Chapter 50: 3/4ths of the way there
Quick note before the chapter, the original had video links and stuff for music because I believed they really carried the chapter HARD, and so to Semi-preserve that, I'm going to do the following.
Fate/Apocrypha OST - CD 1 Track 2 Necromancer
When a piece of music plays, I will put the track down in italics so you can choose to play it or not. Now, going forward, I recommend you play the song above this block of text.
…
King's Cross Station was just as busy as ever, people walking back and forth across the station. Minding their own business as they board their trains, off to work for the day or just to get to another city. "It's the same as every year! Packed with muggles, C'mon! Nine and three-quarters, this way!" A plump woman was practically shouting to her gaggle of children. She was drawing attention to herself with how loud she was being, and the 3 oldest boys cringed when they saw eyes drawn to them.
Not only were they dressed… different for a lack of better a word, they seemed to be carrying a rather large amount of luggage. And the mother of the children was shouting on about a platform that just plain didn't exist, which was quite strange. "Mum, maybe you should tone it done?" What looked to be the oldest, put his hand on her shoulder, eyes darting from side to side as people sneered at them. "Nonsense, Percy, on you go!" She shooed him to the divider of Platform 9, and just about 3/4ths of the way to the 10.
The boy looked side to side again and reluctantly moved forward, his form seeming to disappear inside the wall. Next, the apparent twins shared a look and smashed into the pillar, disappearing as their older sibling did. Luckily, none of the boys had to worry as right before they walked into the divider. What appeared to be a crowd of people appeared out of nowhere each time and covered the sight of their supernatural disappearance.
"But mum! Can't we wait!? I want to see my fiancé!" The youngest boy stood and stomped his feet, starting a temper tantrum and getting a few looks of ire from people with steaming cups of coffee. "Oh alright, but just a few minutes longer." The woman swaddled and coddled him, not noticing the way the non-magical people locked on to her at the realization that the young boy who didn't look a day over 11 had a fiancé.
"Ignore them, they are not worth our time." A group of four passed them, the blond woman seemingly ushering her child down the platform. They walked past the mother and son that were attracting unnecessary attention to themselves and into the magical pillar. They paid little attention as they passed through the seemingly magical crowd and into an entirely new platform. Looking up, one would catch sight of the nine and three-quarters sign, though such a sight was nowhere near as magical as the majestic red steam engine that would bring students to a special place.
"Be good, we'll see you after you arrive, and the sorting is done." The tall man with stark white hair and olive skin lightly rustled the young girl's hair, "Yes, mother." She agreed, her lips barely forming into a smile. Heads were turned their way with glares, most probably because they were speaking in a lounge the purebloods didn't understand. Even more purebloods seemed to scorn them for their more muggle attire. The tall tanned man with white hair wore a gradient dress shirt that changed from a slate blue base to a light blue on his sleeves spoke, glasses hung from the centre of his white striped shirt and bracelets jangled together as he pulled the woman to his left into a hug.
Curious looks came from booth half bloods and muggleborns, obviously latching onto the fact that this family of four weren't from Britain. "Remember, you may be ahead of all your peers, but that doesn't give you the right to trample over them and push them down." The Blonde woman spoke in a lecturing tone. "Yes, Father." The girl gave a solemn nod, her body slightly shrinking in on itself.
"You have such greater strength compared to the others, so use that to protect them from whatever danger you can." The woman smiled at the young girl, a glorious one that would many a man yearn to be her partner in life. Yet all that would await them on that path would be a blade remembering the taste of scarlet red.
"And don't forget to prank them all!" Another white haired man yelled, excitedly picking her up from under his arms and holding her high. The twins from earlier perked up from that, their eyes instantly finding him and watching with intrigue. "Uncle Merlin will be watching from afar, so get them all good."
"Please, Lycoris, my dear companion, don't prank anyone into insanity." Another voice spoke as a ball of white fluff landed atop her head. "Hello Fou, where have you been?" She pulled him down into her arms. "I've been doing… stuff." He expertly avoids the question, only Archer's nose tipped him off that the copious amounts of blood still lingered on his fur. Though that doesn't help the little splash of red on the edge of his little cape. "I'll tell you all about it later." Fou said dismissively, as if he were just talking about how the weather was yesterday.
