Author's note: Yeah, sucks to wait right? But I'm in manacles with real life and I can't have all the time to complete this story in a long chapter. THIS IS NOT INSPECTED AT ALL, THIS IS THE REAL DRAFT I WROTE.
I guess I'm in wrecked, so to the previous comments I did not replied, I apologize in behalf of my broken promise, so...
Fid99: Hey, pal. I really am thankful you PM me all the way to expressed how happy you are to what I write because you couldn't post another chance into the chapter 8. You know, I was really laughing out loud when I read your review, I just can't believe someone will actually sum up all the parts I came up with in the previous chapter. I find it heartwarming, thank you very much. And about the lore, of course it is full of it in this story. We started our story at the middle after all. So, I hope I did not smash all your brain cells in the previous chap- 'cause I'm brainstorming how to get all of that eliminated to dust. Haha, just kidding. And you're welcome by the way.
Stratos263: Hello, friend. Thank you for your words and I hope you like the story, just like they did.
Those who PM: It's kind of strange why you all don't want your reviews be seen by the public but.. oh well, it's your choice and I'm glad. I'll generalize you all so not to make this section long, alright? First, Wow. I just... wow, where did you all came from and you totally figure that out? I guess you see the peeks of the future in that single observation in Hakuno's interaction but... whew, you're awesome. And yes, I'll finish this until the end- if it crams up before the next year comes then, what the hell. I'll finish this whether they like it or not. Time sucks, you know that. And nope, I won't give you any clue now that you mention that, it's like Scott detach the story of Five Night's at Freddy's so... ahuh, you're on your own now, hehe.
Oh, and guys! Those who didn't know, JurichuZ came back and are continuing Moon Cell of Red: Rebellion. Those who know, great, those who don't- it's also a Hakuno x Mordred fanfic, if you like to see it then go now and read it!
We'll keep low for now on to this one, got to bang up the real deal to the tenth. I spend it too much to the eighth so... hehe~ Oh, and maybe I'll post as soon as two weeks from now. Just saying.
00100001(Fate Extra: Grand Order)00100001
A hole.
How does a huge crater imprint its way at the very center of Chaldea, Romani do not know. Nevertheless, a huge thump of pain rushed passed through his skull straight to his brain. Fortunately, the Transportation Spell happened before the explosion occurred and shook the Chaldea to its very core. The Masters are in safe condition, as well as their Servants... but with this huge carnage...
"Maybe I'm getting old." He murmured before he took a step forward to brush pass the remaining falling debris resembling sturdy white walls with Leonardo Da Vinci, straight to the hall of deafening and blood curling execution of power. The generators overloaded with a scalding store of clout that can launch and execute RayShifting for about a decade, as the raw burst of supreme power had been equally penetrating and real as it thoroughly affect Chaldea to its finest. Yet... at what cost?
Finally, with a left turn to their destination, they stopped at the riveting havoc and a bunch of Servants on their state unable to identify their expression. The place they are in is like a place where Zeus befell a lightning zap of his wrath- compulsive and eradicated for it is in shambles. Dribbles of the combination of water and air falls in the tubes above and below which creates a small flood and an atmosphere straight to a rainy forest, but Romani truly did not appreciated everything.
Just what happened here?
"Ah, Archaman." Guiles greeted, his passive face marred his crazed and hollow expression. "Impeccable timing for you to join us, dear chairman."
"What happened, Caster?" he asked in quick succession, gulping down the water given by an employee. The seething heat is no laughing matter, does the ventilation was damage also? Dear hope it's not.
"A rival of love between two entity dear sir," Guiles chuckled, blinking his blasphemous eyes. "... Made by a visitor of another realm and our dear Knight of Treason." And like that, Romani spits his water, eyes bulge in incredulity. The raving and spleen of arguments ricocheting in his brain like a plague- just what on earth happened in a short minute Saber Mordred ran away in the Command Room?
"Truly? How?"
"Aye," Christian Andersen quipped, sitting with his companions to the wet ground, book in hand and stoic and little as ever.. "Love sure is powerful. It doesn't matter why it happened, it is why it was interpreted as 'love' in the first place at all."
