CHAPTER 9:

DECLARATIONS

"Why are we here?"

Morgan looked to Harry as they stood near a cliff elsewhere in the Orkneys. "Do you mean philosophically, or just why we are here at this present time?"

"…The second one," Harry said, rolling his eyes at what was probably Morgan trying to make a joke. The Tam Lin were absent, and yet Morgan had insisted on him accompanying her during this expedition. It had been a week since the 'wake', as well as Kariya Matou's visit.

"There's a number of answers to that question, then. We are not far from what was once the castle of King Lot, though it was destroyed by my Standard History self after the death of Arturia. She'd had enough of her marriage to him, tolerating it for the sake of furthering her plans. However, she kept one part intact, her Workshop, hidden under something like the Fidelius, and it's right there."

As she pointed, a ruined part of a castle seemed to unfold out of thin air. She then began to walk towards it. "Stay behind me. I can disable the traps, as I have her memories, but I don't want you to get hurt."

"But why bring just me? Why not the Tam Lin as well, or them and just leave me behind?"

"…Because I wished to discuss something with you in relative privacy, Harry," Morgan said. "That, and…they're already too well-acquainted with my dark side. They trust me, they are loyal to me in spite of that, but they know my inner darkness. And while this is where the darkness of my Standard History self is at its greatest, I still have too much of the potential."

They had reached a door by now, and Morgan reached out a hand, holding out a palm facing the door. Intoning a few words in some unknown language, she caused the door to unlock and swing outward with an ominous creak right out of a horror movie. Indeed, Harry felt like this place was a mausoleum. He just hoped it wouldn't become their own.

She walked in, and he followed her, down into a basement. And in that basement appeared to be a strange laboratory of sorts. It looked almost like a stereotypical mad scientist's lair, only with magical accoutrements. There were benches with ominous-looking bloodstains, cupboards with dubious-looking potions…

And then Harry stopped and stared. In the corner was a massive cylindrical tank, filled with some sort of liquid. And a body.

Morgan noticed it, because she was walking over to it, placing her hand on the tank's glass wall. A sorrowful expression came over her features. "…Mordred," she whispered.

The girl in the tank was seemingly in her mid-teens, and dressed in a simple white smock that managed to remain opaque in the liquid. Her blonde hair was messy, framing wild and androgynously beautiful features that somewhat resembled Morgan's, her body scrawny and yet athletic. She seemed to be sleeping peacefully in the liquid. "Is she…?"

"Dead, yes," Morgan said quietly. "My Standard History self must have brought her body back from Camlann after her alternate personality, Vivian, took Arturia to Avalon. Her body's in magical stasis, though. Even in the best preservative fluids, the liquid in this tank would be a chunky soup by now, otherwise. I wouldn't be surprised if this timeline's Morgan preserved her as a specimen of her experiments, not out of any sentimental value. Mordred was a tool, and her purpose had been fulfilled."

Harry joined her at the tank. "Hard to believe this was the person who killed King Arthur."

"She was a Homunculus. Don't let the slender frame fool you, she's strong. Strong enough to be a knight in Arthurian times, when they were superhuman beings. And I can't resurrect her: unlike Baobhan Sith, she's been dead too long. Her soul has either gone to Akasha, or else has been inscribed on the Throne of Heroes. Probably the latter." Morgan retracted her hand from the tank, her eyes glistening with tears. "Morgan le Fay treated Mordred surprisingly well, but it was all a façade, her supposed love being for the purpose of manipulating her creation. To her, Mordred was a tool to kill Arturia. A fine tool, to be sure, but only a tool, as was Agravain, even if Agravain rejected his destiny. So too did Mordred, until Morgan told her her true parentage."

"Spiteful bloody bitch," Harry said with a scowl. "Was Mordred…a good person?'

"Better than her mother by far," Morgan said. "Mordred…until she learned her parentage and confronted her sire about it, she was a surprisingly moral person, and a gallant, if not actually chivalrous, knight. But when Arturia rejected her as the heir to the throne…well, you know what happened next. If it had been me as I am now, I would like to think that I would have treated Mordred like a daughter, at least sincerely." She turned to a bookshelf, and began raiding it, taking books and flicking through them, before replacing them, or putting them on a nearby bench, depending. "Mordred was a masterpiece of a Homunculus, more human than my counterpart. We'll leave her here. It's a fitting grave for her, where she shows the beauty she never could in life due to my counterpart's machinations."

"Are you looking for anything in particular?" Harry asked.

"Clues as to the whereabouts of various artifacts, including Avalon. Not the realm, but rather, the sheathe to Excalibur. I could scry for it, but I'm not sure where to start, and I'm also looking for other schemes of her that I may need to undo. And plundering her Mystic Codes and spellbooks is useful anyway."

