The Morning After
Arturia was the first to stir and was quick to notice two things. First she noticed that she was in an unfamiliar bed and the she was on a very comfortable surface. She would've simply shrugged it off went back to sleep if said surface hadn't suddenly shifted and let out a yawn.
"Good morning." Shirou cheerfully greeted her.
"Morning, my love." Arturia responded as she snuggled closer to him.
Shirou was about to continue when he noticed that made his face turn redder than Archer's coat.
"Ummm, uhhh… Why aren't you wearing any clothes!?" Shirou panicked.
"What do you… Why aren't you!?" Arturia responded in kind.
"Wait, we didn't…" Shirou said, afraid of the answer, "We did, didn't we?"
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Shirou and Arturia screamed as they both practically bolted for their clothes.
At this point in time Rin made an appearance.
"Hey, guys. What's with the racket? Can't you let a girl rest in peace?" Rin moaned sleepily.
"Hey, Arturia?" Shirou turned to Arturia.
"What is it?" Arturia now visibly calmed down.
"I just thought of something. Who made dinner last night?" Shirou asked.
"Rin, why?" Arturia saw where this was going.
"Didn't dinner taste a little funny to you?" Shirou asked.
"Now that you mention it, it did." Arturia confessed.
"RIN!!" They both yelled as she ran for her life.
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At this exact moment breakfast was being served and by some stroke of mercy neither Sakura nor Fujinee were present as they had just finished eat and went out shopping. It was at this moment that Shirou and Arturia's screams of outrage were heard and a sound of swords being swung was heard. This was followed by the sound of objects being smashed coming from the general direction of Rin's room. In fact it sounded like a war was being waged and from the sound of things Arturia and Shirou has managed to completely gut the entire part of the mansion that contained Rin's room.
"Weren't they just yelling your name just now? If you're here, who are they trying to kill?" Archer asked confused.
"Me. A little trick I learned from my dad's books. Never hurts to have a Plan B." Rin simply smiled.
"Aren't you worried about them smashing your lab in anger?" Archer asked, not getting it.
"Hey, if this last war ever taught me anything, it's this. Items are cheap, life isn't." Rin shrugged.
At this moment the ruse was discovered and the aforementioned pair stomped their way to the dining table.
"RIN!" They growled.
"Good morning! Care for breakfast?" Rin in mock innocence said.
"What the hell did you do to us?" Shirou demanded.
"Whatever could you mean?" Rin asked in mock surprise.
"Drop the act, you knave! You know full well what we mean! Whatever you gave me made me act like a common tavern wench! I've never acted so shamefully or lustfully in my entire life!" Arturia raged.
"Oh, don't be so naïve. I didn't make you do anything! I just gave you a little push, it couldn't have made you do anything you didn't want to do in the first place." Rin mollified them.
"So you admit that you did indeed give us something!" Arturia screamed.
"Do you see me trying to say otherwise? What's the big deal anyway? Are you trying to tell me you actually regret what happened?" Rin objected.
The two looked at each other and blushed somewhat but had to admit her point. But Arturia was not one to let Rin have her win.
"That's beside the point! You made us your guinea pigs!" Arturia yelled half-heartedly.
"Ok, I admit it was partly because I was so sick and tired of you guys being stuck at a kindergarten level." Rin allowed.
"Don't go pushing your standards on us!" Arturia yelled.
"So, what are you going to name it?" Rin joked.
"Why you little! You know what? If it's a boy, I'm naming it Berserker just to spite you!" Arturia promised before settling down for breakfast.
"Hey, Rin? Exactly where did the bed come from?" Shirou asked.
"Hey, I did it for you guys. It wouldn't have been as romantic on a mat now would it?" Rin protested.
"That's not what I meant. I meant how did it get in there in the first place?" Shirou shot back.
"You mean you don't like it? Don't look at me, it was Arveia who took care of that little detail." Rin sidestepped.
At this Arturia did a spit-take and rounded on Arveia.
"You mean you were in on this too? How could you?" Arturia asked.
"I meant to talk to you about that, Rin. You told me you just wanted to surprise them with a decent place to sleep since they were sleeping together." Arveia protested, not getting the double meaning inherent in her protest.
"See, you understood me perfectly. They were indeed sleeping together, by the way how was it?" Rin jabbed at Arturia.
"That is none of your business!" Arturia gasped, as she turned red.
"Don't you think you've hemmed them hard enough?" Arveia said coming to Arturia's rescue.
"But I was having so much fun! Oh, alright!" Rin protested until she saw the embarrassment on Arturia's face.
"Rin, what if I'm…" Arturia quietly trailed off.
