Antagonist Mode, Go

Hedonist Safir & Heretic Merlin #10

By: Aviantei

lo0ol

"Care to explain to me what the fuck is going on here?"

You're not mad, despite your choice of words. No, you're just bewildered, and you need answers. Yes, this is fun, and, yes, you agreed to this, but you have no fucking clue how your various meddling led to this mess. You? The eleventh Succession Battle candidate, a potential heir to King Arthur's will? There were enough fucking people in Canon to fill in the slots without your involvement, and you know you didn't replace anyone on the actual roster. You found that out while doing reconnaissance for your King—

Well, your former King.

You're your own King now.

I would love just one life where I'm not caught up in whatever plot nonsense the world has to offer, thanks!

Nimue sits across from you. She's revamped Vivian's Netherworld office into something more befitting of the snow fairy: a winter landscape in backdrop, pristine white under a sky the same blue as her hair, the central location a medieval-style table that feels as if it's tucked next to a warm fire. The one thing that's missing is some hot chocolate, and you'd be cozy as fuck. Nimue looks cozy as fuck, despite her delicate dress, and she doesn't even look upset that you're one of the most dangerous living beings on the planet and you could tear her entire fucking building to pieces if you so choose.

"Kataoka Hitoshi quit," Nimue says, and, oh, sure, Kataoka fucking Hitoshi gets to quit, but you can't. That's fair. "To be more accurate, he refused to participate in the first place. It seems he had an…experience that made him reluctant to be involved with magic or anything of the sort." Should you apologize for that? Nah, the world's better off that way, anyways; you're alone in your suffering on this point. "As the head of the Dame du Lac, it's my duty to then recruit the best candidate for the Succession Battle to take his place."

You just take the implication that Vivian thought Hitoshi was somehow even a suitable candidate in the first place and just…move it somewhere else. That sounds like a whole can of not your business. "So that's me. Cool. Fine. Wonderful." The worst part is that your sarcasm is half-assed at best. Both the excitement and exasperation fill you up in equal measure—and Nimue knows it.

"I'm glad to hear it, Safir-san." Hmph, look at her go, getting to act like she has the upper hand. You're not complaining, per se, since you always wanted Nimue to have better when reading the novels, but it's never fun dancing in someone else's palm. You'll have to play a lighthearted prank on her later to reassert the dominance that neither of you doubts. "Still, you've already collected your Round Fragment and Excalibur, plus Luna-chan sounds excited for the chance to fight you. It is possible for you to forfeit if you like, but will you?"

No, you won't. Nimue made an intentional choice, revealing that you're in the Succession Battle right in front of Luna; clever, not to give you the opportunity to make excuses. "It would be a waste to quit," you say, because it's true. "Fuck, okay, I just gotta change my plans a bit." You have no interest in being the winner, but losing early would just be stupid. You flop forward onto the table. "Ugh, Balor isn't gonna be able to beat me, and it'll be super anticlimactic if they defeat me and have to deal with him after. How fucking boring is that?" You wanted to fight him at Rintarou's side, but that's gonna be more complicated now, isn't it? "No, it'd be way better if I was the final boss, then, so I guess I should do the dramatic wipe out the powerful enemy thing? That wouldn't be awful…"

Already, you can see the plan forming in your mind. You could set the stage for that with no issues, but you need to make sure Luna and Rintarou stand a proper chance—it wouldn't be exciting, otherwise. Your eyes flick over to Lancelot, who has been waiting, stone-faced, without any explanation for your griping. He's not a bad looking man, one with long dark hair and a long face full of sharp edges. If he smiled, he'd be bishi af, you're sure. Unlike Sir Kay, there aren't many changes to his attire: a white and deep blue cloak with golden accents over a set of armor that shines so clear you wouldn't be surprised if it were crafted from platinum, the whole ensemble accented in gold.

Yeah, he had just as much of a resting bitch face in Canon, too.

"Your thoughts, Lancelot?"

"You are my King. I'll do whatever it is you require me to do." You sigh. That's going to get old fast. Lancelot observes you, and you've made no attempt to hide the displeasure on your face. "Is something wrong, my King?"

"I am someone who gets easily bored, I'll have you know."

"My apologies." And he says it without a single muscle twitch, either. "I don't believe it's a knight's duty to step beyond his station, so I have nothing to contribute."

You scowl. "Yeah, 'cause you followed that philosophy so well with Guinevere." Lancelot's marble face cracks into a frown. Nimue makes a point of looking up at the sky, where nothing whatsoever is happening. "Fuck it, it's none of my business. Look, I'm not going to force you to do anything. But I have a plan in mind, and you're a capable warrior. Will you fight whomever I ask you to?"

