Saber POV
The battle is over, Shirou is unconscious in my arms as the Udug Huls and many of the conventional soldiers are being captured as war prisoners. The soldiers cheer, I hear cheers calling me lion king in chorus, and I hear the same calling him Sword King.
It's quite nostalgic and disturbing, that was one of my nicknames in the ancient past, Shirou lion themed helmet seems to have resurrected that, my charisma skill does not help too it seems. On the way back, i´m escorted by Bazett and Diocletian, after Diocletian had brief words with the Ushotan upon his arrival.
I take Shirou on the advanced bike we used on the attack, Rin panics when she sees Shirou state, and we are received by the combat medics that start to work on him. It takes a while for me to resume the events, Rin bit her lips and started to examine him with the medics.
"He got on some sort of short circuit, he almost fried many circuit fragments, too much mana available, from the world itself, and from our link, no matter his new amount and quality, they all were activated only during the grail war, they are all immature and mostly undeveloped, and pumped levels of energy that even his adult self only used as counter guardian… he lost control and activated the wrong circuits… his soul is a mess…" Says Rin.
"He still is reckless, some things are hard to change." I say, and nod to Rin. "I will get back my scabbard, it's mine after all, and Shirou did what was asked. They WILL return it to me, and it will heal him." I say in a commanding tone, it's MY SCABBARD,Diocletian eyes squint, i don´t care. "Return the scabbard, now." Diocletian's hand goes into the hilt of his sword, by reflex. "Don´t be stupid, you are capable enough to know it won´t work, and you know the kid delivered his side of the deal, you have now to deliver yours." I remind him.
"Not until the Emperor gives his word." Says Diocletian
"Then take me to the Imperial Palace. I want to speak with him in person. I can go escorted by you, or I can go by myself, I know the way, it's impossible to miss that giant palace, I could see it from orbit before we land here." I say.
I leave Shirou under Rin and Bazett eyes, he begrudgingly take me into the palace, we both go into a smaller craft, one of the attack crafts, that was available, and had enough seats, in the way he sends a vox message, full of technical terms and codes, but the message is simple, he is escorting "the female warrior from Emiya group", it seems they were well aware of me, the Custodes had found time to send his reports somehow.
Besides the fact that he always seems busy. After landing on the palace, we are received by a group of Custodes and an old man with a staff, that the posture reeks of "mage", and vaguely reminds me of Merlin.
"Greetings, I am Malcador, the Sigilitte, Imperial Regent. your reputation is new, but already precedes you. A female sword master capable of match Diocletian in skills, and a invincible force of nature on the battlefield, immune to sorcery, immune to all Akkadian weapons and capable of defeat multiple Udug Huls effortless without resort to lethal strength.I was interested into meet you as soon as the reports arrived, you in some aspects is more intriguing and interesting than the little "Magus". Says Malcador
"I heard about you in the last days, we might talk later, now, I have business with the man in the throne." I say with a firm tone.
"I must say he is busy right now, occupied with an important projec…" Malcador is about to dismiss me, i´m not going to have it.
I walk forward, passing through his right flank, his eyes widened, the Custodes try to cross the Hellberds in front of me to block my path. I say try. since i vanish, in supersonic speeds, using a brief mana burst to vanish and appear already inside the palace, before they have time to close the entrance, i walk forward trying to find the throne room, deflecting two halberd strikes with my gauntlets, that grab the weapons.
Spinning and throwing them on the walls, causing some of the concrete to crack, as I walk are shot in my direction, an aura covering all of them, some sort of blessing from someone powerful. Probably the Emperor, this aura give them mystery, enough mystery that their projectiles, their "bolters" can wound me, if they hit, with a slash of my invisible sword, the air slice the projectiles on air, detonating them, shrapnel stunning the Custodes, that see me vanish again, my advantage on speed when i´m serious, using my servant abilities is massive.
I arrive in the throne room, bashing the door open, the Emperor is reading several papers, secretaries, dataslates, surrounded by red hooded men, Terrawatt clan members, and several seemingly nobles. He lifts one of his eyebrows, as i´m flanked by multiple Custodes and one of them, stands between me and the man in the golden throne. I have bad memories of rulers clad in gold armor, my eyebrow twitching.