"What? You mean pregnant?" Rin asked seriously.
Arturia simply nodded.
"Oh, you don't need to worry. Many women learn to embrace this parasite. They name it, dress it up in tiny clothes, arrange play dates with other parasites and manage to live healthy, normal lives." Rin joked in an attempt to cheer her up, "What are you worried about, it's not like Shirou's going to leave you if you are. He knows what you'd do to him if he tried."
Arturia laughed at this and seemed to perk up at this and reached out for Shirou who hugged her close as she rested her head on his shoulder.
"You do realize that the threat of violence, convincing as it is, isn't the only reason I would stick around if it turns out you are. I know you've been let down just about everyone you've trusted but I promise you I'm not going anywhere. So if that's what you're so scared of you have no need to worry." Shirou assured her.
"Well, I was a little scared of that but that's not what I'm afraid of. I know I'm a horrible mother and I just know any child of mine is just going to turn out like Mordred." Arturia confessed.
"I beg to disagree. You are anything but. While she may not show it Illya is very fond of you and yes she is a handful at times for all intents and purposes you could be considered her mother." Rin reassured her.
"Really?" Arturia asked, hopefully.
"Just you wait. She's just a little uncomfortable that someone in her life actually genuinely cares for her instead of just wanting her for her abilities." Rin promised.
"I hate to interrupt but haven't Sakura and Fujinee been gone an awfully long time to simply shop for lunch?" Archer butted in.
"You know, they have. They said they would only be half an hour and it's been much longer than that." Rin agreed.
At this the entire group agreed they should head out and look for them. They had just made it to the bridge in town when they were stopped by an ominous voice.
"Hold it right there! That's as far as you go!" The voice called out.
"Who's there?" Shirou asked.
"The man who is going to kill you for besmirching my daughter's honor!" The voice responded.
"Uther!" Arturia yelled.
With this Uther charged forward and attacked Arturia forcing from her feet and taking all her strength to keep him at bay.
"You will show your father proper respect!" Uther demanded.
"You are no father of mine! You threw me to the wolves rather because I was born a woman. What kind of man would do that to his own children?" Arturia challenged him.
"Not! Another! Word! Your insolence truly knows no bounds. First you stole my kingdom from its rightful ruler! Now, I find you with this peasant and it seems that he has stolen your chastity as well." He raged.
"You don't truly think that being born a man automatically makes one worthy of ruling a kingdom? You are truly naïve! Who are you to control my life? My heart, as well as my body, is mine to give to whom I will!" Arturia retorted.
At this point Uther found himself with a sword at this throat and had no choice but to back off.
"I don't know who you think you are but at this point I don't care. You are truly the worst scum that the human race has ever had the misfortune to produce. To top it all off you dare call yourself her father, you don't have the slightest clue what that word truly means do you? What kind of person, to say nothing of a father, abandons a child because they're ashamed of something beyond the child's control?" Shirou raged.
"Shirou, don't. He's my father, the fact that he was horrible doesn't change the fact that he's my responsibility." Arturia pleaded.
"You're always taking the blame for things that aren't your fault. How is it your fault that this… thing happened to be your biological father? You heard what he called me, didn't you? I think it's time he learn exactly who he's dealing with!" Shirou insisted.
"But…" Arturia stalled.
"Besides he took Sakura and Fujinee hostage in an attempt to draw me out here and kill me. No one uses people as bait and gets away with it! No use hiding it anymore, you got what you wanted, let them go." Shirou continued.
"Oh no no! That would be too easy since if I just let them go you could just try to find a way to escape and that won't do. No, you're going to have to kill me and you'll find that's an impossible task for a peasant." Uther admitted.
"See? Besides I've learned a few tricks while you were gone. I'll be just fine." Shirou assured her.
Arturia finally just nodded and stepped back.
"I'm going to enjoy this! Try not to scream too much, otherwise I might have to drag it out." Uther sneered.
With this he charged only to find he had been parried and what he thought would be an easy kill was anything but. He quickly recovered to find the so-called "peasant" had somehow acquired a pair of swords.
"Well, aren't we full of surprises? Let's see if you're beginners luck holds out."
He attacked again and not only found himself parried but that Shirou was no longer where he had been a second ago. Before he had a chance to rush Shirou he found Shirou speeding towards him in a deadly pirouette and it took all the skill he had to avoid the series of deadly blows.
Despite this he had been wounded in the side, the shoulder, the leg and on the cheek. Shirou was not done just yet and managed to unleash even more blows on his surprised opponent who was unable to block them due to the blinding speed with which they were delivered.