"You're saying?" Romani raised his brow, attentively listening to the Caster.
"What we saw is not an argument over a single love one, it is a maniacal possessiveness of a treasure beyond every sense of the word. Mayhap, it was for entertainment... or perhaps..."then he stands up, slamming his book loudly, and shoots one last glance at the figure head, before disappearing in the hallway. "... a conflict of the temperaments emancipated by the swindle."
With that cryptic words running through his head, Romani could only mutter and cussed his unluckiness.
One by one, Romani saw the companionship between Servants, employees, robots and Masters with a critical eye. The Casters fluently cast their spells of recovery, illuminating their wondrous form in a variety of colors which palely contrast to the smog and greyish surrounding next to the blast. The unscathed held up their strength to those who need it, help those unable to move due to the paralyzing trauma of what they saw. The Lancers are surprisingly dainty and credulous, swatting off barricades of upper floors falling down in a huge amount and sizes. Berserkers are also in the process of dismantling the halls, to extend the space for the wounded. Small explosions can still be heard, and a chalk of dust grains their heads in the smothering and cataclysm's grim. It seems the other classes are jeopardizing the damages with their own maintenance from the other floors, which is technically good.
"Most engaging.." Da Vinci sighs in amazement, cutting Romani's thoughts in rush.
"What is it, Leonardo?" He trails in the tight space the woman walked to, probing the peculiar sizes and ways the fragments shred its constituent part to the earth. Finally, with a sweep of a manmade gust of air, he inhaled in wonder, eyes wide to what he saw. "Unbelievable."
A pillar.
A single pillar at the epicenter of the crater stood in attention and immaculate beauty. Its spirals with a design of a reddish circuits and command seal embroidery, perfectly intricate and threaded with a flimsy sparks of lightning- glowing, enchanting them both in oblivion. Those bystanders stare at astonishment, but those who witness the real deal contemporarily wears their mask of neutralization- in no condition to run amok their thoughts out loud. It is no easy feat for them, to simply explain the convulsing trauma they experiences... how much more is a little girl in between two rivaling power in attention to her form?
Yes, they knew where the pillar came to be. The Servants knew where that designs and fortified circuits came to be... and they wear no joy to bear witness to the sacrifice of the little girl, who hold on to a single Mystic Code to eradicate the explosion directly inside the confines of her frame. In which, the crater appeared... but those in close vicinity simply vanished...
Without a trace.
... At least, that is what they will know. After all, there are no loopholes they can actually solve, with Britain's ruler involved, especially one in differ to the lore they spoke.
Jack the Ripper sleepily sighs in boredom, up in the beacon just out of the view of any guests and participants in the Organization, contemplating if she were to reveal it soon...
"... But Grandfather says I need to buy time~! Mou, I don't want waiting... but if it's valuable as she says... Well, I guess I have to make it right, so mother will be at liberty."
"Lest you wait, Enkidu will be a valuable ally, Jack." Altria pats her head once, before she turns around- straight to the door, where Jack's father run off to. "Keep in mind... we are counting on you."
00100001(Fate Extra: Grand Order)00100001
Red.
Everything starts with red, and so thus the ending of my life.
I recall waking up in tube full of red fluid, the water enhance and driven by magic. I remember being a small bundle back then. With lithe hands that grasp the vacuum, small feet that push the soft riveting blankets and a body so fragile and soft, I can't even move on my own. I always gaze up in the red ceiling of curtains, where insignia of some kind wraps on the vast roofs alight with grey and black hues. I remember being terrified back then, crying my lungs out for someone to carry me out the box of a room, away from a creature with a black and hairy body... away from its sinister red eyes and glistening red bloody teeth. I remembered being scorched inside and out by a spell, directly in my head- pounding, killing... rectifying my mother's lullabies... downing my own cries of pain.
