As the final battle in Londinium commences, storms cry out as blades and lightning meet.
In the aftermath of it all, what did the rebellious holder of Clarent seek all her life?
What lies ahead for the vestiges of Proper Human History as they seek to bring this Singularity to a close?
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Yes, this new chapter came "soon". Relative to the other ones over the years XD
Big fighty stuff with Chaldea and some more tranquil moments here and there.
Ah, yep. Side story at the end with a smidgen of NSFW stuff, so don't say that I didn't warn ya. :P
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"Artoria, Mordred! Rush them and cover us!" The two knights advanced forward without a single drop of hesitation in their steps. Even if the once smooth cobblestone streets were now shattered paths, they carried on.
"Ho? You must be this desperate to command a forward rush this early on, magus…", At this point, Zolgen had brought his own hand out to command his own Servant," Archer! Unleash thy lightning upon these fools!"
As the lone man in the sky brought his hand down, a barrage of lightning crackled all around the knights' path. In that moment, purple lightning met scarlet lightning:
"Heh! As if you're the only one that can use some sparks, jackass!" The hellcat knight had brandished Clarent and blasted away the Archer's attack with her own. In its wake, Mordred rushed ahead of Artoria and left sparks with every step she landed on her path to go shank an Archer.
"Was Mordred always this fast? Even when Clarent was brought out to full power, she was never this fast on her feet…" Artoria briefly pondered on some memories on the battlefield with her knights while Dun Stallion brought her closer to the enemy Servant, "...No. She can't possibly be doing that. I don't feel good about this situation at all…"
At the side of I and his other servants, they were on standby as they assessed the situation before them. This was no simple fight in front of them. They were face to face with one of the Grand Caster's pawns, after all. So, no grave mistakes should be made this time around…
"Hmm, while Artoria and Mordred are bashing heads and blades with that Servant, I think it's best if we take this chance to skewer that Zolgen fucker." J'Alter had readied her flag-spear and summoned a set of flaming lances behind her, "Though, I'd feel that's exactly what he wants us to do…"
"For once, I'd agree with you on tactics…," Dantes glanced at Jeanne as she spoke her mind, "The best we can do is keep our distance and provide some cover fire around the Camelot knights. Zolgen? Wait…"
"Where did that Holy Grail go?" I finished Dantes' line of thought as we looked at our foe. "After that lightning strike with Mordred, the mana signature around his area had faded away so suddenly…"
At this, Nero stepped forward and called to Mash, "Mash! Launch me from your shield to get me to that insolent mage!" Within a second, Mash raised her shield up to serve as a platform for the emperor.
As she launched herself towards Zolgen, Nero brought out her sword and released her Noble Phantasm to bring out extra speed and power. From this point, she came at him like a red, sparkling comet. "Master! He's trying to summon a Dem-!"
The emperor's words were cut short as a massive burst of fog and mana gathered around the mage. Lo and behold, a Demon Pillar was what replaced a human mage in that spot. If anything, a vile form was more appropriate to the humanoid form Zolgen had taken. With the arrival of the pillar, came a shockwave of mana that pushed Nero back a good distance away.
"Nero!" I called out to her as she was sent hurtling away, "With ye divine blessings, ward away all grievous wounds: Praesidium!" With this spell, I casted a protection incantation to cushion her rough landing on the rocky roads. "It won't completely make that fall feel like a dive into pillows and all, but it'll help out…"
"You vile demon! All of Roma will know of the day that Nero slays you!" The emperor in question had jumped back to her feet with a breeze of scarlet rose petals dancing around her, "Now then, let this concerto commence for real!"
"Looks like it's our turn to make our own moves, guys!" I put some mana into my feet and my gear, "Dantes, back the knights up! Mash and J'Alter, we're helping Nero make a new victory ballad today!" My respective Servants and I moved out with haste towards our positions on the battlefield of Londinium.
The Avenger of Monte Cristo quickly made his way to the battle of the knights and was by their sides in a blink of an eye. "Well, here comes hell and high water…" Dantes readjusted his fedora to get a better look at the Archer before them, "Hn. He doesn't appear to be from any divine or ancient age, so he just might be a more modern figure…"
"Yo, Gloomy! You're our covering fire?" Mordred glanced to her side, "My king and I've been blasting this guy left and right, but those Grail steroids ain't a joke on 'im. You got any bright ideas?" At the present, both knights have their gear scratched and garments slightly tattered from their first moments fighting the Servant.
Artoria nods, "She is right on that note. Wide range attacks have been the only way so far to actually land a strike on him, but even then…" She tightens her grip on her lance, "That Holy Grail has definitely enhanced his abilities."
"Fair enough, these two knights are likely more used to more direct combat on land rather than a ranged aerial conflict. I could help even the odds by making an opening for them and then letting them go full throttle." Dantes readied mana into his hands, "I'll rush him and try to make him land, then you two can strike him down."
"Gotcha!" "Mhm." With this, the knights advanced their charge as they waited for Dantes to open up an opportunity for them to strike the lightning-toting Archer down hard.
In a blur, dark azure sparks were left in Dantes' wake and soon enough, he appeared behind the Archer, "You're wide open!" and struck him down with a solid point-blank burst of energy. The purple-garbed Servant soon got struck down in one fell swoop and the knights launched their own counterattack.
"Stay dead, you bastard!" Mordred struck her blade down first as she jammed her blade down the Archer's armored arm and stabbed him through his shoulder. A lance then pierced him through his chest next, and behind him was Artoria.
"Concede, Archer! This holy lance has pierced your vitals through and through." As she said this, Artoria gripped her armament harder and put more force in her stabbing, "Nobody shall dirty the memory and legacy of the land I ruled with such vileness!"
Gurgling was heard from him and words were faintly heard from his dying breath…
"Speak up, fucker! I'd love to hear whatever dying words you have in mind, HA HA!" Mordred glared at him as she also jammed her blade in further, "You've got no more moves to play after all, heh."
"...You've lost this one, fools." Swiftly, his hand sparked up with lightning and formed a condensed blade by his fingertips. "Oh, you traitorous knight, you were definitely summoned here for more than protecting your king's land…!
FWOOM!
"GRAGH! FUCKING HELL!"
Like a deafening cry in a storm, lightning struck Mordred's off-hand and severed her forearm cleanly. Blood spewed out of the hellcat's arm as she got knocked back from the strength of the blow. Without sparing even a second, the Archer blasted himself away from the lance and brought along Mordred's severed hand with him.
"...MORDRED!" Artoria shouted out as she saw her knight's grievous wound, "How on Earth is he still alive!? He doesn't have any regenerative abilities of the sort or even a skill like Heracles…"
"Tch…that was a close one…" The heavily wounded Archer got himself a distance away and brought out an item from his coat, "Zolgen, you're a bastard for making me do this…"
"Command Spell: Even on your dying breath, you will…"
A broken crown was produced from within his coat and laid out next to the severed hand of the knight. "On my name as Nikola Tesla! I pay this summon and sacrifice with your knight's flesh and blood, your own fallen crown, this vile fog of London and…!" Using his less armored hand, Tesla pulled out the Holy Grail fragment from his heart to place it next to his implements, "...and the Holy Grail you and your knights have strived so hard to attain!"
"...summon the King of Knights as the battle reaches its end!"
The Archer was then blasted by a massive lightning bolt from the sky, completely blinding all those around the area. As the lightning came down, the fog surrounding the skies of London quickly coalesced around that point.
For a moment, there was no sound as the lightning burst deafened even the strongest. The next moment, the lightning was gone as fast as it came down to the Archer and in its foggy aftermath…
"...N-no, this can't be…!" Artoria could only react in horror at the stallion-mounted figure in front of her. Upon a vile and undead steed, an armored being in full black helm and armor held a black and red lance with spike protruding out of it.
"...Son of a fuck, two of them now?" The now one-handed knight propped herself up using Clarent as a makeshift crutch. Blood spilled freely from the stump on her arm; As painful as it was, the sight in front of Mordred was a more painful experience.
"Ah, so the first thing that defiles my sight is my former self." As the figure spoke, her helm vanished in lightning and fog and her visage was revealed, "...I have been summoned, as Lancer. My lance will break yours down, my adorable, weak self."
Face to face, they encountered a shadow of L'Artoria.
"An Alter…?" Dantes got back on his feet as he saw the scene unfold before him, "Of all things to serve as one of our final hurdles here…" He stood up and observed the newly summoned shadow of the knight-king he was familiar with. "...That mana signature is off the charts, as we speak. She's even going to be much more troublesome than Tesla."
On Ritsuka's side…
"Status-" BAM! "-update, Senpai! The Archer's mana signature is gone, but a larger mana signature is in place and the Servants on our side have notably lower levels of mana at the moment!" Mash took sidestep to the right to avoid a hefty tentacle after blocking one of them, "We should help them, but…"
Mash was forced on the defensive on the get go, as Nero sliced at Zolgen at close range while J'Alter and I gave cover fire via exploding spears and Gandr shots. "Being forced on the defensive isn't doing us any favors here…", I kept my own hands busy reloading my rifle as I thought of our next step in this conflict. "Gotta look for an opening somewhere to get through this… Hell, some sorta weakness of some sort!"