Harry then noticed a long case, almost like one used for a musical instrument. "Is this safe to open?" he asked, indicating it.

Morgan, after some scrutiny, nodded. "Go ahead."

Harry did so, and opened it up to reveal a large broadsword, with red decorations. It seemed both intimidating and bloodthirsty, and yet oddly beautiful. "…Is this Excalibur?"

"No. It's actually Mordred's sword, Clarent," Morgan said. "We'll take it with us when we leave."

As Harry closed up the case, he asked, "Is there any other reason for us to be here other than looting your counterpart from this timeline? I'm all for that, but you said you had another reason for it."

"…I did," Morgan said, shrinking the books and putting them into a sack. However, for a time, she didn't speak, simply frowning to herself in thought. Eventually, she sighed, turning to Harry. "Harry, we've become friends during this time, have we not?"

Harry considered this question, a little wrongfooted by it, before admitting, "I'd like to think so, Morgan. Why?"

"I…uhh…damnation, this is harder than I thought," she said, blushing and scowling to herself. Eventually, she said, "Firstly, this is something Kariya Matou told me, and it's something I need you to think about carefully. The Holy Grail War has a prize, something you might be interested in."

"Like what?"

"…In the Holy Grail War, Servants and their Masters fight to the death, officially to that of six of the seven Servants, but also often involving the Masters, for the Holy Grail. That is not the drinking cup of Jesus Christ, but rather, an extremely powerful magical reactor, capable of granting a wish apiece to the winning Master and Servant pair. What is more…the wish can potentially approach True Magic. In other words, if you can visualise a wish requiring one of the True Magics, it can happen. That includes the Third True Magic, Heaven's Feel, which involves the manipulation of the soul without limit. In other words, you can revive the dead with it with no magical or spiritual repercussions."

Harry felt a chill run down his spine, and he looked to Morgan. "…Why are you telling me this? If that was the case, you could revive Uther, and…"

"…He wouldn't want me to, even if I could," Morgan said softly. "I know Uther. Even before that sham of a wedding to Mab, he told me to move on, even as it broke our hearts. And I'm not sure if it could have lasted. But…you could use your wish on the Grail to bring back your parents, your godfather, those of your friends who died…I am not sure how many could be brought back by the Grail, but while limited, you'll definitely be able to revive at least one person. Of course, I am telling you this as a form of full disclosure. The Holy Grail War won't take place until January in 2000, and I am sure you would think twice before getting involved in yet another potentially lethal magical tournament. The Holy Grail War would make the Tri-Wizard Tournament look like an unruly soccer match by comparison. But if you think the wish is worth it…then I will do what I can to help you obtain it."

Harry digested this. He wasn't sure he bought Morgan's claim about Uther, but he was touched by the gesture. She could have kept this to herself, and he may not have been any the wiser. "Is that the reason we're raiding your counterpart's lair?"

"Part of it. My memories of what she did with Avalon are fragmentary, but if we find it and use it as a catalyst, you can bring forth King Arthur herself as your ally," Morgan said. "A catalyst apparently influences the summoning, though if you do not use one, you should summon a Servant not unlike you. Then again, I think you would get along with Arturia. It would be me who would be the problem in that regard."

Harry nodded, conceding that point. "Assuming I do decide to do this. The problem is, like you said, I'm not sure I want to go through another lethal magical tournament. But…what else did you want to talk about?"

Again, Morgan seemed pensive, nervous, even a little irritated, albeit at herself. Eventually, she said, "We have only known each other for about a month, and while I know we are friends by now, not only is our bond freshly-minted, but we both have our respective scars, scars that are still healing. And yet…I must give voice to what I feel."

"…What you feel?" Harry asked, dreading the answer.

"…I feel something for you," Morgan confessed quietly. "What that is, I do not know, and yet, it feels more than simply seeing a kindred spirit in you. And while I do feel attracted to you, I am not sure if what I am feeling will become love, especially as you have only recently become an adult."

Harry blinked at her confession. But before he could reply, she held up a pale hand. "Let me say my piece first, ere you speak, please." Lowering her hand, she said, "I am still a Fae, and while I may be better at tempering my impulses, I still have them. I just seem more human than most Fae because, like humans and unlike most Fae, I am capable of restraining my impulses and whims. I also think about them before acting on them, whereas most Fae wouldn't do such a thing. And I know that there is no such thing as love at first sight, save for the rarest of circumstances. Instead, there is infatuation and lust. In addition, I have seen enough of your memories to know that you haven't had the best of experiences when it comes to romance."

