She blinked as she saw the man in front of her with Rin Tohsaka at her side pulling the man by the arm with a smile on her face.
"~Hello Saber, we came to visit. Is Shiro there?" She asked Rin Tohsaka with a smile that looked like she had won the lottery, the archer wasn't as happy as the girl was.
Artoria blinked at the archer with a frown on his face.
"He's making lunch…" she said, but her voice just kept getting low with each word spoken as if the servant of the sword couldn't believe his own eyes.
"Fine, sorry to intrude" said Rin, taking off her shoes and trying to pull the man by the arm but he wouldn't come out of the corner.
"Come on, don't be stubborn. We've already talked about this" she tried to pull harder but the man wouldn't budge.
"Saber… can you help me with this?" Said Rin, going behind the man and trying to push him from behind, but without success.
The archer looked at Artoria with narrowed eyes after Rin's words. Artoria just looked at the ground not knowing what to do.
"Okay, when you stop acting like a child you can come in for lunch with all of us" said Rin breathing tiredly from the effort it took to move the man.
And so she walked past Saber but Artoria just stared at the shoes on the floor like it was the most interesting thing in the world.
"Try to talk some sense into him, Saber, I'm going to see Emiya-kun" Rin said as he disappeared into the hallways.
After Rin disappeared and left the two of them alone, Saber lifted her head to look at the man.
"You want to come in, Shirou is preparing lunch. There's enough food for everyone" said Artoria but she blinked when she saw what the man was about to do.
The archer just turned and prepared to leave the residence.
"Hang on!" Artoria said, holding his arm.
The archer's arm stopped at the door as he felt the small girl's grip on his arm.
He just raised an eyebrow at the girl, "What do you want?" The man's husky voice sent a chill running through his entire body.
"Why… don't you stay for a while…" she said in a low voice.
With the end of the holy grail war, it seemed that the servants' mission had come to an end. His master with Rin Tohsaka collaborated to win the war, but no one came out victorious, the grail was corrupted and using the last seal of command Artoria destroyed the grail and then disappeared satisfied.
But it seemed that fate had other plans for the servants of the grail war.
They were invoked again, but to live a peaceful life, no fights, no conflicts, just to live a peaceful life.
A second chance.
Everyone was happy with that decision except the man in front of him. The archer tried at all costs to kill Shirou, even going so far as to betray his master and hand him over to the enemy without worrying about the well-being of the Tohsaka girl.
The archer didn't seem to like being called again and his attitude showed it, even if in any servant's view that would be a great wish to ask the grail.
"We're not in the war anymore, we can enjoy the moment as friends…" said Artoria to the man.
She for some reason was constantly meeting the man, but it seemed the archer didn't care much.
It always fascinated her how different he was from Shirou even though they were the same person. As if the boy she knew had never existed, as if he didn't want to be remembered for what he was in the past.
Artoria had respect and appreciation for his master, the boy was kind and cared about others more than himself. She was proud to call him a friend.
When she found out that the Archer of war was her master she didn't know what to do, when looking into his cold and lifeless eyes only man only made saber feel bad and the pained smile he displayed when he told her just hit her like a punch.
It seemed that he would get what he wanted at any cost, no matter the means or methods, the archer just wanted everything to end in that war once and for all.
She wanted to approach the man who once was Emiya Shirou but it seemed that the man didn't want the same as her.
"And why would I do that?" Said the archer
Artoria blinked.
"In the end it's only momentary" said the archer.
"There's no reason to take advantage of this short time we have, don't you think" said Artoria, trying to pull the archer but he moved only one place. Without the use of prana, Artoria Pendragon had non-existent physical strength, having the body of a sixteen year old girl didn't help either.
"On second thought… the boy is there isn't he?" Said the archer looking at the little king.
Artoria didn't like what he was implying.
"I won't let archer, you better get those thoughts out of your head" said the saber with narrowed eyes at the man.
A smile came to the corner of the man's lips, "Really?"
Artoria was about to open her mouth to answer him, but the door behind the archer opened revealing a girl with white hair and red eyes wearing a white sleeveless dress and a red bow around her waist.
