A/N: I… Wrote this chapter with a flu. Goddamnit my head hurts!
I really wanted to post a follow-up chapter so I scrambled through my notes and studied my roadmap. This chapter serves as the introduction to some characters.
I have a new fic btw: I wrote it for funzies so it didn't hurt as much. It's called "Peace at Last" Check it out!
Now let's start!
Lars
Lars Watson was a known nervous wreck. His peers would comment on it everytime they meet him. It didn't help that he was suddenly hired as an aide for the king. It was a well-known tradition on the kingdom to have a mass hiring everytime a new monarch gets crowned. It was mostly for common tasks like maids and gardeners. But he was hired as an aide for THE king, one of the highest positions that some people would kill for. Granted that he was just an intern training under the previous king's aide but still.
He walks the halls of the castle on his way to the king's office. It was such a magnificent structure on the outside, but you could easily see more of its beauty on the inside.
"Kyaaaaaa!!"
He panicked when he heard a scream from one of the rooms. It was the scream of a woman.
"N-no! Your majesty, stop!"
His eyes widened. 'Your majesty? The king? What is he doing in a maid's room?' He thought as he listens more intently.
"Noooo! Please! Forgive me, I made mistake!"
What horrors could be happening inside the room? That is what he thought. Is the king abusing a maid? 'Oh no.' His sweat dropped from his forehead.
Bang!
He jumped as he heard a large sound. The maid went quiet, was he finished?
The door opened and he saw a tall man exit out of it. Red hair and olive eyes, it was the signature look of the king. He was adjusting his glove, he closed the door immediately after coming out of the room.
The king looked at Lars. "May I know who you are?" He asked.
Lars' mind went into panic mode. His thoughts scrambled through as he slowly loses his footing. "M-my Name i-is Lars W-Watson, Your Malignity- no! Imeanyourmajesty, I am so sorry!" He bows profusely as he almost wets his pants in panic.
The king tilts their head. "Hmmm, Bartholomew's Intern?"
"Y-yes!"
The king cupped his chin. "Are you lost? You look pretty nervous."
"I-I certainly am not, my king! Forgive me but I need to go!" He runs past the king. 'I am so dead!' He thought as he cries.
What actually happened…
Shirou was wearing rubber gloves as he holds two wires while attempting to connect it together.
Bzzzt!
"Kyaaaaaa!!"
"Calm down Dorothy, it's just a lamp." He said to calm down the maid who was literally freaking out.
"B-but..."
Poof! Smoke exploded from the lamp just as Shirou touched it again.
"N-no! Your majesty, stop!" She said to the king, now begging.
Shirou looked at the lamp intently as he tries to focus. "It's just the magic stone releasing pressure. Calm down." He traced some pliers as he twists another wire.
He uses structural analysis to find more problems with the magical lamp. There was grime everywhere, looks like it hasn't been cleaned for a long time "Dirt, how long has it been since you cleaned this thing?"
"Noooo! Please! Forgive me, I made mistake!"
"Dorothy, you're overreacting. Calm. Down." He installs the magic stone again after wiping the grime out of the lamp. "Just a minor surge and it's good to go." He touches the stone, it illuminated with a blue hue as he fills it up with magical energy.
Bang!
Shirou stands up as he dismisses his rubber gloves. "And that's all." He wore his coat again after cleaning the mess in the room.
"T-thank you, Your Majesty." Dorothy bowed.
He wears his glove again and opens the door. What he saw was Lars Watson, one of the capture targets. He needed to pretend. "May I know who you are?" He asked
Lars looked visibly panicked. 'What happened to him?' He thought. He was a fan favourite as Illya said, he can easily see why. He's easy to bully.
"M-my Name i-is Lars W-Watson, Your Malignity- no! Imeanyourmajesty, I am so sorry!" He said, bowing to Shirou.
'Huh, so he's nervous about me. I need to console him, somehow.' Shirou cups his chin and thought. "Hmmm, Bartholomew's Intern?"
"Y-yes!"
'Okay, that was a good response.' He thought. "Are you lost? You look pretty nervous."
"I-I certainly am not, my king! Forgive me but I need to go!" He runs.
'Huh, weird.' Shirou mused.
