Chapter 15 - Preparations for war
Pocket space of Arturia Morgana PendragonFATE world1994Three Days after last chapter
(Arturia's P.O.V)
"WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?!" I hear from Merlin's room not long after we're all awake in the morning. I look briefly at Morgan and we both share a downright smug smile as before long, I see Merlin come out of her room, how looking way more busty and curvy than she was when she was first summoned.
"So, how's it feel to be fully incarnated as a woman Merlin~?" I ask teasingly, prompting her to stop grumbling and look at me shocked before looking right at the ring I gave her three days ago before pointing at me.
"You tricked me…" Merlin accuses, to which I just shrug and take a bite out of my breakfast for the day. "You never asked what the ring did, so as far as I'm concerned merlin…" I say, letting silence fill the conversation briefly while I take a drink of a glass of milk before finishing with.."This is part of your Karma for fooling around in the past.."
"Wait what do you mean PART of my karma…?" Merlin question, to which I merely point my thumb at Morgan who looks to be all too eager to hear the next part of my idea which we've both been talking about over the last few days.
"In sort, until the grail war is done with in some capacity, Morgan will be the one to Tenderly take care of your feminine needs" I say, to which Merlin just looks to morgan and before she can say anything Morgan gets up with a mischievous smile and walks over to Merlin.
"Don't worry Merlin, I can't wait to teach you the ins and out of being a woman proper~" Morgan says with a seductive tone that looks to be causing Merlin a great amount of arousal and fear. Merlin gulps before taking a moment to focus on me, quickly going to say.."Why don't we talk about the grail war first, before we do any of…that.." To which Morgana gives a disappointed sigh before nodding, looking to me for confirmation.
"Yea, probably a good idea to get a plan for the war in general rather than just for getting Avalon from the Einzberns.." I say, soon calling the rest of the family to come to the table as well.
It doesn't take long for everyone to arrive, I do note that Mordred and Artoria (Saber) sprinted here as if competing against each other before they got here however, bonding moment perhaps..
"Before we do talk about the grail war, I do want to question something that occurred to me while I was reading up on a few things using the internet access this manor has.." I say leadingly before I turn to the sole two casters and Medea.
"How exactly do you three know of Crest worms, because while I was reading up on how things work regarding the grail wars, It occurred to me that you technically shouldn't know them…so how do you..?" I ask, leading to the three looking at each other, an awkward silence coming over the table as Medea is the first to answer.
"If you recall, me and Morgan le fay here were both summoned using the Chaldean Summoning method, through your dear Mashu's shield at that.." Medea says, letting that sink in for a moment before elaborating further with…"Unlike regular servant summoning through the holy grail, we are able to retain memories of past summonings that way, and having been in Chaleda at least once, we were as a result privy to the nature of Crest Worms through the Crest Worm Mystic Code available in Chaldea.."
While this does answer for the two of them, there is still one more here that has yet to properly be addressed, as such all eyes turn to the now very busty and curvy Merlin..
"Unlike most Servants, I was still alive at the time of summoning, and as such you didn't summon me through the throne per say…just more or less dragged me from my prison in Avalon and as such, I would easily be able to recall anything I've seen up until that point~" Merlin says with a mischievous tone to her voice, briefly enjoying the attention before going to elaborate further..
"As for how I know about Crest Worms, well let's just say I get bored easily during my long imprisonment and decided to pass the time by visiting the dreams of various people, at least one of which ended up being either a Makiri or Matou, I can't remember which it was anymore but that's how I learned of the Crest Worms.." Merlin finishes explaining her case.
I take a moment to ponder on this knowledge, after all I do believe it is rather intriguing how many exceptions seem to happen around anyone even remotely associated with myself and Artoria (Saber)..
"Right with that settled for now, Fu I need to ask if your scouting of Fuyuki went well over the last few days…." I ask Fu, having recently remembered that Tempest Jewels HAVE a disguise function and after a brief moment where I find myself banging my head against a nearby wall for forgetting that exists, had Fu use it to go take a look around.
"It seems that the masters of the grail war will be all here shortly if the rough timeline we have of events that we got off the internet is anything to go by.." Fu says, frowning as much like myself she isn't happy with the lack of concrete information to go on.
Out of all of the routes to have been thrown into, Fate/Zero isn't exactly the one I know the best, save for several of the important points as well as some things I remember seeing in videos in my past life..
