"Morgan." He softly uttered, hoping against hope, and finding himself disappointed when- rather than calming, the Witch simply stormed past the two and into the bowels of the castle.

He'd call it a victory- if a short-lived one. His amber eyes finished watching her go, and then looked down at the little homunculus, watching her mother stalk off as if the world had wronged her.

Raikou: Grrr, damn bitch! -she growled, feeling frustrated; she never thought someone like her would make her feel as angry as she did towards Shuten.

Boudica: Tsk -she tightened her grip on the armrest while looking with slight pity at the little homunculus sitting in the lap of the queen of heroes.

Mordred, for her part, had her gaze lowered, a slight glimmer of tears forming in her eyes; it seemed she was about to cry. Returning to this age was adjusting her mentality.

Pat!

The little girl couldn't continue feeling her sadness when a hand suddenly rested on her head. That hand began to move, gently stroking her hair with great care and affection.

Gilfem: -the blonde started to hum a soft, soothing melody while trying to calm the blonde homunculus, who, feeling the tranquility that the queen provided, began to relax.

The little lioness gradually surrendered to the caresses that the blonde gave her; that warmth, calmness, and love were impossible for her to resist, making her long to feel them always.

EMIYA: ...what the hell did the kid do? -he watched in surprise as the female version of the king of heroes acted like a mother, unable to believe that his counterpart marrying her had changed her so much.

All of this was being observed by a red-haired fairy who couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy toward her "sister." Realizing what she was doing, she quickly dismissed the thought; it was impossible for her to be jealous that her "sister" was in that position. She had her mother; she didn't need the false "maternal love" of a worthless blonde, no way. Her mother loved her unconditionally, and that was all she needed.

Melusine: Damn, she stole the king from her majesty -she received a powerful hit from Morgan for that- ...ouch -curling up in her seat.

Barghest: You asked for it by talking too much... -though she would lie if she said it didn't feel strange in a certain way, and not in a bad way.

The rejuvenated young homunculus was cradled in the blonde's arms, who smiled warmly and calmly, allowing the little girl to drift off to sleep with her head resting on her chest near her heart.

Ereshkigal: It's hard to believe she's an archer... -she murmured, impressed, as Ishtar supported her, watching the blonde act so maternally with the little blonde.

Ishtar: Now all we need is for her to have an alter version too -for some reason, Ereshkigal felt a lot of danger at that hypothetical case.

Suddenly, the screen changed again.

Merlin: You know what, screw this -he prepared to give the machine a strong atomic punch.

DEMIYA: ...something tells me I shouldn't lose her for any reason.

Tonelico didn't like at all that DEMIYA was staring so intently at the image.

Angra: ...can I corrupt her? That thing is so arrogant that it's immune to my curses and my black sludge -pointing at Gilgamesh, who was being used as a human pillow by FEMIYA.

This clearly earned her an irritated look from Enkidu. Meanwhile, Gil Caster and Kid looked on enviously.

Salter: -feeling danger from seeing how DEMIYA was staring so intently at the alter woman in the image.

MHX Alter: Merlin, change the image now! -she ordered as the incubus hit the machine hard to make it change the image.

After a hit that made Arturia relive the few times Merlin hit her during training, the image changed back to the usual programming.

Shirou didn't know much about parents, but he knew that this explained an awful lot of what he'd read.

Astolfo: But it just comes naturally! -he received a hit from a frying pan.

Kriemhilde: Hey, don't hurt my son's future boyfriend! -she commanded, looking annoyed at the archer, who simply stared back with an expressionless face.

Sieg: MOM?! -he couldn't believe his mother had just said something like that.

(tyrunt: damn... Oscarxperia5991's boyfriend is being stolen.)

Jalter/Jeanne: What?! -both shouted, completely annoyed and jealous that their mother-in-law had so easily accepted Astolfo as Sieg's boyfriend but not them.

Charlemagne: ...who would have thought? Astolfo, you finally have a partner. It was about time someone other than Bradamante had a husband. -he wasn't going to miss this opportunity.

Astolfo: ...my lord?! -he looked at his leader with betrayal, who simply turned a deaf ear.

Bradamante: You know you can always count on me for relationship advice. -she also wasn't going to miss this chance.

Astolfo: Okay... that one hurt. -he said, placing a hand on his chest, looking at his cousin with betrayal. Sieg and he were just good friends, nothing more.

Roland: It would have been worse if your "mother-in-law" had the marriage certificate ready for you. -the pink-haired Rider looked at his captain incredulously, joining in on the teasing aimed at him.