"Halt! Drop your weapons and surrender now!" Says the man, before an explosion of mana burst pushes all of them back, some pierce the ground with their weapons to not be blown away. Not only i´m being well fed with energy from Rin, the mana is thicker on Terra and Rin awakened my dragon core, before we even were summoned by Shirou, my mana capacity and magical potential were never this strong, except as a living king..
The atmosphere is tense, everyone freezes and I can see eyes widen all around, the Emperor looks at me for a few moments, then stands up from his Throne.
"The mind of the little Magus had too much information, I only got things related with "Mystery" and "Magecraft", and important memories. One of them was special on his mind… The meeting with a certain woman… A certain legendary king…" The Emperor smirks, amused it seems. "King Arthur of Britain, the legendary king that ruled from Camelot and after his death, was fated to return when Britain needed him again." Says the Emperor in a monologue.
I approach, he gestures for the Custodes to open a path, they hesitate, but obey their master with worry in their eyes.
" Here, he is but a legend, I WAS there at the time, there was no Camelot, no round table, no blessed invincible king. Yet… Here you are, a legend made flesh, from a world the laws of nature diverge from my own. Your legend here still persists, mighty king Albion are the descendents of your people who are under the oppressive rule of the Tyrannical blood drinker warlord Uilleam the Red, that hold, for now, a quarter of earth."
That managed to get through me, I stopped my approach, knowing that my people and culture still exist, that they need me again. I need to do something about it, he got me there, but that's changing the subject, one issue at time.
"That will be addressed, but that's not why I am here." I say.
"Yes, I can imagine several reasons." He counters.
"I want what is mine, the scabbard. My master needs it." I say
"To think that a mighty king has a master, a little child on top of it… Another amusing thing, you are a servant now, a spiritual being, similar to the spawns of the warp." Says the Emperor, who gets his Custodes on edge, gripping tighter their weapons.
"Yet, I can feel you are not the same." He answers.
"My master followed his part of the deal, Akkad is under imperial control, the slaves are free from the sorcerer king control. He is grievously wounded and I need the scabbard to heal him. Even if he had not done it, I'm here to reclaim what's mine." I said, standing my ground.
"I see, Diocletian, bring the scabbard here." The tense Custodes commander, who barely arrived in the throne room, pale, has not much time to process what's happening, he only nods and quickly leaves the throne room, somewhere.
I relax a bit, it seems he will comply with my request. In a way that's disturbing, I imagined more resistance, he grins at me, it seems that while he was surprised at my arrival, it was not something completely unexpected.
"I am the Emperor and protector of Humanity as a whole, not of a single nation. I have many kings under me. If they protect their people from the ruinous powers, and from the dangers of the xenos, I don ´t care if they keep their culture and laws. Except for the ban on religion, since religious belief can be hijacked and used to feed the enemy. If you accept my terms, it's in my interest to return your kingdom to you, the unity they would have, under the rule of their promised king. It would make control and stabilize the region easier, all your homeland would have to do is pay their tithes and follow the minimum rules to keep humanity safe."
"Y-You… Are you telling me…" My eyes widened, i´m really surprised by what he insinuated.
"I´m talking about the rebirth of Britain, the restoration of your camelot and round table, on friendly diplomatic and trading ties with all neighbors, all members of the great empire of humanity. I would allow you to keep a semi autonomous rule, and be able to expand your territory even, if you recover lost colonies of humanity or colonize new worlds, they would be under your banner and would keep your culture, just have to do the same, pay the tithes, keep humanity safe, following the security rules. I´m talking about fixing the tragedy of the battle of Camlann."
"I… " I hesitate, I should not take deals without asking my Master, I pledged my loyalty to Shirou, but I still have my loyalty to my people, and this was my dream after all, in a way, it was a more realistic way to reach my "holy grail".
"I´m talking about bringing your people salvation, restoring your culture, your nation, and fighting for humanity overall, bend your knee to me as your Emperor, and I guarantee I will do the best for the sake of humanity, and that includes all of it, I have no prejudices. I fight for the sake of all of them, that includes the kid you know?." He says, he is not like Gilgamesh, i can see sincerity when he says he does it for Shirou sake too, i´m divided, my pride as a King don't want me to bend the knee, and i already have a master, but his offer is the best, for everyone.
