Wow, 591 favorites and 703 follows since I posted this story roughly 5 months ago. Thank you for all your love and support for the story everyone. It means a lot to me and I know I have to try harder to meet the expectations of my readers when it comes to quality and content. But I will be taking a break from writing for a while to recharge. Especially since the Witch Queen expansion for Destiny 2 is coming out on February 22nd. But I promise you this, I'll start my break after the War Game ends and Apollo gets his just desserts for his crimes. Look forward to it!
One Happy Birb: SAO crossover with Lunar Witch is confirmed. Yorokobe.
The Loud Person: Well that part was inspired by Punishing Gray Raven mobile game. Hakuno's VA Yui Ishikawa voices a character who's combat style is basically Vergil's. So of course I'd put in that little reference in her line.
Archangel Xireon Chaos God: Tall order and a bit difficult. I might have to do separate sequel fics down the line.
Sgt117: I cannot do that...at the moment. But it will be when Hakuno does officially join a different Chaldea in a future story I promise you that.
jaune rose arc: Good to see you again. Looking forward to your 'React' fic in the future.
Engineer4Ever (ch.29): Everyone enjoys fluff. And more Hakuno/Ais fluff will be in the future.
BushidoWookie: I got the idea because of Star Wars Visions.
Primordial: I'm sure they'll pop up if I can even find a role for them here. Because I'd say Hakuno has it handled so far.
Zombie Eye: Oho, someone who read the first of the Lunar Mare Duology. Well needless to say, I'm planning on writing a Star Wars crossover for Hakuno in the future thanks to Star Wars Visions inspiring me.
Hakuno expected this from Primo, Nero and Hestia, but Lilli, Haruhime and Ais were in on the group hug as well when she walked into the room. She can tell they all missed her in her time of absence.
Haruhime had returned the Regalia to her, and the ring transformed into an earring that she now wore on her left ear since her prosthetic arms will not hold it like her original arms. Then there was the fact Morgan and a giant of a woman in knight's armor were standing in their own private area quietly observing them.
Once the group hug ended, Hakuno carefully walked towards the Fairy Queen. Everyone was nervous, because they heard that Morgan was Hakuno's birth mother, and they don't know what will happen. Hakuno looked at her own prosthetic arms before looking at Morgan, faint metallic sounds of the metal inside as they trembled with Hakuno's anxiety.
Servants don't remember previous summons in Holy Grail Wars. She has no idea of what Morgan wanted with her since she probably didn't even remember of what happened on both the Near and Far Sides of the Moon. Learning of not just being her descendant, but her biological daughter was something even she herself had a hard time comprehending until that last battle for the Moon Cell. She tried to think of something to say only for Morgan herself to make the first move. She walked towards Hakuno and wrapped the girl in a gentle hug.
"You ended the story just the way you wanted it to be." She whispered, causing Hakuno's eyes to widen. Those were the parting words Elise Kishinami, the human identity Morgan le Fay had taken up when she lived in Japan and birthed both her and her twin brother.
Her mother remembered everything.
Slowly, her metallic arms carefully wrapped around Morgan's torso as she buried her face within her warmth while Morgan hummed a hymn she sang to her children when she went by Elise Kishinami long ago. Tears were silently falling from Hakuno's face. So many reunions and partings she had endured on that orbiting satellite…yet the familiar warmth of her mother's embrace always etched itself into her mind. The hugs she felt from Morgan and Hestia were different. Morgan's had a gentleness of floating in a lake with no need for air, while Hestia's was a fireplace, a hearth that warmed the home.
The other women in the home kept quiet, respecting the family moment for both the Captain and Queen respectively. From the way they reacted to each other, they had been separated for a long time.
On top of Orario's damaged walls, Lucius was on his knees, beaten and broken while using Florent as support as the weapons from the Gates of Babylon were aimed at him. "Be grateful Abomination that you've kept my Queen safe from the machinations of the gods. I had tolerated your devotion to protecting her, yet I find insolence in your vain attempts to woo her when she has no interest in you." Gilgamesh stated, his gates firing projectiles at inhumane speeds as Lucius unleashed the crimson lightning from his blade to strike back. He destroyed several yet a few found their mark as his left arm was severed and his right leg had a spear skewered in it.
"Don't you dare spout such lies about my goddess! I know Flora's reincarnation will return her love for me in due time. It's you who is unfit to be her husband!" Lucius snarled only for an axe to bury itself in the emperor's head.
"Your time in this story Hakuno is weaving is at an end. But knowing you, you'll hound her across worlds until she finds a place not even the Throne of Heroes cannot follow. Disappear, Abomination and know that your attempts will always fail." Gilgamesh told him as Lucius Tiberius, bloodthirsty emperor of Rome was sent back to the Throne of Heroes.
