It was the big night. Thanks in part to the fact he was a replacement, Gil was allowed to return to Japan once the ball was over. No one else had that luxury if they chose to stay for the dance.
Word had quickly spread that he had already picked a partner, though many of the girls glared at Kaede for snagging the hot Familiar as her date, and many more at Rin for grabbing Shiro before he even became a viable replacement.
Fortunately Kaede had other things to consider other than their petty jealousy.
Gil had, while they were eating supper, brought the odd subject about his change in personality up after Kiritsugu had noted the change.
Rin believed it was because he wasn't as arrogant back when he was a child. Shiro believed that perhaps nurture over nature had prevailed. Kiritsugu didn't know what to think, only that he preferred the change.
Kaede, however, had another opinion.
Gil had described, in detail, what sort of person he had been in life. A more powerful Shinji Matou, had been his rather apt description. One who had earned that arrogance and power.
However Gil's personality was a near polar opposite to that of Gilgamesh at the same age. At least according to him. Which begged the question...why was his personality completely different?
The more she compared Gilgamesh to that of Gil, the stronger her theory became.
What if, that night she accidentally summoned him into the vessel of a Saber class and not Archer as he had been before, she had summoned a different version of him? One that, when given the opportunity and environment, emphasized his natural good traits and downsized most of the negative?
For example, Kiritsugu had said that Gilgamesh was arrogant, conceited, and tended to be an ass in general. He had once claimed Saber just because she interested him without caring about her pride. The fact he failed to make her his was a moot point, but it was still there.
Gil, on the other hand, was kind, caring, charismatic, and protective of those he deemed worthy. His loyalty to Kaede was unquestioned, and despite his dislike of Shiro's Reality Marble, he still cared about him as a friend.
In short his personality was a polar opposite. It made distinguishing him between his original self very easy.
Which certainly begged the question...if she had accidentally summoned him with most of his good traits, then where did the bad ones go? They were still present in his current vessel, but they were muted, according to him. Like they weren't really there, but he was only feeling them peripherally.
If she had been a Magus, she might have happily tried to dissect Gil to figure that out. However Kaede was a witch who dabbled in magecraft as a pass time, and was proud of that fact. Kiritsugu certainly seemed happier as a wizard than he had been as a Magus.
Kaede suddenly realized she had been surrounded by a red-haired boy and several others.
"So you think you're too good for human boys?" he sneered.
Ron Weasly was a pure blood. But more than that he was a snake who hid inside the family of the lion pride. Only the most vapid of the Gryffindor females even thought he was date-worthy.
As such when he found the odd red-haired foreign girl attractive, he took offense that the vampire familiar had claimed her as a date first. Which was why he was going to...persuade...her to change her mind.
Kaede was having horrifying flashbacks to her former family, specifically that of her cousin and his gang of thugs cornering her before they nearly killed her.
Ron took one step forward, and her fight or flight response was immediate.
Meanwhile Gil was feeling odd tugs on his prana for the past five minutes, and he knew Kaede was in trouble from the panic she felt.
He arrived at the tail end of the confrontation, and he wasn't the only one left staring in shock.
Standing there with tears down her face and breathing heavily, was Kaede. Pinned to the wall was one Ronald Weasly, and there were multiple copies of the same sword.
The other boys looked at her in shock and horror, but it was Gil who decided their next course of action.
"Get the hell away from my Master!" he snarled.
Seeing the infamous vampire familiar ready to attack, they ran like hell in different directions.
"Kae-chan, are you alright?" he asked.
She shivered in his arms, reliving several past experiences with bullies. Gil turned his anger towards the pinned pureblood.
It didn't take a genius to figure out he was related to the twins.
"Fred, George, a word if you will," he said flatly.
The twins looked at each other before they followed Gil to a secluded room.
"What do you know of a red head Gryffindor about Kaede's age with freckles and a bad attitude problem?" he asked bluntly.
"Wait, you know who put our idiot little brother in his place?" said Fred.
"Idiot little brother?" said Gil.
"Ron is the youngest brother of our brood," explained George.
"As such mum babied him and Ginny too much," said Fred.
"To make matters worse he's gotten it into his head that he'll marry Rowena Potter, whether she likes him or not."
"It doesn't help that Dumbledore kept visiting and talking loudly about marrying her into the family. Either to one of us, Percy or magic-forbid Ron," said George.
