"Just what is this place?"

The one who spoke had been Saber Alter, her expression stiff. Like all the other Arturias, she didn't know just what exactly she should be feeling at this moment but she was definitely baffled.

"It's a world; a type of reality given form." Lancer Alter answered firmly. "It's strange though that we ended up here."

The other Arturias nodded, but not to each other.

The middle man, the royal 'air,' was in agreement.

Saber Lily felt like her older versions of herself were being childish, but who was she to reprimand them without even knowing what paths and decision they had taken in life? It was like a literal representation of what she'd become in life depending on the choices that she would eventually make.

Soft hearted yet expressionless, Arturia Blue.

Intimidating and blunt, Arturia Black.

Mature and noble within bright armour, Arturia Silver.

Finally, cold and mysterious, Arturia Dark.

Lily scrutinized all of them, not knowing that she may not have had been keeping her thoughts to herself because all of them were suddenly glaring at her. She immediately shied away and laughed awkwardly. She didn't want any trouble.

"Sorry," she apologized weakly.

Fortunately, before she could be stared at for any longer, the Arturias attention returned to the actions of their younger self and the young boy that she had encountered.

To call child Arturia skilled would be an absolute joke, granted she was still a child. However, looking at how unskilled that they used to be gave the Arturias a very different kind of experience. More so when their young self had encountered and individual that none of the other Arturia could recall ever meeting.

The question though, was soon answered.

The world moved and progressed from the perspective of the young Arturia, the other Arturias having little choice but to play witness until they could understand what exactly was going on. Still, all of them were curious so no one complained.

As it would turn out, the boy was none other than the sole survivor of a murder case.

Sir Ector had been the one to bring the point up when young Arturia had babbled to him about a new friend.

The Arturias quickly fell silent at the mention of the Ashton massacre. All of them could recall that the Ashton Dukedom did exist before its annihilation as Sir Ector had once told them in their youths. However, in their timelines, the name Ashton did not have much meaning to them unlike the present situation that they were seeing.

Unlike this younger version of themselves, none of the present Arturias had saved the sole survivor of the massacre.

Perhaps that choice was not something that they should have had missed because Shirou Ashton was clearly far from ordinary.

He was good.

Really good.

His skills and his bearings were already apparent from the first time that the Arturias had laid eyes on him, but seeing him training child Arturia day after day only further hammered the fact in.

"Keep your sword forward and not too close to your body. It makes it difficult for you to react. Yes, keep it right there." The young Ashton pointed out the flaws in the younger Arturia's form while taking the time to allow her to adjust to them.

The younger Arturia complied happily and resumed her training alongside her newfound friend while thinking nothing much of the young Ashton's advice. However, the older Arturias were different.

The sword style that the young Ashton was teaching, it was eerily familiar.

Lily balled her hands into fists while secretly glancing at her Saber counterparts. Their stares looked as if they could burn straight through armour with how intently they were scrutinizing the young Shirou Ashton.

They swallowed in unison, the Lancer Arturias appearing thoughtful.

"He's a genius. A prodigy."

It was the common consensus regarding Shirou Ashton. No one debated it.

"He holds his stick with familiarity. He doesn't hesitate when he strikes either," Saber Arturia hummed in praise while inwardly comparing her younger self to Shirou Ashton. However, she quickly faltered when she realized that the literal representation of her thoughts was right in front of her.

The other Arturias were much the same.

"He'd holding back," Arturia Saber-Alter grimaced. "There's no denying his current level."

The Arturia's felt embarrassed on behalf of their younger self. Child Arturia couldn't determine the difference in skill and as such could not understand that there was no way that she was actually going to win in a spar any time soon.

Still, one thing was clear both in the past, the present, and the future, Arturia hardly ever gave up.

Child Arturia kept going from round one all the way up till round twelve and still kept going.

Even more impressive was the young Ashton who never failed to use an appropriate level of strength in order to convince child Arturia that she was always a hair's breadth away from winning. It was a method that prevented child Arturia from ever growing discouraged because she got closer to victory each time that she improved and did better.

"C'mon. You almost had me that time. Just try a little harder. Maybe you'll actually win."

Child Arturia was red-faced, her cheeks flushed both from exertion and a desire for victory that egged her on. She gripped her sword, and with her short legs, charged forward once more only to trip on a tree root.

"…"

None of the Arturias had any response. Lily tried to help but she forgot that she couldn't interact with the world around her. "Fight on," she encouraged her younger self instead in a low voice.

The young Ashton was the same age as child Arturia but everything from his words and actions denoted a higher level of intellect and maturity.

As expected of a renowned heir of a Dukedom. He was strong. Horribly so to the point that grown men would probably lose in a fair competition. This wasn't even considering the fact that the young Ashton seemed proficient in magecraft and was from a family hailed to be a line of Beast Hunters.

"Again."

The sound of clashing wood.

"Again."

Low grunts and high-pitched snarls.

"You won't be able to beat me if you give up so easily."

