Valkyrie Flavor 39

It was winter. It was cold.

Even so, Sunny days were good to go out in Fuyuki. Even if they were on the middle of a secret war.

So Shirou took the Valkyries to the lake. Or rather, the Valkyries came up with a logical, well thought of reason to justify going, while Shirou simply asked on a whim. And because he wanted to see if it was a safe spot for others.

At the lake, instead of patrolling, the Valkyries played around. They talked, they observed some passersby, reminisced of Scandinavia and, more importantly, were smiling all the way. Mostly Hildr, though Thrúd was easily swayed to smile, and Ortlinde switched between embarassment and happiness.

It was like something out of a dream, to see them chat, to see them try to fish with their spears rather than with the fishing pole Shirou had brought.

Their smiles, which when he called out attention to disappeared in a bout of blushing, was something Shirou inscribed in his mind.

Yet… a part of him knew that this was a one time thing he wasn't appreciating properly, not if he butted in, so he remained on the sidelines. He would never get to see this again, no matter how hard he wanted to hold on to the memory.

After all, all his life things had slipped out of his hands.

That's why he would never let his dream fade away.

That's why he would not accept a world where things could not be saved.

Looking back at it, at the time, it was a naive dream.

Still, he still regretted not holding harder to them.

Not holding harder on to Taiga.

Not holding tighter to Sakura.

Not holding tighter to Kiritsugu.

Shirou shifted from one side to another, and then hit himself with a log. As he was unable to fall asleep again, not with the pain, he decided to wake up.

It had been hard to sleep, since his senses told him to stay up and alert, but everyone else agreed that it was best the humans slept while the tireless Servants kept watch.

He still dreamed of the Valkyries it seemed.

The sky was as usual, light but with some clouds, giving everything a yellow gray tint.

For some reason, Shirou felt a bad omen.

More importantly, it was food time.

"Alright! Breakfast time!" He said, clapping his hands. Around him, the other humans groaned. Sigurd, who sat on a log with his sword at his side, smiled at him over his shoulder.

All their equipment was stolen, so Shirou had to make do with traced cookware.

At his side, Ortlinde landed beside him.

"Reporting," she stated.

"Good morning, Ortlinde. Thanks for keeping watch," he said with a smile as he placed the pot over a small fire he started.

"It was the best course of action," she said, voice neutral and devoid of any intention. Then, her stare relaxed and her eyes turned away. "But it is appreciated. Did you sleep well?"

"Well, the floor didn't help but I slept well enough. You get used to it," Shirou replied. At this, Ortlinde smiled, eyes turning to the gathered food left over from the night before.

"A warrior must be adaptable. Good work. Though, it is still a shame," Ortlinde said, before wincing a little. "Hildr has a few more complaints about it than I, but she's happy as well."

"Good morning," Mash said, approaching them with a hand over her mouth. "Ortlinde. Did you sleep at all?"

"No. I patrolled all night," Ortlinde answered.

"Oh. I see. Was it easy on you at least?" Mash asked as Shirou put some water on the pot, along with meat.

"No enemies detected, from the Empire or the strange creatures from yesterday," Ortlinde said.

"Understood. What about you, Sigurd?" Mash asked, raising her voice so that he would hear her.

A simple gesture was all that was needed.

"You should take some time to rest," Mash argued still, before handing over something to Shirou. "Thanks for the bedroll, Emiya-senpai."

"You're welcome," Shirou said, urging the projected object to fade away as he stirred the pot.

As the water bubbled and Shirou continued stirring, a silence fell upon the three of them. Not long after, from Mash's side the metal of her armour creaked.

"Hey… Ortlinde," Mash started. Shirou turned to see her. Last time, she was quite angry with the Valkyrie. In response, Ortlinde stared at her with strained eyes, as if it were difficult to see her.

"Y-yes. Is there an assessment you'd like to make?" Ortlinde asked, polite as ever.

Mash gulped, and then answered. "No I… I'm very sorry, about what I said," Shirou nearly dropped his spoon in surprise. Ortlinde, on her part, simply straightened.

"O-oh. N-no apology needed, you did well to point out my poor performance," Ortlinde replied.

"N-no. It was bad of me, I was just… lashing out unfairly, coming to terms with my own weakness," Mash said, her grip on the shield tightening. Shirou turned to Ortlinde, curious about how she would answer.

If there was one thing that he hadn't ever seen in the Valkyries, was the capability to hold grudges.

