Fate's Way
Chapter 3 - Starless Night
The school bell rings
Students started going to their respective clubs, or even just immediately went home.
Artoria is sorely tempted to go to Kendo Club after she finishes packing her bags, but Gwen dismisses the idea, telling her that doing strenuous physical activities was going to worsen her condition.
But it was just a common cold. She tried to reason.
However her friend gave her a glare for the first time since the last time weeks ago, she knew that if she didn't submit and comply with her friend's demands, her friend was going to recite the lecture Lancelot gave her this morning.
And as such, Artoria reluctantly complied to her overprotective friend. So right now she's just pondering on something to do.
She could go look into the magic circles she found earlier to see if she had missed any crucial information, or she could try uncovering their locations and mark them so she could locate them with greater ease the next time she comes back with Nilrem.
Speaking of her teacher, now that she thought over the matter. Her mentor could probably locate them even without her help, as for a master magus like him, it should be easy to locate the magic circles as they're that obvious.
Though it puzzles her, for a bounded field that is crafted out of blood from the Age of Gods, its usage is rather wasteful. Moreso when they didn't bother hiding it, she understood that the bounded field must've been crafted by one with advanced knowledge of the subject, however whoever that crafted it must've been a third rate magus or something, according to what Nirlem taught her, the purpose of bounded fields were to act as a security measure, and as such the more concealed the sigils are, the better as so it would be harder to be detected and destroyed.
Her mind randomly wonders towards the golden sword she had wielded in the nightmare that morning. Her mood immediately dropped, while she was still in her hazy state, she wasn't conscious enough to make rational decisions, as such thought of the worse, but she as a member of the house of Pendragon, and the apprentice to Nilrem must not waver easily, she had to figure it out from a logical standpoint.
Her nightmares were often connected in some way, though the direction it went were inconsistent, as her previous one might be of another battlefield, while the next one could be in her dream world's childhood.
The same group of people, locations, and themes were always present in them. She sometimes wonders how her brain could come up with unique but consistent dream worlds, she would've appreciated it if its sole purpose wasn't to give her traumatic nightmares.
But at least, it's not a complete loss on her part (oh who was she kidding, it's her own nightmares, she had everything to lose), those nightmares, sometimes in the forms of more calmer (calm enough) dreams, gave her tremendous tolerance to horrifying things… by experiencing them first hand in an ultra-realistic dream…
She also may have also gained combat experience, and experience with what she recognises as Mana Burst but different from hers, the insight gained from those dreams did help her further her progress in the field, and heightened her combat instincts (not that it was enough to match Lancelot reliably), but if she were given an option, he would rather gain back the childhood she lost due to getting plagued with nightmares that forced her to mature faster.
Though that didn't mean she couldn't enjoy whatever innocence she had left in this world.
Returning back from helping the teachers, her friend Gwen quickly packed her bags. Artoria didn't know what her friend was getting excited about today, but she was reassured that she was going to enjoy it.
Giving her friend a blank stare, as she waited for her friend to finish doing whatever she was doing, she waited… and waited… and then waited…
Until finally her friend stopped struggling in whatever she was doing, and pulled out a map..
Artoria frowned, wondering why her friend brought that map in the first place.
"Gwen, what's that for?" She asked
Gwen ignored her question, as she opens the map, revealing a map of the entire city of Fuyuki, with a few marked locations.
"Even if we went home, you'll probably just sneak off to your shed doing things. So today, we'll be walking around the city!" Gwen cheerfully gave a delayed response to her question
"Oh no…" Artoria rubs her temples
The last time she and Gwen went out for a walk it ended up turning into a shopping spree that lasted for hours, so knowing her friend, she'd have to prepare a budget, lest she get distracted and carried away spending her allowance.
Reading Artoria's thoughts, Gwen gave her friend a hug from the back
"Don't be such a stick in the mud Artyyyy!" With an over-exaggerated tone, she said right behind Artoria's ears
May God spare her ears from hell. It suffered through the onslaught of sounds.
