Reposted based on the website slowly resolving the problem.
Author Note
Hello there and welcome to another chapter of Avalon Bond.
This chapter marks the beginning of Fate Grand Order. There are indeed many questions about my choices here…how many singularities I will write about…will there be other Artorias…while Shirou be the protagonist, because of Ritsuka. There is a lot of material to cover and I have to make the decision of whether or not I will be keeping this story endlessly. I will be covering all seven singularities with Babylon being the last and that's it. The reason is that I have other plans for them post FGO. About other servants, well, that I will not tell…many interactions both on and off the battlefield will happen and I'm quite thrilled to give it a try in placing my favorite couple in Chaldea and facing the singularities.
This chapter will mark the initiation of Part II, but in the beginning, there are some ideas I will focus on before actually beginning with FGO events.
Now, before beginning with the chapter, let us answer the reviews.
1740 - That's the easy part. The hard part is how to incorporat them into the plot.
darklordlv12 - Thank you for the clarification. It's nice to see that some of FSN is inscribed in FGO. I have yet to see the Camelot singularity, so the part about Merlin saying she was resting in Avalon waiting for someone (Shirou) is excting. I will try to search for the dialogue and check it out. So FGO Artria Pendragon is then a true servant, a copy from the throne of heroes and not her like in FSN.
demoncreater2002 - Yes, I shall go through all seven singularities with Babylon being the last. About Saber Alter in Fuyuki, it is not clear that Shirou, Rin or Sakura existed as masters. Or at least I had not paid much attention.
sawtooth44 - Ok, about the Excalibur can't be broken, but in this case, I wanted to showcase Shirou's skills as a blacksmith and rebuilt it with his blacksmith abilities and replicating the runes that already existed.
dimarash99 - Thank you so much for your review. We need more heartwarming moments and these two together embodies that. As to the in your words mediocre adversaries, yes, well, Arturia is a servant and is way stronger than dead apostles, vampires and magus. Indeed, the real challenge will come in FGO as they faces servants once more with a little twist.
Thank you everyone for the reviews and now let us proceed. Just a little warning that I made a quick lemon scene, so you can skip it if you want.
Avalon Bond
Part II – Fate Grand Order
Chapter 12 – Fate Grand Order
Arturia Pendragon slowly opened her eyes as she considered her surroundings. The rays of sunlight waking her up as she groggily got up from the bed. The room was bare in terms of decoration and it took her a couple of seconds to recognize just where she was. She and Shirou had shared this room when they first came to London. However, she found it displeasing once perceiving the lack of his presence with her. The memories soon came back as Arturia remembered the events of the day before. Even now, after seeing the fruits of their endeavor, she still could not come to terms with what happened. Yes, she was truly grateful for the opportunity to share a life with Shirou as equals but wrapping her mind on the subject was quite tough.
Plus, with she no longer being a servant, meant that she no longer had her connection link with him.
That soon became the first item of the agenda as this was something she did not want to lose.
Getting up from the bed, she went to the window and saw foggy old London, with a few rays of sunlight fighting to pass through the gray clouds.
She turned to the door once she heard it opening and a smile was on her face instantly as Shirou came in looking quite relieved upon seeing her up and about.
"I'm glad you have awoken, Arturia. You gave everyone quite a scare…" Shirou was carrying a tray with some breakfast. Arturia, though, looked at him strangely.
"Well, I may have been tired yesterday after what happened, but that's not uncommon, Shirou." She followed him towards the bed, appreciating the assortments of croissants, a European style breakfast.
"Arturia, it's been three days already…" The king of knights looked at him in surprise. "After we came back to Zelretch's dimension, your or at least, that Arturia's body was too weakened because of the injuries sustained. So, we brought you back here and I have been treating you nonstop with Avalon helping me in restoring your core. I'm glad you're okay now." Arturia melted as she felt his hands caressing her cheeks and the look in his eyes towards her. This time it dawned on her that she was together with him as a lone tear emerged from her eye. Shirou smiled at that and wiped the tear away. The amount of tension she felt prior to coming to London was too much and she became truly in debt with Zelretch for providing her the opportunity.
The Dead Apostle Ancestor only smirked at the deft offer, but merely stated that he would be talking with them afterward.
"What about Rin and Sakura?"
"They left to the Clock Tower a couple hours ago…Tohsaka has been helping me in healing you."
Arturia smiled at that, as she finished her tray of croissants and was now drinking some coffee and milk.
"How are you feeling, Arturia?"
She looked at him, now remembering that they no longer had their link together and she missed it. Still, no doubt, either Shirou or Rin would know how to bring it back.
"I'm fine, Shirou. Better than fine, actually."
