Alliances Gonna Alliance
Hedonist Safir & Heretic Merlin #11
By: Aviantei
^^^^
lo0ol
Magami Rintarou has been having an…interesting past couple of years. That word doesn't seem strong enough for it all—and it's sure not enough to describe the wild ride that's been most of his life—but the past few years have been the highlights.
Someone like Safir teleporting into your bedroom and picking a fight to awaken the full memories of your past life as Merlin from Arthurian legend tends to do that to a guy.
Of course, Rintarou has no reason to complain whatsoever. Life before then was—kind of unbearable. All being skilled and talented does is bring down other people's jealousy on you, and it sucks. Whenever it was other kids was one thing, something that hurt a bit but didn't break him apart. Even the ire of adults was simpler to dismiss, the misplaced feelings of jealousy were manageable. It was the disdain of his parents that fucked him over.
(Ugh…what have we been doing with our lives until now…?
I…I should have never given birth to you…!)
Merlin.
You can call me Safir.
You look bored out of your damn mind. Wanna fight?
Who would've thought all it would take was four simple sentences to pull him out of years of trauma? Well, it wasn't as easy as all that, but those sentences were the catalyst, more than anything Rintarou could ever dream of.
And so, here he is, living on New Avalonia in a situation he couldn't have even imagined until Safir explained who and what they were, the type of world they were living in. The memories of his life as Merlin have come through, forming into a foundational part of him. Luna Artur is the exact same as her airheaded ancestor, and dealing with her antics makes him happy, in some messed up way. And Safir, well, fuck—
There's a lot Rintarou could say about them, but that would also run the risk of him not shutting up for a while, and that's just asking for a mess. Besides, at the moment, most of his positive feelings are a bit muted by some weird sense of…he doesn't know, melancholy? Something is off, and all it took was one little sentence to put Rintarou in a mood.
Safir's good at that. Saying what should be inconsequential things that make Rintarou's mind swirl, dredge up feelings he's convinced himself he's not capable of having anymore.
No, but you don't need to show consideration to the antagonist, dummy!
It's been about five minutes since the words left their mouth, but Safir isn't there to noogie into submission. They went off with Kujou-sensei to talk about something school or Succession Battle related, though Rintarou's willing to bet it's the latter based on the mana he can feel Safir throwing around, thanks to their paired rings. It's nothing to suggest combat, and he wouldn't even be worried if it was, but it still means he has time to tip his chair backwards onto its hind legs and think, which he's not so sure is a good thing.
"Oiii, Rintarou!" Luna drops herself down on top of his shoulders, almost toppling the both of them; it's a combination of quick reflexes and magic that keeps his airheaded King from eating the floor. Rintarou should let her experience the consequences of her own actions sometimes, but he can never bring himself to do it. "You're getting all pouty again. What was that about? Were you two fighting? You know I can't understand what's going on whenever you start talking in something besides English!"
"Have you ever considered that might be the point, King Airhead?" Rintarou asks, all sarcasm. He doesn't even bother to point out that they were, to be technical, speaking English, just not its more modern variant. For one, Luna would still whine, and, for two, Sir Kay is hovering to the side, peering at him close. Luna squawks; Rintarou pinches her nose to shut her up. "And, no, we didn't fight. They just…" How does Rintarou even begin to explain a feeling he doesn't know how to describe to himself?
Lucky for him, Sir Kay's curiosity has at last become too much for her to leave be, "Um," she says, glancing between Luna and Rintarou, her general nervousness making it clear she hasn't figured out how she feels about Rintarou being Merlin yet, even if she's not outright opposed to being allied with him. "I've been wondering. About Lord Safir…"
Rintarou can already hear Safir's absolute and raw protest to that title echoing in his mind, even if it is their right as a King in the Succession Battle. It's almost enough to make him want to call them that, just to tease—though the wish kind of fades in the murk of his other emotions. Well, good thing that Sir Kay has just asked something that he doesn't mind thinking about.
"What about Safir?" he asks, regarding Sir Kay with the same somewhat biting affect he does for Luna. Sir Kay already put up with him in his Merlin days, so she knows this is just his default, and he has no intention of holding himself back for anyone. It's Safir's first rule for a reason, and it's become Rintarou's too. "They're a pretty vast person. There's a lot of different things you could be wondering about."
"Even I can realize something like that, Mer—" Sir Kay stops herself, uncertain if that's a name she should be throwing around. Rintarou's…not quite bothered by the concept, but he is used to just Safir calling him that. More things to think about later on, then! Sir Kay sighs. "I don't think the questions I want to ask are best discussed in a busy place like this, even with Sleight at play."
Right. Those are the normal sorts of concerns, and Sir Kay was always what seemed to be the one consistent source of logic at the Round Table, and that's not changing now, either. "Fair point." Rintarou at last lets his chair right itself, Luna yelping from the sudden drop. "Hey, King Airhead, you were gonna drag Sir Kay onto the student council anyways, yeah? So there's nothing wrong with using the room for a meeting like this." Pretty much all their core officers are involved with the Succession Battle, anyways, so it's not like they're running an information risk or anything.
Fuyuse Nayuki—Nimue already knows about Safir, anyways, and Rintarou cannot get a break today, now can he?
Before he can even think about taking it back, though, Luna's already shouted, "Great idea!", pulling Sir Kay to the door in the process. Showing an impressive amount of restraint by her standards, Luna stops in the doorway. "Come on, Rintarou, there's not a lot of time left, and I have loads of questions I wanna ask, too!" And then she's off. Rintarou makes a point of walking at a normal fucking pace, his hands tucked into his pockets as he makes his way from the second-year classroom to the Student Council chambers. Luna is pouting at him, which was to be expected. "Ugh Rintarou, why are you only fast whenever you want to be?"
"'Cause it's when I wanna be." Rintarou drops into his usual seat, propping his legs up with magic. "Come on, you're the one that said we didn't have much time, my King. You sure you wanna waste it complaining at me?"
