The Last of Avalon
Summary: For years, Merlin had been trapped within the Tower of Avalon, only able to watch the human realm. She had long since given up escaping, now content to just watch the shining stars of humanity. The Fae have moved onto other pastures, leaving her the last one within Avalon… Until one day, the door opens, and she finds a note. "Find Arthur." SI/OC Crossovers, Genderswaps
I: And So, It Begins
"Harrison!" A voice called out to me, making me turn over, groaning as I covered my head with my pillow. "Harrison!"
"I'm asleep!" I called back.
"No, you aren't!" The voice called back. "Stop playing around and wake up, it's time for school!"
I sighed as I pulled the pillow off of my head, looking around to see some of the other kids who'd come back up after breakfast smirking at me in amusement.
My name is Harrison Blacksteel, an orphan, and I suppose you could say I'm a 'victim' of being Isekai'd.
Truth be told, I didn't remember my past life all too well. I remembered about various video games, anime and books, and I could vaguely recall my friends and some family, but beyond that I couldn't remember anything about my past, not even my name or how I died.
Thirteen years ago, I was born to a woman who's name I didn't even know and watched her die not five minutes after I was born after giving me my name; Harrison, though I chose to go by Harry.
I knew nothing beyond that, I didn't even know what world I'd been Isekai'd into. Some anime and books existed, like My Hero Academia, Genesis of Aquarion, and Reincarnated as a Slime… But then some crucial ones were missing like Naruto, Bleach, One Piece, Fairy Tail… The 'Big Three' Shonen anime were missing entirely, as were some more popular anime. And some books like Harry Potter were missing, I'd even looked up J.K Rowling on the computers in school, and I couldn't find any sign or mention of it, like she didn't even exist.
Some historical figures did, various political people, but then some people I'd never heard of were in charge of other such things, and companies I didn't know had ownership of some things that I was sure didn't own them before.
I'd spent the last thirteen years growing up in this orphanage of this unknown world under the careful eye of the Orphanage Matron, Sister Alyssa. She was the woman who had helped deliver me before my mother passed away and had given me the only two things on my mother's body before she died: a ring with the initials 'I.P.' engraved on them, and a locket with a picture of my mother standing with a man I assumed to be my father in the picture, looking happy.
Sometimes, I couldn't help but wonder why it was my mother didn't want my father to know about me, to know who I am. The matron had agreed to not let me know who my dad was, and I really didn't. I just had a picture of him, but I didn't know a damned thing about him, and honestly? That was okay with me, I was fine with honouring my mother's last wish. Besides, for all I know my father was a criminal or something, best not be associated with him.
I shook the thoughts out of my head as I changed out of my pyjamas, putting on my school uniform before I grabbed my bag and made my way downstairs, where Sister Alyssa was standing there with her arms crossed under her impressive bust, looking at me with a disproving frown.
"You can't keep sleeping in like this, Harrison," she told me. "It will be a bad habit later in life. You've missed all of breakfast too, all that's left now is porridge and some toast."
"That's fine, I like both of those things," I told her, taking a seat and grabbing a bowl of cold porridge, grabbing some slices of cold toast and starting to eat.
"Honestly, I'll never understand you," she shook her head. "You're thirteen years old now, Harrison, you need to start preparing for your future. You know the Orphanage can't take care of you forever."
"I know," I sighed, making sure to swallow before I spoke- she'd get annoyed with me if I made such a basic mistake. "I promise you I'm taking things seriously though, Sister Alyssa."
"Hm…" She pursed her lips. "Well, okay, I can give you the benefit of the doubt. Hurry and finish your breakfast, you woke up late, so you have to eat fast if you want to make it to school today."
"Yes, Sister Alyssa," I agreed without question, quickly finishing my porridge and toast before I got up. "I'm off, Sister Alyssa."
"Be safe, may God watch over you."
I simply nodded and made my way out of the orphanage, starting the trek to school as I fell into a crowd of students wearing the same uniform as I was.
"Morning Harry," a voice said, making me look over at the person on question- my friend James. He was a bit taller with me, with black hair and brown eyes. "You look kind of exhausted."
"Morning," I greeted him back. "Yeah, I'm a bit tired. Woke up a little bit ago, probably would have slept in had Sister Alyssa's voice not woken me up. I swear, despite being a nun that woman has a voice like a cannon."