She placed her right hand on her chest and felt her own heartbeat. She then grabbed his hands and placed it on her chest area for Shirou to feel it as well.
The redhead nodded as he then cleaned the tray with Arturia's breakfast and took it to the kitchen.
"You can rest some more if you wish…" Arturia nodded as she then lied down.
"I wish to rest, but I wish to rest with you by my side." Shirou nodded with a smile as he placed the tray in the kitchen and then returned to lie by her side.
Arturia closed her eyes and hugged him while her head rested on his chest.
Both closed their eyes in an eternal bliss as neither had anywhere to go nor what to do.
===Six months later===
Six months after Arturia had possessed a human body of herself in another dimension, things returned to normal sort of speak.
Rin had helped them to establish a direct link of shared perception like they had as master and servant. Turned out that Rin's family had plenty of skill in this craft. Now, even if they were no longer master and servant, it felt good for them to be of one thought and mind once more. After that, it took another couple of weeks for Arturia's dragon core to restore to full capacity. While she no longer received mana from Shirou added by Muramasa's energy, Arturia Pendragon was a force of nature when alive. Of course, the downsize was that now she could be killed, but with Shirou covering for her with Avalon and his healing mage craft, she was not worried.
Mission wise, both Ciel and Bazett could no longer come up with a situation where the couple was ill prepared to handle.
Well, Ciel has yet to test that theory against Dead Apostle Ancestors, but that was something not even she dared to think about going against any time soon. In the end, as all of them played mostly by the book, there was no need for the Church to be involved in their deeds.
As far as Bazett was concerned, the number of corrupted magus was reduced. Shirou and Arturia's reputation as magus hunters became so notorious that pretty much every member of the Clock Tower thought twice before even considering a stray path. The Vice-Director was thrilled about Bazett's special unit, so much that she had requested a special meeting with the freelancers. While still not inclined to enroll into the Clock Tower, since they enjoyed the liberty of choosing assignments and in essence not being controlled by the Magus Association, they received a personal appreciation by the Vice-Director. Because of those two, the magus society stopped causing ruckus around the globe, so the Clock Tower no longer needed to run damage control as often.
After the end of the missions, Shirou and Arturia returned to Fuyuki for a nice little break. Since Excalibur was broken, Arturia fought with Shirou's traced Caliburn.
After arriving at Fuyuki, she had given the broken Excalibur to her lover to see what he could do.
While the redhead had acquired Muramasa's knowledge as a blacksmith, this was actually Shirou's first work.
As such, he had assembled a nice little corner inside the warehouse for his blacksmith workshop. Turned out that in Japan was easy to find suppliers for the craft. He had acquired the tools and equipment needed for everything as well as the best possible steel money could buy. A look over the broken sword, Shirou catalogued the different runes that made up the divine construct to replicate later on. While it would never be close to a Divine Construct, Shirou's ability with runes together with the craft acquired by Muramasa, the new sword would be close to the real deal. Arturia wanted to be near for the entire procedure.
She watched as he melted the broken Excalibur steel and mixed it with the one that he acquired it from Japan's best to fill the mold of the new sword.
The mold was designed to be identical to the former sword.
Once the mold was finalized, Shirou began to harden the steel heating it and cooling it, while slamming at it with his hammer. Arturia could see the sparks that flew from each heavy strike from the blacksmith. Shirou's movements and his attention to detail proved flawless as the second Excalibur turned into shape before her very eyes. Like Muramasa's creations, this blade had a different characteristic to Arturia's old Excalibur as she would be able to easily pass her own mana throughout the steel, hardening to become diamond-like resilient. Once her lover finished the craft, it was now time to add the runes. With it, the steel would be greatly reinforced by Arturia's mana supply. Excalibur was strong in its own right, so to circumvent that problem, Shirou counted on Arturia's dragon core to constantly supply the necessary mana to reinforce the blade.
The other rune consisted of the golden energy beam that Arturia can release upon using her Divine Sword.
It allows for Arturia to concentrate as much mana as possible inside the sword, so that she can release it all in one vertical swing, releasing her ultimate noble phantasm.
After the entire procedure was finished, Arturia saw as Shirou observed his creation with a satisfied look on his face. She found it humorous as the redhead looked to be in a trance while observing the new sword. Back when Rin had told that Shirou would be a good blacksmith, he had not thought too much about it, focusing on his trace magis. Looking at him right now, it seemed that once more Tohsaka Rin was right.
