AMTT94: No, I have no intention of making a harem for Shirou. In fact, I don't particularly like harems (which I classify among teenage fantasies). Plus, a harem with Rin/Ishtar AND Campione's Lancelot AND Luo Hao... wow... Do you hate Shirou that much?
Personally, I wouldn't complain if I had one of them for a girlfriend... Well, I will need a vitamin cure and an excellent psychiatrist, because each of them is the equivalent of a full-time job exhausting both physically and mentally. But nobody, I really mean NOBODY, can survive more than a few weeks of the stress caused by the incessant bickering that would generate the competition between these women.
Godou's harem works because the girls respect the hierarchies of the group. They never try to take first place at Erica.
Do you realize that Ishtar has a really difficult character to live with, always wanting to be recognized as the best, the most beautiful, the most intelligent, she is jealous, vindictive, aggressive, dominant, and always wanting the first place in everything? Worse still, you realize that Luo Hao is a freak, who lives only in the hope of finding some worthy adversary? Finally, Lancelot is the most balanced of the three... which is quite ironic because she is still a brawler, and very direct emotionally speaking, always causing a ruckus as soon as she appears somewhere. Yes, she is moderate... but only as compared to the other two. She is still a Heretic God of Steel... that is to say a hurricane with its own will!
It wouldn't be a harem; it would be a war zone!
Author Note: As always, I thank the readers for their comments and encouragement.
Slaves, Kings, and Gods
The usual television programs were suddenly interrupted by a special news flash.
Tochigi prefecture was the victim of a sudden... snowstorm! While summer had begun several weeks ago now, the temperature had dropped below zero with stormy winds. The weather disturbance was not preceded by any warnings and was still unexplainable. Snow was falling abundantly on the east side of Lake Chūzenji blocking the roads.
A crisis cell had just been convened by the government. The inhabitants of the Tochigi prefecture were encouraged to stay indoors while waiting for help.
A Siberian blizzard was blowing over the region. These icy winds carried snowflakes that fell steady. If the storm blew for a few more hours, the fauna and flora would not survive.
In neighboring prefectures, the clash between the cold front and the summer temperatures begot very violent thunderstorms. The wind ripped out the electrical wires. Power cuts were multiplying, gradually paralyzing the east of the island of Honshu; even Tokyo was plagued by chaos. The traffic lights had broken down in a part of the metropolis causing gigantic traffic jams while hail battered the crowd who took refuge at random in the buildings. In the sky, lightning thundered tirelessly.
Ishtar uttered an awful curse forgetting that she was a pure and noble goddess (because she was... wasn't it? I said: wasn't it?!... Good, that will do... but next time answer faster and without looking up).
Flying next to Maanna: the Boat of Heaven, the Goddess of Venus dodged a twister chasing her. But this was not enough; she had to change direction again to avoid another whirlwind that sought to cut her off.
Three other twisters were moving along the eastern shore of Lake Chūzenji, chasing Ereshkigal and Godou Kusanagi. These swirls of wind rose to the stratosphere, swallowing the icy air from high altitudes and spitting it out in an inhabited area.
The consequences were cataclysmic.
Angry, Ishtar turned to the origin of the disaster. Nestled on the shoulders of the monkey god, Vaisravana modeled the magic of the cold and the magic of the wind to create these twisters.
She loaded Maanna with two silver arrows, pointing to the target with an imperious finger. The double bow of blue-lacquered gold arched gracefully and the two projectiles launched at ultrasonic speeds disappeared passing through stargates before exiting through other luminous portals that had opened one in front of the monkey god and the other behind him.
The two explosions mingled to form a single powerful ball of blue flames which spit out a mushroom of smoke and ash toward the sky.
Only...
A large beam of golden light cut through the sky, starting from the cloud of smoke that was still stagnant over the explosion's site.
Fortunately, Ishtar was too smart for playing sitting duck waiting for the smoke to dissipate. Because the attack hit just where she stood and would probably have seriously hurt her. Whispering a new burst of curses, the Queen of Heaven looked at the smoked wraps as they scattered.
Riding Zhu Ganglie - turned into a giant pig- and Vaisravana hung on his shoulder, the Monkey King looked at her with a mocking smile. The trio was surrounded by a spherical shield of golden light on which appeared and disappeared randomly trigrams of Yi-King or Chinese ideograms.