Artoria grumbled incoherently, and tried pushing herself off from her friend's embrace. But ended up making it worse, and her friend tightened the hug.
They stayed in that position for a while, as Artoria made few attempts to awkwardly release herself, but all failed, and Artoria was forced to endure the suffering of the many looks the passing students were giving the two girls, while Gwen remained oblivious (intentionally) of the situation.
At this rate Gwen is going to one day be the cause of her demise. Artoria grumbled once more, before Gwen released her from her hug of death.
Artoria shakes her head, and clears any unnecessary thoughts.
With Gwen pulling on her hand enthusiastically, both of them left the school together.
After a long walk, they arrived in the middle of the city. It was bustling with activity, as students throughout the city were walking home from school.
Across the street, lies a newly opened sweets shop
Artoria's eyes flicker towards the sweets on display. Her eyes were shining as if a star was in its place, clearly unable to keep her eyes off of it. Even when trying to keep her composure, she couldn't help but imagining how heavenly the sweets would taste like.
She couldn't help it, it was in her nature to like food, but sweets takes it to the next level. It is something she enjoy mindlessly snacking on all day if it weren't for her limited supply.
The amount she ate is concerning for her father, but if it was sweets, her father fears the health risks it could pose if she weren't contained. That's why she has a secret stash of chocolate she put on the cupboard her father rarely opens.
But before she could cross the road and run in to try out everything in the shop, a hand grabbed her shoulder, causing her to stop.
Turning back upsetted at the interruption, she saw Gwen, taking out something from her bag.
It was her diary!
"Arty… I know you love to eat sweets, but if you would just take the matters of your health seriously, I'll let you read a page, is that fair?" Gwen giving her a hopeful look
Artoria felt her face pale in guilt, realizing she may have crossed the line. Truly a horrible friend she was for being so selfish. Her self-deprecating thoughts earlier this morning resurfaced.
Nodding in guilt, she refused to look Gwen in the eyes from shame.
Walking a few more minutes, they arrived in front of the city's aquarium. It wasn't that large compared to ones of other cities, but it is certainly still large.
It wasn't the weekends or the holiday seasons, as such they didn't have to wait in long lines to buy their passes. For normal people, the pass would be quite expensive for a single time visit, but for them, the price they wouldn't spare a glance, as both Artoria and Guinevere came from wealthy households.
Speaking of Guinevere's family, they were a nice bunch, her parents were quite lax and light-hearted, they were also generous people, funding many public projects to improve the city and its inhabitant's well being, though you'd be wrong to assume such a nice couple would be harmless.
It was quite the opposite in actuality, both of them possess a silver tongue that speaks volumes of their experience in the business and political world, being able to manipulate anyone they met with ease.
Guinevere was an exception as she unconsciously does it, which terrifies Artoria to further degrees imagining what kind of charismatic monster her friend would grow up to become.
Artoria also swore that they have connections to the Yakuza group of their city, she overheard a conversation once, where she may or may not have heard shady things. She admires their respective abilities, for they became leaders in their own right with nothing but hard work.
Going through the aquarium they saw many different creatures, fishes, sharks, crabs, and even octopuses, it was absolutely filled to the brim with them, the environment was extremely pleasant and calm with them as far they could visually see, being the only one exploring.
In the tanks there were also coral reefs, and other floras and faunas. It extended for seemingly endlessly, and they even got to go down through an elevator that is seemingly built through a supersized tank that emulates the vastness of the ocean.
Artoria had never seen what had lied below the ocean's surface before, so this is quite the first impression on what should be expected.
Time went by fast, and before they realized it, their journey through the depths had already nearly reached its end. Artoria made a mental note to revisit this place sometimes, as she couldn't get enough satisfaction in a single tour.
Upon reaching the end, there was a few more sections to go through, firstly being the gift shop. Although she didn't really need anything at the moment, she supposes that adding a few more plushies to her collection should be fine… Perhaps buying a souvenir for her brothers would be alright too.
