Author Note

Hello there and welcome to another chapter of Avalon Bond.

A special thank you to the reader agentpotter71 for his review of the last chapter. I appreciate your review of this story as well as your reviews of my other stories as well. Thank you. I am also quite excited for when I reach the last singularities and Solomon. Indeed, Babylon is the one I am most eager to write about, considering a few ideas I have already written to focus on when the time comes. To everyone else that reviewed this and my other stories, I also appreciate your feedback.

Not much else to discuss before the chapter, so please enjoy!


Avalon Bond

Part II – Fate Grand Order

Chapter 33 – Londinium Part III

Beta: Axel Emiya


It has taken a while for Mordred to stop focusing on Shirou as her mother, as the group managed to get inside Victor's mansion. Despite the mage no longer be amongst the living, Shirou and Arturia still went ahead with Mordred in tow to disable the house's traps. Soon, they were inside the scholar's library, where Mordred said that this is where he was most of the time. The Knight of Treachery and the group from Chaldea, searched through the vast amount of books, and notes in this place.

"Did anyone find anything?" While everyone was carefully going through everything, Mordred went about her part, thrashing the tables and notes.

"I think so…over here." The Shielder servant picked up a piece of paper, with rambling words apparently written in a hurry and not at all bothered to make much sense. "Apparently, he was writing this when he was attacked…maybe a message for you Mordred and Mr. Hyde to find." The Knight of Treachery felt bad for that as she remembered the old mage quite fondly, despite his quirks. Mash, for her part, focused more on the paper in her hand rather than noticing the downed look on Mordred's eyes, but to Arturia was quite a welcoming sight to behold. She even approached her son and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, making Mordred look up to her father's smile at her. It took a couple of seconds for the Clarent wielder to realize what happened and shield herself back again.

"Mash, what does the note say?" Mash turned to Boudica and nodded, before reading it aloud.

"Ah yes right…sorry…'I learned of a certain plot. Its name is Project Demonic Fog. Though its present state is still unknown, the three leaders of the project are P, B, and M, and they can cast spells beyond human wisdom. Perhaps, they are heroic spirits'…this is most of what's written, unfortunately." Mash then turned to everyone, before seeing them turn to thinking pose, while Ritsuka voiced out loud.

"Is M the servant from earlier, his name was Mephistopheles, right?" Shirou, though, negated.

"While he was of the Caster class, I doubt that Mr. Frankenstein would know of his existence beforehand. Mephistopheles was ordered to come here and drag Victor for their cause or kill him. But if these three mentioned are indeed servants, then this singularity has four Caster servants, that does not make much sense." Shirou said as he turned to Arturia for confirmation, earning a nod from his fiancée. While none of the singularities, so far, adhere to the old rule of one servant per class, it's unusual to see too many servants of only one class.

"I am with mother on this…perhaps they are mages just as the old man Victor was." Shirou groaned and tried looking at Arturia for help, but surprisingly enough, the King of Knights just shrugged her shoulders with a smile at him.

It was more like her way of saying that he was by himself in this matter.

"I see you're not going to stop calling me that, huh Mordred?" The Knight of Treachery, though, only smirked.

"Nope…" Once more a sigh was heard and this time Boudica came up next to him and placed her arm around his neck.

"Oh don't worry Shirou, being a mother is perhaps the highest blessing the heavens provided for us…embrace it."

Shirou had simply chosen to negate his head in dismay and move around the library, while the rest of the group did the same, with Mash and Ritsuka now focused on Mordred who has turned pensive.

"Perhaps, it's better to take this to Jekyll. The man's quite smart and he knows the people of this city." With nothing left to do in Victor's mansion, the group then left it to go back and chat with Jekyll once more about their findings.


===Jekyll's Apartment===

Once everyone was back to their main hub of operations, Mordred gave Jekyll the report of Victor's demise and then gave him the piece of paper that Mash had found in Victor's library.

"Thanks for bringing this to my attention, miss Mash." Jekyll received the paper from Mash and showed her a kind smile in doing so, earning a slight blush from Mash at the honorifics. This happens to be the first time someone has addressed her like that and she was not used to it. "While I don't yet know what to make of these references, I'm certain that my radio network shall be of assistance." Jekyll, then, turned to Mordred once more. "In the meantime, I have received information about another occurrence in the Soho region."