Meriel
Entering the castle as a maid was really easy, the charm of the heroine combined with an already written résumé made it so.
The plot of the game starts at the entrance, where the cast meet as the king hires the new staff. A few paths could be taken from there: the path Lars, Raul, Jackson, and Isaiah. Although going to Jackson or Isaiah would risk meeting the villains, which wastes in-game time of dialogue.
Royal Road has a unique mechanic called the "hurry system" where in-game time and energy is spent everytime the player opens a dialogue box: this includes choices, tasks, or even flirting on that matter. This creates a very dynamic relationships within the characters, as they have different responses depending on the time of the day. A really advanced system for 2004, which landed them a nomination at the game awards.
But enough of that, she plans to start with Lars for the optimal route for the harem ending. Which lands both the villains dead.
Meriel walks the castle hall on her way to meet Lars, they were supposed to bump into each other to trigger their friendship phase. She skips her steps as her pink hair flutters in the air, a sign of her beauty.
Just when she was about to meet Lars she saw something peculiar. Lars was not there, instead there was Isaiah.
'Is this a bug in some way?' She thought. She passes through Isaiah when the red-haired king suddenly called her.
"Excuse me, are you one of the new maids?" He spoke in a dignified tone.
'Was he supposed to do that?' Maybe she triggered a conversation, she thought. 'What do I say?'
"I am, Your Majesty. My name is Meriel Mayfield." She smiles sweetly as she curtsies. It was a word-for-word recital of Meriel's dialogue from the game. "It is nice meeting you." Her rudeness will be noticed by the king and she would be berated by Isaiah. She braces herself for a scolding. 'Here we go-'
"Nice to meet you too, it was relieving that the mass hiring had resulted in people like you entering the castle." He smiles brightly as he lifts his hand for a handshake.
'Wha-!?' Meriel was perplexed. This was not supposed to happen! She panics as she as she receives Isaiah's hand as response. 'Oooh~ Caloused hands- Get yourself together!' "L-likewise!" She responds with a cheerful but awkward smile.
A warm smile enters the king's face. "Forgive me, I have things to do, so may we go our separate ways?" He asks.
Meriel pulls her hand out, flustered. "Ah, yes!"
Isaiah turns his back as he walks away from Meriel, not even saying goodbye.
"What just happened…?" Meriel asked as her jaw reaches the floor.
Bzzzt
Suddenly, a jolt was felt in her head. "Ah!" She touches her forehead as it seems that a headache was about to occur.
'I…am the bone of my sword…'
Words appear in her thoughts as she felt a burning sensation in her body. "Sympathize?" She spoke as the headache subsides. "That was a late game ability… what the hell is it doing here?" An ability that the heroine unlocks later in the story, it reveals the backstory of the chosen capture target, all of them if it's the harem route.
"But… what was that?"
Illya
Practicing alchemy is like breathing for an Einzbern homunculus, she may resent the Einzberns but that doesn't mean that she would stop practicing magecraft. She has her pride as a magus for Christ's sake!
Illyasviel opens the door as she hears a knock. It was Shirou.
"Onii-chan? I thought you wanted to meet the heroine?" She asked.
"I already did, close the door." Shirou answered.
"Ok." Illya nodded.
They sat at a table in the middle of Illya's room. It has a purple bed and a mahogany table beside it. There were paintings of her and Shirou all over the room, with the largest one hiding a stash of stuffed animals. At the corner was her study and alchemic materials.
"So, how did you meet her?" Illya enquired as she took a sip from her teacup.
"I was fixing Dorothy's lamp when I saw Watson on his way to my Office." Shirou started. "Later I noticed Meriel passing through and ignoring me."
Illya suddenly stopped drinking. "Watson? Lars Watson?"
"Yes"
"She's attempting a harem route… shit." The princess spoke.
"A harem what now!?"
Illya shakes her head. "It's a very hard route that requires perfect time management, you attempt to max out all of the capture target's affection before the end of chapter 3… In that route, both I and Elizabeth would die..."
"But, Elizabeth is missing." Shirou rebutted.
"That's the point, we need to observe her first and find out her intentions. Maybe inform Taiga at the shop for extra eyes." Illya looked Shirou in the eye.
