"Knowest thy shame, kin of the past. Ever since the forgone age of the myths, the descendants of we matriarchs have been irreconcilable enemies with steel that slays dragons and snakes. In spite of that, dost thou wish to sully thy hands with the filth of yonder blade. O far thou hast fallen!"
(-)
"Pray heed my words, Goddess Athena, your divine self is severely mistaken. Ever since the forgone age of the myths, we daughters of the earth have always been bound to the fate of serving the heroes of Steel. Though there are times when dragons and snakes turned their fangs against them, those occasions only lasted as ephemeral dreams."
(-)
Words and memories from a prior encounter with the Witch Queen before meeting Arturia came unbidden to Athena's mind.
Compared to a real goddess, the Witch Queen was just an insignificant existence. However, the Witch Queen had held her head high and pleaded to Athena.
(-)
"We are the 'Hero's Attendants' who serve brave warriors. Even legends designated the goddess Athena as the beloved daughter of Zeus, the chief deity of Greek mythology. If your divine self truly believes this to be erroneous, please do point out corrections."
/-/
Athena opened and closed her eyes in thought, feeling an ebb and pulse of divine Steel that rapidly permeated the area in a way Marduck's could never compare.
As she thought back to the words once spoken by the Witch Queen years ago, Athena still found herself gritting her teeth. However, the pressure to prostrate as a mother Earth Goddess to a Hero carving the path forward was momentarily immobilizing her as she resisted.
Her pride would not allow her to be a hero's attendant because she still couldn't' accept the Witch Queen's prior words.
But this Steel, it was glorious, neither sharp nor overbearing. Rather, it was steadfast and unbending like a man of utmost principle.
The problem was who was emitting the energy.
Shielding her face from the buffeting winds, Athena cut the air with her scythe and created a barrier around herself while stabilizing her position.
From where Ishtar had knocked Arturia out of the clouds and into her mist, Arturia's figure had broken through the skies and crashed into the ground.
Yet, rather than toppled and beaten into the dirt, Arturia stood on two feet; her heels having plowed through rock and earth alike and leaving deep grooves in her wake. Held fast in her hands was the sword Shirou had given her for protection.
Was it the sword's doing?
Athena could only try to connect the pieces together with what she had, but the conclusion was already deemed wrong from the start.
There was a momentary vacancy in Arturia's eyes that quickly shifted into a sharp yet candid scrutiny over the battlefield focused on Ishtar.
Arthenia?
Yes and no. It was her, but it didn't quite feel like the Arthenia Athena knew.
Athena furrowed her brows, keeping her distance as her intuition warned her that Arturia was dangerous in her current state. The others did not possess Athena's level of perception.
"The Eighth Campione is in danger!"
"W-Why is she here?!"
"Erica support Arturia, not me!"
"Why's Lord Enkidu just standing there?!"
"Defend her! If she dies, Enkidu and the other Gods will lose their sanity!"
Rallying cries echoed from below as Ishtar's attack had pushed Arturia to the heart of the battlefield where Guglanna's corpse was vanishing and Godou was fighting Perseus/Marduck.
Nothing was making sense, and if there was anything Athena hated most, it was self ignorance. She shot a glance at Shirou in Enkidu's guise, but there was something off with him as he stared at Arturia to the point he seemed to forget he was on a battlefield.
Fool.
What kind of God of Steel was he? The stunted kind?
Athena hardened her expression and opened her mouth to yell, but faster than Athena who always thought before acting, Ishtar opted to react first and think later.
Sensing the overwhelming presence of Steel emitting from Arturia, numerous divine arrows were pelted towards her.
"NOO!"
"Enkidu, intercept! Why don't you move?!"
Panicked cries echoed as Erica and the local magic cabals converged on Arturia as Godou stalled Marduck.
Regardless, a mortal's speed could never compare to the divine Authority of Ishtar's arrows.
Seen as a Mother Earth Goddess, Ishtar possessed the dual attribute of Steel from her legend as a warrior deity with a potent capacity for vengeance.