"Wha…we had just came back, you know…jeez, talk about slave-driver." Jekyll had the courtesy to scratch his head in apology.

"Afraid this can't be helped, Mordred…" He, then, turned to the three servants in Arturia, Shirou, and Boudica. "It's quite strange indeed…apparently it even slips indoors to assault civilians. The situation is urgent because once people managed to get indoors, they were protected from the fog. Now, they are being attacked inside their own homes."

"A new servant, perhaps? I don't recall any of the enemies we've seen so far doing that." Ritsuka commented and Mash nodded in compliance. Jekyll also concurred, while in a thinking pose.

"Indeed…this is neither the work of homunculi, automates, or helter skelters. I also don't know if this is the work of a servant."

"What makes you say that, Mr. Jekyll?" The scholar turned to Boudica.

"The report says that what is entering buildings and attacking civilians appears to be a book as big as a human. I decided to tentatively call them Magical Tomes."

"And what pray tell, is this book doing to the civilians? Boring them out of their minds?" Jekyll chuckled as soon as Arturia's hand casually roughed Mordred's hair, urging her to be quiet.

"This information is what I'm curious about as well, Mordred. Whether this is related to the Project Demonic Fog is uncertain, but at the very least, there have been victims. So, please, check it out." Ritsuka soon placed a step forward and vowed to go and check it out, earning a snort from Mordred and once more, the stern father corrected her. Shirou, then, approached Jekyll, while the group prepared to leave for yet another patrol. Once the British scholar learned that Shirou was also a mage as well as a servant, he turned to appreciate whatever intel he could provide regarding these events.

"Yes, Shirou, is there something I can help you with?"

"I happen to dabble on some health potions from time to time, I think it could come in handy to help the victims. Can you take a look at them to see if there's something you can add?" Jekyll smiled and nodded, before receiving the potions from Shirou's hand and going back into his study to take a quick look.

"Certainly…give me a minute." Meanwhile, the group waited for their interaction to finish, when Jekyll appeared once more.

"Most intriguing this concoction…I managed to understand most of the ingredients mixed within, but I can't tell where this astounding amount of magical energy comes from?"

Shirou retrieved the potion with a knowing smile and looked towards Arturia, who smiled back at him, before he turned back to Jekyll.

"It comes from a priceless historical artifact that I happen to carry within me. Now, we should be on our way."

Jekyll looked at the redhead's back and got truly stuck with scientific curiosity to know what he was carrying. Mordred, for her part, remembered the powerful and warm energy that her mother used to heal her after her fight with Mephistopheles and she was also wondering what was it and why it felt so familiar. Of course, having no restraints, the Knight of Treachery then bombarded her 'mother' with questions about yet another mention of something or someone living inside of him, while Shirou just waved her off, saying it was nothing of importance.


===Towards Soho===

"Man, I have faced quite a few monstrosities in my time, but killing a giant book, now that's a first, right father."

Leading the group away from Jekyll's apartment building, Mordred turned to Arturia, who was next to Boudica.

"Indeed, back then, there were mostly giants and dragons…but books…indeed, these singularities are presenting us with opportunities to witness strange events unfold. For instance, I never imagined having to face myself in direct combat." Mordred had to stop at that, as she turned to her father with undivided attention to which of course, Arturia had to see it coming. "In the first singularity, which wasn't in fact the first, but that's irrelevant right now. The first event, let's say it like that, we had to face a different version of myself…though she was tainted by the Holy Grail. It took the joined efforts of myself, Shirou and Mash here to defeat her." Mordred looked troubled by what her father had said.

But then she remembered that the Arturia Pendragon next to her right now wasn't so much the memory of her father from back then, as she was…a mere copy from the Throne of Heroes.

"Wow, that must have been quite the match-up, I wish I could have seen it." A thought now came up and Mordred expressed her concern. "Let's just hope that the Grail doesn't decide to summon you back once more, father, or another version of you." Arturia's eyes barely lingered to Shirou's visibly distraught expression and then came back to Mordred, before she concurred that it would not be enjoyable. She remembered the pain in Shirou's thoughts when they had to face Saber Alter. She didn't want to experience that anytime soon.