"Should you be talking like that about your matron?"
"Eh, it'll be fine, people will only find out if I get ratted out," I waved it off. "Besides, I only talk like this about people I care about."
"So, you talk like this about me too?" James asked.
I smirked at him. "No."
He stared at me, offended, before he burst out into laughter, and I joined him.
It was an unconventional friendship the two of us had, but it was fun.
School went by as it usually did for the two of us, we attended classes, hung out and read whatever manga or comics we could find in the library during our breaks, and then after school we headed for our part time jobs.
At thirteen there weren't many jobs available to that that we could do, and we were severely limited given our school hours, and laws that said we couldn't work before or after certain times.
One job we could do were paper rounds, delivering things like magazines and newspapers. James came from a well-off family, and they had two bikes- one for him, and one for his older brother. His older brother didn't really use his bike anymore, and he'd given me permission to use it for my job.
So, the two of us went to his place, briefly spoke with his parents and brother, before we got on the bikes and set off to work.
It wasn't as easy as people made it out to be, given we basically had to ride bikes the entire time in order to cover almost all of town, but it was satisfying and fulfilling, and it made me some nice pocket money on the side. I was saving up in order to buy a laptop so that I could enjoy my great passion in life: writing.
I loved writing; that was one thing that always stood out vividly despite not remembering much of my past life. Writing was my passion, I loved writing more than anything, I was always so inspired by talented authors too. Percy Jackson was one of my favourite series, so I was glad that Rick Riordan existed in this world too. He was only up to Titan's Curse right now, which came out about six months ago, but I was glad I could now read my favourite of the five books any time I wanted.
I wanted to write a book, just like Rick. A book that would help people escape into a fantasy world, able to sympathise and understand the character, to fall in love with them and live vicariously through them.
And more than anything, I wanted to inspire others just like I had been inspired by books.
'Still, it's kind of strange that so many anime and manga I thought were staples are missing in this world,' I couldn't help but think to myself as I worked hard on delivering papers. 'I'm not even able to find anything on Musashi Kishimoto, Tite Kubo, Hiro Mashima or anyone… It's so weird, and it almost makes me wonder why they don't exist…'
I shook my head. 'Well, whatever, I've been in this world for thirteen years and there's no use wondering about stupid questions like that. For now, I should just focus on my job and making it through this world, one day at a time. I think that's what would make mum the happiest for me…'
~~The Last of Avalon~~
Thirteen years.
Thirteen years she had been searching for Arthur, and yet she had found no sign of him no matter how hard she looked.
'How is that even possible!?' The court mage of Camelot yelled mentally. 'This is Arthur! He was always picking fights with Kay and caused problems for Ector before he matured under my teachings! How have I not found him yet!?'
Her first stop in her search had been Wales, as that was the land where Camelot had once stood. Surely if Arthur had been reincarnated, it would be somewhere in Wales.
And yet after a year of searching, she found nothing in Wales, so she moved onto Great Britain. Arthur, even reincarnated, would be magically powerful so she'd checked every Mage Association, every family with ties to the supernatural, but still she found nothing.
She even checked on the Pendragon Family several times, even knowing they were descendants of Gawain. Arthur, the eldest son of the family, looked incredibly like Arthur did in his youth. For a while she thought he really might have been her Arthur, but further observation just made it clear to her he wasn't.
For one, he didn't have a Dragon Core. Arthur's Dragon Core was more than just a physical thing, it was a conceptual Magic Core that was attached to his very soul, even reincarnation wouldn't wipe it away.
For another, the boy hadn't inherited anything from Arthur besides looking remarkably similar to him. He was strong yes, and his aptitude for Holy Swords was remarkably powerful all things considered… But she saw it the instant he took Caliburn into his hands. He wasn't Arthur. In his hands Caliburn hummed, but it did not sing gloriously as it would when Arthur held it.
And so, Merlin stopped observing the Pendragon Family. Though that was also because she didn't want them to notice she was watching them, and for them to learn she was Merlin and try to coerce her into joining the family and 'teaching Arthur's descendants as she did their ancestor.'