"Well, boy! It seems I underestimated you, it seems a shame to use this but you leave me with no other choice." Uther yelled out as he impaled his sword in the ground.
The resulting shockwave forced Shirou from his feet and left him dazed while Uther continued.
"Enemy at the Gates!" He cried out.
At this Uther vanished and a giant gate appeared and slowly was lifted by an unseen force. As soon as the gate has finished opening Uther reappeared this time riding a warhorse. Without a single word Uther charged Shirou trampling him underfoot with surprising speed. But this was not all as the gate had not vanished and out from it streamed a seemingly endless supply of armored soldiers.
"You see, my Noble Phantasm is an endless flood of soldiers. Much like my horse, all enemies are eventually trampled underfoot by the overwhelming numbers I can command." Uther gloated.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Shirou whispered.
I am the bone of my sword,Steel is my body and fire is my blood.
I have created over a thousand blades.
Unaware of loss. Nor aware of gain.
Withstood pain to create many weapons.
Waiting for one's arrival.
I have no regrets, this is the only path.
My entire life has been Unlimited Blade Works.
With this Uther and Shirou were engulfed in a flash of light. In its place was a field of blades set against a series of gears while Uther's gate still began pouring out soldier who suddenly hesitated at the sudden change of scenery.
"What good will this do, boy? No matter how many blades you have you are still one man, this will change nothing." Uther scoffed.
"Oh? You have failed to recognize the true horror of this place for you see, these are no ordinary blades. Each one of these blades is a legendary sword of some fashion, I'm sure you'll recognize this." Shirou said picking up Excalibur.
"That's…" Uther said in shock.
"You catch on quick." Shirou remarked as he flung it into the horde of soldiers where it exploded on contact.
"How could you have possibly gotten that sword? That's not possible!" Uther protested.
"It seems I have to explain it to you. You see my skill is not simply in creating swords out of thin air. It is in recreating certain swords in perfect detail. And this place simply enhances my ability to do so. You thought you were leading your soldiers to victory, all you've done is lead them into a blood bath." Shirou taunted him.
At this Shirou picked up swords one after the other and threw them into the growing throng of soldiers. Finally Shirou picked up a sword and threw it at the gate itself causing it to shatter and the soldiers to disappear.
With this done the Reality Marble also shatter leaving Uther and Shirou face as they had been before. Uther realizing he was outmatched made a final attempt at victory by grabbing Arturia.
"If you love her so much then you will do as I say or I will slit her throat!" Uther threatened hold his sword to her throat.
"No, you won't." Shirou said ominously.
"You think I won't do it! Try me!" Uther desperately tried in an attempt to prolong his life.
"I think you would. I just won't give you the chance." Shirou said as he snapped.
"How do you think you're…"
At this exact moment Uther was impaled through the chest and collapsed and stared in shock when he found himself impaled by a red spear.
"But how? That's impossible, it should've killed her too." Uther protested.
"This particular spear is different, you'll find. The weapon I used on you is called Gae Bolg and it has an annoying tendency to avoid any obstacles it finds on the way to the targets heart. Now if you'll excuse me I have two hostages to find." Shirou explained.
With that he strode off to look for Sakura and Fujinee. After this Arturia walked up to deliver the finishing blow.
"I suppose I should also tell you that I'm carrying that 'peasant's' child." Arturia whispered in his ear to her delight and his horror.
"Has anyone told you that you can have something of a mean streak at times?" Arveia remarked.
"You mean to tell me that he didn't deserve it after what he put me through?" Arturia replied.
"Well, no but telling him, even though you aren't even sure, that you were carrying the child of the man who killed him. Isn't that a bit out of character for you?" Arveia replied.
"Well, a bit. I suppose. I never did get the chance to get back at him before, so I took the chance given to me." Arturia admitted.
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While everyone else was looking for where Sakura and Fujinee had been held captive Uther was slowly bleeding to death.
"No no no! We can't have you dying painlessly now. You have a lifetime of pain and suffering to suffer for. I have to admit I've been looking forward to this!" Arveia threatened.
To his continued horror Uther watched the teenager before his eyes turn into a female black dragon. He begged and pleaded for mercy from her to no avail.
"I'm afraid I can't do that. I have a reputation to maintain, after all." Arveia intoned.
Soon after this Uther's screams of suffering rang out until a sickening crunch silenced them after which Arveia ate his mangled corpse with one bite.
"You know, the one time I get a decent meal and I forgot the seasoning. I must be losing my touch." Arveia complained.
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I hope you liked this, I was a bit unclear on exactly how Uther should act but I got the general impression he was an ass given that he disowned his daughter literally just for being female. Great guy, huh?
Read and Review please.