Then, I grew old enough to walk and run, and run I did- to the grizzly and dusty red brick floors, trying to escape the horrifying cries of my mother's experiments, running off as a red snake of the Southern Islands as mother called it, chase me with its venomous red scales. I ran and ran in circles.. or is it a box?- as I cannot find one semblance of exit... It was always been the chocolate red mahogany doors of my own room, standing- expecting me to enter, and so I always did. Everywhere I go, every time I think of running away, mother was there- or her creatures will flank me, like a bees of their hive, protecting their cherish honeys. Mother will always coddled me, but I tried to always retract in the earliest possible in the dirty rough walls of the room, whimpering in fear... as my mother's yellow eyes will turn into a vermilion hue... frightening, in vengeance for my flesh. And with that endlessly happening, with me always waking up in my painful nightmares- hanging upside down in the ceiling, I know...
There's no chance for me to escape.
Where does the word escape come from though? Once, there was this humungous creature- I thought it was another play thing of mother, for it has a hairy skin but with a complexion like mine, taller as her and with a voice resembling the beast grazing my face with their red nails. Finally, I discovered that it, was a 'he', a human like mother, wearing a red cloak and has a beard all the way down to his chest. He was one of the guards mother once flaunt in front of me, they are numerous... yet she said they are weak.
The man's name was... surprisingly, Redevene- a bandits of some kind. When mother is out, I was in bliss- no more painful touches, no more torture engrave in my being. However, the red and putrid smelling creatures are always there, brushing pass me, sniffing me... targeting me... thinking where or when will I decide to run again with the reddish and swollen from mercy feet of mine. Redevere will drove them away, and his colossus hand will pat my little head. I always am confused to this gesture... why... are his hands so warm unlike mother? Many times I flinch when he touched me warmly, but many times he will comfort me with stories of from the outside of the familiar walls. And hence, I was intrigue.
He told me everything about what he experience and what he know outside, telling stories to a small bundle he can lift and crush in his enormous hands. But he did not do as lift a finger to hurt me, lest he was cursed by mother's insidious guised of warm welcome. I learned about water, trees, meadows, sky, kingdom... Camelot. I learned about Kings and Queens and Knights. I was livid, never once I heard stories of a gallant humans fighting of evil deeds, never have I hear... a world so vast and so free.
So I asked, "Where is the entrance to the outside world, Revene?" however, he- did not answer. I was interested to see the world of what he spoke of, but the compassion in his eyes are gone when I asked that, and instead- he went silent, stoned and rigid. I asked it again and again... shaking his body in impatience... asking for an answer for an innocent question without a motivation to truly go out in this cavern of a castle, lest mother will find me, and the world he knows will kneel in front of mother's wrath. Nevertheless, I unnoticed how he was motionless for more than an hour and I grew worried. I tapped and tapped his cold skin in confusion...
Until he explodes in front of me... bathing me with a warm liquid of his body.
Blood, I thought, looking at my tiny hands in wonder. So this is blood. While I ponder for the inevitable, mother came back home- saw me in that state of petrification, bathed in the smell of a rotting flesh of the man. She asked, "What have you done now, my love?"
And I answered, "Nothing, mother... I know nothing..."... or more specifically, I... don't feel anything. When Redevene's troops saw their master, obstreperous chants of murder was acclaimed in their burning emotions. They want me dead, beheaded... stripped out my skin and burn with all there is to it in my body. I let them scream their fury, and mother let them be. I was... diffidently used as a bed warmer- an eight months old girl in the body of a three years old. They penetrated me... over and over again.. stealing the chastity of a female I do not have... for a homunculus is nothing but a weapon to mother... and... I... just can't fight back.
I was afraid. I was at their mercy. I told my mother, "Please, help me." But she only turns her back, and closed the door I was rummage from inside and out. Three days had passed, I wake up in a wrench smell of skins and flesh, bones broken and the bandits body dislocated by the tiny marks of claws. Finally, I bear to look at my hands... red... it's always been, and now, it thickens further. I wondered, what happened? And then, a miniscule memory strays in my mind.
I became a dragon. A beast. Slaughtering them in rage and wrath. Two things I did not know back then, but mother truly did. I exit that door of my chambers, seeking comfort in those I feared before... but none of them approach me, as I ventured down the halls, sprayed with blood and gore. Is this my doing? Or... am I hallucinating? And with that in mind, the halls go on and on my surrounding. The smell did not bother me. The smokes of the welching disoriented clump of flesh around made me curious and astounded for no reason as of late. But when I saw the glimmer of the light in the unending halls of red, I ran... with so much joy I could burst. Leaving the memories without looking back to my nightmares and merciless torture...