The only students that she'd accepted were Arthur and some of Charlemagne's Paladins like Bradamante, she had no interest in teaching anyone besides those that caught her eye.
She checked any royal families in Britain as her last stop but came up to a dead end there besides one girl with a particularly powerful Holy Affinity, a bastard child called Meredith Ordinton. Her Holy Affinity was unnaturally strong, so Merlin correctly concluded the girl must have one of the Holy Relics within her as a Sacred Gear. It wasn't the True Longinus, otherwise her Demon half would react much more violently around her, and it wasn't Incineration Anthem either given she sensed no Fire Affinity. The Grail was out too, since she knew that was in the hands of a Dhampir, and the Shroud of Turtin wasn't a Sacred Gear.
That meant the only one it could possibly be was Alphecca Tyrant, the Holy Nails that pinned Christ to the cross.
The girl seemed to not be liked very much by her family due to her status as a bastard, and the feeling was definitely mutual. The girl had gone and joined the Golden Dawn, a Magicians Association, so she hoped that she'd be happy there, before she moved out of Britain and continued her search.
She next checked out Rome, reasoning that the Church may have noticed Arthur's incredibly aptitude for Holy Swords and picked him up, especially since natural holy sword wielders were now incredibly rare due to quite a few ancient bloodlines dying out.
They did have quite a few talents that Merlin wouldn't have minded taking under her wing, such as Xenovia Quarta, who Merlin looked into her with her Clairvoyance and learned she was a descendant of Roland, which certainly explained why Durandal had chosen the girl.
The Church also had a particularly interesting girl by the name of Lint Sellzen. She was artificially created by the Church through their 'Sigurd Institute,' which they used to try and genetically re-create the warrior Sigurd in hopes of finding someone who could wield Gram.
A glance at her told Merlin that she wouldn't be able to wield Gram any time soon, but her Holy Sword affinity was incredibly high, she was an incredible homunculus that she would honestly put on the same level as Mordred, perhaps even better since she didn't seem to be showing any signs of rapid aging, or signs of her body degrading. Still, she was incredibly annoyed with the church for doing such a thing. She had never liked the idea of Homunculi all that much, especially ones who were deemed failures and ignored just because they weren't the result people were looking for.
Had she not been focused on finding Arthur, she likely would have taken the girl under her wing, but she had priorities.
The next place she checked was the Hero Faction, reasoning that given a lot of them were hero descendants or those who had inherited the 'wills' of various Heroes that they might have picked up Arthur.
Honestly, she thought it was amusing they really thought themselves as reincarnations of heroes. All reincarnates retained strong personalities and resemblances to who they used to be, as well as some extra abilities that stuck to them like glue.
Jeanne was nothing like the original Joan of Arc, the original Joan of Arc would have continued to faithfully serve God. Even after learning of his death, she would never have strayed from the path and continued to follow the duties of a Holy Woman. After all, she had held onto her cross and prayed even as she burned in the flames of France's hatred.
And don't even get her started on that upstart little shit Cao Cao who was building up the faction while using the True Longinus. He thought he was a descendant of the Original Cao Cao, but the boy was just being fed lies by Indra who was using him like a toy, nothing more. His delusions of bringing about the 'age of humans' was ridiculous, especially since the Age of Humans had begun long ago and was still going strong. A hero would always rise when needed, the fool would likely never understand that.
She didn't observe the Hero Faction for long, casting her sight elsewhere when it became clear that despite all they claimed that they weren't heroes, they were just incredibly racist to anything not human.
Next, she decided to check on the Celtic Gods. She probably should have checked them sooner, but she really didn't like the Celts. They were always trying to intrude upon Great Britain, and she as well as the Knights of the Round had to fight back the invading forces, it was honestly just as bad as dealing with the Saxons.
She needn't have bothered checking on the Celts, their powers had greatly weakened, and they'd mostly retreated from the world in order to find a way to build up their strength again to stop themselves from fading.
She cast her gaze to the Land of Shadows, where Scathach resided, only to be stunned at what she found.
The Land of Shadows was bare, completely and totally. Usually, it was filled with monsters and unspeakable horrors, as well as lost spirits trying to find their way. But now? It was empty, void of all life, as the Castle of Shadows remained there… And sitting on the throne, unmoving, was the Witch of Dun Scaith and Lord of Spirits, Scathach.
