to be concerned as whatever effects it has on you, it is harmless, if not beneficial were the rumors to be believed. If you want to know the details, MBI's Chief Science Officer, Takami Emiya would know." Homura replied.
"It seems like I need to pay Kiritsugu a visit as he likely knows a lot about the Sekirei Plan and his wife knows about the changes to my body and soul." Arturia muttered. "Get down!"
Homura was about to ask why, when faster than he believed was possible for a human, Arturia moved towards him and shoved Homura into the ground. The next thing he knew, several red blurs shot at where he had been standing. As he lifted his head, Homura noticed that the red blurs had been spears given the red spears impaled where he had been standing long ago.
"I shouldn't be surprised that you were able to react in time to save your Master," said a masculine voice. "Yo! Which class might you be? I don't think you're, Assassin as you would have hidden your presence or Caster given their tendency to use magic for just about everything."
"I have been summoned as Saber." Arturia replied as she stood up and took up a guard position as a sword materialized in her hand.
"That's great! My first fight against a Servant in this Holy Grail War is against a Saber. Are you ready to fight?"
"I would be honored to fight you, Cu Chulainn, the Hound of Ireland." Arturia replied as she dashed forward to engage the crimson spear user.
The battle that took place was breathtaking. It was something straight out of an epic and not even movie portrayals of similar scenes could capture a fraction of the power and skill of the two combatants. There was a blur of movement so quick that Homura struggled to keep up, which was saying something as compared to the normal human his vision was on superhuman level.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" A familiar voice to Homura asked as she watched Arturia and Cu Chulainn.
"Karasuba, what are you doing here? You're part of the Disciplinary Squad, but there is no reason for your appearance right now. There is no one here trying to oppose or escape the Sekirei Plan." Homura asked in bafflement at the sight of the Black Sekirei.
"I'm not here as a member of the Disciplinary Squad," Karasuba shook her head. "Apparently there is another battle royal happening in Tokyo at the same time as the Sekirei Plan. One that MBI is not in control of or overseeing. My Ashikabi said he was fighting in something called the Holy Grail War."
"He is your Ashikabi? He's even stronger than you!? How can someone more powerful than you be your Ashikabi? Are you sure he isn't a Sekirei?" Homura asked in disbelief as he pointed at the constantly moving blue and red blur.
"I could say the same to you," Karasuba snorted. "Your Ashikabi also looks like she is more powerful than you."
Homura couldn't refute Karasuba on that front. He didn't know how it was possible, but clearly his Ashikabi was more powerful than him given how physically capable she was. She was moving at speeds that he would be hard-pressed to achieve, creating shockwaves with the mere swing of her sword that made holes in the walls and taking hits that would have likely severely wounded him.
"My Ashikabi happily volunteered to have his DNA tested and while the results came up with several abnormalities, there was enough genetic material to conclude that he is human. If his explanation about the abnormalities were to be believed, he claims that his father is a god." Karasuba continued as she watched the supernatural battle before her with great fascination.
If Karasuba had said the same thing before he had met his Ashikabi, Homura would have dismissed Karasuba's claim as a joke. If magic was real, and Arturia herself confirmed gods were real, it was not impossible to believe that Karasuba's Ashikabi was a demigod. Being a demigod could explain how Cu Chulainn had physical abilities that surpassed any power-type Sekirei beside Miya.
"I have some many questions, but those can wait." Said Homura as he felt that the fights between the two Ashikabis were about to go to another level. He turned to Karasuba. "Are we going to fight?"
The answer to that question didn't come as Karasuba's phone rang.
"How may I help you, Minaka?" Karasuba asked as she answered the call.
"You are to withdraw immediately and return to HQ. The Sekirei Plan will be temporarily placed on hold until we figure out how several Ashikabi, which are supposed to be humans, are stronger and capable of matching a single digit Sekirei are appearing out of nowhere."
"I don't think that is possible for now." Karasuba commented and before Minaka could respond she switched her phone to video call while pointing her phone at the fighting Arturia and Cu Chulainn.
"Those can be the Ashikabi of 06 and yours, right?" Minaka asked in disbelief.
Homura could understand why Minaka was so shocked, in fact the MBI CEO had more reason to be shocked. The CEO knew much more about the human race than Homura did and for a human of such intellect and knowledge to find his own race, which he believed was inferior to Sekirei to be outshining most single digit Sekirei, must be a great shock.
"Neither your eyes nor Karasuba's camera are not malfunctioning. You are seeing two humans fighting each with capabilities that outstrips most Sekirei." Homura commented in an amused tone.
- O -
Hiroto Minaka in his personal office at MBI HQ quickly tapped away at his laptop as he gained access to some of MBI's hidden assets that should not be in the hands of a private company. He redirected a spy satellite in geosynchronous orbit over Japan and made it zoom in where Homura's and Karasuba's Ashikabi. Several hijacked security cameras were used as back up in case the spy satellite was malfunctioning. What Minaka saw on the camera feeds displayed exactly the same as Karasuba's phone camera, except in different levels of video quality.