Clearly, Sun Wukong's reputation was not usurped. He wasn't just a God of Steel, but also a renowned Daoist magician...
Three other twisters were suing Ereshkigal and Godou. The Japanese Godslayer had called the Boar Authority. Riding the mighty Divine Beast, they had hitherto managed to dodge the relentless attacks.
But the Boar was a manifestation of destruction. It absolutely hated being used as a simple mount and became increasingly difficult to lead.
"We had to change tactics... and quickly," said the Japanese Campione.
The Divine Authorities Goudou had won for defeating Verethragna were extraordinarily loyal to him. Nevertheless, the Boar could be reticent... or even resentful when the Campione did not satisfy its thirst for destruction.
"Kusanagi-san! The Monkey's King is trying to cut us off."
He nodded.
"I saw it!"
Indeed, despite the snow swirls blocking the view and blinding them, it was hard to miss a monkey as big as a building riding a pig on the same scale of size!
Following his king's instructions, the Boar changed direction, but Zhu Ganglie followed without difficulty... and Sun Wukong's Sworn Middle Brother was faster.
"I will slow them down," cried Ere to dominate the roar of the blizzard.
With a gesture of her red spear, the Goddess of Netherworld caused the birth of stone stalagmites that formed a real bulwark between them and their pursuer.
But Zhu Ganglie did not try to avoid the obstacle. On the contrary, he rushed straight to the wall erected by the goddess. The stalactite wall disintegrated.
While raising other obstacles- which the giant pig smashed with the same ease- Ereshkigal invoked several doubles of her spear and threw them on the enemy. Alas, Sun Wukong watched over his Sworn Middle Brother and Meslamtaea's doubles clashed with energy shields adorned with esoteric Daoist symbols.
Raising the Blazing Soul of the Underworld to the sky, Kur's queen attacked with red lighting. This time again the King of the Monkey blocked all attacks and retaliated using golden rays of light.
On Godou's orders, the Boar began to zigzag to avoid being hit by fire... but this slowed their escape... and Zhu Ganglie got closer to them even faster.
They would certainly have been trampled by the Subordinate God without Ishtar's intervention.
The Goddess of Heaven came out of a stargate. Hovering over Sun Wukong next to Maanna, she threw three of her rubies creating violent explosions. Of course, the Sage Equaling Heaven manages to block the attacks with ease. And the Mesopotamian goddess had to flee just after that, because the twisters converged on her, guided by Vaisravana. Nevertheless, the diversion allowed the Boar to get a little bit of a head starts on his pursuers.
"All right, we'll do it differently," says Godou.
The Japanese Devil King wields his black sword in the direction of heaven.
"It was here at this place, that Susanoo led a thousand unruly deities in rebellion. A thousand swords standing upon the earth, used as city walls to defend against the enemies."
The invocation of the Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi Authority was done in a different way from a classical Divine Authority. Not only did the Black Sword have its own capabilities, but it could also copy and modify the effects of other Authorities.
And Goudou Kusanagi used Susannoo's sword on the Boar.
The Divine Beast found itself clad in steel armor that covered it completely!
Taking Ereshkigal's hand, the Japanese Devil King jumped to the bottom of his strange mount and then pointed to Sun Wukong with his sword.
"This is my boast of victory over the gods, the paean of my strength!"
Happy to be delivered from its role as means of transportation, the Boar uttered a roar of joy that shook the sky. It rushed forward. With steel tusks, red eyes, and a flaming back, the armored boar left blackened footprints in the ground and the snow evaporated.
Its charge was more like a convulsion of the earth, an earthquake, or a landslide, than an animal's attack. The Incarnation of the most unbridled animal savagery infused with the power of the blacksmith god Susanoo, at that moment it seemed invincible.
Then Sun Wukong raised Ruyi Jingu Bang.
The divine staff stretched disproportionally before falling violently on the back of the Boar. The Divine Beast uttered a cry of agony as the two nearest hills collapsed and the ground rose over a hundred square meters.
With a single stroke of his golden rod the king of the Monkeys had won the fight.
The Great Sage Equaling Heaven burst out laughing. The thundering sound sounded for miles.