"I already pledged my loyalty to Shirou, a knight cannot serve two masters, as a king I have a duty to my kingdom. As a knight I have a duty to my master, humanity and justice overall. I can accept an alliance, I can accept most of your offers and deals, but I cannot pledge my loyalty to you, master of humanity." I say, he bursts laughing, I freeze for a moment, but his laugh is not out of spite, malice or sarcasm, he seems amused.
"I see, then I shall allow it, I would not want to fight by the side of a knight that betrayed his master, the kid is lucky to have been blessed with someone as you, lion king. " Says the Emperor.
Diocletian arrives with the Scabbard, and after a nod from the Emperor, delivers it to me with a nod, i return it, and absorb it on my spiritual body, i can feel my power surge, i´m more "complete" now.
"He is not only wounded on his body, his magical circuits, his magic might be compromised… " I say, feeling I should inform the man.
"I see… Don´t worry, once i have time i might see what i can do, i know everything the kid does about this "magecraft", but i have to spend some time writing it, before it vanishes from my mind, forcibly plundered knowledge don´t stick easily. I will have Malcador study it and see what can be done. It's not much but with that knowledge available I might be able to do something, maybe." The Emperor says. "You are not the only person he managed to sneak here from your universe right?"
"Thank you." I bow slightly. "Yes, he brought Tohsaka Rin and Bazett Fraga, both more proficient as magus than him, and his older adoptive sister. She is a normal human, besides her remarkable swordsmanship."
"I see, get the two Magus to work with Malcador on the kid, his sister will be safe with Burk and his crew. You… I need you to lead the retaking of Albyon, or should I say… Britain?" He says.
Taiga POV
I´m informed that the battle ended with victory, but my Shirou is wounded, i want to meet him but they say i can´t, it´s enraging, i should had learned how to pilot that ships, i feel so useless, Merek and his mom keep me company, he is so sweet, i might be developing a crush on him, but still, they should not keep me from my little brother.
They asked me to go with Mara to oversee the farm, help with the ancient Terra things we will produce, it seems they are worth gold. I started to read the "wikia" that we got. I´m one of the few people with biometrical access to the thing, I don't want to be useless forever, I have free time right? So I will be the one that knows what to do. I will surprise everyone, let me see this Great Crusade thing, it's so confusing, everything is so "edgy", i don't know where to start.
That sucks, they almost had no material on that "unification wars" era, no cool information for me to exploit, just a bunch of edgy warlords and lands. I see no mention of Japan, did my country vanish? It seems Shirou dealt with one of the big warlords, and I'm hearing talks about the prisoners who have vowed loyalty to him and the lion king. Saber nickname is so imposing, well, i´m called Tiger, or was, I think I'm cool too, I mean, I have no supernatural powers and stuff like that, but I'm a fine sword user.
I became quite popular with the mercenaries, and the first "Udug Huls" that arrived here, it seems their vow of loyalty to Shirou made the Emperor decide to use them as workforce on the ship repairs, and free security force. They seem to respect my swordsmanship, and know i´m the big sis of the "Sword King" helped a lot, yes, worship me, I love it! I might rebuild the fujimura group like that one day! With a lot of super human thugs! See grandpa, i´m still a dominant Tiger!
Rin POV
I´m here watching as the bizarre "Tech priests" work on Shirou wounds, he is full of bandages and his limbs are immobilized, he is knocked out on sedatives and they put him on Serum, they think i didn't notice their tissue and blood samples collection, but overall they seem to be taking good care of him.
I received a text message, it seems Shirou will be taken to the Imperial Palace for recovery, Saber will reclaim her homeland, and will be allowed to rule it. It seems I will be friends with a king? I mean, I was already her friend but she will have a kingdom back! I can already see the money coming! I must make sure she succeeds!
But first… Oh yeah, Shirou, I totally did not forget him! It seems the old man Malcador, the Emperor right hand man will help me and Bazett with Shirou circuits issue, the Emperor himself might help too if needed, this make me a little more confident, they say he is uber powerful, but still, be the most capable mage here, is not much comforting. Yes, I believe i am better than Bazett, just because she is older and fights like a gorilla does not mean i´m not the better magus, don´t get me wrong i like her, i just have faith in myself.