"Ahhh how hot" said the white haired girl as she walked through the door and bumped her nose on something hard.
"Hey!" The girl began to rub her nose and look at what she hit.
The archer and saber turned to see who she was.
"Hey, archer, you're here" said the little girl, jumping up and down to approach the man.
The man looked at the girl. Anyone seeing her would think she was a kid going through her puberty but she was eighteen.
"I'm already leaving Illyasviel" said the man, making the little girl blink with what the man said.
"No, you won't!" Artoria said, pulling the man's arm to no avail.
An old cat smiled on the girl's face, Illya walked to the man's side and took his other arm.
"Archer, please, why don't you stay a while and keep me company" said the homunculus girl with a gentle smile on her face.
Artoria blinked, after all her and Rin's attempts didn't work, there was no way someone who looked like a child's attempt would work.
"..."
The archer put a hand behind his neck and sighed.
"I won't stay long, understood?" Said the man giving the little girl a gentle look.
Illya beamed at what the man said and the saber just blinked not knowing what was going on.
Illya started pulling the man down the hall and Artoria snapped out of her trance.
"Hey, wait for me" said Artoria as they ran to get closer.
It was a reaction expected only from men, after all he couldn't deny any request from Illyasviel Von Einzbern even if he tried.
-1-
"Oh, you finally stopped acting like a child and decided to join us" said Rin, sitting on a small table that hid her lower body.
The red haired boy looked to see who Rin Tohsaka was referring to and upon seeing him he scowled.
The man did the same to the boy.
Sakura blinked, "Ah, Archer finally decided to visit us"
The archer had Ilya pulling him by the arm and the saber at his side.
"I won't stay long, Matou girl" said the archer as he allowed himself to be pulled by the little girl.
"It's alright, Senpai and I are preparing lunch. Sit down, we'll serve lunch soon" said Sakura with a smile.
The archer grimaced as he sat down in front of his master.
He didn't want to eat, it wouldn't be a pleasant experience, but the man didn't say anything.
Illya ran to see what Emiya Shirou was preparing.
"See, it wasn't so bad was it?" Rin said with a smile.
The archer looked at her, "I hope you have enough Command Seals for next time"
Saber blinked and looked at Rin's hand as she sat up and noticed that two Command Seals were missing.
"Archer, you made Rin use command seals. Do you really hate this place that much?" Said the saber staring at the man.
"What do you think ?" He looked at the blonde girl next to him.
Artoria looked away not wanting to answer the man, even if it was a rhetorical question.
"Don't worry about, saber, he's just being a Tsundere" said Rin, waving her hand up and down.
"Between you and me, I don't think I'm the Tsundere, Rin Tohsaka" said the archer with a half smile.
"Your!" Her face turned red, but Rin quickly composed herself and sighed.
"You have to take the chance you have now, you promised me you'd try at the end of the war" said Rin looking into the archer's eyes.
It's true, he promised he would try his best, but so much time had passed for him. In Rin Tohsaka's notion of time it was only a few months but for the archer it was an incalculable time, for a moment he almost forgot who she was again or what happened in the war.
"I think I said something like that" he said, looking at the wall and making Rin sigh.
Saber blinked not knowing what the two were talking about. Artoria noticed that the other person who was sitting with them was looking at the tanned man with an amused look.
"Is there something on my face, or do you just like looking at it" said the archer, turning to face the person staring at him.
"Fufu, Well I must say he's nice to look at" said the woman with long purple hair and glasses.
"Ah, Rider don't be mean" is Sakura's voice coming from the kitchen.
"I don't think she's being mean, Sakura," said Rin, putting her elbows on the table and her hand on her cheek.
"Even so, I know the Rider" said Sakura once again looking at the servant Rider from behind making the girl nervous.
The archer did not have the opportunity to face Medusa in this Grail War, she was killed by the master of Caster. What was amusing when he thought about it, it proves that the boy Shinji was just pathetic as a master leaving his servant quite weak. It looks like stealing his Sister Command Seals wasn't worth it.
