This the rewritten chapter that is replacing the previously released first chapter.
Chapter One "Excalibur!"
Arturia brought up her hands and carefully inspected them. It was difficult to believe her hands were not her soul manifested in a physical form. Her hand, just like the rest of her current body, was of flesh, blood and bone. Not the body of someone else that she had possessed or created from her own DNA. It was the body she had been born with all those centuries ago that had given raise to her legend as King Arthur.
She stared at the frigid wind that blew fiercely outside the window she was staring through. Arturia found it hard to believe how her life had turned out since the Fuyuki Fifth Holy Grail War. She had given up on the Holy Grail and returned to her own time just after the Battle of Camlann, where she had been lying mortally wounded. If it wasn't for Shirou returning Avalon, which had been lost in her own time, back to her, Arturia would have surely died. A chain of events led to one after another she found herself in the modern times of the 21st century.
"Fou!"
A cute sound snapped and something rubbing Arturia's legs caused her to snap out of her thoughts. Her superhuman smell picked up a scent associated with dogs. She smiled as she reached down to pat what was likely a dog, but what she saw made her fall on her butt in disbelief.
"Is that you, Cath Palug?!" Arturia shouted as she grabbed the animal close to her face and she started to inspect.
"Fou, where are you?" A feminine voice shouted in the distance, but Arturia didn't pay any attention to the voice as she was too busy inspecting the dog.
"That is no doubt about it, it is you, Cath Palug!" Arturia shouted confidently that the dog in her hand was no other than a cute critter that Arturia hadn't expected to ever see again. "What are you doing here in Antarctica of all places?! Tell me, what is Merlin planning now?"
"Merlin?" The feminine voice repeated in great confusion.
Arturia turned to see a girl in her late teens with purple hair and glasses. She wore a comfy-looking gray hoodie over a white-collar shirt and red tie with black skirt and tights and brown boots. The girl's appearance soon didn't matter to Arturia when she felt the presence of one of her loyal knights.
"First, Cath Palug and now Galahad. What on earth are you planning, Merlin? I see traces of your influence. Have you become interested in Chaldea, Merlin?" Arturia muttered in confusion as she tried to discern what Merlin was planning.
"What are you talking about?" The lilac-haired girl asked in a gentle tone.
"I would like to first introduce myself," Said Arturia and she bowed. "I am Arturia Pendragon. May I ask your name, Madam."
"My name is Mashu Kryielight." The girl replied. "Please call me Mashu, you don't have to be so formal with me."
"If that is your wish, Mashu." Arturia nodded. "Call me, Arturia." She paused as she stared into Mashu's eyes. "Before I answer your question, may I ask what your relationship is with Sir Galahad of the Round Table?"
"Sir Galahad of the Round Table?" Mashu repeated in confusion before her eyes lit up. "You cannot be talking about one of the Camelot knights from Arthurian legend, right?"
Arturia nodded. "That is correct. How are you related to Sir Galahad? Are you, his descendant? Reincarnation? In possession of one of his belongings."
"No, no, no." Mashu shook her head. "Neither of those conditions apply to me." She paused as she thought for a while. "Maybe… I was part of one of Chaldea's experiments involving a concept known as Demi-Servants. That maybe why I may possess the aura of Galahad you detected."
"Argh, Project Demi-Servant." Arturia muttered to herself as she searched her memories for the familiar sounding name.
She snapped her fingers. Arturia finally remembered why that name seemed very familiar. As one of Chaldea's largest backers, Arturia received regular reports detailing what Chaldea did. In fact, she had been one of the largest supporters for the project. If Mashu possessed the soul of one of her most loyal knights it seemed like Chaldea had succeeded.
"Fou!" Fou barked happily as it started licking Arturia's face, snapping Arturia out of her thoughts.
"Of course, I will never forget about you, Cath Palug!" Arturia cooed as she petted Fou.
"I have two more questions. How are you familiar with Fou and what did you mention Merlin?" Mashu inquired.
"I'm surprised you don't know," said Arturia as she looked at Mashu. "Cath Palug, or Fou as you call him, is Merlin's familiar. How he managed to get out of the Tower of Avalon, which Merlin is trapped in, is outside my knowledge."