Oh, I heard that Taiga and Mara will take care of the old terra farm stuff. I can already see the money coming, and it feels so good. I just need Shirou to stop being an idiot and we can let the scary stuff on big E hands, and enjoy luxury in the future world!
Somewhere on Necromunda - Necromunda system -Segmentum Solar
On a abandoned rail station in the deepest depths of the hive city, a train materializes, it's Rail Zeppelin, the mystic eyes auction train, due to the events happening on japan involving the grail war and dead apostles, they decided to take advantage and diversify their products, increasing their collection greatly,the trainit had acquired almost a hundred extra cars, some rented, some owned by several VIP.
The Ygdamillenia clan found a opportunity to be the only magecraft power in a universe without clocktower, buying several cars, independent magus families, deserting church members, two tech billionaires with supernatural connections, weird customers, with dead apostles included, the train stock of mystic eyes, mystic codes and supernatural products never was so "full".
After some issues with certain powers, they decided to take business to the new uncharted universe, sponsored by many interests, and tempted by the prospect of collecting more oddities there.
Almost all of the mysterious people that had met on fuyuki warehouse decided to be on the train during the transfer, very few deciding to adventure by themselves, Zeppelin staff, and several clients that paid, and invested high to be on the safety of the advanced and magically enhanced train during the universal travel.
"Here talks conductor Rodin, the ritual was a success, we are in some sort of abandoned railway in the new universe. Check your luggage and get ready, once we find a station we are stopping for the first time, the railway is being mapped and anyone willing to leave will have a chance at the next stop." Says Rodin, with a smirk, he could almost smell the business opportunities.
In one of the train cars, a clan reunion was in course, it was Lord El Melloi, with the rest of the clan members, on the car were too several of his students, and almost all independent magus families, the ones with families interested on be magecraft pioneers on a new universe, and several sealing designates, excited with the freedom from the clock tower, church, and a world without counterforces to get in the way, besides large mystery.
"I shall meet with Tohsaka Rin once we get a hold of her location. I was about to sponsor her on the clock tower, but with all the changes on plans, her value now has another… reasons. The Ygdamillenia will certainly become the new Magecraft powerhouse, but they said to be more lenient with the sealing designates and independent families, they will allow us to join there as equals, and have our chance on the new power restructuring" Says Melloi to the people on the room.
"You could make your own organization, I mean… You have the Aoozaki Sisters, your classroom, the Archibalds, good connections with the train, better than the Yggdmillennia, and if you recover your prodigy Tohsaka… You will have another old clan on your hand, why submit to the Yggdmillennia?" Asks Reines
"Not submit… Ally, first, they are powerful and organized, they absorbed so many "weak" magus families and bloodlines, and gave shelter to so many sealing designates, that they resisted even the clock tower itself. Second, one of them was my student, third, even if we kinda can surpass them, due to our decent number of old and powerful families, it would be stupid throw away their resources, or have them as enemies or roaming around unsupervised. " Answer Melloi.
"So… What now?" Asks Reines.
"The Zeppelin will map, reinforce and bunker this train station, they will scout outside too, we are on the underground of some kind of city, the architecture and writings on the walls seem to be human origin, i recognize the Alphabet, once we have security enough to leave, we will leave and mix with the local population, learn their language, get some work and income, and build a foothold on this world, our supplies are vast but not infinite, and we need to learn about our surroundings and the world around, get our standing here and work from there." Says Melloi as he takes a cigar.
Somewhere on Aryand hive world
A woman holding a backpack and wearing a work uniform runs on the dark misty streets of the hive city, it's eerie and empty. She sweats and gasps approaching a lamp post. The light of it flickers. The woman suddenly blink and when she open her eyes, there's a old man in trenchcoat in front of her, she widens her eyes, as he opens his trenchcoat and several heads of beasts, wolf, tiger, lion, and even a crocodile, appear from the inside, biting her limbs and as she screams, she is dragged inside the trenchcoat, vanishing, sounds of flesh being teared and a primal scream of horror and pain echoes through the misty hive.
"So much food… I can eat forever and never starve… And they will never notice…" Says Nrvnqsr chaos muses to himself, grabbing the woman's backpack, then starts to walk away, only the woman's shoes remain under the lamp post.