While it's taken a lot of training to get her there, Luna recognizes whenever she's on the losing side of an argument, and so she also falls into her seat (at the head of the table, of course). Sir Kay gets directed to drag over a chair from the side, which she puts into the blank spot at the end. "Okay, okay, we're ready! You better answer everything we have, got it, Rintarou?"
"Declined. Safir would flay me if I talked about something they didn't want me to." They wouldn't even hesitate because they're partners, and while he likes to think they would heal him afterwards, though that one's up for debate. Depends on just what he revealed to who, most likely. "I can give you some details, but I'm not about to betray their trust."
Betrayal is a concept that his feelings on are pretty damn clear.
Luna, not even blinking at the idea of Rintarou getting put through some form of violent retribution at Safir's hands, nods. Most people would be concerned by that lack of reaction, but Rintarou's not most people, now is he? "Yeah, that's fair."
"How is that supposed to be fair?!" Sir Kay asks, playing the straight-man with the same level of skill as she did millennia ago. Come to think of it, their group's been missing a tsukkomi, haven't they? "Just who in the world is Safir-san supposed to be? They're not the Safir from our Era, right?"
"Nope, not even close." Hm, now that Rintarou's thinking about it, he's pretty damn sure that their chosen name is meant to be more of a reference than anything meaningful. Well, it's the name Safir picked for themself, so that's that. "Like they said, they're way older than that." Not that Rintarou has any clue what the accurate number on that count is. It kinda seemed irrelevant. Now, what's the best way to put this… "If I'm a reincarnation, though, what's stopping them from being that a thousand times over across different worlds?"
In other words, Safir is old as balls, or maybe even older.
Sir Kay is staggered, and she'd be on the verge of toppling over if she weren't already sitting. As it is, she grips to the student council table for support. "But that's… I'm not saying it's impossible, since it's not, but if someone were to exist that long, then their power level…"
"Man, this is the best!" Luna, because she's Luna, looks delighted. "Rintarou, you're already wild strong because you're Merlin, right? So I bet Safir's even more awesome thanks to that!" If Rintarou had any pride left on the matter, it would be wounded at those words, but he knows very well where he stands. The prospect of having someone that can push him further, to grow to even greater heights, to prove that it's not all over just because he's strong, has always been nothing but exciting to him. "Like, how amazing is—"
"There's nothing amazing about this!" Sir Kay seems to have come to her senses, or at least has reacted on the pure instinct she developed through years of putting up with King Arthur's bullshit. The latter is more likely than the former, but Rintarou's not writing her off just yet. Sir Kay rounds on Luna, slamming a hand against the table. "In case you have forgotten, Lord Safir is no longer your vassal, Luna. They are a King, just as much as you are, and that makes them your opponent. That means we will be facing a strength that far outclasses our own, even with Merlin as part of our ranks. In fact, I'd hazard a guess that not even gathering all of the other Succession Battle Candidates would be enough to overpower them. Don't you realize that?!" It's a fair assessment, one worthy of the Round Table's strategist. Even Rintarou's inclined to agree. Safir is—well, Safir is a lot, but it's safe to say that everything Rintarou loves about them is what makes them an absolute bitch to have as an enemy.
(He's felt the depths of their power, and he knows unraveling this world from its very core would be child's play for them. The Succession Battle was pretty much over the moment Nimue selected them as a King.
And yet—)
"Huh, what are you even talking about, Sir Kay? Don't you know that I've always been the best choice for the true king here? That means I'm gonna win the Succession Battle, no matter what it takes."
—and yet, no matter the circumstances, Luna is always Luna.
Rintarou's King beams, looking the very image of Arthur before her. If Rintarou didn't know any better, he'd say his old friend had reincarnated into the present day as well and is living right by his side. Sir Kay must see it, too, if her shocked expression is any indication. While Rintarou got told a lot by Safir about Canon and that partway influenced his decision to follow Luna, he doesn't regret it in the slightest.
If anyone's going to inherit Arthur's legacy as the Once and Future King, it's gonna be her, no doubt about it.
"Like, yeah, I know Safir is strong," Luna says, sounding sane for once in her life, "and I know that it's not gonna be an easy battle. Hell, I'm sure if we just stood up and fought them right now, it would be over in a blink of an eye." From that perspective, the fact that they're all living in the same house and attending high school together is just a little bit unhinged. "I'm not gonna deny that. But what I do know is that that's no reason to just give up. I've been dreaming of succeeding King Arthur my whole life, so it's what I'm gonna do. Compared to someone who doesn't even want to be King, who do you think is gonna have more determination and grit to make that happen?!"
"Doesn't…want to be King?" Sir Kay repeats, as if she hasn't even conceived of the idea. Considering that she's existed in the Modern Era for less than a week, it's not strange that she hasn't even thought in that direction. "I mean, I suppose that Lord Safir tried to turn down the opportunity to even participate, but I thought that was from more of a sense of loyalty to you than not wishing to, Luna…"
"No, Luna's right," Rintarou says. He may not know everything about Safir's long list of past lives, but he does know them the best. "Safir has no ambition to be King, no matter where their loyalties lie. If they did, this fight would be over already." Safir doesn't hold back from what they want, and it would take them no more than a blink of an eye to break everyone's Round Fragments and put an end to the game right then and there. "That we're all still being given a chance to participate means they're gonna let us fight and struggle until the very end."
They are, when it comes down to it, the very picture of a bored overlord waiting on their throne for something interesting to happen.
No, but you don't need to show consideration to the antagonist, dummy!
"Merlin," Sir Kay says, and Rintarou's head whips up. It takes him a second too long to recognize that he's frowning, and by then it's too late to try and hide it. "Apologies. Rintarou." He waves her off; both names are his, and there's no point fussing about it. He'll just have to set up an ongoing Sleight that keeps his Legendary Era name away from anyone not involved in their Succession Battle faction for simplicity. "Despite all this, you seem concerned for Lord Safir. Earlier, I noticed what they said…"
"You could understand them?" Luna asks, her eyes sparkling. "Sick! I'm always so lost whenever they get like that, so be my interpreter, okay?"
