Hello everyone and welcome to the big one, Chapter 100! (BIG MESSAGE AHEAD! IGNORE IT IF YOU WANNA JUMP STRAIGHT TO THE CHAPTER)
Time to say goodbye to the double digits and welcome the triple digits instead. I know it will sound cliche but as a writer, to have all this will and determination to write a story with over a 100 chapters is quite the landmark, that I truthfully at the start, did not knew when or if it would be possible. Like, to think this Fate fanfiction will now be on a different level, chapter and story lenght wise, it genuinely impresses me. It was two years, over 950k+ words and 99 chapters of five full Singularities now with the beggining part of Camelot to reach this moment. And in the grand scheme of Fate fanfictions out there in the fandom, I'm aware my own fic is another fish in its vast ocean. But a fish I enjoyed feeding and watching it grow.
One of the things that I would like to know as I've been writting this story so far, is what is the feeling of a reader and Fate fan that visits the site regularly or from time to time and has by now get used to see my fic pop us at the top of the list weekly when searching FSN fics and haven't read it yet. I wonder what goes through their heads when they see a fic with almost 1M words and a 100 chapters. Does it pick their curiosity? Does it them away? The reader gets interested and starts reading it or finds it unappealing and ignores it instead? Is a thing that I would like to see as an author, to read the story as a reader who hasn't met Peko and Nala nor knows what will be the changes of this retelling version of FGO. What to expect from it.
I admit that as a rewritting of FGO's story, maybe this fanfiction is not seen in a very positive light by some and prefer if it was instead a totally original story. Which I get it. The Nasuverse and Fate franchise itself are quite big and rich with lore, FGO itself having enough content to spawn hundreads of original stories. So I understand how rewrittings can be seen majorily as lazy when there's a original script already to give indications. But the thing is, I believe rewrittings can also be original depending on the extent of how much the author decides to add and fuse elements of their own version with the original one. And that's what I made sure to do with my version here of the story. I wanted it to be different enough to have some identity of its own while still maintaining the familiarity to the Fate fans. That's why some of the singularities had OC servants and different takes and scenarios, with even the singularities who didn't suffered major alterations still feeling somewhat different from their game counterpart. And despite that, the beloved main cast of Chaldea remains the same with their personalities as well as majority of the journey, with the only differences being the additions of Peko and Nala and doing my own take on Ritsuka, so that the reader knows this is still original FGO at the core.
Like I've said since the very beggining, lots of ideas and concepts grew in my head the moment I started getting into Fate and consequently, the Nasuverse, ideas that grew stronger once I discovered FGO that is now the vehicle that carries these very own things, being the interpretation I have for it. And I can only thank to those who've been supporting it so far or recenlty join in. So to you, the reader that is reading this, whether is it from the day this chapter released or from weeks, months or even years after it has been posted, thank you.
DISCLAIMER: All of the Nasuverse characters belong to Nasu and are property of Type-Moon, with the exception of the OC's that belong to me, the author
"...E-Eh?"
Peko was flabbergasted, speechless by what the Lion King had just told him. This befuddled reaction being his only response in the middle of the almost silent throne room of the Holy City of Camelot. "A light inside of me? What she's talking about?"
"I see that your mind is having trouble to grasp it from the get go." Artoria Pendragon speaked, now addressing Peko in a less formal manner nut still maintaining her royal posture before giving a side glance to Agravain who looked at his king in return, as if she was telepathically sending him an order.
After the brief stare, Agravain went to shift his vision to Peko. "Honrable guest, our king queries of you: what is thy name?" He demanded the boy to give them his name.
"Hum...Peko." Peko answered Agravain a bit hesitant, feeling the rigid demeanor of the knight's voice. "My name is Peko Finsternis."
With the answer given, Artoria Pendragon went back to being the one talking. "Young Finsternis, by any chance, are you aware of the reason your soul was chosen during the Holy Selection?"
"Not exactly, Your Majesty." Peko responded to the Lion King, being respectful and polite with her in return. Since he was in the enemy base, it would be for the best to be in the good graces of its leader. "However, if I recall the necessary qualification to pass the Holy Selection and be accepted as citizen of the Holy City...is because my soul was deemed as pure, wasn't it?" The boy stated, remembering of the essential condition to be approved by the Holy Selection and what was said during its event by both Gawain and Artoria Pendragon. "Can it be, that the 'light' inside of me had a influence on the choice?" Peko questioned, trying to see a correlation.
"Damn! For a kid, he ain't that dumb." Mordred commented, breaking her silence, much to Agravain's slight displeasure.
"Keep it down, Mordred!" Agravain rebuked the other knight swiftly.
"Eh?! Mordred..?" With the sound of the familiar voice and name, Peko moved his head and gaze, spotting the Knight of Treachery in the throne room for the first time properly. A joy emerged from his face the moment he saw her. "Mordred! It's you!"
"Huh?" Mordred looked at the boy weirdly, with the other present knights having kind of the same reaction.
"It's me, Peko! You remember me, don't you?" Peko tried to approach Mordred while remembering of his and his group journey through London when they met the knight for the first time.
"Oi!" Gawain immediatly grabbed Peko by the shoulder, preventing him from advancing further.
Peko continued to talk happily torwards Mordred despite that. "I was the one you always called 'Shortie N.2' y'know? We even got to save-"
"What the hell is this nonsense you're talking about brat?!" Mordred shouted agressively to Peko all of a sudden. "Shut your stupid mouth already!"
"Hm!" Taken aback by Mordred's unexpected hostility, Peko immediatly stopped talking, startled by seeing what he assumed to be a previous friend of his act in such rude manner with him, almost like Mordred had never seen him before. "But...you honestly don't remember me?" Peko asked her, saddened.
"I don't even know who the heck you are. Perhaps you've hit your head somewhere and started to imagine things." Mordred responded to the boy, genuinely not recalling of having ever seen Peko before, only helping the downheartedness in him grow.
"It seems you are being way too overwhelmingly blunt with the child, Mordred." Tristan speaked, his lips forming a smugish smile. "Don't you visit the town frequently? Perhaps you have indeed seen his face before. Unfortunately, brutish people aren't known for having the keenest of minds."
"That's..." Looking to Tristan, Peko's memory of the knight was quick to show up. The knight who had slaughtered that assassin and helpless group of refugees while he and his team watched it back in the wastelands. "It's him!"
Meanwhile, Mordred sarcastically chuckled at Tristan's comment. "Ha ha! Why don't you go fuck yourself?"