"Ah, look at you Chaldean filth! You're practically groveling to the ground at this rate, hehe!" As freshly sliced appendages sprouted forth from places Nero had severed, Zolgen was utterly formidable and invincible, "I, the Demon Lord Barbatos, shall see to our Grand Caster's Incineration of Proper Humanity!"
"Right, we have Servants that would be really effective against this beast…" I glanced over to J'Alter, "Her Noble Phantasm isn't just summoning hellfire and making things burn a whole lot, as far as I remember the Jeanne we fought over in the Counterfeit Incident…"
"J'Alter! We're going to need you to get in closer than you'd be okay with!" I yelled out to Jeanne, as I unloaded a whole clip into one of Barbatos' eyes, "I know damn straight that you're more than just a glorified, edgy flamethrower!"
Without skipping a beat, a spearhead narrowly missed me, "You've got some balls to give a shitty backhanded pep talk like that!" She looked at me with a comically angry face, "Still, this large tentacled fuck needs to be put down to the fucking ground first! Pipsqueak Emperor, cover me!"
Immediately realizing she was being addressed, Nero sprinted over to Jeanne's side with annoyance threatening to spill from her face, "Wow, you reaaallllyyy got a foul mouth on you! I'll excuse such rudeness for this time though, umu!"
After the two regrouped, Mash and I followed behind them at a distance. "Senpai? Is it going to be okay to send Jeanne front and center of the Demon Pillar? She doesn't have Luminosite Eternelle with her?"
I looked over to Mash with a grin, "Nope, she totally doesn't! But we have something perfect for killing a beast like this! Remember?"
"Remember?" The shieldbearer stood her ground as a particularly heavy tentacle nearly slammed her Master and she and blocked it with her shield, "...Wait! J'Alter's La Grondement Du-"
"Isn't it supposed to be, La Grondement de la Haine ?"
"Senpai, that may be true, but, um…" Mash gave herself a quick shake of the head, "Anyways! J'Alter's ability is a…"
"Hey, ugly! Here's what I think of your so-called grand plan!" Jeanne called out to the massive demon and launched a whole salvo of spears covered in vengeful flame, "It blows ass and you're a fucked up part of this world!"
"C'mon, you shitty beast! Hit me with all you've got!"
"Hey! Don't go dirtying the muse of my next ballad, you filthy demon!" Nero whined as she hacked and slashed at smaller tentacles that tried to blindside their duo, "I won't tolerate a single blemish on that snowy complexion of hers!" With every word, the emperor's slices became heavier and stronger as even more dead tentacles piled around them.
"Heh! Time to set up the grudge…" J'Alter had stopped firing off spears towards the great demon as she placed her flag-spear on the ground in front of her, "...Just a bit more and that mana of his will spike like crazy."
"The fog that's been muddying up the whole place is gone now, and I can feel every ounce of grudge in that Barbatos fucker. That'll strike us soon…"
"I believe I have toyed around with all of you enough. Let us end this…!" At his last word, Barbatos gathered an immense amount of vile mana and hatred towards his grotesque form, "Barbatos, 8th Demon: Commencing Localized Incineration Ritual…"
As the vile energy around the Demon Pillar reached its peak, the ground shook to its core while buildings all around became ruins of the once proud nation. I had known this spell all too well from his previous encounters with Demon Pillars and I could feel it.
I could feel the hatred for life and order within that very core.
"Such a heavy feeling…but this is the perfect shot coming up for us!"
"Nero! Get behind our shitty Master and Mash!" J'Alter braced herself firmly as she held onto her armament impaled on the ground, "Master, now might be a good time for a Command Spell!"
"You got it!", I held out my marked hand towards the saintess and channeled my mana into will, "By my command…"
"Farewell, Chaldeans! No soul shall remember its final vestiges of humanity!" Barbatos had finally finished gathering all of his energy into a concentrated mass of mana above him. The Incineration Ritual had cometh…
"..., Jeanne Alter! Bear the grudge of this demon and curse them to the lowest hells!" At my final word, I felt a massive amount of mana leave me as I used up a Command Spell, "Even though I've used a Command Spell here and there, it's still just as draining as I remembered!"
"Well said, Master! Let's curse this beast to oblivion!" J'Alter's flag-spear stood fiercely in front of her and soon the flag wrapped around it had unraveled. With both hands holding her armament, she looked like a mirror of Jeanne; In place of benevolence and protection, her fingers grasped tightly on the polearm out of vengeance and destruction.
" All evil is here."
Black spears pierced the earth around her. The darkened skies above had only grown in further malice as Barbatos readied his final blow.
"...The time for revenge has come!"
Blazes of hellfire gathered around Jeanne as she continued on.
"This is the roar of my soul that was polished by hatred!"
"...That's right, Senpai. Jeanne Alter's Noble Phantasm is both a means to obliterate and…" Foreseeing the level of destruction that the witch was going to wreak, Mash braced her shield in front of her Master and Nero.
"The time of parting hath cometh! Incinerate and die, Chaldea!" The Demon Pillar released all of its energy as a gargantuan wave of its mana came towards us in a flash. The wave only brought about destruction and cinders in its wake as it came even closer…
However, that never fully came.
"La Grondement Du Haine…" As the wave came to J'Alter, it was stopped in its tracks as she released her Noble Phantasm. Piercing spears burst forth from the earth around the Demon Pillar as they impaled it in place for her seething curse to take place.
"...and avenge all the seething hatred and pain against her."
"ARGH! What is this..?!" The magus/pillar could never have anticipated a single servant to be able to fully stop a demon ritual art and still be in one piece, "This is impossible! You are supposed to be nothing but a falsification of the true Saintess of Orleans! How…?!"
"Don't you dare compare me to her! I am still Jeanne d' Arc!" Spears all around the Demon Pillar bled rivers of tainted blood on the cobblestone pavements, "I am her righteous vengeance! The girl that burned at the stake who incinerates the rest of this godforsaken land!"
Hellfire scorched the earth all around. Hell truly hath no fury than a saintess scorned by god in her death throes. As the hellish fires from below raged further on Barbatos' flesh, the fallen saintess was far from over.
"Sear this into your memory!" Jeanne unsheathed her sword and jumped on her flag-spear as a platform to launch herself into the air. As she leaped, her blackened cloak burned into ashes and her blade bled out a raging burst of hellflame. She grabbed the sword with both her bloodied hands and leapt through dark steel and embers to finish off the Demon Pillar.
"I am the Dragon Witch of Orleans! So, shut up…AND FUCKING DIE ALREADY!"
As her blade met tainted flesh, the flame all around roared even louder into the darkened, stormy sky. Embers around the black-steel blade seared hotter than the flames she was burned within. In the blade's wake, Barbatos was brutally cut in bloody halves.
"...Yeah, that'll do you in…" The witch caught her breath as she landed and recalled her flag-spear to lean on. "Jeez, that really took the breath outta me. That idiot of a Master pulled it off, but he owes me real big time."
On the side of the Knights and Dantes…
"All that glimmer you bear as king…"
A black lance clashed over and over upon a white lance. One was struck out of hatred, while the other stood their ground out of will. Their steeds had been called away for their duel to the death.
"You will never have the resolve that Britain needed in its darkest hours!" The corrupted Artoria in ebony armor had been relentlessly attacking the true Knight-King. Both of their mounts had been summoned away as they spilled blood and broke steel upon the ground.
"My spear is not one that kills for power!" L'Artoria nimbly dodged a fatal thrust to her side and countered with her own as she impaled her other self cleanly in her abdomen. "This holy lance is one that freely gives hope to the ones under my rule and protection!"
"...She is overwhelming. Every blow I block from her, my armor shatters. Every near miss from her lance, I get cut all over…"
Dantes himself got over to Mordred's side to provide cover for the knight to properly get her bearings. "...This doesn't bode well for us at all." Gloved hands brought out Servant-grade bandages and salve to stop a severed limb's bleeding flow. "Still, this doesn't change that this is just another fight to the death."
"Yeah, you're damn right." The knight was far from the image of a knight in shining armor, as her usual steel armor had all but fallen off from her body. Her body had definitely taken a beating, though the bleeding stump on her left arm had stopped its course. "This is just…"
In a red flash, Mordred's armor dematerialized and revealed her red garments underneath. The only armor remaining on her body was a gauntlet on her left. Red lightning shot out of her gauntlet as she channeled her mana into its every segment.
Flexing her impromptu prosthetic's digits, Mordred grabbed her blade with both of her hands…
"...another fight to the death."
The silver-red broadsword started crackling its own lightning as Mordred brought out every ounce of mana she had. The ground beneath her had started cracking over the pressure she was radiating.
"...So you have been pushing your Spirit Origin beyond its limits this whole fight, haven't you?" The Avenger could only grimace at how soon this traitorous knight would burn away their mana to its last ember. "That Altered L'Artoria got me real good when she impaled me with the thorns of her lance. My mana isn't quite keeping up enough to regenerate and perform my trump card more than once…"
"You can rest easy, gloomy. You have a home to get back to with that Master of yours, y'know?" The spiky blonde swordsman glanced over to Dantes with a weary smile, "I'm already there myself, so I don't think I've got much to lose compared to you. Besides, you're doing a piss poor job of keeping up with this fight right now, right?"