"So, the rumors were actually true, and not conspiracy theories as I had originally thought." Minaka remarked as he recalled the stories of the supernatural that always popped up time to time. "Magic might be real."
The gears in Minaka's mind started to turn. A devious machine that had allowed MBI to go from a start up company started by several college friends to one of the wealthiest and most influential companies in the world.
Minaka dialed his phone and he spoke into the phone, "Kiritsugu, can you please come to my office?"
"What is this about?" Kiritsugu replied over the phone.
"Something that I would like to talk to you in person at my office."
It was not long before Kiritsugu turned up to Minaka's office.
"What requires me at this time? I am very busy coordinating our security forces to make sure the Sekirei Plan goes as planned." Kiritsugu asked in a tired voice.
"I know you are busy and grateful as MBI's Chief Security Officer, but I have the feeling you have the answer to this." Minaka said as he gestured to the videos from the spy satellite and security cameras recording Arturia's and Cu Chulainn's fight.
Minaka stared at Kiritsugu's expressionless face. Despite knowing the man for more than a decade, it was difficult for him to get a good read on Kiritsugu's mind. The man was amongst the best at concealing their emotions.
"You will forget about everything related to humans displaying abilities only Sekirei should possess." Kiritsugu announced in a very convincing tone as he stared into Minaka's eyes.
"I will forget about everything related to humans displaying abilities only Sekirei should possess," Minaka repeated as he felt his mind relax and wanted to… Why would I want to forget such a thing!? He thought in alarm as Minaka felt a failsafe he placed on his body activated. "Are you really a human or a Sekirei that somehow managed to hide your true nature, Kiritsugu Emiya?"
"Hmphm," said Kiritsugu as he grabbed a cigarette that appeared out of nowhere and lit it by a small flame without any source of fire. "So, you took precautions to prevent being mentally influenced. I should have expected this given the Sekirei that you are in control of. Some of which have the ability to mentally influence humans."
"You make it sound as if you're not a Sekirei," said Minaka in fascination. "Did your ability to mentally influence someone something that you were born with? Maybe you are able to mentally influence others because you are a lucky human with the correct number of active Sekirei genes. After all, just about half the human population has Sekirei ancestry."
"I am too fascinated by what effects such a fact has on the human population, but my abilities are not something thanks to genetics. It is something that I had honed with training and education." Kiritsugu shook his head.
Minaka stared at the lit cigarette in Kiritsugu's hand. MBI's experiments had shown that humans could use the abilities of a Sekirei when given an experimental serum that temporarily worked for a short time, depending on the serum's concentration. Experiments that had only been able to grant one type of Sekirei's supernatural ability without causing major side effects or the death of the human subject. Given that Kiritsugu had shown three separate types of abilities; mind, spatial and fire manipulation without any harm to his health or being alive meant that Kiritsugu's abilities weren't the result of MBI's research.
Maybe it is the result of Takami's private research? It wouldn't be outside the possibility that she was capable of such a thing. Minaka hypothesized. In fact, Takami might have been hiding some results from me after all she is the chief science officer of MBI. She has the authority to make hiding scientific and technological breakthrough by MBI from me if she decided too.
"Takami has nothing to do with my abilities," said Kiritsugu as if reading Minaka's mind. "I had them even before meeting you or my wife."
"If you say so…" Minaka smiled. "Will you explain your abilities?"
"It seems I cannot avoid it anymore. I have been able to hide it so well until that fight." Kiritsugu sighed as he stared at the screen displaying the fighting Arturia and Cu Chulainn. "Minaka, what do you think about the myths and legends about the supernatural? Do you think they were all made up or something that might have actually happened?"
"Are you suggesting that magic is real?" Minaka asked as he frowned. "I am a scientist, so if there is proof that magic is indeed real and can be reproduced reliable enough to be scientifically proven then I will believe magic is possible."
Without any warning, Kiritsugu started to laugh. That caused Minaka to frown as he wondered why Kiritsugu was laughing. It was like… Minaka's eyes lit up when a certain line of thinking caught his attention. He looked up at Kiritsugu with great interest.
"Has magic been proven scientifically and that it has been concealed from the rest of the world?" Minaka inquired.
"It's the other way around, Minaka." Kiritsugu replied as he burst into laughter. "Science came about when mages tried to better refine magecraft – which by the way is the most accurate term – to be more efficient and prevent waste of expensive material that were becoming more difficult to procure with the end of the Age of Gods." When Minaka made a confused expression, Kiritsugu added. "I will give you a copy of the history of Modern Magecraft later." Kiritsugu's expression turned serious. "I don't know how, and I will investigate, but adjustment to the Sekirei Plan will have to be made given that it looks like Tokyo will be home to a Holy Grail War."