Before Agravain could hush the two, Artoria Pendragon simply moved her arm and closed her hand into a fist. "Enough." She ordered to both Tristan and Mordred to remain silent, her face continuing to remain stoic altough the seriousness she used in her voice. It was clear that no one would be making any noise or disturbance during her presence.
The two knights of the Round Table obeyed without any objection or defiance, ceasing their talking. As Tristan went back to stare down at both Gawain and Peko with his closed eyes, the knight got a little astonished when he looked to the boy's face. "Hm? What is the matter with this child?"
Peko was giving him a mean glare, his mind going back to see all those innocents Tristan had killed mercilessly after tricking them and that Hassan into believing they would be temporarily save from him. How the knight ruthlessly murdered each one without a care.
"Such anger. Have we also met before?" Tristan wondered, thinking about the reason behind Peko's seemingly unfriendly glare at him. In response, he just smirked at the boy. "Whenever that happened, I could care less about your trifling hostility torwards me."
"Not deviating from our actual topic here, Finsternis..." Artoria Pendragon called Peko's attention back to her. "You are indeed correct. It is that very light that caught my eye, invigorating thy soul in a way that the Holy Selection perceived it as untainted by sin." The Lion King explained, her gaze sharpening on Peko. "Thoust therefore, of a special case."
Peko took a step back. Artoria Pendragon's specific interest in him could be viewed as neutral , since it probably meant she would need the boy to be kept alive around her but also that they would make very sure Peko wouldn't have chances to escape from the Holy City, without mentioning what the Lion King could have in store for him. "So what Your Majesty's saying...is that it wasn't precisely my soul that was chosen but the light within it instead."
"How shrewd." Artoria Pendragon commented, apparently delighted at Peko's acuity despite the blank expression on her face. "Your soul is depraved, O Young Finsternis. Flawed as many average others. Howbeit, the light inside thee eclipsed those sins, making the righteous sun judge you as pure during the Holy Selection. Such light that can cast away darkness from oneself, is what I seek for in the construction of my new ideal kingdom." Artoria Pendragon stared at the ceilling, fantasizing of the end result. "With its power, the tower that will bridge this old decaying world into a new heavenly one, is going to be mightier than never before." She lowered her head, looking back at Peko. "And thoust shall aid us in such mission, Young Finsternis. One way or another."
Gulping, Peko now understood why Artoria Pendragon wanted him and Nala back at the Holy Selection. "P-Pardon me Your Majesty, but I myself don't think to be 'special' as you'd put it. My mana isn't particularly nothing to write home about. How can the king be so sure that this light I have inside is that 'mighty'?" Peko tried to downplay himself to the Lion King, not wanting to have a full-focused attention of hers on him.
"Dishonesty in front of a ruler is such a shameful thing to do." Artoria Pendragon replied, seeing clearly through Peko's act. "This potent mana I sense in you...it is from that Magic Crest on thy back, am I correct?"
"!" Peko's heart freezed for a second. Artoria Pendragon had discovered the tattoo on his back without even seeing it and meeting Peko within a few minutes. "I-I'm not sure what Your Majesty is referring to-"
"Gawain." Artoria Pendragon glared to the knight next to Peko. "Show your liege and companions the mark on the young stripling's back."
The order initially dazed Gawain, viewing it as a bit improper. "B-But my king, he's a child-"
"Do not defy our king, Gawain." Agravain told to the other knight of the Round Table, speaking for the Lion King. "You are in no position to contest any of His Majesty's commands, are you?" He crossed his arms, subtly reminding Gawain that punishment still awaited him, so it was for the best if the Knight of the Sun didn't try to defy his king.
Perceiving Artoria Pendragon's orders as absolute while being one of her remaining sworn knights, Gawain obeyed despite a bit reluctantly, not desiring to hurt Peko. "I'm sorry." The knight told to the boy before grabbing him by the shoulders.
"H-Hey! What are you doing?!" Peko tried to fight back and free himself from the knight's strong grip, unable to use his magic due to the shackles. Gawain ended up not having to put much effort anyways, his natural strenght easily turning Peko around and then grabbing the lower part of the boy's shirt before pulling it up, revealing the crown tattoo and magic crest of Peko's to Artoria Pendragon and the other knights of the Round Table.
"Woah! What a hell of a tattoo." Mordred commented, amazed by the magic crest's design.
"A crown and a circle around it..." Agravain sounded obviously curious by it. "Peculiar. Is this boy a prince?"
"That or a mark of a slave who was once owned." Tristan gave another possibility behind the meaning of Peko's magic crest. "It wasn't an uncommon thing during the time of our first lives."
"Nay." Artoria Pendragon responded to Tristan. "I can ascertain in his mana that this youth's status are no different from mine." She gave a insightful look at Peko. "You are the same as me. Thou art a royal."
Struggling, Peko got free from Gawain's now loose grip since everyone had seen his magic crest. "I already figured as much!" He replied to the Lion King, a bit angry of having the tattoo being shown against his will.
"Yet, there is still an enigma of thou that mazes me." Artoria Pendragon put her iron-clad hand on her chin. "There is a certain peculiarity that destinguishes thee from a normal human. It is inconceivable that you are one. You are...something else, Young Finsternis."
"..." Peko's eyes looked onto the Lion King the same way hers looked into his after that statement.
"A mystifying box of surprises, eh?" Tristan giggled amused, giving some touches to the strings of his bow in a small melody. "It would appear that appearences of harmless animals being delusive continues to hold on."
"Yeah! Didn't thought this small fry here could be all that when he first entered the room." Mordred also commented.
"Many details can bolt away from an unskilled eye and mind." Agravain added. "His Majesty seized on them the moment they were left detectable. Such observation that befits a man like our king."
"Guess that made me a target of yours the very moment you felt our presence at the arena. It was already predetermined I would pass the Holy Selection right before it happened." Peko speaked. "And so? You plan to use the light I have in my soul as a way to achieve your goals faster? Do you really think I'm going to help you on that?" The boy very obviously refused to agree on aiding the Lion King and her knights on their objective.
"I am not exactly demanding your cooperation here, Young Finsternis. There is two viable way this can be done." Artoria Pendragon replied, putting her hands together. "Thoust can either obey and be guaranteed survival under my castle for the foreseeable future, or..." Stretching her arm, she summoned her weapon. A holy and powerful ethereal white and blue lance, as majestic as its wielder. It had some similarities with the weapon used by the alter version of this Artoria Pendragon in London, altough it had a more pristine look. "I shall extract from thee by force."
"Hm!" Peko's eyes widened with sudden fright, not even wanting to imagine the pain it would be taking a blow from that lance.
"What shall it be, Young Finsternis?" Artoria Pendragon asked him, awaiting to hear the response from Peko's mouth.
