Fate's Way
Chapter 2 - Rainy Days
A landscape full of blades...
That was what Artoria was seeing right now…
No, it's more accurate to say it's a battlefield…
Standing above the hill full of dead men, some of them dressed in full plated armour, while others merely with chainmail and leather…
Standing upon the hill of corpses, she wielded a bloodied blade, one that she recognised from her previous dreams…
Her body was exhausted, bleeding, however, her body refused to respond to her will, but instead continued forward with no life in sight…
The smell of blood and iron assaulted her nose, yet it didn't stop her…
Forward without an objective, she walked…
Even in this horrifying scene that sparked heavy emotions inside her, she refused to compromise and continued to walk…
Her body finally stopped moving upon an enemy knight dressed in heavy armour, and a helmet that looks akin to a beast.
The knight was slaughtering hers, then the enemy shifted their attention towards he
She didn't hear what they were saying, neither did she hear her own voice even though they were clearly moving
But she felt a maelstrom of emotions, it was of many kinds, but the one that stood out the most was regret, disappointment, and self-loathing.
The feeling tormented her, and she felt emotionally dragged to the pits of hell, yet her steel facade never fell.
Not before long, she brandished her sword and went into a foreign yet familiar battle stance, so did her opponent.
We then clashed, a fast-paced duel, both herself and her opponent were moving at inhumane speeds and clashed our blades with strength equivalent to a monster, she felt her mana rushing into her body and expelling out just as fast.
The amount of mana flowing through her was mind-boggling, she never had this much mana, nor have enough control over Mana Burst to pull off what she was doing right now.
Yet the evidence stands here, she couldn't believe that what she was experiencing was a dream simply just because of how realistic everything in this landscape seems to be.
We battled for what seems like hours, before the opponent managed to overpower Artoria, parrying her blade straight out of her hands.
Her enemy seems to be upset at what her dream self
What did she possibly say to cause such a reaction, she wonders to herself
But those thoughts were quickly discarded when she felt herself bringing out another weapon…
It was a majestic spear that emits a mystical air around it.
Artoria talked to the opponent for the last time
Before finally, the climax begins, they both knew this last clash would decide the victor.
They both dashed at the same time, her enemy sending an overhead slash, while herself thrusting her spear.
In the end, the spear thrusted faster than the blade, impaling her opponent.
The world seems to stop around them.
Before finally, a creaking sound was heard.
Her opponent's helmet that shielded their face for this long finally broke in half.
Revealing their face, what lies behind the helmet akin to a beast was…
Mordred?!
Even if it was a dream, why would she possibly dream about killing her own cousin?
Her relationship with Mordred was good, how could she possibly dream such a thing?
Her heart was filled with remorse, both from herself and one that she empathised with her dream self.
She felt as if her heart was stabbed, but the deed has already been done.
Standing there motionlessly, her own body too exhausted to move, she fell into the depths of despair
Before long, closing her eyes and waiting for the end.
The sound produced by the drops of water falling from the cloudy sky and the occasional thunder was heard through the wall.
"Artyyy! Wakey wakey!"
As Gwen tries waking Artoria up, she repeatedly pokes her friend's cheeks.
It was normal for her to do such a thing whenever her friend's alarm clock was broken. Artoria isn't a morning person, even when she had instilled discipline and a schedule she follows to the teeth. If Artoria was tired, even her mental clock would be nothing but a distraction that would be ignored.
So, whenever this happens, her brothers (and Gwen) would physically wake Artoria, as it so happens that even if her mind doesn't want to wake up yet, her body readily would.
It's a known secret among the family members and the close friends of Artoria that her body has a higher density of nerves, which would make her especially keen on detecting a sudden change in the environment, as a side effect, she could detect the approach of others even with no indication, and while in combat, working in tandem with her brain, it turns into a sort of supernatural instinct that predicts her opponent's attacks before they happened, it's borderline premonition due to how accurate the readings keep coming off.
Although it has a side effect, due to it, Artoria's body is especially sensitive, whenever she feels pain, it's amplified, and tickles are super effective against her, as she would writhe in pleasure and laughter that would leave her mentally exhausted when prolonged.
It also means her body is sensitive towards the weather, that's why from Kindergarten until Primary school, she mainly wear pants, as they're more comfortable, however starting from middle school, there was a strict dress code, so she was forced to change into skirts.
The expression on her face was priceless when she first wore it, whenever even a small breeze pass by, it would cause her body to shudder from the breeziness, and rainy seasons are her nightmares as not only would it be cold due to winds, the drops of cold water that ignored her umbrella's protection would send shivers down to her spine, it's embarrassing for her to have such a weakness.