"You still don't understand who you're up against? I fought alone against the army of the Chinese gods. The gods of war as generals, with the minor gods, the spirits of Heaven, the Divine Beasts as mere soldiers... millions of them. I faced them alone and defeated them! I did! I, Sun Wukong, the King of the Monkeys. I, the Great Sage Equaling Heaven! I humiliated them; I put them on the run. Kusanagi brat, a pathetic Campione like you does not even deserve the honor to face me! And what are two goddesses to me? I faced the entire Chinese pantheon and I won!"
He plucked a few hairs from his cheeks and then scratched his hand to collect a few drops of blood that mingled with his beard hairs.
"And do you know why I alone can defeat an army? Because, even alone, I am countless!"
Sun Wukong swallowed the bloody hairs, chewed, and then spit on the ground repeatedly.
And the earth convulsed, forming funnels where forms rose for the first time. The newborns opened their eyes and turned to the two goddesses and the Campione. They were monkeys standing like men. They were naked, but their features were identical to those of their creator. There were several hundred...
"Oh no! He created clones!" explained Ishtar a little unnecessarily.
Ereshkigal and Godou were silent, on the verge of panic.
How were they going to defeat hundreds of Sun Wukong when one was enough to put them in trouble?!
A dome of glittering energy, surrounded by dozens of Enemy_programs, resisted blizzard and snow. At the shelter behind the shield created by the Moon Cell, they had witnessed the fight by watching the holographic screens created by the Regalia. They? Godou's harem, Athena, Hakuno, and Shirou.
"No" Erica Blandelli turned pale. "We must intervene, they will be killed... My king needs me."
Lilianna and Ena approved the 'First Wife' of Japan's King.
"Hakuno opens a gate so we can get out!"
The Last Master of the Moon hesitated. She was also worried... but she didn't see how the three women could change the situation. Athena took the floor.
"No, don't interfere," said the child goddess.
The Queen of Night turned to the hills. Despite the cold wind and the falling snow, they could see that thousands of monkeys had gathered to cheer on their king with their cries.
"Look, you're not the only ones watching the fight. Your intervention will end the truce. Have you forgotten? This battle of champions -the King of the Monkeys and his Sworn Brothers against the goddesses and King Godou- is the plan you approved so that we don't have to fight the monkeys' army. Get out of the shield and Sun Wukong's army won't just clap. Everything you can do is create an even more unfavorable balance of power for King Godou. We can only wait and trust. Have faith, Godou has triumphed repeatedly in battles that seemed impossible to win."
The goddess of wisdom was of course right, but this could not be enough to allay the fears of the knightly woman. Erica looked around for an ally and her eyes stopped on Shirou.
The redhead with a lock of white hair watched the fight, his fists clenched with helpless anger. His face showed intense conflict... he wanted to cross the shield to intervene. He wanted to... Yet he could not take a step forward... as if his body refused to obey his mind!
Since his arrival in this world, Shirou Emiya was only a shadow of himself. The reasons were multiple: his death, his resurrection, the fragment of Archer's soul that parasitized him, and especially the realization that he would never see Sakura again.
He had not understood until then that something else had changed in him.
Shirou had always been impulsive.
Of course, the events of the Gray's War had been a harsh lesson. Had he not gone to the Ryuudou Temple to play the hero of justice, Angra Mainuy would never have corrupted Saber. His impetuousness and lack of reflection had given All the World's Evils a powerful weapon, which had practically brought the world to end.
It was no wonder that Shirou was upset.
The influence of EMIYA had calmed him down. This more experienced and bitter version of himself was a planner who had long lost the thoughtlessness of youth.
Shirou now understood that barging into a battle, without a plan, was not exactly a good idea.
Luo Hao often quoted Sun Tzu. In particular, "Know the adversary and above all know yourself and you will be invincible."
Planning, preparing for battle, which was the right thing to do... But that did not mean that his current inability to fight was normal.
Ishtar... no, Rin... Rin was his precious friend... he cared about her. She was all he had left of his old life. She was Sakura's sister. She was also Archer's Master. If she were to die, there would be nothing left for Emiya Shirou.
How could he remain passive in such a situation?
The idea of losing someone important would upset anyone, making them lose all their good resolutions. Even EMIYA, the mature and thoughtful EMIYA, would jump into the fray without thinking if Rin was in danger... it was normal... For Shirou or Archer, Rin was someone who deserved this sacrifice...