"But I'm curious you're here, we didn't have the opportunity to meet each other in the war. Maybe we can fix this" Medusa said, licking her lips and making the man raise his eyebrow.
"No you can not!" Artoria said, making everyone look at her.
"I mean… ah…" she trailed off and cringed at the attention she received.
"Saber…" said Shirou, shaking his head in disapproval as he went back to cooking.
Of all the people to be interested in, you chose him first...
"A little possessive don't you think?" Rin said with a smile on her face.
Sakura put her hand over her mouth as she laughed.
"And what are you doing here Rider, I don't think you came here just to visit" said the man looking at the woman
The woman smiled at the man's comment.
"I come here often, it's the servant's function to protect his master, don't you think?" said Medusa with a smile on her face.
The archer narrowed his eyes at the purple-haired servant.
Rin chuckled at Rider's comment, "You should learn more from Rider, see what a good servan.
The girl pointed at him, and the saber glared at Rin.
"Rin, but I'm an example of a servant too" said Artoria to the girl Tohsaka.
The noise of something falling inside the kitchen drew everyone's attention.
"Senpai, are you okay?" Sakura asked worriedly.
"Yeah, I just got distracted for a second…" said Shirou in a low voice.
"Eh… yeah, sure saber…" said Rin not wanting to comment on King Arthur's weaknesses.
The girl as a servant didn't leave anything to be desired but otherwise she was... complicated. King Arthur became something you would call a NEET. She ate a lot, was busy playing games and when she left the house she had a slightly masculine attitude even her incredibly masculine appearance, as once she went out in the morning and came back covered in mud because she was playing a football game with some kids . Not to mention that out of all the servants she was the only one who didn't work, Shirou didn't mind that, but even so…
Saber narrowed his eyes at Rin, "Why do I think you're not being honest with me…"
"Stop it, you're imagining it" she said trying to dodge the subject.
"Ah, so you finally got a job, saber?" Said Illya in the kitchen.
The Einzbern girl's question was like an arrow to the heart of the saber.
Cruel
"No… I… am… looking… it's hard to find one… with a… teenage face… like mine" said the blonde girl stuttering.
She didn't want a job, that's what everyone thought.
"Hmm, that's right. I saw a sign at a restaurant that is hiring Maids, you could go try it" said Illya's voice in an amused way.
Cruel
"Ah… thank you Illiyasviel…" Artoria placed her forehead on the table in defeat, it looks like she was finally going to get a job.
The archer had an amused smile on his face, it wasn't real but he was still enjoying what was happening. Even if it was for someone else's suffering.
Artoria noticed he had a smile on his face and she smiled back, lifting her head a little to look at him.
"You know for a king who ruled an entire country you are quite lazy" said the archer staring at the saber.
"Eh, I'm not lazy, I'm just saving energy!" Artoria said indignantly with what the archer said, even if it was true.
It was a horrible excuse
"Ah… thank you Illyasviel…" Artoria placed her forehead on the table in defeat, it looked like she was finally going to get a job.
The archer had an amused smile on his face, it wasn't real but he was still enjoying what was happening. Even if it was for someone else's suffering.
Artoria noticed he had a smile on his face and she smiled back, lifting her head a little to look at him.
"You know for a king who ruled an entire country you are quite lazy" said the archer staring at the saber.
"Eh, I'm not lazy, I'm just saving energy!" Artoria said indignantly with what the archer said, even if it was true.
It was a horrible excuse
"Seriously, does that mean you're going to go after the job Illyasviel said today?" Said the archer with a sarcastic or even sadistic smile.
Artoria's ahoge rose to its feet at what the archer said, and the saber shrank afterward.
"Yes… I will…" she put her head on the table, it looked like the girl was crying.
Cruel
The archer and Illya looked at each other with a smile on their faces.
partners in crime
"Sabre…" whispered Shirou again.
"Well, speaking of work I hear you're working at a restaurant, I didn't know you had the culinary gift Archer" said Rider with a smile.
The archer raised an eyebrow.