And behold a sky bath in red, and cloud as dark as Redevene's hair. There's a winged fellow in the sky, as fast as lighting, as big as golem prancing and spitting fires into the land far beyond my reach. It's mesmerizing and beautiful. The fresh air and the grass dancing with the wind, takes me back to the reminiscence of my undisturbed slumber in the tube. There, I saw how my red and black world turns into a rainbow. Blue. Green. Yellow. Orange. White. It was simply breathtaking.
However, where is the blue sky Redevene always spoke of?
Where was the sea?
The kingdom?
The King and Queens he always murmured?
There... not far away from me, is mother... holding two bloody heads of violet clad royalties... with a smile on her face, and unflappable wickedness in her yellow orbs. I thought she will retain me in her castle once more, grind me off with my remaining soul.
But she seems surprise, and I wonder what makes her do so? Ah, I understand. I look down at my naked body, violet swells and pink scratches covering my skin... yet, it is not all. From head to toe, I'm smothered by a dry old friend blood. I stared back at the mother who hurts me all this time, and walk closer I did, for the first time in years I avoided her.
The fear is gone. Replace by enlightenment that this me... this weapon she is seeing, is the epitome of what she wanted for her daughter. An embodiment of her destruction to a kingdom she dared betrayed with her power. Then, as I raise my hand for her to hold, I proclaim my truce for her theatrical destruction. "Mother, if I were to hold the title of your champion, let me live as I should be in a place called Camelot. Let me be free. Let me indulge in my desires... before I fulfill my destiny."
And with the truce commence by lifeblood bind spell, I was declared free from her cursed... or so I thought. As a child I am back then, innocence... are truly the backstabbing doom of my freedom to her hands.
Years passed with me readying myself to the world. Mother gave me those red books of communication, functions, ethical and behaviors. I read it, and I muse... why does it differs from the world I was born into? Children are to be cared and loved, mothers were to stay in the house and take care of the offspring and fathers... are supposed to work in the fields for their family. It seems unreasonable. So simple and happy... yet why did I not experience it with my mother and a father I read in the book she gives? So I postmortem my knowledge, and the voice of a person who guide me to learn the wonders of my birth... or the shame it wrought.
Who am I truly? What is my reason of living?
I am Mordred. A perfect homunculus carrying the blood of a dragon, the magic of faeries, and the enhance growth and intelligence of a puppet. A child created from the viperous sin of Morgana Le Faye who tricked her brother- I do not know who he is- in a night where 'he' will consummate with 'his' wife to produce an heir to the throne. I am the embodiment of a humiliation and disgust. Foiled. Twisted. Bastard. Destined for treason- destined to end the fairest of all.
I am nothing but a child. Constructed as a weapon by my mother, tortured in oblivion with no more than months old to the world. I am the harbinger of the fall, guile and forever nailed upon the prophecy... but I wonder, is this really the path for little me?
Morgan Le Faye- mother had improvised my growth, turning me into a little girl who could lift a sword. She gave me a dragon core, so I can use magic devoid of length and defects like my world. She carried me, like a mother would be, cleanse me when I'm tired in execution, clad in red cloth bearing the most expensive of fabrics, nurture me like a true mother would be... but these moments and whispers... contradicts everything the 'care' should define be.
Red.
Blood.
Kill.
Destroy...
Eliminate...
King Arthur...
Her decelerate hushes have been my lullaby in the four corners of my room- the perfect size for a prison- as I'm a person locked behind closed doors. The whiplash of her sufferable discipline had struck me as a lightning, zap in flash- taking away my everything. The dusty red bricks and horrendous darkness within had been my only friends in my time of need, books as the witness to my tears and the matted floor had been the only thing covering up my melancholy. But I relent; I stand against the odds and turn my back into my mother as she guide me to the outside world. I was now 3 years old, in a body of a 12 years girl... or should I say, boy. Referring to myself as a girl brings back the days I cannot fought. Weak. Underling. Inferior. Stupid.