She found herself staring at Scathach, the Vampire having not aged so much as a day since she had last seen her. Her long purple hair as beautiful as ever, and she still wore that tight body suit that showed off every curve on her body.
Merlin was honestly jealous of Scathach's beauty, despite being quite beautiful herself. Scathach always made her jealous, she was especially jealous of how blunt the Scottish Teacher was, and how easily she could take people to bed.
A single crimson eye suddenly cracked open, staring at Merlin straight through her Clairvoyance.
Message received, Merlin cast her gaze away from the Vampire, and left her in peace.
From there, Merlin checked every supernatural faction she could think of: Greeks, Romans, Hindu, Fallen Angels, Devils, Youkai, Old Satans, Aztecs, Egyptians, she even went as far as checking Zoroastrians, who had LONG since retreated from the world!
But no matter where she looked, there was no sign of the Once and Future King.
She eventually settled down in a town in England, using her Clairvoyance to check regularly for any signs of Arthur, but finding nothing no matter how she looked.
She had everything she wanted in the world if she was honest. Books, Video Games, Television, Movies, she'd even picked up cosplay as a fun hobby…
But without Arthur by her side, she felt empty, so very empty.
'Arthur… Where are you?'
~~The Last of Avalon~~
I let out a groan as I got up and stretched after class, this day in particular had seemed to drag on more than usual. I really didn't want to do my part time job today, but I needed the money for a laptop. So, I got up, and met up with James as the two of us once again headed to his place.
"You might have to handle the paper run yourself today," James told me with a sigh.
"Why?" I asked him. "What's up?"
"Got told this morning, rather abruptly, that we're going to be seeing my Grandparents today," he explained to me. "I don't mind going to see them, but I'd have preferred more forewarning than literally this morning… Granted, I probably should have told you that you'd have to handle the paper run yourself today, or at least warned you about it so you could cancel and have someone else do it. That is my B."
I sighed and rubbed the sides of my head. "That will be rough, but I think I can barely make it in time, I'll definitely get home late though, and I'll probably have to get something from the 24-hour place on the way home, but I think I can squeak it out."
"Also, I'll make it clear, I'm not expecting you to split the money with me if you do it all," he told me in a firm voice. "You do the work; the money is yours. It's more than fair."
I nodded, before I blinked as something registered in my mind. "Hey, come to think of it, your family is kind of well off, right? Why are you working a part time job anyway?"
"My parents are well off, but they're still firm believers of hard work," he told me. "They're happy enough that I'm passing school, but when they heard you were looking for a part time job, they thought it would be a good opportunity to teach me discipline and hard work, so they suggested I work with you. I don't mind it since I find it fulfilling, plus it makes me a bit of extra cash to save towards things I want. You're aiming for a laptop, right? I'm hoping to be able to buy a new phone. My parents bought me a flip phone, but I want a smartphone, you know?"
"I know," I told him. "Is it still cool if I use the bike? Not sure I can make it if I don't."
"Sure man," he nodded. "I wouldn't make you need to run around doing it, that's just too cruel. Come on, you can have a snack at my place and then you can get to work. Just make sure to secure the bike with the chain so some jerk doesn't steal it when you're done."
"Thank you, it means a lot to me that you and your family are always helping me out," I told him.
"No worries, Harry," he laughed. "As far as we're concerned, you're practically family."
I felt a warmth spread through me when he said that, and I a smile slowly crawled onto my face. "Family… Thank you, James."
He gave a small smile. "No need to thank me, mate."
When I spent a bit of time with James's family that day, it felt different somehow. Enjoying a snack, just talking with them and wishing them well, I genuinely felt like I was part of their family.
They wished me well as I got on James's bike- a bit unsteady since I was used to his brother's- and rode off to do the paper run.
That day, I was feeling incredibly motivated and happy, so I put my all into doing the paper run. I blitzed through the town like a demon possessed, dashing from the door to door and delivering the papers before running back to the bike and blitzing it down to the next set of houses.
Maybe it was silly of me to feel so motivated just because James said that I was practically family, but it meant a lot to be. Being an orphan for 13 years and having no memories of any family in my past life, it felt nice to have someone that called me family.