"I-it's okay. It could be stated we were also coming to terms with our malfunctions," Ortlinde replied, looking at the ground. Shirou frowned, such self flagellation was unnecessary. But before he could point that out, Mash beat him to the punch.

"Not at all, Ortlinde! You're not malfunctioning! There's no way! If this is you malfunctioning, then I'd say there's nothing wrong at all!" Mash said, raising her voice in a strange display of being fired up.

To the dismay of Shirou's ears, Ortlinde seemed to respond in kind.

"T-thank you very much! You are also not weak, Shielder! You are perfectly qualified to be a hero!" Ortlinde yelled, or at least attempted to.

"Good to know," Mash said, calming down. "Also, sorry for yelling. I just have a hard time putting these things out there, unless it's senpai. So I need some strength!"

Something glinted in Ortlinde's eyes as Mash said that. "I-I know! I know very well! I experience that all the time!"

"You do?!" Mash yelled after a gasp.

"Yes! Thrúd never allows it, and I also don't want to inconvenience! But it feels very good!" Ortlinde yelled, almost making a flock of bird take off from a tree.

"It does! We should yell more often!" Now Shirou's left ear rung slightly.

"Yeah! We should have… a battle cry! Like proper warriors!" Ortlinde shouted, or tried to, despite the crimson blush on her cheeks. Now Shirou's right ear rung.

"I have one-!"

"–Can we do this later please?" Shirou asked, getting up. "Food's ready anyway. You're also disturbing everyone else."

As if on cue, Ophelia's body uprighted itself like a zombie from behind a log, slightly disheveled and apparently irritated. "Forgive me, but what is the meaning of this! You're disturbing everyone." Ophelia said, turning her head slightly towards them. However, her voice and icy tone made Shirou shudder, as it were Tohsaka Rin but angrier and with the bite to follow up her threats.

"S-sorry!" Ortlinde and Mash said, standing straight like soldiers.

However, seeing that, and seeing Ortlinde so fired up, made Shirou smile involuntarily.

"My fault, I should have spoken up sooner," Shirou said, stepping in front of the two women. "Anyways. Breakfast time. That means no fighting, right?"

Ophelia looked away at this, as if embarrassed. "Y-yes. Of course. Good morning."

"Good morning," Shirou answered.

With that, everyone set out to eat. Ortlinde was kind enough to wake Leif up, who had been sleeping like a rock since the night before.

"Ah… Leif, how are you faring?" Orltinde asked as the boy rubbed his eyes. The way she quickly did it made Shirou smile. She really did care for him.

"Good day. What are the chores today?" Leif asked, almost robotically.

"N-no chores, Leif. Just breakfast," Mash said, sitting down. At this, Leif raised an eyebrow.

"It's not breakfast time yet. We should wait until the emperor announces it," he said.

"Well, it's fine if you want to wait, but we're eating now," Shirou said.

"Feeding before activity is always recommended. It grants you plenty of energy for developing body and mind," Ortlinde noted with some embarrassment. "At least according to my records."

"Why would I need that? I only feel tired before the benediction comes, and when I used that… uh… rune was it?" He asked.

"Yes. You should probably refrain from using it again. Runes are powerful, but your knowledge is not yet complete. Just make sure you pray for them and pay respects," Ortlinde said. At this, Leif nodded.

Before anyone could continue the conversation, Shirou decided that now was the best time to eat.

He projected a few plates and began serving breakfast. "Alright! Breakfast's ready everyone! Help yourselves!"

And so they ate in a circle around the pot, in an amicable silence. Even Ortlinde and Sigurd joined in, the former with some hesitancy.

He could see in their faces it was decent enough, which made him happy. Then he looked at Ortlinde's face. When she took a spoonful, her expression would slightly change, eyebrows raised a bit and mouth moving fast.

It seemed like she enjoyed it, and was taken by the flavour enough to eat more in rapid succession.

He liked that, seeing her enjoying herself despite the events, the attacks and questionings of her existence.

He wondered for a moment if Hildr and Thrúd could taste it as well.

Shirou stared a bit too long, and Ortlinde caught his gaze, making her turn her eyes away. He chastised himself for that, also looking away, cheeks somewhat red.

Ortlinde was reserved, but clever and observant. From under her hood she always watched others, even if with a blank expression. Rarely, she would watch others with interest. Servants, mostly.

The way she looked at him then was like that, and he liked it. He wanted her to watch him more, to give him those looks, and to talk to her about what he was feeling, or what she was feeling or seeing in him.