Now, I am stronger. Stronger than the others. Stronger than man, but 'boy' should do the trick to blend in with this Neanderthals. And so, with the fated day I was bring out in the open, it was also the day my light had blinded me to obedience with his brilliance.
The day I met King Arthur of Camelot. The day fated... for me to do my deeds as a knight I promised to be. But mother was in motion, and gave me a gift for my resilience and truce to the demon. She held a helm and whispers in my forehead, "Let no man saw your face, Mordred. Let none of this fools graze the beauty of my daughter. Sought the freedom you seek... but darkness will find you, every step you take."
And so, I was entrusted with armor, heavy for others- a prison of my identity for me. I travel from the other towns, cleanse and kill bandits, help those in need. I was known by my deeds, and many adore the Knight I have become, in the recess cover of a silver armor, this homunculus... was happy as I could be. And a day had come I was known widely and astoundingly, the Knights of the Round Table sought my presence in favor of helping the King to an upcoming war to the rogue kingdom inside Britain... Indulging me with joy... succumbing me with hope to gather the King's attention. He- King Arthur was the once who Knighted me, a privilege like no other... a beautiful start of my life as a warrior. And so, I fought by his side, fulfill all his whims, gave him all my attention... I gave him all my love.
But nothing was return. No smile, no glance, no sheer relief for my well- being. But it is fine, as long as I am next to his side, I am satisfied. As long as I can shoulder some of his burden, myself will be set aside. I loved Briton with all my heart, gave the woman the freedom to kiss the helm between the lips and theirs, gave the man the companion they needed in their darkest hours... gave the children and animals like me the attention they could not have because of the battles drifting them with solemnity. Even though I should hate my mother for it... the love of a child is still strong and unpredicted, as I accepted and did all her wishes, in return are a sweet kiss and a warm embrace of a mother to her offspring.
Yes, I am deprived of warm contact. I loved to be in the affectionate gaze of the others in my realm... but all it took was a single revelation to my being... and everything went to 'shit'. I am the 'son'of King Arthur, the King I always adored. I was livid, and I am in heaven.
The luck it wrought... is merely a single spitfire of my mother's coil. I told the King of what I discovered... and rejected like a wanton disgust to his perfection. I wanted to say, "No, No father, I do not want the throne. All I wanted is your attention, father!" but all... is for naught. As I was consumed in darkness, I spoke words I did not want to, I acted... as my mother's tool.
Why? What happened?
Then I remembered, mother warned me about the helm. Why should I not reveal it to no one, and the curse it will bring. She had me fooled! She... she was in control of me all this time! Enacting things I did not want, doing things contradicting my knight conduct! And just like that, I saw myself burn my way in vengeance.. in rebellion to my father. I resisted and to no avail, I am but a whisper to my body now. Vessel to my mother's wrath. And so, the battle of Camlamn began, I was in ruins inside, as I trounced Briton with the sword of Peace in hand. I plead mother to stopped, but it all took me the veneer of my power to prevent the cruel dungeon of my mother to release the Sword of Peace's power to the land. And just like that, I can't hold on anymore, as mother's cursed upon me fought my father. It's so strong and manipulative, it even graze father with his cleave. But what hurts me the most... is that father did not even hesitate to pierce Rhongomyniad in my chest. He did not even... see me as who I really am. With that lance pierced upon me, I felt the bitter end of death. I saw the beautiful world paint in red. I sense the obscurity creeping in... I sense... the love unreturned by the people I loved with all my being.
Why... why do I always been set aside?
Why... why am I always been the person who would be called as the vilest of treasonous person alive?
Why... why am I always been a tool?
Where is the freedom and life I wish to engross my happiness to?
Where is the love of the person I wanted to?
My father...
My mother...
The people I protected...
Where are you?
-STATIC!-
COMMENCING COMPRESSION OF [DATA: MEMORIES]... ACTIVATED!... EXTRACTION OF FILES... LOADING... LOADING... EXTRACTION SUCCESFUL... NEW DATA IMPRINTING... RECTIFYING... ACCESSING... DATA IMPRINTING PROCESSING... SUCCESSFUL... PATCH FUNCTION [MIND AND HEART] ENCODING... LOADING... LOADING...! PATCH COMBINED [DATA COMPLETE!]!