"Not that I had much of those at all," Harry muttered, thinking back to Ginny's atrocious Valentine back in his second year, and the clusterfuck of the Yule Ball, though his neglect of Parvati Patil was his own damn fault, admittedly. And his crush on Cho Chang had died a very ugly death after Hermione told him how much she badmouthed Harry, denouncing him as Cedric's murderer.

If he had feelings for Hermione, then they had been stunted by his time spent as an amnesiac. Besides, he viewed her as a bossy sister more than anything, and while that could change if given the opportunity, he wasn't sure how said opportunity would take place. Not unless he began attending Clock Tower, anyway.

Of course, spending the past month in the company of some very beautiful women meant that he found himself trying not to stare at times. Barghest, despite her hulking, muscled frame, was a paragon of Amazonian beauty, who could switch from ruthless warrior to a gentle and kind young (for a given value of 'young', as she was over two centuries old) woman. Despite her pointed ears and slitted pupils, Baobhan Sith was more conventionally attractive, and while very much traumatised thanks to her treatment at the hands of her fellow Fae, she still had a warm heart, and he could see himself falling for her eventually, if he could help her work out her issues.

But Morgan was something else entirely. Her beauty was unparalleled, even putting Veela and their progeny to shame, albeit without the aura. She was devastatingly intelligent, beyond even Hermione. But more than that, she had a heart. A scarred, sorrowful heart, but a heart all the same.

True, he wasn't sure it wasn't an act. That he was being fooled by this Fae woman, who also happened to be a counterpart of Morgan le Fay from another timeline. That once again, he was falling into the trap of trusting someone who didn't deserve that trust. And there was the fact that he had only turned eighteen not that long ago, while she was technically millennia old, even if she hibernated for several centuries of that at least.

And yet, here she was, admitting such feelings that he actually did feel a little himself. Not love by any means, but attraction and affection that might end up growing into love, he hoped. And she hoped too.

"Why tell me now?" he asked. "I mean, aside from wanting privacy away from the Tam Lin?"

Morgan indicated the Workshop. "You see this? This isn't her only Workshop by any means, but it still holds many dark secrets. Like this," she said, tapping one loosely-bound book. "I'll have to pay a visit to Blackmore Cemetery in Wales before long. But…while I do not have the sheer malice she did, I still have that in potential, and not just because of her memories. You saw part of it when I unlocked your memories, and you've seen something of it in Totorot's books. But I thought, even if we remained as simple friends, I would not keep secrets from you if I could help it. I also told you because I didn't want those feelings to grow until I tried to act on them, only to find that they were unrequited."

"…You know, this is a weird way to start a relationship like this," Harry said.

Morgan rolled her eyes. "Would you rather I started calling you 'husband' without your say in the matter?"

"…Fair enough."

Morgan chuckled, before her expression became solemn. "You'd be surprised at how many Fae used a variant of jus primae noctis to basically rape their human servants." On his confused look, she clarified, "Also known as droit du seigneur, or the so-called 'right of the first night'. In other words, the supposed right of any feudal lord to bed any woman in his kingdom, especially on their wedding night. More than a few Fae abused it, though discreetly, as humans were seen as inferior to Fae by most Fae. Whether it existed or not is debated by many historians, but I know it happened in my Lostbelt, and it certainly happened in Morgan le Fay's time, though Arturia did not practise it, and punished any lords using it."

"Charming," Harry said with a grimace.

"Believe me, I have my counterpart's memories of raping her own hypnotised sister, while said sister was transformed into a man temporarily, and I wish I didn't," Morgan said with a grimace of her own. "The worst thing was, Morgan le Fay enjoyed every moment of it, and that sickens me more than I hope you will ever know." She looked to Mordred's body, floating in the tank, and sighed. "I have to wonder if one of the reasons Arturia rejected Mordred because she just learned she had a child by incestuous rape, and she was taking it poorly. But enough of such matters. Back to the matter at hand, I wish to try courting you, Harry. Whether it will not eventuate, or it is too soon for either of us, I don't know. But…I wish to try…if that meets with your approval."

After some time thinking, Harry said, "If you wanted to court me, you don't have to ask like you're in some period drama, you know. It makes you sound awkward. And…I don't mind. As long as we don't have to commit to anything until we know, right?"

"Of course," Morgan said, before pouting a little in annoyance. "Also, I sounded awkward? Excuse me for having only a little more romantic experience than you, Harry. And I was trying to ensure you understood that…"

"It's okay, Morgan, it's okay…" Harry said, trying to calm her down. She didn't look calm, but she subsided. For now…

Thus, in the midst of the dark secrets of Morgan le Fay, two damaged souls made an agreement to see if they could take their relationship further. They didn't know it, but they were walking even further along a path they had already started to stride. And soon, their partnership would cause all sorts of ripples to run across the Moonlit World…

CHAPTER 9 ANNOTATIONS:

So, here you have it. Morgan's asked to take things to the next level in a hilariously awkward manner, all while in the Workshop of her PHH counterpart. Isn't romance grand?