Raising his trembling hands in front of his face, Shirou was not even aware that he was crying.
Why? Why was he not able to intervene?
"Oh, I see, a mongrel has finally realized something important."
Hearing the voice of Gilgamesh, the people present jolted and turned around.
Dressed in his golden armor, sitting on a golden throne partly covered in scarlet drapes, Humanity First Hero looked at Shirou with a mocking smile, with his chin resting on the palm of his hand.
It took them a few seconds to understand that the Golden King was not really present under the shield. In fact, they were looking at a slightly translucent image floating above the ground, surrounded by a blurred halo. In fact, behind the throne, one could recognize a part of the Vimana.
Shirou was the first to react.
"What... what do you mean, King Gilgamesh?"
The mocking smile disappeared, replaced by a more serious look... to the great surprise of the redhead; the Most Ancient Hero had a sad smile almost... compassionate. An expression one would never expect to see on the face of the Golden King.
"Well... Ishtar asked you to stay here, safe and you obey... its normal for a mortal to obey a deity. Especially a mortal of the first generation."
"A... mortal of the first generation?"
Shirou didn't understand what Gilgamesh meant. The first human generation dates back to antediluvian times... in the more literal sense, before the mythological deluge.
"Oh... did you forget? Mongrel, your body was created by the mother goddess Ishtar using a piece of clay taken from the banks of the Apsu and the blood of the god Enki. Ishtar gave you form and life using a powerful Divine Authority known as Potnia Theron: Conception of All Animals."
"I remember... but... excuse me Great King of Uruk... what does that have to do with... what happens to me?"
Gilgamesh replied with a scowl.
"You still don't understand... Well, I shouldn't be surprised by the plebeians' ignorance. After all it is up to kings to explain the world to their subjects. So listen carefully, mongrel, for the One King honors your ears with his wisdom. Do you know why the gods created humans? No? So listen... "
The king in golden armor half closed his eyes, his voice became deafening as he recounted a legend that stood in time older than human memory.
"Mu sura rēa, (1) before the first bread was baked, before the first oven was lit, lived 50 Igigi (2) 7 gods of destiny, 300 Anunnaki of Heaven, and 600 Anunnaki of Netherworld. The Igigi were the kings above. The Annunaki were the subjects that bowed their heads and embraced the ground as their rulers passed by. While the Great Gods lived in their majestic temples, the Anunnaki kept the canals, maintained the temples, and made offerings. But jealousy spares neither heaven, nor waves, nor even salt."
The Golden King paused while his red eyes reflected a sudden anger. He spoke again with bitterness.
"Who first had this idea? What Anunnaki tired of being exploited without consideration first proposed the revolt? No one remembers more. These events are so ancient that even the long-remembered gods have come to forget. This is about what the initiator of the revolt said to his brothers: 'We Anunnaki are all the workforce of the Great Gods. We make the stars and planets turn in the sky, control the tides and prevent drought as well as floods. Without us, souls would not travel between the world of the living and the home of the dead. Without us, grain would not grow in the fields. Rain would not fall to water the thirsty land.' Inflamed by this speech, the Annunaki went on strike... the first of all strikes. The temples were left to the sand and wind. The rain stopped falling, the stars stopped in the sky and the ghosts wandered into the world of the living, unable to find their way to the other world."
Gilgamesh had a real talent for storytelling because even the women of the Godou's harem had stopped complaining to listen to him. He suddenly turned to Shirou.
"And then, mongrel, you wonder what happened? The Great Gods yielded. They asked the Anunnaki what they wanted. And they complained about their working conditions... ah and they too wanted temples... and offerings of food and clothing. Things have not changed much since that distant time. The workers still claim to want equality, but in fact, they want to be the boss because they want his Rolls and his Rolex," joked Gilgamesh.
But the Sumerian demigod took the word with great seriousness.
"The Great Gods were troubled by these demands. Finally, the god Enki proposed to take clay from the banks of the Apsu, the body of water on which the world floats. It was the remnant of the creation of the world before the Sword of Separation separated the waters from the below to the Heaven above. Enki fashioned two statuettes with this clay and impregnated them with his blood. They became -of course- the first human couple. He then presented them to the Anunnaki. 'They will grow and prosper as the days go on. Their number will darken the Earth and the Heaven will echo with the sound of their footsteps as they will quickly be swarms. They will be your replacements. They will work with the sweat of their foreheads in the fields.' For this is the way... humans were created to be slaves. That's why I despise the gods."