Soon, the all too familiar noise of machines stumping close to their location brought the attention of automatas closing in for yet another fight, but Mordred took quick care of this new horde.

"Ah Mordred, we could have helped you, you don't have to deal with them by yourself." Mordred tsked at Mash and then remembered what Father and Shirou said about the shield girl and Sir Galahad's spirit. The knight of Treachery, then, out of the blue, moved at high speeds and swung her sword aiming to behead the shield servant. The movement, alone, surprised everyone, including Mash who moved quickly to block, even if it a little bit to redirect the assault. The others moved to protect Mash, while Ritsuka and Romani from Chaldea urged Mordred to stop…

'Father, Mother, please stand down…if she is to assimilate Galahad's spirit, then she needs to be pushed. Both of them.'

"Mordred, stop this at once, you can't attack her." Mordred, though, didn't relent and started pushing Mash backward with unrelenting assault. "Why are you doing this?" Boudica was about to intervene when Arturia placed her hand to stop her fellow comrade. Ritsuka looked at his fellow servants not doing anything to stop it and wondered what was going on. Meanwhile, Mordred turned to Ritsuka and smirked as she decided to humor the master some.

"Oh don't mind me…it's just within my nature, you know. I can't be trusted, just ask father." Mordred then saw as Mash decided to turn the tables and focus prana through her limbs as Shirou had taught her.

"So, the shield can attack as well, huh, interesting…but not enough!" Clarent then glowed in a blood-red hue as Mordred used most of her strength. Her attack slammed on the shield and Mash skidded backward. The Knight of Treachery once more attacked Mash relentlessly with the glowing Clarent. Still, her eyes were half focused on Mash and also on Ritsuka. After all, for a servant to be strong, the master must be as well. Certainly, Shirou and Arturia could relate to that as they had their fair share of trouble in their own Grail War, because of Shirou's lack of prana.

"What…nothing to say…you're just going to stand there and do nothing. You're not going to step up and fight alongside your servant!" Ritsuka snarked at her and then looked at Mash, who was struggling.

"You treacherous servant!" Mordred's urges, if possible, got even more pronounced at Ristuka's insult.

"Huh, call me names, all you want…I'm quite used to it. Now take this!" Mash's knees were already shaking and this last strike pushed her quite a bit, as she flew a few meters backward, before Ritsuka appeared to catch her.

"Mash! Are you alright?" The lilac girl looked backward to see Ritsuka's worried expression. She, then, looked at Arturia and Shirou's expressions as well, both presumably allowing this to happen. However, she remembered once more the sacred teaching from a couple of senior servants. How both always went out of their way to make sure that she improved to become a better servant to Senpai. She, then, got up with wobbling legs, but still held her shield proudly.

"Senpai…let's do this together." Ritsuka looked at his servant's determined eyes, while Clarent sprung to life and its red energy climbed to the heavens.

"Prepare yourself, for this is the end!" Mordred screamed as she positioned her sword upward to make a red beam energy attack, just like Arturia's. Ritsuka and Mash looked at each other and Ritsuka placed his hand on Mash's back to supply her with some prana from his outfit mystic code. Mash received the extra prana and grabbed her shield with more intent, remembering the sacred words from Arturia…always focus on the conviction to protect. When Mordred swung her sword down, the blood-red beam energy traveled fast towards Mash, who screamed and focused enough prana on her shield to lift up a barrier, blocking Mordred's attack completely. Still, Mordred wasn't quite done and advanced to strike her down, however, that also was blocked as Mash then breathed with enough difficulty, while eyeing the enemy.

"Huh…not bad, shield girl…not bad indeed." Ristuka and Mash looked surprised as Mordred went back to her usual goofy behavior and her killing intent had simply vanished.

"Hah…ah…ugh…what happened?" Mash asked between heavy breathing. Ritsuka observed the knight of treachery approach them.

