章 1711: 24
Chapter 24: Chapter 20/EpilogueNotes:
I'm content to stand there, taking in the sight of the mana flowing out into the world, but eventually I'm brought back to mundanity as I feel a growing sense of consternation across one of my connections. The fact I can feel it at all is a surprise, though- I kept my passive connections between the retinue fairly low on purpose. In fact, the only one I'd be sensing would be…
'Everything alright, Artoria?'
'Perfectly fine. Merely as a matter of personal interest, would you happen to know the time?'
I…huh? What? I glace around the clearing, note how the light is falling and return to the connection.
'Yeah, it's mid-afternoon? Probably around 1 pm?'
Artoria 'nods' in agreement, but her agitation only builds.
'Thank you, Master. Do you have any duties to attend to at this time?'
'None I can think of. I've wrapped up what I had to do here, so-'
And then my eyes, still roving the clearing, pass over the core of the apple Atalanta had snacked on as we'd discussed her Wish. Ah. Right. That's what this is about. But I can't quite resist the opportunity presented.
'Hey, Artoria. I almost forgot; I thought we might try fasting today. You know, just this on-'
There's a single burst of…a variety of feelings across the connection so intense that even Atalanta, standing next to me, feels it and turns with one silver eyebrow raised.
"Master? Are you provoking some dangerous beast?"
Atalanta's innocent question makes me snort out a laugh, which must have carried through to Artoria because there's a shift in her mood. She's still clearly annoyed, but the nature of the annoyance changes.
'Are you done amusing yourself at my expense?'
'Yes. Sorry. But, you know, you can always just ask if you want something, right? We did go into this before?'
'That may be true, but I am doubtful your joke was intended as a teachable moment.'
And now my in-joke is making me feel bad. 'No. Fair point, it wasn't. I'm sorry.'
Artoria seems at least somewhat mollified by my apology, which I'll take. The mental 'tone of voice' in her reply is lighter.
'If you truly wish to make amends, I would prefer your cooking than your apologies.'
A burst of acknowledgement, and I turn towards the three people in the clearing, who seem to have stopped whatever they were doing to look at me.
"Right. So. I'm going to make lunch, and you're all invited."
-
As it turns out, I'm not just making lunch for Artoria, Atalanta, Jeanne and Justeaze. When I get back to the manor, I'm greeted by a sea of expectant faces. Somehow, word gets out and I find myself having to cook for Semiramis, Astolfo, Mordred, Fran and even Kairi and his daughter. Given I know I didn't let everyone know, and I'm fairly sure Atalanta didn't either I have a fair idea who told everyone, but I'll take my lumps, especially with how minor this is. The thought of giving everyone slightly smaller portions than usual 'because of all the unexpected participants' does flash across my mind, but only for a moment.
The number of participants does give me pause, as I work out what I'll be cooking. With fewer people, I might have made pre-plated dishes for each person but I'm serving nearly a dozen people, and that tilts me towards central dishes that people can serve themselves from. And that means pasta is probably my best bet. Thankful for the manor's infinite supply of raw food, I skim through my memories and hit on a dish that would work for, ingredients appearing on the kitchen counter before me as I internally list them.
Onions, apples, and a selection of herbs are all diced or grated down into individual piles while three massive pots appear on the stove. A drizzle of olive oil on the base of two of the pots pot, then I dump slices of sausage go into one, while the other oiled pot remains sausageless; Fran could eat meat, but when offered the choice had thus far preferred vegetarian meals. I spend some time squishing and breaking the sausage slices down before scooping them out and then adding some butter, the apples and onions and a selection of herbs and spices to each pot.
Thankful for my superpowers, my Shroud comes to life and takes over stirring the mixtures to prevent any burning while I move on to third pot and the pasta. Into boiling salted water goes the pasta and, in a few minutes, I scoop the pasta from the water and put it into two colanders to drain. Back to the sauce- garlic and some white wine, which evaporates in the pot to infuse the ingredients, and then the pasta goes into the mixtures, followed by the broken-up sausages into the non-vegetarian dish.
Both pots are emptied into serving bowls- the meat one into several bowls and the vegetarian into a single bowl, garnished with a light dusting of parmesan, parsley and the sauce from the pots, and like that it's done. The white serving bowls disappear into my inventory, keeping them time-stopped and hot, and I make my way from kitchen to dining room.
The massive doors to the dining room, black and gold and spikey as was Semiramis' preferred style, are open so I can hear the low, indistinct chatter of everyone inside. Coming through the doorframe, I see everyone's already seated. Artoria and Semiramis sit opposite each other, one on each side of where I assume I'm sitting. Mordred is next to Artoria and having a fairly one-sided conversation with Fran, while Astolfo seems entranced by Justeaze, engaging her with what look to be wild tales of heroism judging from his gestures. Kairi, Hina and Atalanta are all seated on the same side as Semiramis, Hina gleefully following Astolfo's tales opposite her while her father and Atalanta dote on her. Just as I enter, Astolfo begins a particularly bawdy anecdote about his wife, causing Kairi to cover Hina's ears while Atalanta sends Astolfo a deathglare that the Rider ignores with either natural obliviousness or practiced ease.
My arrival does cause the conversation to hitch a moment, but I'm glad to see the room doesn't feel the need to fall silent- there's an acknowledgement of my arrival but no real ceremony. Starting at Jeanne's end of the table I travel up it, pulling the appropriate serving bowls, cutlery, and crockery directly onto the table as I walk by. An appreciative quiet falls with each bowl's appearance, as those closest just bask in the wafting smells. Finally, I reach my place and sit, signalling everyone to begin.
The clanking of metal on china, the soft and wet sounds of pasta being dropped onto bowls and the appreciative moans as the food is eaten fill my ears and make me smile, even more than the taste of the food itself. Soon, the sound of conversations resuming joins the sounds of lunch. I'm content to stay silent and just enjoy the atmosphere when a single thin, cold spike lightly raps against the top of my left hand. My head turns, and there's Semiramis, apparently having used her palm-nail to get my attention.
"Yes?"
"Archer came to me, earlier, with a plea to assist her wish. I assume that this celebratory meal means that she has made her wish on the Grail?"
"Something like that, yes."
There's a pause, and when Semiramis next speaks her voice is a mix of emotions I haven't heard from her before. Soft, wistful, yet happy.