"I shall do anything for your victory." You roll your eyes; as if you need someone to win fights for you. You'd be offended if Lancelot weren't so clueless about whom he's now serving. "I've already caused enough hardship with my disloyalty, my King. I don't intend to repeat such a mistake." Well, at least that means he shouldn't complain about you not aiming for the top prize. You just don't like being in complete and utter control of another person. You sigh again, and you know it's bad if you can't even sound tired about it. "Look, if you wanna follow me around like that, I won't stop you. But know I'm not gonna be pissed if you tell me off or something."

Lancelot regards you with a long stare. The Knight of Knights sure has an impressive ability of conveying how little bullshit he intends to take without so much as twitching a facial muscle. "I'm not so foolish as to attempt to fight an opponent I know I would lose against, my King."

Well, at least you're on the same page there, for what little it feels like it's worth.

lo0ol

Your living situation was already going to be complicated as it was, what with Luna and Emma living under the same roof, but now it's even more so. Three Succession Battle candidates sharing Logres Manor is even more complicated, and Luna has no reservations about letting Sir Kay exist out in the open. You have no doubt she'll keep up the strategy of having Sir Kay join the Camelot International student body.

After all, when you're the biggest threat, what's the point in hiding her Jack's identity?

Emma, on the other hand, has chosen to keep her cards close to her chest, which is just as valid of a strategy. You're proud of her for it, even if you're a goddamn cheater and you know about Lamorak already. Then again, things have gotten fucked enough as it is with you grabbing Lancelot and Tsukiyomi Reika ending up with Dinadan instead of Mordred. There's no guarantee of which Jack has ended up where, and you suppose that's better than being able to have a perfect strategy out of the gate for how you're going to fight everyone.

Well, you guess the strategy is the same anyways, which is you throwing down with overwhelming power, so not much is different on that front. It does mean you have the chance to put Luna and Rintarou through a different route than Canon, though. That should be a good time, for you and Rintarou both.

Rintarou, though.

I think it would be easier if he was acting any different than before compared to not any different at all.

You don't want your relationship with Rintarou to change. You assumed that much was obvious. You like the easy comradery you have, like practicing idol routines for fun, like the small moments of leaning against each other in the living room of Logres Manor while Luna puts on some bombastic movie or another. It's that sort of simple domestic shit that you can always eat up, no matter what lifetime you're in, and it's good, but, well…

"You're thinking something dumb again," Rintarou says, squishing your cheeks between his palms at lunch. Luna calls foul about PDA, but that's just because he's talking in Old English, so she has no idea that Rintarou has insulted your intelligence. "If you go around hiding your feelings from me again, I'm gonna kick your ass."

"You should be kicking my ass as a Succession Battle Rival, not to get my mental into shape," you say back, also in Old English. Basic Sleight can help keep the normal kids at your school from overhearing magical shit they're not supposed to know about, but Luna's right there, and so is Sir Kay. Hm, upon reflection, Old English isn't going to do shit against Sir Kay, but you kind of don't care. "Worrying about me is not a very effective use of your time in this fight, Rintarou-chan."

Rintarou's brow furrows in that Just Heard Something Incomprehensible way of his, and you…don't think what you said was that outlandish. Oh, this is gonna be a complicated conversation, isn't it? "You…" he says, before squishing your cheeks with even more force than before. You shove your own hand in his face in retaliation, play wrestling at a mere fraction of both your power levels (the alternative is wrecking the classroom, the school building, and anything else in the immediate five mile radius). "Are you implying I need to resort to wrecking your mental health to make King Moron win? Because if you are, then I feel pretty insulted!"

"No, but you don't need to show consideration to the antagonist, dummy!" Rintarou goes still, way stiller than you expected him to, and you stop struggling back to look at him. The look on his face before was more of an exasperation, but now there's something like sadness in him, and no-no-no, you don't like that expression on him at all. "Hey, Rintarou-chan, what's—"

"Safir-san, a word, if you will."

You whirl around to the door, ready to tear into whoever has decided that interrupting you is a good idea, but you stop. Not because it's a teacher who's there (because fuck holding back, even on hapless authority figures), but because it's Kujou, and that can mean way too many things.

The Succession Battle.

Something with Tachibana Kotone's condition.

And school, you guess, but that's the one you kind of care about the least.

"Can it wait?" you ask, landing in a middle ground you don't often afford to people whatsoever, let alone whenever Rintarou's in distress. It's still more likely than anything that you're not about to pick Kujou over Rintarou, but the question's already out of your mouth, so no point in debating that one.