As Gwen keeps poking on her sleeping friend's cheeks, her efforts were finally rewarded as Artoria finally stirred awake, and slowly opens her eyes.
Looking around the room, before her eyes settling on Gwen
"Oh… Gwen…" She simply said with a low tone
"Yep, that's me alright!" Gwen cheerfully responded
Her friend's eyes were watery as if she had cried.
"Artyy… Did you have a nightmare?" Gwen concernedly asked, masked by the cheery tone she wore
"Ah?" Artoria realizes and proceeds to wipe the tears off her eye
"I suppose I did" Artoria was about to end her sentence there, but…
Looking at her friend's concerned face, caused her to try reassuring her
"It's nothing too bad" She added
But it made Gwen grow even more concerned
"Art… If you want to talk about it, I'm here listen…"
Now that was one she rarely uses. She only calls her "Art" whenever she was taking things seriously.
It wasn't the first time she had consoled her friends that had nightmares, and especially Artoria's.
Artoria rarely ever gets one, but whenever she does, it would be a really bad one, as her nightmares often follow a pattern, which was violence and gore, and the worst ones would involve a family member of hers.
According to her father Gawain, the first time ever got one of that pattern, was when she was seven and woke up one morning and cried for hours, her father managed to calm her down and tell him what was wrong, she said that she had a nightmare, and what all she could describe it was driving Lancelot into madness, she never described the exact details, but from what her father managed to piece up, as she quoted
"Artoria dreamt of being a King and having a wife (while being a woman herself). When she discovered her wife having an affair with the knight Sir Lancelot, she gave her blessing, but the affair was discovered, and was forced to execute her wife, therefore driving the Lancelot of her dreams towards an unsightly end"
It was oddly similar to how King Arthur's reign ended, but that wasn't the point. Artoria for the next two months was left on the verge of depression.
It left a deep scar on her that never healed, it was to the point her mind coped with it by setting up a mental barrier that blocks her from recalling that incident, the following occurrences of these nightmares ended up with better results, but ultimately she still needs someone else to cope with it.
"..." Artoria doesn't respond, but simply hugs Gwen
Gwen responded in kind, as the two friends wordlessly embraced each other,
Gwen heard Artoria whispered "You're too good for me, Gwen"
Artoria mumbled a streak of self-deprecating words, but halfway through her list, she was stopped by Gwen.
Gwen sighed, stroking her friend's hair of gold stardust as she continued to comfort her friend.
Attempting to cheer her friend up, she offered to play cards with her friend, as she knows well that Artoria secretly enjoys gambling.
It didn't take long before Artoria gets invested in the game, nearly forgetting everything that had happened just before.
"And, with this, I won!" Artoria reveals her cards with a grin on her face
It was a [Straight Flush], Artoria was confident in her victory, as on the earlier rounds, her opponent should've used up her stronger cards
The confidence displayed on Artoria's face would be obvious to anyone, Gwen would've conceded to her if Artoria was betting on anything but her treasured diary.
Gwen kept a diary that contains all of her secrets that she accumulated since her fifth birthday, and the few secrets she revealed to Artoria kept spiking her curiosity, but she never got more information than what Gwen told her.
It was obviously a cursed book that holds secrets that tempts the hearts of men, and on a side note, it also contains many embarrassing things that Gwen would rather not have anyone else discovering, therefore she would rather protect it with her life than live to see a day someone else uncovers it.
Sending a look of pity towards Artoria's naiveness, she lays down her cards..
A [Royal Flush] slams Artoria's confidence to the wall, her expression of shock, she should've known better that Gwen wouldn't be stupid enough to use up her cards early.
Gwen simply had better luck
Artoria's expression was simply priceless, and Gwen isn't the only one who thinks so either.
Click. Click
Sounds of cameras snapping was heard behind Guinevere
Both of them turned to the origin of the noise, and the intruder reveals himself from his hiding place behind the wardrobe
It was once again the face of the grinning Lancelot that greeted them… A Lancelot wielding his trusty weapon… the bane of his siblings… the camera
Lancelot sends Artoria a mischievous smile
Both girls understood what that smile meant, and Gwen gives him an understanding look
The smile… meant destruction…
Before Artoria even say a word, Lancelot dashes out of her room at record speed
"Wait! Get back here ye dolt!" Artoria screamed at the top of her lungs, and gave chase towards her brother with an exasperated tone
'How dare he have the gall to do this two days in a row!' Artoria inwardly complained
Meanwhile, Gwen was left alone chuckling in the room.