Between Erica and the magic cabal's hasty defence and Ishtar's pre-emptive strike, it was obvious which would reach Arturia first.
The hooting of owls and the hissing snakes echoed as Athena channeled her Authority to intervene on her pupil's behalf, but she soon found the effort fruitless.
"Strike-Air."
The wind moved at the mere swing of a sword, creating a reverberating shockwave that produced a gale of cutting air outward in a diagonal line.
Intercepting Ishtar's arrows, the force of the wind shattered each and every shot before rapidly cleaving towards Ishtar.
"This can't be happening," Ishtar murmured, pupils constricting as she hurriedly dodged while seated on a floating Maanna.
The Authority Ishtar had subjected Arturia to should not have had this effect!
"Who are you?" Ishtar stabilized her position and glared.
The person whom she was facing reminded her of neither that naïve Arturia or that pesky consciousness of the sword Caliburn. Wait, there was one image she remembered in Arturia's dreamscape…?
No way.
To return to the point of origin was the property of Ishtar's seafoam. Then the being in front of her was-
"!"
Ishtar dodged, using Maanna as a shield as a series of wind blades blew her backwards.
Clicking her tongue, she called upon her divine Authority, launching an arrow to the heavens.
"Light of Venus!"
The shot arrow exploded and released a hazy pink mist that scattered over the ground like rain.
A mental corruption wave cascaded down, halting Erica and the others in their tracks as they began attacking each other, but they weren't even the true targets.
The one who mattered most was the armoured woman holding that cursed sword.
No amount of wind blades could disperse Ishtar's Authority affecting such a wide area. Inevitably, the pink mist blanketed Arturia's entire form.
A streak of whiteish blue pierced through the pink, creating Artemis's image of a moon.
For the first time since the battle, a twinge of unease welled up within Ishtar.
A moon's aura had rose to shield Arturia.
Ishtar clenched her teeth while Athena grew contemplative.
The moon's blessing?
Legends state that the True King of Britain was loved by the moon.
Did that translate to a lunar Authority pertaining to the protection of the mind?
The mental interference was instantly rebuffed.
"That doesn't make sense!" Ishtar screamed, seeing red. "Its ridiculous!"
"-Sword of Selection."
A declaration was made, Authority of Steel blowing away Ishtar's pink mist to reveal Arturia within, hands clasped firmly around the hilt of her sword.
Caliburn hummed in consent.
"Judge the paradigm of good and evil."
The world in Arturia's eyes shifted to black and white, focusing on the spot above Ishtar's head which revealed a mass of turbulent colours that blended into grey.
'Chaotic Neutral.'
The designation came unbidden.
Though the sword in her hand would never harm the innocent, there was a degree within a set parameter judged by Caliburn itself.
"Acceptable." The judgement smoothly left Arturia's mouth.
Arturia raised Caliburn up in accordance to the Arthurian Legend of the sword that shone with a chorus of divine brilliance at its drawing.
Ishtar felt shivers go down her spine.
Through ill premonition, she could no longer allow herself to hold back and instantly threw upward a spear-like key to the heavens.
"Open the Gate!" She called.
The sky above her cracked and opened into a circular hemisphere. From within, the darkness of space was illuminated by the beauty of a yellowish-white planet astronomers had long told stories of.
Venus itself descended through the crack, condensing into pure divine energy that funneled down.
Just a little more!
Ishtar felt sweat beading over her brows, but time was not on her side.
"In the hands of the chosen King…"
Arturia's gaze remained unwavering as the aura of Steel intensified several folds, awing those who watched into standing still.
Ishtar was different.
"Gracefully! Elegantly! Boldly!" Ishtar hastened the process of her attack, finally growing impatient and ascending higher to the sky.
"Fly! Maanna!"
The closer to the heavens Ishtar rose, the faster Venus's conversion rate increased.
"Behold my full strength!" Ishtar cackled, aiming her finger down.
"Unleash your light."
Caliburn thrummed at Arturia's command, motes of light rising from the ground and encompassing its blade. Like glitter over a granulated surface, the blade's edge shone.
"From the Heavens to the Earth!"