Peko however was unable to give an answer right away. He didn't really wanted to help the Lion King in doing her bidding. But he also knew if refused, then Artoria Pendragon would most likely kill him then and there. Thankfully, it seemed Peko wouldn't need to respond right now as Agravain speaked up.
"A bothersome decision to make, is it not, honrable guest?" The knight talked to him. "Do not concern about making such choice now. His Majesty is a man of virtuous patience. The king is more than tolerant to let thy mind mull over a decision for a couple more time." Saying so, Agravain took some weight out of Peko for now, with him and Artoria Pendragon allowing the boy to have some more time to reflect. "Hope you chose very carefully however." He said on what could be perceived as a passive but still threatening tone to Peko, gesturing the soldier knights at the gate of the throne room to walk forward and pick the boy. "Now, unto other matters..." Agravain slowly moved his head, shifting his stern glare to Gawain.
"Right..." Gawain nodded his head, seeing that with the discussion of Peko out of the way, his punishment followed up soon after, now being the only one standing in front of Artoria Pendragon and her throne as Peko had been dragged to the side by the two soldier knights. "Before anything, I apologize for my fumble once again, my king. I'm aware that such mistake while being Your Majesty's knight is an outrageous stench to the reputation of the knights of the Round Table." Gawain said, not making excuses but rather acknowledging his error very well.
"Enough with that pathetic speech! Being sorry won't save you dumbass!" Mordred told to her fellow knight, not supporting to how chivalrous he apologized. "If it was up to me, a clean cut from my sword to make your head fly would be fitting!"
"That would still be painful. Gawain may have commited a mistake, but I think he'd still should perish in a more 'painless' way nontheless." Tristan replied to Mordred, also not opposing to the Knight of the Sun's death, even a bit charmed at the idea. "Perhaps an arrow flashing in the middle of his eyes could be more acceptable. After all, he is a companion of ours."
"They're really wishing on the death of a fellow knight of theirs?" Peko was somewhat astounded to see Gawain's companions calling out his death for the knight's failure. All while Gawain himself silently took the mean-spirited comments, knowing he had no right to defend himself in this situation.
"As much as you desire about it, the punishment has already been decided." Agravain speaked up, looking down at Gawain with a strict glare. "Do thoust hath anything else to vocalize, Sir Gawain?"
"Nay." Gawain replied, getting down on his knee, his head hanging low. "My body is ready for the consequences."
With the answer given, Agravain stared back at Artoria Pendragon before stepping aside from his king, no longer obstructing her vision torwards Gawain. It was now her cue to deliver the punishment upon her knight.
"Gaze at thy ruler, Gawain."
Being ordered to lift up his head and face his king, Gawain did it so. "Hm?!" And doing that, the knight saw the Lion King pointing the tip of her bright divine lance at him, a small amount of mana concentrating on the tip of the weapon.
Before Gawain, Peko or even any of the other knights could react properly, Artoria Pendragon fired the light blast from her lance straightly into the Knight of the Sun. It was a demonstration of the Lion King's power, as the sheer strong blast of her lance launched Gawain all the way out of the throne room and even the castle, leaving an enormous hole in the walls as the knight only landed once his body crashed violently onto the ground of the Holy City's main gate outside.
"Gghg!" Peko closed his eyes and tried to protect his face from all of the dust that had arised the moment of the explosion, coughing a bit.
"Hmm, do you think that finished him off?" Mordred asked, scratching her chin, not fazed by the attack displayed by the Lion King.
"I have some doubt. That blast the king used on Gawain was but a mere fraction of mana." Tristan responded. "It can easily kill a normal person and even fatally injure an avarage Heroic Spirit. But..."
"Ah...Ah...Ah..."
Lying powerless on the ground, Gawain panted with ache and blood coming out of his mouth, the magnitude of Artoria Pendragon's blow having been a rough hit on his body. Even with the way he had been thrown out from the throne room and Holy City all the way to the main gate, luckily he would survive, only sustaining minor injuries thanks to his Gift that blessed the knight.
"I am sure he will be able to walk it off." Tristan played some few notes on the strings of his bow. "And I already had a music composed if he could not. How sad."
"The punishment hath been fulfilled." Artoria Pendragon stated, the heat on her lance cooling off. "May this serve as an exemple that even the minor of lapses can be detrimental to the persue of our goal. Next time, do not anticipate any shred of ruth."
"Your Majesty had made it very explicit. For the king's dream, I'll make sure no further slips happen." Agravain speaked to Artoria Pendragon before changing his attention to Tristan and Mordred. "Same goes for both of you. Remember that as long as we are knights of the Round Table, it is our duty to never dissapoint our liége."
"I got it, I got it! Do you have to always bring that up like some sort of parrot?" Mordred told with annoyance before beggining to walk away. "Anyways, I'm already walking out to do whatever you had in mind to task me to do."
"Guess this marks the end of this reunion." Tristan said, seeing that neither Agravain nor Artoria Pendragon were stopping Mordred from exiting the throne room. The knight perceived it as allowance to abandon the meeting. "I shall be on my way out as well. From here, it does look like Your Majesty has damaged a portion of the Holy City's walls with his power." Tristan stared back to look at Agravain and Artoria Pendragon. "We cannot afford to have any breach in our defenses as the Blight approaches to Camelot."
"We will not." Agravain replied to his fellow knight. "Rest assured that I will already send soldier knights to repair all of the damage. As per the king's will, the meeting is over. You can go." He said, seeing both Mordred and Tristan walk out of the room.
Meanwhile, Peko was still dazed by the result of the Lion King's blow on Gawain. "Did he...really survived that?" Not paying attention to the soldier knights, Peko was caught off guard as the two grabbed him by each arm and started to move the boy back in front to of Agravain, Artoria Pendragon and her throne. "H-hey! There's no need to grab me like that! Ow!" Peko shaked his body, attempting to break free from their rough grasp, ending up with something falling from the pocket of his pants.
"?" Artoria Pendragon slightly moved her eyes to the object that had fallen from Peko's pants before swiftly putting her attention back on the boy.
"As for you, Honrable guest, begin to accommodate to your room, as you will rarely leave it for the time being." Agravain told to Peko. "Nonetheless, food and water will keep being provided to thee. And, the sooner you end up cooperating with us, the easier it will be to have those restraints removed as well as being conceded more liberty." The knight advised to the captive what would be the best for him to do.
"This is all for the greater good." Artoria Pendragon talked to the boy, eyeing him one last time before ordering the soldiers to escort him out of the room. "Judge it rather well, Young Finsternis."