"My my, she's so easy to tease." Gwen giggles, musing with the idea
But that was reserved for another day
Giving chase to her brother, she weaved through the maze known as her home, narrowly avoiding knocking the decorations down.
Lancelot was agile, fast, but most importantly, he could do this all day. He's tall, having a larger area where his muscles can grow, his body is naturally athletic with inhuman flexibility and endurance, and he's a natural with any weapons he encounters.
Lancelot has everything Artoria lacks, her body is short even compared to the other girls, she was sore about the subject, especially the fact that she hasn't grown a single inch since the second year of middle school, if she wanted, she could wear her middle school uniform and it will still perfectly accommodate her body as it did years ago.
While she's a prodigy at the sword, that still took years of training and discipline to reach where she was right now, compared to her brother who seemingly can pick up any object that could be used as a weapon and best his opponent most of the time, master or not.
Artoria nearly tripped as her mind was in its own world.
Approaching an intersection, Artoria lost track of which direction it went, she could choose either the path leading to the kitchen or the one that leads to the backyard, but considering it was raining at the time, it wouldn't make sense to go out
'Reverse psychology says otherwise' She heard her inner darkness commentate
'Shut up! I don't need to listen to your opinions.' She sent glare internally to her pair
'And besides, it's raining, that's hell i would be walking into' She added, before shaking her head and going to the kitchen
Walking down the hallway, she finally arrived in front of the kitchen's door, turning the door handle, she pushes the door, and was in the process of entering, but then her instinct warned her too late.
She braced for the impact of whatever fate she would end up with. All she felt the next moment was water pouring on her, the feeling of water caused so subconsciously shiver, but surprisingly it was warm.
With her entire body wet from being dumped with water, she deadpanned on the man sipping tea on the dining table while holding a camera in her direction.
"Art…" Lancelot began with a disappointed tone
"Have you been slacking off training?" Continuing with disappointment in his face throughout his entire sentence
Artoria can feel her face contracting, as she started grinding her teeth in anger and frustration.
"Really? That's all of you have to say?" She asked threateningly, not even bothering to look, on her hands she already grabbed a kitchen knife ready to butcher her brother
"Indeed" The nerve of that man!
Artoria was truly about to commit murder at that point, not before she spots her brother grabbing something from the counter.
"That's..." A familiar-looking box is within the grasp of Lancelot
That's her secret stash of Chocolate!
She slowly but surely walked towards her brother, using the secret technique she learned from observation of other girls. She put on a pleasant smile, and using the sweetest tone she could muster, she was about to passive-aggressively threaten her brother again, but suddenly in an instant, a sweet square cube was inside her mouth.
Her eyes widened, her face voiced her thoughts clearly to all.
"What-" She started before being silenced by a finger on her lips
"Now now milady, it is not proper manners to speak whilst consuming" Lancelot mockingly said in English
Sending a glare to his direction, she quickly chewed and swallowed the chocolate delight, before retorting.
"My apologies sirrah, but I could not stand being in the presence of a cad pretending to be a knight."
Lancelot shines his ever so annoying grin towards her.
She could feel a tick mark growing on her head, but she kept her composure and glared at him lest the situation growing even worse.
A few second passed by before Lancelot finally dropped his act and releasing a sigh
"Artoria, you're too easy to tease. You could also drop the knife now, lest you break it." Lancelot with concern told her
Looking down to her hands, her hand were indeed still gripping the knife, and it seems as if-
She gasped, gently placing the knife on the table, she could clearly see the grip was cracked due to the force of her grip
She realized she subconsciously reinforced her body while she was considering stabbing her brother.
Artoria backed off, as Lancelot moved forwards to inspect the nearly broken grip of the knife.
"The last time I checked, it was still in good condition." Lancelot narrows his eyes while frowning
Moving his attention towards Artoria, he levelled her a scrutinizing stare, it made her falter, if she wasn't wet already she would've been sweating from the gaze that seems to pierce through her defences.
His eyes then moved to look at her hands, his frown was found once more when he looked back to the knife.
Giving her an accusatory look, he stated "Your looks are deceiving"
What? What does that even mean?
Artoria gave him a confused look, cogs running inside her brain trying to decrypt the message
Before finally, Artoria dawned on the realization of the cryptic message
He meant I was a muscle head!
Glaring daggers at her brother, she was about to ask him to repeat his sentence, but then she sneezed…
"Achoo!"