Lycoris stepped on to the train, waving goodbye to the fashionably dressed Caster. Numerous people stared at the outfits, Merlin with his black Henly shirt with a flow design above the left breast pocket, he wore his sleeves rolled up just to his elbows and nice blue jeans with a brown belt. The bottom of his jeans were rolled up to just above his ankle, his brown loafers were nice enough and the gradient scarf just brought all of it together into a rather good fit.
Though, Artoria was dressed in something most purebloods would consider rather indecent, a simple but beautiful black outfit she wore during a certain time loop. They waved goodbye as the train whistle blew, starting to depart from the station. Lycoris having found a window seat smiled at them.
After so long, with the help of Fou and some books the old Vampire troll left, they were now finally in their own bodies, un-aging but still alive. Before Fou, it was a simple life, he was searching endlessly, and she was waiting continuously. Yet never reaching each other.
And now they're together again, they couldn't express their thanks to him in words, so they used their actions, taking in the girl and treating her like she was fully her child… It was the least they could do, for both someone so like Sakura and as repayment… Even if it felt nice to be parents.
He was lost in his thoughts as the whistle of the engine blew, Harriet had poked her head out of the window and was saying another goodbye to Merlin. He had started to jump up and down and run along the platform saying goodbye while waving his hands, when he turned around he gave a knowing smile. A chill ran down Shirou's spine.
"Alright, you love birds, Fou disabled the time dilation back at New Avalon…" And that smile, that dammed knowing smile, graced Merlin's lips as he approached. "There are rooms covered in runes to muffle sounds, so have a fun time!" Instantly, Merlin was running as blood rushed to both Artoria and Shirou's cheeks, lovingly looking each other in the eyes a mere moment after.
"We had to give her The Talk that one time." Her voice was muffled as Shirou chuckled, merely bring her close as she hid her face in his chest. "That was the day she learned that knocking is a must in this household…" He looked down to where Merlin retreated, the man talking an Auror as he pointed to the plump woman who was currently blowing her nose about seeing her kids off to school for another year.
…
Fate / Grand Order Original Soundtrack I - CD1 Track 25 Corridor of Memories
Lycoris smiled as she pulled back into the train, the majestic steam engine pulling away from the station with its loud horn blaring. Idly she pet Fou as the scenery around her start to blur past, it was calming in a way. With a wave of her hand, a stack of books appeared beside her on her seat as she settled in for the long haul of reading on her way to a school she really didn't need to learn from.
"I'm going to go explore the train, have fun with your reading." Lycoris leaned her head on the glass, the cool, smoothing feeling lulling her into comfort as she turned the page. She merely nodded her head as the last bit of white fur exited the corner of her eye and shut the door. He easily navigated between the legs of students as they walked up and down the halls, brushing past them with the grace of a cat as they talked. Eventually the door at the end of the hall opened and a couple of 7th years walk inside.
"Hey Grif?" The taller one, with Ravenclaw robes, turned away from closing the door and asked his buddy. "Yeah, Simmons?" Grif, the one in Gryffindor robes, stopped pigging out on his packet of Oreos for a moment to give his attention. Fou cosied up to laydown next to the well while eavesdropping on their conversation. "You ever wonder why we're here?" Simmons asked, leaning his back against the wall as his buddy took a second to think it over.
"It's one of life's great mysteries, isn't it? Why are we here? I mean, are we the product of some cosmic coincidence, or is there really a God watching everything?" He looks Simmons directly in the eyes. "You know, with a plan for us and stuff. I don't know, man, but it keeps me up at night." They stared at each other in bafflement, not hearing the small impact of Fou's paw hitting his face.