Picking up a basket, she began filling it with souvenirs, her friend was also helping her pick out things. In the end, two large-sized bags were filled when she paid for them.
Last, but not least, the food court.
Walking down to next area, Artoria glanced at the clock that was hanging on the wall.
It displays it was seven at the moment, inwardly she was amazed at how this aquarium managed to keep them both for hours without neither of them noticing.
Upon entering the gate to the next area lies Artoria's heaven, a food court with an large variety of food. She heard her stomach immediately growling upon seeing it, but doesn't pay it any mind as she's too distracted drooling at the foods she could see.
Gwen herself was getting quite hungry, and neither of them are going to reach back home for at least another hour, so she supposes that it would be fine for them to indulge a bit.
"Arty. Don't spend it all! We still have more places to go to tomorrow." Gwen suggested
Responding with a nod, Artoria took off to stuff her stomach with food (mostly seafood was available)
Gwen expected what had happened next but didn't comment on it, Artoria ended up draining her wallet out of most of the currencies she had in it.
Both Artoria and Gwen walked out of the aquarium, after finishing their lunch, though on her way out Artoria bought more snacks to eat later on.
The tour through the library took longer than what Gwen had initially expected, as such she put off the rest for tomorrow, while picking out the locations that they would pass by on their way home.
Going through a minor detour, they eventually walked through the Central Park of Fuyuki, It's filled with nothing but dead trees, no one ever this place as there was nothing to sightsee, and no one else walking through it, it was caused by the great fire.
The Great Fire of Fuyuki. It is a tragedy that everyone living in this city would certainly know about. Roughly 10 years ago, a massive fire burned down over 100 buildings, and killed over 500 people. The area left over the fire was converted into the Central Park, but it is reasonable that no one would want to visit a place with such history in our history beyond those who recently moved in or came from other cities.
Walking into the park, Artoria felt a high concentration of ambient mana the deeper she went into the park. There was an ominous presence she couldn't put a finger on, but it was certainly unpleasant every time she visited the park.
"It is sad to see such a huge space being so barren and desolate, it could've been a great place for picnic trips, or the space be used to build more entertainment centres." Gwen notes to herself
Artoria responded with a nod, it is indeed UN for such a place to be wasted away in time. But she supposes it wouldn't be necessarily a bad thing, after all the amount of mana accumulated in the area could attract the attention of other Magus.
Artoria was about to move on to commentate about other things, but she caught a glimpse of resignation in her friend's eyes.
She worriedly asked "Hey Gwen, this is a bit of an odd question, but did you lose something in the Fire?"
Gwen looks at her in surprise, before attempting to shake her friend's worries off.
"No no, it wasn't anything as bad as you think." She spoke while reminiscing
"Just that our old house used to be here, before we were forced to move into the house we live in today." She sentimentally said
"Even so, you still lost something important." Artoria pushed on ahead,
"I suppose… Though it isn't as important as those who have lost their lives… We were lucky that we were out of the city at the time…"
Her friend paused
"Meanwhile most others who survived the fire lost everything they had, while our family had tremendous amounts of resources to start anew."
Artoria's eyes softened
"But even so, the memories you had made there can't ever be replaced." She gently spoke, trying to convey her message without being too blunt.
"You said it yourself, our memories and life's are important and more valuable than anything of material. So you should value yourself a little more Gwen." Gwen looked at her friend then at herself
Her face full of uncertainty towards Artoria's words , she spoke "I suppose I am quite a bit of a hypocrite."
"Don't be so moody Gwen, that doesn't suit you." Artoria tries to cheer her friend up and lightly shoves her friend's shoulder
"Whoa!" Her friend yelped, after being pushed and almost falling
'Ah right', Artoria forgot how light her friend was (or more like how strong her arms were)
Gwen gave her a playful glare, before moving on
They walked together for a while before stopping to rest at a bench, coincidentally Artoria's phone started ringing.
Grabbing her phone out of her bag, she flips the phone open, displaying the name of her caller being her brother Lancelot. She clicked the button and answered the call.
