Knight of Avalon
Chapter-3
Kay
"..."
Sitting on one of the roofs of Salisbury Cathedral…was a fairy with long silver hair and a small golden crown, dressed in blue robes and with butterfly wings on his back.
Around town, people knew him as the 'Pauper King' Oberon. That, of course, was his alias - an actor pretending to be a king, moving around and demonstrating plays to entertain the audience, mostly in tavern's.
Feh, pests, all of them. Some of them genuinely think we are a real king. His Vortigern side thought, its harsh voice snarling with a low growl.
Fairies are gullible creatures. If they don't have eyes that can see the truth, they'll believe a lot of lies. His Oberon side thought, it's voice being much more gentle.
But besides the point, both of them were not in a good mood.
Artoria Caster has a companion. Both of them thought.
For years, they'd slowly cultivated the seed of the child of prophecy in Artoria's mind, impersonating Merlin to teach her magecraft.
For years, everything went as they expected. Artoria grew up without anyone who truly cared for her instead of only giving her attention because of her status as the child of prophecy.
And everything went well until he saw Artoria come to Salisbury.
Oberon had been fully expecting Artoria to enter all by herself, with crushing nervousness. Out of desperation, she would come to the cathedral, be thrown out by the guards, and then visit a few more villages before she would head to the Nameless Woods, where she would meet the Chaldeans and thus start off his plans…
…Only for that to fall flat in the first place when he saw someone else come along with Artoria.
Sir Kay. The first knight of the Round Table and the foster brother of Artoria Pendragon in Proper Human History.
But how did she summon a heroic spirit from Proper Human History?! They thought. Not only was that supposed to be impossible, but he himself did not remember teaching Artoria any sort of spell like that as 'Merlin'.
And that presented two major problems that could completely turn his plans upside down.
First was Kay. As if a heroic spirit wasn't bad enough, it just happened to be the one who had the closest connection to Artoria. Oberon knew of Kay's role in the time of King Arthur's reign. Despite being the Chief advisor to Artoria as well as the manager of her household, Kay never approved of Artoria trying to fulfill her duties as the prophesied saviour of Britain and had a deep hatred for King Arthur that separated him from the other knights, who admired the king.
That meant it was a very likely possibility that if Kay would try to persuade Artoria to abandon her duty as the Child of Prophecy, and thus completely derail his goals.
Not to mention Artoria learning the spell without him. The only explanation was an intruder, and that meant there was someone in Faerie Britain aware of his actions.
But who could it be? Oberon Vortigern thought.
Was it the real Merlin? But Morgan had ensured the wizard didn't try to interfere in any way.
Morgan? Again, it would not make sense for Morgan to aid the Child of prophecy.
So then, who could it be?
Maybe it is a third party. Oberon Vortigern thought.
That was the most dangerous possibility. A third party who was completely unseen and undetected to him.
He knew the path laid out for him. Chaldea wasn't set to arrive just yet. He could still make sure this situation doesn't get too out of hand.
Right now, he had to drop everything else and focus on getting Kay out of the way. The intruder snooping in on his plans can be handled in the future.
Oberon's face shifted into a nasty scowl.
"Kay cannot be allowed to live. The longer he lives, the less certain my plans will get." He spoke before getting up, turning into his Robin Goodfellow form, and moving away from Salisbury cathedral.
Puck.
The companion of the Faerie King Oberon in the Midsummer's Night's dream, who was infamous for his mischievous nature that often led to mishaps.
I suppose in this Britain, it does make sense. Kay thought. And he did remember Coral mentioning 'Oberon' before, so…
"Puck, hm?" He spoke as Puck brightened up.
"That means you must have heard of me!" He spoke.
"Why am I so happy, good sir!" He exclaimed, wrapping Kay in a hug.
Didn't you just say you were 'mysterious' and 'enigmatic'? Kay thought, but decided not to say that to Puck, who then stuck his tongue out at Artoria.
"Hey, what did I do?!" Artoria exclaimed in offense.