I hummed as I eventually came to a rather large house, the last house I'd be delivering to. I checked the watch that the orphanage gave me to make sure we didn't miss curfew, and found I had a good 20 minutes before 7PM, so I was just barely in the confines of the law to do my job.
I looked up at the house, feeling just a bit nervous. This was usually a house that James did, but since he was visiting his grandparents, I'd be doing it. James didn't like talking about when he delivered to the house, he just knew the owner had specific instructions that they wanted to take the paper from him themselves, rather than just having it slid through the door flap or left in their mailbox.
Whenever I asked him about it, his face would turn red like he was getting angry, so I quickly changed the subject to help calm him down. I assumed, from that, the owner of the house was kind of snobbish and a jerk.
Still, it was the last house, so I decided to just suck it up. I headed to the door and rang the doorbell for a couple of seconds before I waited patiently.
Soon enough, I heard the sound of footsteps moving at a somewhat rapid pace before the door slowly opened.
I forgot how to breathe.
Standing in front of me, in just a loose white shirt and a pair of black shorts, was a gorgeous woman the likes of which I thought didn't exist in this world. Her hair was long and white, tied back in a ponytail but still reaching to her knees. Her eyes were of wine, a gorgeous mixture that I couldn't tell if they were red or purple, but some beautiful fusion of the two.
Her face was beautiful, too beautiful to describe without feeling like I was insulting her. There wasn't a blemish or mark upon her beautiful pale skin, and her body was insanely curvy, from her chest, to sliding down her hips and waist, all the way down her thighs and her long, beautiful legs…
"Hello," she said, smiling at me warmly. "You're here to deliver the paper?"
Just like that, the illusion was broken. I stared at the woman's face a moment longer, and I realised something.
I recognised her.
I didn't notice due to her clothes and the way her hair was in a ponytail… But now that she was smiling, I recognised her face, and it sent a jolt of shock through me.
Merlin.
More specifically, she looked exactly like Merlin Prototype from the Fate Series; the female version of Merlin that was in King Arthur's reality.
Panic began to fill my body, though it didn't show on my face. What was this? Was she actually Merlin? The real Merlin? Did that mean this world was one of Supernatural somehow? Given it was Merlin, did this mean this was the Fate Universe? Did the clocktower exist here? Magi?
I snapped out of it when I realised, she was looking at me, waiting for me to speak with an amused smile on her face.
"Oh um, yeah," I nodded, pulling out the last few magazines and the newspaper and handing them over. "Thank you for your patronage."
"Where's the other boy?" She asked me. "Usually, he's the one to deliver my paper, it's always fun seeing his reactions to me."
"He's visiting some relatives today and didn't warn me about it until shortly after school," I told her, finding myself relaxing as I spoke with her. It almost felt… Familiar, comforting in a way. 'Must be her big sister aura,' I rationalised, I vaguely remembered that Proto Merlin liked to fancy herself as Arthur's big sister sometimes.
"Oh, nothing bad I hope?" She asked.
"Not at all, just visiting his grandparents and he didn't get any warning about it until this morning, and only told me about it after school, so I'm covering for him today, it should be back to normal tomorrow."
She smiled. "I see, that's good to hear. What's your name, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Sure," I nodded. "I'm Harry, Harry Blacksteel. The other boy who delivers here- James- is my friend. I borrow his brother's bike when we do this, since I don't have a bike of my own… I always wondered why his face turned red when he came here, but now I know."
"Oh?" She gave me a teasing smile. "And why is that?"
"Well…" I blushed. "I'm not gonna say it, you already know why," I grumbled. "You shouldn't just tease my friend and I like that."
She laughed lightly, it was melodic, beautiful and… Familiar.
Why? Why did her laugh ring so familiarly in my mind? This was far beyond just recognising her voice and her face…
I shook my head, deciding not to worry about it any longer. "I should get going now, the bike isn't mine and I should return it and get back home."
"Of course," she smiled, beginning to close the door. "You be safe, okay?"
"Ah, wait, what's your name?" I asked her.
She paused and giggled. "Wow, you're a lot bolder than your friend. He's never had the courage to ask my name."
Really James…? Oh right, she was half-succubus… Maybe? She might have just really looked like Merlin, after all.
