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The following is a fan-based
FICTION
F/SN, F/Z, F/KPI and other products related to the Fate Series are all owned by TYPE-MOON, Kinoko Nasu and Takashi Takeuchi.
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Chapter 9: Dress Up Idol
"Good morning, Mastah! My name is Elizabeth Bathory, but I like to go by as 'Eli-chan', 'Mistress Eli' and 'Super-Cute Eli-chan'!"
I frowned at that last one, slowly nodding at her. "Yeah, I... kind of knew that already."
Now, that would have been a reason for a girl with her pride to feel slightly offended, but I guess she viewed this with a degree of satisfaction. After all, her 'Mastah' seemed 'reliable' as she was quick to point out earlier this morning. The same amount of goodness didn't extend to her current clothing as I was able to give her a shirt and some short pants which for the former was too baggy for her, and the latter managed to reach below her knees... but was still too baggy. So yeah, the first directive of the day was get her some clothing. I had already taken some time to ask her about her current situation. How much she could remember before waking up, if she has any remembrance of what happened when she was still 'Carmilla', if her body felt different than usual and what were her current abilities if she was able to share those with us.
Last question was something I thought about when Quartz mentioned how he couldn't pick up her proper stats just like he did with Carmilla. He suggested it was something blocking his probe, but that felt unlikely due to the circumstance, so I was up to ask Eli-chan if she knew something about it. Turns out she was extremely cooperative when I offered her hot chocolate for breakfast.
"Well, I remember I was... helping someone. I don't exactly remember who but the first thing I can think of is... a rabbit."
I blinked, feeling like I could actually correlate this seemingly silly clue to something important, but nothing I could pinpoint on the spot. "And do you remember why you were helping this... rabbit?"
"The 'rabbit' was important, just like Mastah."
And that pretty much gave me the clue I needed to remember where I precisely heard that. Except I couldn't get why then this was happening. How did the Holy Grail in the Moon Cell end up with Servants reaching this dimension?!
"Does this 'rabbit' have long brown hair and eyes, Eli-chan?" I pressed on with a degree of resolution which stunned Elizabeth.
"I... I think so? Wait, I think... yes, her name- my former Mastah's name was Hakuno-"
"Kishinami Hakuno," I expanded, interjecting her erratic response and getting a nod from the pinkette.
"Yes, that's her- Wait! Mastah, how do you know that?" Eli asked in shock, eyes wide open and all hints of pure surprise at that unexpected knowledge hitting back at her, and I sighed since that was going to be a tough question to answer.
But before I could say or do anything to explain the situation, Quartz decided to speak up for me.
"John has been given a fraction of the Kaleidoscope's knowledge and thus has awareness of different dimensions. It would seem like one of those he knows of is yours, Elizabeth."
"So, this means that he knows how it ended for- Hakuno-chan! How is she? Did she fail- or did we win?"
Humming, I tried to reason about all the circumstances I was given. And I knew I needed more to expand on it. "Depends on what you remember last. Did you fight BB?"
"Well... Actually, yes. It was her, Passion Lip and... Meltlilith!" Eli took a moment to remember all of that. "Then there was that nasty perverted lady that tried to become a Beast but... we stopped her. I remember this much and the war was over and I was meant to leave... but then..."
She outright hesitated towards the end, with the brief pauses in her response showing she was remembering on the spot rather than having a clear recollection of things. Then her hesitation came to a halt as a sheepish look appeared on Eli's face.
"And then I don't remember much. I just knew I was going back to the throne and... then I woke up here."
"Are you sure you didn't feel any recollection as your alter-ego?"
She shook her head. "I didn't," The girl admitted. "However, I do think something is off with me. Like, I was a Lancer when I was departing but... now I'm not sure."
That was odd.
"What do you precisely mean?"
"I just... When I was first summoned, I knew I was a Lancer-class Servant, but now I don't feel as much. I just feel... 'more'."
The response just confused me more, and yet also provided me with a clue on why Quartz had failed to get proper readings. Perhaps the reason was actually the fact Eli couldn't be 'classified' within that circumstance. So, I decided to play on this knowledge and see how useful that was in getting a better reading of her skills.