"Atalanta…I truly thought that dream of hers unobtainable, even with the Grail. I might even have abandoned it, had it been mine. And yet she…"
Semiramis shakes her head, causing her artfully arranged hair to shift off her ears as she escapes whatever train of thought she had been in. Still, she doesn't seem willing to continue this topic, and it's easy enough to see why given the similarities in Atalanta's and Semiramis's history, so I let help change the topic. I nod down the table towards Justeaze, drawing Semiramis' attention to the ivory Homunculus and out of her own thoughts.
"If you were wondering, our new guest is Justeaze von Einzbern. I planned on removing the Grail, one way or another, so I basically reversed its creation process. I don't know how much Shirou told you about-"
Semiramis' tone is back to normal as she cuts me off with a wave of her hand.
"He told me enough. He was, after all, the Servant of the Einzberns in the previous War. He knew about the creation of the Grail- requiring both cursed Rheingold and the sacrifice of their Winter Maiden."
"Right." I'm about to say more, when Semiramis' right hand catch the arm of my jacket and, winking, pulls me towards her where she whispers into my ear.
"From my experience, I can tell you and your King recently consummated your relationship. She is not bothered by the beauty of your new companion?"
I shake my head. "Justeaze isn't like that. She isn't joining our ranks at all- she plans to stay here and help this world where she can."
But Semiramis' words do remind me of something. I lightly pull away from her, her delicate fingers falling away from my sleeve. She accepts my withdrawal from the conversation with grace, my apologetic expression met with a shrug of her bare shoulders and a dismissive hand gesture before she slips her hair back into position over her long, elfin ears and turns to her meal. I glance down towards Atalanta. A moment later she notices my gaze, and how my eyes flick to Artoria. Atalanta's face tinges red against her pale skin and white hair but she gives me a nod. Permission thus acquired, I turn to Artoria, who is finishing up her second serving
"Artoria?"
A pasta-muffled 'mhph?' of acknowledgement is her reply. Still, good enough.
"You up for a race soon? Not right away, but maybe some time later today? Atalanta wants to race both of us, now that her Wish is made and the War is completely over."
A moment's pause, as Artoria takes in the meaning, and then an even longer pause as Artoria's pasta-filled checks blush red as she takes in the meaning. Her face, beet-red, swings right, away from me and down the table to look at the silver haired lioness. Atalanta's cheeks are still pink, but she meets Artoria's gaze head on without flinching and, after a moment, Artoria shifts back to me, swallows her mouthful and speaks with a quiet yet intrigued voice.
"I…suppose I am interested in such a competition against the legendary swift huntress."
-
Lunch cleans itself up automagically, the crockery and utensils disappearing into thin air with a thought, ready to emerge fully cleaned when next needed. With the table thus cleared and the meal over, everyone stands and begins to head their separate ways. For my part, I notice Jeanne approaching and turn to greet her.
"You enjoy yourself?"
"Of course. The company and the food were both exemplary as always."
Ruler pauses, braces herself and looks up at me.
"I wish to take you up on your offer. With the War over, Laeticia should be allowed to resume her life. And I have found a task I can accomplish." Ruler throws a glance at the white form of Justeaze, giving me some idea of what she means.
"Of course. May I ask what you'll be doing?"
"I…could say that I wish to continue my duties guarding the embodied-Grail, but that would not be entirely true. I've…enjoyed spending time with your Servants, visiting your beach. And I wish to see more of this world, stand before a true ocean. Justeaze's decision opened up an opportunity for me; to guard a modern miracle-worker while exploring the world with her." Jeanne's eyes then twinkle a bit. "And the Lord must approve of this path; he both provided this opportunity, and so recently sent me a companion."
Right. That bloody dolphin. Without really thinking, I'm checking the waters of the pocket dimension and yep, it's still there, smug, and seemingly mundane as ever. I return back to Jeanne and nod.
"If that's what you want. Make sure to tell her that that even after we leave this world, the pair of you can always come back here if you want to eat with us, or sleep somewhere or chat, or visit the beach and that…pet. This place will always be accessible to you."
Jeanne gives a smile.
"I thank you. And I will make sure to convey that."
"You want to do this now, then?"
"Perhaps in an hour or so, back in Trifas proper. Besides, I wouldn't want to take all your time; at least one other guest wishes to speak with you."
My gaze follows Jeanne's glance, and lands of Kairi and his daughter. Kairi is chatting with Mordred, while his daughter plays with Atalanta, but as I look I see Kairi cast a casual glance over towards me and Jeanne. When I look back to Jeanne, she's already heading back to Justeaze while Kairi makes some excuse to Mordred and breaks away towards me.
"Yo, Winner. Congrats."
"Thanks. You ok?"
"Peachy. Over lunch, Archer told us about her Wish and I gotta say, I'm glad that the Grail was used for that."
"But you didn't come over to tell me that."
Behind his sunglasses, I can see his eyes crinkle.
"No. I wanna talk about our future. Before, you said you could open up different worlds. I'd planned to use them to ditch the Association with my daughter. But, over dinner, Archer also made clear that these aren't, from what little I know of the topic, typical parallel worlds."
"No. If we're talking Trees Of Time this'd be a whole different Tree, not a different branch on the same trunk."
Kairi tilts his head a moment before nodding.
"Right. I get that. That's probably why you can do all these impossible things that don't make sense here. But my question, would any of those worlds be suitable to raise my daughter in?"
Ah. I review my list. Of the possible worlds, only Mass Effect had any real guarantee of high and modern quality of life, albeit with some significant issues in the longer-term. And I wasn't planning on visiting Mass Effect at all.
"I…probably not. The next world is going to be a blasted wasteland devoid of most life, and the worlds after that are going to be…well, not exactly up to modern standards."
"How bad?"
"The best of them is Three Kingdoms China. The worst is a hellworld with demons that want to eat the planet."
Kairi hisses in, attracting the concerned gaze of his daughter before Mordred distracts her.
"Yeah, that's not gonna work."
"I told Jeanne and Justeaze this, but you guys can stay here if you'd like a place to live."
He rubs the back of his head, looking over to his daughter.
"If it were me that'd be fine. But I don't want Hina to never play with another kid or grow up only surrounded by all this. I'm not a fool enough to think she'll have a mundane life, but I still want to at least try, y'know."