"MOR-!" Before he could even finish saying her name, the knight had already launched herself towards the tainted Knight-King. She blasted herself away with a thunderclap as she held her sword in both hands, willing for the kill.
With a great swing, the altered Knight-King knocked down her other self to the ground, "Hn…Your drive really does disappoint me. There is no place in this world for such a softened heart, my virtuous self…"
A thorned lance was raised high in the air as it readied to taste the blood of its pure wielder. The pillar of light in her tainted hand was one that sought to conquer by steel. As if the shadow had grown tired of the body it was originally from and hated its every fiber.
Blood spilled from shattered armor and torn garments as L'Artoria was pinned down to the ground by her corrupted self's mount.
"Ahhh…Have I really gotten this soft?" Through messy blonde hair, the Knight-King could only see the lance that was to end her. "Sorry, Master."
Closer and closer, did the lance descend to her…
However, fate had decided to play a merciful hand via a hellcat knight.
"FATHER!"
Both Lancers looked towards a rampaging bolt of red rushing its way to them.
Silver and red met black steel as sparks of crimson came after each relentless strike, "Well, this time I can finally get that rematch I've been waiting for…!" Mordred slashed and struck wherever she could as let heated vigor and rage power her every blow. "Chaldea Father! I'll take this from here! This fucking despot in front of me is a shitstain for all of Camelot's legacy!"
A flurry of berserk sword slashes was all that was seen from the traitorous knight. Wherever there was an opening, an electrified gauntlet ripped away blackened armor wrathfully. "Tch… Even here you rebel against your ruler, you reject!" A blast of red energy burst from the spear as the Altered L'Artoria attempted to knock back Mordred.
"Those strikes may look wild and unrelenting, but Mordred knows exactly where and when to strike with all that she has…" Artoria got up and recovered her lance in hand, "...Nice work, Mordred. However, I too, have my duties to fulfill as both king and servant…"
With a second wind, Artoria bided her time and charged at her dark self with all her might.
"...!" The vengeful king could not react in time to the righteous charge of her virtuous self. At that blow, she was forcefully knocked back into the air.
Mordred looked back at her true king in all her battle-worn glory, "Father…"
L'Artoria gave her knight and child a gentle smile as she saw her.
But there are things that have to be finished…
"Dun Stallion!" At her command, the snow white stallion rematerialized into the battlefield. "Mordred, let us finish this!" At her word, Artoria mounted her steed to lead the charge with Mordred sprinting close by.
"Heh! You got it!" As soon as the two reached the darkened king, Artoria unleashed her lance's holy light, "RHONGOMYNIAD!" A warm, radiant light enveloped the lance as the king jumped off of her mount and thrusted her shadow to the skies. "Finish this, Mordred!"
Dun Stallion had continued its run and neared Mordred. "...!" With silent realization, the rebellious knight got on the pure white steed as it leaped towards the heavens. With one hand on the reins, Mordred concentrated her mana towards her sword hand as she prepared to finish it once and for all.
"Heh, so I do actually slay the king. Hell, for a good fucking reason even."
"Clarent…"
Mordred readied her mounted slash as she neared the altered regent. Sparks on the blade only became a massive beam of scarlet thunder the instant she slashed!
"...BLOOD ARTHUR!"
A great red blade of thunder tore apart the skies and the vengeful shadow of a king. It was a shout that shattered the skies louder than any thunderclap it knew.
All the others and I could only see a bright red sky lit by rebellion.
"...Woah! Momo's pretty when she's this kind of explosive, umu!" Nero couldn't help being entranced by the great light show unfolding in front of her very eyes.
"...Mordred, your mana reading…" I grimaced at the implication of such an explosive release and its aftereffects on the battle-worn knight.
In the aftermath of it all, the darkened king slowly faded away in the sky. Before she was truly sent back to the Throne, her dying words shook Mordred internally.
"...Well played. You win this one, child."
"Told ya I was going to do it." At that exchange, Mordred collapsed on Dun Stallion as it started its descent and returned to its rider.
"We won." I was in utter disbelief over what had happened for this Singularity. The fight was heavily stacked against them, but they still prevailed nonetheless. With his adrenaline coming to a low, the Master could only feel the fatigue hitting him now.
"This will be a victory ballad for Chaldea, my dear praetor! We remain triumphant once more, umu!" Nero glomped her Master by his shoulders and got on him in a piggyback position. "Now then, I need to rest! Onward to the grail, my Master!" A dainty hand in a worn, red dress pointed me to the grail at the place where the Demon Pillar once stood.
"Where do you even get all this energy, tiny? Besides, I did all that heavy lifting back there with that horrendous thing!" J'Alter neared us as she held her flag-spear in hand and narrowed her eyes at the mage, "Master, you owe me big time for making me pull off such a dangerous stunt, hmph!"
"Take it easy on Senpai, J'Alter, haha…" Mash came to my side as she dematerialized her wall of steel away, "This is our win though, for sure!"
Soon enough, they were joined by some battleworn knights and the ever well-dressed Avenger.
"L'Artoria! Mordred! Dantes! You guys are all in one piece!"
I could only feel joy over seeing my comrades by my side.
"This was truly a pyrrhic victory for us…"
As they re-grouped, they approached the Holy Grail of Londinium in all of its sacred glory. It was a beacon of light at the end of their fight. A good sign of Humanity's survival and hope.
Mordred walked beside her king as things came to a close in the foggy city, "I can't believe you even let me mount Dun Stallion, Father. Hell, it was used to kill yo- well, another you even.." She was still processing the fact that she was given such a privilege by her strained king and father. Not even the other knights had been given that chance, not even that goody two-shoes Bedivere. So, wy?
"...I was wrong about you, Sir Mordred."
Mordred could only feel off-guard at her king's change in tune towards her. This was the same king she tried to kill and overthrow. The same one she betrayed that legends write about. "...Huh?" Youthful green eyes met more seasoned ones as the knight looked towards her king.
"There are many wrongs I have committed under my rule and left many more things unsaid, so I shall take this chance to say this:" Artoria put her hand on Mordred's shoulder, " You are worthy of being a knight of Camelot, Sir Mordred."
Acceptance.
Tears gradually welled up from the spiky blonde's emerald eyes as she realized that she had finally gotten what she had wanted from her liege.
From the sidelines, I saw the scene unfold. "Finally, maybe there is hope for this troublesome family of knights…" I couldn't help but feel emotional over the two starting to reconcile their differences.
"F-father, I…!" Mordred's tearful expression shifted to a wary one as she looked around her surroundings. Artoria and the rest of the group took notice of the knight's change in behavior.
"Mordred? What's wrong?" I warily asked the knight on edge as she looked around with her sword at the ready.
"GET DOWN! ALL OF YOU!"
In a split second, an overwhelmingly vile presence of mana erupted in front of us. A great wave of force pushed us all away from the Holy Grail. Dust and debris kicked about as a figure emerged in front of us.
"Interesting. It's the stray cat that sensed the danger first…" A baleful voice broke the momentary silence following the blast. As I struggled to look towards the figure, all color left my face when I saw the man responsible for this mess.
"So the mortal dares to look upon me?"
In front of me was a man with long white hair and dark red eyes and marks around his body. A robe of white, black, and red had never seemed so vile and menacing, but there he was.
"W-who-" I felt an immense amount of force pushing down on me hard enough to get me down on my knees. Glancing at the others, they too were in similar positions. As if we were forced to kneel down to his presence.
"Heh. Remember my name well then, Chaldea…" A gesture of his hands brought out the corpses of all too familiar people. Unceremoniously, the man dropped their bodies on the floor for all of us to see them plain as day.
"...! Fran! Hyde!"
A surge of rage over seeing their bloodied corpses made me push myself up hard enough to get on my knees to look upon their killer.
"...I am the Grand Caster, Solomon."
Coughing noises and scratching were heard as the still-alive Hyde attempted to crawl out of being on the ground. The well-dressed doctor had lost one of his eyes as he struggled to look at us, "Yo...o, Master. S..sta..y right…there." With every sound that came out of his mouth, blood followed out of his mouth.
"HYDE! We'll-!"
"Eh? Berserkers just don't know when to give up I suppose…" With a snap of his fingers, a phantom force twisted the doctor's neck and ended his life for good. "...Mortals, heroes… All so damn persistent to resist the fate of humanity's fall."
"YOU PIECE OF SHI-!" My words were sharply cut off as the Grand Caster applied more force down on me. I soon felt a force wrapping around my neck, as if threatening me to speak or even breathe once.
"Silence. You are but a pathetic magus, chosen by luck to lead such powerful Servants. Were the other Masters alive in Chaldea, you would have just been a nobody, Fujimaru Ritsuka."
As I attempted to bark back a retort, a red flash bolted its way to the Grand Caster.