"Fou is Merlin's familiar?!" The girl shouted in surprise as she stared at Fou.
Fou playfully bit Arturia's fingers but if someone was to look at its eyes, they would notice that Fou was glaring at Arturia.
"My bad, Cath Palug, I didn't know that you wanted to keep that a secret." Arturia apologized as she continued to play with Fou. "Since… Fou, doesn't want others to know about his past. Can you please keep that part of him a secret, Mashu?"
"Of course." Mashu nodded. She turned to the side and muttered, "I doubt anyone will believe me if I was to tell anyone that Fou is Merlin's familiar."
"I'd normally scold you for walking around without permission, but it looks like someone else is with you." Said an older man dressed in a green top-hat and green coat with fancy black pants and boots from a nearby hallway as he approached Arturia and Mashu. He turned to Arturia and asked, "You're the rookie who just got assigned here, right?"
"My name is Arturia Pendragon," said Arturia. "May I know who you are?"
The older man stiffened up. The "I am superior to you" look disappearing and transformed into someone that had met someone of a higher station.
"I'm Dr. Lev Lainur." The man introduced himself as he bowed to Arturia. "It is an honor to meet you, Lady Pendragon. I never thought such an esteemed person such yourself would visit Chaldea at this time."
Arturia wasn't too surprised by Lev's response. She had quite the reputation amongst mages. If people didn't believe in the "official" story explaining why every Lady Pendragon had the same look and name, they would assume she was one of the few undying fossils that lived for centuries. The level of authority and influence, while no way matching her days as King Arthur, was powerful enough to rival many top figures in the Clocktower.
"I didn't come as one of Chaldea's backers." Arturia shook her head. "I am part of the latest patch of newly recruited Masters to prevent the extinction of humanity."
Suddenly, Arturia's instincts kicked in. She sensed an incredible amount of danger coming from Lev. Why Lev suddenly made her feel threatened didn't matter. Arturia detected a presence that she had learned from her former Master's memories that he had picked up whenever Shirou had fought Archer. Lev had sign on him that Alaya placed on those that threatened the continued existence of mankind and targets of either Counter Force or Counter Guardians.
Arturia immediately summoned Excalibur into her hands and she didn't even use the Invisible Air to hide her legendary sword. The last thing she cared about was her identity as King Arthur when something that had the potential to cause a great number of human deaths stood before her.
She leveled Excalibur at Lev, before Lev could respond, Arturia screamed, "EXCALIBUR!"
Yellow light engulfed the corridor with Lev dead-center of the beam of magical energy. The result should have been Lev burning to ashes and ceasing to exist but Arturia's instincts proved correct in that Lev was a threat to humanity's survival. Only a powerful being that was capable of wiping out mankind had the ability Excalibur head on.
The surprised Lev screamed in agony as his body was burned to cinders. Nothing remained of him. It was only his inhuman nature that saved him from the fate of death. His soul that had been hiding his true nature was barely exposed for a fraction of second before his physical body started to reform, despite the powerful beam of magical energy from Excalibur.
Arturia was shocked that Excalibur had full power and hadn't destroyed Lev completely. Excalibur was known as an A++ Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm that could destroy even the toughest fortress, and she had never encountered anything that could survive a full-powered Excalibur blast. Her shock subsided quickly as Lev's survival and quickly regenerating body was a small testament to why Alaya considered him as a threat.
The enormous amount of magical energy to fuel Excalibur started to fizzle out and the yellow light that had been burning the regenerating Lev disappeared.
Exhaustion started to wash over Arturia as even with potent Magic Circuits and draconic nature that formed her Magic Core was nearly emptied from using Excalibur at full power at once. Her hands holding Excalibur slightly wavered. She glared at Lev as if a little exhaustion wouldn't hinder her at all.
She quickly took deep breaths of air. Her fatigue caused by immense magical energy being used in a short timespan subsided as Mana in the atmosphere was devoured by Arturia's Magic Core. It was not long ago after that Arturia looked at Lev as if she had never been exhausted in the first place.