It was then she realized how cold her body was, and how damp her clothes were.
"Art, are you sick?" Her brother Lance-a-lot asked with concern in his voice
She wanted to retort telling him his earlier stunt put her into this condition, but another sneeze prevented her from talking
Her brother touched her forehead
"You're burning up" her brother stated
"You shouldn't go to school today." Lancelot opened the cupboards to try to find medication
"No no, I swear I'm fine!" Artoria quickly dismissed the idea
"You're sick right now." Her brother deadpanned
"I've had worse." She replied
The two siblings had a staring contest before Lancelot conceded knowing that Artoria wouldn't back down
"Very well, but I'll be walking you to school, though if the rain continues, perhaps driving would be the correct term."
"That's not necessary-"
"I won't be accepting no's today Art, neither would father if he was still home."
Oh right, where was father?
Artoria glanced around, and indeed she finds her father to be nowhere in her sight, only prepared meals on the counter.
"Father went out earlier this day to deal with problems at work." Her brother informed her as if he could read her mind
Artoria nods, turning her attention to the chocolate box, she leaned in to grab a chocolate cube but Lancelot caught her hand.
"No sweets until you're healthy" Artoria gives her brother puppy eyes, trying her luck on her cuteness
Lancelot inwardly felt guilty seeing his sister's expression, but her health takes precedence
Dragging her desperate sister away from the chocolate box, he returns her to Gwen.
Sitting on the chair in front of a mirror, Artoria was in the middle of combing her annoying hair.
"Would you just straighten already?" Artoria mumbles complaining to no one in particular, her hair was just dried so it's still messy and tangled
On the counter lies her uniform, and other garments.
The reason she even cares to bother combing her hair is that she needs them to be straight to braid them into a crown more efficiently and smoothly.
The braiding process normally takes half an hour, but considering it's later than usual, and raining, she's considering skipping the process entirely and going with an unbraided hair to school which would be a first.
Minutes later she finally smoothened her hair enough to begin the process of braiding.
Artoria in that time decides to practice her magecraft whilst saving her time braiding, recalling the sound of blades clashing, it triggers her magical circuits, as she pours it to her body, reinforcing it, and in record speed attempts to braid her hair.
Keyword: Attempts
Her handwork was sloppy as she wasn't used to braiding at this speed, it took several attempts to finally get a hang of it, and for her first time working at that speed, it was satisfactory.
Putting on the rest of her garments, she finally leaves the bathroom
The rest proceeds as normal, though, for today her preparations were more special.
While she still carries her normal items, she's going to bring with her something she rarely brought out.
Unlocking her secret safe, she opens the vault door and reached inside it. It wasn't a normal safe, of course, that would be stupid as a Magus, no she made sure that even with the key, the user has to infuse it with magical energy to unlock the safe, the safe itself was reinforced, so it's unlikely for any normal thief to be able to break it open, if they could even pass through her bounded field she set up without notifying her.
Her hand wanders around until she felt the one she was looking for. Pulling it out, it was revealed to be a sheathed dagger, she believed Nirlem called it Carnwennan or something, it's surprisingly heavy considering its size even with reinforcement, though it wasn't the weapon itself that she uses, instead it is its ability to conceal her presence whenever she pours mana to it, she could also throw it to utilize its homing ability. Still, it's only effective when she combines with the extremely enhanced strength of Mana Burst.
Nilrem gifted it to her as a gift once she graduated from the basics, it's one of her treasured objects, as it represents the moment her teacher recognises her ability.
Oh right, it was also the greatest "Mystic Code" out of the ones that Nirlem has gifted her, for your information Mystic Codes are magical items that help perform Magecrafts in some form, some way. Nilrem gifted her a few other Mystic Codes, though the only one that she used regularly was the Azoth Sword, she primarily used it to store her enormous supply of magical energy, so at the moment it's filled with a few years worth of magical energy.
Other than for testing purposes or cleaning it, she never brought it out of her safe. Artoria always felt the dagger was special, it was different from the other Mystic Codes that Nirlem had showcased to her, it always had this ethereal pressure that screams "power". It's frighteningly effective at hiding her presence, though she never ever tested it on anyone other than normal people, and Nirlem, though Nirlem always spots her coming from a mile away.
She tried using Structural Grasping on it, though it's rather incomplete, even if her grasping may not be on the levels of a master, it's still frustrating for her to yield no information of interest after all these years, it displayed its shape, size, the materials it was made out of, how to use its abilities, and etc.
