Ahoy there! Writing this chap in my precious free time...explaining health care to idiots who stick needles into themselves (in more ways than one) is no easy task.
From this chap, it'll be completely different from my previous story. I really hope it'll make your day in this world of pandemics.
Here the Flag Ship sets sail!
A Game of Dragons and Lions
The priest and his adopted son walked side by side. The evening sun illuminated the two silhouettes in an orange glow, their shadows stretching out long and thin across the paved road.
At first glance, it seemed that they were nothing more but an ordinary family on their way back home after a long day of work. It couldn't have been farther from the truth. The boy had an archaic smile plastered onto his face, while his 'father' had an amused grin that looked like the jagged smile of a shark. A shark that smelt blood.
The duo continued to walk in silence, neither speaking a word nor sparing each other a single glance. It was almost like a miniaturized version of the cold war in humanoid form; neither side yielded to the other in the slightest, while both knew that the other side had something they did not.
In this case, Kirei wanted Shirou to show him the process of his growth as a human and how his 'true colors' as the tainted Grail would blossom, while Shirou wanted Kirei's connection with the Church and his skills as an 'executor', whatever the hell that meant.
"We're here."
The silence was broken with Kirei's words. The priest indicated the Fuyuki Church with his chin, humming lightly under his breath as if he was anticipating something and he couldn't wait for it to happen. The priest's happiness put Shirou on edge.
The boy carefully examined the building in front of him. Shirou didn't know what he was expecting. A grand Cathedral? An ancient ruin? His new home was nothing like that. Nothing near the level of anything grandeur or extravagant neither was it measly or pitiful. It was just...adequate.
To put it simply, the Fuyuki church was as mundane as a church could be. A medium-sized church with boundary fields that made it into a weak Sanctuary, but a normal functioning church nonetheless. How did he even manage to know about the sanctuary? To be completely honest, Shirou had no idea himself. It was just...natural for him.
Shirou followed Kirei into his new home. It was an orthodox church through and through, with a red carpet and several long benches, a stained glass window depicting Saint Maria, and a sculpture of Jesus' crucifixion in front of it.
The only thing that actually stood out was the woman sitting cross-legged on the preacher's table, with her balancing herself on the table's edge with utmost elegance. She sat there with her back faced against the giant window, her long golden hair glittering in the soft light filtered through the stained glass windows, and her slitted eyes of burning crimson glimmering in the dark.
She was gorgeous as she was radiant, her mere presence commanding respect and awe. Shirou realized that she also had an astounding figure. Her long legs, her slim waist, her ample breasts- every single part of her toned body was nothing but perfection. She was the epitome of beauty, a Queen among all queens.
Clad in her glorious golden armor and her crimson girdle that reached below her knees, one that perfectly matched her white skin and blood-red tattoos, she was undoubtedly a goddess in mortal flesh.
Unearthly beautiful yet so deadly. Like a golden sword drenched in dark blood. A tiara of diamonds draped over a golden skull.
A terrible rage suddenly took over Shirou's soul. How dare she sit there as if she was the one who lead humanity? She, of all people. A tyrant of a queen. A failure of a mediator. An epic joke.
He didn't have the faintest idea why he felt such...aggressive emotions.
Shirou quickly suppressed his nigh-uncontrollable urge to assault the woman then and there. Bitting down on his tongue so hard that he felt the flesh tear, he bowed down so that his expression was hidden from the woman that was now looking at him in great interest.
Judging from the way an imperious smile graced her lips, she most certainly caught on to his sudden change in demeanor...and she knew why.
"I 'see'...so that is how it is..."
The Queen chuckled, amusement evident in her piercing eyes. Her slender fingers tapped against the hardened wood.
"While I was expecting at least something from a child who was personally saved by the tainted Grail, I must admit, despite all the theories I've accumulated in these past three days, I could never have predicted this."
Shirou didn't dare raise his head. Part of the reason was that he didn't trust his restraint. The boy had a gut feeling that he would commit bloody violence if he looked at the woman for too long. Another part was that he just knew he would die a bloody death the moment he tried to commit the aforementioned bloody violence.
The woman continued in her infuriating singsong voice.
"A miracle you truly are...to think that a mere boy emptied and broken beyond repair would retain compassion...for a being of Absolute Evil who wished to consume you nonetheless! To think that the monstrous abomination would learn compassion from its mirror image made from man!"
Shirou's fists tightened. He felt a sharp pain as his fingers dug into his flesh. The flesh regenerated a second later, only to be gouged out once again. The repeating self-inflicted harm helped Shirou keep his calm...or so he thought.
The Queen's tone took a steep dive. Her charismatically profound words forced their way into the deepest confines of his mind with the tenacity of that of a venomous snake, ruling out the option of ignoring her 'speech' for good. Shirou knew that it was on purpose.