Pulling her phone up to her ears, she heard Lancelot's worried voice
"Art, where are you right now?"
"I'm at the Central Park with Gwen. Why?" She answered his question
"When are you coming back? It's eight." She looked at her pocket watch, it indeed was eight o'clock right now.
She looks at her friend and asked,
"Do we have any more detours, Gwen?" Her friend shakes her head
"We're probably going to get home in another half an hour." Responding, Artoria quickly estimated
"You should do as soon as you could. Father is returning home soon, and wouldn't react well, as i already gave him a call and told him that you were sick." Lancelot desperately requested of her
Lancelot's demise was within her hand's grasp, she felt pity towards Lancelot, but is considering taking this opportunity as revenge for his deeds towards her in the last few days.
"I'll do so, but no promises" She told her brother, with him getting more desperate, before she hung up and put her flip phone away.
"So… Arty, are we walking home now, we wouldn't want to keep them waiting, would we?" Gwen asked
"Nay indeed, as tempting it is to have my revenge on Lancelot, we shouldn't waste anymore time either, besides I keep my words even if it wasn't a promise."
The duo of friends walked around exploring for a bit before finally heading back home.
But halfway there, Artoria felt like she had seen something moving in the other part of the city across the river. Squinting her eyes, she focused her attention span towards the direction she thought she had seen movement.
It was hard, but she soon enough managed to glimpse on a blur.
At this point she had stopped walking, and was frowning at what she had seen. Gwen noticed it, and stopped as well.
"What's wrong Arty?" Her friend asks
"Give me a minute." She shrugs her friend's question off
Recalling the sound blades clashing, she activated her Magical Circuits and whispered her personal chant so as to not alert her friend.
"Sigetíber…" The words came to her naturally, though the meaning to it is unknown to Artoria, as she found it by complete accident when she heard someone saying something similar in pronunciation to it.
It resonated deeply in her, and given her chant at the time was ineffective, she soon enough replaced it with it when her magecraft worked more effectively using the newly discovered word, and it stuck to her till this very day.
By pouring her magical energy and filling the gaps in her eyes she reinforced her eyes.
With her now enhanced eyesight she could see further beyond her natural ability, and her perception of time slows down. Initially what was a small blur in the distance, turn into a man hopping through the top of buildings in inhuman speeds that she even doubts her Mana Burst could pull off.
The man possesses blue hair which reached down to his back, and red eyes. He was wearing a blue (ultramarine?) full-body tights, a pair of rings made of silver, and a metal plate which seems to be barely protecting anything.
On his hand lies a blood-red spear that sends chills down to her spine, with enough bloodlust that it reached her even in this distance. Though it's too far away to be Grasped at this distance.
The man was moving swiftly towards the Fuyuki Bridge at the moment.
Artoria was looking for extra details before she felt an ominous premonition.
As she had noticed him, so did the man noticed her.
The man that was initially focusing on something else, flickers his eyes straight at hers.
And those eyes, which felt as if he gazed into her soul, were initially measuring her, before turning into killing intent warning her of her fate. His expression which were initially distracted turned into an expression of dissatisfaction with perhaps a bit of expectation placed upon her.
In that very moment, she grabbed Gwen's arms and bolted, knowing if she didn't escape she would most likely end up dead, judging by the look the man was giving her and the physical prowess he displayed earlier, that is the most likely conclusion, and moreover her friend was still here with no way of protecting herself, even if she had a warrior's pride, she isn't delusional enough to take him head-on nor be selfish enough to stand her ground and risk her friend's safety.
Artoria quickly grasped her friend's body to gain the necessary information, to cast reinforcement. Secret or not be damned, she wouldn't let any rules to risk those she cherish.
"Art! What's wrong? Why are we running?" Gwen asked haggardly while she was being dragged, the difference in both of their physical strengths were clear to any observer.
"No time to explain! Make sure to not panic and just follow me!" Artoria responded as she continued her work
It only took a moment before she had received comprehensive data, and with them, she then casted reinforcement on both of their bodies.