Polishing the blade, Arturia was momentarily blinded by the steel shining her reflection. Her lover had even finalized with a loving touch, tracing a sheath similar to Avalon to cover his work. After Shirou presented his creation to his first customer, Arturia's hand held the sword's handle and pulled it from the scabbard. Her eyes sparkled as she could feel her sword again in her hands. They were in the garden of their house right now as Arturia checked the sword in her hand. Everything was in pristine condition as Shirou matched the balance to utmost perfection.
"Is it satisfactory, my king?" Arturia pouted at the redhead who was smirking at her. Still, she was rather demanding when it came to swords, specially about her Excalibur.
"Please refrain from mockery, Shirou…it's not an endearing quality I wish to see from my consort."
She closed her eyes and turned her face away from him in a faint indignant reply, but soon faded as she inspected the sword.
Shirou kept on smiling, however, only losing the smirk.
"I was not mocking you Arturia…this sword must uphold to even the highest possible standards, both to be presented to the king of knights and also as a memento of my predecessor's legacy." Arturia hummed in acceptance at his words.
"Well if that's the case, then you certainly did honor both Muramasa and the Fairies with your work, Shirou. Quite an exquisite craftsmanship, indeed."
In no time Arturia had sealed her new Excalibur in her mystic code.
"With that settled, what will we have for dinner?"
The formal tone in which the conversation was held all but left as they went back to the house hugging each other. Shirou did laugh as they got inside the house.
"Guess that will never change, huh…" Arturia nodded, earning a smile from the redhead.
It was first perceived that Arturia's never-ending hunger was due to her time as a Servant and she later acquired a taste for Shirou's cooking to the point of addition. Now that she was human once more, Shirou was afraid that Arturia would no longer care much for the same tastes, but he was relieved when nothing much has changed. Sure, ever since the spiritual possession occurred, Arturia took a while to adapt. Avalon may have cleansed the core, but many of Alturia Alter's dark thoughts and bad experiences were still there to process. The betrayals, the acts she took against Arturia's own consciousness and even Arturia Alter's relationship with both Morgan and Mordred. The image of the blackened Excalibur decapitating her sister was an image that kept Arturia from having a tranquil sleep in the beginning.
Morgan did make her life miserable, but to make that ruthless act really pushed Arturia Alter to a point of no return.
It was the act of a tyrant, in the end.
That night, Taiga had arrived for dinner and the trio had decided to make a feast together. The fiery woman missed the couple greatly, but she figured that they were having fun travelling the world together, enjoying each other's presence. As Shirou made true magic in the kitchen, Arturia and Taiga was busy talking in the table.
"Oh, tell me Saber…how was Miami like? That's the last place you two were, right. I wanna hear all about it."
Arturia nodded, smiling. Well, there were a few trips after London throughout Eastern Europe, but nothing memorable.
"Well, actually, after Miami, we stopped by London to meet up with Rin and Sakura. Miami was beautiful…quite soothing, though plenty of humidity. The ocean water there was almost transparent. We could see the fishes passing by our legs. I even tried my luck in surfing…it was very enjoyable." Shirou hummed from the kitchen, remembering the scene. Arturia had mentioned that she had a high skill in riding, but that was being modest. His beloved got up at her first try and acted like a professional. Taiga looked at the blond gorgeous woman in front of her with a smile. Taiga could see how happy she was.
"So, Shirou, did you try surfing as well?" Shirou looked back from his position in the kitchen.
"No, I was in the sand, preparing our picnic." He then served dinner. "Saber, though, was so good that everyone there commented on it." Arturia blushed at the praise.
"Ah, how I envy you two…getting to travel around the world, enjoying life." Her pout earned a melody laugh from Arturia before it was time to eat.
After dinner, Taiga stayed for a good while as they got to talk some more about their trips around the world. Taiga then excused herself for the night and Shirou quickly washed the dishes. No sooner had Shirou finished, the couple went to the bedroom to finish the night.
===Lemon Start===
As they entered the bedroom, they both lied on their shared futon, naked. Their clothes were on the floor around the room, discarded.
In no time, Shirou had made his move, hugging her and kissing her fiercely. Arturia welcomed it instantly, wrapping her arms around him. She could feel his hands slowly descend towards her bottom, quite enjoying the feeling of warmth inside of her as well as the arousal of the following acts. Their hands would feel each other's bodies while the couple started with their mouths. Arturia was the first to break the kiss and reach for Shirou's neck. She was delighted at the small moan she heard from him.
"Do you like that, master?"
Shirou shivered when he heard the name calling, being whispered close to his ear. Every now and again, they would do role-playing like this in bed.
Shirou enjoyed feeling her tongue going through his body while her hands gently massaged his muscles. When she reached the waist region, Shirou could not hold himself and caressed her hair while she went for his member.
