Awareness slowly came back to Arthur as he groggily half-opened his eyes. Through the haze he saw the lake and the forest surrounding him. While he didn't recognize that particular place there weren't doubts about his location: that was one of Wales' forests. Many would think most forests all look the same but for someone like him who was born, lived and trained there for all his life it was unmistakable.
'I see.' He thought and closed his eyes again, savouring the nostalgic scent of holly. 'I must have fallen asleep while waiting for the camp to be finished.'
"Bedivere." He called his friend and retainer who always stand near him. "Do I have time to sleep a little more?" Only silence answered him. 'Strange. Normally he would reply instantly. Where did he go?' "Where are you Bedivere? I can't make Ayaka think my knights are la-!"
His eyes shot open and he stood up in a hurry. With his mind clear memories came back to him like a flood. "That's right: Bedivere and the others are dead." His lips set into a grim line. "And so I am. I became a Heroic Spirit and participated in the Holy Grail War. But I rejected the prize when I realized it was false. Then I served as Ayaka's Servant..."
He looked left and right. "Yes, now I remember: I confronted the Grail and destroyed it. Then an explosion and..." He put a armoured hand over his forehead. "What happened next? By all accounts I should be back to the Throne of Heroes and not in my homeland." He glanced down on himself. "I don't feel neither Ayaka or the Grail nearby so why I am not disappearing?"
Deciding a bit of examination was in order he closed his eyes and looked inside himself.
The results were astounding to say the least. As far as he could tell he was still in a Servant-like body, but it was so...free, like he wore heavy chains for all his life only for someone to suddenly remove them. He felt so much powerful, his strength as a Servant was but a small speckle compared to his current status. What's more, he could not feel Gaia trying to erase his existence.
"Strange, too strange." He muttered. "So much power without apparent drawbacks isn't something that can be causally obtained. What happened to me?"
His status was of course abnormal and must be investigated, but seeing as there weren't negative effects and lacking the means to investigate further he decided it wasn't so urgent to required great urgency. Too much haste is enemy on the battlefield.
Out of caution he also checked his Noble Phantasms. 'Invisible Air and Excalibur are okay. I also have Avalon, good. It is al- what?'
He opened his eyes, genuine surprise and a hint of delight in them. "I thought I had lost it as a Saber. Well this is a pleasant discovery." He raised his right hand in the air and concentrated his prana. "Come my friend. Let's us ride together once more! Come, [Llamrei]!"
A flash of light and a magnificent steed was summoned, a brown mare clad in magnificent blue and silver plate, its sharp eyes indicating great intelligence and bravery. The horse neighed and kicked the ground.
"I'm glad to see you too." Arthur stroked the mare's strong but soft fur with care. "I am in a bit of a predicament and I need your help."
Llamrei nodded. Grinning Arthur jumped on the saddle, put up his hood and flicked the reins. "Yyaaahh!" He yelled. The horse neighed and jump in the air, a mighty movement that allowed ride and rider to cross more than twenty meters in one move. Once it landed Llamrei started galloping with a speed no normal horse should be capable of, skilfully circumventing trees and other obstacles.
It wasn't a mindless gallop. Arthur saw. At the apex of the initial jump he saw a road in the distance. Where there was a road there were people who made it. And if there were people there was a settlement to house them. Logical.
[*]
One hour later, while entering the meager village Arthur wondered if besides travelling in space he didn't also travel in time.
The town was composed of simple wooded houses disposed along the main road with people walking around wearing woolen clothing. The entire scenario belonged to his own times not to the modern world where he was summoned for the Grail War.
'Most strange. But not unwelcomed: this is much more comfortable.' He thought. People got out of his way while he advanced, eyeing him with respect and also a little bit of fear. It was only natural for his whole presence screamed nobility and majesty to everyone blessed with the gift of sight.
Arthur saw what looked like a tavern. He stopped in front of it and dismounted. "Wait for me here." He patted Llamrei's flank. "And if someone try to steal you kick him." The mare let out a neigh of approval.