"You talk a lot of shit for being such a pompous asshole of a mage…" Mordred had appeared in front of Solomon, blocking him from direct view to me. She stood there, ever defiantly, with her ruined armor and Clarent seething by her side.
"MORDRED!"
Words failed to come out of my mouth as I tried to call out to her. In turn, the knight gave me a somber smile as she looked towards me and faced Solomon again.
"Heh. You have guts, ye traitorous knight. Are you here to convince your king once more that you're still a failure of a knight as you stand before m-"
PTOO!
Spat blood dirtied the white robes of the Grand Caster.
"Insolence. You must be truly desperate to resort to such childish tactics." The Grand Caster impaled her with daemonic tendrils through her abdomen through and through within a blink of an eye. Guts and blood flew profusely as a hole was torn open through the knight.
"MORDRED!"
Artoria hadn't remembered the last time she had yelled out her knight's name outside of hatred and battle.
Fear as she called out her knight and child's name was all too new to her. Yet, the fear hurt more than she'd ever known.
In spite of grave injury and blood loss, Mordred remained defiant as she grasped her sword still.
She wasn't known as the Knight of Rebellion for nothing.
"H…ardly. I'm still here to show ya that no matter how much of a fuck up you are…" The final vestiges of her mana boomed as she readied her blade, "...that never means that they'll kneel to your shitty likes. As long as they keep that good fucking fight in them…"
Slowly, once healed wounds and scars tore and bled while bones cracked under the stress the knight put herself in.
"RITSUKA! You're one helluva Master! Keep up that good fight upon my name as the ever rebellious…"
Clarent screamed its last sparks of revenge.
"...Sir Mordred Pendragon!"
…and she slashed her last at point blank.
"CLARENT! BLOOD ARTHUR!"
A deafening, rebellious cry resounded the battlefield. A hellcat's furious blade split the heavens and earth around her as she struck.
A silence was all that followed…
The loud, belligerent knight had barely any blood and fight left as she dangled helplessly on Solomon.
"Heh, such persistence to the very end…" The Grand Caster's robes were ripped and the skin underneath bled after the knight's attack. "Sadly, it was utterly pathetic…"
Solomon barely showed signs of pain as he effortlessly flicked his wrist to launch the knight's body towards Artoria's direction. The torn garments and flesh of the mage had regenerated like nothing had happened to him.
"Look at your knight's corpse, King of Camelot. Your rebellion will mean nothing to my machinations. Learn well from this."
"..." A silent fury and despair wracked inside Artoria as she looked upon Mordred's body in front of her. Every detail of her knight and child's face was heavily etched in her mind as she looked into fading emerald eyes.
"...M…y king…" To the knight-king, she had never heard her knight speak in such a weak and defeated voice. "...Leave all th..e revenge to me. The king..is the one that upholds hope for all, not…bloodshed. After all…y-you will always be our benevolent…"
Bloodied hacking interrupted Mordred's dying message.
"...Yeah. This was definitely a better end for this fucked up knight than I expected…"
Mordred's remaining hand rested itself on her father's hand as she struggled to finish her words. A faint, fading pulse was all the king could feel as she held her child's hand for the first time in her memory.
The infamous traitor of Camelot had found what she was looking for all these years, after all.
"...Once and Future King…"
Thus, she spoke her last. Her body momentarily stayed on the ground, devoid of life. Then she started fading into golden light as she returned to the Throne.
But Artoria had noticed the faint smile on Mordred as she passed away. The lifeless hand on her own had lost its weight and form as it vanished into the aether. The king had not felt such loss akin to her kingdom's fall until this very moment.
"...Thank you, Mordred…"
None of the Chaldea team present would forget her sacrifice; A last all or nothing show of rebellion to inspire a hope to fight for humanity's final bastion.
Even then, the weight of the wild knight's martyrdom had pushed their wills to the ground heavier than gravity.
"Hn, this is already getting so boring." The Grand Caster clapped his hands and procured the Holy Grail in them, "Take this and leave. You are too weak of heart for me to consider lifting a finger against you all."
The Holy Grail was flung towards me with great speed. At the same time, we all felt the phantom forces acting on all of us disappear.
As soon as that force was gone, all of us charged at Solomon with a dying need. At that same instant, a faint yet familiar static sound rang in my ears.
"F-finally got to you guys! Ritsuka, Mash! This is too dangerous! I'm commencing the Rayshift back to Chaldea now!"
"Doc?!" I had stopped a moment to confirm that I was actually hearing what I was hearing myself. However, the dark King of Mages in front of me reminded me all too much of all the anger I wanted to lash out on him.
As I glanced behind me, I saw the rest of my Servants and Mash running and yelling after me.
Inching closer and closer, I reached my hand out to grab Solomon, but the Rayshift had already started bringing us back to Chaldea.
"Goodbye for now, Chaldea. Amuse me more next time…"
"SOLOMON!"
In one instance, I saw the Grand Caster's demonic face smiling back at me. The next thing I saw was blackness.
8 Hours Post-Londinium Singularity Resolution…
"GAH!" I awoke with a shock as my eyes opened to the bright lights of my room. It was a moment after that I had registered the soft mattress I was resting on. As I regained my bearings, I looked around the room.
"Yo! Masta~!" I saw Oei kicking back on a couch nearby with her sandals off. Snacks and manga were neatly piled on an arm of the couch, telling me that she's been watching me for a while.
"You sure as heck look better than a couple of hours ago, yeah?" The artist took a nearby chair as she chatted me up and checked me. "All of you guys looked like you were in a real sorry state or somethin'. Though I reckon that just means it was a real rough time, I suppose?"
"...It was real rough, heh."
Oei patted me on the head, "I heard from Mash and some of the others, but they didn't go on much about the whole thing." Her octo-parent had floated towards me, carrying a bento box. "Go eat up first, I'll go call in Mash and the others, 'kay?"
I nodded silently as I opened the double-layered red and black box, "Ha, hui guo rou with rice? I guess you remembered one of my comfort foods, Emiya." I inspected the second layer and found more comforts, "...Ah, there's even some simmered vegetables in here! Oh my lord, there's even some strawberry shortcake in here!" By the time I had mentally sorted out the whole bento spread, I realized that I was drooling a tad bit on my undershirt.
Mindlessly, I let my worries and stress go away by devouring the neatly prepped meal for me. Needless to say, I completely forgot the rest of my surroundings to the point that I only heard gentle footsteps and knocking by my door a little too late.
"Senpai! Oei called me in! Are you-?" Mash hurriedly opened the door to see me near halfway done with scarfing down the home cooked meal. "Erm, itsh, um…", I swallowed a big gulpful and wiped my messy face to regain some dignity in front of my junior, "I'm, uh, better now, Mash."
I was met back with a chuckle as Mash gave me time to eat. While eating, Mash and I caught up over the past 8 hours that I was out cold.
"It's good to see that we all came back in one piece, Mash." A pit in my stomach grew uncomfortable, "...yet that whole thing at the end back there? That was a nightmare."
Mash nodded melancholically as she recalled the whole situation with Solomon with me. "It was definitely one of the worst encounters we've had to date. We were utterly overwhelmed by it all and that Grand Caster didn't even seem fazed by the whole thing…"
"He's definitely right about me, though. I really am just a no-name Master to you guys. I wouldn't even be doing any of this if any of the other mages were alive. I would just be in the shadows, nothing front and center like this."
I glanced at my calloused hands.
"Sometimes, I look at how much I've traveled and accomplished. Yet, sometimes I just want to go home and run away from how scary this all feels."
Soft hands gently touched mine.
"Senpai, I know what you mean. I too, know that feeling of doubt and fear. I am supposed to stand toe to toe with heroes and figures of legends and history, yet I'm just a demi-Servant who doesn't even know who their powers are from."
Grasping my hands for reassurance, Mash continued. "But we're in this all together, aren't we?"
Slowly bringing myself to look at my junior, she looked at me with tears and a hopeful smile.
"All of this is so hard to wrap our heads around, Senpai. None of this "saving the world several times over" situation is an easy thing for all of us here. Yet, I want you to know and keep something in mind." Her hands had softly squeezed mine as she continued, "We chose you. We all chose you to be our Master, to lead all of us."
My lilac junior hadn't looked this bright and hopeful in a while. Her smile was comforting as I gazed at her and I couldn't help but smile myself too.
"None of that was luck, none of it."
Exhaling as if releasing all the weight pushing in on me, I felt at ease. This was a moment to cherish and remember, as I continue on with this quest of mine. Nothing could ruin this touching moment, I suppose…
"Yo! Looking alive yet, Master?"
Well, not for long.
Mash and I were brought out of our reverie, as a voice rang in the small room.
"Yo! Masta, I brought some folks over along the way ~ "
"OEI! MORDRED! PUT ME DOWN! I still have to catch up with "A Certain Eldritch Being That Wants to Be An Idol!" I've been missing their episodes the past-"
A hard, wet thwack of a paintbrush was heard hitting said person's head.
"Yeesh! I guess painters can get pretty brutal themselves, eh?"
A few handful of people had decided to show up at my doorstep.