"Arturia…"
She smiled deviously at the pleasure she was providing to him as she could feel her inner walls moist in trepidation. For as much as she enjoyed doing this, she knew that Shirou would return the favor.
True to her words, Shiro then grabbed her with a bit of force and laid her on the bed. The movement alone brought chills up her spine. Her eyes flipped and she released a moan in deep pleasure, both at the rather forceful act and what her master was doing now. Oh, how she loved when he did that to her. Shirou's tongue, although gentle, had quite the reach as he methodically and sometimes randomly worked his magic on her inner thighs. Her hands were caressing his hair as she released a low, but long moan, showing him how much she was enjoying it.
"Yes master, please don't stop…" He would indulge her every time and fastened the pace, even using his fingers on just the right places to completely take control of the situation. After a while doing that, she could feel her control loosening as her hands pulled his head forward, screaming his name for dear life. Shirou could feel her body tremble in delight and he could feel his own hormones working its magic because of it. Quickly grabbing a condom, Shirou got into position as he once more kissed his beloved. Arturia was surprised the first time they had sex with this product. As she was no longer a servant, Shirou could very well impregnate her now. While it was something they clearly envisioned for the future, it was not what they wanted right now.
Arturia could feel his body keeping her warm on the outside, but on the inside, she was already craving for him.
"Please master, do not torture me…" She could feel his member passing close to her inner walls and she shivered at the mere touch.
"How much do you want it?"
"More than anything master, please…"
Arturia opened her legs and enveloped her master's body as he went about his job slowly at first. She enjoyed him slowly increasing the pace instead of going fast and rough from the start. Shirou would be whispering words in her ear while pleasuring her deeply. All that Arturia could respond was moaning and begging her master for more. His hands were busy massaging her defined breasts. Arturia's mind just could not keep up with him both penetrating her, playing with her breasts and lick her neck. She could feel that he increased the pace with faster and stronger strokes. Also, she could feel that he was about to reach his limit. She could feel her inner walls getting tighter, so she used a move of her own, already feeling another orgasm of her own, close to his.
"Arturia…I…"
"Yes master, give it to me." When the last thrust came, Shirou obliged her. She hugged him with all her intensity as they released orgasm together.
"Oh god…yesss…master…Shirou".
===Lemon Finish===
Shirou and Arturia then lied in their bed, recovering their breathing and normal heartbeat. The first time they made love after Arturia possessed Arturia Alter's body, it was a completely new experience. Being out of breath. What appeared fatigue in a servant was actually shortage of mana. It was an amazing bliss with their heartbeat beating fast and both being short of breath. After cleaning the sweat from their actions, Arturia smiled deeply and rested her head on Shirou's chest while his arms brought her close. Sleep came easily for both of them afterward.
===Next day===
Shirou and Arturia were literally going at it in their dojo. It was pouring heavy rain outside and it was almost nighttime.
What usually started as a regular training spar, became quite the heated battle. The finesse style of the samurai versus the strong and powerful western skills of a knight of the round table. Shirou with his traced Muramasa made katana versus Arturia's new Excalibur. It was one hell of a first test drive for her new sword, however unlike before, she did not waste time coating her sword with wind to obscure it. She had no reason to conceal her identity as a saber class servant.
When they first began these sessions, Shirou was still getting adapted to fighting with a sword. Then, once Counter Guardian Emiya's style of fighting became engraved in his mind, Shirou turned into using Kanshou and Bakuya against Arturia. Once Muramasa's spirit merged within Shirou's reality marble, Shirou turned to favor fighting with a katana, but he also fought with the chinese couple swords every now and then. After Arturia became human once more, the heat of battle got even more pronounced. So much so, that these days she no longer viewed herself concerned about overseeing her lover's skills with a sword.
All she wanted right now was to quell her desire for battle and Shirou was providing her plenty.
Each sword parry sent ripples in the air and dust lifting from the ground. They moved with similar speeds, though Arturia's moves were more agile.
Each one had cuts sprawled around their bodies, as none was the clear winner of this match. Of course, Shirou would then heal them afterward, so they could go all the way.
This was the scene that both Tohsaka Rin and Zelretch came to surging inside the confines of the dojo. Upon seeing this, Rin merely sighed in dismay remembering about the times when they lived together. The Dead Apostile Ancestor witnessed the battle between lovers and sweat dropped, both at the fight as well as Rin's behavior. Though, one thing that stood above all else was the fact that neither Shirou nor Arturia paid much attention to their presence or the fact that they used a peculiar method of travel from London to Fuyuki.
"Are they always like this, my apprentice?" Rin, though, just crossed her arms and snorted while the wind caused by Arturia and Shirou's blades lifted her hair in disarray.