How did she know that? It looked like she was trying to imply something, the fact that the woman looked at the boy and then back at him left a bad taste in her mouth.
"I'm just a security guard at the place, I'm not the cook" said the archer, narrowing his eyes at the woman who gave the man a smile.
The saber blinked in surprise.
"Wait, you don't know how to cook archer, I thought…" said Artoria, confused since the man in front of her was Emiya Shirou. How was it possible that he didn't know how to cook?
The archer looked at the saber with a frown.
"I never said I couldn't cook, just that I'm working as a security guard. Don't put words in my saber mouth" said the Ranger looking at Artoria.
"Oh, so you wouldn't mind helping cook lunch, would you?" Rin said with a gigantic smile on her face.
No… he actually fell for such a cheap trick like that, even if Saber asked with pure innocence, he still fell for it…
"I never agreed with…" he was interrupted by Sakura.
"Ah, that would be great, archer. I'd like to try some of your cooking too" she clasped both hands together as she looked at the man.
"Yes, yes, I'm curious too, Ranger" said Illya running behind the man and putting her arms around his neck, "Please Ranger!"
The man opened his mouth wordlessly.
He was regretting coming here….
"You're not going to turn down a lady's request, are you?" Said the rider with a smile on his face.
…
The man sighed in frustration.
"Okay…" said the archer as he got up and took the little girl's hands from around his neck and walked towards the kitchen.
"You know, sometimes I think he's a lolicon. Always accepting Illya's requests and refusing everything else" said Rin watching the man's back as he joined Shirou in the kitchen.
"You are jealous that I have the natural charm to convince men to do what I want while you have the charm of an old woman," said Illya with a raised chin.
Rin blinked at what Illya said.
"Ehhhhh, what did you say Brat!" Rin said indignantly.
"Who are you calling a Brat, you old bitch" Illya yelled back.
"You're older than me, you dwarf!" Rin yelled at Einzbern.
When the archer arrived in the kitchen he noticed Shirou raising an eyebrow at him.
"Back off, bug" the archer said, practically pushing the boy aside.
"Be nice to senpai, archer" Sakura said gently, but it sounded more like a scolding than anything else.
Shirou looked at the frustrated archer, but one thing took the boy by surprise.
The archer was sniffing the spices as if he wanted to know which was which. Which was strange to Shirou since, as a child he would put some of the spice in his mouth to know which spice he had was what he wanted. Why wasn't the archer doing the same?
The archer took some spices and ingredients from the fridge. Shirou blinked and moved his head to the side to see what he picked up.
The ingredients were rice, vegetables, salmon and eggs.
Would he make a Ponze Butter Salmon?
The archer noticed that the boy was looking at him.
"What are you looking at, brat?" Said the archer to the boy in an aggressive way.
"Ah, it's not that… I thought you were going to make something more… complex" actually the recipe was something simple. It was one of the first recipes Shirou learned as a child. Being the first American hamburger.
"Give me a break, boy. It's been a long time, and besides, you've got an advantage" the archerer clucked his tongue.
Shirou moved his head to the side not knowing what the archer meant by 'advantage'.
For the archer it would be a challenge to say the least since he couldn't taste the food he was making. So he had no way of knowing if it was good or bad.
…
"Wow, it smells really good," said Rin, sniffing the air.
Sakura decided to sit next to her sister, seeing that the two men didn't need her help.
"Yes, smelling it now made me quite hungry, I'm not going to lie" Sakura said, looking at their backs.
Rider glanced at the saber and saw her mouth watering as he looked into the kitchen.
The purple haired servant blinked and looked towards the kitchen.
"It seems everyone has high expectations…" said Rider looking at the two.
Rider blinked, when her master said that the War Archer was Emiya Shirou from a future version she couldn't believe it. The boy she cornered and tried to take his head off was the archer...
The two were completely different, the archer was bigger and had a broad back covered in muscles, the boy was smaller and his back wasn't as wide and his muscles were starting to develop. The two didn't look alike at all
in appearance as well as in their voices. It was like they were completely different people.
The archer was cynical and aloof, the boy was more selfless and kind, but he saw a little of the archer's distant way in the boy as if he didn't know how to deal with people.