"... What?! I mean, why are we back here, in the first-year area!?" Simmons practically yelled, his hands waving to the door towards the second year area, from which they just entered. "Oh. Uh... yeah." Grif's voice started to get quieter as Fou left, heading for the other side of the train. 'Who the hell added Red Vs Blue characters hundreds of years too early?' He was questioning what he knew at the revelation.
An Oero found its way to his mouth as he continued his walk. More students and rooms passed him as he took his time, the atmosphere inviting to even the most timid of new students. "I'm going to be lord Potter!"
Fate / Grand Order Original Soundtrack I - CD2 Track 1 Divine Realm of the Round Table - Camelot I.
His paw paused midair, his body frozen as a voice he was sure he heard before yelled. Laughs echoed as he turned to the room the voice came from. "Oi! It's true mates, I'm betrothed to THE Harriet Potter! And by the time Hogwarts is over, I'm going to be lord Potter!" Fou moved in between another student's legs as he knocked on the door frame, peering into the room.
"Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?" He fidgeted with his hands while looking at the floor, after the boy bragging about being betrothed to his lovely companion sneered disgustingly at the boy. Fou reconsigned the young child as one Ronald B. Weasley, and clearly, unlike the rest of his siblings, had an inflated sense of Ego.
"No we haven't. You can sod off now, Longbottom!" The boy turned back to the two others in his cabin, who had stopped what they were doing and were now looking at him with creased brows. The other two boys who had been sitting across from him stopped their laughter, staring at him with a deadpan look.
"What? It's just Neville Longbottom." Ron flippantly gestured to the aforementioned child, a dismissive eye roll as he sprawled himself across his seat. "The git barely has any magic and might as well be called a bloody Squib!" He started laughing at his joke, as if he said something actually funny instead of demeaning and insulting to a person he never personally met before.
"That wasn't very nice, now, was it?" Hermione Granger stepped up, poking her head in from the opposite side of the door from Neville, who was quietly sobbing into his hands. "And I don't care, who're you supposed to be?" Again, Ronald sneered at another person he clearly didn't personally know anything about, getting deeper frowns from the other boys sitting across from him.
"J-Just let it g-go." Neville quietly sobbed and tugged at her sleeve, trying to get them to leave without further confrontation. She quietly acquiesced and stepped away, the other young boys in the cabin grabbing their things and starting to leave."Oi! Sit down, both of you!" Ronald sat up, a look of anger appearing on his face.
"I'm Hermione Granger, for your information." She didn't even look back into the room and started to drag Neville away as both of the boys glared at Ron before quickly following her lead. "Where the hell are you all going!?" Yelled Ron as he stepped out of the cabin, 3 angry looking people turned back to glare at him, causing a small moment of faltering.
"We're not sitting with yae, ya' cheeky cunt!" The first boy's voice boomed down the hall, gathering attention from other students that decided to stick their noses where they don't belong. "And we don wan ta hang out with a daft cunt." The other said, much calmer, but their thick Scottish accents were clear as day.
And then Ron pulled out his wand, chipped in places, and something white was glinting at the end. "You'll come back here right this instance, or you'll have made an enemy of the future Lord Potter!" A blade snaked its way into his shadow, ready to strike at the next moment the arrogant, egotistical, child! If it spoke another word about being Lord Potter.
"Get back now Lass and Lad," both of the boys from the cabin step forward, rolling up their sleeves. "Let a couple proper Scottish lads teach yae' how ut's done." No-one said anything about the small silver flash that sent Ronald's wand out of his hand, nor did they attempt to intervene in the "Beat down" that occurred.
Hell, the only reason it was stopped was that a Prefect had been retrieved by another student. "Off! Off him now!" The Prefect yelled, already waving her wand around as the boys stepped back, revealing that every single one of their hits only impact his clothes as he curled in on himself and pissed. "Go! Shoo!" The prefect had already started work on standing the trembling boy up, those brave Scottish boys now leaving to go find the girl and boy from earlier.
…
Fate/Apocrypha OST - CD 3 Track 3 Beat Your Heart
"Yae to have been introduced already, ye?" One of the boys asked as he leaned against the door frame, watching Hermione dab at Neville's Tears. "Oh!" She turned to them, pulling the handkerchief she handed be given to use away. "Yae mind if we sit 'ere lass?" The other asked as he walked into the room with two suitcases.