"Sadly, yes." Which proved right now that anyone who dared to face against either one of these two would have one hell of a fight.
Shirou and Arturia then met in the middle with their swords parried, both showing faces of elation and slight exhaustion.
Rin started trembling in a tsundere manner and let it out, after years of frustration at seeing this exact scene time and time again.
"WOULD YOU TWO STOP TRYING TO KILL EACH OTHER FOR ONE MINUTE!" Shirou and Arturia blinked at the familiar voice and both turned to the new arrivals in wonder. Rin stood there fuming next to an amused Zelretch. Arturia took a breathing, clearly not amused about the interruption. Shirou quickly healed every one of her injuries, before turning to the uninvited pair.
"Tohsaka…how did you two get in here, without me knowing?"
"Oh, quite precious of you to believe that a mere bounded field could keep me out?" Shirou frowned at the jab.
"Nevertheless, it is considered quite rude to barge in like this, Zelretch…I expected that a being of your status would be above such behavior."
The vampire smiled at Arturia's accusation.
"My sincerest apologies your highness for my rudeness. I was just having a delightful conversation with my apprentice and she was talking wonders about your cooking, Emiya Shirou. I will admit that I was curious about it and decided to check for myself." Seeing as the fight for now was over, Shirou took his clothes that he had tossed on the ground before training as Arturia joined Rin for a conversation. They quickly headed towards the main house, while Zelretch waited for Shirou to leave as well.
"So, you came here just for me to cook for you?" The vampire followed the redhead towards the house, with a feral smile at the magus's shrewdness.
"That amongst other subjects, yes…"
Shirou sighed at that…they knew that sooner or later the vampire would demand retribution. It was the magus' law of equivalent exchange, after all. As they entered the kitchen, they saw Arturia coming up with the same conclusion as Shirou. She was demanding information from Rin who was feigning ignorance to her demanding questions. Eventually, Shirou took upon his duties in the kitchen while Arturia played the role of the house's hostess, serving Rin and Zelretch some tea. Of course, until Shirou took a seat by the table, they only talked about amenities. The King Arturia went along with it, knowing that anytime now the vampire would come up with the real reason behind his presence here in Fuyuki.
For whatever reason that he deemed important to come to Fuyuki instead of requesting them to come to London.
Considering the importance of their guest, Shirou ended up splurging a little bit, opting to make a western dish instead.
"I have to say that my appetite is difficult to appease Emiya Shirou…living for so long has allowed me to meet with the finest of chefs and experts…I can say that my apprentice's praise for your cooking isn't unwarranted."
Shirou nodded in appreciation, though he was more interested in knowing what he was here for.
"Now, I guess you two are wondering what I'm doing here…" Both Arturia and Shirou fought the urge to openly snort in derision. Still, Arturia opted to be diplomatic about it.
"The thought has come to mind, yes."
"Of course,…well, in simple terms, I have come here to collect the favor you two so graciously offered me…"
They still felt the need to openly snort in derision.
"Our dimension works quite fine; the balance is preserved with Alaya and Gaia working in tandem to keep things spinning as they should. However, in one parallel world to ours, it has come to my attention that humanity will become extinct by the year of 2016." That in itself got Shirou and Arturia's attention. The concept of parallel worlds was indeed something that could reach unimaginable boundaries. As such, it would be the equivalent of stating that the worst possible occurrence could be happening right now in one dimension that does not happen in another.
Though humanity's extinction was a tough pill to swallow.
"In this world, there is an organization called Chaldeas Security Organization that is overseen by the Animusphere Magus Family. In our world, they oversee the astronomy branch of the Clock Tower, but in that world, they created this organization called Chaldeas that is responsible for the preservation of the reign of Human Order. As such, it became their responsibility to fix the glitches in time that were responsible in essence for humanity's extinction by the year of 2016."
"Why are you telling us this?"
Arturia was not much of a fan of long explanations…though Shirou learned from Muramasa to at least wait for the man to make up his point, before complaining.
"The method that Chaldeas has of fixing the glitches in time is through a system called Rayshift Technology. Through this technology, Chaldeas is able to send masters into the past in order to fix those glitches in time. The exciting part of this is that through another created system in Chaldeas, the masters are able to summon heroic spirits as servants to aid them in their battles, similar to the system granted by our Holy Grail. Quit exciting isn't it…humans and heroic spirits fighting together to save humanity."
"Indeed, it's exciting, but what that has to do with us?"
Rin decided to participate, seeing as she had received all of the explanation from Zelretch before coming here.
"Emiya, Zelretch wishes to send you two to aid this Chaldea in saving humanity…well, humanity in that dimension at least."