"The Grail may provide much translation to me, but I cannot guarantee I'll be able to understand everything." Sir Kay starts to smile, though the expression doesn't get very far before she's back to being serious. "In short, though, it seemed that Lord Safir was intending to play an antagonistic role during this battle. Merlin, that seems to be the outcome Luna wants, so what about it concerned you so?"
Ugh, leave it to Sir Kay to ask the hard questions, leaving Rintarou no time to process whatsoever. If Luna hadn't insisted on dragging him off for Safir Story Time, he would've dumped himself into a Netherworld to think the whole thing over, giving him all the time he needs. Now he's got two people who are stubborn for very different reasons (Sir Kay may be much more practical, but she's still Arthur's sister) staring him down, which means there's next to no way out of this one short of teleporting the fuck out of there, and that would just cause more trouble than it's worth down the line.
Rintarou sighs. Might as well get this over with.
"I don't think there's any problem with Safir serving as the final boss for this Succession Battle." In fact, Rintarou's excited at that prospect, more than ready to see what a true showdown against them can be like. Luna, much of the same mind, nods. "But I do think there's a problem if they're going to act like a villain because of it." He's certain they've played the role before—because what role haven't they played before?—but that doesn't mean it's the right choice now. "I'm not gonna go around calling them a saint or anything, and I'm not gonna act like I'm any better than them. But I think…it would be very easy for them to isolate themself this way, and I…"
I don't want that.
I don't want them to hate themself, to act like they have to.
I want them to be happy.
"Holy crap your face is so red right now," Luna says, poking at Rintarou's cheek, her own face stretched out in a shit-eating grin. Rintarou knocks her hand away, but that just makes her poke him from the opposite side. She's a brat, and her snicker just proves it further, as does her following sing-song: "Someone's super into Safir."
"I think it's pretty damn normal to be super into your partner, thanks." Of course, the moment Rintarou says it, he regrets it, because Luna's gonna have ammunition for eternity now. At least Sir Kay just looks caught off guard, so he can deflect by making this about her embarrassment instead of his. "Got a problem with that?"
"Huh? N-no, I suppose not. I just…" Rintarou can read the thought before she even finishes it, and narrowing his eyes is enough to make Sir Kay shut the fuck up. Like hell he's airing his dirty laundry about Nimue now; he's shown about as much vulnerability as he can stand for one day, and any more is gonna make him sick. Sir Kay clears her throat. "If that's the mindset that Lord Safir is approaching this with, I can see why you would be concerned," she says, calling for a truce without needing to call for a truce outright.
Merlin always liked that ability to read the room of hers in the past, and she's given Rintarou no reason to rescind that assessment in the present.
"Alright, I'll talk to them then," Luna says, as if it's that simple. Rintarou likes that about her, too, even if his saying so would just inflate his King's ego even more. Sir Kay doesn't look convinced, but that skepticism is kind of her job. Their faction isn't anywhere near balanced, but at least it's a bit better with Sir Kay's presence. "Come on, even if they're a King now, that doesn't make them any less my vassal. Don't you think if I'm the one that reminds them of that, they'll be able to have fun with this instead?"
"Perhaps…" Sir Kay glances to Rintarou, seeing as he's the Local Safir Expert. It's a position he doesn't mind holding at all. "Merlin, what do you think?"
"It could work." It wouldn't be enough to resolve it all—and Rintarou's got plenty he wants to say to them that Luna can't do for him—but it would be a step in the right direction. "Besides, it's not like anything you or I say now is gonna stop Luna, so we might as well let her at it."
Sir Kay's nervous laugh contains a great deal of suffering in it. Rintarou's pretty impressed at how she pulled that one off. "Yes, I can see that you're right…" And yet, just like Rintarou, Sir Kay's glad to see someone just so much like Arthur in the Modern Era.
And Luna, so much like Arthur, puffs out her chest in pride. "Great, we're all on board then! Now, if we're gonna be able to fight Safir, we're gonna need a lot of firepower. Of course, I have great faith in you Rintarou, but there's nothing wrong with planning to just straight up overwhelm the enemy! So in that case, I propose—"
^^^^
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By Luna's standards, what she comes up with as the main counter to Safir isn't all that scummy at all, and that just so happens to be forming an alliance. Well, since it's Luna, she words it as "Bringing everyone under the rule of the True King," but the concept is there. By having more manpower to throw at Safir, there is a higher chance of winning—no matter how easy it is to go up whenever your chances were close to zero in the first place.
(Close to zero isn't zero, a part of his mind whispers to him.)
Since the idea is sound in theory, though, neither Rintarou nor Sir Kay try to stop her. There is some well-intentioned cautioning about being careful as to whom Luna tries to recruit and how, but those warnings go out one ear and now the other. He's gotta give credit to Sir Kay for trying, though. Besides, now that Luna's been cautioned, Rintarou will just have more ammunition to throw at her whenever the inevitable comes calling and she fucks something up, so it's a pretty good deal from his perspective.
That all being said, Luna does not fuck it up right out the gate and instead picks out someone sane to try and strike a deal with first. She even shows some discretion and doesn't go for Emma, who's made it very clear that she's approaching the Succession Battle with seriousness, even if winning the crown at the end isn't her goal. There's something that Emma wants to prove to herself, and no alliance is going to be able to accomplish that for her.
That's not to say that Luna won't try and recruit her later, but that's a whole ass Future Rintarou Problem, so no sense in worrying about it now.
No, Luna's first recruitment of choice is none other than the second person to have the Luna Childhood Friend label, Felicia Ferald. The girl is spry, not looking too off from a fairy herself, what with her sandy to silver hair up in pigtails and her eyes glimmering from gray to green to orange. She has fae blood in her, without a doubt, though it's been diluted by the generations. She's also quite fashionable, what with her dark long coat over her matching skirt and white blouse, all of it with just the right amount of frill to keep her looking cute but not childish. Matching spessartines glimmer orange at her throat, in the ribbons tying up her hair, and the amount of mana packed in them is pretty impressive, considering that it's all hers, despite her young age.