Apart from Hokusai, Mordred, and Jeanne, a certain indoor person (who was definitely not dragged along, mind you, Masta ~) appeared behind the open door. Said person was garbed in a pink hooded cloak with a bat motif adorning it all throughout. Underneath the elegant garment, she wore a dress that could only be described as a mix of traditional Japanese wear and more modern styles meshed together into an oddly pleasing ensemble.
This is, well, Osakabehime or "Batty". As much as the "lady" part in her name could be heavily debated on, she is the yokai ruler of Castle Himeji.
"Somehow, watashi am really feeling like I'm being introduced in a really unflattering way to people…"
She serves as Chaldea's self-appointed "modern culture guru". Though that was valid as long as a certain peppy Archer (whose name definitely doesn't start with "S" nor rhymes with "-ei") isn't sharing the room with her.
"Oei, you didn't exactly have to go out of your way to go pull out Batty from her room…" Jeanne, being the more levelheaded of the bunch, lightly smacked Oei for her rough handling of the shut-in princess. Though, by "light smacking", the Ruler actually has a pretty heavy handed slap off the bat so…
"YEOWCH!" Both the painter and her octopus father had felt Jeanne's "discipline" via their close connection to each other.
"...urgh, that still hit me too good." Oei rubbed the back of her as she tried to soothe it. "Master, I brought these two along to help us cut loose a bit more, 'kay ~? Okki here brought her Bentendo thingy for ya to get ya a breather." All of us looked towards Okki, who started unpacking her game console system with pure focus as wires and cartridges were neatly fixed and attached to the TV display.
"Mashy, could you help me out here? As much as I'd love for you and Master to keep up your little "rom-com OVA" there, it's time for some friendly "slice of life" bonding time!"
Realizing that her hand was still holding mine, Mash quickly let go of mine and pretended to dust off things that really weren't quite there on her clothes.
"A-ah! Sure, sure! I'll, um, help you out." She walked over to Batty and got extra cushions and moved the table for the gaming setup.
"Sounds great, yeah. We could sure use a bit of downtime…" As I got up from my bed and sat on the side, I felt a comforting presence covering my face. Getting some of my bearings, I realized that Jeanne was hugging me. "J-jeanne? Y-you okay there?"
Hands clad in steel hadn't felt this warm in a while…
I felt the saintess' gentle grip on me firm up a bit as she brought me close enough to hear her heartbeat. "Master, I should be asking you that…" I felt her hand stroking my head and hair as I stayed there, "I know this is no easy task for you to bear, but we are all here for you, okay?"
I felt a slight moistness on my hair as I felt Jeanne's tears dropped on me.
"I know. It is beyond difficult to actually ask me to do all this for the world…" I got out of the embrace to look at Jeanne and held her shoulders reassuringly, "...yet, who else would be here to do this? Who else will make these crazy decisions to save the world except for me?"
I fished out a handkerchief to dab and wipe away Jeanne's tears.
"I'm glad all you guys are here for me. Every single one of you." I looked at everyone in the room, especially Mordred. She's right here, alive in the flesh and all. It's as if that whole Londinium Singularity was just a terrible fever dream that had come to pass.
"Master? You're lookin' at me real funny, you know?" The knight in question had caught on to me looking at her a little too long.
"...Mordred, could you come walk with me for a bit?"
"Uh, sure? I ain't exactly the type that likes long candlelit walks, but I'll come through for ya."
As we left the room, I glanced back at the rest of my Servants setting up the whole video game system and chairs.
"See ya guys in a bit. Momo and I will be back in a while or something."
Walking through Chaldea's hallways in the evening hours brought about a nice sense of normalcy to me. There weren't any riled up Servants breaking down walls out of merry making, fighting, or a mix of those two party favorite games to play with other people for tonight. A tranquil silence settled itself in the eve and a Servant or two would pop up and say a quick little greeting or give a wave.
We eventually ended up by Chaldea's observation deck, which overlooked the vast snow night and mountain range. The lights by this area usually toned down by this hour, but nearby machines powered by "the Revolutionary Power of DC" still remained at their most efficient settings.
"Master, I'm getting myself a Conk. You want anything to wet your gullet?"
"..." I somberly gazed towards the view before us, "Just the usual Sparite, yeah."
I heard a glass bottle on the table slide its way over to me. Without looking, I reached my hand out to grab an ice cold bottle of soft drink. A chair slid out as Mordred sat beside me and I saw Clarent materialize out of the air.
"So, I heard that another me was there in Londinium with you guys. How'd that go?" The knight took my bottle and popped its top open with her sword's point. "I didn't hear too much about the whole thing yet, so why don't you talk to me about it? You sure look like you've got something to get off your chest. Hell, you might be holding back on telling me that I stole the show this time around, hehe."
I swigged a healthy mouthful of unhealthy fizzy drink.
"Man, where do I start…?"
As the hours passed, bottles of our respective drinks filled the table. Mordred's rapt, smiling self had also taken in the weight the more she listened to my retelling of the Singularity's events. As the drinks went empty, so did her smile.
"...Right, Father was there. The overdeveloped Lancer one that can't exactly do that whole "I'm actually a guy" schtick out of the whole bunch, right?"
"You're not wrong, but…"
"Just tryna lighten the mood with ya. It's heavy and it's a lot to take in, especially for yours truly right here." As she said this, she brought out a box of cigarettes. Oddly enough, the box looked worn and torn to shreds as if it was picked up in the ruins of a war. "Sorry, I hope you don't mind if I smoke a little, Master."
"Cast a flickering flame, Ignis." From my thumb, a small ember lit itself above it to light Momo's cigarette.
"Offering me a light? Aren't you such a gentleman, Master?"
"Least I can do, heh."
"Going back and all…" Momo turned her chair towards me, "...Did Father really say and mean all of that? I really don't know what to think of all this. It's just too fucking much for me to hear all of this at the moment…"
Coughing interrupted the silence. "Sorry, sorry, heh! I've only smoked a cigarette from this pack just now. I materialized with it when I was summoned here, but I can't quite tell why I have it with me." She took another drag of her smoke, "Somehow, I feel this strange sadness and excitement looking at this cigarette pack. I'm pretty sure this is from another time I was summoned as a Servant, but I dunno why this tagged along with me here."
"Hmm, maybe you were a chainsmoker in that Holy Grail War? Does suit your whole edgy rebel kinda thing, Momo." In response, I got smoke blown towards my face. "Asshole." I ended up hacking myself as the nicotine entered my breathing space. Sniffing my clothes, I smelled a decent amount of cigarette smoke. "Great, I'll probably get an earful from Emiya and a bunch of other do-gooder types."
"Your problem, you ass! Hehe!" The knight stood up and gestured to me to come walk with her. "While this does change my thoughts on Father, that was still another me that found closure with her, yeah? I won't make promises to go out of my way to get us closer, but I'll still be civil and all."
"I'd imagine, yeah. Still, this walk and talk could've ended worse with a couple of QP in debt if you ended up thrashing around Chaldea with Clarent." Momo and I walked next to the glass barrier of the deck. We paced together as we looked over the tranquil snow falling to the moonlit earth.
"HEY! Quit that! I ain't some Berserker or anything! Do I really seem like that to you, Master?"
"Must I bring up that training simulator incident and more, Momo?" Flashbacks of broken equipment and millions of QP filled my mind, as if the painful sting of being broke was just yesterday.
"Forget I said anything, ugh."
Compared to earlier's heavy silence, there was a more tranquil calm to the quiet that followed for a good while as we sat down on a couch.
"I can tell you this much though: L'Artoria's got a lot weighing on her mind right now and I'd reckon that she'd talk to you soon. Not that I'm setting anything up behind your backs and a-"
"Ohoho, you do me dirty like that and I am very much raiding your personal pantry. Maybe I'll also post those sketches you do of certain saints on Chaldea's halls."
Realizing that Mordred knew about both my personal snack stash and sketches, this unshakable threat to me is very much real. "How the f-?! You better not tell anybody about that!"
Her most eloquent reply was flipping me the bird and giving me a shit-eating grin. "Just sucks to suck, Master."
"…Anyways, yeah. She didn't come out of that unscathed, considering that Mash told me she's been pretty withdrawn since we got back." I looked over the night view in front of us, as if searching it for answers. "Sooner or later, one of you is going to approach the other. There's a lot of air you two have to clear, like a whole legend's worth maybe? She especially can't live in Chaldea with you as she coldy did before the Londinium incident."
I put my hand on Mordred's shoulder. "Whatever happens, I'm your friend first and your Master second. I'm with you, and I'm sure as hell that I got your back."
"This sure sounds like a confession or something. You got a crush on me, dude?"
"Meh, the only "crush" I'd apply to you, is getting stuff around you crushed to bits."
"Well, you got me there, heh!"
A hearty laugh between the two of us added a more vibrant sound to the silent air of the observation deck in the early hours of the morning.
"Thanks for this, Master. I can't remember the last fucking time I've had this light of a feeling inside me, honestly." Out of nowhere, Mordred stood up and Clarent rematerialized into her hands. "As much as Father is technically my king, please remember that I'm a knight to you. For this time I'm around here, at least." The blade was pointed towards me, "I'm one of your blades, Ritsuka. Even if I ain't the sharpest or even the strongest, I'll fight for you. Even if it's to the most bitter end, I'm with ya right there, you bastard!"