"You decided to be rude by not recognising my name, Child of Prophecy!" Puck snapped as Artoria glared at him.
Good god, looks like Artoria's already found someone she's going to butt heads with. Kay thought.
"Before you decide to whack him, master…" Kay spoke, raising his hand as he noticed Artoria's grip on her staff tightening.
"...Puck, do you recognise the name 'Oberon'?"
Puck's eyes widened, before he dramatically stepped back from Kay in mock horror.
"Where did you hear that accursed name?! Don't you know that is a sign of bad luck!"
"Really?" Artoria asked nervously.
Artoria, please don't tell me you're actually falling for his melodrama. Kay thought with a grimace as he shook his head.
"I suppose you don't have good relations?"
Puck crossed his arms. "...You don't want to know."
"...Try me." Kay drawled, not falling for Puck's antics.
"Really? You don't."
Kay simply stared at him as Puck sighed.
"...The truth is…he is my rival in theatre!"
"...That's it?" Artoria spoke
"What did you expect after that melodramatic act?" Kay spoke with a deadpan.
"Honestly, who does he even think he is, throwing his weight around in my turf and stealing my audience! He dresses like some top brass prick from Camelot and somehow the people prefer that over my 'common man's act'? Ridiculous!"
"..."
"I mean, he even managed to rope in Lady Aurora with his vile charms!"
Kay and Artoria froze.
That…is a bit too convenient for us. Kay thought.
"Could you…elaborate on 'roping in Aurora'?"
Puck looked at them weirdly.
"Oh, I see…hehehe." He spoke chuckling. "You want me to help you sneak in? Oo hoo hoo, I didn't expect this from a human knight!"
You must have a romanticized view of knights in that case, Puck. Kay thought.
"Guilty as charged. So…"
"1000 Morpounds."
"...Excuse me?"
"WHAT?!"
Kay spoke as Artoria screamed.
"A-A t-t-th-th-th…"
"Stop stuttering, girl! Are you some kind of country bumpkin?"
"A thousand morpounds?! Have you lost your mind?!" Artoria exclaimed.
"...500 morpounds."
"Hm?"
"500 morpounds." Kay spoke.
The price here is too exorbitant. I really need to bring it down. Kay thought.
Puck put a finger to his chin.
"Hm? And why would I do that?" He spoke, looking at Kay with a smug grin.
"...We could go to Oberon." Kay shot back with a smug grin of his own as Puck frowned.
"Ah, that. 600?"
"400."
Puck grimaced as Kay smirked. Clearly, Puck thought he had the leverage when the factor of Oberon gave them more of an advantage.
"No. 500."
"..."
Kay turned to leave as Puck's eyes widened.
"Wait, wait, wait! Even 500's not enough for you?!"
Kay smirked. "200. Nothing more."
Puck stared at Kay.
"You're a scam." He spat.
"Says the thief." Kay shot back.
Puck sighed before stretching out his hand. "Deal?"
Kay stretched out his hand. "Deal."
Both of them then spat into their hands and shook them.
"Gross…" Kay heard Artoria mutter.
"Alright then, cough it up."
Kay fell silent. "Well…"
Puck smiled sweetly. "You don't have money?"
Kay shrugged.
"Then what are you two standing for?! I'm not taking a step towards Salisbury Cathedral until you put 200 Morpounds in my pocket!"
Artoria looked at Kay, who shrugged.
We really don't have any other choice than stealing. And it's better we keep up a good reputation before we go break in and talk to Aurora. Kay thought.
Puck then flicked his fingers as a small, green snake popped out and launched into Artoria's hands.
"EEEK!" Artoria screamed as she dropped the snake, scrambling back as Kay caught the snake by the throat.
"What was…?"
"What do you think? This is Faerie Britain. Here, anything can happen…if you just have the right magical energy." Puck spoke with a wink.
Huh…but I can't sense anything from Puck. Does he have some sort of presence concealment? Kay wondered, noticing he could feel no magical energy from Puck at all.
"Get that away from me!" Artoria cried out in fear.
"Oh, don't be a wuss. Little buddy here is harmless. He's just our go-between. Touch its forehead."