"My name is Marissa," she told me. "Marissa Edwards. It was lovely to meet you, Harry. Be safe on your way home…" She looked at me again, and for a moment her gaze became almost vacant.
"… Um, Miss Edwards? Are you okay?" I asked her.
"What?" She blinked. "Oh, yes! I'm sorry, you just looked familiar to me, with your blonde hair and blue eyes, you remind me of my little brother."
"I see," I nodded. "Take care of yourself, Miss Edwards," I turned and ran back to the bike, climbing onto the bike… But I couldn't help but cast one more glance back at Marissa.
She stood in the doorway, smiling and waving at me politely. I couldn't help but feel a blush rise to my cheeks and waved back, before I started to pedal away.
'No wonder James got all red,' I thought as I pedalled back towards his place. I would have been a stuttering idiot too if I had been faced with Marissa every single day. And according to her, James never even had the courage to ask for her name due to how flustered she made him.
It took a little while, but I returned to James's house. The lights were off, so I figured they must have still been at his grandparent's house. I grabbed the chain that he'd left by the door, securing the bike firmly before I kept it in place with the padlock. Only James and I knew the combination, so I knew someone would have to be really dedicated if they wanted to steal it.
With that done, I began my trek home, the sweat having piled up a bit on my body, the sun in the midst of setting. I'd worked hard today, so I looked forward to getting the payment tomorrow.
I decided to take a bit of a long way home just to enjoy the cool evening air, deciding to take a stroll through the park…
As I walked though, I noticed how empty the park seemed to be, which was kind of strange. The town I lived in was somewhat small, but usually there would be people around even now. But today? It was empty, and it was somewhat eerie…
I shook my head, thinking maybe it was just some coincidence, and turned a corner.
That was when my life changed.
My body felt it before I saw it, every muscle locking up simultaneously and freezing in place, as if accessing some deep survival instincts to not move and be spotted, so that I could live. The stench was what hit me next, a strong scent of iron in the air so pungent it made my nose wrinkle… Blood.
That was when my eyes finally saw.
A man, clad in a business suit, handsome, but out of his back were spread a pair of wings of darkest black. The wings of an angel, one that had fallen from grace.
Strewn on the ground were three bodies, one female, two males, all dressed in nice clothes that were stained with blood, their eyes blank and masks of horror covering their faces…
My blood ran cold.
James's family.
My eyes snapped back up to the man, and I recognised the struggling figure that he held by the throat.
"JAMES!"
Both the man's and the struggling James's eyes snapped to me.
"Hm…?" The man's voice was low, cold. "A person? How did you get by the barrier…?" He chuckled. "No matter, I'll just kill you in a moment…"
"Har… ry…" James gagged as he was held up by only his throat, tears flowing down his face as blood left his mouth. "Ru… Run…"
The man smiled coldly… And squeezed.
James's body went limp.
I felt my heart sink as my friend… My best friend… Died right in front of me.
The man dropped James to the ground unceremoniously, as if he was just disposing of some worthless trash that he no longer had any interest in.
"Ah… Nothing quite excites me like erasing family lines," he grinned slowly, before his gaze turned to me. "Now then… To deal with you."
"You…" My throat closed up a bit, fear filling every fibre of my body as I wanted to move, to run, but I couldn't. "You're a monster!"
"Yes," he grinned. "I'm a monster. And this monster is going to end your pathetic existence today… Usually I'd use my hands, but I've had my fill for today…" He held his hand to the side, a spear of light forming in his grasp. "I'm sure this will be quite enough to deal with you."
I stared in horror, unable to think, to move… My throat closed up even more as I felt my impending death coming.
He tossed the light spear lazily, as if I wasn't worth his time, and it began to race towards me…
The world slowed down around me, almost grinding to a halt. I saw my life- this life- flash before my eyes.
'Is this it?' I thought to myself. 'I'm just… Going to die, like this? I'm going to die without having ever really done anything. I'm going to… To die just like James and his family did, unable to fight back against this bastard…'
It was almost like my senses were all increased as I watched the light spear inch towards me slowly, my eyes able to keep up, but my body unable to move, unable to dodge even if I wanted to.