"Hey, hey, you two! It's pretty late out right now…"
Out of nowhere, Mordred and I heard a familiar, somewhat sister-like voice near us.
"Wh-" As I turned my head around, I saw Jeanne giving me the stern kind of look that a kid gets when they get caught sneaking some cookies at night. "Ah, Jeanne! D-didn't think I'd see you here, haha…"
Even if the young saintess was wearing a set of light blue dolphin-themed pajamas, she still brought a fair amount of authority her usual armor had. "Master, as much as I'll let you get away with some of your other unhealthy habits, you just got back from a Singularity and you need some rest!"
"W-well, you're definitely not wrong…"
I heard snickering from my side as Mordred felt pretty dang amused.
"Hehe, look at you being so cool earlier! Now, you're all whipped and stuff, HAHA!"
A very firm hand had decided to pinch the knight's ear. "As for you, Sir Mordred! I should put some discipline into that head of yours! You know well that Master is still healing and all."
"H-hey! Cut that out! Go boss Jack or something like this! I'm a grown-up knight, damnit!" As much as Mordred tried to thrash around with all her strength, she still couldn't seem to get out of Jeanne's steel grip. "This is freaking humiliating!"
A stern huff left Jeanne as she let go of Mordred. "I wouldn't be doing that if you were a tad bit more considerate of Fujimaru. Phew." Her now free hand went into mine as she held it. "Anyways, it's late and I'll walk back with you to your room, Master. Just to make sure you don't goofing off somewhere else until dawn and all."
"Would there actually be anybody I could goof off with at this time? Ah, maybe Batty or Kintoki would actually be up for me crashing their places…"
"Master, you better not actually be thinking of Servants you could sneak off to while my eyes are elsewhere."
"Nope. Totally not doing that."
"Just so you know, your ears get red when you lie, Master."
Instinctively, I felt my ears for any heat but felt a decent cool to them. The saintess looked back at me with a knowing smile. "Ah, you win this one, Jeanne. I'll come quietly."
"See ya, Master! The sleepiness just hit me like a truck right now, so I'll go ahead and crash or something on my bed." Mordred lightly punched me on the arm, then waved me off as she went towards her room.
"Yeah, yeah, sleep well." Jeanne and I started making our way to my room and caught up with stuff that I missed during the time I was out.
"Really, these modern-day game consoles sure make you lose track of time! Batty, Mash, Oei, and I were playing that "Super Bash Bros" game the whole time we were there. It's a really nice way to pass the time! Though, running around prairies with a good spring breeze is also just as good of a time for me, I think."
"Oi! People these days still play outside, Jeanne. No need to reminisce so hard about it like that, y'know?"
"Haha, I know, I know. There's just a different charm to the countryside's fields and there was only so much you could do at my time and place for fun." Jeanne hugged herself for warmth, "Though, it would really be nice if Chaldea could have been in some hidden away oasis or somewhere that wasn't this freezing."
"Well, that's a nice thought too, but even the snowy peaks here have a good charm to them too."
Eventually, the two of us made it to my room's door.
"Ah, thanks for walking with me here, Jeanne. I wish y-"
"Oh, how nice of you, Master! Still, I plan to sleep here with you."
"Yep, yep. Wait, what…?"
I looked at Jeanne to see if she seemed serious about the whole thing. Her gentle smile didn't betray her words at all, as expected of her honest self. She definitely didn't mean that kind of "sleep with", but my heart isn't ready for this!
This must be a blessing from God. Well, the Christian one, considering the people here in Chaldea.
"You heard me! I need to make sure you actually do rest, Master!" She held my hands in hers. "I also do feel like you might need some company for tonight too. I don't feel that you're going to sleep quietly either, since you've been through a lot the past few days."
"I-"
"Good! I'll get a bath running for you, Master! Just wait for me, okay?"
Dumbly, I nodded my head as Jeanne entered my room and I followed after. Unsure how to process everything currently happening in my room, I just sat down on my couch to cool myself down and be calm.
"It's just Jeanne. She definitely lives up to her saint stuff, so she's as pure as fresh winter snow in the morning. It's just Jeanne, who I've camped out and been around with since Orleans." I was about to be okay with this whole thing until I remembered one thing:
My sketches.
"Shit, wait. My sketches! I don't think I hid those properly! I think I left those under my notes and papers." I glanced at my desk and to my horror, it was spick and span clean. That desk was definitely messy before I set out for Londinium…
Glancing at my bathroom door, I could tell that Jeanne was still busy warming up my tub for me. A perfect window of opportunity to hide some blackmail in front of a certain saint.
"Let's get to work…" As I went over to my desk, I tried my best to quietly rifle through my own drawers to look for where certain images were placed. Eventually, he found them in a well-hidden spot in one of the drawers and a red sticky note on top of it: "Master, did you a solid, eh? Sincerely, E."
Ah, Emiya, what'd I do without you! This is life-saving!
"Ah? Fixing your stuff, Master? Aren't you diligent, ehe ~"
Looking behind, I saw Jeanne with some splashes here and there on her marine-themed sleeping clothes. "Just realized that my desk had a few papers that I could've thrown away earlier." Without her noticing, I slipped the "documents" back in their hiding spot. "But, anywho, I think I'll gladly take that bath ~ !"
"Sure thing! The water's just perfect for this cold night, Master ~"
As her Master walked away, Jeanne looked at the desk and found exactly what he tried to hide from her.
"...Ritsuka." She called his name out, as she sought the day where she could drop all the formalities and call him by his name. "Glad that I had some spare sticky notes from Emiya to make that note for him. He'd probably die out of embarrassment if those were found out by me."
"You're just plain adorable, aren't you?"
After a calming bath of reflection (and the near-feeling of death)...
"Phew, that really felt good! Thanks for the bath again, Jeanne!" I walked out of the bathroom to see Jeanne sitting on my bed as she read a book. She looked back at me with her usual gentleness. "Glad to hear it, Master. Come on, you gotta rest."
"Sure, sure. Just let me get my blanket and I'll sleep on the couch, so that you can have the bed to yourself, Jeanne."
As I said that, the saintess lightly pulled me towards her as we both ended up lying down on my bed. With our bodies this close, warmth became heat and I could scent something like spring flowers from Jeanne. I felt her golden hair flow onto my chest as she nuzzled me.
"I think this way is better, Master. Don't you think so?"
"...I believe so too."
Her ocean blue eyes met my own sky blue as she pulled away from my chest to face me. "When I was younger, my siblings and I would huddle up like this in bed together. Though, I'm a tad bit more used to being the one rested upon." I felt her smooth hands hold my cheek. "You've explored many lands and fought many, even if there's more ahead of us. However, you can let go and be safe here."
"Yeah…"
Little by little, the fatigue caught up with me as my worries melted away into this saintess. Eventually, I slept holding onto Jeanne and absentmindedly muttered away. "This warmth in you… I wouldn't trade it for the world."
Jeanne followed suit with her own parting words, "I bear this warmth for you. I can only offer you so much, yet you still give me even more than I deserve. So, Master…" Her cheeks had been painted scarlet from being so close.
"...Ritsuka, stay with me and I'll be your hearth to the last cinder…"
Side-Story: The Daybreak After (Note: NSFW ahead or smth)
"Nnn…Sheesh, what time is it?" I felt groggy as I woke up to the still dimmed lights of my room. Gazing at a nearby clock, it registered at 6:30 in the morning. "...Dang, I woke up too early, maybe I'll go back to sleep after using the toilet…"
As I tried to get out of bed, I felt a weight holding on to my body. Looking down, I saw Jeanne's cascading blonde in all its bedhead-y greatness. "Ah, right. We slept like this together…"
"...nn"
I guess she's still sleeping. I don't want to wake her up but nature calls…
As I tried my second attempt to get out of bed, I felt Jeanne's thigh brush on a certain area as she tried to cling to me.
"Ha…" Realizing that I softly moaned, I tried to control my mouth and looked for my hand to cover it. Though, my hands were in a worse place. Specifically, one on Jeanne's chest and another on her derriere.
As much as I had wanted to see her in a more virtuous light, the more carnal side of me couldn't quite deny that Jeanne was beautiful in several regards. My right hand clearly felt a dense softness as I held one of her sizable breasts, while my left felt the ample smoothness of her rear. In other words, she's a stacked saint.
By my crotch, I felt her thigh gently rubbing me as she slept and clung to me. Waking up, morning wood is a totally natural thing, but I'm riled up enough to be on the verge of releasing and messing up some bedsheets if this just continues for us. It wasn't helping either that her own cozy honeypot was pretty close to my rod.
"I should really try to get out…"
Gathering my strength, I ended up freeing my hands without waking her and rolled over to lay on my back. The next step was sliding my way out…
Which was totally hampered by Jeanne's persistent clinging to me.