Kay touched the snake's forehead, before the snake dissipated into green particles that went into his and Artoria's hands, which grew hot.
Artoria hissed in slight pain before she removed her glove to see a tattoo of a snake on it.
"Bring that symbol close to your mouths and whisper 'Lies'. I'll know you're calling. And don't even think of doing that until you have the money!" Puck spoke before fading out of existence.
Artoria stared at the empty space where Puck stood in wonder. "...Even a common thief can…"
"I don't know about that. I think there might be more to Puck than we realize." Kay muttered.
"So, 200 morpounds." Artoria muttered.
"Yes, that. Our only option is to find a job." Kay spoke before smirking.
"Congratulations, master. You are about to be a part of Faerie britain's working class. Your days of lazing around are over."
"I'm not lazy!"
"Ah, so you demanding I give you a piggyback ride all the way to Salisbury is not being lazy?"
"You're supposed to help me! My legs felt tired!"
"Master, I am a humanoid spirit, not a horse. Please get your eyes examined and be responsible enough to buy yourself a horse."
"Grr…"
"But anyways, what do you want to do?"
"Huh?"
"If we are to find a job. I suggest you figure out which job should we take up to raise the money for Puck. We can continue killing more and more mors when we are able to find the time for it."
"W-Well…" Artoria spoke, falling silent as she tried to come up with something.
"Remember…this job, we should earn money and also be able to find more information about anything we can do to strengthen our position."
Kay watched Artoria in silence as she thought.
After all my disillusionment with my sister, watching myself help this Artoria in fulfilling a destiny that will most likely destroy her feels…surreal. Kay thought.
Maybe it's because his problem had never really been with Artoria's kingship. No, if Artoria had wanted to become a king, he would have no objections.
…His real problem was with her throwing away her self into becoming a perfect king. Throwing away her happiness and right to live simply because she felt being flawed was not something a king was supposed to be.
This Artoria…her goal was saving Britain from Morgan. Perhaps that was why he helped her. If Artoria wished to walk that path, he would aid her…
…Just not at the cost of watching her commit the same mistake as her counterpart.
And besides, I'm not even getting a good feeling about this. Kay thought.
He knew how fairies were like. They'd been much more widespread across Britain during Vortigern's reign, and Merlin's bumbling idiocy had often dragged him and Artoria into the middle of a Seelie court, whose members were planning on a massive heist to steal children from an orphanage. Safe to say, Artoria did not agree with their plans.
All of humanity's worst traits were multiplied ten times worse within Fairies, because they did not have the concept of responsibility and foresight. Very few fairies ever considered the consequences of their actions, their responsibility in some situations. They were free creatures, and they considered the world like a playground where having fun was the only norm, no matter how horrific the act.
They only cared about what they did at the moment, or what they'll do in the very near future. Of course, that 'present' depended on how long they defined it. A fairy could consider a 100 years to be their 'present' and thus be able to consider each and every actions within that 100 year interval, and if they thought a single minute was their 'present', well…
If Faerie Britain's fairies are anything like those of my Britain…I have no idea how Morgan even managed to keep them obedient and even capable of supporting a human-like civilisation for thousands of years. Kay thought.
Not to mention the Calamities, disasters that came every 100 years to wreak havoc on some part of Britain. They usually ended up either severely damaging or completely destroying cities, with much bigger ones being called Great Calamities that were capable of destroying Britain itself.
Well, Those can be a point. Kay thought. He hadn't learnt much, but he did hear there was going to be a massive calamity near Norwich.
But before that, he needed Artoria to really be legimitized.
Although…I don't know how Morgan will react. Kay thought.
He didn't know what this Britain's Morgan was like, but his Morgan would definitely have hunted down Artoria to the ends of the world to make sure there was no challenger to her rule over Britian.
If this world's Morgan was like that…
We'd have to find and get in touch with any sort of rebellious faction fast. He thought.
"A pub!" Artoria spoke as Kay nodded.