"Let's try to be careful with how we go about things girls, we don't want another Broly Saga situation to occur if we can help it.." I say, with all but Merlin looking grim at the reminder of that bloodbath.
"While I would ask what you mean by that, I get the feeling now is not the time to, so…" Merlin says, clasping her hands together before simply asking one thing…
"Will you be capturing the other Artoria here as well…?" Merlin says, making me ponder for a moment before deciding to shake my head in a negative fashion.
"Unless something drastic happens, I see no reason to capture the more inexperienced version of Artoria that Kiritsugu has…" I respond, making Artoria (Saber) sigh in relief as that would get confusing really fast.
Before we can discuss anything further, there is a knock on the front door..
"...Did anyone let someone into the pocket space at all..?" I ask my family, with everyone shaking their heads in a negative fashion. Then we hear the knock on the door yet again which has me get up and everyone here prepare weapons and spells at the ready.
Soon I head to the door, with everyone in position for a fight and I open the door to reveal..
"About time, care to let an old man and his grandaughter in would you…?" Says fucking Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, the Tsukihime version at that along with Arcruied Brunestud who looks like she wants to be ANYWHERE but here seeing everyone behind me looking ready to fight.
Somehow I fucking know it's that fake Kirei's fault from beyond the grave, I already knew he messed with my next world but I never realized how badly he fucked with it until I see a version of a man that should by all rights Not be here.
I just sigh and let the two in, I still have no idea how he got in here and at this point, I really don't care. I soon wave down my Retinue as we soon get to bringing the two in, sitting them down while I watch the two Dead Apostles carefully.
Soon enough, the old man decides to talk..
"So, seems to me that you've been busy Arturia..VERY busy indeed..* Zelretch says, staring flat at Fu who realizes that she wasn't exactly unseen as she thought. The Vampiric old man just chuckles and waves away our concerns, soon saying..
"Oh relax, I was watching you from the start, if I really wanted to attack you I would have done so not long before you came here…" He says, making the rest of us relax more before he takes a moment to think about what he'll say next before simply going..
"That being said, I do want to offer you a deal if you're willing to hear me out" Zelretch says with a grin, making me extremely apprehensive at whatever Zelretch has in mind for me as I have heard of his..uniqueness.
I then look at Arceuid and then I realize exactly what he's about to offer…oh hell…
"In exchange for promises of assistance should something threaten humanity and the world again, something like say..Crimson moon should it return, I offer both my granddaughter to you and one favor from myself.." Zelretch says with a grin, confirming my suspicions and making me scream internally.
Outwardly, all I say is.."What makes you think I can help you..?" To which Zelretch just laughs as if he heard a really funny joke..
"Oh that's a good one, but you're not fooling anyone Ms. Goddess, well most perhaps but not me!" Zeretch says with an eccentric grin, prompting me to realize that if someone like Zelretch sensed me..
Then why haven't Gaia or Alaya responded to me yet..
I spot Medea and Morgan glancing at each other knowingly, I have a feeling they're hiding something but I'm not keen to find out with uninvited guests in my fucking pocket space. I simply sigh and look to Arcruied herself, simply asking… "What's your opinion on this matter…?" Which shocks her, not expecting to be directly asked about this deal between Zelretch and a brand new goddess.
"Honestly, if it helps me kill a certain reviving pest I don't mind being in your care.." She says, prompting me to narrow my eyes as vague memories of what little I know of her series pop into my head.
Looks like I'll have more reading to do later..
"I'll accept as long as I can get your help to get a young girl out of the Matou's grasp.." To that Zelretch looks curious, but glad I am accepting of this deal.
"Fantastic, while I would suggest a Geas contract to seal the deal…." Zelretch doesn't elaborate further staring right at Medea, just makes me wonder if Zelretch's Kaldescope magic is able to see into the future by the way of looking at alternate worlds.
"Anyway, Arceuid I do hope you enjoy yourself with this goddess here, you might learn a thing or two, be good now!" Zelretch says before he suddenly turns into a gem pile large enough to fill the entire room before those get immediately ejected from the pocket space.
Before I even have a chance to respond, I see Arcreuid look at me with hungry eyes which prompts me to sigh quickly take out a Tempest Jewel ring and hold it out for her to take.
"If you wear this, in three days you won't have to worry about vampiric Impulses ever again.." I say, suddenly noticing the ring is gone and now on her finger. She looks quite eager and pleased at the notion she'll never need to feed again.