As she repositioned herself on me, the saintess ended up topping me in a really familiar position. Straddling me without a care in the world, she was in a pretty sinful position
"...Fuck, this is…"
Her hands reached out to hold me, while her face ended up buried in my neck. Soft heavyset breasts pressed themselves against me even more as she clung to me. The cherry on top being her nethers right on top of my own. Even if it was just cloth in between us, the steamy heat from her was a searing one as she sleepily grinded against me.
"Nn…Master…"
"Jeanne…?"
"This is such a good dream, Master…" As the dream-tranced saintess continued softly rocking her body on mine, she sucked on my neck and kissed it. "...I want you too…" Her pace steadily increased as I felt a degree of moisture trickling out from her slit. Eventually, my wood was slick with a special kind of holy water.
The heat emanating from my face grew blazing hot as I felt her warm breath and tongue on me. Wet pops and suckles were all I could hear as I zoned out to her switching between kissing and gently biting me. Sweat and saliva flowed freely down my neck and shirt as she went on and on.
"Haa...Is she dreaming…? Nn…" I bit my lip as I tried to control myself from dirtying Jeanne's clothes with pent-up seed. As much as I do it every now and then, Singularities don't really leave me with a whole lot of time for myself to "relieve" myself. It's even worse now since I have been particularly drawn towards a certain saint and her altered version.
I almost felt my breaking point as I felt her press her nethers on my now-slickened glans. "Gah..hnnn..fucking hell…" Still in her dream trance, Jeanne's chaste kisses on my neck turned more carnal as I felt her tongue and hot breath on me. After placing her entrance on top of my tip, she grinded at an even more furious pace as she softly called out my name.
"M-master…I'm not ready yet, so please settle for this…"
As if on instinct, my hands had glided on to her cushy rear to hold her down on to me. Holding her lower cheeks, I lightly fondled and felt every supple smoothness of it. Every time I gave them a squeeze, the saintess on top of me got even wetter and redoubled her fervent humping on my wood. Every single thrust edged me closer as she held onto me with a ravenous need to let out some frustration and desire.
Eventually, I felt a familiar warmth rising up my nethers as the saint reached a fever pitch in her sinfully slick motions. As if sensing my own climax coming close, Jeanne's rear swayed and bounced hungrily to bring us both to orgasm. "...S-shit..! I'm really close…!"
With a final thrust from her hips, she held onto me tightly and bit my neck. Nails ran down my shoulders as Jeanne squirmed and twitched as her orgasm unfolded on top of me. I felt a hot fluid gushing on my groin as her hole squirted out all of her passions.
Her familiar sapphires opened up to gaze at me as she freed her mouth from giving me a love bite. "Let it all out, Ritsuka…" With little pause, she moved her lips to mine and explored every part of my mouth with her tongue. As we made out, she pulled down my shorts and moved my rod in between her rear's cheeks to coax it into making a mess all over her. When our lips parted, strings of saliva remained on our mouths. In sultry pants, Jeanne whispered in my ear, "Defile me and make a mess on this sloven saint, my dear Master…"
"...J-jeanne?! I-" As I said her name, thick ivory fluids bursted out of me as I instinctively grasped her ass to thrust it all out. Maintaining my feverish tempo, I continued to cover her rear in a viscous white. In the valley of her expansive cheeks, my seed flowed back down like a waterfall of carnal fluids. Every vigorous stroke against her gushing lips and backdoor invited an equally enthusiastic shake of her hips on my shaft.
Even after coming down from an orgasmic peak, my tool didn't stop leaking out as it rested on holy tracks of land. In short, twitchy thrusts, I didn't stop trying to breed the air around the sweaty saintess straddling me.
"...That's too much, Ritsuka…" Came her breathy, sex-addled voice, "...It's as if you wanted to slide all of that in and mate me until the next eve came to us…"
"Jeanne…"
"...No more words, my beloved Master." She adjusted her position and held on to me as she ripped the cloth of her pajama pants to reveal her still-slick entrance. A vibrant pink as pure as morning dew greeted my eyes as I saw it directly go on top of my crown. "Just let out all of that in me…"
With a more heated sensation, a second wind erupted from my loins as fresh seed poured once more. The velvet on me was a temptation from the divines, in all of its tight, silken feel.
"I can tell that you're far from being done with me, Master…" As she said this, she gathered some of my leaking fluids from my tip in her hand and messily wiped it on her chest and in her sweaty cleavage. Her tongue slowly licked off the remaining seed from her palm and fingers and swallowed it in front of me.
"So, will you continue this sacrilege of yours, Ritsuka?" With her call of my name, she nimbly stripped off her pajama top and undid the rest of its buttons to bare her expansive rack.
"I…"
...
"Ehehehehe, and they had seggs! They totally fucked hardcore in that room. The end."
Loud clicking and typing filled a section of the Chaldea library, as a certain indoor person was engaged in a writing session. "Man, I definitely think that those two got wild when they got back to sleep together. I can see through that sanctified visage a mile away! This is definitely that kind of dynamic these two will have. Gya-ha! This will totally sell online!"
"Batty-bat, whatcha doing in here?
"Eh?!" Said NEETssassin was met face to face with a particularly colorful Archer. "S-sei?! What even remotely brings you around the library?!"
"Uhhh, cuz I'm totes a writer myself, ya know? Ehehe ~!"
In her ever bright and boisterous fashion, Shonagon Sei, made herself known in Chaldea as a very contemporary living Archer. For one of noble blood from all the way in the Heian period, Sei seemed more at home in more modern, internet-fuelled times. Out of the many faces of Servants in Chaldea, Sei is definitely one that would seem most at home in a normal human setting. Fitting her more trendy mindset, she wore a black school uniform and a heavily accessorized jacket to match her black, red, and blue hair.
"I mean, yeah. It's like, actually my first time taking a looksie around these parts." Sei took a seat next to Osakabehime and continued on. "Besides! I had a big lightbulb moment to put into paper! Can't just let that get away, yeah!"
"I see…"
"Anyways, enough about me! I don't usually see you around outside of your room, and what the hey, you're even writing too!" The gal Archer mischievously inched her seat closer to her companion to get a closer look of her laptop.
"NO! NOTHING! This is just some boring Servant work. Just filing taxes or something! Nothing that would totally interest your cheery self!"
"He-hey! This is totes some of that "reverse psych" thingamajig, right?" A knowing smile grew on Sei's face, "That's totally code for: "I'm like, writing something super spicy or juicy!"
Quickly after, a thoughtful expression painted the writer's face, "Wait, do we actually pay taxes for staying here? I mean, we do get all our basic needs, Internet, and a lot of high-tech amenities…"
"Nope, totally wrong. This is just paperwork, is all…"
"Oh hey, isn't that the beardy pirate guy with your manga and stuff?" Sei pointed to nowhere in particular.
"EH! DID HE FIND OUT MY ROOM CODE AGAIN?!"
"Sike! Sorrymasen, Batty!" While Batty was distracted, Sei threw her jacket over her face and used her phone to take pictures of the "material" her companion wrote. With a nimble hand, the Archer took pictures of the whole thing in the few seconds that Osakabehime was busy getting the jacket off of her face.
"SEI! DON'T READ THAT!"
Ah, but too late. The damage had already been done, as Sei was speedreading the whole thing on her phone like nothing. Silence ensued in the room, save for the Archer's little gasps and OMGs as she read every word of it.
"Great, of all the people to read it, its the loudmouthed extrovert that gets to do so…"
"I'm going to delete that from my phone, 'kay?" Sei carried a blank expression on her face as she deleted her pictures of Batty's steamy writing.
"Eh? You will?"
"Oi, I'm not that bad a person myself! I wouldn't spread this around, y'know? Whatcha take me for, Batty?"
"Well…"
"Anyways, I won't say a word about this, 'kay? Though, um, you sure have a knack for picturing stuff like this…" A sheepish smile made its way on the Archer's face as she twiddled her thumbs and looked around her. "Totally, like, not kinkshaming you or anything, though b-t-w ~"
"Y-yeah, haha"
"Hay! Let's just eat some breakfast now, Batty! I'll ask Mommiya to put some on my tab for this time. It's my bad for nudging too much, ehe ~"
"Phew, okay, okay. I'll come with you. Just don't, um, mention it to Master and some of the others like Oei."
"Eh? Why Hokucakes?"
"She wouldn't let me hear the end of it, if anything…"
The two eventually left the library and made their way to Chaldea's cafeteria. As it was the later hours of the morning, it was less crowded than its earlier rush.
"Man, just in time! We just missed that Artoria Rush too, so we've got a lot of places to sit around and barely any lines!"
"I swear, I have no idea how Chaldea isn't broke yet from that whole line of kings just feasting on food alone…"
"Eh, beats me, Batty ~"
The pair picked up their breakfasts and settled on a table near some windows overlooking the other side of Chaldea's frosty area. While nowhere near as impressive as the observation deck's view, the frozen lake on this side was still a sight to see. Snow-topped evergreens circle around the azure frost of the water. A stray deer or two even pranced around the place every now and then.
"Ah! Look at this meal with a view! Even the lighting's perfect here for a good shot or something ~!"