However any information about the dagger's history or how it was even crafted yields no results, it was as if someone is purposefully locking the information away. The materials it was crafted from shows no indication of any magecraft related materials, and while it did display how it was crafted, from the information it got, it shows no major differences with the way other daggers are crafted therefore she doubts the validity of her own examination, however, it's strength far surpasses a normal Mystic Code's capabilities.
After she finished packing her bags, she went down to the dining room and witnessed an amusing scene.
Her younger brother Bedi was being chased by an irritated Kay, presumably due to the wooden statue he was holding. Whilst Lancelot was taking his pictures as always, and Gwen trying to calm everyone down.
"So… What's going on?" She asked
Bedi runs to her cheerfully
"Ah, Sis! Big Brother Kay made this for you, but he was embarrassed to do it himself!." With a bright smile of happiness and innocence
"Don't listen to that brat!" Kay upsettingly said with a blush on his face
Looking back to Bedi, Artoria pats her younger siblings head and pampering him with praises, while Kay was visibly getting jealous each and every second.
Picking up the statue, Artoria could tell how much effort Kay into crafting it, a lion with intricate marks on it, its fur was seemingly full of details, and it was roaring as if to proclaim its dominance. It was perfect in her eyes.
"Thank you Kay, you must've put lots of effort in crafting this majestic and regal beast." She with shone her brother with a smile that is brighter than the sun itself
"I- it's nothing!" Her brother stutters as he averted his eyes his face growing redder
Misinterpreting his response, Artoria said with an understanding nod "Are you jealous of Bedi? Then let me reward you more!"
Within an instant, she crossed the distance and bear-hugged her older brother, who was getting more and more flustered as the seconds goes by
At this point in time, Kay's head was having a breakdown, as his younger sister prevents him from escaping the cage that would result in his death.
"Arty! I think your brother is happy enough." Gwen told her friend, as visibly she could see Kay was about to die if the hug lasts any longer
"No no, it's fine, keep going"
But Lancelot with a wide grin on his face and a camera on his hands reassures Artoria for the purpose of snapping a few more pictures.
Gwen (and the other siblings) sometimes wonder where all of the pictures Lancelot took went to
It was an absolute mess, and in the end, Artoria released a now malfunctioning Kay from her tight embrace.
Another normal morning for the "Noble" Household of Pendragon it is. A fine one it surely is.
Lancelot made Artoria wear a sweater to keep herself warm while lecturing her on the importance of her health, Artoria being Artoria, soaked it up like a sponge. As Artoria is a naturally good listener and would take any advice to her heart, even if her rebellious tendency hid it.
It was raining heavily, it'd be impossible to walk for half an hour without getting soaking wet, that's why Lancelot brought them to the garage.
Opening the door reveals the full glory of Father's garage…
There wasn't much, a few motorcycles and bicycles, a workbench, and an old antique car that seems to be out of place, but well maintained.
"Oh wow, that vehicle seems to be a fine antique" Gwen voices out our thoughts
Lancelot being the ever so knowledgeable brother he is inspects the old vehicle to check if it's fit for usage.
"Tis will do, father took the BMW to work, all we have is this old junk thine father calls his treasure." Lancelot says, whilst starting the car up
"But brother, you know how upset dad would become, if he learns that we drove it without giving him a call beforehand, right?"
Artoria shudders at the memory of her father's rage whenever anyone lays a finger upon his treasures, raining or not be damned, she would have better luck gambling than hiding such a thing from her father
"Don't get too worked up, Arty! I'm sure your father would surely leave this as an exception."
Lancelot nods in agreement
"Father will understand our reasoning, besides father wouldn't want his oh ever so cute daughter to get sicker than she already is." Lancelot says as if it's the most normal thing he ever said
Artoria felt that she was being mocked (teased) again, but she doesn't bother refuting her brother's statement, as thinking about it again her father indeed has a soft spot for her, at least more than he has for Lancelot.
She's oblivious to many things, as evidenced by the many times her brother managed to take advantage of her and took her off guard, but it doesn't mean when given an opportunity she couldn't figure things out on her own, after all, Artoria is a smart girl.
She thoughtlessly nods in agreement, but before moving on, she realized something
Turning back to Lancelot, she asks, "And how are sure there was fuel in it?"