Even their faces were different, the boy's was still a bit boyish as if he was reaching adulthood now while the archer's had an incredibly masculine and developed chin and jaw... in fact everything about the man was incredibly developed as if his body Even though he was taken to the extreme of what made him a man, from his looks and muscles, the man was like a perfect representation in that part. As if his body was forced to reach that point. While Shirou was still slowly developing these parts. Rider didn't think that Shirou would develop to that level even though the two were the same person since the woman imagined that what the archer did to get there was something unnatural and Shirou was living a more peaceful life.
Now that the woman noticed he was quite tall and the clothes on his body stuck together looking like it wanted to tear apart, but she had doubts that would happen as the shirt could even look like a normal black shirt, but she noticed that it had a considerable amount of prana in her which meant she was not normal.
But the fact that the man was wearing a shirt didn't change the fact that the shirt was tight on the man's body to the point where she could see the muscle lines on it. Rider has seen some heroes in her time, when she was a little goddess and when she turned into a monster, but she doesn't think she's seen a body as developed as the archer, taking the Berserker out of this war, he was the one who had the more developed body.
Rider blinked, it wasn't something natural, it was… strange as if the man had forced it or it was something unintentional that the man had done to acquire this ridiculous state in his body. It seemed that the man was at the limit or even more than could be reached.
Which gave the man such an incredibly attractive appearance that it was even difficult to take one's attention away from the archer's body. Rider wouldn't deny it, the archer was very attractive and she was having carnal desires for the man and it seemed that the archer had noticed that but decided not to pay attention which was strange since Rider in essence was a goddess, her body should be incredibly attractive to anyone. Maybe the divine blood in her veins didn't like the man not paying attention to her and that affected her ego?
Rider started trying to make connections about the archer and Emiya Shirou, but the more she tried, the more she couldn't find anything.
Nothing about the two was alike, even their faces were different. The archer didn't have a single Japanese feature, if Rider saw him she would think he was a European or Egyptian Hero but the boy Shirou didn't have any Japanese features either, nothing between his eyes and face even his size. The boy was a little bigger than the average Japanese and looked
that he would grow a bit and the archer looked like a giant compared to a normal Japanese.
Which made her ask herself. Was Emiya Shirou really Japanese? Her hair was a red that was reminiscent of something more Scottish or Celtic…
Really the two were a contradiction.
Rider wonders what made the archer so different from Emiya Shirou?
"Well… guess I'll have to find out," Rider whispered to herself as she licked her lips.
Saber looked at Medusa with narrowed eyes, it seemed that King Arthur listened to the servant Rider, and she did not like it.
…
The two men had practically finished their dishes but Shirou noticed something.
He hasn't tasted the recipe even once...
Why didn't he try it? Did the archer trust his skills to the point of not needing to prove whether the recipe was good or bad?
Shirou was snapped out of his thoughts when the archer started walking to put lunch on the table.
The boy blinked and followed the archer.
"Wow, that looks amazing. How lucky we are to have two amazing cooks," Rin said.
"Enough talk, put it on the table," said Illya drooling.
"And you still call yourself a lady" said Rin, the girl turned her head and noticed that the saber was doing the same.
"So, let's eat, shall we?" Said Sakura with a smile on her face.
"Yes, yes…" said the archer in a hoarse voice as he placed the plates on the table.
"Here, sorry for the delay" Shirou placed the plates on the table and removed the apron around his waist.
"No Emiya-kun, I should apologize for coming here unannounced," said Rin as she took the plate Shirou offered.
Food was on the table while everyone was trying to choose.
Saber reached for one of the plates but…
"Hey Rider, I was gonna get that!" Said Artorias To Medusa.
"Oh, sorry but I think it took a while, you know," said Rider with a smile on his face as he stole the girl's plate… the plate that the archer had prepared.
"..." she narrowed her eyes at the woman as she picked up another plate.
He prepared more than one, so this time I'll let it slide...
Rider puts a mouthful of food in his mouth…
The woman blinked and looked at her food.