When Arthur entered inside the tavern, face still obscured by the hood, he walked straight to the counter ignoring how the heads of those inside followed his movements.
Behind the counter was a mountain of a man with thick muscles and broad shoulders, a head with a stern face and very short blond hair sitting atop a taurine neck. Dressed in woodcutter clothing he was washing clay cups with his enormous hands. Seeing Arthur he didn't even flinch but just greeted the knight with a no-nonsense tone. "Greetings. What I can do for you?"
'Uhm, if I order something he may be more inclined to answer my questions.' "A steak and a cup of wine please." He sat down on a stool. "And also information. Due to...special circumstances I am currently lost and in need of directions."
The man nodded. "A steak for the counter!" He barked behind him and then poured Arthur a cup of wine. "Ask."
"Where I am?"
"The village of Penteri, south of Caer Aricon."
'So I'm near the mainland.' "I see. Now I know this sound strange,-" A woman put a hot steak before him and he started cutting it into pieces. "-but what-"
BAM!
"AAAAHH!"
Before he can continue the sound of something colliding with something else could be heard from outside, followed by a scream of pain and the sound of something flying before falling quite roughly on the ground.
"Someone tried to steal my horse." Arthur commented without turning back.
"They do that." The taverner agreed.
"Where I was? Oh yes: what year is it?"
If the big man found the question weird he didn't show it. "Year 1161 since the founding of Rome. Or so they say."
Arthur froze in the act of putting a piece of meat in his mouth. Slowly he completed it, chew on the meat and drank from the cup. "I...see. Thanks."
His reign was born from the ashes of the Roman Empire, that nonetheless influenced a lot the culture of Britain. The line of Pendragon itself descended from a Roman General, or so the stories said. Among the records of the past he studied there were also data about the calendar in use in the Empire. It was thank to it that he understood.
He was in the past. Not simply the old ages but a time before his own birth, when the Roman Empire still existed and ruled Britannia.
'This is troubling.' He thought while eating the steak. 'If I am right this is roughly a hundred years before Camelot. Did the Grail really send me back in time? Or I was summoned by someone else?'
His musings were interrupted by a woman's scream of despair and denial from outside, followed by hysterical sobbing.
"That wasn't my horse." Or so he hoped.
"No." The mountain of a man shook his head. "A mother received the news his soldier son had died. It's quite common nowadays."
Arthur's eyes narrowed. "Why? A war? Or barbarian invasions?" The latter were the enemies he fought all his life.
"Both. Rebellions happened one after another while barbarians are constantly threatening our borders with frequent invasions. The country had been in a state of constant warfare for a decade at this point. And it's all the fault of only one man."
"Who?" Arthur asked with steel in his tone.
"The current Governator." The man replied gravely. "The general Gracianus Municeps. When he suppressed a rebellion or an invasion he always let the leaders go so they can reorganize and try again. So he can crush them again. All for his personal satisfaction. They said he wields powerful dark magic and uses monstrous wolves and the reanimated corpses of those he personally slain as troops."
Arthur was enraged beyond belief. How dare this Gracianus scum treat his people, well their ancestors anyway, in such a cruel manner? A king should care for his country! Even Iskander, with all his boasts of tyranny, would never do something like that.
A decision was made. Finding what happened to him could wait. Punishing the scum could not.
"I thank you for the help good man." He stood up. "You gave me much to think."
The man simply nodded. "Wine and steak are three copper coins."
"Of course. Let me-!" Arthur froze. He just remembered a little but very important detail.
He didn't have money whatsoever with him. Heroic Spirits didn't need it after all.
"Well?"
"Uhm, you see.." He answered, sweating. "The fact is...I realized I don't have money. None at all."
The mountain of a man didn't reply. He just bent down, picked something and raised it. It was an axe. A very big axe two meters long, with a very big and very rusted blade.
Ah no, that wasn't rust, that was dried blood.
Arthur loudly gulped. "Can I...pay in another manner?"
[*]
Llamrei was letting out a series of short neighs. One didn't need long to realize the mare was laughing.