"Quartz, can you pick up specific skills from reading?"
"Depends on the circumstance, but yes," The Mystic Code confirmed. "Do you wish for me to check Eli-chan?"
A slow nod. "Territory Construction and Item Construction."
A few seconds passed, with the pinkette offering me a quizzical look on what I was trying to get from that specific question, but then Quartz provided confirmation to what I was suspecting.
"Both are within this Servant. The first one is ranked C+ while the latter is ranked B."
"What? I didn't have either within my Lancer stats," Eli-chan argued, her glance aimed mainly at me. "What does that mean, Mastah?"
"...You are not just a Lancer. You also have your Saber and Caster's abilities to a degree. Everything is debuffed due to the necessity of keeping your body stable, but I believe you are the amalgamation of your Halloween and Brave version together with your Lancer's base," I elaborated as clearly as I could. "In a sense, you ended up developing two altered versions of yourself through modifications to your Saint Graph which allowed for a Caster and Saber version to happen, thus you can just... use three of them at once in that dimension. Here? I think it would be correct to assume you got all three at once, but all weakened to not destabilize."
"So... in layman's terms, I am a Caster-Lancer-Saber-Classes Servant?"
"In a nutshell, yes."
Her eyes widened in surprise. "Does that mean I get a cool sword?"
"I'm not that sure that's how it works and-"
"I got a cool sword!" Eli-chan exclaimed, holding her Brave sword in her right hand and- WHAT?!
I blinked just for a moment, how the hell did that even happen?
Before I could question that, the girl started to swing the sharp thing and... stabbed onto the couch beside her. She tensed up, eyes widening no longer in awe but dread.
"Opss."
I sighed. "No sword-swinging in the flat. That's your only warning."
A swift nod confirmed this and she waved the sword off into... the unknown. Where the hell did that thing go?
"So... what's next?" The pinkette asked chirpily, trying to push away the conversation from what had just happened and divert the attention elsewhere.
"Well, since I got as much as I could from this conversation, I don't see why pressing you on it any further... and I think I should get done with the other important bit that needs to be solved," I remarked calmly. "And that is your current clothing."
"Yeah, about that... I don't know why but I can't reform it. Like, Servants can generally reform their clothes but-"
"You can't. Probably something tied to your unique situation," I reasoned for her, getting a happy smile off her. "But before I go out to buy you something, I need your measurements."
She giggled, taking a bit of a pose. "Mastah~, are you going to help me or-"
"Quartz, do help her," I flatly said, gaining a pout from the pinkette but the 'Triple Servant' conceded to that sharp rejection and allowed the Mystic Code to help her with the measurements.
"I got it all, John."
"Good, then we will be going and-"
"Wha? But what about me? How am I supposed to handle the boredom while you're gone Mastah? I could die!"
What a dramatic brat she can be... Oh well, there's only an option for me to go through.
Eli-chan wasn't sure what a 'laptop' was, but as I put on Youtube, told her how the website worked and then left her with a video from a hour-long playlist packed with kitties and puppies playing together, I think I won her over to quietly enjoy resting by the couch while watching the cute videos. She would lie down, her tail wagging left and right at the sight and an awed smile on her face as her adorability flared before that pleasant sight.
Sighing, I left the flat with Quartz trailing closely but keeping away from being seen by others. There was still much to do and... I couldn't help but feel like today was far from over.
The cashier gave me a long look as I was getting her to check what I was buying, realizing that I had bought female clothes and panties. The stare that the woman gave me got me a bit irked.
"My cousin came from a flight with her bags going missing. It's not the first time and I'm really trying to be a nice relative here."
That burned away any suspicious look and left behind apologetic ones. I swear, people just expect the worst from others nowadays... then again, crazy people are now more common than before, so I couldn't exactly blame them. To the fullest, of course. With the bags in my hands, I left the shop with a relieved look. I was done dabbling on that unexpected shopping session and I was bound to get back home now... that was until I ended up catching up with someone I didn't expect to find in the street.
"Oh, sensei!"
I blinked, quickly recognizing a familiar little girl coming towards me and stopping just a meter off. Soon, a certain maid followed after and I hummed at the little girl as I reacted to her greeting first.