Well, young age compared to Rintarou. She's just as old as Luna, but the point still stands.
"Are you out of your mind?" Felicia asks, sitting on the sofa in Loges Manor's parlor with her arms and legs crossed. The way she's glaring down Luna (seventy-percent exasperation, thirty-percent fondness) makes Rintarou think he and she are gonna get along just fine. "We're both candidates in the King Arthur Succession Battle; you can't just go along inviting me right into your home base. What if I came here just to learn your weak points in advance and I crush you with an ambush?"
"Aw, come on Felicia, you'd never do that!" Luna's leaned back in her preferred chair, feet propped up on the coffee table without a care in the world. "You're a good person, and we're best friends, and you're honest, too. Besides, who would go ahead and warn me outright if you were gonna do that? That backhanded kind of thing is something I would do!"
"Can you not just admit that without even looking guilty about it?" Felicia asks, and Sir Kay nods along. It seems that, rather than a Succession Battle alliance, they're just forming the Long Suffering Victims of Luna Club. Luna's expression reminds as prideful as ever, and Felicia sighs. "You trust people way too much, Luna. Even if it's not me, that's gonna come back to bite you."
"Well, even if you were to try and stage a siege or anything, you wouldn't get anywhere," Rintarou says, letting himself drawl the words. He may think he and Felicia can get along, but that doesn't mean he needs to be all polite from the get-go. Besides, with Safir serving as their own King with Luna's blessing, that means they're trusting him to keep Luna safe, so a little bit of healthy antagonism is warranted. "You might've been let in easy since you're a guest, but I wouldn't recommend trying anything. This place is warded way beyond anything you can imagine." All Safir's handiwork, too, so it would be easy for them to turn it against Luna and the others. Just another bit of proof that chances of making it through the Succession Battle isn't a complete and utter crapshoot.
A girl after Rintarou's own heart, Felicia huffs and tosses her hair over her shoulder. "I don't know who you are, but don't underestimate me. I'm more than capable of telling just what kind of state this place is in. Unlike someone, I know how to make smart moves." Those rippling color eyes turn to Luna for a moment, then she's back to gazing at Rintarou, unimpressed. "And just who are you anyways? You're not a Jack; I'd be able to sense that, too."
Those faerie genes are doing Felicia plenty of favors if she's capable of telling that much. Being able to identify a hidden Jack—even if you don't know who they are—is a great boon in a Battle Royale where most information is kept secret. Any element of surprise you can have matters (which is why Safir's knowledge makes things even more difficult than they already are), but just showing off a bit should be fine, right? Showing off sure sounds a lot like following Rule Number One, if nothing else, so Rintarou dips a bit into his Fomorian Transformation, letting the deep power of the ocean seep out of him and spread throughout the room, Id reveling in the sensation of being let free, even if it's just for a moment.
Felicia reacts on a pure instinctive level, shooting up straight and her own mana bubbling in defense. Rintarou goes back to his mana suppression that very instant, but the effect of letting his power out for a bit still lingers. It's a good thing he gave her the warning about the wards in the house, because otherwise Rintarou's convinced she would've drawn her Excalibur on him. He can't even be mad; those kinds of instincts are perfect for what they all want in an ally, and this is kind of an interview for that.
Well, it's an interview where Luna's already decided that Felicia's going to get hired, but putting up appearances are important at times like this.
"That's… What are you?" Felicia asks, doing an excellent job at not letting her voice tremble. Before, that sort of question would've bothered Rintarou, would've made him want to hate everything even more, but he's not the kid he used to be.
(You monster, someone once said to him. You're not the same as us. You're not human. It wrecked him, them, made him retreat to home, where he couldn't even find salvation with the very people who brought him into the world. Now, though, there's just one thing he'd say if he heard those words again:
Yeah, and? So the fuck what?)
"Oh, right!" Luna says, bouncing in her seat with glee. "Felicia, you two haven't met, right? This is Rintarou, who's my other best friend, and he's the reincarnation of Merlin. Isn't that so hella cool? Doesn't the fact that he's here with me just scream that I'm meant to win the King Arthur Succession Battle?!"
(Now, Rintarou has people who care about him for who he is, and the what of it all is kinda unnecessary.)
He could do without Luna going and blurting out such sensitive info as easy as breathing, though.
So Rintarou does the most mature thing he can muster, which is flick Luna's ear with a bit more force than necessary. "Hey, King Airhead? Do I gotta remind you that we haven't confirmed that Felicia's gonna be on our side? I'd rather you let me have a badass entrance as our enemies figure out who I am instead." And, well, it'll make it even funnier once they see just how much Safir outclasses them all, but that's just a bonus at this point.
Appealing to Luna's Rule of Cool sensitivities seems to work out, though. "Oh, my bad! But don't you think it's way more True King-like to let everyone know I already have a trump card, so they should all just ally with me instead?" That's so her. Ah, well, it's not like Rintarou's even mad; he just has to put up appearances to keep Luna in line. "Besides, of course Felicia's gonna team up with me. Our families have been allies for ages!"
"And you know there's just one winner to this fight, right? What good does teaming up do us?" And yet Felicia's already wavering; she's the type to be a bit of a pushover, it seems, and her sigh just proves Rintarou's hypothesis. "Fine, though. In a battle with this many contenders, making allies is almost a given in the early stages. Having one less problem to worry about is just good strategizing. But, listen, Luna, just because I'm teaming up with you now doesn't mean I'm giving—"
"Whoohoo! Felicia's on our team now! Thanks for all your help with getting me to my rightful spot as the true King; you're a real one!"
"Why is it that you never listen at all?!" Rintarou (and no doubt Sir Kay, from where she can observe the conversation from Luna's Round Fragment) nods along, sharing in Felicia's pain, all the way down to the core. They're quite the motley crew their little faction. Felicia slumps back into her seat with a heavy sigh, casting some quick healing work that Rintarou assumes to help head off the migraine that's bound to form. "Ah, whatever. I guess this is as good as I can expect from you. Besides, if you came to me for this, that means you thought I was a worthy ally. That's not so bad at all." Her following smile is soft. "At least until the final standoff, you can count on me." Somehow, Luna has a way of pulling the dere out of the tsunderes in her life. Rintarou can recognize the signs from a mile away, considering his own familiarity with them.
