Chapter 10.5: Not Far From The Tree
Where I had once walked with my head held high, I now found difficult to keep my head straight and meet the eyes of others. I knew I was taking more time to reach my destination than I should, but I refused to let it be so obvious as to be pointed out. Even if I had shown my method to be possible to succeed, the amount of resources I had wasted for this one chance…
Behind me, the form of my king followed in measured steps. It had taken months of therapy just to straighten them into any form of a coherent person. And I had made use of the time spent on the long travel to Antarctica to ensure they were mentally ready for this meeting.
"Morgan." Arthur says. "I will hold you to your word." His voice was as regal as I had dreamed. The body hadn't been ideal for what I wanted, but he made it work. My shoulders tense with frustration as I correct myself internally. It was she, considering her body. Although no one had ever corrected me either way.
Relaxing my muscles and hardening my resolve, I pause in front of the large double doors and nod to myself and her words. "Of course, my lord."
We both enter the private office of Lord Marisbury, who had already seated himself with the other half of my support. Pulling out a seat for my lord at the opposite end of the table from Marisbury, I take my seat next to her.
Meeting the eyes of Marisbury has an unsettling chill go down my spine. Not a hair or piece of clothing out of place. His attire was impeccable. His smile was friendly enough, and he seemed relaxed, but something about him always struck me as false. It's easy to brush aside with practice, considering I had this feeling with most mages I dealt with.
"Welcome back Du Lac." Marisbury starts the meeting off with perfect English. "Despite complications… you've led me to believe you were ultimately successful?"
The eyes of Arthur make me nervous in a way I hadn't felt since I was a child as I settle into the familiar role of mage politics. "That's correct, sir." I agree. "As you can see, the results are here in front of you."
His gaze directs itself towards Arthur, where they both stare at each other for a long tension filled moment. The sound of a delicate hum drags all of our attention to the other occupant in the room. Just as flawless as when I first saw her, Altrouge had the sort of inhuman beauty that didn't seem real. Long flowing black hair, deep red eyes and a buxom figure were the same as when I last saw her, but she seems to have acclimatized to the uniform of Chaldea recently, wearing their colors.
"It's a pleasure to meet you again, Arthur." Altrouge said. Altrouge noticeably restrained her tone compared to her first meeting with my lord. Her eyes drank in the appearance of Arthur once more, even as Arthur watched her stoically. "I can agree on the assessment of Morgan here. Even if there were some difficulties, Arthur here will be valuable if they will aid us in helping the world."
"I have heard this phrase many times before, but I wish to know what exactly this," she motions to the room. "is." Arthur takes the time to stare at Marisbury, who watched this all. "While I can certainly sympathize with your goal, I fail to see the need for the destruction of Glastonbury and its people's deaths."
Arthur's displeasure had been quite more pronounced back when I had revealed my plan and its results back then. The infamous temper of Gawain had come thundering through until my lord could wrestle it back into place. The fates of the people haunted me almost as much as their wrath. I absentmindedly rub at my ribs, still feeling a phantom pain from where they had struck me.
Lacing his fingers together, Marisbury peers over his hands to stare at Arthur. "The goal of Chaldea is ultimately to preserve the human order. To safeguard the future of humanity itself." Frowning, he adopts an appearance of apologetic sorrow. "We have only just started getting our footing, and need as much help as possible. And for this, the circumstances of your return were paramount."
A slight frown of displeasure makes its way known of Arthur's face. "How so?" Their voice is remarkably neutral, considering I already knew of their displeasure.
To this question, Altrouge speaks up, solemn. "To all known metrics, and confirmed across multiple different organizations and groups, the world will end within the next decade."
Arthur remains calm. "I see." There is no surprise in their voice. "But that does not answer my question to my satisfaction." Her tone grows colder and her brow furrows in displeasure. "Or how I could aid such a group? I am certainly not as up to task as I once was."
Even with her tone not being accusatory, this entire conversation made my skin crawl. The sleeping faces of all those town folk came to mind, making me clench my fist to hold back the urge to vomit. In this way, sympathy based magic was both a boon and a curse in my family.
"Without intervention, the people of Glastonbury were already doomed," says Marisbury. "The area was perfect for multiple reasons, and if we did not act with haste, much more would go to waste. So we simply made the best with the hand we had been dealt."
"And your lack of intervention?"