"Illya-chan, didn't expect to meet you. How are you?"
"Good! But Mama told me I needed to take a walk around the city with Liz so I don't get addicted to the TV."
That was brutally honest and I couldn't help but offer a sympathetic smile at her big pout. "Ah, but it's not that bad, Illya-chan. The Series isn't exactly going anywhere and a bit of walking isn't that bad."
"But it's boring," Leysritt remarked, gaining my attention and another smile. "And you are Illya's teacher, John Bukharin-san."
I nodded. "And I suppose you are 'Liz'."
"Leysritt, but I like Liz more because it's shorter."
"I suppose you would prefer to be called that, then," I guessed and she nodded. "Then it's nice to meet you, Liz-san."
"Same, John-san."
"Nee, sensei. Why were you buying clothes for girls?"
The questions was quite incriminating which was quite cliche within the anime I was in, but I was a man with explanations and one already ready for this one.
"Well, my cousin from Hungary came to visit and she is a bit of a... airhead," I explained with a faux-sheepish look. "You see, Illya-chan, she tends to lose her luggage a lot when she is traveling and that usually forces either her family in Hungary and now me to go and buy her some things until her bags are found."
Illya's red eyes widened a lot. "Really? She lost all her things?"
"Most of them, yes. But don't worry, they will find them and we will get them."
"That's still a bad habit," Liz argued flatly and I couldn't help but find it ironic considering she wasn't exactly the shiniest example of model behavior. "I suppose she was reprimanded."
"As usual, yes. It's just within her nature and we mostly gave up on that," I argued awkwardly. "Some habits are tough to fix at times."
"It could be problematic if it happens too frequently. But... as Irisviel would say, family is still family."
"Indeed," I agreed with the maid. "I would say that Irisviel-san is quite the wise woman. Which is why you should listen to your mama if she says it's only for your good. It might sound upsetting, but it's genuinely meant to give you a healthy take at life, okay?"
The girl nodded vigorously. "Yep!"
I chuckled. "Still, I believe I should get going. Eli is probably going through a few videos I left her with by now and she is going to whine a lot if I don't get back before lunchtime."
"We will not detain any further and... it was quite a pleasure to make your acquaintance," Liz hummed, something in her voice feeling close to politeness and... shy. She reached out with her hand, clearly offering a handshake and I accepted the offer by going for it. She offered a tiny smile and then I left after saluting Illya too.
With that out of the way, I was ready to get back at home and deal with whatever I was meant to do with Elizabeth. I expected some disaster to ensue, after all Murphy would never lose a chance to create issues. Lucky for me, Murphy was on break time as I found Elizabeth still enjoying more videos of puppies and almost jumped when I laid the bags of new things on the ground beside her. Eyes wide open, she calmed down as she realized it was me and- then jumped off the couch to pick up the bags and retreat to the bathroom, giddiness exuding from all her pores. The door of the bathroom shut down loudly and I couldn't hear much for a while until-
"WOWIE!" The pinkette squealed as she was done putting on the clothes, rushing back in the living room fully dressed and... looking as adorbs as possible. "Mastah! These are just the best!"
"I may be fashion-blind for myself, but I can handle that kind of stuff with girls after surviving mom and sis' offers to help them go shopping."
Eli didn't seem to care much about what I just said, too hyped by her newest outfit and then going back to check on the other things I bought her. I sat down and sighed in relief, Quartz humming as he floated beside me.
"Master, I hope you remember that today is... well, the one you promised to hang out with Taiga."
"After lunch," I remembered, groaning as I was feeling a bit tired from all of this. Last night just drained a bit more than usual. "And it's not going to be that bad."
I hoped so.
AN
Eli-chan, Liz and Illya. What a wild combo. And the best has yet to come with the next chapter during the da- hang out with Taiga.
REVIEW Q&A!
Bear Lord: Kanata's flatmate, C-chan, is still well and doing well. Also, the dragon might be around through other means. I've been watching a lot of Kson as of recently.
King0fP0wers: Not a Jekyll/Hyde situation, but pretty close to a degree.
Dantrlan: Maybe.
mikelz0426: More like 'annoying imouto'.
Guest (Chapter 8): Close enough~.