A beat passes.
Shit, that means I just called myself a tsundere, too!
Rintarou cradles his head in his hands, struggling to reconcile with what he's just admitted to himself. No, calm down, everything's fine. He just thought it, not said it out loud! Besides, it's not like Safir will know or anything!
…Oh, who is he kidding. Of course Safir is going to know. That's kind of their thing.
"Hey, hey, Rintarou, since Felicia agreed, we're allowed to tell her about Safir now, right?" Rintarou's about to tsun all over the place before he realizes that Luna's asked a reasonable question. That Luna's picking and choosing what to tell whom is a sign of growth—or at least a sign that she understands knowledge of Safir's presence is a powerful bargaining chip she can blackmail people with. "If we've got an alliance, we gotta make sure it's clear what we're alliancing against, right?"
"You're not wrong, but we gotta make sure it's official, though." Rintarou snaps his fingers, summoning a scroll to the coffee table, and Felicia peers at it. "King Airhead may trust you on word alone, but I do not. We're going to make a contract between our factions before we go any further." He steps forward, at last allowing himself to take a seat as the prime negotiator, folding his hands before him. "Let's make sure this is a fair and beneficial agreement for the both of us with no chance for betrayal, Lord Ferald."
And Felicia, carrying much more a sense of dignity as a King than Luna's ever managed, sits up straight and stares right back. "Very well. Shall we begin?"
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As much as Rintarou could've twisted the negotiation in their faction's favor, Luna wanted a balanced arrangement, and so that's what he got them. It's a bit too lenient in places, but there are harsh consequences for switching sides before certain conditions have been met (either the Artur and Ferald factions will be the only two left—unlikely—or they will come to a verbal agreement beforehand—more likely, so long as Safir doesn't decimate them all first), so Rintarou's willing to call negotiations a success without any reservations.
Explaining Safir to Felicia has her reacting with pure disbelief, but whenever she learns that the wards cast on Loges Manor are their handiwork, she starts to feel wary. It's understandable, considering the protections on the house feel ancient, powered by a swath of primal magic that would easily put Rintarou in his heyday as Merlin to shame. Felicia is likewise exasperated that Luna's looking forward to the showdown, but Felicia's own pride as a King means that she's not giving up, either.
All they can do is put aside the insurmountable mountain looming over them and talk strategy, getting familiar with each other's powers. Luna's combination of Sir Kay and the Steel Sword of Camaraderie seems weak at first, but Rintarou's capability means she can use the charge time of her Excalibur to the fullest. As for Felicia, she got a near perfect combo of Sir Gawain and the Steel Sword of Radiant Glory. With an Excalibur that shines light with the same effects as the morning sun, her third-rate hack of a Jack can always operate at full power.
I wonder if that power would stack if she used her Royal Road at the same time as the actual morning sun...too bad that's a hard combo to muster since most of the time the Succession Battle combatants face off at night, though.
Rintarou still tucks the strategy in the back of his mind for later, and instead assesses the overall situation in comparison to what Safir told him about Canon. So far, it seems that things are looking identical when it comes to their faction, what with the Jacks and Excaliburs being the same. Rintarou's the biggest difference, considering he already has his Fomorian power under control and he's dispelled the curse on him, too. In any other situation, that would be enough to guarantee the outcome showing up the same as Canon—but there are too many other inconsistencies.
No Kitaoka Hitoshi, with Safir taking his place. The idea of them needing such a defensive option as the Steel Sheath of Undying Defense as their Excalibur is ridiculous, though. There's also no guarantee that they'll just pick up Sir Tristain as their Jack, either. Rintarou knows an awful lot about them and their abilities, but being in the dark about the extra resources granted to them by Camlann Hill is just an outright disadvantage on top of the massive pile of other disadvantages their faction is already under.
Oh, well. Like Luna said, going into what seems like a losing battle and emerging victorious is proof she's fit to sit on the throne.
Which Rintarou—Merlin is convinced of. If anyone's going to carry on King Airhead's will, Luna's the one, through and through.
Of course, debating the particulars of what artifacts Safir has even assumes that they'll even need to use them in the first place to kick all their asses, but that's neither here nor there. No, Rintarou's going to focus on what he does know, and the rest can sort itself out. And there's one thing that he feels he needs to say before their initial strategy meeting ends.
"I'm pretty much certain that Kujou is going to side with Safir in this."
Felicia asks, "Kujou?" at the same time Luna asks, "Kujou-sensei?", each of them carrying similar notes of confusion in their voices, albeit for different reasons.
"Lord Kujou Souma Gloria," he says, and Felicia's study of the other houses in the Succession Battle has her nodding. "He's our homeroom teacher at Camelot International, so we know him. Safir said they did him a favor a while back, so there's no way we're swiping his loyalty for ourselves." Even if Safir didn't ask for it, there's no undoing a debt like that.
Felicia's brow furrows. "That's…not the best." Losing out on any kind of ally isn't great on its own, but also having that potential ally join up with the person that you're trying to fight against is even worse. It's not like Safir needs any help, but that's not what this whole deal is about. "Do you know anything about Lord Gloria, then? Other than where he is?"
"Nothing that's going to be relevant." Most of what Rintarou does know doesn't apply anymore, since Safir nipped those plot points in the bud, as they do. While it makes the ensuing battle harder, he can't bring himself to be too upset about it. "Well, we can cross him off the list. In any other case, I'd say that we could just wait for other candidates to reveal themselves so we can recruit them…"
"…but if we wait too long, Lord Safir is likely to take them out before we can gain any assistance," Sir Kay finishes, and that's the issue isn't it? Safir will doubtless be able to eliminate any enemy that comes their way, and that makes the Luna-Felicia Coalition a bit pressed for time. Sir Kay whirls around to face Luna in tears. "Why did you give them your blessing, Luna?! You've made this so much harder for us!"