Shirou nods. "Okay, we'll do that for now…" He looks at Illya's desk. "By the way, what were you doing?"
Illya stands up and picks up a document from her desk. "This!" She touches the document. "is a research paper at mana management." The princess flips a page. "I really didn't mind it in game but it made me cringe when I personally witnessed how mages practise in this world. It's all about firepower with no finesse. Yeah, they might be stronger than your average magus, but it doesn't help them when they run out of mana. And for a body over-reliant on mana like them? It's practically crippling."
Come to think of it, Shirou noticed it too. Some mages presented to him in court would run out of mana quite often. Even then, they don't even have an ounce of hand-to-hand combat experience and always think themselves higher than swordsmen. This worried Shirou as he's essentially witnessing mages more terrible than him despite his lack of output.
"You thought Jackson with that right?" The king asked.
"Oh, yes. He's actually proficient with reinforcement. So he uses it quite often. Even calling himself a "mighty magic swordsman"." Illya rolls her eyes, it was precisely that attitude why Illya hates his guts.
"But enough of me! What do you think about Meriel?" Illya asked, her eyes gleaming.
Shirou sighs. "She's… Okay. Her cheerfulness kinda creeps me out, but she's alright."
"Mhm." Illya looked down while cupping her chin. "Can I sit in your lap Shirou?"
Shirou nods.
"Yay!" She jumps out and hugs Shirou. "So, anything else?"
Shirou's brows crunched up a bit. "She… smells like honey. It's sickeningly sweet like it was forcibly being shoved to my nose."
"That's how you sense magecraft right?"
"Yeah…"
"Then you need to be careful around her then… If she makes you uncomfortable then there's probably a reason for it." Illya said, warning him.
He suddenly strokes Illya's hair. "You've really matured, huh?" He comments as Illya looks up to him.
Illya smile solemnly. "Ofcourse… I have a grown-up body now, I needed my mind to catch up." The princess spoke in a nostalgic tone. "Onii-chan? Did you feel uncomfortable with your death?" She asks.
Shirou chuckles. "I actuall didn't mind it, I got to meet you again." He closes his eyes.
"Teehee~ That's so like you." Illya giggles.
Shirou Emiya
The crowd cheers in glee as a man was tied to a noose, his hair was bleached white, his skin was tanned as if burned from the inside, and his eyes; steel-colored as it was forged in years of battle. His physique, toned well despite being malnourished. He then looks up.
"Monster!"
"Murderer!"
"Demon!"
All of them called him, the sheer fury in their eyes could burn the sky itself. A man of grave sin, countless people died in his hands for some unknown agenda. His snake-like tongue hides his intentions, he helps with no reward, he saves with no reward, no sane person would do such a thing unless they have something mind.
Or at least; that's what they were told.
In truth- the man never had any agenda to begin with, he helps because he can, and he saves because he can. His childhood dream turned ideal: to save everyone in front of him with no exceptions. The unfortunate scapegoat, the hero-turned-victim.
His only thought was to save everyone. An innocent and impossible dream, but beautiful nonetheless.
'So this is how it ends, huh? In the gallows, surrounded by hate. What a truly broken person I am, I bare no hate for everyone present here. Even to the ones that framed me.' He thought to himself.
He sees a man approaching the platform. The man held a lever that is connected to the trapdoor below his feet, the man that would kill him.
'Saber, will I meet you again?' He asks the heavens.
Clank!
The trapdoor opens, for a few seconds the people stared at his face, they were appalled by what they saw, no remorse or even a scream of defiance. What they saw was a smile, a smile so innocent that it could not belong to an alleged murderer like him.
His body fell and it slumped as the breath of life leaves it forever. One of the spectators clapped, but they were the only one making a noise. The previously loud congregation fell silent, the expected cheering of joy was not there, replaced by an unknown pressure.
One of the people suddenly spoke. "Oh God, what have we done?"
A/N: Well that ended with a sour note. As you can see the new pacing really hurts my brain.
I am so sorry for the quality, I promise to fix it when I get better…
Now what do you think, please follow for more. I'll upload when I get better! Please review, I need the feedback! Flames would be ignored as per tradition!