"Well my little sister, I may be careless sometimes, but I'm not enough of an idiot to forget to fuel it beforehand." He said dryly
"Then shall we get going? Time is running short at the moment." Gwen suggested
"That would be for the best." Artoria opens the door and became the first to enter the car
The car ride was lively, with the two most energetic members of the household sitting together in close proximity and with no way out, Artoria felt out of place
Looking down to the items she brought once more, there was her school bag with all the necessary things to study properly in school, the only difference being within it, lies a concealed dagger of extraordinary strength.
She proceeds to unsheathe her Katana, once more admiring the beauty of its craftsmanship, her eyes moving around once more reminiscing the time she held the blade, though its look differs little from a normal Katana, whenever she held the blade, it would inspire confidence in herself.
There was also fragments of a ruby embedded on the tsuba (or handguard), it overall brings the aesthetic of the blade up. The blade was originally a gift from her father when she first learned the art of the blade, the ruby fragments were only added later on when Nirlem saw fit to gift her.
For all the problems her teacher causes with his womanizing ways, she certainly admits that her teacher is quite so generous, and diligent when teaching her. Her interaction with the Moonlit World was next to none, but she reckoned the gifts he brought her could fetch quite a large amount of value, not that she would ever do her teacher dirty like that.
For all the similarities to a rollercoaster that her life has been, she's thankful to have such a wonderful group of people as her family and friends, though she's not particularly a religious person, she wouldn't mind sending prayers to whomever that is watching over her. Giving them her thanks.
The car halted, snapping her out her thoughts.
"We've arrived at your school. Art, Gwen, have fun in there!" Lancelot said
"Right, thanks Lancey!" Gwen responded to her brother, before opening the car door
Wait… Did Gwen just call her brother using a nickname?
She scrutinizes her brother with a suspicious look but gave up when it yields no result.
Gwen opening her umbrella exits the car, waiting for her friend to follow suit, as Artoria in her haste forgot to pack one for herself.
"Cmon Arty, the bell is ringing soon." Artoria gives a nods and exits the car
Closing the door shut, both of them waves to Lancelot for the last time this day as he took off to the distance, presumably going back home.
Walking together towards the school building, few students were arriving at school at the time, but considering the bell should be ringing rather soon, it came to no surprise.
Just as Artoria walked through the gate, she detected a quite so obvious concentration of magical energy, she didn't know how she was distracted enough to not feel it yesterday, but that's a matter for another day.
'A bounded field!' she feels her heart racing, but quickly calms herself, she'll figure it out once she's inside her building, she decided.
Once arriving indoors, Gwen finally puts away the umbrella.
She excused herself from her friend and concentrated on detecting the points where the magical energy is of the most centralized, it didn't take long to find one.
Going into the girl's bathroom, she located it being on the wall.
Activating her magical circuits, she poured her own magical energy to reveal the previously hidden magical circle.
Now with something to work with, she Structurally Grasped the circle, to reveal things that made her go pale in fear, sending shivers down to her spine. Just starting with the composition material of the circle itself already triggered many red flags.
She didn't know it before, but certainly would realize soon enough, her talent in Structural Grasping her own body was actually a talent to grasp organic matters. The Magical Circles are made of the blood of a Bloodsucker/Vampires, what made her shiver is that the blood itself originates back to the Age of Gods, yes blood from thousands of years in the past, seemingly still completely fresh. It sent Artoria into a brain wrecking spree as she goes through the many possibilities of what it may mean.
To give you a quick rundown of what that meant, the Age of Gods is a time in the world where spirits and phantasmal beasts still roam the world, obviously in such a world the concentration of Mana, and the power of Mysteries are of the highest it has even been, even normal Magecraft are empowered to the point where it's hard to distinguish between Magecraft and True Magic without knowing their very nature.
Though with the rebellion of Gilgamesh brought down the accelerated decline of the Age of Gods and into the Age of Men, most beasts and spirits were eventually banished to the Reverse Side of the World. Today's Magecraft is but a small fraction of the strength in the Age of Gods
However, in Artoria's brainstorming, she missed a minor detail that would've been convenient in understanding the situation later in the future.
Artoria sighs in despair, as she got to the part of the purpose of the magical circle. This part was less explicit compared to the material of composition due to her lacking advanced knowledge of most magecraft, however, she did conclude that the bounded field's true nature is verily carnivorous, its purpose was to absorb the life force of those within the bounded field, and she knew it is beyond her capabilities to destroy the bounded field, although luckily, it'll still take a few more days until it is complete, so maybe she could find her mentor Nirlem to pacify it.
The school bell rings, it seems she'll have to solve the matter later. She quietly left, hoping the teacher was late like yesterday.