Kairi's eyes are still fixed on the back of Hina's head before he lets out a sigh and turns to me.
"Your offer would always be good? We could come here whenever?"
"Of course."
"Then we might stay in this world a bit. I've got some contacts I haven't yet burnt, and the Association lacks a real foothold in America. I'll move us there, see how things go, and if there's problems, we can come here."
Again, I nod before speaking.
"I'll keep you up to date with the possible worlds just in case any of them would work for you. Also, if you really need to you can contact me telepathically and I'll drop by personally."
"Thanks. Hopefully we wouldn't have to but having options would be a weight off my mind."
Businesses thus concluded, Kairi sticks out his hand and I shake it.
-
Jeanne's joining and separation from Laeticia happens quickly, with no real complications. She spends some time making her farewells to the sister of the Church, as well as the people of Trifas who she'd gotten to know, while I use that time and Reinhard's skills to blitz through the homework that Laeticia had needed done and Jeanne had put off. As I finish, there's a knock on the door and Ruler enters.
"Ready?"
"I am. Thank you for taking care of that for me."
"It was no trouble. Though, honestly, you should probably learn this stuff yourself; stuff like maths is mandatory knowledge in the world nowadays."
Jeanne nods sheepishly.
"I know. I…let myself be distracted from my mundane obligations."
"If you'd like, I could probably help in my spare time. I should be a fairly good teacher." Thanks, Reinhard blessings.
"I may take advantage of that offer in the future. But for now…"
She looks to me, signalling that it's time.
"Right. Here goes."
Jeanne closes her eyes as my coat shifts apart and falls over her, and beneath the white veil there's movement as the volume beneath the cloth doubles, the cloth first pulling tight and then shifting to spread thin. When the cloth withdraws back around my shoulders, two near-identical figures are before me; Jeanne, body slightly less full, in white armor matching my jacket, and Laeticia in 'Jeanne's' civilian clothing. With a thought I release Laeticia's bond- she hadn't asked for nor accepted it, nor had she been a 'required' binding. Laeticia is still unconscious or asleep and when the Shroud disperses, she slowly begins to topple over. I start to move but Jeanne's arms are already there, catching the girl and laying her down on the room's bed.
"So, now what? Will she remember-"
Jeanne doesn't say anything for a moment, looking down at her now-physical body, before looking back at the sleeping girl.
"Now we are separated, whatever memories she had of me should fade naturally."
"Is there a plan to get her home? I'm not sure where exactly she lived, but I know it was in France, and if she's going to wake up in Romania without memories…"
Jeanne gives her head a shake.
"There should be no problem. She will remember travelling to Trifas accomplishing 'something significant'. She will remember helping the people here as best she could in the aftermath of the disaster that occurred here. The details will escape her, but her body performed those actions and so they will remain with her. The main issue would be financial- I unfortunately had to make use of much of her personal savings to travel here."
"That I can solve." It wasn't like any of the upcoming worlds would need money anyways, and with my house providing me the raw materials for food I required, I didn't have any outstanding bills. The stipend I made in my contract had been drained by the early, mostly-useless car, the now-destroyed sword and the raw materials I'd bought on my first date with Artoria, but I should still easily have enough to reimburse Laeticia and get her a ticket home.
-
It's now late afternoon, and I'm looking at the change I've made for this event. Cutting through the landscape a single long track stretching from one end of the pocket world to the other. Having drawn it up I know it's a full 15 kilometres from start to end. Finishing my inspection of the track I turn towards the manor. There, at the very top of the massive tower, I can make out most of the other Servants. Semiramis had been convinced to allow the top of the spire to be used as a viewing deck; I can make out Mordred distantly cheering for Artoria while Fran looks excited, literally on the edge of her seat next to the Knight, and Semiramis reclines back on a dark-red cushioned chaise lounge. She must have noticed my look, because she raises her glass to me in a salute of sorts. Still, that does leave-
I feel movement nearby, and we're joined by Jeanne. I tilt my head and raise a questioning eyebrow to her. In response, there's a shift in her clothing and her white armor is replaced by…an adult stewardess costume? My eyes move from small white beret, to impossibly short-cut white jacket and shirt, to short black skirt and long tights. My second eyebrow joins my first.
"Um. What?"
Jeanne seems earnestly confused by my confusion.
"Is something wrong? This is the customary uniform of a race's flag marshal, according to Rider."
I pull my eyes from her costume and sure enough her flag has also changed, the fleur-de-lis replaced by black and white chequered squares. Still confused, I feel another approaching presence and there's Astolfo, diving from the sky on his hippogriff. He's clad in a near-identical outfit to Jeanne, holding a green flag he's pulled from…somewhere. He leaps from his mount with ease and strikes a pose. My brain doesn't short-circuit, though it's a near thing, so I manage to catch what he says.
"When I heard about this race, I wanted to help! So I thought a bit about what I could do, and thanks to the Grail I saw that in the real big fast modern races, you need cuties with flags on either end of the track to signal the start and end. Ruler's a flag expert, and I'm the cutest so that made it easy. I can start the race here, then jump on Hippy here and still get a good view of the end, also. Pretty smart, huh?"
"I...guess that works."
I'm about to ask Jeanne something, when Astolfo grabs the saint's arm, whispers something, and together they strike a different pose. My question about whether Jeanne was up for this splutters out of my head, and before I can collect myself to ask again Atalanta cuts in behind me.
"Hey Master. Stop gawking at Rider and that Saint and get over here already."
Archer's voice pulls me back to reality. I give the pair of Servants before me a nod, causing Astolfo to leap into the air with joy and Jeanne to smile, before turning away and heading back over to Atalanta. Behind me I can feel Jeanne begin to move down the track- she might not sprinting all-out, but she's jogging at high Servant-level speeds so provided we didn't start in the next few seconds she should have enough time to get to the end.
"Sorry. Astolfo and Jeanne have volunteered to be our starters and enders respectively, if that's ok with you."
Atalanta gives a shrug.
"Back then it wasn't anything so formal, but I'm ok with it. Ruler will definitely make sure it's fair and there's no cheating like last time."
Artoria steps up, hand on breast, and bows her torso towards the white-haired archer.