'I had so much I wanted to do… I wanted to write so many stories… I wanted to brag to brag to James about all my hard work paying off when I became a famous author. I wanted to hang out with him more, get a girlfriend, get married, grow old, have kids… And now, I'm just going to die…?'
The light spear was so close now… Just a few more seconds and…
One day, I trust you'll accomplish great things… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry I won't be there to see it…
My mother's voice echoed through my mind… As my life continued to flash before my eyes until it finally got to mere seconds ago, James's family on the ground, dead, James himself pleading for me to run… I was just going to die…? To this bastard who took my best friend and his family away…?
Something within me snapped.
~~The Last of Avalon~~
Merlin dropped the newspaper she was reading as an aura suddenly entered her awareness… And aura so familiar, she could never forget it… An Aura she'd been seeking for over thirteen years.
"Arthur?"
~~The Last of Avalon~~
'No! Don't fuck with me! I've already died once! And while I may not know how it went back then, I will not lose my life to this… This bastard who gets off on wiping out bloodlines!'
~~The Last of Avalon~~
Arthur Pendragon's eyes widened as he looked down at Caliburn within his hands, stopping his training session to stare at the blade. For a moment, just a single moment, Caliburn had let out a Holy Aura unlike anything he had ever produced from it. The blade had, for just a second, sung and crooned, before quieting down again.
'That feeling… Was Caliburn… Calling out?'
~~The Last of Avalon~~
'I won't die here! I don't care what I have to do, what lows I must fall to! I refuse to die here to this piece of shit!'
~~The Last of Avalon~~
Deep within a lake hidden in the bowels of Wales, a beautiful woman resided at the bottom, holding onto a sword more beautiful than gold tenderly, as if loving it…
Her head tilted towards the surface… And she smiled.
'It's about time you started waking up, Arthur.'
~~The Last of Avalon~~
'Come on body, move! I can't die yet; I won't die yet!' I screamed in my mind as the light spear was so close now… It was piercing through my shirt. 'Move…! Move…! I said…!'
I felt a surge of energy flow through my body, as my entire being screamed with one word all at once.
'MOVE!'
BOOM!
A loud explosion echoed throughout the park, the light spear stabbing into the ground, having not harmed anyone.
"What…?" The man said, holding his ears in pain from the sound of the explosion, slightly disoriented. "Did… The sound barrier just break…?"
He turned to look behind him slowly… At where I was standing.
I hadn't changed.
I still looked exactly the same as I did moments ago, there was no miraculous transformation, there was no sudden change in my appearance that made me look intimidating…
Perhaps the red gauntlet that manifested on my left arm, leaving the fingers uncovered had something to do with it.
"You're a Sacred Gear user…?" The man said in shock. "But that's only a Twice Critical…! It shouldn't give you the power to have dodged my Light Spear so easily! What did you do… Who in the hell are you!?"
"… My name is Harrison Blacksteel," I told him, feeling an intense anger burning through my body as I glared at him. "You killed my best friend…
"Prepare to die."
I jet towards him with a burst of speed, a small explosion caused by my feet as I slammed my fist into his stomach. He doubled over, coughing up hard before he was sent flying back, crashing into a nearby bench, destroying it as he skid to a halt on the ground.
"H… How…!?" The man groaned as he got up, holding his stomach. "There was no data about a Sacred Gear wielder in this town…! Especially not such a strong one!"
"That kid you just killed…" I growled at him. "His name was James. He wanted to grow up to be a doctor, to help people… And you killed him and his family all because of your own twisted desires… And they won't be able to rest in peace… Unless I kill you, you son of a bitch!"
I roared as I charged at him, power surging through every bit of my body, the gem on the gauntlet glowing as I slammed my fist into his face, moving with speed and delivering strikes with power I didn't know I had.
"D- Damn it!" He roared, creating light spears as he began to throw them at me, but I dodged each and every one without issue, tossing him around like a ragdoll. "This can't be!" He coughed up blood, falling to his knees in pain. "I've never heard of body reinforcement magic like this!"
"You're going to die here," I growled at him as I walked towards him slowly, lifting up my left hand as blue lightning crackled from it.
"… No, wait…" He muttered. "This sounds like…! The small explosions, the destructive force, the jolts of lightning…! This is… The technique used by the Knights of the Round Table…!"