Zelretch nodded at and added another explanation to the mix.
"Originally, Chaldea had drafted a total of 48 masters around the world to be sent back in time, however due to the actions of someone I still don't know who it is, the base the masters were in exploded, incapacitating almost every master in Chaldea. Only one master remained alive for the task. It is actually a Japanese teenager by the name of Ritsuka Fujimaru. This kid certainly reminds you Emiya Shirou in terms of personality. Chaldeas is thus reliant on his skills – or lack thereof to correct the glitches in time, which are called singularities." Arturia and Shirou turned pensive at that, but at least the vampire was being clearer now. Plus, the prospect does seem exciting for both of them. Fighting alongside heroic spirits to protect humanity.
"And you wish to send us to this Chaldea as masters to join forces with this Ritsuka person?"
"Actually no, my dear…not as masters." To this, the air suddenly got quite cold inside as Arturia was trembling at this point.
"….as servants…" the tone in which she spoke was quite calm, but Rin could feel her hair stand up at the back of her neck. Never before she has seen her best friend enraged like this. The rage she was feeling was more at herself more than Zelretch, since it was her who placed them in Zelretch's debt and she would be bond to see her promise through, no matter what. She ended up giving her word and her honor as a king and a knight prohibited her from going back in her word. Shirou placed a comforting hand on her shoulders and Arturia looked at him apologetically. She just became human to be with her beloved and now would return to being a servant. Not only that, but Shirou would be in this mess as well.
"Saber, there is no way you could go as masters as neither of you are from that world…the rayshift technology would not work with you two." Rin may have no prior knowledge of the Chaldea's system, but she was Zelretch's apprentice for long enough to understand about the theory behind it. Also, she could sympathize with her best friend's pain as she remembered how happy she was upon being human once more, so that she could be with him. However, she knew that these two had what it took to surpass anything together. There was no doubt in her mind that they would get through this.
"Zelretch, how are you going to send us as servants…" Zelretch smiled at the question, already foreseeing it.
"I hope you're not interested in the whole mechanics of this, so I will skip it and merely state that servants are composed of legendary personalities from the past. Arturia here is King Arthur and you my redhead friend happens to be what this other world calls a Pseudo-Servant. It is the result of a Heroic Spirit being summoned using a human body as vessel. Even if Sengo Muramasa is not in control of your body, the fact remains that he is in there and such a part of you. As such, you'd be a Pseudo-Servant."
Shirou frowned in ponder…there is so much this other world differs from his.
"So, we would both be Saber Class servants…" Once more, Rin added her two cents.
"Yes and no…you Emiya would be a dual-class servant, Archer from you know…Archer and Saber from Muramasa."
Arturia was silent for a while, now, trying to get to terms with their new assignment.
"Fear not you two, just like I have the power to take you there as servants, I can also bring you back to your regular lives here in this dimension. I will be watching everything of course." To this, Arturia's mood suddenly brightened. "I may be a Dead Apostle Ancestor, but I am in favor of humanity, miss Arturia. Also, I have taken a liking to you two and I must say it feels me with excitement to see you two in action." Shirou for this narrowed his eyes at the vampire.
"So, in essence, you are sending us there for your own entertainment." Rin sighed as Shirou eventually nailed it.
Yes, everything that Zelretch said about the other dimension was true, but the vampire's goal was more geared towards his curing own boredom.
"Well…you are certainly right, my friend. It's been too long since I had the opportunity to see something different." Still, Arturia was feeling much better now.
"Even so, I will take your word in that you can take us back to resume our lives afterward. Do I have your word about this, Zelretch?" The vampire merely nodded.
"You do have my word, my dear King of Knights. Also, I must explain another reason as to why I'm here in Fuyuki, Japan"
Arturia and Shirou blinked at that.
"It so happens that in the other world, Fuyuki is also the location of the first assignment that Ritsuka Fujimaru was sent to, together with his servant in the year of 2004, precisely the year of the only Fuyuki Grail War that happened in this other world."
There were other subjects that needed clarifying, but Rin had vouched that these two would adapt to it quite quickly.
Shirou and Arturia quickly excused themselves for the moment, while Rin and Zelretch calmly drank some tea.
- (Fate OST – Kodoku na Junrei) – A nice song to play in the background -
"I'm sorry Shirou…" They were now at the porch to their house overlooking the garden.
Neither of them knew how long they would be gone, so Arturia wanted to take as long as possible before heading back to be transported.
"There is no need to apologize, Arturia...I was also grateful for Zelretch for what he did for us. If you had not offered it, I would have. Whatever challenges lies before us we will face together. To me, that's the only thing that matters."