"On my honour as the King of Knights, I swear that neither of us will use such trickery in this race. It will be an honest competition."
Vocally, I give Atalanta another prod.
"Just to be absolutely sure, you know you don't have to do this, right?"
"I don't have to. But I do want to."
Her voice is firm on this point, so I accept it and, sensing movement overhead, look up. Astolfo's in the air above us, waving down.
"You guys ready? Jeanne's in place, so if you want we can get this show on the road!"
I give the aerial Rider a thumbs up, Atalanta nods and Artoria vocally responds. In a flurry of wingbeats, the hippogriff dives to the ground, and Astolfo hops off to the side of the track, dusting off his…Uniform? Costume? as he takes his green flag and gives it an experimental twirl. The three of us begin taking our positions as he raises the flag.
"Let's give this a whirl. On your marks. Get set. Go!"
The flag comes down, but the world has shifted into slow motion as I let Reinhard's instincts take over, mana pulling from the rest of my body into my legs. Springing forward, feet pumping off the ground, I'm already at the first mark, placed at three kilometres before my brain catches up. The second, third and fourth markers all pass in blurs, the strangest sensation of my racing movements the utter lack of any wind resistance, one of my blessings causing the air before me to just shift out of my path.
And then, before I know it, I'm seeing a waving black and white flag as I slam into the far end of the track. Skidding to a halt, I turn myself back to face Jeanne, her flag just beginning to fall. The pair of us are alone at this end of the field, and I can't suppress my smile and laugh of triumph. The sprint had taken around a second and a half. Back down the track, and I can just barely see Astolfo's hippogriff rising in the air, a single black dot in the sky kilometres away. I feel time return to normal as I slow myself and turn back towards Jeanne and the finish line when the rush of air causes Jeanne's lowered flag to whip about wildly as Atalanta speeds in and over the line at around three seconds. Before I can even begin to speak with her, Artoria bursts past the line in third. The racecourse, already torn up by me and Atalanta, is left with a massive rent from Artoria's passing, thankfully self-repairing the instant Artoria's feet leave the track.
I almost tangibly feel Artoria's disappointment in her last place finish across our link, overwhelming even Atalanta's (happy) shock at her defeat, but her face is clear of it as she raises her hand to shake Atalanta's.
"I see that, if anything, the legends of your swiftness in life were underestimating you. Well raced, oh huntress."
Atalanta accepts the hand and shakes it but shakes her head at the same time.
"It was solely due to this pelt and the advantages it gives that I reached the speeds I did."
Looking down, I see that Atlanata's legs are…off. While after the battle of Trifas I had noticed them having changed into the cloven hooves of a boar, she had returned them to her human state after the battle. Now, though, even those hooves would look ordinary. Her legs are unrecognizable; long, thin, springy black blades emerge beneath her knees. As I'm examining those, Atalanta's head turns to me.
"In addition, I was bolstered by our Master's pace; I am famed for catching up and then passing my competitors, so my speeds increase when I'm behind another. Were I alive, and the race solely between the two of us, you might have defeated me. Your legends somehow do not do you justice, King of Knights."
"I…would enjoy competing with you again, if it would be agreeable to you."
Atalanta sports a light smile when she replies.
"While in my life I did not race for sport, I would be happy to oblige you. But now…" Atalanta turns her whole body to me, while flesh flows down from her thighs to reform her legs as she cancels her self-evolution. One hand grabs Artoria's, and one mine. "Now, you both have bested me; you, Master, outraced me now, and you, oh King, defeated the me who set the challenge. I know you are together, but are the two of you willing to take me as well?"
I'm not going to point out Atlanta's shaky reasoning about Artoria, which seems a lot more like an excuse than anything. Before either Artoria or I can speak, however, there's a light cough to our side and I almost jump. Our heads turn and I see Jeanne standing there, still costumed up with her flag, her face beet red and turned away.
"I wish to congratulate all the competitors on such a skilful race. I also wish to remind them that they are still on the field with witnesses…"
Right. I turn towards the tower, where I can see general cheer and celebration; Mordred doesn't seem bummed by the results and just hyped to have seen the race. Fran's also excited, bouncing up and down with her fists pumping, and Semiramis…she's still reclining, long, bare legs stretched out on her seat, but our eyes meet and she gives me a knowing smirk as she plucks a grape from a nearby bunch. She, at least, seems to have worked out what was going on after the race.
-
Jeanne's continued, almost intentionally-looming presence dissuades further discussion on the topic, but while my thought is to move elsewhere Artoria isn't having that. It seems she's still rather…put off by her loss to the two of us, and winds up roping us into several more races. I participate in a few, but my continued presence in front of Atalanta causes her body to uncontrollably morph in its attempts to beat me, and so eventually Atalanta waves me off. Artoria isn't happy about this either, but my promise that the two of us can keep going in our own time ameliorates her grumpiness.
A spring in my step, I return to the manor to find the person I'd been hoping to talk to languidly reclining on her throne, somehow brought down from her tower into the foyer. The effect is…fairly extra, but Semiramis' style seems to be extra, with her black and gold, spikes, upside down corridors and liquid roofs. All very stylish and eye-catching, without a hint of restraint. There's a flow of mana through the room that I assume has something to do with Semiramis' throne. In any case, before I can greet the queen she nods to me.
"Congratulations are in order, I suppose."
"Thanks. I'm guessing you wanted to talk with me?"
"Rather, did you not wish to speak with me? After all, this morning you swore to describe to me the worlds you were offering me."
That is what I'd been coming to see Semiramis about, so I ignore her powerplay word games and shrug.
"Sure. You want to do that here?"
She raises a black eyebrow.
"Obviously not here. The briefing is to be both private and confidential, and I will not have that Rider or that failure of a Knight barging in mid-discussion. You will come to my quarters and we'll have our discussion there."
I'm ok with this, but I'm about to point out that Semiramis walked all the way down her tower, recreated her throne down here all just to have a dramatic stage to meet with me so we can go back up the tower and talk there. Before I open my mouth, though, I notice something off about Semiramis; despite my blessing heightening my sense of smell, I can't smell her distinctive perfume. Acting on my intuition I sharpen my magic senses and instantly see what's going on. The Semiramis before me isn't her, but rather an illusion, which also explains the mana I'd been feeling.
