Interlude: Building Character
Le Fay looked around the gathering of the Hero Faction.
It was an ugly meeting, in the wake of the assault on the Peace Summit of the Biblical Factions, hosted by the Youkai of Kyoto. What was supposed to be a declaration of intent, an appearance and show of force…
Well, if definitely hadn't been that.
Cao Cao was dead, and she swore that her memories of him were fading. A number of other heroes had died, including Momotarou. And Jeanne…
Le Fay shivered.
What Jeanne and that bug-eyed man had done was horrific.
The witch took a moment to eye the blonde teen from the corner of her eye, and flinched when she received a happy wave.
Shaking her head, the girl shuffled closer to her brother. Even that murderous blonde who had tried to kill her at the Summit didn't scare her as much as Jeanne did now.
And now… now people were arguing about the direction to take the Faction.
Connla was arguing loudly with Heracles about which of them should lead the Faction going forward, pounding the table with a fist made of shadow. Georg, for his part, was watching the back and forth with a calculating eye, cutting in now and again with his own propositions in a cold, even voice.
Arthur, by contrast, was silent, eyes clouded and hands tented in front of him. It was clear to Le Fay that he was every bit as troubled as she was about everything that had happened. She and her brother had joined the Hero Faction to try and make a difference, to protect the humans who didn't have the power to protect themselves…
But then they'd seen the true face of the Hero Faction, and escape had become impossible.
"C'mon, Connla! You lost to some shitty mage," Heracles barked as he stepped into the sunglass-clad man's space, his knuckles rapping against Connla's chest. Behind him, Berserker stood a number of strides away, her expression and gaze distant. "Me? I was up against someone of actual substance!"
Connla sneered at the man. "And who was it who was doing the actual fighting during that battle, Heracles? From what I understand, Berserker was not only fighting that dragon but also babysitting you the whole time! As for that mage, we drew at best; if it weren't for that familiar of his he'd be a corpse."
Georg sighed audibly. "Both of you are missing the point. All three of us were rebuffed by our opponents, the both of you at the enemy's council and I at their base, but that is ultimately immaterial. What we need to consider now is what path the Hero Faction is going to take in the face of these losses, and by extension who is most suited to leading us down that path."
"And we need a strong leader, who can step up into the hole left by Cao Cao," Heracles argued, his gaze turning to the mage. "Are you gonna say you should take the reins, Georg? You're too cowardly, and Connla's proven that he can barely manage to escape from a mage and his familiar!"
Connla scoffed. "Cao Cao was strong, to be sure, but that's not the only reason we followed him. He was cunning, intelligent, and capable of inspiring and rallying us." He pushed his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose. "You are strong, Heracles, I will not deny that, but you don't have the charisma or the tactical acumen to be a leader. All you want to do is fight."
"Feh, that's what we need now, a drive to keep fighting, given everything that's happened! Just moping here won't do shit!" Heracles rumbled, before hiking his thumb over his shoulder. "Besides, you saw Berserker and I on the field, she was able to hold back that dragon, which I doubt any of you coulda done."
"Why don't you fight for it then?" Jeanne suggested, Gilles looming behind her like a fish-eyed spectre. "I don't particularly care who leads, but I'd rather you all just get on with it, so Gilly and I can get back to work."
Georg sighed as Heracles pushed himself to his feet with a wide grin, Connla rising as well after a moment.
"Bloody meatheads." Muttered the Harry Potter cosplayer, shaking his head slowly as Heracles threw the table aside with a laugh.
Le Fay sighed as she shook her head, backing away from the melee. She wanted no part in it, and the entire thing was just… she didn't even want to mourn Cao Cao at this point, given what he had done to them, and what he had allowed happen to those children.
Quietly, she muttered, "I… don't want to be here anymore…"
And she and her brother probably could leave now. Cao Cao no longer had them in the palm of his hand to use as hostages for the other. No longer did they have to worry about him using her as a hostage against her brother, or the opposite. No longer did he have the tendrils of his Sacred Gear in poor little Leonardo's mind, knowing that they couldn't leave a child in that position.
No longer did they have to be party to atrocities.
Le Fay packed hurriedly, using magic to speed the process along, always looking over her shoulder despite her brother standing guard. They needed to be ready to grab Leonardo and run as fast as possible. She would have gone to the boy's quarters, but that was out of their hands due to the nature of the stronghold.
As she shoved the last of her bags through a magic circle, she saw Arthur tense out of the corner of her eye. Moments later, Le Fay heard the muffled sound of boots on stone. Caliburn appeared in Arthur's hand, ready to lash out either at the approaching person or at space itself, depending on who it was. Le Fay herself readied a spell circle, crackling with lightning, as the footsteps grew closer.