The rain outside has subsided and the few droplets that still fell echoed throughout the clearing. Arturia was simply lost in her own mind remembering her life up until this point and even the possible future they could have. She was picturing them in the backyard having a picnic, simply enjoying themselves, while two bundle of joys, preferably a couple, were playing together. That's the kind of life Arturia aspired to now, and this was her goal in life. Perhaps after this long-term mission, they could stop travelling the world for a great while and have a family together. The image was so vivid in her mind that she began to smile at the prospect. So engrossed was she that Arturia was slightly surprised at Shirou embracing her from behind.
"Did I scare you, you seemed spaced out for a moment." The image disappeared, but it will remain in her mind forever. It was her goal now.
"I was just caught up imagining our future…settle down here for a while, have a couple of kids…" The image was returning.
Behind her, the redhead smiled at the prospect as well.
"Get married…" Arturia turned to her lover with a smile on her face.
"Are you…" Shirou could only nod with a smile, how could he not…at such a mesmerizing sight of her green eyes looking back at him like that.
"I was planning on proposing to you Arturia before this came up…but yes, it's what I envisioned as well. We have been travelling the world for a good while now…and doing good for a lot of people. Settling down here in our home, with a son or daughter or even both by our side with our friends and family." Arturia nodded in delight, seeing that he wanted the same things she did. A part of her was afraid that Shirou would never want to stop what he was doing, but he was right…they had been doing this for quite a while and now they were on a quest to save humanity. Even if it was on another dimension, it is indeed a hero's ultimate quest. It did not get any higher than this. Now, Arturia was even more determined to see this through.
"Actually, it would be tradition to surprise you and with a ring in my hand, but…"
Arturia saw Shirou kneeling in front of her and grabbing both her hands with his.
"I can feel that the timing is right…"
After all, to someone like Arturia, tradition was everything.
"Arturia Pendragon, daughter of Uther Pendragon, king of Britain, I kneel before you, hoping beyond hope that you accept me as your future husband…" Arturia looked at Shirou as she placed a hand on her chest to quell her beating heart. "if you accept me, I promise to give you a life of happiness and joy. I promise to take care of you forever." Arturia even kneeled together with Shirou, simply forgetting that Shirou was doing this for her benefit. She grabbed Shirou's hands and the two were in identical positions, each grabbing each other's hands.
"Without doubt in my mind, I accept it Shirou, my love." The redhead leaned in and gave her a kiss, before they hugged.
"Such a lovely scene…I'm happy for you two."
Arturia and Shirou released a sigh and they both smiled as they turned to the smiling Rin placing her hands on her waist.
"I take it you two sorted out everything."
"Yeah, Tohsaka, we did…could you tell Bazett and Ciel that we will be out of commission for the foreseeable future." Rin nodded. Well, Bazett was already in the know, because Zelretch told her, but she could give Ciel a call.
"Sure thing…I will certainly miss you two, but being Zelretch's apprentice, I'm betting he will let me watch you two for a while. Please come back safe and no heroics you two. I have a wedding to plan out."
Arturia smiled at that. For sure, the fiery Tohsaka would take command of the planning, but Arturia found that she would ask for her help anyway.
"Thank you, Rin…" Rin approached the couple and gave each of them a big hug. This time, Zelretch approached the porch.
"You two are ready?"
The couple looked at each other and activated their respective mystic codes; Shirou with his Muramasa clothes and a strapped katana on his waste and Arturia with her silver armor and blue and yellow outfit beneath it looking like a grownup King of Camelot, with the only item missing was the golden crown. They nodded at the vampire and looked resolute in their new assignment, but both gave a subtle nod towards their best friend, before vanishing from their dimension.
===FGO Dimension - Fuyuki – Singularity F===
A teenage boy with dark short black hair and blue eyes, wearing black trousers and a white blazer, laid dormant on the ground, none the wiser as to where he was right now.
Ritsuka Fujimaru was never one meant to the on the spotlight.
He was chosen by Chaldea to be the 48th master, but he was considered the reserve of the reserve. The backup to the team A masters. The last thing he remembered was a bomb that sent the organization into complete chaos, the masters were at best of his knowledge in dire critical condition and the good-hearted Dr. Lev Lainur Fluros was presumed dead caught in the blast. He did not know about the rest. Fujimaru even attempted to rescue one Mash Kyrielight from the debris but failed due to a pillar falling on her body. Ritsuka could not do anything to help her. All he could do was to sit by her side and wait for their ultimate demise. When his eyes stirred, all he could hear was the noise of what appeared to be a kitten. He could feel a small tongue licking his face.
That alone made Fujimaru open his eyes in surprise as he got up from the ground and looked around.