He shook his head. Now was not the time. Now they were in enemy territory, surrounded by danger.

He distracted himself by tasting his cooking and observing the others.

He caught Sigurd's eye as he took a spoonful, and then, the man smiled.

"Found something of interest?" He asked casually. Shirou raised an eyebrow.

"N-not really," he replied. "It's just a plain field, with a forest behind us. If anything it could use a little variety. Maybe…"

As he said that, Sigurd looked to the side. Towards Ortlinde. Then he caught on to what Sigurd was actually saying, and promptly shut his mouth.

That only prompted the dragonslayer to wink at him while chuckling to himself, a rare sight for such a straight laced man.

It didn't help that he was having fun at his expense.

Ophelia finished first, and thus, she was the first to break the amicable silence they had fallen into.

"Sorry to say this now, but I think it's time we address our next move," she said, looking at everyone.

"Understood," mash said, setting her plate aside. "We have the antidote now, so next up we should recover the Shadow Border, right?" She asked, looking expectantly at Ophelia, as if she were their new leader.

And in a sense, she was.

"That is correct," Ophelia said. "While our forces remain somewhat reduced, and the emperor has many more, he has also lost Akuta, her Saber, and Xiang Yu. It must be blow to their combat readiness. We need to push, if anything, to avoid another of those meteors."

Shirou closed his eyes, thinking to the destructive mushroom cloud left behind. He had only seen one of those once before, in the middle east.

"Yeah. Although it remains to be seen if he would really throw one of those to his people," Shirou argued. "I'd rather not risk that."

"I think he would," Mash said. "He ordered his soldiers to kill everyone in the village, after all."

"So what then, we head for Xiangyang?" Shirou asked, trying to keep a dreadful silence for falling onto them.

"That would be for the best, yes," Ophelia said, rubbing her chin.

"What about those cursed creatures?" Shirou asked, locking eyes with her. The air grew a little tense. He didn't mean to do that to her, she was trying her best, but her plan to allow Beryl to spread them had been something he swallowed in order to, at the very least, carve out a tunnel towards saving Fujimaru and the Director. "If they really are spreading, we cannot let them continue to do so."

"We don't have time," Ophelia replied.

"If I may," Sigurd said, expression once again serious. "Our time is short, and the sooner we take what we need, the faster we can change our focus."

"So we should allow the people to suffer?" Shirou asked with narrowed eyes.

"No. But we need to keep our priorities straight. We can help these people but…" Ophelia hesitated for a second, before fixing him with a stare. "… we cannot save them."

Shirou said nothing for a moment, his heart nearly stopping.

A pit formed in his stomach.

Ophelia was right.

Memories of the Scandinavian Lostbelt resurfaced, along with the hopelessness he felt then.

He took a breath. He had to save who he could.

Tohsaka, Luvia and everyone back on proper human history. Ritsuka, the Director, and the Valkyries.

Before he could reply, Mash spoke up. "While you're right, Ophelia… I think we do need to save them. We… it's our responsibility! We can't turn back."

Mash's eyes held a fire in them now, along with some melancholy.

Ophelia relented at that, features softening.

"I…" she looked around, as if the answer were in the grass. "...I see. Let's get to the next village, If it's safe, we move on. If not, we deal with whatever's coming. Is that okay?"

Shirou nodded.

And so, they got marching.

The weather was good, the sun's light reflecting on the wheat fields to give them a glowing, serene grace. It reminded her of Valhalla. Her long lost home.

Ortlinde shook her head. Those weren't good or useful memories.

Those times were gone, and made no impact in developing her functions.

So she turned to her insides. There was still something she needed to make certain of.

"Is Thrúd okay?" Ortlinde asked in her mind. Humans would not get an answer when doing that, but that wasn't her case.

"She still isn't answering. Dang, we need her!" Hildr said, her voice growing somewhat agitated. "S-sorry. I'm sure she'll come back soon! She's our reliable commander after all, right?"

Hildr's tone sounded somewhat faked, but Ortlinde appreciated the optimism nonetheless. That was Hildr, the cheery Valkyrie.

"Ortlinde?" A voice called to her from the left. Emiya Shirou was walking at her side, a little too close for a formal walk.

"Emiya," she said. He looked serious.

"There's something I want to ask," he said. Ortlinde's heart skipped a beat, a burst of static making her imagine the possibilities, including some that shouldn't be.

