Chapter 47: Earned Life (Part 12)

"Oof! Geez, Cath. For such a small guy you pack a mean punch."

"Fou, fou~!"

Placing the fuzzy little rocket - that was apparently the attack dog of the planet or something, but he tried not to think about that - on his shoulder as he walked past the entrance to Merlin's 'home' he asked, "So how have you been recently?"

"Fou…"

A fluffy paw was raised and tilted back and forth in a startlingly human motion, Nanashi scratching behind the critter's ears while saying, "That normal, huh?"

"Fou."

"Well if you ever get bored feel free to visit us whenever you want."

"Fou!"

With that the Beast leapt off his shoulder and ran over to a patch of loose dirt and grass before wildly rolling around in it, Nanashi muttering, "How your coat always stays so clean is beyond me..."

"Because I risk life and limb to clean the ungrateful rat on a consistent basis, despite his protests."

Jumping at Merlin's sudden interruption Nanashi spun around just in time to see the man stroll from around the tower, dressed in a gardening apron and gloves, one of them removed to show off a collection of bites and cuts.

"The wounds inflicted by that rabies-vector are slow to heal."

"I'll bet."

Clapping his hands in evident cheer Merlin asked, "So what brings you to this side of the Reverse, Nanashi? Some new scheme? Plot? Invention? I do so enjoy learning of the latest and greatest your darling little girlfriend comes up with~!"

"Something along those lines. I just visited the little reservation Tiamat has going on and decided to drop by, take care of something I've been thinking about for a while."

Merlin raised an eyebrow, motioning for Nanashi to continue as he said, "If you don't mind me asking…why did you decide to help us when we first came across you? All of your reasons, not just the obvious ones."

The Incubus was quick to catch on to his seriousness, setting aside most of his usual irreverence before staring at the ward line that kept him trapped within, expression contemplative.

"A fair amount of it was boredom. A sheer, undisputed lack of things to meaningfully do. For all I may joke and bluster this tower can be lonely even in the best of times."

A wry snort of amusement escaped the man, tone wistful as he added, "To my shame I freely admit that even if you had been of less excellent and worthwhile character I may have offered my assistance regardless, just so that I may do away with some of my idle hours."

Nanashi simply nodded, unable to relate perfectly to Merlin's circumstances but understanding just fine what desperation could cause a person to do.

"As for my other reasons? During my long life I…have done many things."

He sat on the ground, demeanor contemplative and perhaps even wistful.

"Many of those accomplishments I can look back upon with great pride and aplomb, knowing that I created or inspired great things, brought about changes that affected the world as we know it. Other scenarios? Less so."

An uncharacteristic sigh left him, tone nostalgic before continuing with, "If there was one truly tragic bit of history that I would undo in a heartbeat it was what transpired in the final days of Camelot's fall, what occurred between myself, Mordred, Arturia and Morgan. It's a puerile fantasy, one that myself from back then would have laughed and mocked me for, but…"

A hapless shrug left the man.

"What could be different, I wonder? Had I mended the frayed ties between the four of us would Camelot have endured? Would there have been a worthwhile line of succession? Had I not given in to base desires and flights of fancy in my pursuit of Morgan would the King of Knights still reign?"

A more dour and regretful expression formed.

"Perhaps I would not have allowed such a monumental and crushing burden to be placed on the shoulders of a young girl who I knew had both the capacity and enemies to be overwhelmed by, were she not properly watched and guided until she came into her own."

This time the sigh was downright explosive.

"I could not help but see yet another child trying to buck what seemed to be destiny, burdened with a power they had no true concept of yet pushing forward regardless, making friends and allies of truly eclectic origin. The other half of my reason is that of a foolish man tried to vicariously live out an impossible fantasy of his."

Nanashi slowly nodded, saying, "While I can't give you the chance to maybe fix that timeline - you'll have to talk to Aozaki or that old fuck Zelretch - I can give you a starting point."

At Merlin's curious expression Nanashi turned to the walls surrounding the tower, shuttered one eyelid with the Mystic Eyes of Consanguinity blazing bright in the other-

-and was left blinking as they stared into the distance, confused at what they were supposed to be seeing before fishing out a piece of paper in his pocket, nodding at what was written before handing it to Merlin.

…

Nanashi took an unhealthy amount of glee from seeing the normally cheerful, carefree and composed man's jaw drop and eyes widen in blatant disbelief at the words before him.

[I used the Fourth to destroy what Morgan used to keep you in. You're free.]

"Do you…have any idea the import of what you have just-"

"I imagine I just released a whole lot of inconvenience and chaos into the world that will make me regret doing this, don't worry. But…I think I would regret not doing anything more."