"Well, I went a little overboard, but indeed, that was a good fight. I trust that Mash knew it, deep down, right, what my intentions were?" Ritsuka then looked at Mash, wondering what was going on.

"Not at the beginning, but as we crossed weapons, I realized that you were not using your full strength behind your strikes," Mordred smirked at that, pleased.

"Indeed, I wasn't…I bet that you're still far from using that shield of yours to its fullest potential, but at the very least, I trust you had figured out how to use your noble phantasm, a little bit." Now that Mash thought about it, indeed, something shifted inside of her while she battled against Mordred. With Arturia and Shirou, it was different, because none of them has ever pushed her this far, even though she knew they could anytime they wanted. Against Saber Alter in Fuyuki, it was different as well, since that King Arthur was holding back as well, despite appearances to the contrary.

"Thank you, Mordred…truly this was the toughest fight I had since Fuyuki…" Ritsuka, though, didn't look too pleased.

"Even so, that was a bit too rough…" Mordred though got rough at the master.

"You have to play a part in this as well, knave…if she is to improve, she needs a strong-willed master. Plus, if I was truly serious about killing her, father and mother would stop me in no time." Ritsuka and Mash then looked at Shirou and Arturia, only to see them with arms crossed and smiling directed at Mash. "Now, let's get going to Soho and deal with those books." Mordred then marched ahead, earning a snicker from Boudica as she followed, while Shirou kneeled next to Mash and used medical magecraft to get her back to health, before approaching Mordred.

"Now that I approve of such methods, but in your peculiar way, you do care about others, huh kind Sir Mordred." The Knight of Treachery blushed at that and complained it instantly, while Arturia observed the interaction.

"Oi…don't call me that…you're gonna make me trip!" Shirou, though, only smiled at the tsundere reaction.

"Well, if you want to call me mother, then I shall call you Sir Mordred." Mordred tripped the words, but Arturia could tell that she was having trouble basking at the complement Shirou had just bestowed upon her.

A few minutes later, as the group traveled towards Soho, they got the information from Romani, about a follow-up from Jekyll. It seemed the human-sized books do not attack the humans, but rather is placing them in deep slumber. However, whether is through the use of magecraft or through some sort of drug, it was not clear at this point. Still, the group had a doctor in the house in Shirou, and thanks to Mash, Ritsuka had poison resistance as well. Plus, most of the servants had magic resistance.

They had then received new coordinates, once in the Soho area to meet up with one of Jekyll's contacts inside an old book house.


===Soho Bookhouse===

As soon as the group went inside the old book house that Jekyll informed when they all met what appeared to be a child with blue hair, wearing round blue glasses. He wore a blue bowtie and much formal clothing for a child, appearing no other than ten years old.

"Oh, so you've all finally come, I was getting bored waiting for you all to come." The boy's voice, however, didn't belong to a child and everyone was surprised. "I was getting pretty sick of waiting and ended up reading an entire novel of roughly 20 volumes that I didn't even want to read." Though the voice was smooth and belonged to an adult, the content of what he said went through Mordred's ears and did the same end result that Shirou, Arturia and even Boudica already expected from the Knight of Treachery.

"Oi, who the hell do you think you are, you shrimp?" The apparent child, however, simply ignored the outburst and turned to the rest.

"So, you're the rescue team Mr. Henry Jekyll said was coming? Then, let me quickly fill you in on the situation. As I'm sure, Mr. Jekyll has already explained it about the Magical Tome, it's a waste of my and everyone's time to explain it. Now, the Magical Tome has already assaulted the elderly shopkeeper here, just like nearly half of Soho's as well. They had fallen into unending slumber and now dream merrily together. It's quite the story, really, isn't it…" The Child now became introspective. "Everyone in unison living in a dream world, in essence, either living in a heavenly or hellish place…that is quite the story, indeed, and quite full of potential." The group from Chaldea looked at the child in front of them, wondering what he was going on about.

"A story for another time, for now, but something to truly ponder about it, isn't it."

"So, you happen to know where this Magical Tome is at the moment?" The child turned to Ritsuka and nodded.

"Of course, I know…it's right here on the 2nd floor of this book shop…" No sooner had the child said so, than Mordred got excited and marched towards the stairs.