"Perfect. A pub is usually the best place for gathering information, with all those drunkards letting some information slip from their mouths, and it'll grant us a good income."
Artoria smiled, clearly proud of herself. "So, nearest pub?"
Kay shrugged. "Look for something that's nice and clean. That usually means we can expect something good out of it."
"Okay!"
The two of them soon found the place. It was an inn with a pub, known as 'Mike's Inn Rooms'.
Kay's armor disappeared, replaced by a simple brown tunic with dark brown pants.
Artoria raised an eyebrow. "You can change clothes?"
Kay looked at Artoria. "As long as the clothes are a part of my spirit origin, yes. If I wore real clothes and would have to change into armor, I would have to burn those clothes away with my spirit origin and replace them with my armor."
Although, it does feel nice wearing this again. Kay thought, remembering all those years he wore this tunic and pants playing with Artoria in the woods.
The owner certainly doesn't have an eye for a brand. Although, I suppose Fairies can emulate human civilisation only to a certain extent. Kay thought, shrugging, before he and Artoria went in.
The inn was…decent. There were pots of flowers put in a disorganized manner, along with dirt stains on the floor. All in all, it was an inn that required some organizing and cleaning.
Inside, there was a commotion. Almost every customer had gathered around a certain spot.
"Now, now, ladies and gentlemen! I really must go!" A voice spoke as Kay noticed a silver-haired fairy dressed like a king moving among the crowd.
"You better pay up your tab, Oberon!" A short earth clan faerie called out as Oberon gave a mischievous grin.
"Of course, of course, Mike! Just give me two days!" Oberon spoke as he moved past Kay and Artoria.
Oberon's eyes suddenly fell upon them, and his smile lessened for a second.
Kay and Oberon stared at each other for a moment before Oberon grinned again, waving and saying 'goodbye' as he walked out.
We met Oberon and Puck in the same day. Who's next? Titania? Kay thought as he and Artoria walked up to the earth clan fairy.
"Yes?" The fairy asked.
"..."
"..."
Artoria looked at Kay, waiting for him to say something, but Kay kept quiet. The fairy, meanwhile, simply stared at Artoria.
You're 16, Artoria. You should realize you'll be speaking with a lot of strangers in adulthood. Kay thought as he pushed Artoria forward.
"U-Um…hi?" Artoria asked.
The fairy simply stared.
After that, Kay did not know if he'd ever seen a person's face get as red as he saw Artoria's did, the awkward silence clearly not helping her nerves as Kay stood behind her to make sure she didn't try to run away.
"Wow…" The fairy spoke. "An angel…"
Artoria recoiled as Kay's mouth slowly turned into a grin before he let out a light snort.
Artoria an angel? That… Kay let out another snort as he remembered his Artoria wrestling pigs down in the pigsty to catch them.
He really needed to stop going down the memory lane before 'Angel Artoria' became the death of him.
Artoria shot him a death glare before staring at the fairy.
"Um, sir…are there any jobs open in your pub?" She asked as the fairy stared at her.
"...Huh? A-A job?"
"Like…any sort of servant to help you with the job?" Kay asked. "I mean, I can't imagine how the customers feel when they step inside to get a drink or have a good time and see…this."
The fairy's face turned into a sad frown. "Hm…That's right. It's only because of Oberon that I've had a rise in customers to my inn. But when he leaves…it's all empty." He spoke.
"So…does that mean we can help?" Artoria asked with a smile as the fairy looked up.
"You mean…you can help?" The fairy asked.
Artoria nodded.
"Oh, oh, thank you!" The fairy exclaimed before wrapping Artoria up in a hug, as Artoria gagged in his crushing hug.
"Apologies, we forgot to introduce ourselves. I am Kay." Kay spoke.
"Oh, oh! Right! I'm Artoria!" Artoria introduced herself as the fairy let go of her.
"I'm Mike! Pleased to meet you, Urturia!" Mike spoke.
"It's…Artoria." Artoria spoke sheepishly.
"Ur…turia?"
"Yes, it is Urturia. You are doing spectacular, Mike." Kay spoke.