Now with it, they both begun accelerating and running much faster than initially were.
The shocked expression by Gwen voices out her disbelief, but Artoria was too focused on multitasking, locating the fastest path back to their residence while keeping track of the man in blue's distance from them to pay any heed to anything else. It was after all a situation concerning both of their safety,
Both of them running as fast as they could with Gwen not questioning anything and trusted whatever her friend was doing.
In a matter of minutes they managed to cross an enormous distance and their residence was within sight.
However all doesn't go as well as Artoria wished it would, the man in blues were closing in on them at bestial speeds, he would reach them in a matter of seconds. With no other options left, Artoria pulled both of them into an abandoned mansion.
Searching for somewhere to hide, she quickly grasped the entire building, lucking out with the entire mansion seemingly to have a nightmarish maze for a layout, both of them climbed to the second floor and she brought them into a well-hidden room.
She shut the door quietly, the man had already arrived in the area and was probably going to start his search.
Gwen breathed for air clearly not used to such intensity.
"Arty… What's happening…" She tiredly asked
Artoria considered the answer. Her mentor told her to make sure to keep it a secret, and with her being taught a hypnosis spell to complete such a task, because she and her mentor knew she couldn't keep it a secret from her family forever.
However she also doesn't want to use such a spell on her friends and family, and she felt even guiltier for hiding it from them. So for just this one time, since she had already broken one of the rules, it won't do any more harm than it already had to just confess to her friend.
But such matters is not appropriate at a time like this
"I promise I'll tell you later, so please bear with me for a while." Artoria puts down her school bag to search for "It", the other bag which contain the things she bought before was long gone, ditched on the way here to maximize speed.
With very little time, she gave her bag a quick scan to locate it as fast as possible. Finding it, she brought it out.
Carnwennan, the dagger she had brought earlier, she hadn't expected it to come in handy this day, but she was thankful for her decision to bring it.
Now pouring magical energy into the dagger, she activated its ability to flawlessly conceal her presence and extended it to her friend.
Just as it finished concealing them, the door was kicked with enough force to cause the wall across the room to crack from the door crashing into it.
The man she saw earlier entered the room with his Demonic Spear. Now with it close up, she could feel the intense bloodlust it emits, similar to a predator about to pounce its prey.
"Tch, I felt they were here just moments ago." She heard him say, she hoped Gwen could handle pressure and remain still, because the dagger's ability to conceal their presence are at its peaks when no movements were made
She took this time to analyze his bizarre spear, and what she discovered shocked her to the very core
'It is a Noble Phantasm' She thought to herself
Noble Phantasms are crystallized mysteries usually shaped in the form of armaments. They embody the ultimate mysteries of those who ascended to the Throne of Heroes as marks of their existence in human history.
Or in other words, Mysteries which are formed by the collective belief and imagination of mankind. The core of what makes Magecraft possible are Mysteries, so it could be said they are the pinnacle of Magecraft to those lesser informed.
What lies on that man's hands are one of those Mysteries. The Barbed Spear That Pierces with Death, Gae Bolg. As far as she could tell it has two functions, the first one being the ability to always strike the opponent's heart by rewriting causality, while the other being that when thrown it would become a projectile with enough magical energy to wipe out a portion of Fuyuki.
However, even after knowing that, she didn't waver, she can deal with the revelation later when she isn't this close to death incarnate itself.
"Oh well, I'll go deal with that kid first… Not that as if he'd let them go" The man said in annoyance, and soon enough left the area
Releasing a breath she didn't know she had been holding in, she wipes her sweat off her and looks towards Gwen
Her friend was dealing with the situation more calmly than she'd expected, though she could tell she was as or more so mentally exhausted than she was.
"Let's… Get back home first…" Her friend gave her an affirmative nod, while with eyes expecting her to explain everything
Not that she entirely knew, she didn't know who or what that man was, she could feel that his body was made entirely off of magical energy, but she didn't know any types of spirits with characteristics similar to that man. Or perhaps she did, but she's too tired to deal with anything magic-related at the moment.