OPENING PATCH FUNCTIONS... ENCODING SYSTEM ANTIVIRUS SCANNING... LOADI-! –STATIC-!.. WARNING!
CORRUPTED FUNCTION DETECTED... FUNCTION [MIND] CLEANSING... LOADING... –STATIC-!... RELOADING... CLEANSING FAILED...! RECLEANSING... BOOTED SYSTEM ACTIVATED... [DATA:MEMORIES] ACCESIBLE!... TROUBLESHOOTING SYSTEM PROBLEMS...
THREE VIRUSES FOUND!... [FUNCTION: BODY AND SOUL] MISSING... WEAPONRY... [CLARENT] MISSING!... INFORMATION GATHERING ACTIVATED... ANTIVIRUS INITIATING DEEP SCAN... LOADING... LOADING... –STATIC-!
SERVANT [MORDRED PENDRAGON] 50% ACCESIBLE... [INCOMPLETE!]... SEARCHING MISSING FUNCTION-Static! #$%^&***!
SYSTEM LOADING [MODRED PENDRAGON]... ACCESSING DATA [HOLY GRAIL WAR]... COMPLETE! [SAKURA LABYRINTH]... COMPLETE! [LIFE ON EARTH]... COMPLETE!... [MOON C-sTatIC!
SY-STATIC- TEM!... SHUtiinggggggggggggg... do...wnnnnnn...
-STATIC!-
Where... am I? Where is this place?
The dozen numbers of Zero and One rotates in clockwise pattern, obscuring the faraway places with tons of its figurines. I am left hanging,,, levitated as a single form to this place of ocean blue. I am left wondering, and something... just, felt missing.
What is it?
[ENCODE: Data accessible... data loaded... DATA CONFIRMED!]
Ah, so that's it. I remember.. I remember something about my past. The things I done... who I really am. I know the guise of my Diversion, the skill of Release and Implantation. The human piece of me.. the Heart is my desire granted by the Grail, the innocent and untainted part of the whole Knight of Treason in its discombobulating fraud of a person beneath the steel. She... was the hope latching for Hakuno's love, the loyal paramour with a motive to live only for her love one. She is the epitome of a good rationality and relation... the self I should have been when I was in my complete ascension.
However, with my memories residing now as complete enlightenment to my real objective, the passion.. The emotions of the Mind partaking in the reason of the Heart are menacing, yet at the same time, heartwarming. I am not a bi polar bitch like I think I was... I am just the quintessence of the so called Self- hatred, dislikes and likes disembodied as a theoretical reason of being. In simple words, I have no actual primal decision of living. My heart would look at the sky, while my soul will look far way down. My head will move straight forward, while my body, will gaze to where it belongs. In obstreperous cycle of chaos, I presume... but it took me a single minute to accept the things I had been all my life.
But me aside, I should probably be moving. Time is running, and I simply have no laziness to stoop so low and avoid the amicable irony of the Moon Cell. Yes, I probably should... but first...
How do I get out in this state of stupor? Great, guess I'll do this...
She's probably waiting for me all this time-
"Augh!" Mordred hissed in pain, refraining the clicking ticks in her brain with a neutralize rotation of her fingers to her throbbing temple. Inflicting minimize [skill: Red Thunder] to herself is probably not the best idea. "Un- fucking- believable!" She cursed, gulping down her irritation to the searing uncomfortableness of her migraine before she sits up to her slump position, her head in the lap of...
Wait... lap? Mordred tried to blink her eyes and to her credit, the soft lap of a person wearing a translucent fabric to see through her legs is unimaginably... disturbing.
"Umu, it seems you have awaken, little Mordred." The voice- serene and melodic whispers in kind, the vibrant green eyes of the fifth emperor make its way to the young blonde's view as she face upwards, directly to the blooming face of Nero. Mordred grunted in response, and her shoulders visibly relax now that she discovered who owns the limbs.
"Where... are we?" Mordred cracks, her voice palatable and rough edging due to sleep. With her pain still beating in tandem to her heart, she cannot identify the portion on where she is with the disturbances penetrating her vision. And thus, she must rely to her companion and let them take care of her for a while.
