บท 63: Under Arrest?
Fuyuki, Japan,
Mount Ryuudou (Destroyed),
Roman Trambelio ran a hand through his hair, smiling in his usual, practised, annoying way as he fixed his coat, "You look like you just saw me for the first time." The Magician cum God spoke calmly, only now observing the state of his two servants as well as the even further ruined state of the 'mountain', not that it could be called that anymore.
His smile widening, Roman placed both hands on his cane and spoke enthusiastically, "I'm sure you have your questions. Well, go on. Ask away." Perhaps it was his jovial mood that made him say that and it was an understandably big deal for those around them, the Trambelio wasn't someone who divulged much of anything to anyone until the information was entirely irrelevant.
"Are you... my Master?" Kagetora narrowed her gaze, her grip on her weapons loosening, she didn't want to raise her blade against him... Even if someone was just assuming his form. It would be... difficult.
"Of course he is. That aside....." Reassuring the Lancer, Tamamo folded her arms, turning to Roman with defeated eyes, "Could you not have told me of this before?" The fox-eared woman sighed, rubbing her forehead, "You gave poor Tamamo quite the shock." For a moment, she'd thought something terrible had happened to the man she chose to devote herself to.
"I... would like an explanation." Kagetora spoke carefully, slowly approaching the raven haired man she called Master.. Even if his 'aura' was now of a regular human's with nothing special about it, the War God of Echigo couldn't forget the horrid and vile yet divine nature it had not moments ago, an evil deity? Her code dictated she not let such a being run amok unchecked.
"The best explanation is, you're looking at.." Roman gestured to himself, still smiling, "You're technically looking at Angra Mainyu..." Feeling the servant hesitate at that and even tense up made him feel a bit sad for some reason but he continued all the same, "However, I do assure I'm still very much Roman."
The personalities would merge if Angra Mainyu was still well, Angra Mainyu when Roman had become his vessel alas, that wasn't the case at all. The end product was the very real birth of Zoroastrianism's God of Evil, Ahriman but as Roman Trambelio. In essence, he wasn't the human Roman Trambelio but rather, the human Roman Trambelio had become the God Ahriman.
It was a bit convoluted but then again, what did they expect? This verse was pretty convoluted as a whole.
"Why? For power?" Tamamo questioned, a bit estranged, had her Master surrendered his humanity for power? Not that she minded, his life would be as long as or longer than hers now and she was glad for that.. yet, it was a bit unexpected.
"To be honest, I just wanted the bragging rights." Roman shrugged playfully, chuckling as a scenario played out in his mind.. This had given him innumerable new ideas for his day to day antics.
"Bragging rights? Master, do you realise the gravity of what you've done?" Tamamo sighed again, feeling a headache come on, she was happy for him, truly she was.. but, taking the authority of an evil god? Nay, All The World's Evil? And his Divine Core? No, becoming him?
It would be a different matter entirely if it had just been some evil god but no, this was all ALL the World's Evil! As a being born from the Sun Deity Amaterasu, there were few better versed in the ways of the Divine than her. Did he not get that? Did he not get what that implied? It meant every single form of evil to exist, even if just as idle thought, could be attributed to him! Sure it gave him power over said evil too but that wasn't part of the topic.
"No, this just happened by chance." Roman smiled sarcastically, somewhat touched by the servant's care but relatively unfazed by her behaviour, it wasn't like he hadn't weighed the pros and cons before doing this...
Sure it might give him a metric shit ton of new enemies but it also gave him a Divine Core, a Divine Core from a Deity on a higher plane of existence than most others, rendering a lot of harm just null. Not to mention the sheer magical energy a Divine Core naturally housed, it was of course, weakened a bit by the deletion of the original personality but that would heal with time..
Why?
Well, because Ahriman was now a real God of Evil.
In the end though, a reveal of his new true nature would be ultimately detrimental to his other 'plans', working on the basis of him being human so it would stay hidden until he decided otherwise.
"What's these bragging rights though?" Kagetora put a hand on her chin, smiling wickedly as she stood firmly by her Master's side, already over the whole 'evil god' part. She didn't really care, it was pretty obvious that he was still himself, at least to her.
"Oh yeah that.." Roman's smile widened to epic proportions, "Painter gets rejected, commits genocide? My fault. Your neighbour deliberately throws trash outside your home, my fault. Someone takes the parking space meant for the disabled, my fault. And we can go all day." The Magician laughed maniacally, on purpose, enjoying his new status to the fullest.
"I can see how that would be amusing." Kagetora nodded sagely, her eyes closed as if they were discussing a matter not meant for the common man, of incredible wisdom.
Looking at the two 'goofing off', Tamamo couldn't help but let another sigh slip through her lips, feeling a bit too mature for this conversation... And that just felt wrong for some reason, how was it that they were getting along that well?
"But well Master, I still believe..." Kagetora softly touched Roman's face, or rather, his cheek, smiling fondly, "That the gold was a good colour."