"Ortlinde… I know it's fun but keep the channel clear, alright?" Hildr echoed, her voice a light teasing tone.

"Tell me," she replied.

"Is Thrúd alright?"

"I…" Ortlinde pondered the question for a moment. She knew in her heart Thrúd wasn't alright but…

"Ortline, may I deal with this?" Hildr asked in her head. Ortlinde's head shot up for a second, before nodding.

In a second, command was relinquished to Hildr

It felt good to be in control again, but stiff. Ortlinde was always so stiff when in the prescense of others.

"H-hildr?" Shirou asked.

"One second," Hildr said, stretching her arms and twisting her torso a bit.

"You two, don't fall behind please," Ophelia said, looking back from the head of the formation.

"Got it, got it!" Hildr replied with some annoyance. Ophelia was so much like Thrúd and Sigrún at times. That's why she liked her.

Of course, Valkyries weren't supposed to like others.

"So… you want to talk to Thrúd? I haven't been able to get into much contact with her, outside battle advice. It seems she's still thinking about what happened," Hildr explained. Shirou looked away for a moment. She wondered why.

"Yeah. And I want to talk to her about that," he said.

"You could relay the message to me, you know?" Hildr said. They were all the same after all, except maybe for herself.

"Nah. I want to talk to Thrúd herself," he said, before his eyes opened wide in fear. Hildr glared at him, for suggesting she wasn't a good messenger. "N-not that I don't like talking to you. I love it. But…"

Hildr sighed. "I still don't understand that about humans. I'll make sure to tell Thrúd it's a priority," she said, and when she finished talking, she finally registered what he had said. "So you love talking to me? Is that correct?"

A small pool of emptiness began floating in her stomach.

Shirou raised his eyebrow. "Of course I do."

Hildr looked away, mouth pursed. "Y-you say that…" she couldn't find good words to answer that, so she went back to the physical, and flicked his forehead.

"Ow! Hildr!" Shirou said, rubbing it.

"That's what you get for saying things like that! Valkyries are for fighting, not talking."

"Yet you talk a lot," he said with a smile.

Once again, Hildr had difficulty finding the words. She so much wanted to get back at him for that. "That's… because I'm me. I'm good at fighting and following orders. The rest could be thrown away."

Hildr liked talking to brave warriors, bringing them mead, hearing their stories, learning their techniques.

She liked teasing her sisters. Teasing humans.

Those things were unnecessary for a Valkyrie.

Valkyries had priorities, and all of that wasn't a priority for others.

That's why she was broken.

She was proper in some things, and that's why she wanted to keep being proper in those things.

When Hildr looked back at Emiya, his expression had changed. It was grave, and strained. His eyes seemed to pierce her defences.

"You know that's not true," that surprised her. She wanted to believe him, a small part of her.

"Didn't I tell you to not surprise me like that?!" Hildr said, raising her voice and height. "Seriously, unpredictable opponents like you are the worst."

"Man, and here I thought we were good allies when we fought Qin Liangyu," he said.

Hildr descended a bit, recalling that battle. "Y-yes. We did well, didn't we? That's what I'm good at after all. Your technique and our synchro was impressive, you almost fought like a Valkyrie."

She felt her mouth twist up a bit. And Shirou smiled when she looked back at him. "Now that I like. Smiling Hildr. Calling that not proper or good is really a disservice."

He did it again. Hildr felt like her entire face was on fire, along with Ortlinde's laugh echoing in her head.

Yet, the Valkyrie wondered if he would keep being so forward. She wanted him to be more forward, instead of having to read his reactions. Ölrun was better at that kind of thing.

"Look!" Leif said, interrupting everyone's attention. They all turned to the northeast, to the field under the mountain, which at the same time gave sight to the far off superstructure in Xianyang. However, in the curvature that marked the elevation of one of the many steppes, Hildr could see a faint, white wall of smoke.

"What is…?" Mash asked, and then Hildr decided to levitate. Something was off.

"Sekt" She could hear Ophelia chant an aria to activate her magecraft.

"It's… vehicles," Ophelia said. Hildr flew a little higher, wary of not triggering a response from the emperor.

Hildr could see it now, the offensive line of machines, shaped like a rectangle with angles. Very little taste, no battle decorations or adornment outside the singular lion shape in front of them.

"Many vehicles. All headed our way at 160 kilometres per hour!" Hildr shouted, going back down again.