The homunculus shrugged, dryly remarking, "And let's be real here. I accidentally taught a living connection to the Akashic Records how to love and feel, inadvertently created a new Outer God that only wants to run a breakfast joint, freed a primordial goddess that runs a veteran's home and somehow got involved with a Heroic Spirit's plan for world domination who I'm meeting up with in a few hours. No offense, but on the totem pole of fucked up shit setting you loose is pretty near the bottom."

"That's the first time in many centuries I've ever been implied to be of little consequence…"

Still sounding stunned as he rose to his feet Merlin took a few cautious steps forward, eventually stepping over where the previous boundary had no doubt been-

-and firmly set his foot down, taking a deep breath of true freedom.

"I…kind of sympathized with you being trapped and things like that. Knew how it felt."

"I see."

The duo simply stood there for a few moments, basking in the silence until Merlin abruptly asked, "Did you perchance do all of this because you still consider me a daddy figure-"

"Oh my fucking god I said that by accident ONCE! How did you even hear about that?! And don't forget I know about your creepy sex dungeon! I bet you everything I own that a woman as powerful and pervasive as Morgan is still kicking around somewhere in the universe…all it takes is one casual inquiry with Manaka and you have a very upset ex wondering what you're doing with her inflatable dolls. And yes, I mean that in every possible way!"

"H-how did you know of those ones?! All I showed you were the Arturia models!"

"You weren't exactly hiding them as well as you thought, never mind leaving me alone down there with a thirsty 'Lancer-Arturia' model. I tried to run and found the other three. What were they again? Oh, right. Alter-Morgan, MILF-Morgan…Loli-Morgan."

"As if you are in any position to judge, constantly having sex with cute little Abigail!"

Cath Palug rolled onto his back, staring at the arguing duo with a resigned air, wondering why humans and near humans had to be so strange.

"Okay, I think this is it."

In all honesty it couldn't be that many other places, not if the cheering crowd was any indication. Gilgamesh had told him to meet her at some European Ivy league school whose name he had honestly forgotten and the only reason he was sure this was it was due to the rambunctious atmosphere as the final match of soccer - or football, the distinction between the two had always confused him - played out, a certain gold-haired captain leading the charge to final victory.

And one hell of a final victory at that, if he understood the scoring ratios correctly. 5-1 was no small gap.

The buzzer rang, the stands roared to life and the homunculus watched with no small amount of bemusement as Gilgamesh was hoisted on the shoulders of her fellow teammates, the olden queen of the world grinning and pumping her arms in excitement and triumph.

"Well I suppose she would be the type of person to enjoy her time in the spotlight. I'll pass on that, thanks."

Finding the correct supply shack on the outside of the field to take up residence in Nanashi waited for his companion to arrive with growing exasperation, subtly watching her answer interviews, attend signings and even hoist a trophy overhead before finally winding her way through the crowd and slipping away from the public eye, strutting to their designated meeting space with a radiant smile.

"You're right on time, Nanashi!"

"And you're late."

"So what did you think of my performance?"

Rolling his eyes as she predictably ignored his complaint the homunculus replied, "Very impressive. I'm sure your opponents wished they had the literal god given gifts of a Heroic Spirit."

It was Gilgamesh's turn to eye roll, irreverently waving her hand before saying, "You become hung up on the small details too easily, Nanashi. Now ensure no one spots me while I get dressed, we have a meeting with the Yakuza in an hour and after that I have to prepare my valedictorian speech. Why, if I wasn't myself juggling so many different tasks would be quite the chore, now wouldn't it?"

Nanashi blinked, trying and failing to comprehend the rapid fire orders and ultimately being distracted by the sight of Gilgamesh stripping out of her sports jersey, clad only in a sports bra and underwear that left her athletic and swiftly developing form on display before Nanashi quickly turned around to keep an eye on their surroundings, the queen cheerfully teasing, "Oh? You have seen me bare and partaken of both my flesh and that of your other lovers but still cling to false modesty~?"

Ignoring the sound of rustling cloth and golden glow of the Gate of Babylon the male grunted, "Abigail's the one that's into public exposure, not me. And you told me to keep an eye out for peepers, that's what I'm doing. And the Yakuza? What the fuck? Aren't we in France or something?"

"I do not restrict myself to merely one area of influence, Nanashi. Having both friends and subordinates in all walks of life is crucial to the success of any halfway competent ruler."

"Didn't you rule as an absolute monarch way back when? No need to play nice with everyone?"

He could practically taste the smarminess oozing from the golden queen as she languidly explained, "Yes, I did. When the extent of humanity and my rule went only as far as the eye could see, not across the entire planet."

"Alright, alright. Point taken."

"It had best be. You may turn around now, Nanashi."