She only made it up to the front door before she heard the sound of footsteps rushing towards the direction of the class
"A-chan! What are you doing outside the classroom?" There goes her chance of having a normal start for school.
Turning her head towards her teacher.
Stuttering, she nervously tries to reason with her teacher
"A-ah F-Fujimura Sensei. I went to the bathroom but ended up returning late." It wasn't a lie, in fact, It was the truth, however, the reasoning of her going there is vastly different than anyone would think of
"Hmm? You're not lying are you?" Her teacher looked towards her with the eyes of a Tiger
"No, of course not! Why would I lie about such a petty thing?" At this point, she felt like she was sweating
Both of them stare down at the other's eyes, Artoria wanted to avert her eyes, but it might seem like she was doing it out of guilt, and furthermore, her pride doesn't allow her to yield to any challenge.
A few seconds passed in complete silence before her teacher nods affirmatively
"Don't take too long next time. Come in, the homeroom is starting" Artoria inwardly sighs in relief
She enters her classroom, and gave Gwen an assuring nod, her friend seems to want to ask her about something but seems to keep it to herself as a question for a better time.
The school proceeded without any problems that day.
Author's Notes:
Today's chapter is a nice 5900 words, the introduction to Artoria's life and the problems she faces should be satisfied for now.
By this point everyone should already notice obvious changes from the original Fate/Stay Night, the current chapter and the next would be taking place on the 3rd day chronologically, but as you know, that day wasn't raining in the original story, minor changes indeed, i want to say that it would affect how the story goes in the future, but i haven't really thought up anything to follow with this plot point, so we'll get there when we do.
Artoria's dream in this starting chapter was her dream of the Battle of Camlann, these dreams would occasionally pop up a few more times in the story, or even let Artoria have the visions in the middle of the day, or maybe both. By the way, I have to explain how Artoria got reincarnated, as if she ascended to the Throne of Heroes or became a Counter Guardian, reincarnation shouldn't be possible.
By the way, this is spoiler territory for the future of this fic, i'm warning you, i'll highlight the spoiler paragraphs if you wish to not get spoiled. I recommend to skip them and just read through the story and obtain the info naturally, once we get there I'll tell you to go back to this chapter's author's notes.
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The explanation is really simple (but long), she never did. In this world, let's just say due to the existence of the Kaleidoscope, in this world, after the events of Fate/Zero, there were complications with her summoning, and as such she was returned to her body without actually winning, therefore dying with regrets. However, she didn't become a Counter Guardian because her contract with Alaya was for her to change the fate of her kingdom and prevent her from pulling the Sword in Stone, and having someone else replace her. Though if she lost her will to continue, then it would automatically bring her to the ranks of the Counter Guardians.
In the Fate Route, she was able to avoid being ascended even when she willingly gave up because of the existence of Avalon, in which she would forever wait for Shirou. I'm not sure about the other two routes, but there's a distinct possibility they either just resigned to their fate, or they stay in Avalon for a while, but seeing as the Artoria's didn't have anything to wait for, they just resigned to the Counter Guardians, there's also a possibility that they bypassed Alaya's Contract and ascended to the Throne of Heroes with maybe the help of the Fae, or even Gaia herself.
In this timeline, it goes neither, she never gave up, but instead her summoning failed (due to reasons some of you may already realized), therefore nulling the contract, but because she dies with regret, she didn't want to go to Avalon nor ascend to the Throne of Heroes as she felt she doesn't deserve it due to failing to complete what she set out to do even when her opportunity was given, and therefore opted to the cycle of reincarnation.
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Aight the spoilers are over, you can read now
Anyway, all I'm going to say is, some parts of this chapter would prove vital in the late game. Although i didn't have a plan, doesn't mean i don't have a direction i want to go with… Though hopefully by the time these things are important I could remember them in time.
Anyway, if you're hungry for some action, then don't worry, i've got that covered in the next chapter that I have yet to write.
You've reached the end of the author's notes, congratulations!
Extra Notes (just 4 hours later):
I just remembered spaces don't exist when loading a doc in this website... So instead I added, eh what was those things called again...
Uhh... right. I added lots of periods! I apologize for my mistake if you got spoiled when you tried to skip that part.
Fun fact! The ruby embedded on Artoria's blade's handguard was the one from Rin's Pendant from an alternate universe!
Why? Because Alaya ordered Zeltretch Express to deliver it to Artoria so that specific Shirou could actually be summoned!
It's not really a spoiler, as i have no other way to include it into the story, without going over some mind-numbingly bullshits that involves some things that shouldn't be there.