"..." Peko gave her and Agravain a brief resistant glance before the doors of the throne room behind him closed, now being guided back to his cell, leaving Agravain and Artoria Pendragon alone.
Walking torwards the place Peko was previously standing, the knight picked up the object it had fell from the boy, giving a look at it. "Hm? A toy?"
"What is it, Agravain?" Artoria Pendragon asked to her second in command, no longer being sit on the throne.
Agravain handed it to his king. "A wodden craved miniature of a lion, Your Majesty. Of amateur work as well by the looks of it."
Artoria Pendragon stared deeply into the wodden lion in the palm of her hand, seeing the many flaws and imperfect features it had on its sculpted body. At first glance, it would be kinda difficult to perceive the animal toy as a lion due to how unprofessional the work looked. Yet, it gave the toy something of a charm to it that the Lion King herself found it odd. Her mind was puzzled at such simple object, as if for a brief second, it had her hypnotized. A sensation of déjá vu...
.
"Oi sis, look at what big brother got here for you! Pretty cool, isn't it?"
.
"Egh?!" Gasping, Artoria Pendragon instinctively put a hand to her head, a throbbing ache having shocked her mind all of a sudden.
"My king! Is there something wrong?" Agravain asked her with some concern, seeing some sweat falling from his liége's face.
"I am hale, Agravain. There is no need to be worried." Artoria Pendragon responded, composing herself back after the short striking pain on her brain. "I woke up in the middle of a nap in order to attend this meeting. Perhaps I should go back to continue it for some more." She attributed the pain on some fatigue or interruption on her sleep, about to walk to her private bedroom.
"Your Majesty should not accuse this much overwork." Agravain speaked behind her, making the Lion King stop in her tracks. "If the chore begins to take a tool on the king's mind and body, leave all of the heavy duty on my shoulders. That is why I serve thee, Your Majesty. As a knight of the Round Table, my loyalty and service abide to the king and the king's cause alone." The knight put a hand on his chest, offering himself willingly to do any kind of work that might be wearing down Artoria Pendragon.
"That is very exemplar of you, Agravain." The Lion King responded, looking back at him after she stared at the wodden lion on her hand again, not having many emotion to show on her face. "I am sure that whatever hitch might stand on our way, I can always count on you to have my back."
Having been dismissed by Artoria Pendragon, Agravain exited the throne room, now strolling through the castle's hallway, his mind already organizing the tasks to be assigned for today. That was until he halted his footsteps and closed his eyes. "You have arrived late. The meeting has already ended...Lancelot."
On the hallway that connected the one Agravain was in, the famous Knight of the Lake, Lancelot, approached his companion knight, having came back from his expedition. "Apologies, Agravain. It was planned for my arrival in Camelot to have happened a little earlier if it was not for some inconveniences." He explained.
"Humans tainted by the Blight?" Agravain opened up his eyes, taking a guess at what made Lancelot took some extra hours to come back to the Holy City. "Whatever it was, it better be noteworthy."
"On my way here I ended up running into what I believe to have been the group of refugees that escaped the Holy Selection from yesterday's night." Lancelot told, picking some interest on Agravain. "However, before me and my brigade could come down the hill to face them, one of them who seemed to be leading the group invoked a giant flying sort of mechanism and attacked me and my men with it, exploding the moment it reached near us. Altough I got out of it pratically uninjured, some of my men ended up either dead or wounded."
"A distraction to hold you off from the rest of their group most likely." Agravain considered, listening carefully to Lancelot's explanation despite looking at one of the giant windows of the corridor. "And what about all of the other refugees? Did you saw what happened to them?"
"Not precisely. By the time I had finished checking on my battalion, the group of refugees had fled from the scene." The Knight of the Lake said. "However, their destination for shelter is pretty clear by now."
"The mountains." Agravain turned around. "Hiding like vermins in their nest. Until a single one of those foul villages remains standing, so will the Order of Assassins and the opposition to our king's desire. We need to make sure they all burn to the ground so that there is anymore resistance." Agravain speaked with some irk, seeing the Hassans and their villages as annoying peebles on a shoe that should have been removed a long time ago.
"Even...the innocent?" Lancelot questioned, thinking Agravain's statement was a bit harsh.
"If push comes to shove..." Agravain said coldly with a rigorous expression, not having trouble in killing a hundred more people if necessary. "Those who inhabit the mountains have made the decision to turn their backs on our king, their souls already smeared. They have no place in His Majesty's new world anyways." He justified his thinking to Lancelot.
"I get it. Should we reunite some of our forces and head to the mountains? The last of our troops sent on an expedition there ended up figuring out the close location of another village." Lancelot asked to Agravain on what would be their next movement on the mountain region.
"No. That would be way too soon. The Hassans would be on alert all the time with the idea the newly arrived refugees could have been followed. That way, the lookout for a possible upcoming attack from our side will be higher than ever." Agravain replaid, deciding to be meticulous on that matter. "Wait and let the waters to calm down, Lancelot. We let them be for say, a week, when their levels of watchfulness drop down to normal."
"Then that will be the perfect moment to strike them." Lancelot concluded. "I should know you would always be this cautious on the details, Agravain. I will think about mustering enough manpower for the raid so."
"You won't be partaking in it. I will assign someone else for the attack." Agravain revealed to Lancelot.
"What? Then what will you have me do?" The Knight of the Lake replied, having become used to always being the one sent out on majority of missions Agravain gave him.
"Stay here for a few days on helping Camelot reinforce its defenses for when the Blight comes. I have observed its progress within every passing day. By the pace of it, I estimate it will be on the Holy City's walls in two weeks. And we must be all here and prepared for when that time comes." Agravain expressed his worries about the Blight. "What will exactly happen, we do not know. But what we do know, is that the Blight is nothing but malicious, corrupting those led astray." Agravain got closer to Lancelot. "And I want to be sure that as a fellow knight of the Round Table, I can count with you."
Looking at the serious gaze of Agravain's eyes, Lancelot responded. "My sword serves the king as much as any of you. I picked His Majesty's side and to be loyal to back then, and loyal I shall stay until the end."
A slight sneer escaped from Agravain's lips as he heard that. "I sure hope so." He then distanced himself from Lancelot a bit. "There is also another thing I want you to keep searching and the main reason I was looking forward for your return. The imposter whose rumors tell it wears the name of our king around. Did you found anything about them yet?"
"Still no clue. All that I've gathered so far is just whereabouts. I searched for days on the desert and wastelands to the west and nothing." Lancelot shared his report to Agravain, saddened for not having discovered anything about the imposter.
"No clue you say..." Agravain murmured, giving a frowning look to his companion.