"You're not human, are you Lev?" Arturia asked suspiciously as she kept Excalibur pointed at the man.
"Ahahahaha!" Lev chuckled as the last of his injuries disappeared and his clothes materialized to create the illusion that he had never been harmed had it not been for the massive hole behind him caused by Excalibur. "I wonder how the world would react if they knew that King Arthur had never died or remained in Avalon until Arthur's prophesied return in England's darkest hour?! How would you respond to your fans and believers, your Majesty?"
"Majesty?" Mashu, who had been too shocked and taken back the beauty of Excalibur until now, muttered.
"That is right, Mashu. Arturia Pendragon is King Arthur's whose true gender has been hidden." Lev nodded. Fou licked Mashu's cheeks and barked in affirmation. "It seems I had greatly underestimated that potential threat you presented to my plans. I will have to reevaluate my future plans. Now, I must eliminate anyone that can get in my way."
Click.
The former King of Camelot stared down at Excalibur with wide eyes.
Click.
Her eyes became glued at her legendary sword in disbelief.
Click.
Arturia was still struggling to process when the first restraint had been unlocked when…
Click.
Four restraints on Excalibur had been unlocked…
Click.
She recalled a story that Vivan, the Lady of the Lake, and Merlin had mentioned in passing and she only now remembered. If Arturia had memorized the story properly then Excalibur had been created as the ultimate weapon against a threat, which Arturia couldn't recall, that endangered life on Earth.
Click. Click. Click.
More restraints came undone, and the process started to become faster. Arturia could feel power that she had never known existed inside Excalibur or she was even able to wield to become available to her.
Her heart trembled in fear, not drunk on the power that was coming towards her. There was only one possible reason why Excalibur, which had never shown the smallest signs of its true abilities, was granting her so much power! Lev, or whatever he truly was, was that much of a threat to humanity and the world that the same power that had once destroyed a world-ending being was manifesting itself once more.
There was no time to think or room for hesitation. Arturia knew what she had to do, even if there was potential for large collateral damage.
"Excalibur!" Arturia screamed as she unleashed her newfound power.
Yellow light of such powerful intensity came out of her unrestrained sword that even Arturia, who was not blinded when Excalibur was used at full power in its "normal" state.
Lev suddenly feeling a threat to his existence, disregarded any attempt to hide his powers that he had shown as a "human mage." Numerous magical barriers to block and redirect manifested while attack magic spells appeared ready to strike down Arturia. Alas, none of his defenses or attacks mattered.
The new beam of light overshadowed the normal Excalibur blast that was an A++ Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm. If Arturia was to guess, it was beyond what any human beside Zelretch in his prime could accomplish, and maybe even the strongest gods could rival.
"No!" Lev screamed in pain as the yellow light hit him, disregarding all his attacks on the user or his magical defenses to protect him. "Everything had been going well until you appeared with the damned Excalibur, the same weapon that defeated the White Titan Sefar, bane of the gods! I should have known that Lady Pendragon was just a cover up!"
Lev's screams all to an end as the previously demonstrated immortality that he had shown before at the normal Excalibur blast didn't manifest.
The former King of Camelot collapsed onto the ground, digging Excalibur into the floor to support her. She looked up in exhaustion to see if there were any signs of Lev but to her relief found none.
"I hope that ended Lev and stopped whatever plans he had, which had the potential to threaten humanity." Arturia said in a wishful tone.
"Your Majesty, are you okay!?" Mashu shouted over to Arturia's side with Fou on her shoulders.
"There is no need to worry about me. I am fine." Arturia smiled. "I just need some time to catch my breath."
"Saber! Is that you?!" Two familiar voices to Arturia shouted in the distance.
Arturia smiled and wondered, is it who I think they are? My intelligence network and contacts never discovered Shirou and Rin…
Was this good, bad or meh? Please tell me what you think. I accept all criticism as long as it is no flaming.
Hello what do you guys think about Shirou and Rin. Should they appear in their genderbent forms? I came up with this idea because so far there has been no fanfic with Shirou and Rin in their genderbent forms, and it introduces some very interesting ideas that I can use. Please tell me if I should go with genderbent Shirou and Rin, or their canon selves.