"A matter of it costing more than it would save Arthur." The hands of Marisbury drop as he gives his full attention. "I can understand your frustration in this instance, but there is much more at stake than that town." He pauses for emphasis. "I have oversight and funding from others to help facilitate this group. Not least of which include the church and governments willing to support our goals. We are aiming to keep casualties to a minimum. This wasn't a choice done lightly."
Silence rises between the two that are thick enough you could cut it. It continues on for a couple of minutes before one of them breaks it. "That will have to do." Arthur says. "But do not think this is me agreeing to work with you with no expectations. I will need to know all that I can about your group if I am to work with you." There is a subtle tenseness to the way Arthur sits. I can tell they aren't happy about their decision. But the fact they seem to be on the right track at least relieves me.
Forsaking the world to serve my king would have been a heavy weight on my shoulders.
"Thank you for your willingness to hear us out." Marisbury says, perfectly cordial. "Altrouge, I'm sure you can direct our guest around and show them the facility."
The faintly rapt attention of Altrouge on Arthur snaps to Marisbury for a moment, before becoming a large, fanged smile that made something inside me twinge with discomfort. "Oh, really?" She asks demurely. "I'm sure that I can indeed. Please Lord Pendragon, follow me." Her tone turns more pompous, making my eyes twitch in an effort not to roll them.
My lord gets up from his seat to follow Altrouge, who had made her way to the door. As I get up to follow, Marisbury directs me a smile. "Du Lac, I'm sure your lord can wait for a moment. I have quite a few questions for you myself." Already knowing this was going to happen, my stomach drops.
Arthur gives me a questioning glance, which I shake my head towards. "I shall find you again soon, my lord." Not long after, the door closes. Leaving me and Marisbury alone in the room.
Marisbury stares at somewhere on his desk. "I was not expecting them to be so attached to Glastonbury," Marisbury muses to himself, ignoring my presence. His voice was bereft of judgement, more curious than anything. But it still made me tense in indignation before taking a deep breath.
"It is likely, even with the souls having their memories wiped, they had some sort of connection to Glastonbury still." I explain. "It would not be impossible for the smallest of their memories to congeal into a more solid feeling of connection to their home. That is why I ensured those we captured could not see us before we captured them. They just fell asleep and never woke up again." I cut myself off, so I don't keep rambling on my nerves and do something as embarrassing as a monologue.
"Power and skill?" He asks, ignoring my blunder.
"The lack of a dragon core has been a setback for them, but the high quality circuits inherent to the body seem to be an adequate substitute. Training is still necessary to iron out their combat skills and knowledge because of contaminants, but the best-case scenario is someone with even greater skill than predicted."
"No rejections from Caliburn?"
"None sir. They can wield it with no drawbacks. Although Arthur is hesitant to use it too hard for fear of breaking it." My hesitation is obvious for a moment, with Marisbury motioning for me to continue. "Sir, you mentioned a possible alternative method for bringing back my lord, but it never came up again. What happened?"
Marisbury neatly rearranges the paper on his desk as he ponders my question. "That." He emphasizes. "Was something I had found was going to require the wait of years, where there would be only so much time to have it work. It was better to take this opportunity now, and then use the second option again at the right time."
"...you intend to have my lord come back a second time?" I ask, my voice rising in my shock.
"It's theoretically possible, and would help us in the end if it works. I see no reason not to." He says plainly. "But unfortunately, it seems the church also caught wind of this and acted. They scared off vital components to even use the ritual." Annoyed, his eyebrows pinch together. "For now, I've entrusted the search to a trusted employee I have hired before."
"I see." Wrestling my emotions under control is no easy task, even as my mind whirls with possibilities. I don't even know what I would do if I faced two different versions of my lord existing. What if they disagreed?!
"I will inform you if it becomes relevant again." He finishes. "But it, unfortunately, seems as if it is time for my next meeting." Completely businesslike, he rifles through the stack of papers he has. "My door is, of course, always open if you wish for another meeting, and please forward any relevant discoveries my way."
"Of course." I rise from my seat. "Thank you for your time." We share nods before making my way outside. My relief at not having to deal with such a political and social juggernaut is enough to make my knees buck once I'm sure no one is watching me. I take a few deep breaths before making my way down the hall. With any luck, I'll be able to catch up with the others in somewhere like the mess hall.
My luck did not, in fact, hold.
"Well, well, well. Look who's showed up." The amused voice only makes my frustration spike. With a sigh, I turn my attention from my recently gained meal to Beryl. He looks exactly the same as I saw him last, same clothes and all. "What's with the cold shoulder here? I went to all that effort of cleaning up your mess, you know?"