"We never put much stock into it," said Fred quickly.
"But Ron did I take it?" said Gil.
"He became enamored with the fame and wealth of the Potter family. We've tried to break him of it, but ever since he's been convinced he'll marry Rowena, even if he has to do it by force," said George.
"He'll be dead if he tries to touch her again," said Gil flatly, with vehemence in his voice.
"Strangely the idea that we might end up down a brother doesn't actually bother me. You, Fred?" asked George.
"Not in the least. Ron was always the weak link, and if Ginny wasn't the only girl she would be right behind him. Do you need any help?" asked Fred coldly.
"Warn him that if he tries to harm Kaede again, I'll kill him in one of your precious honor duels. I can and will end him if he tries to hurt her. She's been through enough hell already," said Gil.
Ron was immediately approached by his brothers, and they looked serious for a change.
"Ron, it is our duty as brothers to warn you..." started Fred.
"If you go near any of the girls in the Japanese area," said George.
"Gil has sworn he will challenge you to an honor duel and he said he will not hesitate to kill you in the most bloody way imaginable," said Fred.
Hermione, who had heard rumors about the incident involving Ron being pinned by a sword, looked at them oddly.
"What the hell did he do now?"
"He cornered Kaede Emiya, the red-haired girl, in one of the halls with some of the other boys. No idea who they were, but she left a real...impression...on them when she took out Ron," said Fred.
"Gil was pissed as hell when he heard that Ron had ganged up on her...said she had some real bad memories of it happening before they met," said George.
"Once he knew we were related to Ron though...well he asked us to pass on a warning."
"What warning?" demanded the idiot red head, unaware of the fact that someone had just told his brothers that if he came near the girls again, he was as good as dead.
"Come near any of the foreign girls with the attempt to force yourself on them again, and you are a dead man," said the twins in unison.
"Of course that's not counting what we would do to you if we heard you had done anything so disgusting," said Fred.
"Or what Mum would do if she found out."
"Although we could let the growing number of very angry, very hormonal girls behind us have the honor of teaching you a lesson," said Fred.
"Then again what sort of brothers would we be if we didn't at least warn you that you're on thin ice and starting to sink?" mused George.
Neville looked at them amused.
"If you were good brothers, you would have warned him in private...but you wanted to let the girls know the full story didn't you?"
"Absolutely," they chimed in chorus again.
"RON..." snarled Hermione, along with a growing number of females behind her.
Ron wouldn't have to worry about the ball...he would be more concerned with moving his limbs without being in absolute agony in St. Mungo's for two months, long after the Japanese girls had returned home.
"Oh my kami...Kaede this dress is gorgeous!" squealed Rin.
Kaede had gone to the goblins and asked if they knew any decent tailors, rather than buy one premade.
Surprisingly enough, they directed her to a half-fae dressmaker who seemed surprised that a descendant of Arthur had come to her tiny shop.
Then she dragged Rin in as well.
To her surprise, when she went into the shop her hair went from fiery red to spun gold. Gil, when given a picture of the odd change, immediately recognized the look.
With golden hair like that, she was practically a carbon-copy of Saber, only her eyes were a slightly different shade of green.
With the sudden change of coloring and the fact that Rin attested to Kaede's hair normally being a shade of red not found often, the half-fae had looked delighted at the challenge.
Rin had been easy. A simple Western gown with red overtones and the odd black butterfly which moved along the dress fabric whenever she moved, along with a few jewels picked up from Kaede's vault (and a two new sacks full of normal jewels for Rin to use in her magecraft) and she was done.
However Kaede had been different. Since the half faerie heard she had Gilgamesh, the infamous King of Heroes as a date (he would be wearing a tactful gold and white suit and his preferred gold earrings) he had to make her something special!
Gilgamesh had already agreed to let them look though the rather extensive jewelry collection he had...it wasn't like he really had a use for it. Though in Rin's case she was mostly borrowing a few pieces here and there.
Kaede was now looking at her dress that looked very royal in design. It was almost like the decorations had been painted on the fabric.
"I must admit, I outdid myself," said the Faerie proudly.
He held up the dress. It was like spun white gold with silver and black designs.
It looked more like a Queen's outfit than a ballgown.