They both got up with a little help from a reinforcement spell, and exited the mansion, Artoria hadn't cut off the mana supply to her Mystic Code yet as a precaution.
The house was only a one or two minute walk, but both of them just wanted to get back to their rooms as soon as possible, so they sprinted the way back
In no less than 30 seconds, they managed to reach the back gate of the house, but before anything further happened they were startled by the voice of the person they desperately don't want to meet again.
"Yo" Both girls were startled and jumped back before turning around
"Both of you managed to hide your presence well, if you hadn't started running on your way here, you would've totally bought me with your trick." The blue-haired man said with an impressed face and a grin
"But you still saw me, even though I don't like fighting little girls, the rules are the rules ye know?" He said with the same dissatisfied face she had seen him wore earlier on.
"W-Who are you?" Gwen stutteringly asked
"Oh me? I suppose you could call me Lancer" The man named "Lancer" responded
"No hard feelings? Today's just not your lucky day, this is purely circumstantial." Artoria could feel a glare creep up her face
"The other girl can wait, but you seem to have some fighting ability at least with your magecraft and sword. So let's have a little fun unless you'd like me to give you the easy way out." He clearly directed it to Artoria
Artoria gritted her teeth, before for the first time this day, pulling her Katana out of her sheathe and entered her battle stance.
The Lancer's grin widens "Now that's more like it, maybe i'll have a little fun out of this"
With everything on the line, she had to use her experimental spell if she'd want to stand a chance.
Once more she chanted "Sigetíber…"
Mana started flowing throughout her human body in such high concentrations the path her mana flow through started glowing from beneath her skin, and sparks of energy were emitted from her body,
Her only way to win is for her to use [Mana Burst]
The two stood ghostly still, assessing the other before Lancer made his first move.
A simple swipe to her right to test the extent of his opponent's capability
With her Mana being quickly repulsed from her body Artoria swiftly parried the blow with ease and went in for her own attack, but Lancer's superior agility clearly made itself clear, when by the time her blade reached, there was already a spear ready to block it.
His strength too was evidenced to be superior to hers when he blocked her sword without any visible struggle
Artoria quickly moved back to her battle stance, and blocked a blow aiming for her legs, it was an awkward block, and Lancer took advantage of her position and thrusted a spear aiming towards her chest.
But Artoria's instinct had already warned her ahead of time, forcing her body to move in impossible ways, she barely avoided the spear with only a scratch.
It was followed immediately after with another stab towards her legs, which she once more barely avoided due to her instinct and Mana Burst.
The battle raged on with new levels of intensity, her Mana Burst were operating on levels that are barely safe for usage, and even with her supernatural instincts, she was barely able to keep up.
It seems the initial clash was just him testing her out, and his true abilities were suppressing her in every and any way. His skill in the spear far outmatched hers with her sword, her lack of true combat experience was shown as the battle rages on, with her mind unable to keep up with the battle, and relying on her instincts to do the job.
It was inevitable that eventually, her instincts would fail to warn her fast enough.
The blue-haired spearman broke through her defences with a single unsuspecting kick towards the gut, surprising her with the sudden change of attack method.
Artoria was sent flying and crashing through the windows of her toolshed and ended up crashing to the wall with her body falling into a sitting position,
Her body was bleeding all over, with many ripped muscles, and that last kick probably broke a few ribs and caused her body to bleed internally.
She could barely hear what was happening outside
"A-Arty?" the tone of disbelief was heard from Gwen
"Oh that seems to be your limit, Kid. You went beyond my expectations for surviving this long, so I commend you." The man said
"What did you do to her?!" Gwen shouted in anger
"Your friend there lost, and probably would die soon. So let me give both of you a quick death, as to not suffer a gruesome one." He offered
"I refuse to believe that! She'll live and I know it!" Gwen was on the verge of being heartbroken
She then heard Lancer sighed
"Look, it's not like i wanted her to die, in fact if i could i would've spared her so i could fight her when she's more than a little youngling. I'm confident she would've grown into a powerful warrior, but the rules have to be obeyed, and my Master is enforcing that."