Originally, I was going to have Morgan and her household head to Glastonbury, followed by Dozmary Pool to have an encounter with PHH Vivian (albeit a magical recording/AI in the same vein as You're the King of My Heart). But I realised that I needed to progress the pairing. So I got rid of that chapter and wrote this in instead.

Now keep in mind, Morgan's awkwardness was down to, well, her circumstances. Keep in mind, her Berserker self promptly dubs her Master as her spouse upon summoning, something I lampshaded. While some may consider that to be her haughty, imperious nature rationalising their new relationship, which is probably true enough, I also think it's because Berserker Morgan is basically like an evil Arturia in one regard. In that they are hyperfocused on being a ruler to the extent of being socially awkward, aside from official gatherings, state occasions, and meetings.

This version, while not the tyrannical Lostbelt Queen, is still somewhat awkward. I like to think of her younger self as being not unlike Hermione, with her nose buried in books day in and day out, and add to that her ending up as Aesc the Saviour, and her only known love interest getting married off and murdered in the same day…yeah, she's damaged goods when it comes to romance. Plus, while Harry is legally an adult, she's still robbing the cradle, and she knows it: while I'm sure that the Lostbelt probably adhered to medieval marriage conventions regarding age of consent, I'm going with Lostbelt Morgan having some standards compatible with modern thinking.

Also, keep in mind that, while she is more human than most Fae, Lostbelt Morgan is still a pureblooded Fae, born from the Inner Sea of the Planet, and with a somewhat inhuman nature. It basically boils down to her having more whims and caprices than normal sane humans, but like any normal sane human, she can second-guess her whims and keep them in check. She's also a little detached from humanity, though this just makes her eccentric. Given that Ei, aka the Raiden Shogun from Genshin Impact, is one of the first characters that spring to mind as an analogue outside the Nasuverse, that's hardly surprising.

Now, before you ask, Mordred is NOT coming back from the dead, nor is she being summoned. I just wanted a tribute to her, with Morgan lamenting her PHH counterpart's cruelty towards her. I have plenty of characters who have or will cheat death in this fic, or at least get better lives, so somehow bringing Mordred back to life is just one character too many. This is a fix-fic to some degree, but there are limits to what is feasible.

Review-answering time! The Disquieting One: I've had Ron in-story in a number of my stories. I just find him rather boring as a character, especially to write, though that scene in the earlier chapter is the closest I've come to bashing him. And even then, his tirade against Harry was not out of malice, but out of unthinking resentment and genuine pain, so it wasn't quite bashing anyway.

If Voldemort's true lineage became known, most would deny it as lies put about by his enemies. A few may be disillusioned enough to turn on him, but Bellatrix would certainly remain one of the faithful.

Harry will work for both, but leaning more towards supernatural newspapers, particularly The Quibbler. And yeah, Tintin, while badly dated in some ways, nonetheless is one of the classic franchises that needs a lot more love these days. Hell, I wish that CGI film Spielberg, Jackson, and Moffat teamed up to do had a sequel.

ZLC genesmith: I never thought of it like that, that both Morgan and Caster Arturia both loved explosions. And yes, Morgan has lived long enough to know that Ron, for all his fickle, fairweather friend tendencies, is not truly being malicious, just lashing out in pain. After trying to talk him down, she had to shock him into submission with her magical aura. As for Snape, if he got Lily back, he'd probably gladly let the world burn.

hnh058513: Yep. Of course, this version of Baobhan Sith is different to the Lostbelt version, whom we'll call Tam Lin Tristain to distinguish the two. She's still somewhat sadistic, but here, she retains her natural (or unnatural, by Fae standards, anyway) empathy. When she learns of how her clone turned out, Baobhan Sith is horrified, and asks for forgiveness from Caster Arturia, who refuses to do so…because Baobhan Sith is a very different, kinder and nicer person to Tam Lin Tristain. Thus, they agree to start from scratch. So while off to a rocky start, Caster Arturia and Baobhan Sith will have a nice little friendship…

Serafina Fairway: AFAIK, the only statement is that the Fifth Grail War takes place a decade after the Fourth. That, plus the reference to Bill Clinton, are the only clues to the setting of the story. Then again, in the anime, technology is seen that seems to be more like the 2000s rather than the 90s…

TYPE-RWBYFanatic64: You may think that, I couldn't possibly comment…

No numbered annotations this time.