"Aim steady and charge straight."
A beam of congregated energy funneled down from Venus at Ishtar's beckoning.
"Annihilate the-?!"
An object of divine nature abruptly formed an unexcepted wall.
Ishtar recognized what had happened in an instant.
"ATHENNAAAA!" Ishtar screamed in fury as Venus's descent into Maanna was obstructed by the shield of Aegis.
The feathers of the owl's wing beats echoed.
How did they do it on that TV screen- ah yes.
Athena raised her middle finger from afar.
"Get fucked in the ass bitch." ('You think I would let you; you fool!')
Ishtar's complexion whitened as she hurriedly looked back at Arturia.
"For the sake of those affected by chaos…"
It was too late.
Propped with her arms over her head, Arturia was already in the motion to slash.
Ishtar's pupils dilated.
"Show them the direction of hope!"
Steel that could cleave through Authority towards its intended target had fully converged on the blade's edge.
"Banish the wicked."
Burn with a radiance that cuts through the pure and smites only evil.
Golden Sword of the Victorious-
"Caliburn!"
Arturia swung to the heavens.
Fast and with a range impossible to dodge-
"Dammit!" Ishtar raised her divinity to block.
A beam of light was swung and parted the clouds, cutting into Ishtar's side before gleaming stars of energy overtook her, exploded, and shattered into fragments that illuminated the night.
The dawn of a glorious horizon would manifest in a white-lit cascade.
Silence permeated the area as Arturia wobbled in place, Caliburn's light fading as it entered dormancy. In the end, she faltered and tipped forward as a green blur hurriedly moved towards her, finally snapped out of its daze.
Deftly catching Arturia as she exhausted herself and stumbled, Shirou in Enkidu's guise, felt his composure waver for the first time around Arturia as he looked over her.
Held in his arms, Arturia appeared weak, her limbs limp and garbled nothings escaping her mouth as if the prior display had been a lie.
"Saber?" Shirou murmured, only for Arturia to grimace in her unconsciousness.
Shirou thinned his lips, glancing around at the others nearby and keeping his other questions to himself.
There were too many eyes.
Hovering in the air, Shirou took Arturia with him.
Staring at Marduck and Godou in the distance, Shirou made his choice.
"The Master is feeling unwell." He said, calling out across the battlefield. "I leave Marduck to you, Campione. The odds are not in his favour. Athena-"
"Forsooth, this divine matriarch finds myself in need of another opponent." Athena spoke gleefully, finally rid of the curse that had been plaguing her speech and actions. "Go, I find myself in a good mood. I will handle this with the God Slayer."
Shirou nodded without another word, levitating off the ground before flying off into the distance with Arturia in his arms.
The right thing to do was to stay and eliminate Marduck, but sometimes people didn't act on what was right.
Causalities would have been limited further if Shirou chose to stay, but he'd already done his duty by staying true to himself as an Ally of Justice throughout his life. All that was left now was the eternal search for she who was still waiting for him.
He held Arturia just a little closer, mixed feelings clouding his judgement.
Left behind, Marduck was faced with both Athena and Godou, his expression crumpling.
Reports would later mention violent natural disasters occurring in the Mediterranean.
A rare, very rare, aurora borealis appeared over the skies of Rome as Marduck fled with a waning divinity from heavy damage.
Athena and Godou bickered about who was more at fault.
Shirou knowing it was his more than either of the two, was in low spirits.
Arturia was just more important.
She'd yet to wake after the whole affair.
/-/
Unknown to others, Arturia's conscience was elsewhere in a metaphysical plain where a purple-haired loli named Pandora was openly glaring at her and cursing Enkidu under her breath.
No NO!
Ishtar refused to go out like this!
Remnant pieces of Ishtar's divinity were violently ejected while slowly dissipating back into the upper world. However, she made a conscious effort to retain a semblance of herself within a single fragment of her divinity. A desperate bid to preserve herself as she used her divine sense to scour the globe.
In the end, fortune favours the weary.
Ishtar's conscience brightened as a suitable host reacted with her in the island nation of Japan.
This love story wasn't over.
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