"Thanks, Kay!"
Artoria gaped in indignant shock as Kay smirked.
"Well, tough luck, master. Looks like my name is easier to pronounce." He spoke.
Artoria pouted as they began discussing the details of the work with Mike. It mostly went well, except for…
"I-I'm going to have to wear this?!"
"You have to do it, too, Kay!"
"WEAR THIS!"
Artoria's screaming about her job as a waitress certainly didn't help his or Mike's ears, but thankfully the fairy didn't seem to mind.
And me…I'm basically supposed to clean the rooms. Kay thought, which he didn't really mind.
Once the discussions were done, they went to the room Mike set up for them.
"Alright, now that that's done…20 Morpounds a day, huh." Kay spoke. "That means we should get the amount we need next week."
"So then we can pay Puck and get this down! But…ugh…" Artoria spoke slumping. "Oh well, I guess it's fine."
"Before that, I need to ask you something, master."
"Hm?"
"On our way, I heard something from the locals. Something about the 'Tam Lin'? Who are they?"
Artoria looked at him in confusion before her eyes widened. "Oh! Right! I forgot you wouldn't know of the Tam Lin!"
"The Tam Lin are said to be Morgan's strongest warriors, each having been appointed to clear out hordes of Mors."
Oh, I see. I suppose Morgan would be having her own elite group of soldiers. Kay thought.
"Even though they are fairies?" He asked.
"Well, it is said that all three of the Tam Lin are unique cases among their kind, and are more resistant to the Mors than your average fairy."
Kay sighed. "And what are they called?"
"...Um, Tristan of the Bloody Bow, Gawain of the Rotting flame and Lancelot of the Cursed Swamp."
Kay stopped. "...Pardon?"
"What did you just say?"
"Tristan of the Bewitched Bow, Gawain of the Soulless Flame, and Lancelot of the Curse Swamp."
A haunting sensation gripped Kay's heart.
No...Please don't tell me... He thought.
"A-And what do they look like?" He asked.
"Um…I've only met Gawain before, so…She's tall, with long blonde hair and armor that is said to be forged partially from the cursed ether of Black dogs."
She? Gawain's a woman in this Britain? Kay thought in confusion.
"Uh…She?"
"Yes, they are female. I mean, Gawain, Tristan and Lancelot aren't actually their names, now that I think of it. It's simply names they were given by Morgan at the time of their appointment." Artoria spoke, chuckling.
"Morgan? But how would she know those names? A homage?"
"I don't know. All I know is that they are the names of Knights from another world who were said to be extremely powerful."
Kay frowned even further. Otherworldly knights?
Morgan is aware of my version of Britain? He thought. But how was that possible? Did she have some sort of powerful clairvoyance that allowed her to see across timelines?
Or…
It's the same one. Kay thought shaking his head.
"Go to sleep now, Master. We'll talk further tomorrow." Kay spoke as Artoria nodded.
"Alright. Good night, Kay." She spoke as Kay looked back.
"Good night, Artoria." He spoke before walking out.
In the night, Kay materialized on the roof.
Mike's inn wasn't something like Salisbury Cathedral. But he could still see the lights of the houses nearby from his position.
And up, Kay could see the stars.
But he frowned.
The stars…they look so lifeless. Kay thought, as the stars were just there, with no signs of movement or even the twinkling that made them seem so magical.
No, Kay had seen that the sky lacked the dynamic he remembered. It felt more like a lifeless painting then a vast expanse of wonder.
Kay looked to his side.
Not to mention the wide, empty void that seems to be by my side. He thought.
He didn't feel a particular loneliness from Artoria's absence. He'd lost count of the years that had passed since Artoria stopped going out with him to see the stars.
And his master…Kay knew that with his absence in this world, this Artoria will take time to really start getting close to him. While Kay just seemed to roll back into his usual teasing, Artoria clearly was awkward with him.
Give her time. At least she isn't being as hard on herself as my Artoria. Kay thought.
Speaking of which…
"The Tam Lin." Kay muttered.