"And they all look like the shadow border too! Did the emperor reverse engineer it?" Ophelia mused to herself.

"Well, they're coming. We should retreat back to the forest, we're just too open here," Shirou said.

"They won't give us a chance. Look," Sigurd pointed to the east and west. There, more vehicles could be seen, gaining ground over the ones in centre.

"They want to box us in. Then our only choice will be to break through or get cornered," Ophelia said.

"But if the vehicle is as powerful as the Shadow Border, then we won't be able to scratch it in time!" Mash replied, looking at the incoming attackers gritted teeth.

Hildr pondered as they discussed. Charging in and breaking through was a good idea, but they had no specifications for the fire power needed, or if the enemy would retaliate at their approach.

"We have to get behind them," Ortlinde whispered in her mind.

"Exactly!" Hildr replied with a smile.

"But the others?" Ortlinde asked.

"Dang. I… I know! We'll fly them over!" Hildr thought.

"H-how?"

"We'll just manifest you for a sec!"

"A-are you sure?"

"Ninety-percent! that's pretty good right?"

"Y-yes."

"Everyone! I have an idea!" Hildr said, grabbing their attention. Now all eyes were on her, expecting her move.

She had to do a good job, for her sake, and to prove Sigurd how useless he was.

"What idea?" Ophelia asked, crossing her arms.

"We'll fly over them!" Hildr said.

"Not… the way I would have said it," Ortlinde echoed.

"Fly over them?" Ophelia asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Y-yeah. How do you plan to fly all of us?" Shirou asked. At his questioning, Hildr approached him, smiling, and proceeded to once again flick him in the forehead.

"we'll just manifest Ortlinde, dummy. Now," Hildr said, turning around. "I'm sure Sigurd can jump over them, correct?"

"Affirmative," Sigurd said with a smile that grated on her.

"Good. Then I'll carry Emiya, and Ortlinde will carry Mash and Leif. All good?" Hildr asked once again. The group nodded.

"Alright. Then once we land behind them, we'll bombard them with everything we have," Ophelia added.

"Sounds good to me," Shirou replied, a little eager. "I'll trace some Noble Phantasms to get the job done."

"Okay… then… Ortlinde! You ready?" Hildr shouted towards her interior.

"Y-yes…!"

"Then…" Hildr's smile faded as she closed her eyes. "...Manifesting multiple copies… linkage… set! Energy distribution… set! Spirit Origin split… set! Valkyrie division, start!" She started glowing, magical energy gathering around her.

Something from inside her was pulled out as motes of light began forming into the shape of a Valkyrie. In a second, Ortlinde was now standing at her side.

"Testing… Testing… is the link good?" Ortlinde asked while looking at her.

"Yep. Yep," Hildr replied with a wink.

"Ok. Good, we're all set," Ortlinde said. Then, she looked towards Shirou, who smiled at her.

"Good to see you again, Ortlinde," he said. A warm sensation spread through Ortlinde, and Hildr felt it.

"Alright. We'll jump on my mark, for now… let's charge them! Make sure they think we're going all out!"

The group agreed, and turned towards the approaching enemies. They were already trying to trap them in. The distance was of a few hundred meters.

"Go, now!" Ophelia shouted, and everyone started running towards the enemy. The Servants kept pace with Shirou and Ophelia, who in turn enchanced themselves with magecraft to go faster.

"Hold on to me Leif! Stay behind my shield!" Mash said, hiding the boy.

The vehicles approached fast, Hildr could see them clearly now. Ortlinde noted the vehicles began raising some sort of cannon out of their hulls.

Three hundred meters.

"Incoming attacks!" Ortlinde informed.

"We gotta jump now!" Ophelia shouted as Sigurd wrapped one arm around her.

Two hundred meters.

Ortlinde held onto Mash and Leif.

Hildr onto Shirou.

He vehicles fired their barrage of fireballs.

"Swam Mystic Code: Full power!" Hildr shouted as her wings of light emitted a golden, warm glow, feathers spreading to the air.

"Y-you don't have to shout it, you know?" Ortlinde said in their network.

"You're right, you're right. I'll keep it down," Hildr said.

The Valkyries jumped, along with Sigurd. However, while Sigurd flew in a straight line barely over the vehicles, the Valkyries took to the skies.

Dodging the fireballs was a trivial matter, their enhanced mobility allowing for easy maneuvers.

Of course, as Ortlinde reminded her, they had to limit that, for the sake of their loads.