And Luna just bursts out into bombastic laughter, because what else could any of them ever expect from her. "Like I said, doesn't this kinda thing get your blood pumping?! It's the best kind of showdown that a true King could ask for!"
"I don't know why I even bother!"
Rintarou doesn't know what's worse: the way Luna just runs headfirst into danger with zero fucking reservation, or the way he's willing to run right along with her. Best not to delve too deep into that one. "Well, if we all agree sitting around is a bad idea, then we just need to take the initiative," he says, a rough plan already coming to mind. "Knowing Safir, they won't have any problem with us doing as we please."
Arms folded, Felicia taps her finger against her upper arm. "But didn't we just agree that going slow while hunting down other Kings would take way too much time that we can't afford?"
"Yeah, so that means we just ditch the idea of hunting other Kings." Felicia's brow furrows in confusion, but Sir Kay looks thoughtful, as if she can see where his mind is going. "Most people are going to default to the idea of playing it safe in the early game. So what if we just flip that on its head and make ourselves an easy target?" If Rintarou saw anyone else wandering out and about without reservation, he'd sure take the opportunity to put the poor punk out of their misery.
Sir Kay's expression lights up. "Yes, that could work! We should split into teams. Merlin should be able to fend off most other Jacks, and Luna has her Excalibur as an ace in the hole, so we should be able to take on whoever might come our way. And Sir Gawain is much stronger than anyone would expect, thanks to Felicia's Royal Road, so he could put up a fight—and if it's anyone the two of you can't handle, we could come to your aid as backup. Of course, it would be best if we were approached with the intent to negotiate, but it's far better to cover our bases."
"Hold on a minute. Doesn't that put Sir Gawain and I at a disadvantage?" Felicia asks, understandably on edge. Even with a pretty extensive magical contract to keep things balanced, that doesn't mean she can't be on edge for any loopholes. Rintarou would be disappointed if she didn't—and all the more so with Luna's reputation for nonsense. "No matter how you slice it, the two of us have different combat capabilities. Magami's in a whole other class."
"What, do you expect me to just have Luna go around with Sir Kay, and then me solo? That wouldn't fix the problem." Sir Kay just isn't a frontline fighter, and Luna's potential to use her Royal Road would crash into the ground without the proper vanguard to set her up. And, even then, Rintarou would still outclass the Felicia-Gawain combo, so there's no real way to keep things balanced whatsoever. "If we walk around in a big group, we're not gonna attract shit. Besides, there's way too many other top-class Jacks we could run into, so it's dumb not to go with the combinations that maximize our strength. You'll just have to trust that we'll be there to back you up if you need it." They've already exchanged some basic magic accessories that let them send out emergency signals to each other, let alone the much more normal trading of contact information. That's about as good as things get until they can recruit more numbers.
Felicia grumbles, but she doesn't have an outright objection. There's just no better way to play it with the pieces they have on the board, and Rintarou just kind of makes a mess of everything. Thinking about the sort of team building they'd have to manage if Safir were still in their faction would make things even more impossible. "Ugh…fine! But if you don't come and help if we need it, then you're pretty much nulling the Alliance contract from the start!"
Isn't that just her admitting they're way more likely to need help than us? Well, it's not wrong, but still…
"Haha, don't worry, Felicia! My Rintarou's so strong that he can get you out of any bind you might end up in!" And there goes Luna, just throwing more fuel onto the fire. Though Rintarou was thinking just about the same thing, so someone had to say it. "Besides, if you're so much weaker than us, that makes you the perfect option to go out and play some bait—"
"You sure know how to say the worst thing at the exact worst time, don't you?!"
^^^^
lo0ol
After a bit more bickering, things settle down enough that they all agree to start putting themselves out there the next night, and so they call it a day. Or, well, Rintarou does. Luna drags Felicia into some sleepover or another that has Rintarou's King refusing to get out of bed and go to school in the morning. He uses magic to drag her ass out of the blankets and forces her there, brokering no mercy. This goddamn airhead is gonna have to learn at some point that there are consequences for her actions, and it's somehow become his job to do it.
Next time I should make Sir Kay handle it, though. It would be nice to split the babysitting duties a bit.
Still, there's something nice about sticking to the normal flow of life. Not necessarily because it's normal, but because hours-long Succession Battle meetings have cut hard into the number of hours Rintarou can spend with Safir, and that's just all-around unfortunate. He's trying not to be clingy about it, since he knows this arrangement is going to make for a way more interesting battle later on, but he does miss the moments of casual ease that he's so used to sharing with them in a good portion of moments in their days. Even now, they catch each other's gaze across the classroom, share secret smiles at in jokes, make a great team whenever they're taking care of student council work or idol shows, but something feels different in a way Rintarou still can't pin down.
(No, but you don't need to show consideration to the antagonist, dummy!)
The words still rolling over in his mind, Rintarou decides to spend his lunch period on the roof, all the way on top of the structure that houses the way to the stairwell. Even if someone else comes all the way up here, they'll have to put in at least a little bit of effort to even notice him, which is just what he wants. Of course, if he wanted to have the optimal amount of alone time to think, he could teleport himself to the middle of the South Pole, but that's a bit too much for him.
Safir is…doing okay, he's noticed. At the very least, Luna dragged them out to pay for her food the same day they made their antagonist comment, and that seemed to balance them a bit. All things considered, that's a good thing, because he likes Safir balanced. He likes them happy and smiling and causing trouble and just straight-up doing whatever they want, because that's when they're most radiant, and somehow Luna must've said something just the right amount of encouraging to make Safir okay, but Rintarou's still dissatisfied, and he's not sure what the fuck that's supposed to be about.
So here he is.
On the roof.
Staring up at the sky and watching the clouds overhead like some delinquent, as if any of this is going to solve anything.