Kriemhilde: Actually, I do have it right here. -she pulled out the mentioned document from the Paladin Order.

Sigfried had a drop of sweat rolling down his face at what his wife was doing, accompanied by Sigurd, who was in a similar state of disbelief over what his "sister-in-law" was doing.

Roland: ...that was just a joke. -he couldn't believe she actually had the document printed.

Astolfo: ... -he couldn't believe she had really done that.

Bradamante: Do you want tips on being a good wife? -she still wasn't going to miss the opportunity.

Astolfo: ...I hope your husband sleeps with Satan as soon as he arrives. -he shot back with supreme sarcasm amid the extremely loyal ones.

Bradamante looked horrified at that hypothetical situation; it was quite possible given how crazy the redhead was.

Tomoe was the first to go through that situation when her husband, Minamoto no Yoshinaka, was summoned here to Chaldea. Satan didn't wait even a day before trying to take advantage of the poor man.

Rather than put up with the silence, he simply ducked on a knee and picked Mordred up, cradling the grade-schooler-sized homunculus in his arms as he made for the one place in the castle he knew was a domain he could best Morgan in.

Chiron: Motherhood? -he asked, unable to resist making a joke.

Achilles: Cooking? -something told him that the witch wasn't a competent cook.

Lady Avalon: To start with, can anyone even match him in the kitchen? -she asked the Rider, who nodded.

EMIYA: Benni is, so far, the only one who is on par with me in cooking. -he replied, looking at his nails with indifference. Honestly, in Chaldea, only Benni-Enma had been a worthy rival when it came to culinary skills.

This was a harsh blow for the other Servants in the cooking group; until now, none had been able to keep up with the brown-haired man's cooking despite practicing with him, learning from Benni, and training on their own. He was unbeatable in the kitchen.

Leonidas: As long as you don't destroy the kitchen, we're fine. -he shuddered, recalling the last time that happened.

FEMIYA: Who was the damned son of a grand bitch who opened their legs and destroyed the kitchen?! -the Supreme Mother demanded, demonstrating why she was a face of the archer, becoming absurdly furious upon hearing that. Her hair seemed to wave as her circuits activated.

Gilgamesh, on the other hand, felt two things. The first was his face burning, seeing the woman in such a dominant and tyrannical manner. The second was a wave of fear, as he was the one who had destroyed the kitchen.

And, as hard as he could, he tried to ignore the way the future Knight clung to his shoulder and sniffled. As well as the dark feeling of disgust he developed towards a pair of parents- of sisters- who had done this.

Arturia: Forgive me, but she violated me! -she didn't want to be the focus of the white-haired man's anger any longer.

EMIYA: And what did you do when she presented herself as your child? -at that, the blonde fell silent.

Arturia glanced at the Queen of Icena, who simply turned a deaf ear to her silent pleas, as she supported the white-haired man in what he was doing. She cared deeply for her family, so she wouldn't lend a helping hand to her successor, no matter how much she begged.

Saber had no choice, he knew, but . . .

Arturia: He forgave me... -she looked at the brown-haired man, who had his arms crossed and his eyes closed.

EMIYA: The one who forgives died on the cross. -Martha growled at that.

Sasaki, seeing that the religious woman was capable of doing something about what the archer had said, quickly restrained her, pushing her down so she wouldn't get up and go kill the poor man.

More than doing it for the archer, he was protecting Tarasque from the saint's wrath.

That didn't make it feel any less fucked up.

xxxxxxxx

Angra: "When are you NOT?" he asked, looking at the dark-haired man, who simply raised his arms while gently stroking the little blonde girl dozing in the arms of the Queen of Heroes.

DEMIYA: "When I cook," he replied, still having the image of that blonde Alter in his mind.

For some reason, Tonelico felt a deep discomfort without knowing the cause ever since the image of that blonde Alter was shown; this discomfort was shared by several Alters for that reason.

Medieval kitchens were not quite his realm of expertise, but Shirou was a self-sufficient person first and foremost. An iron pot and some hunting later, he'd found tack bread and a collection of vegetables and jerked meat that he was sure wouldn't count for a fair meal in the modern age, but it would do.

Fionn: "What can you do with just dried meat? It's mostly just a useful item for survival due to its long preservation time," he asked, unable to imagine what the boy could do with just dried meat.

EMIYA: "I have 126 recipes that I can make with just dried meat, and those are the ones I remember. What do you think?" he asked, while the blonde couldn't believe there would truly be so much variety with such a forgotten ingredient.

Fergus: "You don't have the guts to make 10 different dishes with just dried meat when the break starts," he challenged. If it was true, then he should prove it.