He was familiar with that name as well. 'Tam Lin' - A story of a young lady falling in love with a poor man enslaved to a fairy queen and her trials in freeing him from that bondage.
But here in this Britian, the Tam Lin were essentially like the Knights of the Round Table, although they were only three and had the names of the three most well-known nights under Artoria.
And him? Kay of course had his own share of memories with his younger colleagues, but they were…not really great.
There was Tristan with his broken heart.
"Tristan! Stop!" Kay spoke as he approached Tristan walking through the hallways furiously, having just left the Round Table after passing a very harsh comment on Artoria.
"..." Tristan didn't say a word and kept moving.
Kay kept pleading to him but Tristan didn't stop as he moved towards the gates of the palace, intending to leave.
There was Gawain with his vengeful rage.
"THAT TRAITOR KILLED MY FLESH AND BLOOD! And you're forgiving him?!" Gawain bellowed, his eyes bulging out in rage.
"Gawain! That is no way to speak to your king!" Kay snapped.
And most tragic, Lancelot and his shattered will.
"Lancelot, Artoria has driven herself insane trying to bring you and Guinevre back. Please…please don't do this to her. Go back to her, say your apologies, and she'll handle everyone else" Kay spoke.
Lancelot gave a tearful smile as he stared at Kay.
"It's already too late. Gawain will never let me set foot in Britain again. And I will never forgive myself for the sins I've committed against my king."
He could never think of their greatest moments when he remembered them…Only the times when they were at their lowest.
The times which all contributed to Artoria's descent into a hopeless madness.
The times which weigh upon his shoulders even now.
Kay's eyes turned sombre.
They made their choice. Just like I made mine. Kay thought. All that disunity, all that animosity between knights who once considered each other akin to brothers…it became too much for Artoria after all the burdens she'd carried.
And in the end, they'd broken him too.
Kay leaned back.
I am selfish. After all, I cared for them because they supported Artoria. He thought
Bedivere had been his friend in handling Artoria's antics, Agravain had been his student in navigating the cutthroat world of politics…and he did not really feel a thing when Lancelot killed Agravain.
Again, he only cared because they supported Artoria.
And after all that selfish love he had for Artoria…
Kay closed his eyes.
He found himself standing on that cliff, the same one where he and Artoria would come to watch the waves of the sea.
Those times…Britain was a miserable place. Phantasmals were so widespread that Druids had to leave their sacred grounds in Ynys Mon to be able to put up protection wards in cities while travel became a dangerous affair. Vortigern's rule had seen the sky over Britain grow dark with stormy clouds, and mystery become so thick that it manifested in fogs that left many areas hidden.
Even the Saxons were not spared, despite their aid in helping Vortigern overthrow Uther.
Ynys Mon, being the island of the Druids, was able to avoid such a fate because of its bounded field resisting Vortigern's influence.
Back at the cliff, the sky was stormy and a wind was blowing while Caliburn sat in the stone as always with its glowing blade. The dark aesthetic of the landscape only seemed to highlight Caliburn's glow.
Under those stormy clouds, he saw Artoria, dressed in the same dirty white tunic she'd worn when he'd told her to get him a lance for his jousting tournament. That day, she'd slipped on some mud in the nearby marshes and had only barely scrubbed herself clean while Kay left for the choosing of Uther Pendragon's heir.
It was the nightmare that plagued him for a long time, as if the world was mocking him by showing him the very moment Artoria would cease to be the little girl he'd loved more than his own life.
A long time ago, Kay had stopped screaming at his sister to stop, realizing he could do nothing in his dream but watch the terrible event occurring in front of him.
Artoria's face was set in stone, as she stood in front of Caliburn, while Kay noticed that damned mage Merlin standing nearby, watching her.
He watched as Merlin warned her about the consequences of pulling out the sword.
He watched as Artoria listened.
He watched as she did not pay heed, choosing to do it because it was the 'right thing'.
The sound of Caliburn being pulled out of the stone grinded against Kay's heart as Artoria brought it up.