"I'll be up shortly, then."
"Very good."
The image of Semiramis vanishes before me. But the chair remains. Just out of curiosity, I approach and knock on it. Solid metal. My lips quirk as I turn towards the stairwell while shaking my head. Very extra indeed.
-
The climb, which would have been atrocious two weeks ago, is swift and simple, and I'm knocking on Semiramis' massive black and gold doorway before I really know it. The doors swing wide and I step over the threshold. The room…isn't what I expected. Rather than the dark-red velvet or metal spikes or black stone, I'm greeted by open sky. The walls have been replaced by infrequent pillars that would allow someone in the centre of the room the ability to look out onto the sky in any direction. There are thin screens jutting out from the pillars that would allow 'walls' to be drawn and the room segmented, but as it stands the room is light and spacious. On the other end of the room, opposite the doors I see the back of Semiramis' throne and feel her actual presence. I half expect it to turn around like some kind of Bond villain chair but, when that doesn't happen, I move towards it. She's looking out over the beach, where the sun's descent leaves the water a brilliant contrast of orange and blue.
"Master, did you know I fought a war for a view like this, once?"
The question is a surprise; Semiramis had been…reluctant to talk about herself, had been reluctant to talk about anything much except recently.
"I didn't." I don't voice my opinion that that seems a petty reason to wage war, but she seems to catch the disapproval that must have crept into my voice.
"You and that King. Neither of you truly understand authority. She became a slave to her authority, letting it wield her until she broke. You are different, seemingly content to disregard it, ignoring the countless people who dream to possess even a fraction of your power. I was, am, Empress, I wished to expand my land to all five seas and be able to claim to have bathed in each. Thus, I wielded my authority, commanded my armies in combat and achieved my desires."
I shake my head.
"I'm hardly unwilling to use my power to change the world, but I'd hope I wouldn't wage war for reasons like that."
"But you would for other reasons; the desires you can only satisfy through violence. You greedily wish to possess things and you use your power to grab those things and keep them close with your claws. You might tell yourself you are shielding them with those claws, but I have my doubts you would freely let go."
Her chair does turn as she speaks, turning her away from the water and towards the track where Artoria and Atalanta are still going at it. With one hand she waves towards the pair.
"If your King or your new pet wished to leave, would you let them?"
That…hits a little closer to home than I'd like. My finger taps the side of my leg as I take a breath and think.
"I…trust Artoria enough to believe that that situation would not occur, not out of the blue without me having done something to trigger that. So, I'd avoid that situation as best I could. And Atalanta…While emotionally I can't deny I'd prefer it didn't happen, if she truly found someone she cared about more than me I'd hope I wouldn't force her against her will. Earnest support is better than forced obedience, after all."
Semiramis shakes her head, long black hair shifting as she does.
"Naive. Exceptionally naive. 'Earnest' loyalty comes and goes like the wind, but forced obedience is guaranteed provided one maintains one's power. As long as the ruler is supreme, subservience is guaranteed."
"That's just transferring the point of failure from 'the other's sense of loyalty' to 'your own force', while also ensuring your subordinates will be motivated to undermine you to break free."
"And yet you took no issue of binding us all."
That draws a wry smile from me. "Fair. The nature of my power, and the nature of most of my bound being Servants makes that nigh-impossible to avoid. But I'm also trying to keep that binding as loose as humanly possible, and certainly never intend to use it to either forcefully or subtly compel, which I could."
Semiramis then gestures towards herself.
"Then what of me? If I found an Ara would you let me free?"
"If you found an Onnes, I'm not going to become a Ninus. But I can't say I wouldn't have a problem with you claiming an Ara; declaring a war just to possess one man carries all the problems you sensed I had with your wars for the oceans."
Semiramis looks at me, something strange in her eyes, but then she brings the back of her hand up to her mouth and chuckles, tiling her head back and giving me a clear view of her cleavage. I don't turn away, but I do manage to keep my eyes on her face.
"You believe I declared that war solely to possess that king?! What foolish, petty nonsense." But then her voice turns serious again. "No. Ara was as a regional rival. His ambition clashed with mine, and mine proved superior."
"You just talked about how you wage war for your personal desires."
"Yes yes, Ara would have made an…enjoyable prize, and I did wish to bathe in the seas. But I'm not saying one should be a slave to your base desires like some beast, like my despicable predecessor. To rule, one must leash one's desires, use them as hounds to hunt but still always keep in mind that you are their master. There is balance to be struck between that fool Ninus and your King. My wars to reach the five seas both satisfied my personal desires while allowed for trade to flow into Assyria, and thus to me, from around the world. My war against Abyssina might have failed to claim my personal prize, but it removed a rival and expanded my authority all the same. Feeding one's private and grand desires at once is true success."
And then a though strikes Semiramis, and her eyes narrow.
"Also, after this discussion it seems I must make one matter clear. When you provide me a world to rule, it will be to rule as I see fit. You are not to be my suzerain, whom I must grovel to before I can act. Our agreement was for me to rule a world, not for you to rule the world through me as your puppet."
And now my eyes narrow.
"If we're being clear, then I should be clear. I'm doing this as a favour to you, because I think you're a competent leader and god knows some of these worlds need one of those rather than the shitheads they've got. But my current, overarching, goal is to improve the worlds I pass through. And I'm able to revisit worlds if I have to. I won't leash you into obedience, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't oppose a murderous tyrant."
A silent standoff ensues, but I'm not budging on this and I'm the one with the royal flush. I feel Semiramis' aggravation at me drawing hard lines for her, the moment drags on and I don't budge her scowl fades away and she gives a smile while waving her hand dismissively.
"In any case, this matter may be tabled until you have provided me the world. Now then, you may begin your explanations."
I can still feel a bubbling annoyance behind her mask, for all her apparent change in attitude, but I suppose she's right. As long as I don't budge on this topic, it doesn't really matter when it happens.
"Right. So. I said before there are two worlds possible; the first is relatively easy to explain. Did the Grail give you information on the 2nd and 3rd centuries of Ancient China?"
A manicured fingernail taps impatiently on the throne's armrests.
"Not in any real detail. I know a list of famed warriors of that period, but no more than that."
Less than I'd hoped, but it's still something I can build off.