The dark-haired man felt very underestimated, easily falling for the Irishman's provocations. He wasn't going to let his pride as a cook be damaged by that, so he accepted the challenge.

A few remnants of bones to create something resembling a stock, and he'd been working his way towards what would have otherwise been a meager stew. Morgan would likely chew him out later- if she didn't come back to him furious and intending to kill him in the first place- but he'd even taken a few of the herbs he knew were used both for cooking and for magical applications.

Frankly, Shirou felt that Morgan's decision to be as far away from him as possible would last for a few days. If not longer- she was well known to hold grudges well.

Morgan Ruler: "I study a lot..." Seeing that the kid knew very well that she was quite resentful, she wouldn't be surprised if he knew more things.

Hektor: "I doubt history can forget one of the worst mothers it has ever known." Oddly enough, even Achilles had to nod in agreement with what Hektor said; it was undoubtedly true.

Baobhan Sith, for her part, clenched her teeth in great anger. How dared that miserable vagabond speak of her mother like that?! She was a variant, but she was still her beloved mother in essence, and being insulted like that was something she would not tolerate for any reason.

Jason: "As if she were Hera," he mentioned, causing several Greeks, especially Heracles, to scoff at that. Just mentioning the wife of the god of thunder made it clear that the Greeks had a point against her, especially those who knew Heracles' story.

Chiron: "You know it's better not to mention her," he reminded his student, who nodded while trying to calm Heracles with those two albino lolis who were doing the same.

As he looked down at his little helper, young Mordred staring fixedly into the large pot while holding a large mixing spoon, Shirou felt that was fine. He'd have the fight with Morgan later. Right now, he was . . .

Ergh- being a parental figure.

EMIYA: "At least don't call me mother again," he murmured, relieved by that.

Gudako: "EMIYA isn't allowed the title of father; he is the supreme mother of whatever universe it is." When she finished speaking, a broccoli, a turnip, a beet, and a radish had entered her mouth at a speed she couldn't avoid.

To avoid choking, the redhead swallowed the vegetables and quickly grimaced in disgust, rushing off to the nearest bathroom to vomit.

EMIYA: "And for the next one who speaks, it will be swords where the sun doesn't shine," he threatened with total seriousness, causing several to feel a strong chill run down their spines.

On the other hand, Arthur felt a slight pain in his heart, feeling as if he were losing a place that rightfully belonged to him.

Lady Avalon: "And that's how, Ria, you lose your daughter and your husband," she said, looking at her student, who was simply conflicted now.

Boudica: "Apparently, you're teaching her to cook so she can calm down," she said with a slight smile, approving the method used to help her calm down after what had happened.

Raikou: "It's a good idea; at least she can forget the bitter and painful experience she went through," she acknowledged with a soft, beautiful smile while nodding in approval of the method used by the archer.

Shuten: "You just want to be treated like a drawer that won't close; you're not fooling anyone, Raikou." A lightning bolt struck her cheek, slightly burning it.

Raikou: "Ara... fufufu~ I think I didn't hear you well, oni. Could you repeat that?" she asked with an absurdly cold and sinister smile; the dull gleam in her eyes only worsened the situation.

Normally, Shuten wouldn't be affected by this, but this time, she felt much more danger than in previous occasions for some reason.

Shuten: "...gulp!" she swallowed hard as she sensed that danger was just around the corner.

To Mordred Pendragon, the Knight of Treachery. Saber would kill him- if Morgan didn't beat her to it. Curse his knee-jerk reactions to try and save people. He knew he hadn't grown up at all when he simply viewed the inconvenience as a miniscule comparison to doing the right thing.

Gilfem: "Don't do it; just accept that they are a part of you," she mentioned while stroking the hair of the sleeping blonde in her arms.

EMIYA, upon hearing this, simply huffed in annoyance. He wasn't going to go back to being that stupid kid again; it had cost him too much to have been like that to return to that time.

Tamamo-no-mae: "Seriously, it looks like a wife and her husband," she said, feeling inferior for some reason.

Nero: "You should have seen her the other time when we had sex; she was the most passionate along with Boudica that night." The kitsune, for some reason, didn't know why she was surprised by what the empress said since she knew her well enough to expect something like this.

Boudica: "NERO!" she shouted, annoyed and embarrassed with the empress for revealing something like that. The blush on her cheeks was gradually approaching the color of her hair.

"Mix it." He said, softly, watching the bubbling stew begin to look more like something resembling cuisine as he fished the bones out and tossed them aside into a bucket he'd designated as the garbage. His amber eyes turned down to the little homunculus, and- when he noticed that she seemed to be salivating beyond control- he put a finger in front of her face and spun it to gather her attention. When she obeyed with a reproached look, he shook his head and gently raked his nails through her fussed mane.