"Where am I?"
For sure, he was no longer in Chaldea as he looked around to see a desolated city filled with destroyed buildings and abandoned streets.
The sky was darkened and there was nothing in sight.
The city was utterly abandoned and all but destruction and abandonment could be seen.
Ritsuka then looked up as a red comet of sorts appeared in his field of vision. Being unexperienced as he was, the boy thought nothing of it, until the beam stopped over his head and transformed into hundreds of tiny red spots in the sky. Ritsuka could not do anything but place both of his arms in front of him in a pathetic attempt to protect himself from the rain of arrows. The arrows bombarded his position like they were intended to, however when Ritsuka felt no pain whatsoever, he opened his eyes only to be surprised to see Mash standing in front of him, a small girl with lilac hair, lavender eyes and fair skin, wearing a leather outfit and holding what appeared to be a gigantic shield that protected them both from the onslaught of arrows.
He looked at her face and saw deep resolve in her eyes as she defended them from the attacks.
"Mash..." The girl in question still stood still in her position.
"I will explain later, but for now, please stay down." Just as she finished talking, another rain of arrows bombarded on them.
A distance from their position, up from the tallest buildings, a highly muscular figure stood with a bow in hand. He could see that his first attacks were met with resistance, so he traced a sword and transformed into an arrow. As soon as he pulled the string, his white hair became visible as he focused on his attack, only to vanish as soon as a ball of fire travelled towards his location. Back with Mash and Ritsuka, the bombardment of arrows stopped, allowing Mash to relax her position while looking around.
Ritsuka was about to question about what was going on, when they heard a scream in the horizon.
Deeper into the center of the city, the fire raged on as a shadow appeared running for her life as a bunch of skeleton enemies appeared following her soon after, each carrying swords and spears.
The one running for her life was a woman named Olga Marie Animusphere, daughter of the deceased head of Chaldea and now leader of the organization since her father died. She had long white hair like her father and wore formal brown clothing that looked like french aristocracy. She was running for dear life, though, having no idea why she was rayshifted to this singularity. All she rememebered was the sudden bomb in Chaldea and then she appeared here. The skeletons were closing in on her, so she kept on running until she tripped and fell. Frightened, Olga looked back at the attackers, before she snarled and aimed gandr shots at the army.
However, the most she could accomplish was destroy one of the skeletons. Still, the skeletons kept on coming and Olga saw no other method of saving herself.
Suddenly, though, two blue blurs ran past her with swords. The skeletons were slaughtered in less than half a minute just as Mash and Ritsuka approached the Director.
The residents of Chaldea looked on in awe as the newcomers took down the skeletons with rather ease. The first one, a male, redhead, carrying what appeared to be a long black handle katana. His wardrobe was rather lacking in the above-waist department with the exception of a red sleeve that covered his right shoulder and arm and the pants bore much resemblance to the old Japanese samurai era. Olga could not stop but look at the overly defined abdomen area, but she flinched once she got to see the look she was receiving from the other person, a female, very beautiful blonde hair and green eyes, wearing armor on top of a blue and yellow outfit. Her weapon was obscured by a wind spell of some sorts.
Shirou was the one who presented themselves, hoping that these three would provide them with clarification of their assignment. Both Arturia and Shirou could see the boy Zelretch spoke of that looked like Shirou.
"Servants Archer and Saber, reporting for duty."
Arturia then looked at the little girl with lilac hair and her eyes focused on the shield she was holding.
Her breath caught up in her throat as she recognized the weapon instantly or rather to whom the weapon belonged to.
Galahad…
Author Note
Wow, sorry for the long chapter. It is just that some explanation has to be given before I could jump right away with Fate Grand Order material.
I wanted to make a scene of Shirou using his skills as a blacksmith to fix Arturia's sword and also to make the scene of Zelretch coming to their home and then send them to another dimension Fuyuki in the past. For now, not much has changed from the first singularity, but the fights will soon begin in earnest. The adventure chapters before this were mostly for training and getting them ready to face the ultimate challenge of servants facing servants. Against magus and dead apostles, it was not much of a challenge to Arturia and Shirou. But, now that servants are the enemies once more, we will get to see more action moving forward and some historic interaction as well.
Just like I wanted to see in FGO, but because it's not related to FSN much, Arturia in FGO does not know Shirou or even CG Emiya for that manner.
Well, as I said before, I will focus on the seven singularities only, finishing with the Babylon Singularity.
However, it's still plenty to go on for at least another 15-20 chapters, until I reach the final part (the epilogue mostly).
Please, share with me possible ideas and needed corrections.
See ya. Up next is another chapter of Fate Shadow Spear.