Well someone's sulking, Id remarks in his mind. The two of them came to a compromise after Id first awakened, and so now they're partners, two halves of the same whole, inhabiting one body. Most of the time, they're in such synch to the point that there's no sense in distinguishing the two, but then there's moments like this where Id decides he's going to run his mouth. Rintarou snorts, not even bothering to acknowledge the accusation. What is it with everyone assuming that he's sulking of all things? If it were anyone else accusing him of such a thing, Rintarou would tell them to shove right off, but it's a bit more difficult to go and do that whenever Id is a part of him. You're that upset over something they said? You are whipped.
I don't wanna hear that from someone who made out with them the first time he met them, Rintarou throws back, but Id is beyond unrepentant, because of course he is. It's also a dumb accusation to throw at Id, because if he acted on it, that means Rintarou already wanted to do it, but that's a whole other rabbit hole of feelings he's not in the mood to fuck around with. And I'm worried about them. We know how much this sort of shit can affect people.
Rintarou's soul may not be as old as Safir's, but his one previous life was more than enough to impact his life in the present. Some days, he's kind of impressed that Safir is still here.
Yeah, sure, Id says, which is an impressive amount of reason coming from a part of him that's named after his instinctual desires, but that doesn't mean you need to sulk about it. Rintarou doesn't even justify that one with a response; it's kinda pointless arguing with someone made up of his own subconscious. Ohhh, I know. You're just upset that they didn't end up talking to you about it, and then whatever Luna said made them feel better. Haha, you're not just whipped; you're jealous.
What's wrong with that? Jealousy is a normal emotion, or so he's heard. It's just that, until now, Rintarou's never had a chance to feel jealous about anything ever. It's an emotion he knows an awful lot about to be on the receiving end of, not the giving end of. At least if he ever told Luna what he's feeling (which, haha, no), she'd just laugh at him instead of feel offended. They've always been the one to help me with my problems. Of course I want to be the one to help them with theirs.
That much just seems obvious to him. Id, because he's just as much Rintarou as anything, feels the same. He do be the desire portion of Rintarou's entire existence, so of course he'd think it's obvious, too.
Doesn't stop Id from being a sarcastic asshole and saying, So stop sulking up here and go help them already.
Though there's no point in making faces at a part of his own mind, Rintarou scowls anyways. The bell ringing, signaling that it's time to return to class, doesn't help matters. And as tempting as it is to just go ahead and whisk Safir off to some random corner of the planet for a date, he knows they're trying to be a good example for Emma, so he tucks that idea away for another time and drags his butt to his chair.
Once we're done with our playing bait strategy tonight, I'm spending the next free chunk of time I have with them, no matter what.
^^^^
lo0ol
That evening, after a quick dinner meeting to remember their goals, each team of the Luna-Felicia Alliance sets off, with Rintarou keeping a close eye on the emergency spells all the while. He and Luna might've talked smack, but neither of them want to lose an ally, even if their priorities and reasons why are a bit different. And since the will of his King and the will of himself are the same, there's no reason at all to even think about doing anything else but keeping Felicia and Gawain safe, too.
That said, Rintarou doesn't have all that many expectations about running into trouble the first couple of nights. Since it's the early game, most other Kings will be cautious with the fights they're picking. He's predicting about a week of these nighttime trawls before whoever comes after them decides they have enough intel to work with. It sucks, but at least it's something to do. If nothing else, Luna's natural tendency to get distracted by anything and everything means that she's doing a good job at making herself seem like a hapless fool that's just asking to get picked off.
All things considered, the hardest part of this whole thing is for me to keep my power level in check so I don't scare anyone off… Too bad they can't just go and crush everyone as planned; that would be a whole lot easier to go all in than what they're up to now.
Of course, if it were easy, it would be boring.
Which is why, as they're passing through a park late at night and someone crashes down in front of their party, the opponent's mana screaming for a fight, Rintarou's face cracks into a grin.
Sir Kay coughs as the dust clears. "That's…Sir Lamorak!"
And so it is, as if there was any question on the matter once Rintarou gets a good look at her. The woman's hair is a blazing bright red. The color matches her armor, which is much lighter than one would expect from a knight, but the protection of her Rothschild shield is second to none. Between that defense and her overwhelming offense, she was pretty much on par with the overwhelming power levels of Lancelot and Tristain, which makes her a monster to fight right out of the gate.
Now the question is, did Safir plan this, or does she have a different King—?
"Theeereee you are, Merlin," Sir Lamorak says, her face cracking into a battle hungry grin as she lays eyes on Rintarou. He'd already summoned his swords long ago, but he adjusts his stance. It's not enough to make him seem outright antagonistic, but it is one that allows him to spring into action at a second's notice, if need be. "I was told I could find you if I came out hunting, and it turned out to be true! And lucky me, I think you're even stronger than you were back then, too." They haven't even started to exchange blows, and already Lamorak's looking like she won the lottery. "Let's take advantage of this opportunity and battle like we never got the chance to before!"
And without waiting for any sort of agreement, Sir Lamorak charges. Rintarou doesn't curse out loud, but he does in his mind, Luna's concerned shout of his name almost lost in the clang of their blades. The quilted pattern of her scarlet and gold cape flies out behind her as Sir Lamorak descends like a devil of war, an intensity Rintarou has no choice but to match.
And to overpower, as it were.
Holding back is already off the table, given his personal philosophy, and all of those sparring matches of his with Safir have paid off. Rintarou dips into his Fomorian Transformation without even needing to think, and he shoves Lamorak back with enough force to send her flying. Not wanting to give her the opportunity to retaliate, he shoots off after her, though the twin cut of his swords his blocked by the massive red shield that it Rothschild—the perfect defense. While having Felicia and Sir Gawain go off on their own was the best approach, it sure would be nice if they were present; having five people would allow them to bypass Lamorak's three perfect points of defense, making the battle an easy win. Just to cover their bases, Rintarou sends a pulse of mana to Felicia so they know to come for backup. Now, if Sir Kay can remember how Lamorak was defeated so we can coordinate—
"Getting distracted while courting a woman is rude of you, you know?!" Rintarou's ongoing assault may be keeping Sir Lamorak from taking the flow of battle, but that's all it's accomplishing. She isn't one of the strongest Knights of the Round Table for nothing, though, and her hand snatches out, the long, sharpened claws on the end of her gauntlets aiming straight for Rintarou's eyes. He's able to parry the blow, but the flash of her silver sword is next, her left-handed grip a pain in the ass to deal with. "I want nothing less than your undivided attention, you hear me?!"