"How about you stay with me for a little bit?" He said, softly. "Until your mother isn't mad anymore?" The quiet way she looked up at him, and looked stuck between fast acceptance and fright only made his heart feel heavier.

Gawain: "You might have a long wait," he mentioned, knowing that his mother would undoubtedly take time to forgive the redhead for that.

Gareth, for his part, nodded in agreement with the blonde; if their mother showed compassion, maybe it could take less time... maybe.

EMIYA: "It's up to the kid from the future, not the one from the present," he dismissed, while the brothers just sweated from his complete indifference.

Touta: "Nothing that can't be solved with—" he didn't finish due to the cold, intense gaze of the Dragon Domineer. "The word of the Lord?" he said, sweating nervously, hoping not to be beaten by a tarasque.

Martha stopped looking at the poor archer, who let out a sigh of relief because of that.

Raikou: "I want to squeeze those cheeks so much..." she said, gazing at the blonde on the screen with a rather peculiar look at her chubby cheeks.

The little blonde in the room felt a strange shiver as she slept, accompanied by a silent prayer from Kintoki, who couldn't help but feel deep pity for her upon hearing Raikou.

Gilfem: "Hands off my daughter," she declared, hugging the blonde protectively in her arms, earning incredulous looks from the Pendragons for what she had just said.

Raikou: "Thanks, for this time, blonde..." she muttered in a bad mood due to what the queen said, realizing she wouldn't be able to win over the calf to have the bull.

EMIYA: "You haven't even legally adopted her..." he mentioned, a drop of sweat running down his cheek from what he had just said.

Gilfem: "I don't need it when my word is law," she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, which in her eyes was not a lie at all.

Karna: "...I can already imagine a friendship between Ozymandias and Quin Shi Huang. God, my ears!" He brought his hands to his ears, already feeling pain from the thunderous laughter of the three.

Skadi: "...oh no," she shared the pain, imagining the hypothetical case of Edmond, as a woman, joining them, and she was already feeling as if her ears were bleeding.

The Emperor of China and the King of Kings could only feel strongly indignant about what they were all insinuating.

He wasn't quite sure what he could do to alleviate this whole disaster, but Shirou knew, at that moment.

Super Orion: "Is the option to sleep with her still on the table, you know?" He was quickly shot down by a rain of arrows.

Artemisa: "Thanks for the help, Atalanta," she thanked her follower, who nodded at her goddess's request.

Achilles: -feeling an ugly chill-

Jason: "Watch your heel..." he said, knowing the reason for his panic.

Hektor: "Better watch your hip; Penthesilea won't let you walk when you want to make her daughter or son," he mentioned, causing both the demigod and the Amazon queen to feel their faces heat up with embarrassment and anger.

París: "And it will probably end in a threesome with the huntress," he said, making Atalanta blush from that insinuation.

Hektor: "Hunting vow; discard her already. It's more likely that the queen will have a baby with the idiot before she has one with the huntress." That was... sadly true; due to her vow, it's not like she was allowed to engage in an activity like sexual intercourse.

Achilles: "Hektor, I'm this close to killing you again..." he mentioned, holding back his anger and embarrassment as a light blush of shame crept onto his cheeks from what the trio of idiots had said.

Hektor: "You won't deny that I'm right about you wanting to have a baby." The hero of light feet only tightened his grip on his spear and prepared his shield to leap and attack the Trojan.

Both the Amazon and the Alter cat, along with the archer, listened intently to what the lancer had said, each resonating with his words in their minds.

Da Vinci: "At this point, I already feel that for some strange reason, the heroic spirits will end up having children," she said, releasing a heavy sigh while already imagining many children flitting around Chaldea.

Nero: "Umu! Rome will be the first to have them," she said proudly.

Salter: "And bullshit, Great Britain will be!" she said, glaring at the empress of Rome.

Both blondes stared at each other challengingly because of that.

Gawain: "As if someone who killed their mother could know how to be one," he mentioned with a biting tone, causing many to fall silent from what the Knight of the Sun had said.

Nero: "It's very ironic coming from someone who killed his sister," she shot back with the same tone.

Gawain: "..." he didn't say anything in response.

Nero: "..." Waiting for a reply.

Gawain: "You're dead, you damned fraud!" The Knight of the Sun shouted angrily as he drew his sword and prepared to unleash her Noble Phantasm.

Nero: "Try it, little sun!" she replied, leaving the room to combat the Knight of the Round Table.