I sigh and look as Merlin's added capture value and browse the catalog, adding some paper trails for the new members of my retinue since I have yet to do so for all of them yet.
It's right then that Mashu makes an observation as I am browsing the companion perks section of the application.."Hey sister, if Artoria(Saber) Can Benefit from Everdistant king, wouldn't that mean we'd not need Avalon from the Einzberns…?"
I freeze, taking a moment to process that point before getting up and just going ahead and slamming my head against a nearby wall like I always do when I realize that I had forgotten something crucial or made a stupid mistake.
"Right…that you Mashu for utterly proving that I have absolutely no fucking clue what I'm doing at times.." I say while taking the time to pinch Mashu's cheeks playfully, prompting Ritsuka to do the same mischievously.
"Please stop.." Mashu says embarrassed before we soon stop, Ritsuka launching into a kiss with her while I go to buy Artoria (Saber) the perk. The moment I do, I sense Artoria (Saber) get a large boost in power as she soon gets Avalon itself in her grasp, prompting her to smile as if he has reunited with an old friend.
"Soooo…does this mean we can finally stop fucking about with all the sneaky shit and go kill an old cockroach already…?" Mordred says, prompting me to chuckle and nod. "I suppose we will shortly, although probably once Miss Brunestud has had enough time for the ring to take full effect.." My words effectively finalizing the time frame where we make our entrance into the Holy grail war in full.
Three days..
The Next dayThree Days until Arceuid's Capture
(Arturia's P.O.V)
I smile as I can hear Merlin's moans from within Morgan's room, sounds like she's taking Good care of Merlin in her new curvy and female form. I simply walk away and as I enter the games room, I spot Mordred and Artoria(Saber) playing PS4 on "Way out", apparently they've both escaped the prison section of the game.
I poke my head into the kitchen to see Arceuid ravishing some jam donuts I bought from a bakery in Fuyuki yesterday..goddamnit, I was gonna have those later. Still not gonna lie the blonde vampiress is cute with the sugar coating and jam around her mouth as she snacks on the sweet pastry.
She spots me and waves, prompting me to wave back before I decide to go and see what Ritsuka and Mashu are doing on the beach outside, but before I do so..
I decide to go grab that nice one-peace swim-suit that Medea made for me…
(Ritsuka's P.O.V)
I smile while I swim in the waters alongside Mashu, just taking the time to relax before we both hear someone from the manor coming down. Me and Mashu both turn to see Arturia blushing while she's walking down in a one-piece that is rather tight around those massive breasts of hers.
She looks so damn delectable with that on her, perhaps I should go greet her..
"Be right back Mashu!" I say to my adorable lover/kohai before swimming to shore and rushing over to Arturia with a mischievous grin on my face. By the time she notices me barreling toward her, I've already gotten around her and started to grope these quite literally divine breasts of hers
"R-RITSUKA~!" She cries out with a sultry moan. Unable to hold back a mischievous giggle, I continue to grope these massive orbs of hers while I watch the normally confident goddess and head of our family so easily melt at such a simple thing as being groped this way.
"Look at you wearing such a tight and Lewd one-piece, I love it~" I say teasingly, watching her blush deeply, maybe one of these days I can actually get around to having her join Myself and Mashu for a bit of "Fun".
(Arturia's P.O.V)
GOD. DAMN. IT
I can't stop squirming as Ritsuka continues to grope these massive breasts of mine, I want to say something to get her to stop, do something to get her to stop. It's only when I feel my combat instincts warn me of impending danger do I finally muster the will to throw Ritsuka back into the waters of the beach with a mighty throw and suddenly create a Ki blade, blocking Fu's sneak attack.
"Was that really necessary Fu?" I ask Fu, who merely grins, wearing a Snow white Bikini herself and having a book in her hand.
"I figured you needed a reason to get her off your back, so I decided to give you one~" She says nonchalantly before going to find a spot to go read her book, preferably with one of the empty beach chairs.
Before I can do anything else, I have to rush to the side as Artoria (Saber) and Mordred rush out as if racing each other to the waters, wearing their own Bikinis that come from the summer versions of themselves.
Artoria is the first into the waters, followed by Mordred cannonballing into the water right where Artoria was, with the woman herself only dodging it narrowly. As Mordred comes up Artoria (Saber) grabs her in a headlock and begins to give her a good knuckle raking across the top of her head for her reckless cannonballing.