There was a moment of silence before the man in blues broke it
"It seems like time's up. I still have to deal with the other kid, so this is where we part." Artoria heard the sound of something stabbing
Artoria never felt so useless and worthless before, she was unable to do anything, her struggles were in vain. She too failed to protect her only best friend, her body was not functioning as the backlash from using Mana Burst recklessly sets in to further worsen her condition.
She could feel tears welling up, how would her friends and family react if she and Gwen just died like this? Artoria doesn't want them to make the faces they're making in her imagination, she just wants them to be happy... And not suffer…
If only… If only she had took her research in magecraft more seriously she would've possessed the power to match the foe
"Yo kid, i suppose you don't mind putting you out of your misery?" Lancer crouched in front of her after entering the shed
If only… She had the power to at least save her friend's life…
"Maybe you'd have even been the seventh one considering your enormous mana pool." Lancer muses himself with the idea
"But either way, you did considerably well as a normal human to make me take the fight seriously." He said with a hint of respect
If only… Someone could save both of them
"But that's all about to end soon, so have your final moments be peaceful."
Her desperate call for help went answered
Her blade that had been broken in pieces landed atop of a magic circle Nilrem constructed.
With the conditions being perfect, the magic circle activated on its own, with pre-set instructions, the normal summoning call is no longer necessary. Draining Artoria's mana, the magic circle lit up, and a figure emerges.
A warrior from the far future, seeking to reforge an impossible fate, to protect the one he cherishes the most. He answered the call.
Emerging from the Magic Circle, Artoria saw a blur moving towards Lancer
"The Seventh!?" Lancer exclaim in surprise
The figure revealed to be a man, closed the distance and sending swift strikes with a pair of Chinese Falchions
Lancer was forced in the defensive, blocking the dual wielder, before realizing his disadvantage, retreated away from the shed.
Now with the enemy in the distance, he turned his face towards her.
The man possesses snow-white hair, tanned skin, and steel-grey eyes that seems to be reflecting a world unknown to her.
"Servant Saber. Upon your summoning. I have come forth."
His voice was deep, yet gentle. With sounds of steel grating through the background. He was wearing a futuristic combat vest, black pants, a red scarf, and metal boots.
His body was covered with many scars accumulated from countless years of combat.
On his arms lies a pair of twin Chinese Falchions with beautiful craftsmanship that deserves to be admired.
It then clicked in her, the world he carries behind him, was a world filled with blades, with the grating noises originating from the cogs in the sky of his world.
That world was a burden he'd carry alone all of his life, serving a single purpose.
"Now I ask of you, are you my master?"
The Sword and The Sheathe met once more, even if they originate from different pairs, they would always attract the other.
A man with a heart of tin and the body of blades meets the girl of jade green eyes and hair of gold stardust.
Moonlight shines behind his back, it was a night without stars, as the stars had already fallen to the earth.
Her fate is intertwined with his, therefore her fate is his fate.
It isn't a coincidence they both had met, twas a destiny decided long ago.
The tale of the two has begun since an eternity ago, and wouldn't end until they hold the ever distant dream together.
Author's Notes:
At the time i'm writing this i'm still on the pre-encounter part, but i know i'll be writing some action today. So cheers! For our first true action scene of the story, i'm not too sure how well i'll be writing it, but hopefully it's decent enough.
Anyway, I've come to write on the Author's Note early because I want to talk about Artoria's Chant.
"Sigetíber" as far as i could tell means "Sacrifice for Victory", i chose this word due to how much i think it fits Artoria, there was other options like "sigewæpen" which mean "Weapon of Victory" as Artoria had held weapons with concepts of victory, like Caliburn the Golden Sword of the Victorious, and Excalibur the Sword of Promised Victory, but those represents the weapons she had held, not herself.