"This is really good…" rider stared at the food prepared by the archer. Rider ate Shirou's food and she would admit that it was very good the best she had ever eaten in her entire life… until now, this was on another level… as if Shirou had been practicing for years until he arrived at this absurd result.
The archer raised an eyebrow and snorted as he left the room.
"Looks like I still know how to do this…" the archer whispered as he left.
"Hey, wait where are you going, aren't you going to eat?" Rin said as she noticed the man was leaving.
"No, I don't need to and don't worry I won't leave the house, after all, you used two command seals so I can't leave even if I wanted to" said the archer as he left the room and waved his hand.
"Sometimes he drives me crazy…" said Rin, putting a piece in her mouth.
"At least he's here, big sister," Sakura said, looking at her sister.
"I think…" she replied to Sakura.
Saber blinked as the man walked away.
I wanted him to stay here...
Shirou looked at Artoria and sighed, it seemed like Saber didn't know how to act on the man.
Emiya Shirou decided to eat one of the dishes prepared by the archer, it was something simple that he made all the time as a child.
He popped a portion into his mouth.
"This is really good…" Shirou said as he looked at the food prepared by the archer.
…
The archer sat in the hall and let the wind hit his face.
"I wonder if it's really worth having a skill like that… I can't appreciate what I prepare… well at least other people did… I guess" the man closed his eyes and let the breeze hit him.
Grand Order
-11-
Artoria blinked at what she was seeing as anger began to bloom within her heart. The smile of the girl called Nero, healthy skin and radiant hair reminded Artoria time and time again that she was just like that… now all that was left was something rotten and corrupted…
"What do you say, why don't you join me on the journey to fix my beloved Rome?" Said Nero with a beaming smile.
Davinci blinked and came out of his trance.
"Wait, you're Nero… I thought Nero was more…" said Davinci as he eyed the woman's breasts and the rest of her scandalous outfit.
"I know, everyone is surprised by my magnitude, Umu," Nero snorted in approval.
That wasn't the word Davinci would use…
"I hope, Miss Nero. Could you tell me who was attacking him and why?" Mashu asked the Emperor.
Nero's positive attitude was gone in a second.
"Uncle…" It looked like the girl was going to cry.
"Eh… forget what I said, it's not that important" said Mashu patting the woman on the back. Now Mashu noticed that Nero was smaller than Artoria and had rather long hair compared to her.
Uncle… waits… Caligula the emperor before Nero ? Davinci thought.
Well, at least they had some information now.
"Well… now what do we do" said Elizabeth with her arms crossed looking at the sad girl in front of her.
"It's not my fault… that man came offering a great and prosperous Rome, but he deceived everyone… Uncle…" she said with tears falling in her eyes.
"That Man? Nero, who was that man you are talking about?" Davinci asked, but the girl didn't answer with tears in her eyes.
Davinci sighed.
This woman was completely different from the darksaber, Scathach thought.
Maybe she wasn't that bad compared to Artoria...
Scathach noted that the darksaber was quite still, she looked over and saw Artoria without moving a muscle, as if she were trapped in her own thoughts.
Scathach raised an eyebrow at the king, but something about it caught the goddess's attention.
"Hey, we'll help you, but you have to tell us who this man is talking to" the man with tanned skin and snow-white hair said to the emperor with his hand on his right shoulder.
Scathach blinked, he was so close...
Nero looked at the man with tears in his eyes, "You are handsome…" she said as she wiped her tears with the sleeve of her dress.
The archer raised an eyebrow, "Thank you…" that hand was the answer he had been waiting for.
Scathach took back everything she said about the emperor.
She didn't like Nero.
Why did this man have the ability to attract women even doing nothing? Because women couldn't just snub him and leave him alone, thought Scathach.
"Heartbreaker" said Ritsuka, but she closed her mouth when she saw the look the archer gave her.
"He introduced himself as Lev Lainur and offered us a proposal… not a wish that would make Rome great again… but…" said Nero, wiping away his tears.
"He lied," said the archer.