With a left, a right, a spin, and another left, they flew over the barrage and over the vehicles, who sped past their previous point, finding it hard to brake and turn to face them.

That was their chance.

Hildr and Ortlinde landed as quickly as gracefully as when they took to the skies.

With a skid, they left Mash and the others on the ground, readying their spears.

"Declaration of the Great God, Gungnir!" With the True Name revealed, the spears took on a golden glow. Hildr would throw left, Ortlinde right, forcing the vehicles into a choke, to finish them up once their spars returned.

Once launched, their spears flew like comets towards their targets, exploding in a flash of golden light.

"Trace; On!" Emiya readied his bow, and Sigurd began charging his sword.

"Gram!"

The demonic sword released it's humongous energy while Emiya launched a barrage of arrows to rain down on the enemy. The vehicles, forced together by the spears, where engulfed in flames and steel.

When it was over, only a cloud of white smoke remained as pieces began to fall to the ground.

It was over.

"Well, that was easy," mash said, lifting her visor. "I guess they had to mass produce them at a lower quality."

"What matters is we won this one! Woo! Nice synchro!" Hildr said, giving Shirou a thumbs up, much to Ortlinde's chagrin.

"It wasn't anything like that, I just know your moves from watching you fight," he said with a smile.

He had watched them battle, victories and defeats. Ortlinde wondered what he thought, Hildr wanted him to watch her some more.

An annoying distraction on their celebration.

"Now you're just doing it on purpose," Hildr said with a pout while Ortlinde simply hid under her hood.

However, Emiya's response was anything but expected, being only a confused stare. "Doing what on purpose? I was just stating what happened. Unless adapting your battle style is offensive?" Shirou asked, turning to Sigurd. "Is it offensive? Shit, maybe it is."

"It depends," Sigurd began.

"Alright, enough chatting. Is everyone alright?" Ophelia asked. After a nod from everyone, she turned towards their true target. The superstructure over Xianyang. "Then let's go. We're not far. Just a few steppes and a–"

The air shifted then, as if the very earth's anger were directed at them.

"Master!" A flash of emerald meeting steel and crimson. The sound of two weapons colliding was followed by the splash of blood.

"Sigurd!" Mash screamed, rushing to his aid as the Dragonslayer fell on one knee.

Ortlinde watched the south. Hildr turned to the north.

They saw nothing, not in the steppes, not in the wall of smoke.

"That was– Ophelia! Stand behind me!" Shirou said, stepping towards the other Master.

Hildr felt an inmense pressure, as if the earth itself wanted to erase her. It was as if the world rejected her existence as a Servant more than usual.

Ortlinde spotted the figure first, walking through the smoke.

Of long hair, dark clothes, wielding two bloodied daggers.

A woman walked through, the world warping to grant her passage.

"That is…" Shirou whispered.

Hildr didn't care who it was, she just knew it wasn't a good thing. So she and Ortlinde readied themselves once again.

"Akuta. She's alive."

Li observed the small man drop his jaw at the poor display of the new machines. A disappointment, but nothing was better than a well trained body and hardened spirit.

"Hmm," the emperor said, slightly disinterested. "We'll need to readjust our production. Fabricate more robust materials, even if it will take time."

"Y-yes. But… did you get the warrior maidens? Could you analyze them?" Han Xin asked, his composure regained.

"Indeed. Your plan was flawless, even with the little footage we got from them. Now… we know what they are made of. While biology is not our strong forte, the Fusang tree should serve us well in that regard, along with the body of the Zehnren."

"Yes, my emperor. So you'll begin production then?" Han Xin asked, trying and failing to not appear too eager.

"Indeed. We should have new units within the day. They'll be yours to command. I'm interested in how they will turn out myself. Maybe they'll be more human than us?"

"I sure hope not, it–" before Li could finish his sentence, a disciple entered the grounds of the emperor's chamber.

"My gracious, all powerful Emperor! I- forgive me! But… he's returned!" He said, shaking.

"I'm afraid I was too busy with my new designs. Who has returned?" the emperor asked.

"Xiang Yu. He wants to see you."

A/N: Not much to say this chapter. It was a fun bit of fluff, that's all. Also trying some new things with my writing style.

Dunno If I'll be able to do weekly updates. This one's special cause I'm trying. But bi or tri weekly will be fine.

Valks and Shirou got some banter here. I'll try to place some more, since these arc has felt kinda dry in that regard.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed it.

Chiao!