Gilgamesh despised the man since the CCC Incident. He had kidnapped Hakuno once and tried to forcefully marry her. Due to his weakened self at that time, he couldn't defend his Master properly and she was abducted by Lucius' soldiers. Only when that faulty AI BB stepped in just to object to the marriage and consumed the Servant as fuel for herself and apologize for the mental trauma Hakuno went through.
This was the reason why Hakuno hated the man so much and refused to stay around him anymore than necessary. That emperor thought himself a god and had an arrogance born of ignorance.
It reminded him of what Hakuno called a 'silver spoon'. A rich kid getting everything he wanted without any effort. Those kinds of humans disgusted even him compared to the purposeless mongrels of Pan-Human History with the rare exceptions that pop up every now and again. Hakuno even went as far as to call him a 'golden spoon' one time when they first ventured the Grand Dungeon in the Far Side of the Moon, and he was ignorant of the term until that waste of flesh Jinako explained it to him.
He knew he had made a contract with quite the interesting woman. Especially one who's the niece of that woman. The thought of her finding out they were now in-laws was bound to make the King of Heroes smile. He knows those Chaldeans will show up, including Saber, which will leave a whole level of amusing awkwardness between his Queen and the King of Knights once they meet. But there were a few Servants from Chaldea that will ruin it. They will be dealt with in time, for now, his Queen is having a heart to heart with her birth mother after the whole fiasco in the Far Side that caused this revelation to expose itself.
To think that his Queen would cause the infamous Witch Queen Morgan le Fay to be a doting and caring mother. It seems there are things out there that even he hasn't seen yet.
Able, graceful, always keeping her promises, those were what he learned of Hakuno at first when they met on the Far Side. Soon he learned more about her as they fought together against the numerous Enemy Programs and Monsters from other realities. Noble, faithful, and pure as the driven snow. She kept moving forward and traveling while trying to understand herself as a person in the year of 2030, seeking an answer for who she was.
She changed from the simple mongrel he contracted with on a whim since she was Enkidu's former Master. She was a flower outside of his garden that had caught his eye. Compared to the ones cultivated and nurtured by skilled gardeners to become beautiful artificially, the flower he saw was struggling to bloom naturally in the desert.
Many things lurked in the brutal wastes of the desert, ranging from the scorching sunlight, violent sandstorms, beasts that could trample it. Yet it bloomed splendidly in an environment it wasn't meant to. That made the worth of the flower [Hakuno] more than the common rabble. She had done things none of the other mongrels or even his subjects had done for him that caused him to give her a position of equal rank that rivaled the worth of Enkidu. If Enkidu was his only friend, then Hakuno was fit to be given the honor as his Queen, a value on par with his friend that had been vacant since he ascended the throne when he came of age.
While the girl was ignorant of why he called her that, that innocence to his subtle affection was endearing in all manner of speaking. Only that red empress Nero could deduce his fondness of Hakuno since she was the only one with an ego close to his (but still lesser than his own).
/Apollo Familia Home/
"She's awake and released from the hospital." Hyakinthos reported to his god before delivering a smirk. "But she's under the doctor's orders. No straining herself. So she's an easy target in the War Game once we infiltrate their base."
This caused Apollo to smile smugly, his concerns unneeded after all. He was worried that the Holy Witch would decimate his Familia by her lonesome if the tales about what happened to Ishtar were true. But it seems that strange Horseman had given him quite the boon. He was close, close to having Bell Cranel for himself and finally getting to do complete his book of '256 Things I want to do with Bell' in complete order. Tongue sticking out and licking lecherously, Apollo laughed.
Several members of the Apollo Familia, especially those targeted by him and forced to join his Familia only retch in disgust of the god. His perversion was without boundaries.
Little did they know that those outside of Orario had come to help the Hearth in its time of need. The Apollo Familia was going to bite off more than it can chew for sure.
*Alliance(Lunar Hearth)*
Hakuno sat in the cafeteria with Hestia, the room they had was a private party as Artemis sat across the table. It was a discussion of terms for help in the upcoming War Game with Apollo. Hestia made it clear that Hakuno will not convert to another Familia, but it seems Artemis wanted her to join her Familia. So, the moon goddess decided a compromise. Occasionally, Hakuno would join in on a few hunts with the Artemis Familia, in return for that, their Familia will lend any assistance to the Hestia Familia regardless of the situation they were in.
Hakuno was given the final say and the one who would create a magical contract (aided by Morgan's assistance) to bind the two goddesses to abide and keep to their oaths when they sign.