"Ah, wouldn't it be better to lure it outside…none of us are equipped to fight in narrow enclosed spaces." Mash turned to Arturia and Shirou.

The King of Knights then turned to Shirou, who nodded and vanished. Mordred, then, turned to Arturia.

"What is mother going to do?" Before Arturia could respond, the giant book came crashing from within the walls and summersault towards the windows, thanks to Shirou's never-ending rain of arrows.

"That was quicker than I thought he would take. Let's go outside and handle this peculiar foe." Arturia said, before running outside, followed by Mordred, Boudica, and Mash. The so-called child barely smirked as his eyes followed Shirou traveling in servant speeds outside, before he and Ritsuka walked outside to see all the servants fending against the book, well, more like attacking it relentlessly, but nothing seemed to work. The attacks seemed to hit and do damage, but nothing is happening to it.

All servants with their respective swords attempted to slash the book in half, but nothing happens.

"What the hell is wrong with this book!?" Mordred's screams of anger were palpable and it was getting on her nerves.

"Indeed, it's quite the conundrum, isn't it? Just how can brute force alone defeat a good storybook? Quite the puzzle wouldn't you all agree? Or perhaps, using brute force it's all that barbarians are capable of, hmmm?" The blunt response sent even Arturia on edge, but she merely delivered her icy golden glare at the boy. Shirou, Boudica, and even Mordred knew that any time now King Arthur would get fed up with this insult and take action. Mordred had witnessed that icy glare on multiple occasions. Still, this child's comment insulted her as well, but she looked at the child more acutely and managed to sense magical energy coming from him, just like the others.

"Oi, are you by chance a servant?" Mash and Ritsuka looked at the question in surprise and then towards the child, who for his part, merely smirked.

"Oh, it took you that long to find out…but then again, I really couldn't expect better from barbarians…huh, did you think a kid reading rare books so calmly in a time like this was so normal? The ability to detect magical energy aside, your intuition as a reader is abysmal, Saber. You should truly read more. Perhaps…" The boy now revealed Saber stopped talking, once he felt a hidden sword by air scratching his throat and Arturia morphing behind the so-called child, forcing sweat from the usually calm and blunt servant child.

"Perhaps, no one ever told you, but usually people take offense to your choice of words. So, please, don't waste my patience and talk at once…who are you and how do we defeat this book and awake the victims?"

The child servant could feel the intent to kill radiating from Arturia's pose and do manage to swallow nervously, before looking toward the rest.

"Oh, where are my manners, indeed, introducing myself is the polite thing to do. Andersen, Hans Christian Andersen is my name, my class is Caster. Now can you please remove the sword from my neck, it's getting quite uncomfortable." The people from Chaldea and Mash recognized the name immediately, but still, Arturia kept her sword exactly where it was.

"You are still due to answer the second question, Mr. Hans…" Mordred was liking to see this version of her father, already. Plus, she really wanted to deck this child servant some.

"Okay, then, I will explain, but please remove the sword."

Arturia had simply tsked at the request, before getting up from her position and standing next to Shirou as everyone waited for Hans Andersen to speak, though he was rather looking at Shirou for some unknown reason.

"You have experienced the nature of the Magical Tome, yes? Attacks are indeed ineffective. It's ineffective because you think it's a book. It's not, though. It's a type of reality marble." Shirou and Arturia narrowed their eyes at Andersen, who was looking at Shirou with a knowing smirk. The name reality marble is completely voodoo in the magecraft world…a powerful magecraft that rewrites how the world itself exists. More commonly known to be used by the Dead Apostle Ancestors.

"Realty marble!? Then…" Mordred turned to the book, while Mash kept hearing the people from Chaldea conversing amongst each other, with Da Vinci staying silent, though. Hans really thought about extending the explanation more than it was necessary, but then he became afraid that the golden knight would threaten him once more with her invisible sword.

"Indeed, maybe a Reality Marble affects the space it's in, but that's different. Its existence itself is a reality marble. That's why it has endurance near invincibility. Then why is that possible, you all may ask?" The boy writer servant arrogantly adjusted his glasses as he continued, though those who lacked patience were already itching for his throat. "That's a natural question, isn't it. My reasoning by analogy would be that it was originally a servant that is projecting the psyche of its master."