The son of the goddess Rimat-Ninsun turned to Shirou and then to Hakuno.
"Since you have been awake on this world, have you once disobeyed any of Ishtar's orders?"
The Sovereign of the Moon frowned, a rather extreme reaction for this not-very-emotional girl. However, Hakuno being Hakuno... her behavior had not been so deeply affected by Ishtar's Divine Authority.
For the redhead, it was much more obvious.
"I..." Shirou interrupted.
He wanted to defend Ishtar and contradict the Golden King. But he couldn't... Indeed, every time the goddess had given him an order, he had obeyed without arguing (3)!
To save him, Ishtar had... Ishtar had used a Divine Authority that made him her slave?!
"Mongrel... no... Emiya Shirou, listen! And you too, Hakuno Kishinami incline thine ear to your King. Hear words inspired by the divine wisdom bequeathed to the King by his mother. The effects of Potnia Theron: Conception of All Animals will last as long as you are on Earth. Only when you leave the planet will you be delivered from its effects. Your destiny will inevitably lead you out of the Earth's atmosphere. At this time, the mind freed from the pernicious influence of the gods, you will have to decide the destiny of humanity. The future of this world will then rest in your hands alone."
The clones of Sun Wukong were not created by an Authority. They were only the result of the Daoist magic of the Monkeys' King. They had neither the weapons, the magical powers, nor the Authorities acquired by the Sage Equaling Heaven during its adventures.
But even limited to the innate talents of the original, the clones were an army of stone monkeys. They were a powerful match for the Divine Beasts of the highest rank.
Since their introduction, Isthar, Ereshkigal, and Godou had fled. Thanks to Maanna they managed to escape their pursuers, using a stargate to teleport a few kilometers as soon as they were about to be caught.
Using a hit-and-run tactic, the two goddesses and the Campione had succeeded in killing a dozen clones. Each monkey had turned into stone once killed, returning to the soil from which it was born.
"I think it's time to strike a great blow!"
Godou turned to Ishtar, hovering next to the Boat of Heaven. The goddess smiled in a way that made him shiver every single time because it announced nothing good...
"Uh... a great blow?"
"Yes, I'm going to need your cooperation, King Godou. And you too, dear sister... In fact, we're going to have to attack in a specific order, with perfect coordination. If we fail, we've probably missed our last chance to win this fight. So...
Mischievously, the goddess turned to the Campione.
"You understand, you have to respect the right timing!"
"Yes, I get it."
"You are sure" she simpered.
"Why are you so insistent? Yes, I get it. Now, explain your plan!"
Wonderfully mimicking an innocent young woman with wide-open eyes, Ishtar put a hand on her cheek.
"Oh, I just thought I shouldn't be the first girl to ask you to hold back, to show endurance, and not fire your entire load prematurely. I don't want to end up as disappointed as your girlfriends."
While Ereshkigal facepalmed sighing with exasperation, Godou sniffed, feeling miserable and betrayed.
She was the worst devil in hell... absolutely evil!
(1) In those distant years (in Sumerian).
(2) A small group of important Mesopotamian gods, the leaders of the Sumerian/Babylonian pantheon.
(3) You know, I really expected that somebody notes Shirou's lack of initiative and the fact that he always acts like Ishtar's subordinate, never acting against her orders. I didn't insist on that, because I wanted the revelation of the situation to be some sort of brutal wake-up but... still... Since Chapter 2, I have been sowing clues about the effect of Potnia Theron: Conception of All Animals. Besides, the effect of this Skill (in the Fateverse, it's a Skill) is by no means a secret.
But no one has ever said anything.
I get a lot of criticism every time I make Shirou moves a finger. But, obviously, that Moonchild's Shirou has no sense of initiative (although he is canonically too impulsive) did not shock anyone.
For once, I would have liked to have been criticized by people telling me I was wrong about Shirou's character.
So, yet this is something far more important than the speed at which Shirou can Trace a Noble Phantasm, or how many Heretic Gods he can kill, blindfolded, hopping, and with an arm tied behind his back, no one notices such a significant change in character.