Nero nodded in confirmation, "he said the grail would make our wishes come true, but in wishing it all went wrong. Several past emperors of Rome were brought back to life and decided that Rome would just go back to being great again with my Death. I was told that I was the reason Rome was in such a disgraced state, and thus this hell began" said Nero looking at the ground.
"Is the professor still alive? So he's the cause of the Singularity?" Ritsuka asked.
"If he's here… does that mean he's serving the king of demon gods?" Said Ritsuka, the girl thought he had died in the explosion before the F Singularity.
"I don't know what you're talking about, but it was this man's fault," said Nero.
"Ah, sorry. I was just thinking out loud" said Ritsuka, a little embarrassed.
"And there are still some groups that rebelled too… it's very unfair…" said Nero again, wiping the tears from his face.
Maybe it's because you're a terrible leader, the Ranger thought.
"Don't worry, we're here to help" said Ritsuka to the Emperor.
"Hmm, really?" Said Nero looking at the orange haired girl.
"Yes, that's why we're here" the orange haired girl smiled.
A smile appeared on the emperor's face.
"Umu, of course you came. Nero's greatness is known far and wide, it's no surprise that someone came to help me" said Nero, placing his hand on his chest as he spoke with a smile.
A bead of sweat trickled down Ritsuka's face.
"Ehh, sure..." what a big ego...
"I liked her," said Elizabeth with a smile on her face.
"Of course you liked it…" said Ritsuka in a low voice.
"I heard that girl" said Elizabeth loudly, making Ritsuka jump in surprise.
She really is different from the darksaber, thought Scathach, looking at the emperor.
The goddess looked back at Artoria and noticed that the woman still hadn't said anything. Scathach blinked as he noticed the archer behind the saber. The man put his hand on the saber's shoulder making her come out of her trance.
"Now is not the time for this" Said the nameless man.
Artoria looked at Nero and then at the man.
"She's just…" said Artoria, unable to finish what she wanted to say.
"No… just don't…" said the archer to the saber.
Artoria looked at the floor, "You're right"
The archer was about to leave and return to a position that would give him the tactical advantage, but he was stopped by a hand grabbing his arm.
"Hang on!" Said Scathach holding the man 's arm.
The archer turned and looked at her hand holding his arm and then at the woman"
Scathach blinked and let go of the man's arm, after all she didn't want to cause another confrontation with the man.
"What?" Said the archer in a hoarse voice.
A chill ran through the goddess's body.
"I… just want to work things out between the two of us" said Scathach, taking her arm.
Artoria raised an eyebrow, she was going to say something to Scathach, but the archer glared at her.
"Hm, as you wish" the archer didn't say anything, he just looked at the saber but she understood the unspoken message.
Artoria started walking and left the two alone.
"There is nothing to resolve Scathach. We will fight and end this singularity." Said the archer crossing his arms.
The goddess flinched, "and after that?"
The archer blinked, "Then what?"
"How are we going to be, you're going to ignore me while you have fun with the other girls?" The goddess said with her arms below her breasts almost as if she wanted to hug herself.
"Have fun? I don't think I'm trying to have fun with anyone. In fact, I just want them to leave me alone, but no one seems to notice that with the amount of people they keep pissing me off," said the man with a scowl.
"It's not what it looks like… you… when you're with someone else you seem to be having more fun than when you're with me… you're always defensive with me. Do you despise me, archer?" Scathach looked at the floor.
…
"I don't despise you, Scathach. But I don't like you either." The archer's words made the goddess' eyes widen.
"Why ?!" She took a step closer to the man.
"You want to know why Scathach?" Said the archer taking a step making the goddess take a step back.
"You don't care about anything, all this here doesn't matter to you. If it all ended, if this singularity fails, it won't matter to you. The only reason you're the way you are is for some reason you took an interest in the worst person, your goal is just something carnal and meaningless compared to something bigger than you" said the archer making the woman retreat even more.
The truth was that the archer didn't care what happened here either, what he was saying was hypocrisy, but if those words made the goddess focus on what was happening and not have her head in the clouds, he didn't care.
