Lancer Arturia blinked her eyes open only to hear the sound of trees toppling.
A heart-wrenching scream echoed out as a blast of baleful energy annihilated an entire segment of a nearby woods: Trees were splintered, the ground scorched and unearthed, roots were twisted and maligned. A thud echoed, a body hunching over in the wreckage out of sheer grief before another blast of baleful energy swept through a different part of the forest and rendered it into ruins.
Saber Alter was crouched over her knees and weeping in the middle of it all. Excalibur Morgan was tossed callously by her side, and she was hammering the ground in frustration, uncaring about her appearance.
In the predicament the Arturias had found themselves in, some were winners and others were losers that had lost the person they had grown to cherish above all.
"HE WAS THE ONLY ONE! THE ONLY ONE I-I…" Saber Alter trailed off as a voice caused her to freeze.
"You failed." Lancer Alter said in barely above a whisper.
Saber Alter glanced up sharply, venom in her gaze, but one look at Lancer Alter made her flinch. Lancer Alter was calm on the surface, but underlying her composed features was the hate of one who's husband was murdered in front of her. She was clenching her hands into fists so tightly that blood was dripping from her palms.
Both the Alters had tried to overpower Morgan, but they had severely underestimated her. They took the scene that they witnessed from their younger self's memory for granted. To begin with, their worlds had already diverged from the original, and neither of the two had seen it prudent to mask their capabilities in light of maintaining their rivalry with their Shirous. Their Morgans had always been watching them and were prepared from the beginning. The Morgans blind sided them by preparing a stronger magic to incapacitate them.
"…"
The silence between the two stretched for what seemed like an eternity before their attention shifted to their counterparts.
Saber Alter blinked away her tears and soon stared blankly. It was simple to tell who had saved their Shirous and who didn't. Their faces said it all, and Saber Alter's gaze was focused on Lancer Arturia who looked reserved, yet not despairing.
"YOU." The word was laced with such emotion that it sounded spiteful. Saber Alter marched directly to Lancer Arturia and without warning, grabbed her by the scruff of her armour.
Rather than resist, Lancer Arturia took note of how weak Saber Alter's grip was.
"HOW! HOW DID YOU SAVE HIM!"
Lancer Arturia looked away. She clearly wasn't proud of what she'd done, but looking at the state the Alters were in, she began to realize that her decision wasn't one she regretted. Slowly, carefully, Lancer Arturia freed herself from Saber Alter's grip. "I gave up my right to the throne," she said simply, prompting the Alters to stare at her in muted shock.
Saber Alter trembled. It suddenly made sense to her. Why had she been so prideful to stubbornly hold onto her position as King if she cherished her Shirou so much more? No, it wasn't that she didn't know, it was that she'd never been able to say 'I love you,' back to her Shirou like Lancer Alter had been advising her to do. Now she'd never get the chance.
Saber Alter staggered before crumpling down to her knees.
"This is pathetic. You're all letting your emotions get the better of you. Did you all forget? A King needs no emotion." Saber Arturia suddenly spoke up. Her eyes were hollow, and her expression was utterly blank. It was clear she was just trying to convince herself of her own words.
No one stated the obvious 'then why are you crying?' statement to her.
No matter how much Saber Arturia tried to deny her feelings behind a mask of indifference, the tears trickling down her cheeks wouldn't lie. Unlike the other Arturias, Saber Arturia had resolved herself to rule with Shirou by her side since Caliburn was first drawn. The two of them together worked miracles Saber Arturia could never have hoped to achieve on her own, and now he was taken away from her. How could she not be affected? S-She'd failed her Shirou when he needed her the most.
A somber atmosphere surrounded the four older Arturias, but only one was different.
Lily bolted up, sobbing from where she'd laid to sleep. She was crying yet smiling so wide that it was clear that she was sobbing not in anguish, but relief.
"I-I did it. I did it!" She wiped away the tears in her eyes and shouted in joy, ignorant of how sharp her words were to the other Arturias who'd failed.
They were on her in seconds, not saying a word but all but promising violence if she didn't speak. Lily swallowed nervously, but the sheer relief of success mitigated any fear she could feel. After all, no fear was greater than losing someone she cherished dearly.
"I-I- no- w knew that Morgan was probably spying on Shirou for an opportunity to act, so I confided with Efret for help out of sheer desperation. I told Efret that Morgan was waiting in ambush to kill Shirou. I didn't know what I was expecting, but I was honestly just venting out in my helplessness." Lily explained lightly while flushing red in embarrassment. "My sobbing was making it hard to think." (You should have seen the face Shirou made when he saw me.)
Anyways, Lilly continued. "Did you know? Efret and Shirou, the two can communicate with each other mentally. Everything I said, Efret relayed to Shirou who hugged me tight and promised to help me deal with Morgan before dealing with the Dragon. We did so, and Morgan was forced to retreat."
Everyone looked appalled that such a method existed yet they hadn't used it. Fighting Morgan on their own was one thing, but fighting Morgan with a natural born genius like Shirou was another.
"How about you guys? What happened with you?"
And suddenly, Lily felt like she'd just asked the wrong question. Lancer Arturia looked thoughtful, but the same couldn't be said for the others.
It was going to be a long five years.
Thanks for reading!
Note: Posting the previous chapters to get to the crux of the story which focuses on each Arturia for the coming update.
P a treon. com (slash) Parcasious