"What? Do you think I just made all that stuff up? I sware to you on what I saw the day me and my men went to investigate on the Blight when it first appeared!" Lancelot replied, not liking that Agravain was maybe doubting him. "How a giant golden light, identical to the one of the sword our king used to carry, appeared to save me and my brigade against the demonic creatures that emerged from the Blight! I witnessed it with my own eyes Agravain! And you must have witnessed that light too from the balcony!"
"I do believe on the existence of an imposter." Agravain said calmly. "There wouldn't be any reason for many soldiers state the same as you if there wasn't one after all. That as well as the name being spread around despite the fact only we, knights of the Round Table, know about our king's true name behind the title of Lion King. What bothers me, is how little we know of them and their current location. We cannot allow that person to try and overthrown our king while using his name! That would be the epitome of an affront!"
"Then what do you suggest for me to do?" Lancelot asked to the midly angered Agravain.
"Continue to search of course! Go back to the desert to investigate for a second time if you must!" Agravain replied to Lancelot, sounding a bit agressively.
"What? With it being the territory of the Sun King, it is hard for me to fully explore it! Much more so with Olgoi-Khorkhoi roaming around! It becomes impossible to walk through the desert when that sandworm can appear at any time to devour us! I've lost soldiers to it!" Lancelot protested, almost shouting. "Do I even need to remind you that a ray of Judgement from our king wasn't enough to kill it? If the imposter isn't there, it will be somewhere else!"
With the tension rising between the two knights, Agravain approached to Lancelot, deadly serious, looking him in the eye. "Then I want you to go to that place and begin to search for the imposter in there. Is that clear, you lecherous womanizer?"
"It shall be done so. But that is because I serve the king and not you, Agravain." Lancelot replied to the other knight in the same tone, their faces momentarily staring at each other before Lancelot begun to walk away, leaving Agravain behind.
Agravain could not like him. After what he discovered Lancelot had done in their previous life, he would probably never again have the same respect he had for the Knight of the Lake before. The old Camelot, their king's reign, its legacy, their lives and tragic ending. Agravain would surely never forgive Lancelot for any of those things, no matter how much time it had passed or how much Lancelot tried to atone. The best Agravain could was to be professional and cooperative with his fellow knight.
"Do not waste this second chance, Lancelot." Agravain whispered as he saw him walk through the hallway's door. Now alone, Agravain took some time to reflect on the topics at hand while staring at the stained glass window on the walls.
"The mountains...Could they be..."
"And right in front of you ladies and gentleman, the Eastern Village, protected by Cursed Arm himself!" Reaching to their destination, Arash presented the village to the party and refugees after guiding them to the place alongside the Hassan. The archer tried to make it sound a lot better than it actually was.
The village was particularly small, located within a contained area of a mountain's borders despite being on open sky. Not that was the problem, but instead, it seemed rather empty and liveless. There'd be some few persons scattered around the area while others would be in small groups, either resting or talking near the simple stone built houses.
"Everyone looks so down in here." Mash noted, seeing how all of the villagers faces appeared rather bored and dispirited, a general mood of hardship floating around the village.
"Things aren't well here, are they?" Ritsuka asked to both Arash and Cursed Arm while walking to the village's center, having the bigger bonfire of the place.
"Yes. The Eastern Village doesn't have many inhabitants and yet we are having trouble in providing food for this few." Cursed Arm revealed the difficult situation the people of the village were going through. "The resources are running short. I dread that the villagers will not hold for much longer if things keep at this rate."
"And receiving more refugees won't help diminuish the problem." Bedivere stated. "I'm sorry that we ended up aggravating your situation."
"Ah, no big deal! We ain't stone hearted enough to reject a group of helpless people that are trying to survive!" Arash responded, not wanting Bedivere and the chaldeans to feel their arrival had made the things worse. "We and these villagers have already been through a lot of adversities! I and other assassins always make sure to hunt and get some food every week. It might not be much but it is the suffice amount to live and wait until more food arrives."
"So that's why you use to go to town? To buy food?" Bedivere asked the persian archer.
"Right on the money! That and other things! At least there I can be sure it will always have some food as well as try to see what the Lion King is up to everytime on of his soldier knights are around." Arash replied, revealing his motives to head to the merchant town near the Holy City most of the times.
"But we cannot keep like this. The food we can muster is barely enough. And we certainly have to hunt for more now that we're going to have a couple more dozens of villagers here." Cursed Arm said, being more down to earth than the archer, staring at him. "I hope you do have that in mind, Arash."
"Eh? But that goes without questioning of course! If instead of bringing three boxes worth of food I now have to bring twenty, so be it! You know I'm up for the task no matter what it is!" Arash responded, still optimistic, not fazed nor daunted at all with the potential extra work he would need to do.
"We can help you on that. I'm sure having a couple more hands in aid will make the job easier." Ritsuka said to Arash, offering to help the archer in collecting food.
"Same here. I'll gladly help this village to prosper by getting the food they need." Mash also offered her help.
"Well, thanks a lot guys! I sure could use some handy extra help." Arash replied happily, accepting Ritsuka and Mash's offer. "And what about you, knight? Gonna join in as well?" He moved his head, asking Bedivere.
"Sure. I wouldn't mind to-ghg!?" Taking a step forward, Bedivere stumbled as he felt a bit dizzy out of nowhere.
"Are you alright?" Nala asked the knight, grabbing him by the arm in order to keep his balance.
"My body...I feel a bit tired." Bedivere replied, clinging onto his silver steel arm, Airgetlám.
"Hmm, something's not right with your Saint Graph." Romani told, analyzing Bedivere's condition on his monitor. "It's a bit of erratic somehow."
"Maybe all those times you've used Airgétlam are now wearing you down." Mash told to the knight. "Perhaps you should take some rest."
"Foolishness." Bedivere responded to Mash, denying her advice. "This is just some mild fatigue. I can-"
"Don't be stubborn now." Arash interrupted him, scolding Bedivere. "If the situation doesn't ask you to push your limits, then you shouldn't do it. Do as she said, seat and take some rest!"
Seeing how pressing Arash was for him to take a break, Bedivere ended up sighing. "Fine. I think my body could indeed have some repose."
"I can even help you get to a nice spot for a nap." Arash told him, about to grab Bedivere from Nala.
The knight rejected it politely however. "That's noble from your part but I can walk by myself."
Arash just smiled. "If you say so!"
While they were talking, Romani had discovered something on his screen. "Oh! Guys, allow me to share something."
"What did you find, doc?" Ritsuka asked him.
"A leyline on this village. Just some meters ahead of you on the north." Romani revealed the information to them.