"You remember?" Roman's one eye widened ever so slightly, he'd been certain the airhead would completely forget it when she next awoke..., "....."
"Course I do." Kagetora grinned mischievously, patting Roman's shoulder a few times, "But the red ain't so bad either? I approve." She gave him a thumbs up accompanied by a toothy grin.
"Oya? What's this about?" Tamamo no Mae approached the duo with curious eyes, her ears standing up and her tails swaying about excitedly, she would just support this decision in the end, and protect him from any that would seek to do him harm....
The Caster did somewhat doubt his new Divine status would be much of a problem though, considering even she felt him human.... Her Master was undeniably great at masking his capabilities but, she supposed that made a fair bit of sense.
-
Then, when all seemed well and good, with the Sun shining brightly in the sky, and the Grail War finally over for good, came the hard part.. The fact that their agreements were coming to an end.
"I suppose this is goodbye Master... I would prefer if you did this quickly..." Kagetora spoke in a tone devoid of emotion, feeling unusually empty, unsatisfied with 'this'.
The Grail War was over and so was their time together.
"Master...." Tamamo no Mae, only remembered the situation, reminded of it by the Lancer and so came back the dread.. She knew he didn't really have much need for her anymore, not as a living breathing Deity but even so,
"....."
The Caster thought to plead with him to let her stay and yet, found nothing to say. As intelligent as she was, contrary to what one might think, it was easy to realise nothing she said would be enough... Declaring her feelings wouldn't end well either, not with someone as materialistic and ambitious as Roman... What would not be of use would be thoroughly discarded in his even now active pursuit of something she was yet to discover....
Still... past that, there was compassion and kindness, a certain loneliness to his being... The Caster hoped a plea to that would be enough... He had helped and accepted one such as her, something she seldom received...
With her eyes closed, the Caster, understanding that words simply wouldn't be enough, simply threw herself at her Master, wrapping her arms around his head and kissing him... awkwardly, lacking any real experience in the department... A deep blush, it's colour matching that of Roman's eye, spread across her face....
"Oh my..." Kagetora put a hand over her mouth, sneering at the activities occurring before her. Much more amused than estranged.. It was strange seeing the docile fox eared woman be so.. well, pushing?
Yet moments later, the Caster fell back, gasping for breath as Roman simply stared down at her with a small grin, "Y'know, I was about to say I could sustain you two pretty easily...." The Magician wiped his lips, but well, "Confirmation is nice too though."
"Then?"
"I'd have you by m-"
Their moment was brought to an abrupt and harsh halt by a massive boom not more than a few metres from where they stood,
"You... are hereby placed under arrest."
A prideful yet emotionless but incredibly powerful voice, followed by the crack of a whip...
"As a courtesy to your lineage, I offer you the choice to simply come back peacefully. The other choice is of course, me dragging you back.."
"Well isn't that cute?" Roman sneered, ignoring the visibly angered Tamamo and intrigued Kagetora, and paying attention to the new arrival... He looked at the whip, the short dark hair and a very old sense of fashion... This was..., "Welcome, Lorelei."
"That's Lady Bartholomei to you." The woman, now identified as Lorelei Bartholomei, cracked the whip in her hand once again, raising her head ever so slightly... An act befitting a woman from the Bartholomei, the leaders of the Aristocratic Faction of the Clocktower, an ancient family, and personally, the woman holding the title of 'The Queen'.
"Ooh kinky, are we?" Roman, as always, seemed barely fazed by the authority and presence of his new 'foe'... This was unexpected... or was it?
"I'd heard of your sense of humour.." The Bartholomei cracked a small smile, "But I find myself disappointed.... You're quite terrible at making jokes." Lorelei believed she had one over the notoriously sharp tongued Trambelio... only to be made aware of just why he was notorious.
"Maybe, but your parents sure aren't... I mean.." The Magician looked the woman up and down with a massive grin, "Look at you."
Lorelei's lips twitched but she remained as calm as ever, "I take it you choose force?"
"Oh by all means no..." Roman offered his hands, putting them together, an annoying smile on his face, "Take me away."
""Master?""
The two servants stared at their Master, curious as to why, confident that they could make short work of the haughty human magus...
"You can return with Thea and Sakura... I'll be going back with her." Roman smiled strangely, reassuring them that he still had everything under control with a small gesture only they caught, "Do I get to know why?"
"You'll be made aware in the presence of the Lords of the Clocktower."
"I must've done something downright horrendous for the Queen to crawl out the ass of your beloved dead apostles..." Roman chuckled with his one eye closed, "I choose phone a friend."
"Who?" Lorelei supposed she could allow that much, so long as he didn't call his father.. That man had been the one to authorise this after all.. She couldn't have moved on the son of a faction head just like that... even if she technically came here fooled, this was no dead apostle! She was going to rip out someone's throat today.
"Melvin Weins."
===
Share thoughts mfs.
-
You can find up to 7 chapters ahead at patre0n.com/stoned_face
สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์
-- การจัดอันดับด้วยพลัง 
-- หินพลัง