"A labyrinth of some kind, deeper than I hope it would be. I evoke this as a maze for the seventh round contenders; do you recall this path, Mordred?" Nero explains, keeping her voice low and soft as possible. She, of all people, knows how annoying migraine can be when it comes to direct contact with the Release.
"Why are you here?"
"Hmph! The Muses bestows me the privilege of aiding you, just so you know."
"I totally didn't believe you."
"... So it would be." Nero breathes dejectedly.
Mordred lie still for a moment, contemplating on what she heard. Seventh round... labyrinth... maze... release?
"Ah, shit!" Mordred howled in rage, curling on herself as the overflowing memories rushed in gruesome way to her brain. Now that she remembered, she could not fathom how indescribably frustrated she is to her own self. She was summoned as a Servant Saber in a digital Holy Grail War. She was a Servant with a rare ability of a two classes, mainly Saber and Berserker, overriding systems yet unremarkably weak. Together with her Master, they sauntered with the quest to prioritize getting stronger with every competitor they faced. And with a record of the victors of the said Grail, she had made a wish of 'second chances' and goes on a journey with her Master at the other side of the Moon called 'Sakura Labyrinth'. And with that in mind, they accomplished greater things... successfully fulfilling their duty until... !
Oh shit. Umbral Star. Moon Cell Core infected. Fuck!
'I should totally get up now.'
Mordred opens her eyes and focused her vision to the phantasmal waterfalls from the side. She has to get back to her Master this instant. The Master she spoke of is hardly a crystal clear obvious to whom they was...
But something is still missing. She cannot fulfill her duty without her trusted sword and she have to find it in order to fight alongside her Master. However, there's something amiss here though... If she were to guess right, this is an arena to where she fought Gawain before the elimination round, with the digital waterfalls as the landscape and the direct and warm sunlight rays of the created sun shone high above them. Everything is in place, except...
"Oi, Nero."
"Umu, you called, Mordred?"
"I was just thinking..." Mordred sits up in instant, confusedly looking at the floor they are in... "... Where are the Enemy Programs?"
00100001(Fate Extra: Grand Order)00100001
"You know, you're so slow."
"Huff... huff! I.. huff! I- know! Huff!"
"If you just leave me there like I told you to, then everything will work fine..."
"I.. huff... I told you... huff, huff.. I won't leave you, huff- behind!"
".. You're strange."
"... huff, huff... I- I am...!"
"Eh... must be the reason why she loves you so much."
"Wh- huff, what was that?"
"Augh, nevermind. Just kept running like a headless chicken."
She's running. The cardiovascular exercise has her in its fingertips, running circles and tumbling in the sections of the static floors she is in. With a heavy thump of her heart and the sweat rolling off in her body, Hakuno truly sense the true meaning of fear, as she sought every corridor for her lover. Every section, every junction... Nothing. She can't find her Knight and the remaining Servants amidst the devastation of the Fusion of two functions. Add to her mortification, are the Program Enemies hot on her tail, Sphynx and Wormtails are easy to fool over... but with Saber Mordred weakly clutching in her back?
"Oh dear," she huffs in fatigue, hopping into the Reviving Fountain, the only place in the First Chimeric Lunar Sea that is undisturbed by the Enemy Programs in the area. She did not mind the wet and peculiar way the water has been flowing all around them as she carefully set the Saber to check her condition. Drench from head to toe, one and two gulps was all she takes before she proceed to open up her Mystic Code, alighting up her circuits into her palm. The young blonde grunted when Hakuno place her hands in her abdomen, opening up her circuits and healing the mashed muscles beneath the bloodied shirt. With the fountain's help, the residual damages to the Servants body have gradually lessen.
After the explosion to the Chaldea, it seems the unimaginable possibility of the power of Release and Fusion had warp the space they are into, submerging the molecular presence into negative Zero which unifies the 'unknown' and created a semblance of portal to the dimension it was once created- namely, the Moon Cell or the Serial Phantasm World. With the collision as a rectifying container for it, they were simply popped into the existence of traverse transportation to the digital world, without the knowledge of when or where they are, contemporarily indulging them with inquiries undefined.