"Right, so the very simple version is that around…180? AD the Han dynasty of China, having been hit by a series of disasters from famines to floods, is basically on its last legs. With the government incapable, a massive peasant uprising called the Yellow Turban Rebellion breaks out. The Empire is so weak it has to rely on regional warlords to put down the rebellion, which further weakens its authority. Then, during a palace power struggle at the capital, a warlord named Dong Zhou marches his army in, takes the child-Emperor as hostage and rubber stamp and begins to rule himself. Many of the other warlords take issue with Dong Zhou effectively declaring himself Emperor, and so they ally against him and start a civil war."
"And I assume these Warlords and their subordinates are the famed warriors I know of, who would become Heroic Spirits after death."
I nod.
"Some, yeah; this period has characters like Lu Bu, Guan Yu and Sun Jian. There's more to the story, though; after Lu Bu betrays and kills Dong Zhou over the beautiful Diaochan the warlords all begin to fight each other until, after a lot of shuffling around, three main power blocs emerge; Cao Cao's Northern Wei, Liu Bei's Western Shu-Han and Sun Quan's South-Eastern Wu. And that's the period which gives the Three Kingdoms its name. If you want more details before choosing you should check out both the Records and Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Actually-"
I think a moment and below us, in the library of the manor, two books appear for a second before they're teleported into my hand. I flip both open just to check, before rolling my eyes. The copies of Luo Guanzhong's classic and Chen Shou's historical text are all in Chinese. I suppose that the translations probably aren't freely available in the public domain, which is how I had instantly conjured the books rather than having to buy them physically, but thanks to my Communication Talent this isn't more than a minor annoyance. I hand the two books to Semiramis, who accepts with one hand before putting them on a side-table near her throne. Before the topic can end, I remember my disclaimer and point at the books.
"Just to note, those won't be 100% accurate; the world is a different, even more fantastical than the Romance. One where the main players will have the physical abilities of Servants though without many Noble Phantasm equivalents. And I don't know when we'd be appearing; it could be anywhere from the Yellow Turban Rebellion to after the Three Kingdoms have formed."
"Still, on your advice I will read the books. One final question; why offer this world to me?"
"The chaos of the time period, the wars and diseases and famines and floods and government collapse, is estimated to have caused some 30 million deaths. Just bringing things to an end faster would be a net good, and without the limitations of the Time Locks for that world, there'd be nothing capping how much it could improve further."
Semiramis pauses, then nods as she accepts my answer.
"Very well. Now, describe to me the second world you offer."
Right. This one.
"It's…similar in a way to Three Kingdoms. The main backdrop of the story is a massive Empire, much more technologically advanced than Han China, ruled over by a puppet child-Emperor who an evil Prime Minister is using as a rubber stamp. But it's…worse. The Empire isn't crumbling due to having lost its power, it's crumbling because Prime Minister Honest and his subordinates are absurdly, ludicrously evil. Like, holy shit." I rub my hand through my hair as I say this. God, Akame Ga Kill. "Anyways, they're really, really evil and so they're constantly suffering rebellions and infighting and assassinations. One of the chief generals of the Empire is a lady called Esdeath, who loves violence and murder and who intentionally performs atrocity after atrocity so as to incite unrest so she can murder more people in quelling the unrest."
I pause, collecting my thoughts again, while Semiramis regards me curiously.
"Anyways, the world also has Noble Phantasm-esque artifacts called Teigu, and the Empire controls most of those and hands them out to their elite fighters with Servant-level physicals. What few Teigu the rebels get mostly go to their secret assassination squad called Night Raid. They fight the Empire, assassinate key players, and lose some of their own but eventually the Empire is overthrown, Esdeath is killed and Honest is executed. But while I don't have hard census data, the fighting isn't ever easy or clean and Esdeath at one point tries to freeze the whole Empire because she decides that anyone who can't survive a sudden Russian Winter is too weak to leave alive."
"If you mean to sell me on this world, you are not succeeding. Explain why you believe it would be suitable for me to rule, not why you so clearly hate it."
"Right. Sorry. Basically, the advantages here is that you'd have a central government in place to suborne, though I imagine you'd need to purge a massive chunk of it for general crimes against humanity and widespread corruption. There'd be easy targets to go after without any remorse, we'd have allies we could work with in overthrowing Honest, and improving the world is simple; just end things as fast as possible and as cleanly as possible while killing as many of the monsters as we get the chance to. If you'd like, I've drawn up what I can remember of the major players. "
I pause, then pull the papers I'd written during my wait for Atalanta by the Grail from my inventory. Most of the pages are character sheets of sorts of the main characters of Akame Ga Kill I'd remembered, with what few details that had stuck about the overall setting filling less than a single page. I move to place them on top of the Romance by Semiramis' side, but the instant I set down the stack, it's lifted by an invisible force as Semiramis telekinetically grabs the stack.
"I will study the material you have provided on both worlds and let you know of my decision. However, I do have one final question; in the first world, I understand one might travel to Mesopotamia and acquire the necessary materials for my Gardens. However, the second world-"
I'm already making the purchases as she speaks and cut her off as the purchases are confirmed.
"I've got you covered there. You should now be able to construct the Gardens in any world, even one that didn't have an Assyria. And there's an underground warehouse complex below this mansion filled to the brim with the materials you need to make it."
Semiramis seems shocked into silence, and I feel our conversation has basically run its course.
"Also, you're invited to the dinner tonight. I'm going to be going over the next world there, and while you mightn't plan on attending, I'd imagine it might still be good to know where we're going next."
-
As the sun dips lower, I begin to prepare to make our dinners. As this is to be the last day in this world, followed by a general parting of the ways, my plan is to make everyone's chosen dish. Astolfo had pointed out the obvious fact I'd missed; the majority of people here are Servants, who don't need to eat 'standard' meals at all. There's no need to balance proteins and starches and reds and greens.
