A figure decked in white observed the whole opening ceremony with great interest. After all, this was the first time he had seen that particular knight (now King) since the incident.
He vividly remembered Mordred, and it had always struck him as odd that the knight would be entangled in a coup against their king to begin with. The best way to describe Mordred's opinion towards the throne was 'apathy' in his opinion. While he, or rather she had vocally disapproved (to Arturia's face, on more than one occasion) of certain assignments, Mordred had never shown any real animosity towards Arturia.
Far from it...there had been more of a sense of grudging respect towards the king.
Mordred's behavior, particularly in Camlann, had been strange. And if he hadn't been imprisoned by Mordred's estranged mother, he would have looked much deeper into the whole matter.
As it was, he would openly admit Mordred had effectively blindsided him with the fact Arturia had never actually died. To be fair, he had no idea a potion that could induce a false death state even existed, much less that Mordred knew how to brew it and the counter potion effectively.
Hell, the fact Mordred knew potions at all was a bit of a shock. Though it did explain some of the mystery pranks that had hit Camelot before the end.
Then the squire stepped up to the podium and adjusted the microphone for a moment.
He watched with full interest as the child pulled out a ceremonial sword. Nearby, he saw a large number of locals pull out full swords of their own, recently sharpened no less. Closer inspection revealed many individuals were in armor, though considerably modernized compared to what he was used to. Those without swords pulled out wooden ones or some other weapon, and went down on one knee. Their weapons were placed in front of them as they placed a fist against their chest in a familiar manner, with their fist right over their heart.
Inside the table's circle,
Under the sacred sword.
A knight must vow to follow
The code that is unending,
Unending as the table—
A ring by honor bound.
A knight is sworn to valor,
His heart knows only virtue,
His blade defends the helpless,
His might upholds the weak,
His word speaks only truth,
His wrath undoes the wicked.
The right can never die,
If one man still recalls.
The words are not forgot,
If one voice speaks them clear.
The code forever shines,
If one heart holds it bright.
He nodded approvingly, though it was clear seeing all the locals show their fealty to their king unnerved some of the outsiders. It was clear that Mordred was beloved throughout the kingdom if the entire population were willing to intone the Old Code in near perfect harmony. The fact Mordred still followed the code was a bit of a surprise though.
"Bloody hell, what was that about?" said one Englishman. That made him frown, just a bit.
"It's the Old Code," explained a local to the outsider.
"What's the Old Code?" said the Englishman.
His companion scoffed. She had rather bushy hair and some degree of intelligence.
"Honestly Ron, didn't you pay attention to history class?" said the girl. "The Old Code is the ancient oath all knights of the Round Table swore to when they swore allegiance to King Arthur."
"I thought Camelot was destroyed," said Ron.
"It was, but there is some speculation Mordred faked his death in Camlann. Morgana's final diary hinted that she suspected the body of her son to be fake, but she left rather than confirm it," huffed his companion.
As fascinating as this was, he knew he was more likely to get a few answers asking the locals rather than the two English wixen. The red head didn't look very bright, and the girl was only book smart. The tone she used while explaining things hinted her social skills were a bit...lacking.
As it was, he found a book in less than twenty minutes that explained the history of Tenebrae. And it held quite a few illuminating bits that he had been completely unaware of.
It was rather fascinating to read, really.
Arieen walked up to Shirou, who had sat down hard once his part was over. She ruffled his hair.
"You did good," she said proudly. "And your training has been coming along better than most."
Shirou beamed at her. His mentor didn't give out praise like that often, so he knew she meant it.
"Since you did so well, I've decided I'm going to tell you what your Knight's Trial will entail a bit early. You're going to need that information to prepare for it."
Shirou's eyes widened. The Knight's Trial was the final step of a Squire's training to be considered a full warrior in the eyes of the King. No two were ever full the same. Some might entail saving someone who truly needed aid, or defeating a beast that required a level of teamwork, or going on a special quest.
Either way, there was always a massive party where the newly minted Knights were honored and their names added to the roster.
And, if one were particularly lucky, they might impress the King or Steward enough that a Faerie-forged weapon tailored to their specific fighting style was made in their honor. Such people often rose through the ranks very quickly indeed. But that hadn't happened in over a hundred years now.
Shirou waited with baited breath to hear what his trial would entail. As his mentor and king, Arieen was allowed to tell him early.
"It seems the events in your former homeland have caused a... fluctuation...in the way the artifact gathers energy for the mess that caused the fire. As a result, the energy has been amassing in the Grail to the point it's going to start less than a decade after the previous one."
Shirou was confused. He was aware of the Fuyuki Grail War, but not what it had to do with him.
"As such, your trial is both simple and complicated. You are to compete in the Fifth Grail War. If you not only survive, but managed to win, you are also permitted to make whatever wish you like, since your main goal is to participate and return."
"So...I have to do what Waver-sensei did before?" said Shirou slowly.
Arieen nodded. Waver had come out the better for his participation, even if his motives were shallow and lacking. He had needed the wake-up call, and the Grail War was sufficiently difficult that participating counted as a proper trial.
Even a small scale war could change a man overnight.