"You're right on that, Sei. It's pretty nice, ehe." Batty's usually reserved self still took a while to get adjusted to others. While Master and some others were ones she could chat up a lot, more outgoing people like the writer with her definitely took more time.
"I thrice that motion, umu!"
The duo looked over to see Nero with her own plate of breakfast staples. Oddly enough, Nero's usual bun was undone and her golden, silk-like hair cascaded down freely. Her typical red and white dress was replaced with a more casual white jersey top and crimson leggings.
"Ah! Nero! So glad to see ya, bestie!" Sei practically opened up her arms to receive a very affectionate emperor's cuddly self. Before going into her arms, Nero put down her meal next to her fellow extrovert. "You too, Sei! Haven't seen ya in a while!"
"Oh my dear kami, Sei AND Nero…"
"Batty! You're here too! It's really nice to see you out of your room, umu!" Batty reluctantly received a healthy round of nuzzling from the child-like emperor. "You too, your highness."
"O.M.G! Nero, I love this new look on you! You look totes great! I love it, love it, love it!"
"He he! Even when my hair is au naturel like this, I too bloom in a different way! You flatter me generously, Sei!" Nero took out a phone to take a picture of herself with Sei and Batty in the picture. "There! I commemorated this lovely morning with you two, umu! I sure love this "Gram" app a whole lot, hehe!"
"NO WAY! You're online and stuff, Nero?"
"I'm all in, Batty! Now, everyone can glance upon the flower of Roma, umu! Sei has my utmost gratitude for teaching me about this stuff."
"Figures. Only Sei would be teaching others about social media like this…"
As the three chatted about anything under the sun and ate breakfast with a view, a particular pair of people settled themselves on the table adjacent to them.
"Hey! Master, Jeanne! You guys sure are up so late today!"
The people that settled next to their table was none other than their Master and Jeanne. While their Master wore his loungewear combo of shirt and shorts, he also donned a yellow scarf around his neck.
"Yeah, Jeanne and I slept quite late and we just ended up getting breakfast now. Mind if we join you guys here?"
Sei and Batty side-glanced at each other as they saw the pair that a certain piece of fiction was based on.
"Oh, Sei and Okki! Quite a surprise to see you two out here and together, even!" Jeanne's pure visage in front of them made them feel a rather guilty pit in their stomachs. Said saintess was wearing a different pair of pajamas than what Okki saw the previous night.
"Yep! It's totally nice to see ya, Jeanne! I ended up running into Okki here in the library and we ended up getting some breakfast together since I don't usually see her around."
"Yep, we're, uh, quite the twosome. I didn't expect Sei to be in the library either, ehe."
"Umu! I definitely went to breakfast at a good time today, hehe! Lots of good company today!" Nero looked over at their Master and noticed something. "Say, Master? What's with the scarf around your neck? Did something happen to you last night?"
A slight flush appeared on his cheeks before he coughed. "Well, as embarrassing as it is, a particularly bad bug got on my neck and bit me there. I just ain't a pretty sight for me and you guys, heh."
"Eh!? Such an insolent little insect to soil my beloved praetor like this! Umu, this is absolutely unforgivable!"
"Let it go, Nero. I don't want you slashing my room up trying to get that mosquito."
"My desire for revenge remains still, Praetor."
The two Servants at the end of the table looked at their Master's neck and noticed that a certain part of his neck had some dark red marks.
BZZT!
"Oh? Batty? Your phone's got something." Ritsuka looked over at the hooded Servant as he scooped some eggs and roasted potatoes in his mouth. "Might be important, I guess?"
"Ah! Yeah, yeah, you're right, Ma-chan! Sorrymasen, just feeling out of it today is all, ehe ~"
New Message from Shonagon Sei!
As Okki glanced over at Sei, the writer gave a quick nod.
"Um, hey. Batty? You did write fiction on a regular laptop, right?"
Setting her phone to silent, Okki texted Sei back.
"Y-yeah! I'm pretty sure that was a standard, non-magic touched piece of tech!"
"Hmm, Jeanne? You okay there?"
"Ah? My back just kind of hurts, Nero. I don't think I slept right at all, haha."
"I told you that I should've been on the couch, Jeanne."
"Nonsense, sleeping together with you like that is totally fine, Master. You need not worry about me like that, hehe."
"..." "..."
The unlikely duo of Servants looked at the pair on the other end of the table and back at themselves.
"Chan-mas and Jeanne are really sounding sussy there. I ain't overthinking, but…"
"Sei, this is definitely just a coincidence, for realsies."
"Say, weren't you wearing something else last night, Jeanne? Those blue dolphin pajamas, right?"
The usually sunny saint's face flushed a tinge of cherry, "Well, let's just say that Master over here made a big mess on them. It wouldn't quite dry off and there was even a hole around the lower part, so I had to wear something else before going here."
BAM!
Abruptly, Sei and Okki stood up together from their seats at the window-side part of their table. Suffice to say, it caught the attention of the others on the table.
"Sei? Batty? You two okay back there?" Nero inquired as she got worried over her other tablemates. "You two have been a bit quiet and texting back there too. Did something come up?"
"Okay, Sei, we can totes improv our way out of this. Gotta finesse this, heh."
"Sorry, sorry, Okki and I just forgot some stuff at the library is all, hehe! We just felt real dumb for forgetting that stuff. I mean, time just flies with such great company and food, dontcha think?"
"Ah, so that's the case, umu. Alright, hope to see you guys around some other time, hehe!"
"Yep, toodaloo y'all ~!"
The Archer decided to drag Okki with her as they ran out of the table and headed for anywhere else in Chaldea.
"That's a bummer, it was really nice having them around too. We really don't see those two together much."
"Anyways, since we brought it up, you still owe me for spilling your tea on my favorite set of pajamas. They were such a lovely gift from Marie and they even felt as nice as clouds." Jeanne pouted in front of her Master as she internally mourned her soiled sleepwear.
"Come on!" Ritsuka unraveled his scarf from his neck and pointed at a reddish mark on it. "You also owe me for slapping me this hard on the neck when you tried to swat that mosquito away. Plus, that hole in your pajama pants totally wasn't me."
"Well, you got me there." Her pout was replaced with a soft smile as she looked at Ritsuka. "Still, I think I still slept well despite this back pain, ehe."
"Ah! I'm…glad to hear that, Jeanne."
"Wait, you two had a sleepover? No fair!" Nero held her Master's arm and tugged on it. "How could you two plan something fun like that without me, umu…"
Back at the library, the unlikely duo ended up forgetting to shut down the laptop and a certain Avenger came across the device in the library. As she was still doing whatever she pleased in Chaldea's walls, Jeanne Alter decided to take a stroll after having breakfast.
"Ho, so this is a laptop? What a curious thing." The snowy haired saintess looked over the device and its screen. "Gah, I'm still a little rough with this reading stuff. I can't exactly get what this whole thing is about."
"Ah, text to speech? Maybe it'll read it for me?"
At a single press of that icon, J'Alter made herself comfortable on a nearby chair as she listened to the device.
"...Huh? What the fuck am I hearing?"
With every word, she only grew more and more confused and disturbed over the material she was listening to.
By the time the device finally finished reading the whole text, the fallen saintess was at a lack of words as her brain processed what she just heard. As she tried to comprehend it, she brought her hands up to her face to feel the immense heat from it. She didn't even notice the slight drool on the side of her mouth and a certain area being unusually moist.
Wordlessly, the Avenger threw the laptop against the wall. Said throw was a picture perfect launch as the technological marvel just shattered into several thousand pieces that littered the space it was in.
"GYAH! Why the hell is this about that stupid Master of mine and that good two shoes saint? Even more, why the fuck am I even feeling like this…" After calming herself from a fit of conniptions, J'Alter stormed off and tried to forget whatever she read from the cursed wall of text read out to her.
Amusingly enough, she walked past her Master in question.
"Hey, J'Alter! Haven't seen you since we got back from Londinium. Are you doing alright?"
After processing that she wasn't at all hallucinating, the edgy saint stormed off even faster as she tried to look for her room to calm herself down and clear her mind.
"Ah, welp. Looks like she's alright to me, I think?" Said mage felt around his neck for the bruised area that the more holy Jeanne "blessed" him with. "Even Sei and Batty were acting weird in front of me earlier. Is this bruise really that horrible to look at?"
With that, Okki's fanfiction never saw the light of day as a certain goth variant of a saintess came across it. Some time later in the day, Batty came back to the library to find her shattered laptop to her utmost despair and dismay. As she stared down the remnants of her portable battlestation, the weight of having to replace all those parts with her own QP and blood hit like a punch from Heracles.
But even more importantly, she lost a personal doujin gallery that was roughly estimated to be worth 50 TB. In her throes, she cursed herself for not considering having a backup data storage unit within her room.
But that's just another day in Chaldea.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Okay, so that was my first stab at some NSFW stuff. Kek.
Gotcha guys there, ehe. As far as actual stuff that'll go on, the stuff between Ritsuka and the two Jeannes will be a slower burn than this. Gonna try building that up in the chapters to come.
Might pick out an FGO event to write aboout before we head out to the holy land of Camelot later on. :3