I'm still sitting here dumped on who i should give to Rin, as the easiest way and the most likely one, is Archer, but that would force the story into a three-way Shirou Ideals battle, and i'm trying to keep it from becoming a Shirou centric fic. Her other catalyst she had was the snake skin one that Tokiomi used, even if it's broken, it should still function as a one. Though Gigglemesh is already here, and that might turn into either Proto Gilgamesh vs Stay Night Gilgamesh, or Gilgamesh and Enkidu being bros. So that's not happening.
If it comes to it, i think I'll just pick... I think I'll just pick a member of the Round Table who's reincarnation won't be appearing in the timespan of this fic, just because... It might just be the perfect plot point for Artoria's character development?
Suggestions can be put down in the reviews section, I'll read through it if i like the idea.
And right, another fact. Due to this Artoria being the main character... She has the skill "Eroge Protagonist Affections EX", it'll be subtle... But it definitely is there! Artoria is getting all of the main character support she needs! So technically a Guinevere route is possible within the Infinite Parallel Worlds of the Kaleidoscope, but no, i'm not that kind author. Yaoi and Yuri are off my list, though fluff between the 2 BFFs are already there in the story, because i was like "Why the hell not?", anyway I've already decided which Shirou she would give her heart to, no spoilers though, i'd like to keep it clean.
The spoiler up there is just an exception, i just couldn't help but hyperventilate whenever people point out plot holes, so i wrote that for those Fate Veterans. Feel free to not read them, as i previously said, i think it's more interesting to learn of it gradually.
Extra Notes II (like 10 minutes after Extra Notes 1):
Not gonna lie, I'm not sure why the extra notes 1 isn't popping up, so I'll just... Put an omake here!
Zelretch Nasuversal Express
Sitting on the couch, an old man sips tea reading books whilst inside an empty void which's darkness seemingly expands infinitely.
This man was called by many titles, to members of the Clock Tower he was the Wizard Marshall, to most that who knew of his achievements he was The Kaleidoscope, and for others he was Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg.
He was a magician, the wielder of one of the Five True Magics of the Modern World. Specifically, it was the Second Magic, and his domain was Operation of Parallel Worlds, though he was old, and his power was but a fraction of it's original strength, to give you a glimpse at how of his strength, once upon a time he managed to send a mirror image of the moon that was falling from the sky back to space.
He is also a member of the 27 Dead Apostle Ancestor, though not by choice.
These days, he's just a bored old vampire that has nothing to do other than watching over the universes from a magical screen.
That's why when the will of humanity visited his domain, he would be naturally expecting some interesting news.
He read his book in peace, before a sudden gust of magical energy blew away the stacks of books far into the distance.
"Your domain looks as empty as it always has been." The voice he recognises as Alaya said plainly
"Perhaps it would've been far more filling if you entered through the front door i placed over there." Zelretch retorted whilst projecting an arrow pointed towards a door in the distance
"Details. Either way, I want you to deliver this to the world i specified on this paper" Alaya told him
What manifested was another of his apprentice's gem and paperwork.
"Do you have any requests for me other than to be a convenient delivery man?" Zelretch spoke dryly as he looks over it
'Hmm, another world where Artoria was the master, this could be interesting.'
"No." Was all he received
"Blunt as always i see. Very well i shall go visit this world of yours." Zelretch sad with a smile that would terrify any of the main casts if they were to witness it.
He created a rift in time and space towards the world in question, leaving Alaya without so much as a goodbye
"Now where to put this." Zelretch though to himself
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Meanwhile within a tower at just outside of the tower, lies Merlin walking around with no purpose.
Not only was he trapped, but his King never entered Avalon, which has been in his primary worry for the last few centuries.
His King, the little optimistic girl that used to be Artoria who was still naive to how the world works, sometimes he wonders if he could've done anything to save her, or at least have her live a happier life, but he never tried as he knew that her fall in Camlann is inevitable, as it was fate itself that decided her death.
She died with regret, her fate unknown even to Merlin, as it was beyond his own Clairvoyance ability.
But that's before a letter appears through a rift in time and space.
Merlin caught the unknown letter and opening it.
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[To: Merlin]
Give this gem to Artoria Pendragon in two decades of time in Fuyuki City.
PS: The gem is filled with enough magical energy for a one time break out
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Merlin widens his eye at the message, perhaps he has a second chance to guide Artoria correctly this time.
With renewed vigour, he set forth for his last opportunity to make a difference
Whilst Zelretch began his observations towards the universe that brought his attention.