"What is this place?" the blonde asked her, weakly turning her head sideways, clearly in distort to the transparent walls glowing and the impossible images of a virtual coral reefs and living creatures, swimming to the Sea.
"This is what we called Arena, design as a place for quest and practices for the upheld Eliminations of the Grail." She shortly replied, before she thrust her palm further to the wound, closing the brightly glimmering particles of mana inside the Servant's form.
With the Vessel less for wear, Hakuno empathize with her pain. Few can survive the point blind range of Avalon, much more if it was directly to the heart. With the Release of a powerful entity to one's Body, it should immobilized them for days with six months of mental recovery for cleansing the infection of the Fusion. However, the resilience and the compact mana of the Vessel and the Avalon Altria is using had been coordinating in tandem, much to the surprise of hers. Does this mean that this Mordred has an affinity of the sheath unlike her Servant who has a weakness to it? She hoped it is, for it will favorably benefit this Mordred's safety.
"Your stare is intense.. you know that right?"
"Eh?" Hakuno dumbly bat an eyelid in confusion, focusing her gaze to the- is she blushing?- blonde. "I'm sorry, what?"
The said blonde clicked her tongue in frustration, pushing back the hands softly away to her. It seems the combination of the wizard and the fountain's heling are effective as much as she wanted it. Hakuno sighs in relief, gripping her shoulders in complete tension. "Are you well?" she continued, observing the blonde curiously looking at every angle.
Saber Mordred hmmed in response, inquisitive and doubtful, yet she met her eyes head on with Hakuno, lively and attentive to the chaos coming to the other direction. "Of course I am, what do you think?" It is obviously a lie and it takes any miniscule of self-discipline for Hakuno to not frown her disappointment for being lied straight to her face.
"... " and with that, Hakuno went silent, averting her gaze away. Saber Mordred curiously waits for the brunette to explain her concern, but none came as the girl stills herself to her presence. With the calming flow of water, and the silent devastation of the Enemy Programs to disintegrate the barrier holding off the strange fountain they are in, Saber Mordred huff in defeat, slouch as she can be.
'What's wrong with this chick?' Saber Mordred thought, asking King Mordred.
[Dunno, maybe she's just contemplating just like in the Mind's memories you know.]
'She's just silent that way, is that right?'
[Maybe? We know her not, for sure.]
'Well, this is disturbing.' The young blonde murmured, before she turns her head again, this time- the girl's typing in a simple card looking gadget upon her hands, frowning in seriousness and giving off a wave of determination to find something in.
"What's that?"
"!?" Only for Saber Mordred to double back. The brunette gasped in surprise at her disturbance, pulling away and cupping the side of her neck just below her left ear, pink hues submerging in her pale skin. Saber Mordred blinked, just what did she do wrong? Oh, with the realization too late, Saber Mordred coughed into her wet hand. She did not mean to be so close as to whisper it in the brunette's ear, much more make this interaction awkward for them.
In fact, it's been awkward ever since her possessed body kissed the brunette forcefully. The moments was sweet and riveting, yes, but the clear indication of the girl's lack of eagerness to their little scene had been... quite fine for the blonde. It's not like she adores the brunette after all. Jeanne is the only thing for her. With that in mind, all thoughts were interrupted by a single blast. The little virtual creatures' razor sharp claws and deadly needles and teeth nibble the digital shield in complete succession. She watched in amazement as little by little, the shield cracks to the pressure of their number and she could only wait for their action, as she in fact, could not lift her body to fight the disgusting pest just outside her reach.
Yet the brunette was in cue again, this time- much faster, more colder... and undeniably in rush as Saber Mordred pulls herself in between the brunette and the upcoming Enemy Programs, readying Clarent in her drench hands in a sloppy manner, still inflicted by the trauma of the attack from her father. Yet she could not blame her for this, it is the only thing that she do good to forgive her father's heinous act of dressing her for that matter. And then, not too long, a flimsy and soft limbs grip the firm hand grasping Clarent, ceasing it to move as they were-
Wait.. pulverized into particles? Saber Mordred incredulously looks at the stoic girl... and received a wondrous smile in return, before she clicks something in the gadget-
"Wha-!?"
... Teleporting them away more than a second a single Sphynx aims for their head.