Kujou—somehow not batting an eye at the ridiculous position that you both have ended up in, which has pushed several desks out of order and attracted a couple of onlookers—answers, "It can, but it shouldn't wait too long."

Not Tachibana Kotone, then. In the middle of everything you're going through, it's the little things sometimes. So it's either Succession Battle or school related, which are both, to be frank, kinda at the bottom of the totem pole for you at the moment. "In that case, Sensei—"

"Go ahead," Rintarou says, and he gets to be the one that you whirl to next. He gives you a grin, though it's at half power than usual, and that's not doing an awful lot to convince you. "I'll be okay for a little bit, Safir. I just need to think some stuff through."

"Okay," you say, your voice coming out way softer than you intended. While Rintarou's doing the mature thing of processing his feelings, you're just going to shove that emotional vulnerability all the way down into the depths of your very vast soul to (maybe) be fished out later. Not trusting yourself to say anything else, you send a pulse of magic through your ring to his, a touch of reassurance, and Rintarou sends one back. You take one more beat to enjoy that feeling—and then you've extracted your limbs from Rintarou's and put your game face on, back to the indominable Safir that takes no shit from anyone. "I'm coming, Sensei. How have you been today?"

That sort of small talk carries you both out of the hall and towards the stairwell, and you have to give Kujou some points for mental fortitude considering the last time the two of you were in such a place together. He even stops, which means that going to the faculty office isn't on the menu, outright eliminating school affairs from the list.

"You want to talk about the Succession Battle?" you ask, trying to maintain your usual level of aloofness. It's a pretty effective piece of armor, if you do say so yourself. "I know I made a big deal of it before, but things are a bit more complicated than they were that first time." Back then, you were convinced that you were nothing but a vassal, subordinate to Luna and cleaning up messes before they happened. Now, you have a whole pile of other responsibilities.

Partner.

Caretaker.

King.

Antagonist.

(Man, grounding yourself in the world sure can be exhausting sometimes.)

"Complicated?" Kujou asks, looking a bit bewildered before seeming to decide that the details are unimportant to whatever it is he wanted to bring up. "Well, whatever is happening, I doubt it will change my mind about what I wanted to do today. Now that the King Arthur Succession Battle has begun, I would like to commit myself to your faction and its victory." The words on their own would be enough, but Kujou has to also go the goddamn extra mile and take to a knee, a hand to his chest. You already had a layer of Sleight up, but you throw up about thirty more, just to be certain. You almost just drop the both of you into a Netherworld out of embarrassment, but even you have enough sense of mind to tell that's going too far. "I, Lord Souma Gloria Kujou, as a candidate in the King Arthur Succession Battle, pledge my loyalty to your cause, Safir-san."

While you knew that helping Tachibana Kotone had the potential of putting Kujou on your side, it so wasn't why you went ahead and did it. Even when you did think it over after the fact, you were most happy about Tachibana Kotone being well and a bit pleased to have a less murderous Kujou on your hands to save you all the trouble, and even more so because his Canon Jack was Lancelot—but, well, that's kind of a non-issue now, isn't it?

"Stand the hell up," you say, unable to handle having one of your teachers swear himself to you. Lancelot's own unwavering loyalty was bad enough; even whenever the two aren't a pair, they still seem to match each other in an obnoxious amount of steps. Kujou rises, though his whole demeanor is still enough to make you want to break out in hives. "How's Kotone-san?"

The question doesn't seem to be what Kujou was expecting—he was no doubt ready for you to grill him for Succession Battle information—but a soft, fond smile forms on his lips a moment after. "She's well. The doctors are still having her complete check-ins every week to be certain, but she's home with me, and she's happy." That's…good. Wonderful. You add it to your mental list to fortify Kujou's residence with extra spellwork and wards, just to be safe. There's no way you'll tolerate something else tragic happening to her after you bolstered her health. "I cannot thank you enough."

Yeah, you figured. The whole vow of loyalty thing kind of gave it away.

At this point, you don't even have it in you to sigh, which is a bit sad, considering how early in the timeline you are, but you'll just have to deal with that like everything else. "If we're doing this, there's something you need to know." Kujou goes to attention, a complete inverse of the appropriate dynamic between teacher and student. If you try to tell him not to act like that, will he even listen? "I am no longer a vassal. I, too, have been brought into the Succession Battle as a King."

Kujou's eyes go wide, more out of awe than surprise. You'd so prefer the latter, but since when has this stupid world and the people in it ever cared about what you want? "Lord Safir."