Morgana and Medea come out too, wearing sky blue Bikinis of their own before Morgan calls to Merlin further up the trail…"Come on Merlin, don't let Medea's hard work go to waste!" She says, but when she gets no answer she sighs and marches back up the trail to grab Merlin.
Merlin blushes as she's forcefully led down the Trail wearing a frilly white bikini, looking rather elegant in spite of her curves, her pristine white hair flowing down to catch the rays of the sun while she blushes deeply when she catches me staring.
"Huh, Medea did good work with you indeed Merlin~" I say and before she can respond, I suddenly catch her in a kiss and stay like that for a moment before letting go, watching her practically go beet red.
"Hehehe, alright I won't hold you up.." I say, waving as Morgan smiles while dragging Merlin away, getting no more resistance from the Magus of Flowers as she's too busy trying to react to the kiss she just got.
"Now where is grey.." I say before I spot her trying to hide like Merlin was, near a palm tree. I decide to Kai Kai right to where Grey is and tap her on the shoulder.
"H-HEY!" She jumps in fright while staring at me and trying to calm her heart rate down. Huh, she's wearing an ironically steel grey-coloured bikini of her own.
"Come on, it seems everyone is joining the—" I go to say before suddenly my head is used as a fucking stepping stone by Arcueid and leaping off my head while jumping down to the beach below.
Why Zelretch decided to give a wild card like her to me I will never know. Still, I can't help but chuckle and go to finish with…"Well like I said, everyone is at the beach right now.." Prompting Grey to sigh but nod reluctantly, taking my hand and letting me Kai Kai her to the beach.
Once we arrive though, I see that Merlin is being Bullied by Fou again and the "Father/Son" Duo have gotten water guns from somewhere and are pelting each other with beach water.
Before I can even say anything, I am given my own water gun by Medea who simply says.."Go join them, surely you can do better than them~" She says challengingly, prompting me to pump the water gun in eager anticipation.
Oh well, might as well enjoy the minor break while I can.
With Fu having scouted yesterday, the masters who aren't at Fuyuki yet will arrive on the same day that Arceuid will be finished being captured. And once she is fully captured, I will not have to worry about that anymore and we can finally move to save Sakura.
Let's just hope the Fake Kirei Kotomine hasn't thrown me any more curveballs to deal with from beyond the grave.
Author's Notes
And with that, Chapter 15 is here.
First things first, the crest worm explanation.
As I was informed by one of the people I've been talking to (You know who you are) regarding this fanfic, I was informed that servants shouldn't technically be aware of Crest worms despite what normal Fate fanfics say.
This prompted me to figure out a reasonable way to explain this contradiction and I hope that I've given one that is sensible and falls in line with how Nasuverse should work.
Fingers crossed.
Secondly, Zelretch getting into Arturia's pocket space.
Normally it should be fundamentally impossible for anyone uninvited to enter the Pocket space of a contractor.
Fortunately for Zelretch, he has the means to traverse into other worlds and as such, has the capability to enter a contractor's pocket space. This will only work provided the contractor and Zelretch himself are in that world currently, otherwise without Arturia there, the Pocket space flat out does not exist to go to.
Next, Acreuid Brunestud
From what I've read so far of her, she's fairly interesting. However, I needed a good reason for her to show up, hence why the Vampiric Zelretch was the one watching rather than the regular Zelretch.
With any luck, she might come to enjoy things with the Pendragon family.
Arturia's Everdistant King Waifu perk.
Honestly, this one I realized was a thing IN THE MIDDLE OF WRITING THIS CHAPTER, I quite literally did the exact same thing as what I, as Arturia, did in this chapter, I genuinely feel incredibly stupid for not remembering that the perk gives her avalon and which means we don't need to deal with Emiya.
Beach scene
Just some relaxation, a calm before the storm really. Especially as we build up to finally save Sakura.
Oh and don't worry about me throwing Hellsing Abridged in, while the original script was gonna involve having Hellsing side with the Einzberns with a secret motive to see if the grail was tainted or not, I ended up scrapping it due to simply being both too early in the fic to start mixing worlds up like this, and that it was gonna be difficult keeping Abridged Alucard from causing untold havoc on the plot.
With that, the Author's notes are over folks!
Next time on A Golden Goddess: Acreuid's Capture and Bug hunting.
See you all on Tuesday!