"You loved the idealistic characteristics of humanity so fiercely to the point that you came to hate their incapacity. You despised the weakness of humanity so vehemently that you came to comprehend their inherent faults in return. Yet, even if you forgave the current humanity as a whole, you couldn't forgive the future of humanity remaining in such a pathetic state. Both compassion and disdain are pointed in the very same direction, such is your Origin of Curse and of Paradox. A 'twin' Origin, if you know what I mean."
"Stop it...stop...!"
Shirou tasted blood. His heart was pounding at an all but unnatural pace. His head hurt.
"You corrupt all that is holy. You purify all that is tainted. You are the Devil. You are the Messiah-"
"SHUT UP!"
Before he himself realized it, Shirou has bellowed out like a cornered beast. The ironic part was that he probably was.
"HOW DARE YOU CALL ME BY THAT NAME!? A SAVIOUR!? THE MESSIAH!?"
Blood spurted out of the corners of his mouth. Specks of red stained the already vermillion carpet.
"HOW DARE YOU PHRASE ME AS THAT...THAT INCOMPETENT...HYPOCRITE!"
The Queen barked out what sounded like a cross between an affectionate chortle and a snort filled with ridicule. She wasn't affected by Shirou's outburst in the slightest, eyeing him in the same manner a mother observes her immature child.
"Then I would advise you not to look into a mirror. You might see the same person you dislike so much staring right back at you."
"SHUT UP! AS IF YOU OF ALL HUMANS HAVE ANY RIGHT TO EVALUATE ME!"
The Queen cackled gleefully, her hand slapping against her thigh in barely contained delight. Shirou's hands twitched. To come to think of it, he did have the sheath...his body was also highly resistant to mortal wounds...
However, before he could try something exceedingly rash, the Queen snapped her fingers. A golden ripple appeared in the air right next to her head. Shirou instinctively lowered his body to the ground on all fours, ready to sprint on the slightest notice. She smirked.
"Now now...no need for one-sided bloodshed. Wouldn't you agree? O' Lizard of the Black Grail? I do hope you are capable of entertaining me in this new 'life' of yours."
With a flick of her finger, she removed the blackened holy blade that was placed an inch away from her pristine neck. Not flustered in the slightest was she, and so was her attacker.
"That is 'Dragon' to you, O' Gold Monger. How did it feel getting beaten by my original weak self? Oh, I'm sure you enjoyed it. You did enjoy my golden sword after all."
The Golden Queen sneered at her adversary's shameless banter. Without turning back she retaliated, mocking the fallen Queen in return.
"Ha! As if! You should be embarrassed that your ego is so fragile, Holy Queen of Camelot. All it took was a little coaxing from Absolute Evil to be chained as its pet Lizard. I would've killed myself in shame! To think that others praised you as the head of Pendragon...more like a headless chicken, or a toothless cat."
"Oh-ho? Would you like to, perhaps, taste the bite of this 'toothless cat'? I assure you, I spit fire."
Shirou gaped at the sudden appearance of the other woman. She was beautiful in a most oppressive way; tremendously wild, tyrannically violent, and ruthlessly cold to the core. With her almost white blondish hair, black armor with pulsating veins of crimson red, and stygian sword, she cut an intimidating figure.
The woman turned towards him. Her golden slitted eyes met his. Shirou felt his heart skip a beat- quite literally in fact. No, rather, his heart itself was reacting to the woman. Shirou put his hand on his chest. A realization settled in his mind.
"You're the true owner of this...'sheath' within me.", he whispered. The woman nodded.
"That I am, Master. I have reawoken in this world as your vassal. See it fit to use me to your desire."
Shirou blinked owlishly. The Golden Queen scoffed, but he paid her no heed. He had more important things at hand.
"Master? What...why? Do I even know you?"
The black knight shook her head.
"Not you, my Master. Your 'predecessor', so to speak, presented me with a contract in his dying will. I, finding the conditions more than satisfactory, agreed with it. Thus, I was turned into the Vassal of the Black Grail."
The knight raised one armored finger and pointed at Shirou's chest.
"My sheath was a sign of my consent, a signature of my...change in circumstances. You, my Master, is a child born of the Grail. Hence, you are my Master."
Shirou furrowed his brows. All the talk about this 'Grail' made him confused, though he did manage to get a general idea of what was happening.
"Basically, you-"
"She whored herself out for her own misplaced motives as the queen, yes. That being said, I have yet to grant you your prize for entertaining me so dearly. Receive it with honor."
Shirou had almost forgotten about the golden queen. From the way her eyes took on a sadistic glint, she wasn't pleased by this fact, not one bit.