"No. No, no, no. Gross. Never call me that again." You are not putting up with that shit, even if it is appropriate for you now that you are a Succession Battle Candidate. Kujou seems about to give you that argument, and you silence him with a glare. There's some things you're not putting up with, and being called Lord is one of them. "Using '-san' is fine. 'My liege,' if you must, but if you call me that anywhere outside of the Battle, I will gut you and then put you back together again." Kujou swallows and nods, and you're going to consider that good enough. "But, yes, I'm a Candidate in the Battle, but I'm not interested in becoming the victor." Given that Kujou's in the same boat, he understands that. "However, I'm not just going to let anyone take the crown. If they're going to be King Arthur's successor, then they're going to have to earn it."

Luna and Rintarou won't have it any other way, and neither will you.

"I see," Kujou says, and that vow of loyalty seems to be doing wonders, as he doesn't call out just how fucking ridiculous the whole idea is, or at least not in so many words. "If that is your vision, then I will help you see this through. Though, if I may…do you believe it's possible for that outcome to happen?" He's had a front-row seat to a fraction of your strength, and he's already doubting the possibility that someone can overthrow you, which, yeah, fair show of common sense for once, Kujou, good job!

And your answer?

"I have no idea."

Kujou stares at you, looking even more flabbergasted than before, which is kind of impressive, tbh. It's a very fair response, in no small part because of how much of a show-off you tend to be. The student body of Camelot International High may just know you as Safir, but you decided it wasn't worth the effort to hide your birth name from the administration and staff. With that context plus your ridiculous magic aptitude, it must seem kinda improbable for you to not have any clue.

"I don't have any idea at all whether or not someone else can beat me." So far, no one else has come close, not even Rintarou-Id-Merlin nipping at your heels. "If we're talking about power balance involved here, I've thrown it all out the window. Even as a vassal, whatever side I ended up on was guaranteed victory, and, now that I'm a King myself, it's even more skewed. That's without my Jack or my Excalibur, mind you."

You could wipe this whole universe from existence if you were so inclined.

"But, even then," you continue, "I don't want to write it off just yet." Nothing, no matter the world, is ever set in stone. You've upended timelines before, and you'll do it again. Hell, you're doing it right now, even if it's in a different way than usual. Despite having done this song and dance before, have you ever once felt bored this round? And the ones to thank for that are—

(A wizard and his king, one smiling, the other grinning as the latter raises the chosen sword high—)

"Don't you think," you say, your chest full of an undeniable warmth, "if someone could pull that off, that would make for an excellent new Legend of King Arthur?"

Kujou takes a moment before his expression grows fond. "Yes, my liege," he says, "I think that would be."

lo0ol

With Kujou secured as part of your retinue (that you never intended to build, but whatever), there's plenty more to consider. His Excalibur is unchanged—the Steel Sword of Military Conquest able to overpower any foe that stands against him—but you have his Canon Jack, so there's the matter of that. The answer to that conundrum is that he has the Round Fragment for Lamorak, which just makes your new little faction even more busted, but that's the universe's problem to solve, not yours.

It does mean you now don't know who Emma's Jack is, and she seems determined to keep it a secret, taking every advantage she can get. You're so fucking proud of her, no lie. Since that's been her approach, though, you get the feeling she wouldn't want to join your faction. Hell, she'd get mad at you for even suggesting it in the first place, which means there's no sense in offering. If she changes her mind, she's confident enough to let you know.

Even with that considered, though, you feel like your list of things to think about has no end, and the way you keep remembering Canon info in staggered bursts is not helping matters at all. Wasn't there one Candidate who got a quick side death to show off the power of someone else, plus the one who didn't want to participate at all? You're not gonna do any moral preaching on whether or not killing anyone in a battle royale is right or not, no matter how much it makes parts of your soul want to scream, but if someone doesn't want to participate, you don't mind offering them protect—

Luna drops an arm around your shoulder the moment you come back home to Loges Manor, derailing any and all thoughts you're having on the matter. "Yo, Safir!" she says, as casual as ever. The grin on her face promises nothing good for anyone in the immediate radius. "You know what I've been craving? Chinese food. And you know there's that one suuuper fancy buffet at the hotel next to the ocean…"

The smile slips onto your face before you can even think to do it. There's something about how at ease Luna makes you that's just a bit scary, though you appreciate the ability of someone to make your head shut up more than ever these days. "Yes, my—" You cut yourself off of the referral, but you don't have the alternative. Luna's…not your King anymore, and that makes you feel just a bit unbalanced in that way your over-capable self doesn't like dealing with. What the hell are you supposed to call her now? Just Luna seems wrong. Instead of making a decision, you reapply your smile. "Shall we go, then?"