Hakuno had to weigh the pros and cons carefully now. The pros is that Hakuno can travel across the lands and discover new places to archive later for vacation time for the Hestia Familia or where they can lend their aid to those who are in peril. The con is that she'll be gone for a while and the Familia will miss her. Primo and Ais especially.
"Let my daughter Primo Kishinami and my knight Ais Wallenstein be allowed to join me when I want them to." She decided as Artemis blinked at that before cupping her own chin in thought before agreeing to Hakuno's terms. Hestia was a bit reluctant, but she trusted Hakuno, her daughter always does what she can for the best of the Familia and help support her daughter as the patron goddess.
With that, the magical contract was written and signed with the ichor of the two goddesses to seal the pact.
/The Unalloyed Forge/
"Thanks, Welf. That was a lifesaver there." Bell smiled softly at his repaired armor. The training that Lucius and Nero put him and Ais through had the need for repairs when the dents and scratches were becoming too noticeable.
"No problem…" Welf replied half-heartedly as he seemed to be stuck with something on his mind.
"Is everything alright Welf?" Bell asked, concern in his voice while Welf scratched his head in mild frustration.
"No, its just that…ever since the attack on Orario and then the actions the Apollo Familia have done to you guys, I feel like I haven't contributed enough. Its like I'm unable to help you guys due to my circumstances of not being there with you guys" he admitted, feeling helpless as the ones he was starting to consider good friends were facing troubles he cannot help with.
"No! That's not true at all Welf! You've helped us plenty by crafting gear for us and helping us explore the Dungeon. You shouldn't put yourself down like that!" Bell argued, clearly feeling Welf's plight. Welf only gave him a weak, sad smile.
"Have you ever heard of the Crozzo family?" he asked the young adventurer before him. He saw the confusion in those rubellite eyes plain as day and Welf decided that Bell had the right to know of the truth.
"You see, my family had a talent for creating genuine magic swords in the past, nobility called the Crozzo family." He explained as Bell blinked and cupped his chin in thought. He had heard of magic weapons, Lili had one herself in the form of a small knife that shoots fire. But even then, that weapon had limits before it breaks, and Welf can make genuine articles.
"My family used to hole up in Rakia before…you know." He grimaced and Bell looked apologetic for his loss since he knew what it was like to lose family like that. "But they fell out of favor one day, all of our magic swords, even the newly forged ones, breaking and being unable to forge any more afterwards when Rakia burned down elf forests and angered the spirits living there."
Bell recalled some reading he did in the past that was in Hakuno's collection of unusual books she collects in her spare time as a hobby. One about the spirits or fairies depending on where you live and prefer calling them having involved themselves with mortal races in the past. The hero Argonaut was one such person to have been blessed by one in the ancient past to aid in his quest to become a hero.
"How does that work?" the boy asked.
Welf gave his new friend a look and folded his arms. "In the past, the Crozzo ancestor nursed a spirit back to health and in return for his kindness, gave him some of its blood."
"…!"
It was a blessing, a blessing of the spirits. They were rare and such individuals in this day and age were practically impossible to find since the gods descended to the Genkai.
"Because of it, the descendants of Crozzo were able to forge magic swords that were capable of even evaporating the sea itself if the tales were to believe." He finished while Bell began to ponder a few things before realizing it.
"The spirit that blessed your ancestor…took away your family's ability to create magic swords." Bell realizes while Welf nodded his head.
"With that, my family lost their status as nobles and have been struggling to redeem themselves until one day I inherited the Crozzo Blood." He added in as Bell turned to his friend with wide eyes in shock.
"Welf…you can forge magic swords?" he asked, almost cautiously while Welf gritted his teeth and looked away.
"I can but I refused to do so." Welf answered while Bell looked away recalling Hakuno's opinion on magic swords.
"Captain did say magic swords were next to useless…" he muttered only for Welf to be right in his face with a happy smile on his face. Apparently, Bell wasn't quiet enough for Welf to hear that.
"She's damn right!" he instantly agreed before pulling back and placed a hand on his hips with a smirk. "Because no matter how powerful the magic sword is, it will still break within a few uses. A blacksmith's true pride is in the wares he made by hand with good old steel, elbow grease, sweat, blood, and tears. Most of my so-called customers only come in for magic swords and ignore the rest of my own works. Hence, I refuse to make any." He told his friend.
Bell could see a logic in it and why Hakuno preferred a contract with Welf over the other members of the Hephaistos Familia. This guy was down to earth and passionate about smithing in a way that you can't help but like. "Captain was right to make a contract with you, Welf." Bell smiled, causing Welf to smile back and pat Bell on the shoulder.
"I've had time to think about what I should be doing and decided." He told Bell as he adopted a serious face. "I'm going to convert to the Hestia Familia." He declared, as Bell screamed out loud to match his level of surprise.