Turning his gaze to Gilgamesh the youth couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the sight of her garbed in an embroidered black and gold kimono, elegant fan flared outwards in her hand as the homunculus archly asked, "Isn't that a little too culturally on the nose?"

"Who's to say? And do you not have anything positive or complementing to say, Nanashi?"

"As if you need me to tell you that you wear the damn thing like a queen."

"Your delivery needs some work, Nanashi. But feel free to escort me as is befitting of a bodyguard."

Giving quite possibly the strongest Heroic Spirit in existence a deadpan look at the bodyguard comment he nonetheless offered his arm, activating the Mystic Code as they headed towards their next destination.

Hopefully it wouldn't be total chaos.

"This is chaos."

Grumbling in irritation as he stopped a descending tanto with his bare hand - the roaring, tattooed man falling silent and blinking at the display with no shortage of bewilderment - the homunculus planted a solid kick to his abdomen, launching him back into an awkward tumble as Gilgamesh airily replied, "This is perfectly normal for a criminal takeover, I daresay."

"I thought you said you were meeting with these guys, not kicking the shit out of them!"

Deftly snatching a thrusted katana within her closed fan Gilgamesh tossed a yelping gangster over her shoulder, calmly stating, "Is this not a meeting? Trial by combat IS still a method of appointment in less 'civilized' sectors is it not?"

Resisting the urge to cry out in despair at being constantly yanked around by crazy women, to his immense relief a loud and gravely voice shouted out, "Enough! What is the meaning of all this racket?"

Rounding the corner of the lobby they had waltzed into came a pair of men, two of them burly and brawny types with the third being a refined gentleman sort, hard eyes staring at him and Gilgamesh as the queen cheerfully stepped forward, announcing, "Greetings to you, elder. My apologies about the brutish entry but it was to my understanding that it was the quickest means of speaking with you."

"Wow. Nice recovery when that wasn't the case at all."

"Specifically, I wish to enter into a partnership with you after having observed your various gambling and brothel establishments in the local area. I was quite impressed with their quality."

The older man kept his expression neutral, calmly responding, "I'm not sure what you think you've stumbled upon, young lady, but we don't-"

"The Fallen Sakura and Eternal Petal. Mistresses Akemi and Yuzuru being the ones ostensibly in charge. Should I go ahead and list the gambling dens as well as their bosses?"

A brief silence ensued, the elder bemusedly asking, "And just how did you come across such information?"

Gilgamesh licked her lips, crimson eyes practically glowing with unlimited confidence as she sensually snapped the fan in front of her face.

"Oh I have my ways…you must be good to those girls, they were quite loyal and wished not to implicate you in anything dangerous. But I am rather gifted in, shall we say, loosening tongues through rigorous application of my own."

"Oh god she fucked the answer out of them."

Hiding his head in his hands Nanashi resisted the urge to groan aloud, wondering for the thousandth time how he'd managed to get roped into all of this insanity.

"There, was that so bad, Nanashi?"

"Bad? Debatable? Immensely boring and frustrating in equal measure? Yes."

"Oh don't be so dramatic, all you had to do was stand there and look intimidating, I did most of the talking. Do you not have to deal with this in the Clocktower?"

"Yeah, I do. And it drives me up the wall then as well."

Gilgamesh had the audacity to laugh at him, taking obvious amusement with his disgruntled state of mind as she seemed fresh off of the meeting, treated to a tentative bit of respect from the Yakuza and a wary sort of caution as they clearly tried to figure out just where she came from or what she was trying to do by so boldly approaching them.

"Come now, were you actually worried about their capabilities?"

"No, I was worried they were going to do something that would end up with me accidentally killing someone. I'm used to fighting big angry monsters or superpowered Vampires, not regular guys with swords and maybe guns."

"Goodness, one would never guess you have done as much in your life as you have with a demeanor like that. No matter, come along now! One last stop and then you shall - for whatever incomprehensible reason - be free of me."

"You're seriously going to go guilt tripping me? After all of that?"

Only smiling in response and graciously allowing the Heroic Spirit to warp them to their next destination Nanashi took a moment to blink as they were brought to none other than the front step of the Sajyou household, the doors promptly thrown open as a bevy of voices shouted "SURPRISE!"

"...Huh?"

Grinning widely as she pushed him through the front door Gilgamesh chirped, "Were you perhaps unaware of the plan to celebrate your assumed birthdate?"

"Well no, I just-"

"Stop standing on the porch and get inside, Nanashi!"

Abigail's excited shout caused the homunculus to smile slightly, the familiar faces of Haruki, Ayaka, Abigail, Tiamat and Manaka surrounded by a series of brightly colored decorations a truly novel one.

"Well, not the worst of ways to end a day."