The archer just didn't want to go back to that sword graveyard, waiting to be called for the next job.
So the longer he stayed here, the longer he wouldn't be on that hill.
"You're wrong…" said Scathach in a low voice.
"So tell me, what am I wrong with?" Said the archer with his arms crossed and looking at the woman.
Scathach wasn't acting proud as usual, she was acting timidly avoiding confrontation, not something to be expected from the goddess.
"I… I'm just tired of being on that island… watching everyone I know grow old and die… alone… I don't want to be alone anymore, it's just Painful" said the goddess almost in a whisper.
The archer's eyes widened at the goddess's words. He would never expect this from her, maybe a verbal confrontation trying to prove him wrong, never a sincere answer.
In fact, listening was even a little painful, as if Scathach was talking about the archer not herself.
"I'm not doing this for just something carnal, I just want company" said the goddess as she hugged herself.
…
"I…" the archer uncrossed his arms but Davinci's voice caught the man's attention.
"We have a problem…" said Davinci.
The archer looked at Scathach and then at Davinci again.
"What was it ?" Said the archer.
"We know where the grail is," Davinci said.
"Is this supposed to be bad news?" Said the archer with raised eyebrows.
"Well, the bad part is that one of the servants summoned well… it's a demigod and… it looks like he got a huge increase in power with the grail. He's probably a full deity if what Nero said is true" said Davinci sighing as he broke the news.
The archer clicked his tongue, "tsk" This is an irritating thing to deal with.
The man glanced at Scathach, but the woman didn't seem to care so much about the uniqueness. This could be costly.
"All right, let's see what to do when the time comes" said the archer to Davinci.
"And we still have a Rebel camp to go through to get to Rome" said Davinci, making the archer put a hand to his face in frustration.
"Of course we have…" how lucky he was.
"Well, let's go then, staying here won't solve the singularity" said the archer.
Davinci nodded, "glad you said that"
A smile came over Davinci's face.
"?" The archer didn't know what the man was talking about.
Davinci made some fancy moves with the staff, something you would see in a cartoon of magical girls and then placed the staff on the ground causing a CyberPunk type of car to appear.
The archer blinked at what happened.
"Ohhh, can you teach me how to do this dance later?" Elizabeth said with her eyes twinkling as she looked at Davinci.
"Umu, that was a classy thing. I want to learn too" said Nero, nodding her head in approval.
"It wasn't a dance…" said Davinci embarrassed.
"Well, that was pretty cool," said Ritsuka.
"Yes, very cool" said Mashu.
"Ahhh, let's go!" Davinci said as he got into the vehicle.
The archer started to enter, but felt Scathach gently tug his holy mantle around his arm.
"I, I just want you to like me…" said the goddess, making the man stop for a second.
…
"Let's talk about that later, ok?" said the archer getting into the vehicle.
He nodded in agreement and went inside with him.
-11-
A soldier enters a hut drawing the attention of the woman inside.
"What, will you find Nero?" Said the woman with contempt in her voice.
"No, my lady. But something strange is approaching," said the soldier on his knees.
"Something weird, What do you mean by that ?" Said the woman getting up.
"Our archers couldn't identify it, it's nothing we know of and they don't think it's Roman either" said the soldier with his eyes closed and looking at the ground.
"Well, let's welcome our mystery friends then…" said the woman walking past the soldier.
A chill ran through the man's body at the woman's voice. She was recognized for her fury at the Roman Empire, for her fury against Nero.
"I want to see if they are allies or enemies" said the woman as she left the hut.
"Because if they are not our allies, they will PERISH" said the woman.
She wasn't going to lose the battle or the war against Rome, she certainly wasn't going to lose a fight against foreigners. She had a goal to reach after all.
-A-
Author
New Chapter, I don't have much to say about the chapter, just that it's there.
I'm still deciding whether to do a long singularity with lots of chapters or a short one, but long chapters.
Well I hope you like it
See you in the next chapter...
Next update Honkai Impact 3rd.
Ah, if you like Honkai, read the story I'm writing if it's not a story that can introduce you to the Honkai universe :D
See you later…