Iris Potter glared at her 'friends'. She knew why they were there, but honestly she didn't want to go back.
For one thing, she rather liked being given actual training, never mind the fact she had a boyfriend.
"Give me one reason that doesn't involve cleaning up a mess the adults started or the name Dumbledore," said Iris flatly.
"What about Hogwarts?" said Hermione.
"I'm getting private tutoring...funding by the king no less, without being held back by the weaker students," said Iris primly. "Never mind I have full access to the royal library, which is easily three times the size of the Hogwarts library with the restricted section being clearly labeled."
"Clearly labeled how?" Hermione asked.
"As in they explain in no uncertain terms why the book is restricted or under heavy spells to keep all but those who are trained to handle the contents within without setting off some nasty side effects," said Iris. "The system they have to check anything out beyond the basic stuff requires you to show competence in the subject matter first, usually in the form of a magical puzzle or spoken quiz."
"What about Quidditch?" Ron asked.
Iris smirked at him.
"I can start a pick up game in less than five minutes, and the broom rental is usually about five sickles."
Hermione tried a change of tact.
"So who was that man you were talking to when we showed up?" she asked.
"You mean my boyfriend?" she said smugly.
"BOYFRIEND?!"
Hearing that, the slightly older teen walked up to them.
"Everything alright Iris?"
"It's fine Waver," she said.
Hermione got a proper look at the male Iris had claimed was her boyfriend. She had to admit, her friend had good taste. Waver wasn't the sporty type, if anything he felt more like a serious scholar. However there was a subtle sort of confidence and intelligence that was sorely lacking from the males back in Hogwarts.
While he was a bit older than Iris (about four to five years), the age gap wasn't to the point that Hermione was honestly worried for her friend.
If anything, she was a tad envious because Waver was a far better catch than someone like Ron.
Hermione seemed to consider something.
"Room for one more?"
"Wait, what?!" said Waver.
Ron stared at Hermione like she had grown a second head. Iris beamed at her, because while Hermione's study guides were insane she was her best friend.
(Arieen...would laugh her ass off while approving Hermione's transfer to Tenebrae's magical schooling.)
"So what's it like on the island?" asked Hermione.
Iris' smile brightened immensely.
"Well for starters, the food is way better than back in England. No one stares at me here, and Queen Scathach has been teaching me how to use a lance to defend myself. She said I had a real knack for it. Plus I've been learning a lot since Waver started teaching me real magic, not just the wand waving nonsense we got at Hogwarts."
"Wait...Scathach as in..." started Hermione.
"As in that Scathach, immortal Queen of the Land of Shadows. Apparently she's the King's long time lover slash best friend slash enabler," said Iris unconcerned. "Though the real buzz happened recently, when the king finally got around to waking their parent up from the coma they were in for gods know how long."
"You have to explain that one," said Hermione. "Because it makes no sense for King Arthur to still be alive."
"Draught of the Living Death, plus the fact that the faerie lands don't exactly exist on the same linear time frame as the mortal realms," said Waver with a shrug. "Arieen knew the battle was doomed to happen, and did her best to avoid changing the official outcome...while at the same time insuring her other parent didn't actually die."
"Arieen?" asked Ron.
"I was her roommate for almost seven years, and you know her as King Mordred. Though I only found that out when we ran into King Arthur's shade recently," said Waver.
Hermione clearly wanted to know all the details. This was more interesting than hearing the other girls blather on and on about boys, after all. And Iris did enjoy a good gossip session so long as things didn't get too girly.
Ron looked entirely out of his depth, but that was normal so the girls ignored it.
He was having a rather enjoyable time on the island. Mordred had done well for herself. The kingdom was thriving, and there was a sense of familiarity that was downright comforting seeing knight training their squires in view of the public.
The red haired young man was particularly diligent in his training, but that made sense as the knight he served was the King!
He found it rather fascinating how Mordred had managed to pull this off. All while causing an untold number of ridiculous shenanigans across history.
It almost made up for the fact she royally pulled a fast one over him when she finally realized he was on her island!
The spit take was rather amusing, if he was honest.
"What the hell are you doing here? Last I checked, that woman had you locked up in Avalon!" said Mordred. Arturia was staring at him with no small degree of shock as well.
"I got out," he replied cheerfully. "Though really, did you have to aim that in my direction?"
"After all the crap you pulled? Hell yes," said Mordred.
"Please tell me this isn't the same half-incubus idiot that gave Arturia a working..." started Scathach.
"It is," said Mordred and Arturia in unison, both turning slightly green around the gills at the memory. Then Mordred smirked at him. "I bet you still can't do tongue twisters without biting your tongue."
Merlin, for that was indeed who it was, pouted at them all.
"I suppose I have you to thank for those trapped doors where one had to repeat a phrase three times fast to unlock them and undo the spell," he said flatly.
"Guilty!" chirped Mordred with a laugh. The second she found out that flaw she exploited the hell out of it to annoy him. "Come join us for a drink!"
"I believe I will. I've been eager to try this faerie line of alcohol you've created for yourself," said Merlin. "Though I am curious as to how you managed to pull this off without me knowing for so long."
"Come pull up a chair, and I'll explain everything..."