"Hm? That close?" Mash replied, proceeding to stare at Ritsuka. "Better establish its connection now that we are here, master."
Ritsuka nodded in agreement. "Sure thing Mash. Hey Nala, do you wan-..." Turning around to talk to the other member, Ritsuka saw that the girl was no longer by his side, sitting alone near a cliff at the end of the village. It was obvious for him that Nala still wanted to be left alone, which saddened Ritsuka. The absence of Peko was hitting hard on her, having been majorily quiet and silent for the day, a clear contrast to her normal personality.
"Leyline? What are you talking about?" Cursed Arm approached to both Ritsuka and Mash after hearing the conversation.
The shielder tried to explain to him. "We promise it isn't anything deceitful or villainous for you and the villagers, Cursed Arm-san. We just use leylines in order to make a connection with this Singularity's mana which allows us to create a summoning circle."
"Do you give us permission to gain its access?" Ritsuka requested to the Hassan.
"For me its all fine!" Arash said, being okay with it. "You can trace that leyline as much as you want!"
"Thank you Arash." Ritsuka replied to the persian archer.
"Hmm, I'll still keep a close eye on you while you make the connection." Cursed Arm was still a bit suspecting of the chaldeans. "Do not get me wrong. But you have arrived to this village just now to gain properly my trust. As the Old Man of the Mountain of this place, I need to at least make sure you aren't planning on something with my own eyes. Hope you don't take it badly."
"We don't. I understand your concern for the safety of these villagers as their guardian, Cursed Arm-san." Mash speaked, comprehending the caution the assassin was taking with them.
"Come along us then." Ritsuka told to Cursed Arm, the three of them heading to the place where the connection to this Singularity's leyline would be made.
Meanwhile, Nala was staring lonely at the view of the summit of other mountains by the cliff, trying to ease her mind from the anguish of thinking about her brother and his well-being. Ever since she heard Peko was captured and Da Vinci was gone, Nala had no energy or will to talk to anybody. Specially to Mash after that discussion. To her, the shielder was dead. And she assumed Mash thought the same of her. Even if Nala knew she had deeply hurted Mash's feelings with those words and severed their friendship, the girl at this precise moment didn't regret saying it. It was all an agony that had been building up inside her even before they started this Singularity after all. She could not pretend that everything was okay and fine around Mash. The fact that the shielder hiddened that secret from her hurted Nala even more.
And despite that, Nala felt that she couldn't bring herself to really hate Mash. She was saddened, dissapointed and even angry at the person she once perceived to be her friend. Or that still was. But neither her heart nor her mind could harbor loathe for Mash. If she were to shout 'I hate you!' at Mash, chances were that it was much probably a lie that resulted from hot temperantum. Despise wasn't what Nala would feel when staring at Mash. It was instead a feeling of a broken heart that would be further fragmented each time she remembered that Mash would be no longer with them even if humanity was saved. And it was that feeling Nala hated.
"Fou fou." Seeing the girl sadly being all by herself, Fou decided to make her company, bumping his body onto her.
"Fou?" Slightly surprised, Nala ended up grabbing the fluffy animal, putting on her lap and patting him. It made the girl feel a bit better. "You miss them too, don't you?"
"Fouuu..."
"Peko...Da Vinci..." Lowering her head, Nala was quietly beggining to tear up. "If I hadn't fell unconscious-"
"There was nothing you could do. Putting the blame on yourself won't better the things." The voice of Bedivere speaked as the knight was now sitting to a wall next to the cliff Nala was at. "There is still time to save your brother."
"Bedivere..." Nala looked to the gentle knight, cleaning the tears away from her eyes.
"It's a beautiful view, isn't it?" Bedivere kindly smiled as he glared to the same view Nala was glaring at.
The girl nodded. "Hm hm." Remaining silent for some seconds, a question popped up on Nala's head. "Could I ask you something, Bedivere?"
"Go ahead. Do tell me what is it." The knight accepted.
Staring vastly at the mountains in the distance while the wind softly blow against her head, Nala asked to Bedivere. "How does someone deal with departure?"
"..." Not having seen such question coming, Bedivere took some time to think. "That's..." His mind begun to have visions. Visions of a beloved one lying weakly by the trunk of a great tree, surrounded by mist. An important last request that person made to Bedivere. To let the sword sink in the lake and let them go. An important promise...that the knight broke off. "I...I'm not really sure on how to answer that." Bedivere said with an hesitant voice, a bit quivering. He remembered of what he wouldn't like to remember.
"But maybe I can." Arash appeared, walking torwards the two, the smile almost always on his face.
"You were listening us?" Bedivere asked to the persian archer.
"Eheh, sorry about that! It was rude of me, I know." Arash cackled while rubbing the back of his head. "But I couldn't help but think on how great that question of yours was, Nala." He said, looking to the girl. "A way to deal with the departure of beloved one...In my case, I always used to face that with a smile."
"Huh? H-How? Why would you be happy with no longer being with someone you liked?" Nala asked him, puzzled. Bedivere was muddled by Arash's response as well.
"Hey now, don't think it like that." Arash replied, beggining to justify his answer. "I admit that initially, when a loved one died I too would feel an immeasurable pain in my chest with tears pouring out. Such sensation of loss can be hardly removed from someone, and I ain't made of iron to not feel those things. It can make you feel depressed, miserable, upset, like life is forever ruined and won't ever recover from such blow. And you will be in that state of mind for days, weeks, even months." Arash went close to the edge of the cliff, joining Nala while staring at the other mountains ahead of them. "To realize such people that brought us happiness can't be here anymore to share more moments with us is indeed gut-wrenching. However, when I look back at all the previous memories of joy we had together and accept that they are now resting peacefully and eternally, it makes me happy that I had the chance of being part of that friend's life to the fullest."
"..."
"..."
Both Nala and Bedivere were listening to him, Arash's utterance sounding very engrossing to them.
"That's why when a beloved one departs, we can cry, weep and sob at the beggining and we may forever miss them till the end. Yet, as long as we know that we cherished all the moments we could with them, that we might have also been the reason for the happiness in that person's life, whether it was short or long lived, that they died aware someone else in this world loved them back..." Arash looked up to the bright sky, a radiant smile on his face. "I will always smile, knowing that I meant something for them."
"Arash, that's..." Bedivere was amazed by the archer's words, not even knowing how to comment to it.
"What? Didn't expected me to have profound things to say?" Arash replied to the knight.
Nala silently let the persian archer's words enter her mind and resound within. "To smile even if a beloved one is gone..." She didn't knew what exactly make of those words right now. Could they be that helpful to her?