There was also "sigefolk" meaning "People of Victory" as Artoria was the King of the people, her belief was to be a King is to be a servant of the people, therefore her victories are also her people's, but that also isn't fully focused of Artoria herself as it is referring to her Kingdom, not her herself.
There was also "sigecempa" or meaning "Victorious Champion/Warrior", while indeed Artoria was the champion of her people, one of the greatest warriors at the time, and always brings victories as the legendary King of Knights the noblest of men. That is only referring to her outer persona, in the inside, Artoria was simply a girl who wants her people to be happy, therefore crafted a persona that would do such a thing well. As you knew happened across different timelines, there exists Caster Artoria who as you knew wasn't a Knight, and Artoria Lily who wasn't the "King of Knights" yet, and probably won't ever be considering her gender was very obvious in her battle dress.
As such i chose "Sigetíber", as in her core she just loves her people and wanted them to be happy, as such she would and had sacrificed everything, her happiness and freedom by taking up the mantle of the "King of the Britons'' carrying the burden of an entire kingdom, and hiding all of her weaknesses which includes her true identity, she made necessary sacrifices in wartime by hardening her heart and made the decision to sacrifice entire villages to minimize the loss her army takes, therefore though in her misguided attempt of making everyone happy, she indeed minimized the lives lost at the cost of the villages she sacrificed and the inhabitants was left with most of their village's resources exhausted.
Finally, she would sacrifice her soul, when she realizes she hadn't made her people happy even after sacrificing more than half of her life (20 years) for them, she willingly sacrifice her soul to obtain a final chance in making her people happy by correcting her mistakes (by wanting to wish that she never drew caliburn from the stone, and having someone else worthier than her as King), which in this story she ended up failing that too and got reincarnated.
.
I just finished writing this chapter, it was about 5900 words, and i don't have much to say, i had too much fun in writing it, and lost track of time, and ended up finishing it a day earlier than expected, i'm kinda lazy to check for problems it may have, so bear with it if the quality is worse than normal, i'm running out of gas here.
Also Gwen would survive through this encounter, so no need to worry of that.
Anyway, leave a review and tell me your opinions of the fic so far.
.
Extra Notes(Added 8/5/21):
Right, Author-kun is back with some extra notes after taking a normal length of sleep time.
Actually he doesn't, he just wanted to appear productive with this.
Oh well, right back to the topic. I'll be taking the rest of the week to watch UBW, so expect no further updates till next week.
I just wanted something to talk about, so i chose Saber again. In his prologue, i may have been a bit vague, but basically Saber is my intrepretation of Fate Route Shirou, initially still aiming to become a Hero of Justice, but he realizes quicker than Archer about how impossible the dream was, so when faced with reality instead of choosing a side between saving one or many, he chooses neither instead continue saving the ones he could save, as he would lose his way if he does choose a side.
Therefore he technically didn't turn his back on his ideals, as he never made anyone fall into despair and kept saving people, but he didn't fully realize it as he chose to only save those which he could save everyone, indeed he is more selfish version of Shirou, but his promise to meet with Saber again takes precedence over his ideals.
He is sure both Seiba and Kiritsugu would approve of it, as he was for once selfish and took care of himself by making the decision to take care of himself. For Kiritsugu, by now he would've figured even if he fail to keep promise, Kiritsugu wouldn't be upset, as he himself tried to prevent Shirou from following his path.
And his cynical future counterpart Archer, Shirou initially didn't know what had caused him to turn possibly turn into such a being when he first found out, dismissing his own ideals, but after reaching a point where he had to make a decision between saving one or another, he finally realizes it, Archer was most likely resulted from following his ideals to the very end, as to be a true hero of justice, means to choose a side and save the many. Therefore, he made his mind up, and instead chose progress no further, instead saving those he could save while searching for Saber, therefore he never reached a point where he had to sacrifice the happiness of another (Hostile Dead Apostles are an exception, they had to die).
That's the end of today's ranting session!