Most of the time, you make yourself walk and travel just like a normal person, unless of course there's something you want to do on the other side of the world or it's an emergency. When it's local, though, you don't mind the walks and the trains and the buses. They're a way to keep you grounded, remind you of where you are and the world you're in now, present and living. New Avalonia may be a clusterfuck of different design aesthetics thanks to its man-made origins, but there's something about it that you just like.

Ever since you came here with Rintarou and Luna, it's started to feel like home.

Which is to say, you know something's wrong whenever you just teleport yourself and Luna to the hotel entrance instead of taking the normal route. Luna—because she's sharper than she seems, and that capability of hers increases whenever it's most inconvenient for everyone around her—has to notice, but she doesn't say anything, instead leading the charge to check-in to the buffet to her absolute joy and the absolute chagrin of all the other stuck-up patrons who seem to think kids have no business hanging out there.

You almost put your hijab on, just to see if any of them recognize you, then decide against it. Something feels nasty and churning enough in your gut enough already without adding that bullshit to the pile.

You do use some magic to make anyone who gives Luna a nasty look stumble, though. It's petty and satisfying in the best possible way.

"Man, rich people sure can be real klutzes, huh?" Luna asks once she returns to the table. She's brought with her a ridiculous number of plates, all of them on the verge of overflowing. You've been to enough all-you-can-eat situations with Luna to know that this is the norm, as is the fact that her eyes are ever bigger than her stomach. It's for the best to just pick at whatever she brings to the table, then go grab anything else you're interested in once the first round is done. "You'd think that all their fancy manners or whatever would teach them better, ha! Oh, well, it's time to dig in!"

Which she proceeds to do with absolute gusto. You, with less enthusiasm, join her. The quality of the food matches the price tag in every possible way, so it's hard to feel disappointed whenever you're enjoying a good meal.

After a while, though, Luna takes a breather between bites of Peking duck to say, "Hey, Safir, you know that you're my vassal no matter what, right?"

With all the time you've spent together (plus your knowledge of Canon Luna on top of that), you shouldn't be able to feel surprised at anything she says out of pocket anymore—and yet, here you are! You don't spit out your mouth of fried rice, but you do have to make sure you don't choke as you swallow, and that's just the slightest bit out of concern for your health and way more from the sense of pride you have.

Luna is staring right at you, after all, her blue eyes bright and genuine and just a bit too much to bear. Part of you wants to teleport away and hide in a blanket cocoon for the next, oh, eternity, but you can't quite bring yourself to tear your gaze away from hers, either.

"Once I decide someone's going to be my vassal, then they're my vassal. It's as simple as that, and I'm not giving them up or anything. I don't care if you're a King now—you're still mine, Safir, and that's that! So as your King, this is an order—

"Don't you dare hold back in this fight, you hear me?!"

(Didn't you already decide that for yourself, as rule number one?

Fuck holding back.)

Because Luna is Luna, she can't just say things like a normal person, no. She's stood up, one foot planted on the edge of the low table you've been enjoying your meal at, and she's grinning. Thanks to your spellwork, an awful lot of people in the vicinity are starting to trip, spilling their buffet food all over the place, but you're too stunned to even think about undoing the automatic cast. Somehow, Luna Artur is capable of picking up every single heavy feeling in your heart and blowing them away, like a cleansing gust of wind.

Still, there are a lot of questions you could end up asking, comments you could end up making.

Are you sure?

I could destroy you and the world right now. Is that what you want?

I want the Once and Future King to be you. Do you have any idea what it will take to make that happen?

You keep all of those to yourself. Whatever challenge you might propose to Luna, she'll respond with the same enthusiasm and confidence as always.

What's the point of asking questions you already know the answer to?

(Don't you think, if someone could pull that off, that would make for an excellent new Legend of King Arthur?)

With all that in mind, there's just one answer you can even think to give:

"Yes, my liege."

lo0ol

It's time to finish up your prep work so you can start out the King Arthur Succession Battle with a bang.

[Author's Note]

Happy fanfic anniversary/holiday/year end celebration posting period! I hope you enjoy this special update!

hanks go out to BlackBird17, BenevolentlyMad, and Rita50 for comments since last time. Your support means the world~.

Safir just sure has to deal with a lot of junk, huh? (I will not apologize for my actions as author.) Sometimes you just gotta super duper shake Canon up and give no fucks.

Most of my other stories have had updates before today, and a couple more will have updates the next few days to wrap up the set. I'd love it if you checked up whatever suits your fancy~.

I don't have a set update date yet, but the next part will be "Alliances Gonna Alliance." Please look forward to it!

-Avi

[30 December 2024]