My eye twitches before giving him a nod of acknowledgement. "Thank you for your help, Beryl, although I was expecting there to be less with you when you arrived."
His nonchalant shrug, with no true hint of apology, is about what I expected. "It wouldn't have been hard to deal with the teen, but there was that priest there." His expressions are less amused and more contemplative as he becomes lost in his memories. "It was definitely interesting..."
My eyes narrow at Beryl as his tone makes my skin crawl. I'm not sure I wanted to know what caught his interest, especially if he hadn't killed them yet. There was nothing good to be gained from a monster in human flesh, like Beryl.
"Why was there even a kid in that group, anyway?" I question out loud. The flash of red hair and sense of wrongness are mostly what I remember seeing of them amidst everything.
A scoff of amusement is what I get from my question. "Training, apparently. Kid was completely crazy. It was great." That Beryl is completely serious in his statement does not fill me with confidence. "He's gonna be something special in a couple of years, just you wait."
"I'm not sure I want to wait and meet somebody you think is crazy, Beryl." I reply, dryly.
"Bah." He waves it off with a grin. "Aren't we all a little crazy here?" He motions towards the entire room. "You have to be, to do some of the stuff that we get up to." His voice lowers as if speaking a secret. "And it'd be boring otherwise."
Before I can say anything, he turns on his heel to walk away from me. "Well, anyway. I know when I'm not wanted, enjoy your meal there, fellow Lac-y." His terrible pun makes me internally cringe, but let none of it show.
For the next couple of minutes, I methodically make my way through my meal piece by piece. Since I chose an odd time to eat, the area was thankfully more quiet than it would otherwise be. Being able to enjoy myself like this was a rare opportunity between all of my responsibilities, so I savored it.
Thankfully, after returning my plate, it didn't take long for me to reunite with my lord. Both Altrouge and Arthur made their way to my table. Arthur watched around the room as they took in the details. While Altrouge is as cheerful as I've ever seen her as she has an extra bounce in her steps.
"What has you in such a good mood, Altrouge?" I ask her. Normally it was hard at the best of times to get any read on her with cold reading or my family's magecraft, but it was as if something had changed. She seemed content in a way that I hadn't seen before.
Her noncommittal hum and mischievous smile give me an inkling of what she will say before she even speaks. "That's a great question." This time I roll my eyes, getting a giggle from her. "But, I do hope you enjoyed our facilities here, Arthur. And please do feel free to send a message or email for your answer. I'm sure you will come to the best decision either way." There is a surety to her answer that takes me aback, leaving a brief gap in my nodding in agreement.
"Thank you for your hospitality." Arthur gives a small smile towards Altrouge. "You shall have an answer by the end of the month, but until then we shall be off."
Taking that as my cue to stand up myself, I make my way behind my king. Altrouge takes the time to peer in my direction, giving me a look over that makes me straighten up in habit. "Now, Morgan, stay safe and do your best." Altrouge says.
"Yes, ma'am."
"And quit being so serious all the time, you'll get wrinkles." Altrouge has a lopsided joking smile that much better suits her than the projected image of perfection she would show to strangers. The familiar sight of it is enough to relax me and a small smile to slip out.
"No, ma'am." I say cheekily. We turn to leave as I hear the indignant voice of Altrouge behind us.
"Where did the sweet little girl I raised go? Oh, where did she get such a rambunctious personality from?" Her voiced raised suitably in a way dramatic enough for a play.
"The apple does not fall far from the tree, I would think." Arthur muses to himself as we leave.
End of Chapter 10.5:
Hope you all have been well. Story is later then I would have wanted, but life sometimes gets in the way. This is more of a shorter interlude to give more of an insight in what's going on. Thanks for everyones patience.
Reviews:
InsaneMakaioshin -
The plan currently is to have him study mostly in the Magus Association for schooling. Atlas is a lot harder to justify in a couple of ways for Shirou to go to and learn at. There will at least be chances for him to lean that way in future writing at the very least I will say, but is a fair bit away.
Romance is its whole own question honestly. That one I don't have any concrete plans, I'm more just going to go with the flow and see what character connections feel natural for the writing, since this is intended for a long form of content.
Guest -
I'm glad that you like my writing for Shirou! I hope to make him feel close enough to normal Shirou, but different enough you can see how he came to be like that.