Which is how the table is laden not with normal dishes but with an eclectic mix of deserts, main courses and soups all at once. The chaotic energy of the dining table does fit with the chaotic energy of the people seated at it, at least. Atalanta has an apple pie, naturally, and shares small pieces with Kairi's daughter who is eating a childish version of her father's dry aged steak with soy sauce, bok choy and potatoes. Mordred's crockery has been replaced by a massive pot of meat stew, which contrasts hilariously with Fran's apple and acorn bread pudding next to her. Astolfo is eating cream cakes and curry and washing the two down with iced coffee in a cursed blend that had almost made me just cancel the project and just cook standardized normal meals for everyone. Justeaze had chosen a simple filet mignon with potato pancakes, while Jeanne had dithered between sausage pottage and loco moco, before finally deciding on both. Semiramis, to my left, chose dark bitter chocolate, while Artroia had once again requested grilled salmon, this time on a bed of white rice, which I'd also chosen for myself.
The cooking process itself is a nightmare, honestly, but Reinhard's speed and multitasking skills, as well as the effective extra hands I had with my Shroud-tendrils ensure the banquet is a grand success. I don't speak much, instead going over my internal notes for the upcoming presentation. My silence doesn't cause the table to be less lively though, and my companions are perfectly happy to fill in air with their voices, though the two Servants seated either side of me also fairly quiet; Artoria is concentrating entirely on her food, but what glances I throw Semiramis often find her sitting in quiet contemplation, clearly thinking about something.
Eventually, the meal draws to a close as even the extra food I'd made runs out. As I begin to dispose of the empty dishes, I mentally I reach out to Kairi, Justeaze and Jeanne to let them know the upcoming topic and the four make their exits. Their departure clues in the remaining Servants, and silence falls as all eyes turn towards me. I take a breath and will a whiteboard into existence behind me.
--crystalwatcher warnoff FEA Discussion–
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From memory, I sketch out the long oval of Regna Ferox, under it to the left the desert circle of Plegia and across to the right of Plegia, separated by mountains while still under Ferox the broken landmass of Ylisse. Thoughtlessly, I begin to draw the borders but stop almost immediately; it wasn't like the borders would matter, not anymore. Not after Grima. I turn back to the table, to see Astolfo's arm raised like this is a classroom. A nod prompts the Rider to speak.
"Is this the new world we're going to explore?"
"Yeah. Welcome to the continent of Ylisse. Population, much less than previous."
Behind me, I point at Ylisse. The country, not the continent. Fuck that's going to be annoying.
"See, in this world there are dragons with the power of gods. You have Naga, a mostly benevolent mother-figure dragon who doesn't like being worshiped and wants to see humanity thrive under their own power. She mostly keeps to herself, but she blessed the leaders of the country of Ylisse with some powers just in case. There's a history, in this world, of dragons self-styling themselves as gods and fucking things up for humanity, so she wanted to give humans a fighting chance against that."
And now my finger trails left into Plegia.
"Unfortunately, it doesn't work. Unlike its neighbour, Plegia worships Grima; a huge, six-winged evil draconic abomination who would like nothing better than to wipe the planet clean of all life, human, dragon, and everything else in between. In the past, one of Naga's chosen sealed Grima away for a millennia but we'll probably be arriving sometime after a multi-generational ritual has just succeeded in reviving it inside the body of the second-in-command of Ylisse's military, killing Chrom, the king of Ylisse, in the process."
Mordred gives a smile of satisfaction.
"So, we are to be dragon hunters then?"
I shake my head and begin to sketch, from memory, Grima's dragonform, six large feathered wings around a long snake-like body with a horned head.
"No. Grima is…frankly absurd. When I said huge, I meant…I'm not sure it's exact size but it's somewhere between a kilometre and a country in size, with the strength to match. It's also a master mage, specializing in necromancy but with enough power to brute force timetravel, and has made itself immortal to all but its own powers. I'm sure that an unsealed Rhon or an Excaliblast could-"
"Excaliblast?"
Several voices all speaking at once prompt me to turn around, where I make out Artoria's fairly unamused expression. Mordred and Astolfo, by contrast, are nodding in an appreciative way. Mordred, at least, stops nodding and speaks in support.
"What's the problem, Father? It's a cool name, right?"
"My blade is a holy sword representing the hopes of mankind." Artoria' sounds fairly put off by how irreverently her weapon was being treated. Though if she doesn't have a shorthand for the beam-
"So, how do you distinguish between the sword and the beam?"
Artoria's head tilts in confusion.
"The blade is Excalibur, and the beam is EX-calibur! That should be clear."
As clear as mud I guess, though the other Servants seem to get what she's saying. "…Well, in any case we could 'kill' Grima with my own Swordplay or an unsealed Excalibur or Rhongomyniad, but it'd just be pushing the problem down the road; in a millennia it'd be back to do it all over again."
"And I assume you wish for a permanent solution?"
"Right. My bite should be able to deal with Grima permanently, either by outright deltion or compelling suicide. If that doesn't work for whatever reason we can go the sealing route as a last resort; either personally or allying with one of Naga's chosen. And that brings me to another point: while the main objective is dealing with Grima, there are things to do first; people to rescue."
I turn back to the white board and, to the side of the map, jot down a list of names in the order they first come to mind. Lucina, Cynthia, Inigo, Brady, Kjelle, Laurent, Severa, Owain, Gerome, Nah, Noire, Yarne.
"These are the children of the most important people of Ylisse, with Lucina the standout as Chrom's daughter and the probable current leader. I'm expecting all the parents to be dead, but unless something's gone hideously wrong the kids should all be alive. Grima wants to save Ylisse for last for personal reasons, so has focused on wiping out all other life on the planet except for Ylisse, keeping that nation besieged by his undead armies until he can get back to it. So, our goal is fairly simple; to save the children, break the siege of Ylisse, and deal with Grima."
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--crystalwatcher FEA Discussion over–
The mood of the briefing is one of surprising positivity, at least from the Knight classes who all seem to relish the chance to play, heh, knight in shining armor against an evil dragon god. Semiramis has nothing really to add; we couldn't even make use of her new ability to craft her Garden in any world, the 72 hours of setup potentially already unworkable even before considering Grima's aerial dominance would result in her Garden getting spotted and drawing the personal attention of the monster. I field questions about the world, the people, and Grima and his Risen, but those eventually dry up and the briefing draws to a close.
Semiramis makes her graceful exit, but I catch Mordred's eye when she moves to leave with Fran. The knight gives Fran an apologetic pat on the shoulder before breaking off and heading towards me. I'm about to look for Artoria to do the same, when I feel her presence already approaching behind me. I feel Atalanta also linger, but now Mordred and Artoria are near me.