Once the scene was set, several rushed after them while the others remained in the room to continue watching what was left.

Diarmud: "All in for Gawain!" he bet while running after those two to see the outcome of the battle.

Thus, with several other Servants following the pair, each made their bets on the way to the fight between them.

Boudica: "...this is ridiculous," she said, unable to believe that this had just happened.

They opted to continue with what they had to do; it was likely they were close to finishing the chapter of this moment.

Gawain was no longer going to allow Morgan to get her way. She had been her enemy in his mind, and she still was...

He wasn't sure at all what he could do to alleviate this entire mess, but Shirou knew- in that moment-

He wasn't going to let Morgan get away with this any more. She'd been his enemy in his mind, and still kind of was-

Morgan Ruler: "Did I ever stop being one?" she murmured impassively at what was mentioned on the screen while resting her cheek on her hand.

Morgan: "It's not like that was going to change..." She had already forgotten what had happened in the earlier chapters with those scattered flashbacks and flash-forwards.

Melusine: "A reconciliation in bed, and everything is forgiven." She received three hits on her head from her queen, Barghest, and Baobhan Sith, with the first and last hitting the little dragon girl the hardest. "...agh," she fell unconscious to the floor.

But this was bigger than any of them. Or, rather, Shirou couldn't just stand to the side anymore.

Sasaki: "Always trying to help, it seems, right?" he said, looking at the archer, who merely scoffed in response. This ended up provoking a laugh from the false Sasaki.

EMIYA: "Leave me alone," he huffed in annoyance. He had left that behind a long time ago; how long? He had no idea how long he had been a Counter Guardian.

Lily: -with a jealous pout, seeing how Mordred spent so much time with the redhead-

Quietly, he scooped the girl up into his arms and, for the first time since he'd arrived, let the emotions crash over him. He'd burned everything away in the Fire, he'd sworn, but right then-

Mordred, for her part, could only blink in confusion as the red-haired Knight she'd seen following her mother around held her tightly and began to cry. Perplexed, she nervously patted his back and murmured-

"It'll be okay, Papa."

The screen goes dark.

Arthur: -feeling a pang in his heart-

Lady Avalon: "Ara... who would have thought, EMIYA can be a dad," she said, surprised that for once, no one called her mom. Of course, she ended up earning a strong hit from her student, who had a rather serious look on her face.

Gudako: "No, no, no, no, no! I refuse!" she shouted, drawing attention. "He is the supreme mother, whether he wants to or—" She didn't finish her complaint in her tirade when she received various vegetables in her mouth again, nearly choking on them and swallowing hard. "Blugh!" she said, quickly leaving the room to go vomit.

Mordred: "D-Dad?" she said, looking at the dark-haired man with slight panic and fear.

The white-haired man, for his part, saw the panic in the blonde girl's eyes, causing him to sigh tiredly as he took her in his arms and rested her on his chest. Feeling the protective warmth of the white-haired man, she felt a strange feeling blossom in her heart. She didn't understand why, but that feeling brought her incredible joy and peace.

They felt that nothing could ruin this moment...

Salter: "Mordred, you have to call him mother. He is my queen," she mentioned, correcting her bastard so she would know what to say.

...they had spoken too soon, it seemed.

The blonde girl clung tighter to her "father," who had an expressionless face as he looked at Salter, who simply had a monotone expression for having ruined her moment.

EMIYA: "Four months, four weeks, four days, four hours, and 44 minutes banned from the kitchen." The Alter could only feel herself being returned to the throne as she collapsed onto her legs, her face as pale as Jalter's hair.

Salter: "Heartless monster!" she exclaimed, feeling her eyes welling up as she expressed her fear, panic, horror, and terror at what she had just decreed.

DEMIYA: "It's that or you won't receive any food at all." This made the fear increase. "But we're not that cruel." It was a vile lie, but it was better for her to believe it.

The Alter remained there on the floor with her bitter cries at what her beloved queen had just decreed for her.

Though a light covered part of the room.

?: "Where are we?" asked a voice that someone recognized.

?: "Huh? You're here too?" asked another unfamiliar voice.

Both voices were recognized by two people. How could they not be? They were their mothers after all.

Gilfem/FEMIYA: "Enki/Siduri!" they both shouted with joy at seeing their respective daughters again.

Enki/Siduri: "Mom?!" they both shouted upon seeing their mothers here as well.

Everyone looked on in clear surprise, especially the Gilgamesh, who saw a blonde girl with red eyes sharing the same name as their most reliable assistant.

EMIYA: "...ZEL-!" he shouted angrily at the mage of the Second True Magic.