The two seemed to be at peace while training.

Shirou Ashton was exceedingly attentive.

The Arturias couldn't help but wonder what would have had happened if they too had taken a short-cut through the wheat field and stumbled upon the last survivor of the Ashton Massacre. All it would have had taken was a single detour, and perhaps it was that thought in and out of itself that made the matter so depressing.

The fact that none of the Arturia's observing could even recall a Shirou Ashton meant that it was likely that their time-line's Shirou Ashton was already dead after not having been found. In all actuality though, he was a prodigy and therefore he may have lived. However, the fact that there was never any news of him despite him possessing such capability indicated that he must have had perished in battle.

It was a morbid conclusion.

"Wait, he could still have had been alive." Lily spoke up in the somber air.

No one responded.

Many were too lost in thought while watching the young Ashton and Arturia spar against each other.

Shirou was using a stick while child Arturia was using her wooden practice sword.

The number of openings that the Arturias could see on their younger self were so abundant that it was embarrassing. However, rather than exploit those openings, the young Ashton deliberately slowed his strikes so that child Arturia could realize where her mistakes were in the midst of combat and correct them. The action denoted a high level of skill and self confidence.

More importantly, the patience that the young Ashton displayed to wait for Arturia to realize her own faults rather than point them out was far better training than jotting down one's mistakes.

The training was effective, and right before the other Arturias eyes, child Arturia was improving at a visible rate. Still, such training was undoubtably exhausting.

Child Arturia staggered before dropping down onto her butt and then collapsing onto her back sprawled.

Her eyelids drooped in fatigue while breathing heavily. Her wooden sword was still in her hands. "I did it," she rasped with a grin, her voice higher pitched. "I beat you."

"If you mean that my stick broke then yes; you broke my weapon," the Ashton's tone was flat, much like how the Arturias were feeling while listening to the words of their younger self.

The younger Arturia blinked while maintaining a grin, sweat covering her skin in a light sheen. "Sir Ector says that if I have my sword, and the enemy is weaponless in a fight. I win." Young Arturia weakly waved her wooden sword. "I win," she repeated in content.

The young Ashton smiled fondly, obviously choosing not to argue. His maturity and sensibility were enviable for a child of his age. "It's your win today then, Arturia, but next time don't tire yourself out too quickly. Sir Ector was right in his words, however," the young Ashton stepped forward and poked young Arturia on the forehead. Her resistance was futile in her exhaustion with no real strength in her arms. "If you're too tired and can't defend yourself from an unarmed enemy, are you really the one who wins?" he asked her.

No. Obviously not.

The Arturias watching the young Ashton lecture their younger self nodded in agreement. Still, rather than registering the young Ashton's words, the younger Arturia's eyes drooped closed and she quickly fell asleep in her exhaustion.

The Ashton sighed, but the Arturias could only keep their silence as a gentle expression appeared over the Ashton's face. It was stunning to see just how much he seemed to care for their younger variant.

When the Arturias considered the fact that the young Ashton was the only survivor of the Ashton massacre and now only had a young Arturia as his close friend, that kind of expression was justified. To the young Ashton, young Arturia was probably his only family left in a world where no one else seemed to care about him. This must have had been the case because a Shirou Ashton was never known in the other Arturia's timelines.

Carefully, the young Ashton took the younger Arturia into his arms and carefully piggybacked her using her legs as leverage for his grip. His back was slightly hunched over to allow young Arturia's head to rest on his left shoulder and he didn't seem to mind at all that Arturia was dirty and sweat-stained from training. He even took the time to wipe the grime off of her face. Regardless of everything, he held her close and made sure that she wouldn't feel uncomfortable.

Watching the sight and the amount of care that the young Ashton was giving, none of the Arturias could speak.

Inwardly, it felt aggravating. Like they'd lost out on something that they themselves could have had gained because of a single error in judgement.

They pursed their lips and continued to look at their younger version. With Shirou's guidance along with Sir Ector and Kay's teachings, there was no doubt in the Arturias minds that this younger version of themselves would quickly grow stronger faster than any of them.

Moreover, she looked happy.

A far cry from how any of the Arturias remembered their childhoods.

The thought gave all of them a momentary pause. A mutual respite free of their bickering and tension if only because they were all feeling the same emotion in this instance.

All that they could do was watch as the younger version of themselves subconsciously nuzzled her face into the crook of the young Ashton's back and sighed in content with her eyes closed.

Something was telling the Arturias that the bitterness and regret inside of them was only going to continue to grow with time.

Comparison begets envy and depression. More so when they could have had the same thing.

It was a concept that the Arturias would always have to think about during their time in this world.

They all inwardly shivered.

Maybe this was torture?

Maybe this was retribution?

Nonetheless, it was going to be a difficult pill to swallow.

P a treon. com (slash) Parcasious

Book links:

Fatedlegacydark. ca

New Book: Out on Amazon (Remove dash on link)

Survivor's Log Reflection: Amazon.c-om/dp/B08VDDGN7Z?