"Sorry, but I'm taken!" Not that that sort of thing has stopped Lamorak before, but Rintarou has different thoughts on the matter. "I'm not interested, so go find someone else to hit on!"
Sir Lamorak's laughter is easiest to describe as unhinged, the adrenaline of the fight working her up the same as it did in the Legendary Era. "Aw, that's no fun, Merlin! But, hey, I don't mind if you invite them along, so long as they can put up as good a fight as you can!"
There's the sting of a cut, of metal slicing open his skin. The wound is shallow, nothing to worry about when the sword that caused it is just a sword and not a curse blade, the sort of thing that Rintarou can heal with magic without even thinking about it. The wound is closed pretty much as soon as it's open, but that doesn't change the fact that it happened, doesn't change that there's traces of his blood on Lamorak's sword as she takes a few steps back, admiring the red on metal.
Blood that she goes to lick up, the absolute battle-high freak.
She doesn't get the chance.
There's a sudden presence of mana, deep and vast and ancient, and it makes others flinch, if not outright collapse. Sir Kay's strengths are all on the social sphere, so she goes down first, Luna catching her in the process, though her knees are shaking, too. Even Lamorak, feared as one of the most powerful Knights of the Round to rival even Lancelot, stills, quirking her head. Rintarou's alone in the way that he's unaffected by the impact.
As far as he's concerned, that mana feels like home.
Safir is there, right there, their presence alone enough to keep Lamorak from moving. They've come to stand right behind the Jack, Rothschild doing absolute shit to them, their expression severe and unrelenting. "Lamorak," they say, their tone calm and yet oh so dangerous, "I thought I told you to watch yourself." They take Lamorak by the hand, adjusting the sword away from the woman's mouth, the red drop of blood slipping down the edge of the blade. "I don't care if you're on my side, I won't show mercy. Do anything like that to Merlin again, and you'll regret it."
And then Safir reaches out with their free hand, swipes up Rintarou's blood with their forefingers, then pops them right into their mouth in a move that's no doubt meant to establish dominance, and Rintarou's—
Well.
Id has a lot to say about that.
Fuck, I knew they were hot, but that's just—
"Safir!" Clueless to the way that everyone is shocked by Safir's display of power (and Rintarou's own mind in the gutter, thank fuck), Luna trots forward with a wave, beaming all the while. "I was wondering when you were gonna make your entrance. Very badass and hidden overlord in the shadows type of deal. I approve!"
Safir smiles, back to being at ease. The way they switch between the two extremes without so much as a hiccup just makes Rintarou even more attracted to them. It's kind of embarrassing. "I'm glad you think so. Though I'll admit I wasn't intending on stepping in just yet." Which means that they did step in because Lamorak was about to lick up his blood or whatever, and it shouldn't be as sexy as it is, but okay, Rintarou guesses that's something he's into this round, fine, whatever! "What do you think? Can I still keep up the ominous force in the background, or should I drop it for now?"
"No, no, no, you've got this. Besides, it's just us here. You should so go around scaring the crap out of all the other Succession Battle candidates just like that!" Hm, that might just work out in their favor; if everyone's scared of Safir, they'll be easier to talk into an alliance. Luna ponders for a moment, reaching the same conclusion as Rintarou does. "Just make sure you don't scare them into following you! A real King should rule with charisma, not fear."
"Yes, you're quite right." There's a faint flicker in Safir's expression that goes right over Luna's head, but Rintarou sees it, and he'd have way more brainpower to process what it means if he wasn't so fucking turned on by their bullshit. Safir glances his way, their smile turning sly in an instant. "You look like you're thinking hard over there, Rintarou-chan."
Hard is one way to put it, and Rintarou's so fucking glad that Safir's the only one capable of seeing through his spellwork, because he so doesn't have the energy to put up with Luna's brand of Being Luna right now. The way Safir looks so smug isn't helping matters, and taking Safir by the hand and fucking off to some other corner of the planet for, like, ever is sounding pretty damn good about now.
"Safir, if you do not get Lamorak the hell away from Luna right now, you are going to make me break rule number one, and I don't think either of us will appreciate that."
"Oho?" Rintarou wants to be annoyed at how fucking smug they are in that moment. Instead, he's feeling all sorts of other things, his mind way out of control, and Id is so not helping anything at all. Safir smiles in a way that's sweet on their lips yet everything but in their eyes, and Rintarou's giving them thirty seconds before he just lets Id take over again. "Well, that would be quite the problem, now wouldn't it?" They turn to Sir Lamorak, the playful edge to their voice melting away as they order, "Scram before I make you."
Sir Lamorak clicks her tongue, but it seems even she knows better than to outright disobey Safir. "Killjoy," she says before disappearing in a flash of speed, and, well, that's one problem solved.
"Sir Kay, make sure King Airhead gets home safe," Rintarou says, and he doesn't even hear all of Sir Kay's panicked response as he grabs Safir by the hand and drags them along into his teleportation, the two of them disappearing into the night.
[Author's Note]
Happy fanfic anniversary to Safir! We're moving things along by messing up the Canon arrangements. The scene with Lamorak vs. Rintarou is one that's been in my head for ages, so I'm glad to see it go live!
Thanks to thunder dragon of the south and Rita 50 for the respective fave, follow, and comment. I super appreciate y'all!
Beta Noiz is super cool for reading my stuff on short notice raaaaa.
At the moment, I'm doing some concentrated drafting work on this project, so we'll see how far that gets me. I def need to toss a reread of the novels in there to get my ducks in a row, that's for sure.
Still don't have a proper schedule for this thing, but the next part will be "Gee, Why Does Your Mom Let You Have Two Apprentices?". Please look forward to it!
-Avi
[18 April 2025]