113: Another Side

Medea of Colchis

"Anyway, all we've got to do now is wait for Hector to bring Euryale back for us!" Lord Jason says with a heroic smirk as he rests his back against the mast. "Man, getting immortality without having to do anything… it's been way too long since I had useful allies around!"

I was there with you, wasn't I? Until the very end of our world… So why would you talk about it like I wasn't?

"Just… do nothing…" Heracles mumbles, and Lord Jason nods.

"You're so right, buddy. Hey, Medea, it's getting close to lunchtime, right?"

I nod, smile stretching across my lips as I bask in his attention. "That's right, Lord Jason. Would you both like some kykeon?"

"Ugh, can we get something else? I know it's your teacher's recipe, but you don't have to serve it for every freaking meal," Lord Jason groans, and I feel my heart sink.

I feel sick.

"Um, I'm sorry… you said you loved it before…" I bow slightly. He said he loved it, over and over, for years, until-

"Yeah, that was before you-!" He cuts himself off and turns away from me. I don't really understand, but for some reason I'm choking down tears.

I'm sorry, I love you, I'm sorry, I love you, I hate you, I'm sorry-

"I'll go find something, then! There's an island not too far from here!" I say, turning so he can't see my face anymore.

It's starting to rain as I prepare my flight spell, and I let a few tears fall from my eyes now that he won't notice.

Please notice.

"-Ah, Medea?" Lord Jason says, and I turn immediately towards him, tears all but forgotten, ready to fall into his arms-

He flinches and my heart breaks again.

"N-never mind," he says, "you can just block the rain with magic or something."

"I can! Thank you for your concern, though," I say, my heart warmed by his thoughtfulness.

Back when we first met, he would have insisted on giving me a raincoat anyway. But I ignore that.

"Well… get on with it, then," Lord Jason says.

"Of course! I'll be right back."

The rain is getting worse.

Searching the island for food takes a little longer than I hoped. Lord Jason will definitely be upset when I get back - luckily, Servants don't really need to eat, so he won't go hungry, he'll just be disappointed. Even worse, I haven't been able to get enough to make a meal worthy of Lord Jason and Heracles. I've managed to gather a good assortment of tropical fruits, but the storm seems to have driven all of the animals to take shelter.

Speaking of the rain, it's bypassing my protective spell… it must have been sent by a god. It's pleasantly warm close to the ground, but 200 feet up, as I circle over the island one last time, I can't help but shiver.

It's fine. Servants can't be damaged by the cold. I'm sure, once I get back, Lord Jason will hold me until I feel warm again.

He won't. I know that.

I blink as I notice something strange - not with my eyes, but with my nose. "Something's… cooking?"

Swooping lower, I send a familiar to scout.

My butterfly finds a mismatched pair of men under an improvised shelter. One, a middle-aged man with long brown curls, is dressed in what my knowledge from the Throne assures me is a pirate's outfit - but a high quality one, with a cravat, trunk hose, and a gold-lined naval coat. The other is a younger man, maybe twenty years old at most, wearing what looks like a butler's uniform with an unbuttoned collar.

The pirate, turning a roasting boar on a spit, speaks first. "You know, Mr. Natsuki, I've never roasted a boar before. Are you sure you should be having me do this?"

"You're the best boar roaster I know, Stede," The butler says, giving a fake laugh as he pulls a kettle off of another fire and begins to pour what looks like tea into three cups.

"Wait, you mean you've never cooked one before either!? How are we going to know when it's finished!?" The pirate shouts.

"Well, the real goal is to attract attention - and on that note," 'Natsuki' turns, looking directly at my familiar with his dull, fish-like eyes. "Medea of Colchis - won't you come meet us in person? You can have some of the boar, assuming you can save it from Stede."

Dangerous. A servant with Clairvoyance is obviously a serious obstacle to Lord Jason. I need to find some way to deal with him. I could poison his boar, but he might know-

"What happened to me being the best boar roaster you knew!?" 'Stede' screams. "Also, Medea? As in the Witch-"

"Don't be rude, Stede," His friend cuts him off, without looking at him. "Anyway, Medea, I got pulled into this mess by Zepar, so don't worry too much about me knowing about you. it's cold up there, right? Come down and warm up with us."

"I really hope you've got a plan, Mr. Natsuki…" The pirate mutters.

"Yeah, step one, I sacrifice you-" Natsuki says with a wide (fake) grin.

"Rejected! I reject that plan, it's terrible!" Stede makes an 'x' with both arms.

Finally deciding these two completely unknown Servants probably aren't a threat, I teleport into the shelter. In the worst case, I can just teleport again.

-The moment I arrive, I see Natsuki is already in motion, and I prepare to teleport away, but-

"Here. You look half drowned," He says in a gentle tone as he drapes his coat over my shivering shoulders.

It's fake. The kindness in his words is forced. I can tell that.

But Jason didn't even try to pretend.

I blink as he leads me closer to the fire and offers me a seat on a log at the fire's edge. "Would you like some tea?"

Finally, I find words, jerking my shoulder free from his grasp. "I don't. Firstly, I don't have any reason to trust you, and secondly I am in love with Lord Jason, so stop this smooth act of yours right now!"

"Seriously? Even though he ███████ on you?" Stede asks.

I didn't hear that. I didn't.