"S-Shut up!" Arthur shouted with mortification at his horse. "This is only fair after all! I consumed food and so I need to pay! I can't let just leave without paying like a common bandit."
"Less talking with your horse and more work." A middle-aged woman with long black hair sternly admonished.
"Yes ma'am." The future King of Britain sighed and resumed his chore of washing dishes.
[*]
Many hours later we found our hero riding again Llamrei in the middle of the forest after leaving the village. Sulking.
"The great King of Knights, reduced to washing dishes like a common servant." The cloud of depression hovering over his head was almost visible. "I am sure Archer would find it hilarious."
"Ufufu. And so do I." A glamorous voice as exquisite as gemstones said out of nowhere. Startled Arthur looked around for the culprit. It was then that he saw her.
She was a young woman with brilliant blonde hair styled into curls, red eyes and pale skin. Her dream-like beauty was like a doll made by a master craftsman. She was wearing a white toga of Greek design with golden sandals around her feet. She was sitting on the branch of a tree while swinging her delicate legs back and forth like a little kid, a mix of amusement and perplexion on her face as she stared at the knigh.
Arthur could feel it. Whoever this woman was, she was very powerful.
"After all it isn't everyday that one can see a God lowering himself to perform common labour. Tell me, is your righteousness really so great?"
[*]
The first real chapter. I somehow have an idea where this is going. Mostly. Let's answer some reviews:
chaosglory626: only in the beginning, and only because the Corrupted Grail is a convenient plot device.
edboy4926: we will reach it in the future. I think.
PCheshire: technically Arthur is neither, because its origin is foreign to the Campione world, but once there he adapted to a Heretic God's nature. He can still be considered a HG (the simple fact of existing on Earth is reason enough to consider a God [Heretical]), but unlike them if he dies he does it for real and doesn't come back.
Kinunatzs: is still early for pairings. And Athen has yet to descend (Canon's version at least). But I promise something for it.
Faraway-R: a possible interpretation, yes. I think they are the disasters made manifest, while Campione are the "hope" (that then become distorted too one way or another). If you carefully think about it Campioneverse is a bleak world, isn't it?
And now the Character Sheet for Arthur, FSN's style:
True Name: Arthur Pendragon
Appearance: see Fate/Prototype's Saber, the most recent design
Title: King of Knights
Class: Heretic God (Incorrect: a Heroic Spirit adapted to the Heretic Gods' System)
Divine Attributes: Steel/Dragons (a very unusual combination)
Gender: Male
Hair Color: Blond
Eye Color: Green
Age (Apparent): 21
Alignment: Lawful Good
Parameters (Gods' Scale):
Strength: B (A) (When using Prana Burst)
Endurance: B (A) (When using Prana Burst)
Agility: A (A+) (When using Prana Burst)
Mana: A
Luck: C
Noble Phantasm/Authority: C ~ EX
Skills:
Magic Resistance (A+): protection against magical effects. As a Heretic God Arthur is granted complete immunity to all magical systems created by man with few exceptions.
Riding (B): expertise to ride animals and vehicles. During his past life Arthur, as required from a Knight, was very adept at handling horses and other common mounts. Cannot ride creatures the likes of Phantasmal Beast and Divine Beast with the exception of Llamrei, who permits Arthur to ride her due to their long-time friendship.
Charisma (B): the natural talent to command an army. Increases the moral and abilities of allies during group battles and make people more prone to follow one's suggestions. B Rank is suitable for the king of a country.
Instinct (A): the power to "feel" the most favourable developments for oneself during battle. Refined sixth sense is now close to true precognition. Bonus effect of reducing by half the penalties caused by obstructed vision and hearing.
Prana Burst (A): the increase in performance caused by infusing one's weapons and body with magical energy and instantly expelling it. A normal weapon that is not on the level of a divine mystery can be destroyed in one blow. Raises speed and defense in several times.