"Sure, I'm-" She started moving to help the second boy. " I've 'ot it lass, no need to worry." "Wel, I'm Caelan Wallace!" One by the door walked in, "And this 'ere is my bruhtha Yaden Wallace." Slapped his brother on the back and sat down. "I guess we'll be 'ear mates!" Both boys let out boisterous laughs.
If Fou didn't know any better, he would say the boys were crushing on her. If he left a little sword on a necklace in Hermione's pocket before leaving, they certainly didn't notice.
…
Draco had taken his time with searching the compartments, and finally arrived at the last one. *Knock Knock Knock* Three quick, polite knocks and he only had to wait a moment. "The door is unlocked." It slid open with zero issue, and he froze for a second. She was… beauty incarnate. Glasses the framed her lilac eyes hung low on her nose, long white hair that seemed to sprawl across the seat as the sun gave her an ethereal quality he hadn't seen in a woman before.
"Hello there-" He started, "General Kenobi." Only to be interrupted by the girl. She paused turning the page, and looked up with an apologetic smile. "My apologies." And returned to her book. Draco's eyes roam the compartment for a moment, and thought, 'Might as well.' Stepping in he started to put his trunk above the opposite seat of hers, settling down afterwards he introduced himself.
"My name is Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." His hands settled in his lap, his legs crossed, as he waited for her to return in kind. After a moment, she placed a thin strip of paper in between the pages as it closed with a soft thump. "You may call me Lycoris Radiata," she nodded in greeting, her glasses somehow not falling off her nose before she adjusted them. "I assume you're also a First-Year Student?"
"Yes, do you know who my father is?" He almost bit his tongue, nearly flinched and just internally started to stab himself as he potentially messed up his first meeting with this girl. "No, I'm from a secluded Enclave called 'New Avalon'," This was certainly a first for him, having never heard of one called New Avalon. "We don't interact with others outside our Enclave very much… We could be considered a second 'Hogsmeade' in that we're all magical." He filed that tidbit of information away for later, something to speak with his father and ask about.
Music stop
"I see, well let me be the first to-" And right as he was about to welcome her to the wider world of the magical communities when the door slammed open. He merely glanced in her loathsome direction before his mask of unfiltered disinterest settled as he leaned against the window, watching the scenery pass.
"DRACO!" She stood there with a beaming smile. The black-haired and heavy, jutting jaw annoyance that continued to hound him as he did nothing but sigh at her annoying puppy dog eyes. "There you are, I've been looking all~ over for you." She sauntered in with zero grace, her large square build, making demure nearly impossible for her. "I've been wanting to talk to you about the betrothal contract my father had made; would you be able to spare me the-" He muscles froze despite him seeming to not move.
Millicent Bulstrode, the annoying suitor that continued to hound after him when ever she got the chance, suddenly shook with rage as her face became red. "DRACO LUCIUS MALFOY!" Annoyance settled on his face, his eyes sneering at her as she called him by his full name. "HAVE YOU BEEN CHEATING ON ME WITH THIS SKANKY BINT!" Radiata seemed to smile, one that sent shivers up his back as he felt like he was suddenly in danger, and not from the ugly oaf that dwarf both him and his fellow cabin-mate.
Fate/Apocrypha OST - CD 1 Track 5 Tense Encounter
Bulstrode's ear-grating voice would surely attract attention, but he needed to handle this swiftly and with caution. One doesn't grow up the son of a rather influential man without picking up some diplomacy skills.
"We are not dating, Ms. Bulstrode." Firm placating voice, just as father taught you, Draco. "Nor do you have permission to use my full name. I would appreciate it if you left me and Ms. Radiata here alone now." Handle it with tact and it should all go… Just fine. A polite if somewhat scathing, and frigid tone might not be the best Idea though.