I loomed over him, lifting my fist above his head. "Go to hell!"
"M- Mana Burst-!"
My fist came down, and he was silenced, his body being blown away from the impact, now lacking a head that rolled on the ground nearby.
The gauntlet vanished from my arm as I felt my body suddenly grow weak, and I stumbled back over to James and his family…
I fell to my knees and covered face with my bloody hands, starting to cry. Cry and lament the loss of my closest friend, the loss of his family… All taken unfairly before their time.
The exhaustion of what I'd done, what I'd experienced, and the energy I'd expended finally caught up with me, tilting sideways as I fell to the ground.
"He's the source of the magical energy," a voice said from above me.
"Take him," another responded. "And start cleaning up and modifying memories. It's gonna be one of those days…"
The world faded to black.
~~The Last of Avalon~~
Merlin skid to a halt in the park, breathing heavily as she looked around at the damage it had undergone, the blood on the ground, the bodies on the floor- including one she recognised the boy who usually delivered her papers to her.
She quickly cast spells, trying to find the aura she'd felt moments ago…
But it was gone, artificially erased with a spell.
Merlin screamed to the heavens in frustration and rage.
Arthur had slipped through her fingers.
I decided to post this a day early because as we speak I'm about to sleep in an hour and didn't wanna have to wake up and immediately post. So hurray, you get the chapter a day early.
I'll also be responding to some reviews.
Shieldtoad says: "Saw the premise and the fate elements and was excited to read it but then I saw who the author is. What's the point of reading a story that will soon be abandoned anyway, while the author covers it up with pathetic drama and whining about issues born out of his disturbed mind? To anyone thinking about following this story, don't bother. This author never went far in any of his stories, and on top of that he is a snowflake that seeks attention because he lacks it in his life."
Well, dickbag, consider yourself blocked :)
Starhammer says: "Holy shit. I expected a bit of harem bait and maybe a bit of a questionable story, the only reason I even started reading was because I saw Xenovia as a character, but after reading it, I have come to two conclusions. One: You are a Fate fan, and Two: You are a VERY good fucking writer and I am invested. Let's do this shit, I want to see this unfold. Keep it going, you have captured my attention better than most."
Thank you for your kind words. I admit this is a bit harem bait, but when I try to write stories with harems, I try to make the build up believable compared to how I used to write cringy poorly built harem stories (Look at first story, one who shapes the future for an example). I hope I live up to your expectations, I'm going to try and carefully construct this story into something good.
Hyakki Yako says: "Good, good, good, oh this is fantastic, Waifu-Merlin! I've been waiting for this moment for ages, I've wanted them to create a fic with Merlin as one of the main characters, normally it's just another addition to the harem, this is what I wanted please continue! I'm really looking forward to this, the beginning left me drooling, and I want to see how it continues. is there a chance you could include Melusine/Fairy Knight Lancelot? perhaps as a descendant of Lancelot, or what was left of Albion's body, something like his daughter, or a kind of Sacred Gear for the protagonist Please consider it, I also want to see more of Merlin fight!"
I've been really into Merlin recently, hence why I started writing this. I've been writing a lot of gamer stuff lately, so I decided to take a step away from that and go for something different, and this fic is the result. I would like to add Melusine into this story, and I've contemplated several ways to do so. Given this is an Arthur Reincarnate SI-OC story, I'll likely include the Knights of the Round at some point, so Melusine, Barghest, and Baobhan Sith are very real possibilities.
To those who have said kind things, thank you, it honestly makes me feel better about this. To assholes like Shieldtoad, go fuck yourselves. Like I said, I'm honestly done even trying to fight back against flamers at this point. If people shit talk me, I'm just point to block them. If they use a guest account to do so, I'll take down the reviews. I didn't write that post on God's Game to get attention or anything, I get plenty of attention from family, friends, and my girlfriend. If I wanted attention, I'd do something MUCH more flamboyant than acting out on fucking fanfiction . net of all things, I'd act out on facebook if I wanted attention.
For now, that's all from me. I do have the next chapter written already, but that's all I have written, been on a bit of a writer's block in regards to Chapter 3. Though it shouldn't be an issue to overcome it, just a bit of a 'starting the chapter' issue, I'm already making progress.