The tension gripping the siblings was quickly transformed into confusion, as a brunet young man they'd not seen since they'd joined the Hero Faction rounded the corner. A shield was strapped to his right arm, and a shortsword to his right hip, while underneath his left arm dangled Leonardo, limp like a disgruntled cat and making a confused face.
"Yo, Pendragons." Perseus said with a wave of his free hand. "I heard what happened and came to break Leo out. Kiddo told me that the bastard was keeping both of you around by mind controlling him, so I figured I'd see if the both of you wanted to come with too, now he's gone."
"Where?" Le Fay asked, still tense, spell circle still at the ready, her eyes darting to her brother. "And why?"
Perseus scratched the back of his head. "I've been hanging with the White Dragon Emperor lately, so I figured we could lay low with him. Not like you'd be the first misunderstood fugitives under his figurative wing, and Vali's good people, if a bit intense. As for why?"
The reincarnated Grecian looked to one side, an expression of guilt crossing his face. "...When I saw that Cao Cao was going down a bad path, I cut and ran. I didn't realise you both were under his thumb like you were, or that he had a hold like he did over Leo, or…" He grimaced. "I want to say I'd have fought for you guys, but I don't know if I would've, scary as Cao Cao is—was. I guess…this is my way of trying to make up for failing you all, back then."
"I… see…" Le Fay murmured, before turning to look at her brother. She was tempted to go with Perseus, to escape and work with the Vali group, but she wouldn't go without him. "Brother?"
Arthur, Caliburn long since having fallen to his side in a loose grip, had a distant expression on his face. He murmured something under his breath, Le Fay only just barely making out the words, "...making up for failure, huh?" before his eyes sharpened and he gave a firm nod to Perseus. "If the White Dragon Emperor will have us, Le Fay and I will gladly accompany you." His face twisted into a rictus of pain as he whispered, "Maybe then I can actually live up to the name I've inherited."
Le Fay reached out and put a hand on her brother's shoulder; she would be there for him, just like he was for her.
"Um…" Leonardo muttered, looking between the teens. "Can you put me down now?"
"Um, sumimascuse me, I need you to kudastop!" Osakabehime shouted from within the cocoon of blankets she had thrown up around herself. Within it, she had a small pantry's worth of snack foods and soft drinks, yet still she glowered. "You're in the way of my path to the kitchen, and I need to refuel!"
Vlad Tepes III let out a stern harrumph from where he was standing in front of the kitchen stove, a bright red steel spatula tipped with tiny spears in one hand. The Lancer was clad in his spiky, near demonic armour as usual, but over it he was wearing a frilly white apron decorated with bright red spots that were definitely not meant to look like bloodstains, thank you!
"You'll spoil your appetite, young lady! You'll wait for your steakburger alongside my dear descendant and her beloved, and I won't hear anything to the contrary!" To punctuate his stern words, he flipped the patties, causing a loud sizzle and filling the air with an aroma that even Okki had to begrudgingly admit was divine.
Rather than actually say that aloud, the Assassin whined, "Macchan, Lancer's being mean and not letting me get my gamer fuel! Stop getting all doki-doki and blushy-crushy with your girlbito!"
Gasper, who had already been blushing due to Valerie demanding that he lay his head in her lap, turned a shade of crimson previously undiscovered anywhere in the realm of physical space.
(Great Red didn't count, since he was chilling in the space out of space.)
After spluttering for a bit, he shot her a glare and shot back, "Y-you could stand t-to eat some real food, Assassin! S-servant or not, you're getting a bit c-chubby!"
"N-no! I'm most definitely not!" Okki argued, standing up to let her cocoon fall away, and lifting the bottom of her blouse to reveal her midriff. Which was chiselled. "Gaze upon the hontruth, Macchan!"
Valerie, who had up until this point been content to let her Gaspie bicker good-naturedly with his Servant, sent the Assassin a deadpan stare before pointing a finger at Osakabehime. "True Soul Beeeeeam," she deadpanned, using the power of the Sephiroth Graal to cancel Okki's use of her Shapeshifting. With a sound like a balloon deflating, the Assassin's extremely fake six-pack plopped out into a small bulge of pudge.
"Macchan, they're all bullying me!" Assassin cried, tears spilling down her cheeks as she wailed. Letting her blouse fall, she picked her cocoon back up and swaddled herself, reaching for some of the snacks she had hidden in the folds, only to find that the bag had been pierced by a tiny spear and spilled all throughout her blanket. She let out another loud, wordless whine.
"I-if Koneko has taught m-me anything," Gasper shot back, "it's that b-bullying builds c-character!"