"YOU! YOU POISONOUS CHEEKY BINT, WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING TO MY DRACKY-POO!?" He resisted the urge to facepalm as the fucking idiot that held absolutely no tact turned to the only other person in the cabin, while a couple passersby looked in to see what the hell was going on.
And this just got a whole lot worse.
…
Lycoris gave a half lidded stare to the wand that was now being waved around from the oaf's hand. "I would advise against shoving your wand in my face, Ms. Bulstrode." A small tuff of white fur paused at the door, ready to strike if necessary. "It's very rude to do that where I come from." Her hand reached for her book, one that was quite rare… At least to the wizarding world's potion community. She noticed Draco's eye widening when he caught the cover. "WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING TO MY MAN!" The oaf screeched again, as if the world revolved around her and everything would bend to her whim in a second.
"I have done nothing to Mr. Malfoy; we had just finished introductions when you rudely barged into our cabin-" She was interrupted. "Our cabin? OUR CABIN!? SINCE WHEN THE HELL WAS THIS 'OUR CABIN' YOU AREN'T STEALING MY MAN YOU CRAZY BITCH!" Annoyance flashed through Lycoris's eyes, already tensing up for a fight.
Bulstrode whipped her wand forward, a spell already past her lips. Yet it couldn't stop Lycoris, a spell being used at such speed was so slow compared to what her family could do. With a flick of her wrist, her wand appeared in her hand. The tip of the wand an emerald green as it impacted with the Arrow Shooting Spell, dissolving it into nothing but bubbles.
With a flick of her fingers, Bulstrode's mouth sealed shut, unable to open despite her muffled yelling as she stomped. "You may call me Lycoris Radiata." She stood, taking a step forward, as she felt like she could be described as a Lioness stalking its prey.
"I'm 11 years old. My house is in the northeast section of New Avalon, where all the villas are, and I am not married." Bulstrode took a step back, fear written on her face at the cold, unfeeling look that Lycoris directed at the oaf. "I work as an apprentice potioneer for the local potion store, and I get home every day by 8 PM at the latest." Her hand rested on her chest as they stepped into the hallway, students on both sides stopped what they were doing, even the prefect they had gotten stopped mid-step as they all watched.
"I don't smoke, and I don't drink. I'm in bed by 11 PM; and make sure I get eight hours of sleep, no matter what." Her voice turned harsh as she just stood in front of the door, she could feel Draco's surprised look directed at her back. "I was told there were no issues at my last check-up." She sighed, her wand finding it's way back into her robes. "I'm trying to explain that I'm a person who wishes to live a very quiet life. I take care not to trouble myself with any enemies, like winning and losing, that would cause me to lose sleep at night."
Fear spread as her eyes glowed lilac, bearing down on the now pants pissed girl. "That is how I deal with society, and I know that is what brings me happiness. Although, if I were to fight…" She leaned down, appearing far bigger than Bulstrode could imagine. "I wouldn't lose to anyone." Her voice was barely but a whisper before she pulled back, she took a single step and closed the door in front of her.
Music stop
She let out a sigh and rested her head against the now closed blinds.
Fate/Apocrypha OST - CD 2 Track 20 Fate/Apocrypha - Love
"Terribly sorry about that." She moved back to her seat as Draco continued to stare dumbfounded at the door. Her hand idly moving to pet Fou as he settled into her lap with a content purring.
"This is my companion." She gestured to him once Draco looked back. He merely stayed quiet for a moment before coming back to his senses and scrambling to get back to proper decorum."*Hem* My apologies." His hand held in front of his mouth as his cheeked burned a flaming red.
"It's quite alright, I just had to deal with an… Irritant." Already, she retrieved her potion book and started reading once more. "So, what kinda of Creature is that?" Draco asked after a moment of brief silence, curiosity over the fluffiness getting the better of him it would seem.
"It's a Cath Palug, you wouldn't know what that means." She giggled, and returned back to her book. Even passing a copy of the one she was reading over to him, which he gratefully took with stars in his eyes.
The rest of the ride was quiet, with only the sound of rustling paper in the room. It reminded her of her study time with Merlin.
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