Noble Phantasm/Authorities:
[Invisible Air: Bounded Field of The Wing King]
Rank: C
Type: Anti-Unit
A sheath of wind that covers Excalibur and conceals it so that it cannot be easily recognized. It is a bounded field closer to magecraft than an Noble Phantasm that is made up of multiple layers of wind compressed into super-high pressure air with a massive amount of prana, which distorts the refraction of light and renders what is inside completely invisible. The only spell Arthur learned correctly under the tutelage of Merlin, under the old man's assumption that "it will be useful someday".
The compressed wind can also instead be released as a projectile weapon called [Strike Air: Hammer of The Wind King]: acting like a hammer made out of wind it creates a gale of condensed air powerful enough to easily crush and blow away armies and fling a stone slab weighing several tons into the air as if it were nothing.
[Llamrei: The Loyal Steed of The King]
Rank: B
Type: Support
Previously blocked by the limitations of the Saber Class, it is accessible again after the transformation of Arthur into a Heretic God. A brown mare owned by King Arthur in his past life and the best steed he ever possessed, Llamrei also reached the status of Heroic Spirit due to the connection with its rider, similar to Lu Bu and Red Haze and the personal horse of a certain King Of Conquerors. Llamrei is closer to a Divine Beast and so possesses incredible strength, speed and endurance: while it cannot bring great firepower on the battlefield it serves as an exceptional partner for Arthur, greatly increasing his mobility specially over long distance. Thanks to the different nature of Divine Beasts in the new world Llamrei acquired the ability to gallop on water and air like it is solid ground.
[Excalibur: The Sword of Promised Victory]
Rank: A++ ~ EX
Type: Anti-Fortress
Appearance: see Fate/Prototype's Excalibur
The strongest and most majestic holy sword that symbolizes King Arthur and can be called the physical actualization of his ideals, a divine construction forged by the planet as the crystallization of the wishes of mankind and the prayer named "glory" stored and tempered within the planet.
Excalibur is a weapon if directive energy that convert the prana of the wielder into light by accelerating it, intensifying the kinetic energy by convergence and acceleration. It is an "ultimate killing technique" that releases light from the tip of the blade once the sword is swung: while the result is what looks like a large beam of light, only the tip of the attack, which is a wave of light that can mow through the surface of the Earth, is capable of doing damage, as the beam is the result of the "dislocation" of everything the attack destroys in its path.
Due to its immense destructive power thirteen restrains were put on Excalibur by the Knights of the Round to ensure the sword couldn't be abused. The conditions must be met in order for the constrains to be released. The A++ Rank's attack could be used only when six or more restrains are released, while to utilize its full EX Rank's potential all of them must be released. The conditions to release the restrains are:
-The user must be King Arthur
-The user need to utilize Excalibur by his own volition
-The user must not be forced to use Excalibur against his own will
-The enemy requires Excalibur's full power to be vanquished
-The attack must not harm innocents
-The attack must be used in order to protect someone
-The enemy must not be powerless
-The attack must not be used in a surprise attack
-Using the attack must not break a promise made by the user
-The user must have offered mercy to the enemy before
-The enemy must have rejected the user's mercy multiple times
-The user must not use Excalibur for his own interests
-The user must not have indecisions about using Excalibur
[Avalon: The Ever-Distant Utopia]
Rank: EX
Type: Support/Barrier
The hallowed scabbard of Excalibur, the embodiment of the utopia King Arthur seeks, a divine mystery created by fairies. As a passive effect the holder is granted potent healing, allowing for critical and fatal wounds to be rapidly repaired to restore the wielder's health. Minor injuries are restored easily and even large missing portions of the body and destroyed vital organs like the heart can be quickly restored at the critical moment before death.
Its active function as a Noble Phantasm is an "absolute defense" that completely shields its user in the domain of fairies. It is the greatest protection in the world that goes beyond defending or reflecting, completely isolating its user in a world completely separated from the regular world. The individual is shielded from all destructive interference in the physical realm, transliners from parallel words and multidimensional communication as far as the sixth dimension.
[*]
Now then...
Would you graciously review?