"Another servant…but that doesn't make any sense." Ritsuka's question earned a popped vein from Hans.

"Huh, I guess I'll have to spell it out for you…"

"Yes and be quick about it, midget. Conclude, already! We have places to be." Mordred had then drawn her sword and Hans took a step back. Strangely so, as he observed both blonde knights, he could see a history there, developing.

"The conclusion is that it's a stray servant. That's why it attacked the people from Soho, it put them to sleep and made their dream. In short, it's searching for a master. In essence, you can't look for a book without a title. It's easy to give substance to a story. That being said…" Andersen then turned to the Magical Tome and said his final bit. "can you hear me? I'll give you a name, Magical Tome…A tale for someone, Nursery Rhyme!" The book then, much to everyone's surprise, glowed yellow and shifted into the shape of a small white-haired girl with a long black dress and also a black hat, holding the book in her hand.

"It appears you can do things, when pushed, huh, little midget?" Hans just snorted at that.

"I already told you my class is Caster and I'm a writer, barbarian Saber. A fistfight is not my cup of tea. Plus, if I did that without you here, it would attack me just like it attacked the others." The girl now materialized, looked around frantic for Alice and her big sisters and clearly, none of the servants had the drive to deliver the killing blow to such a sweetheart. Boudica surely felt for the little girl and quickly approached with a warming hug. The girl had dropped the book to the ground, as she felt the warming feeling coming from the mother Boudica.

"It's alright, my dear child, you're safe now." Boudica gently caressed her long and exuberant white hair, while Alice closed her eyes while humming in warmth and care. Boudica then placed both hands on her shoulder.

"I'm afraid to say, though, that what you seek is not here, anymore." The stray servant's big black eyes just blinked as she could feel the warmth from the Queen of Britannia.

"Alice…isn't here…" Boudica had simply nodded, while caressing her hair, fondly.

"I'm afraid not…but I trust that she's with you wherever you go…no matter if we lose our loved ones, we shall carry them with us in our hearts. So, even if we can't see them, doesn't mean that they aren't with us…" The stray servant then smiled and felt the warmth of Boudica's words. "So, you can rest and know that your loved ones shall always be with you." The other servants from Chaldea also felt Boudica's nice words, as Shirou smiled at Arturia and vice-versa. Mash had felt a good warmth in her chest and looked fondly at Ritsuka. Mordred, for her part, looked conflicted, while her eyes lingered briefly between her father and even mother, somehow not remembering much of her actual mother.

"…thank you." The stray servant hugged Boudica back, before once more glowing in yellow energy, before vanishing for good.

"Splendid and heartfelt words from you, miss. A story's ending must be as good and engaging as its beginning and you did it quite marvelously." A small tear formed in Boudica's eyes at the image of her daughters. She meant every word spoken to the little girl stray servant. Arturia had quickly approached her friend and gives her a hug, as she was privy to the lore of the Queen of Britannia. Mordred, for her turn, felt like a fish out of water, as she wasn't used to this mellow situation.

"Well, that was quite nice and all…now that the citizens are no longer bound to sleep, we can go back to Jekyll's apartment and see what else he has for us."

"Oh, I shall join you all, then." Mordred made her displeasure known instantly.

"Oh, joy…though open your mouth more than the mere necessary and I'll gut you, without a second thought."

"Such a barbarian…though, considering your upbringing, it can't be helped." Mordred, once more, complained, while Shirou and Arturia had to hold her down from attacking the writer servant, now more than aware that somehow this Hans Andersen has the ability to observe their life history, even without actually knowing about their identity.


Author Note

Ok, that's enough for now. If someone's wondering about Frankenstein, I have decided not to add her into the mix, sorry about that. Sorry for those who like her and all, but she is kind of useless to the plot.

Also, I shall stop right here, since I plan to finish this singularity in two more chapters. Actually, one chapter and a half, since I plan a few Chaldea scenes, afterward.

Please tell me your thoughts.

Next update: Cursed Eyes