The sleeves hung loosely off the mannequin, showing off the shoulder blades. The back was open as well, at least down to the small her back. The chest area had a more golden tone than the rest, and it emphasized her bust as small as it was. The gown itself would go down to her ankles, but it looked like you could move in it with ease.
All along the dress was dragon that moved with it. It was clearly a holy dragon, something no mortal had seen since the Age of the Gods had ended.
Rin, however, noticed something odd about it.
"Why does it have such a pearly silver sheen?" she asked.
"Ah. That would be because the goblins were able to supply me with the mithril I requested. Normally they wouldn't deign to supply one such as myself with mithril thread, since it is so difficult to make, but when told who the dress I was making it was for, they were surprisingly generous. When prana is applied to this outfit, it can become the strongest armor seen in ages."
Rin and Kaede stared, though Kaede at least came out of it first.
"Why on earth would you make armor when we just came in for a dress?" asked Rin shocked.
"You do know her heritage yes? And in this recent political climate it was simply the easiest idea to go with...and when I was told her date to the ball...well, he agreed to foot the bill," said the tailor cheekily.
The two girls did a Windows Blue Screen of Death, or perhaps the new game console called the XBOX 360's red ring of death as their brains stalled.
"Could you explain, please?"
"Oh very well. England, at the moment, is at a crossroads. Within the next few decades or so, the magical world will either return to glory or go down in horrible flames. Either way, your reappearance and the fact you learned your heritage...plus the way you showed up again with the King of Heroes of all people are your familiar...well, it was a signal that things were about to change. For good or ill we have yet to determine."
"Wait, why would her heritage make any difference?" asked Rin.
"King Arturia was not only the champion of the mortals, but a long time friend of the Fae as well. We have been awaiting the return of her bloodline for centuries since Excalibur was given back. Though I must say, your choice in male companions certainly couldn't get any better!" said the man with glee.
"So...what exactly happened to Camelot?" asked Rin.
"We hid it of course. Once the Lady got angry over all the crap the mortals threw into her lake she asked us to get rid of them. We scared off the mortals and hid the place with our magic. Of course the idiot wizards went and made it into a school without realizing what it was. Our magic is good," said the fae in annoyance.
Kaede whimpered in horror.
"Oh dear kami... It's Hogwarts isn't it? That's why the place is so full of magic and why there were so many faeries in the forest..." she said.
"Oh good, you figured it out without me telling you. That allows me to work around the geas at least. Anyway this should protect you from most if not all attacks from the wizards."
"But I didn't even want to return to England! I hate it here!" said Kaede vehemently.
"Why?"
"According to Gil, she was traumatized by her so called aunt who was the sister of her mother and her fat husband. If she hadn't run away in Fuyuki, he likely would have killed her and dumped the body. Kaede has no fond memories of this country, especially after she was left in a house that hated magic in all forms," explained Rin.
"Ah. I had heard rumors about that among the fae from Surrey who had the scent of the Dragon King who protected the other girls... I take it that was you?" he asked carefully.
Dragon King was the nickname the fae had given Arturia because of the source of her magic.
Kaede nodded miserably.
While she still lived with the Dursleys, the moment she became aware of Vernon's...tastes...she had taken it upon herself to warn the families of anyone with girls under the age of ten. One home visit from Vernon and Petunia usually encouraged them to leave after that.
As a result, there were almost no girls in Little Whinging and even fewer boys her age. Considering the alternative, she considered that a good thing.
She always hid in her cupboard when he came home drunk though. She wasn't stupid.
"Now I don't feel guilty about including fae magic to make this even stronger," muttered the man.
They wisely didn't ask what he meant about that.
Later, when Kiritsugu had a look at it, he would wince and ask exactly how much the dress had actually cost (more than the supposed prize money for the tournament for both) and then would tell them that the one Kaede had was at least A-rank in defensive strength and spelled to alter itself into a fashionable armor when any spells of less than friendly intent hit it.
Gil would later wonder just how the hell Kaede had made a favorable impression on the Seelie court enough to only charge for the materials and labor and not the enchantments for the dress/armor...normally it would cost well over the fifteen hundred he spent for two dresses.
BTW, the armor form of her dress makes her look like Saber LILY without the hair sticking up. I may or may not do a third story where she and Gil go to Camelot and she becomes a knight. I already have the sequel to this one written called Babylon Nights which is set during their honeymoon. I would post it but it would give away some of what is to come.