At that brief moment, the stormy sky parted to reveal a soft light shining down from the heavens down upon Artoria, humanity having chosen her as its pawn in destroying Vortigern and making sure the Dark Paradise - Vortigern's hell on Earth - would never be born.
Artoria only looked up in determination as Kay turned away in disappointment.
Kay's eyes opened.
"Why?" He asked the lifeless sky.
"Why did you throw yourself away so easily?" He spoke.
One last image of Artoria appeared in his mind before Kay turned to his spirit form and faded away.
"How's everything going?" A voice spoke in a cavern within an undisclosed location.
"It's…peachy." Another voice, more elderly than the first one, replied before clearing his throat.
"...Is Olympus gone?"
"It is. Chaldea did a fabulous job with its Black Barrel destroying the Divine Cores of the Olympians."
"They're lucky that these 'Olympians' are just godly robots with some sort of core for their macguffin to shoot into. The Olympians I know…Black Barrel's useless to them and you'd have to get dirty to be able to fight one."
"Even with servants?"
"Even with them. What exactly did you do?"
"I helped that rabid dog of a human set fire to the Fantasy tree Atlas, and before that I spent a lot of time cloaking Chaldea from Zeus. Heard their master's an underage girl, and you know how it is with Zeus." The first voice replied, chuckling.
"Really? I guess his so-called 'Omniscience' is not what I thought."
"Bah, that's because it's me. I'm all about hiding stuff from the so-called omniscient beings. It is pretty solid, I have to admit. As expect from our resident sex offender."
The two shared a laugh.
"Anyways, how's Cernunnos' Corpse? Up to your liking?"
"It's…perfect. Those curses it's got on its body? They've got more than enough magical energy for me to work my magic."
"Even when you run the risk of waking him up?"
"Don't worry about Cernunnos. He's considered a deer, right? Well, I've got the big, bad wolf ready to eat the deer if it wakes up. Rest assured, he won't be a problem to us and our plan can proceed smoothly…"
"...Though I'll need this island destabilized if I am to do so."
"Really? You can't?"
"Look, If I were fully here, I would've smashed through the lostbelt's influence straight away. But…I can't, so…destablisation."
"Just keep up the power supply. Once the Calamity of Norwich comes, I'll start working on breaking down the influence of this Lostworld. Are you sure what you saw is going to happen?"
"Indeed. Morgan's got an interesting spell that sends its target to the past. But it's problem is that even something like time travel can really screw up the space-time physics of this lost world."
"...And flimsy space-time is right up my alleyway."
"You're not going to Gloucester. Oberon's heading there."
"No. Murian claims she's all supreme lord and all that, but I know better. No fairy is strong enough to bypass his eye over this Lostworld. Even I need to put up some really strong enchantments if I am to avoid getting spotted by him."
"And besides…Oberon hasn't let down his guard. It won't take much to squash him like the bug he is, but doing so will attract his attention, and I am in deep trouble if he finds me here."
"Fair enough. Any news on the Child of Prophecy?"
"Salisbury. She has a heroic spirit with her, although they haven't met Oberon yet. Honestly, she's still pathetically weak. Not ripe enough for our needs. We'll have to wait if we are to start focussing on her part in the plan."
"Alright then. What about South America?"
"The Spider's still sleeping and the Foreign God's just hanging around. Are you sure you wish to ignore it?"
"Feh, I'd have already cut off the connection by the time that Spider would have woken up, not to mention that bat's already ripped out its core. It would have neither the knowledge nor the energy to even make the crossing. Just keep up the contact with Tezcatlipoca."
"Got it. Well, I'll be taking your leave now."
The two voices then quieted down as their speakers returned to their respective works.
A/N: Hi, I'm writing this from my college hostel room. Classes start from next Tuesday, and I'm trying to get myself into a writing routine and not slack off. Anyways, I just want to talk about Kay's vision in this chapter.
I felt it was a shame that the results of Vortigern's rule over Britain was never really explored, considering Vortigern wanted to turn Britain into a paradise of darkness untouched by humanity, and showing Britain slowly turning into an isle of darkness. Knowing that and seeing the bright light in the scene Artoria pulls out Caliburn felt so contradictory to Vortigern's vision of Britain. So, I changed the scene and had the light come in after Artoria pulled out Caliburn.