"Artoria, I need to talk with you and Mordred a moment. Well, not need but should."
The glance Artoria throws Mordred isn't hostile but curious. Mordred also seems a little intrigued, so I move ahead, addressing Artoria primarily.
"So, remember when we first met, how I said that my employer wanted me to win the Grail War? Well, we did. And now I have a choice of prizes; basic, raw power or 'The Family Reunion package'."
Artoria seems confused, but Mordred catches on quickly enough. Her hand violently clenches, and her voice sounds through grinding teeth.
"Hey, Master. Lemme throw a guess at that; it's summoning Morgan, like you summoned Father and my old Master's daughter, right?"
I nod, pulling my phone from my pocket and turning the screen, with Morgan's face and profile on it, towards them. Artoria's normally stoic expression shatters into one of…perturbment, while Mordred's clenched hand springs open, red lightning skipping around her as Clarent flickers into her hand. Even after I withdraw the phone and return it to my pocket, Mordred's too furious to speak and so Artoria takes over
"Why ask us, Master? You surely knew what our response would be."
"I guessed what it'd be, but still felt I should at least bring it up, just in case you wanted-"
"Listen. The only reason you'd have to summon her is so I can stick this blade into her myself. Otherwise, keep that shitty woman out of this!"
With that, Mordred spins on her heel and marches out of the room, violently slamming the doors open and then kicking them shut. Artoria doesn't make such a dramatic display, but is clearly in agreement with Mordred, so I suppose the matter is settled. Artoria turns back from where she'd been watching Mordred, collects herself. Meanwhile, I choose the first option, and can feel the points flow in. Before I can decide how I'm spending them, though, Artoria's voice draws me back to the present.
"I will not let the spectre of my sister ruin this moment. Master, I have emerged victorious in our competition!"
It takes me a half-second to work out what Artoria's talking about, and by that point Atalanta has detached herself from the wall she'd been leaning on to join us.
"Once. Out of countless races. We raced for hours." The last bit is said to me, accompanied by an eyeroll that indicated what Atalanta felt about having been stuck in the competition for that long. Still, Artoria doesn't let Atalanta's words phase her.
"Endurance is clearly an aspect of racing. I emerged victorious in our competition."
Atalanta scoffs but doesn't disagree further. Instead, her hand reaches out and clasps Artoria's even as her eyes turn towards me.
"And so, I return to my prior question Master."
I instantly turn to Artoria, to ask her, when I see how Artoria and Atalanta's fingers are intertwined. Still, Artoria speaks the answer to the question I hadn't asked.
"I…recognise this would not be traditional, but our situation is not a traditional one. I have seen the glances you have sent towards Atalanta, even if you have not acted upon them, and I cannot deny I do find Atalanta attractive. So, I am willing to…at least explore this possibility."
Atalanta's blush stands out against her pale skin and white hair, but she looks between the two of us without hesitation.
"You both fought to help me win my wish, you both gave up your chance at the Wish for me, you both defeated me in a race. This would not merely be for your pleasure, Master. I would be bound to both of you, or neither."
A proper three-way relationship, then. I can accept that. There's a greedy part of me, I can't deny, that sparks darkly at the idea of not being the exclusive focus of all parties, but as soon as I notice I work to squash that aspect down into nothing even as I reach out my hand towards the joined other two.
"Well, I can certainly give this a shot."
-
The breakfast table is noticeably shorter than it had been at dinner, now that there are four fewer permanent seats as the rest of us prepare for the new world once the meal is over. The fewer people also means that there's less conversations, which in turn means I can easily hear Mordred's voice, suddenly directed at me as breakfast begins to wrap up.
"Hey, Master? Have you and father been playing with cats? You've both got some bite marks-"
Artoria, more experienced at concealing her emotions, manages to keep her face a mask, but both Atalanta and I flinch and blush. An instant later, to my left, I hear the rich, dark laugh of Semiramis. Not the restrained chuckle she'd occasionally given out before, but a full-body laugh that leaves her shaking with mirth. As Mordred catches on and her wide-eyed gaze flicks between the three of us, Fran tilts her head in confusion as Astolfo leans across the table, ready as ever to explain the facts of life.
Notes:
Yes, the lunch description was based on what I was making for dinner that evening. No, you can't stop me doing it. The dinner one was more chaotic, as I went through every single character (or related character) to find what they specifically liked to eat. Some were easy (Atalanta), but Kairi and Justeaze specifically took some effort to find something even tangentially related, but I did eventually manage to track down some stuff even for them.
Before I started writing this chapter, I had absolutely no idea about the whole Type-Moon racing thing. I just thought that flag-waving Jeanne would make a good flag-waver in the race and when looking for art of Jeanne with a race flag came across some of the official race queen art of the Apocrypha cast. It's unfortunate that no matter how hard I searched I couldn't find a good pic of race queen Semi (nor a reason for her to wear it in-story) because oh boy.
In calcing the race speeds, I based Artoria's speed off of the FHA scene where she is given full mana to move via CS (at 4kms/just-over-1sec). Given Inexhuastible is constantly giving her full mana, that was her movement speed in the race. Reinhard's only real movement speed feat is his minimum-10km/s showing in Tsugihagu IF, so that was Rein's speed. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any real stuff for Fate-Atalanta despite, ya know, how she has a bit of a race focus, so I had to make up her speed and so stuck it between the two.
Astolfo remains a nightmare for me to write, and I know I'm taking the obvious coward option of just not engaging with him that much. I would have liked to do have him join Jeanne and Justeaze in just peacing out of most of the story except for when I want them back in, but I still can't see him in-character turning down the whole "have adventures in fantastic new worlds alongside King Arthur" thing, and I am trying my hardest to write everyone basically in-character. I'll just have to develop some spontaneity and unapologetic joy myself I guess, should be easy, right?
Rein's attempt at a more open polyarmory (albeit still with one 'main girl'), propensity for wearing white, and overall plan of 'help people (often women due to the mechanics of his power) out of jams and offer them the opportunity to join him for as long as they want' did make me think "hey, is this just turning into a kind of fantasy Naze Turbine?'. Hopefully no Idioks with railguns around this time I guess. And maybe less organized-crime-stuff, though 'gift Semiramis a world' is probably going to be like 99% criminal activity.
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