"Oi Nala!" Another voice speaked, this time being of Rushd who approached her specifically. "Can I join in?"
"H-Hum? Rushd?" Having been pulled out of her own thoughts, Nala stared to the muslim boy. "Sure. You can sit if you want."
"And I'll be on my way!" Arash said, walking away. "See ya around!"
Sitting right next to her, Rushd also took the chance to pat Fou and stare at the scenery while Bedivere took his rest and observed the two kids, smiling. "How...are you feeling lately?" He asked to Nala.
"Normal. If you came here to only bother me you better be going." Nala said, not in a great mood to open up to Rushd.
The muslim boy however tried to talk with her. "Look, if it is about Peko...your brother that's concerning you-"
"Are you trying to win a punch in the face?" Nala asked him, staring at Rushd with an annoyed face.
Bedivere's smile became nervous as the knight sweated behind Nala. "Do you really have to threaten him like that?"
"Fouuuu..." Even Fou head slapped his own head.
Rushd immediatly begun to apologize. "S-S-Sorry! I-It wasn't my intention!" He put his hands up in self-defense. "What I wanted to say is that I too feel for your brother's lose and wish him to come back!"
"Hm?" Nala raised an eyebrow, her small annoyance going away.
Rushd went to spell it out. "Peko and you made me experience what it was like to have friends. When we were playing with the ball back at the town, it made me feel happy, like all my problems had faded out in that moment. You and your brother were very kind to me even if by that time you only knew me as some petty thief." He speaked from the bottom of his heart to Nala. "That's why I want to see Peko again. Without him, you suffer and things don't feel right. I want to have the chance to play with you two again, even if that is the last time!"
"That's how much we mean to you?" Nala asked him, genuinely surprised.
"Yes it is!" Rushd instantly replied. "Without you here...I'll be alone."
Nala could tell how much sorrow was behind that last part. It would be really sad to eventually abandon Rushd once this Singularity was resolved, he no longer having his mother to make him company. She wanted to tell him that neither she nor Peko would be going anywhere. But that wasn't the truth, and the truth would hurt him. "Was this...how Mash felt like?"
Bedivere also listened to it so far, feeling sorry for they boy.
"Fou..."
"But until Peko returns, I don't want you to spend sad all the time." Rushd told her, smilling to her as he took out something of his pocket.
"That's..." Looking at the muslim boy's hand, Nala saw that it was the ball they used for the game at the town.
"I know it will sound selfish of me but, how about we play a little?" Rushd proposed. "It might help clear your head a bit, don't you think?"
Being invited to play ball with Rushd as a way to help her out of her dreary state, Nala couldn't help but smile a bit, a small glee coming back to her as she grabbed the ball from his hand. "That's sweet of you, Rushd."
"Connection with leyline established! Operation successful." Mash reported, having finished to make the connection with the leyline while Ritsuka, Romani and Cursed Arm watched.
"Nice job Mash." Ritsuka told to his servant before noticing the sad frown on her face. "Something's wrong?"
"It's just...It feels out of place to establish a leyline and not having Da Vinci-san to teach us topics about magecraft." Mash said, feeling the absence of the italian inventor.
"It sure does..." Ritsuka replied, grieved that Da Vinci was no longer here with them anymore. That she perished right in front of their eyes.
"Was she a friend of yours?" Cursed Arm asked them.
"Yes. A very good and reliable friend at that." Romani told the assassin, the rememberance of her death also bringing his spirit a bit down. "One of those that simply couldn't be replaced, you know?"
"Then I see she meant a lot to you. My condolences." Cursed Arm expressed his solicitude to the chaldeans about their companion's demise.
"Don't need to. She would want us to surpass that already." Ritsuka told to the Hassan. "By the way, can I make you a question?"
"Say it." Cursed Arm replied.
"It looked like you knew Rushd back when we were on our way to the village. Mind to tell us how you know him?" Ritsuka gave his question to the Hassan.
"Ah, that. I used to be a very good friend of the boy's mother, Salia." Cursed Arm revealed. "The two were originaly from this village. Me and Salia have basically spent the majority of our lives growing together. I even witnessed her becoming a mother. One day however, she announced she would be leaving the village alongside the young Rushd in search of a better life and environment for her son. She was convinced that this village wasn't a proper place to raise Rushd and so she departed in search of a place that could give the two much more possibilities as a way to start a new life. I begged Salia to stay but she already had her mind made up. And that was all before the disasters the fall of Jerusalem and the Lion King's kingdom had happened."
"It must have been a terrible experience for her and Rushd when they exited the village and witnessed all of the towns around collapse and be reduced to ashes of a wasteland." Mash commented.
"Yes." Cursed Arm moved his head, looking to the stone houses next to them. "That poor boy. He must have seen and went through a lot of tragedy and pain by now. But losing his mother...that is definetly the hardest blow someone his age can get. At least know I am grateful you maintained him and the others save until reaching the village." He thanked them for that.
"We do what it's always the best to do. Isn't that right, guys?" Romani speaked to both Ritsuka and Mash.
"It sure it is doc!" Ritsuka replied to him.
"Yeah..." Mash nodded her head with a miniscule smile before erasing it and moving her head away. "Master..."
"What is it Mash?" Ritsuka asked her, seeing that she didn't looked well.
"How long...did you knew I was going to die?" Mash asked with a serious tone, not even looking at Ritsuka.
"..." Gulping, Ritsuka was aware that this topic would be brought by Mash sooner or later now that she knew that her companions knew that she was going to die thanks to what Nala shouted at her the night before. And still he wasn't ready to speak about it.
Noticing it, Romani tried to speak for Ritsuka. "I told them Mash. It was my f-"
"I wasn't asking to you, doctor. I was asking to master." Mash said to Romani, wanting to hear it from Ritsuka's mouth.
Feeling pressured to dwelve into the topic and with no way to avoid it, Ritsuka speaked. "We discovered it moments before you had left the infirmary when you were recovering from that coma episode you suffered after we had finished the previous Singularity." He confessed. "When the doctor told us about your origin, how you were created and how many time left you had to live...we just couldn't believe it. None of us really wanted to accept it. Me, Peko, Nala. We were all looking to reunite with you again that it just hit like a bullet."
"..." Mash was hearing everything of it, still not facing Ritsuka. Romani was looking apprehensively, wondering what Mash's reaction would be. Meanwhile, Cursed Arm could tell he was getting into someone's private topics, proceeding to conceal himself in the shadows to give them some privacy.