And secondly, I decided to keep Kay's memories of his compatriots as ones of pity rather than nostalgia or admiration. Also, I did not like that canon decided to keep Barghest and Melusine's Tam Lin names as 'Gawain of the Sun' and 'Lancelot, Light of the Lake'. I'm fine with Sith's 'Bewitched Bow', so I decided to make Barghest's and Lancelot's tam lin titles a bit closer to their status as a Black Dog and a Fairy born from Albion's rotting flesh in the water.
Finally, Kay and Artoria are working for Mike. I won't spend much time on showing that part, mostly as a way for Artoria and Kay to just find a place to stay during their time in Salisbury, since I wanted to add more to the Salisbury storyline instead of canon putting it as a stepping stone to Gloucester in Part-1.
And of course, since I always have the beginning and ending of a story planned out in my mind...we have the final talk between some spooky mysterious dudes.
Hope you guys enjoyed and constructive criticism is appreciated!
Foot Notes:
Ynys Mon: Welsh name of the island of Anglesey. Back in ancient times, Ynys Mon was considered the most sacred spot for Druids in the British Isles. In a similar fashion to the Forest of Carnutes, where Celtic druids across mainland Europe met, Ynys Mon was also the site of councils held between druids coming from all over Britain, where they conducted their rituals and also passed their knowledge in oral format to Druid trainees. In fact, Ynys Mon was considered the foremost training ground of Druids in Europe. As such, the island was almost completely inhabited by druids.
During the Roman invasion of Britain, some of the fiercest resistance to the Roman legions came from the Druids on Ynys Mon, who according to Cassius Dio, were seen screaming curses from the cliffs down upon Roman soldiers marching through the waters towards the island. The conquest of Ynys Mon took 18 years due to Boudicca's revolt diverting Roman attention, after which Ynys Mon's sacred temples and groves were burnt to the ground, although the druids still maintained some presence. Ynys Mon would change hands between the Irish, the Scottish, the Danes and the Normans until the island was annexed by King Edward I of England in the 13th century.
Response to Reviews:
King0fP0wers: Artoria did visit Gloucester, but when she was 12. So she has already done that. Cornwall...will have to come later, actually. And Aurora...look, I know how much of a stupid bitch she is. 'Airhead' is a gross oversimplification of the scum that is Aurora.
Seeking the Miraculous Dream: True.
Hatred and Love: Yeah. I think Kay's a pretty cold person in general, and is only warm and lively around Artoria because of their sibling bond.
The Story: I've said this before, but I'm deviating from the canon storyline. I'm even changing details about the world building myself. So...there will be some stuff you won't find in canon.
Kleave Guy: Sorry I didn't show much interaction with Oberon yet. I will show it later. Also, no. As you can see, Oberon has no clue why Kay is there.
Rotciv557: Yep, I'll be delving into Baobhan Sith's character a bit in this story, because Nasu focussed on Barghest the most out of the Tam Lin, so I'll be doing Baobhan Sith here.
Xian0541: I did some research into Baobhan Sith's folklore (IRL one, not Fate one), and I've got a good idea of what backstory I can put with Baobhan Sith. It'll mostly be something straight out of Dark Souls because of Sith's character (Although her aesthetic fits Bloodborne more than it does Dark Souls).
NotSpecialDude: Chaldea's going to have their typical Lostbelt adventure, although I will be sort of sending things off the rails earlier than usual.
Kaiser: I don't think Kay will lose his shit that much. He'll at least be very concerned about fighting his former colleagues, although I doubt Kay was very close to the other Round Table Knights.
Kaleidoscope's Beauty: True that.
Guest: Here it is. I'm still reeling from a massive writer's block since June, and this story's been my way to get back into a routine of writing. Not to mention I'm in college now, so I'll be occupied enough to fall into a routine like that. But anyways, sorry for the wait.