The golden ripple shot out something at a speed that transcended sound. The result was a shockwave that destroyed all the benches in its path without grazing them. In a fraction of a millisecond, the projectile was already there, in front of Shirou's eyes.
Somehow, the boy got the hidden message. 'Now you see me, punk?'
He would've sweat-dropped at how petty and childish it was if he wasn't a hair's breadth away from his soon-to-be second death.
Then, just as abruptly as the arcane missile launched at his face, the black knight was standing before him with her sword brandished high. A purplish-black torrent of pressurized force knocked him over as it countered the projectile from the very front.
The victor was the sword. The explosion which transpired from the point of impact was blown right back towards his attacker, the golden Queen. With an exaggerated sigh, she flicked a finger. A row of shields appeared in a straight line as they were immediately pierced through by the reversed projectile, which turned out to be a spear.
The magnificent shields shattered one after another in quick succession. The sound of glass windows smashed apart by hot iron filled the decimated church. It almost looked as if the Queen was about to be impaled, yet her face held an expression of pure boredom.
With another flick of her finger, a gigantic mirror appeared in front of her in an instant, right before the spear broke through the last shield in line. Shirou's eyes widened. The spear that had run rampant lost its momentum the second it touched the mirror's silvery surface which ripples spread upon like small waves. It reminded Shirou of a rock thrown into a silent lake.
The spear landed a few feet away from Shirou with a loud clang, its head embedded into the concrete tiles.
"What is the meaning of this, Gilgamesh?"
Serene as the words of the black knight may seem at first glance, there was no mistaking the tremendous rage hidden just beneath the cold surface. Killing intent filled the air, warping the scenery like a mirage. Shirou felt as if a great weight was pressed onto his shoulders. He couldn't breathe properly.
"Oh my~. You're scaring your precious Master, my dear Arthur...or should I call you Artoria? It's unbefitting of you as the Queen of Pendragon to get all ruffled up by insignificant banter such as this."
"Insignificant? To point your weapon at my Master? It seems that I was mistaken to trust you with common sense, after all."
The Queen- Gilgamesh, shrugged with an exasperated shake of her head.
"This was nothing but a portion of my power. If I truly wanted to do harm, I would've done it before you've awoken. It's just a display, like fireworks, though this one comes with a generous gift."
"Oh? And what could this 'generous gift' for participating in your harmless charade in the name of 'fireworks', might be?"
Every single word from the knight- Artoria's mouth was positively dripping with venom and scorn. Shirou decided that he loved his new servant.
Gilgamesh pointed at the spear stuck in the ground.
"That.", Gilgamesh stated, as if it explained everything.
"That?", Artoria asked back with an incredulous look.
"You're more dim-witted than I first anticipated.", the Queen answered. Artoria's face morphed into one which screamed of bloody murder. Gilgamesh rolled her eyes.
"That is the Holy Spear of a certain Saint. A spear which qualification hasn't been reached by anyone, the sole exception being the Saint who had wielded it. Even his fellow saints were not worthy...until now."
Shirou blinked slowly. He was suddenly aware that the two women were looking right at him.
"Saint? You...you mean me? You...you shot a missile at me just to give me this weapon!?"
Gilgamesh raised an eyebrow.
"A missile? Are you mental? How could a mere missile compare to that holy relic? If you were to release its true potential, it could very much wipe out an entire country in one throw."
"...What...what...what in hell...what...!?"
Shirou repeated the same words like an overheated robot. He couldn't process the fact that someone would give him a weapon of mass destruction...in the exact same manner someone hands out treats at a street performance, nonetheless!
Artoria's eyes widened. Being a royalty from the age where Christianity had started to prosper, she had an idea what the spear was. If it was what she thought it was...it would be indeed a gift worthy of the trouble. A Holy Spear of Imperial Gold, a weapon blessed by the crystallized blood of the Messiah's divine corpse.
In the middle of the church, the spear stood proud, its metallic shine incandescent in the dying light of the setting sun.
Artoria smiled for the first time since her 'birth'.
Indeed, a fitting weapon for her King.
Forgotten by all, there stood the priest with vacant eyes.
He looked up at the non-existing ceiling. Night was approaching fast.
He looked at the destroyed interior. It was ruined beyond repair.
Fuyuki church...the place he spent the most time with his father in the past few years. A place of reminiscence. And it was reduced to this sorry state.
A wicked grin sprouted on the devout believer's face. Kirei wondered what his father would feel if he saw the lopsided statue of Jesus on his cross...beheaded.
It was a nice day.
Review for the Flags, Ladies, and Gentlemen! Two new heroines on board! What, the ship is sinking!? ...So what!? Set sail, my friends, set sail! Review for the future!
X-kalibuuuur, ready to faint!