I love him I hate him I love him please don't leave me why did we have to meet again I'm so glad we did-

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't try to get ahead of things." Natsuki says, abandoning his fake smile ans speaking in a dull, monotone voice. "Let's start over. Firstly, since his situation is easier to explain - my friend here is Stede Bonnet, the Gentleman Pirate. He's a Rider."

"...I've never heard of such a person." I say, frowning - and see Bonnet double over in disappointment.

"He's a better gentleman than a pirate, so he didn't end up getting all that famous." Natsuki says.

"That's such a backhanded way of saying it!" Bonnet shouts.

"As for me - my true name is Natsuki Subaru, a hero from another world. My rightful class should be [Foreigner], but Zepar messed with my Spirit Origin when I was summoned - I'm an [Alter Ego] right now. 'Natsuki Subaru' has dominated all the other facets, but my Spirit Origin also includes Angra Mainyu, Odin, and Demon God Zepar." He delivers an utterly nonsensical explanation.

And yet, I don't detect a hint of falsehood.

"...You still don't believe me. That's fine." He sighs, and draws a series of runes in the air. "On my name, I swear this Geas. I shall not deceive you, Medea of Colchis, nor will I make you my enemy, on pain of death."

I take a step back. This man… why would he-

"My objectives in this Singularity - I will complete them with you by my side, or I'll die. It's as simple as that." The Alter Ego says, as always with the voice and eyes of a man already dead.

And yet, in my traitorous heart-

"I love Lord Jason."

I'm lying. Because it's already over. Because it was a delusion to begin with. Because this all consuming, life destroying affection, was only ever the whim of a capricious goddess (the true me longs to believe).

"Beautiful as you are, romance isn't my intention," Natsuki says. "At this point, I'm not someone suited for it. But neither is Jason."

"He is!" I scream. "He is, he is, he is, he is!"

I feel sick. My head and heart feel like they'll split in two.

"He b█tr██ed you." The Alter Ego says.

"You're lying! Liar! Liar! Liar!" I point my staff towards him, the tip glowing, and at that moment-

"[Return From Death]."

-the world melts away, and I find myself atop a grassy hill, standing opposite Natsuki Subaru, with nothing around for miles.

But even so-

"See! You were lying! That Geas meant nothing, because you used your Noble Phantasm the very next moment! So, it can't be true! Lord Jason would never-!"

He did. He did, and I murdered the woman he did it with. And then, our children-!

"This isn't an attack. Not against you. You barely need any, to tear away the lie you've been painted with," Alter Ego says, drawing a knife. "I can't fix your past. I wasn't there, and no matter how many times I die, I won't save you from it. But here and now, in this place, I can at least free you from this delusion. Medea- from that lie, and from whatever pains come next - I will, definitely, save you."

He drives the dagger into his throat before I can stop him.. A hole opens in the sky, and obviously cursed mud belches forth. I take flight, trying to avoid it, but-

A single drop. One little splatter of the mud hits my cheek, and everything is laid bare.

Betrayal betrayal betrayal love how can this be even though we were always meant to be even though I would have been satisfied with anything Lord Jason Jason My Jason why why whywhywhy! The world is over and the sky is blue and bright I was always doomed know that a Witch cannot fall in love there is no place there is no love there is only burning and stabbing and drowning and-!

I scream and drop like a stone.

Alter Ego catches me. Keeps me from plunging into the mud and changing into something I'm not. And yet, I already feel that I…

"...It's not fair." Dimly, I hear my tear laden voice as Natsuki Subaru draws me closer, gently embracing me.

"I know."

"I loved him. I still love him. Even now, after all of it, I-!" I scream, burying my face into his shoulder.

"I know."

"I wanted to destroy the world. If I couldn't have him… even our surviving son, what legacy he had should disappear. That's what I thought."

"I know."

He knows, he says. And I believe him. This man knows everything, I can tell that. That's why, with neither sympathy nor condemnation in his voice, he simply accepts my madness.

No, that's not true. His voice and eyes are as if he was dead, but his arms… are comfortably warm.

"You're awake," I say as Subaru-sama exits his cabin on the [Revenge].

"Mm. I finished talking to the other guy," He says, and for the first time I notice an honest emotion on his face, a sneer of contempt.

I don't like it on him.

"He lucked out, the bastard. Nobunaga is way too troublesome for me to send anyone other than Drake after, and Benkei seems like he's just built different," Subaru-sama mutters. "I might not be able to send anything at them until Alcides gets done with that freaking Hauroy guy."

"...In that case, my scrying has turned something up," I offer.

"Really?" He raises an eyebrow. "Something I missed?"

"It's no fault of yours, Subaru-sama. The protective spells hiding this person are the sort that only someone like my has a chance of picking out. They belong to my teacher, after all."

"Ah… I don't want to turn into an animal again…" Again!? "But I guess there's no helping it - let's go recruit another witch!"

"Wait, what was that, Mr. Natsuki!?" Stede shouts from the wheel, having only overheard the last part of the conversation.

"I said get ready to get turned into a pig, Stede! You're my first line of defense against Circe!" Subaru-sama shouts, a ghost of a smile flickering across his face.

"That's what I was worried you saaaid…!"

A/N:

In which Greedbaru actually feels incredibly responsible for the guys he's bossing around, because he's still got basically the same moral compass as our Subaru.

Non-lily Medea has a type, and it's guys who are dead inside.

Also, Stede F-ing Bonnet is here. If curious about him, you can always watch Internet Historian's movie-length video on the guy.

Or, y'know, find a primary source. Either or.