"We were so baffled and distraught that I don't know if we felt more anger or sadness when hearing that. To know that no matter the outcome, you would end up dying with nothing that any of us could do to prevent it...Was like you had already died." Ritsuka continued, being a bit painful to say it all. "I sware to you Mash, that if any of us could wipe out that fact from our memories, we gladly would if it meant we would never became aware of the short time that remains in your life. But still, we didn't want to make you worried about that or think we would now hate you from hiding it from us, hence why we've also kept it secret from you until now and acted like nothing happened. Me and Peko at least. Nala...she just couldn't be okay with it. I'd say it messed with her in someway."
"I see..." Msh whispered. "It makes sense now."
"Mash?" Approaching her, Ritsuka saw a fragile smile on the shielder's face.
Fate Grand Order OST- Bond
"I was a fool for having let it be secret from you during all this time. Really...why would you want to be friend of a product with an expiration date?" Her voice was trembling, Mash doing her best to not cry, falling to her knees. "It was all so obvious that you would end up discovering it. I deserve your hate..."
"You aren't a product, Mash!" Ritsuka immediatly said, trying to console her, going down on his knees as well. "We don't hate you nor we never wished to hurt your feelings!"
Mash denied it with anguish. "But Nala-"
"She doesn't hate you! She might be upset and ignore you, but that's because she fears so much to lose you, Mash!" Ritsuka counter-argued immediatly, not even giving Mash an inch to think about it.
But the shielder did it anyways. "She was right about me, master. How can I say I care for my friends if I end up not being honest with them?"
"The reason why you didn't told them wasn't to hurt them or that you didn't trusted them, Mash." Romani speaked, helping Ritsuka in comforting her. "You did it because you didn't want the group to feel worried about you. Can't you grasp it? To you Mash, seeing their collective joy was so important that you didn't want to ruin it by revealing the truth about your lifespan to them."
"The doctor really thinks like that?" Mash asked him.
"I do, Mash." Romani smiled to her.
"We all do." Ritsuka added, gently grabbing Mash's hands and putting them together. "And I guarantee that we will never stop being friends or despise you because of it. We understand your worries and concerns, Mash. Why you wanted to keep it secret with fear we might had found out. You didn't want to lose the only friends you had in your life."
"No..." Mash admitted, staring down for a brief moment.
"And guess what? You still have them, Mash." Ritsuka told her, a smile on his face as he looked at her. "I will still be your master and senpai. Peko will still be your friend. And give her some time to reflect, even Nala will as well." Moving his thumb, Ritsuka brushed off the tears in Mash's eyes, gently. "Whatever the problem you have Mash, you are not alone. We will always be here with you until your final moments."
"...Senpai." Looking at Ritsuka's eyes, Mash felt cured from the angst inside her, Ritsuka's words touching her like soft clouds for her to lay on and rest. How it made her feel better and see that he was right. It wouldn't be a secret revealed that would put an end to the bonds she made with them all. She let all that trepidation inside make her forget that detail for so long.
"Is that clear, Mash?" Ritsuka told her, his face close to hers. Mash had comforted him in previous situations before. Now it was his time to return the favour.
Going back to smile with emotion, Mash replied. "Understood, master! I see it! I see how lucky I am to count on a master like you!" She said, proceeding to stare at Romani. "With an entire family as well!"
"No matter the flaws you have, Mash. We love you the way you are." Romani replied back to her, happy to see Mash smile again. "And nothing will change that!"
Ritsuka agreed. "Right on the money doc! However..." Getting up, Ritsuka extended his hand to his servant. "I am not letting you die until the end of our journey!"
Mash ended up happily nodding. "Understood!" Taking his hand, Mash got up from the ground, her sight focused on Ritsuka. "Thank you for accepting this defective kouhai, Senpai."
"You sure have some nice way with the words to cheer up your friends." Cursed Arm talked to Ritsuka, getting out of the shadows. "It takes a great compassion to push for others when they are down."
"It's my job as a master and leader to do that after all." Ritsuka replied, appreciating Cursed Arm's eulogy.
"Hope I didn't miss anything around here." Arash appered, approaching them.
"Just some typical conversation. Nothing out of the ordinary." Romani responded to the archer.
"Great. I was looking for you." Arash said to both Ritsuka and Mash.
"What is it, Arash-san?" Mash asked the motive for that.
"Want to join me on doing some survaillence on the path to the village? Could be helpful to fend off any nearby bandits or monsters with someone else." Arash revealed, proposing some work for them to do alongside him.
"Count us in!" Ritsuka replied, ready to help Arash in whatever task he had.
The persian archer enjoyed the answer. "Sweet! Follow me then! I'll show you each strategic point of the surveilance!"
Ritsuka laughed a bit with Arash's enthusiasm. "Going right behind you!" He exclaimed to the archer before staring at Mash. "Gonna do this together?"
Mash smiled back at him, the admiration for her master having grown.
"Together."
To be continued...
And that was it for chapter 100!
A step forward on Mash's character arc here, now knowing that Ritsuka at least decides to forgive her even with the truth about her already revealed. But she still needs to recover her friendship with Nala and discover the identity of the Heroic Spirit residing inside her, being the other two fundamental points to her character development. And in a vice-versa way, Nala's character arc will also mainly be about fixing her relationship with Mash.
We also now know why the Lion King wants Peko, more specifically the 'light' he has in his soul. Hmm, what could that be?
Anyways, I feel that I really don't have much more to say since all I wanted to say was already put at the start of the chapter. Only that happy 9th anniversary to FGO! Man, can't believe that when this game released I was still in school...Hope that despite the flaws it can continue to share its content and story with us. And like what I assume most of you, I'll also be looking forward to see what the anniversary servant will be this year as well as the celebratory movie.
Anyways, that's all I wanted to say, and see you next time on chapter 101! Peace!
P.S:
Jack: Hey Nelly- We mean, Nala! Wanna watch something with us?
(Nursery Rhyme and Jeanne Alter Santa Lily are both trying to stop her)
Nursery Rhyme: This is a bad idea Jack! She will not like it!
Janta: Don't do it!
Nala: Hum? Oh, hi Jack. What do you wanna show me?
Jack (Shows a DVD disk to her): It's a funny series called Happy Tree Friends! We love it so much! Wanna see it with us?
(Both Nursery Rhyme and Janta make signals for Nala to deny the offer on Jack's back)
Nala: Hummmm, sure! It does sound like a fun time to have some laughs!
Three Hours Later of Happy Tree Friends Marathon
Jack: So? Did you liked it? It was very fun, wasn't it?
Nala (with a sheepish smile): Jack, can I be honest with you?
Jack: Sure!
Nala: You belong in a psych ward. And I'm not joking.
(IMPORTANT NOTE: THERE WON'T BE CHAPTER NEXT WEEK)