Chapter 1: Prologue: The Dead Apostle
Chapter Text
READ THE AN'S BEFORE YOU GET STARTED ON A NEW CHAPTER PLEASE. BOTH PRE AND POST CHAPTER AN'S.
Fate/stay night.
That's where it all began with this series. A visual novel that went into 3 different directions depending on your choices, and one that was well crafted, leaving a long-standing legacy with a sequel, a prequel, several spin-offs as well as anime serializations, films and other various video games.
The franchise has its high and low points, but I digress as it opened me up to something truly amazing. It wasn't until my friend on here SliferMK2 really started getting me into the TYPE-MOON lore that I realized that the Fate anime's and manga's that I had been watching & reading was just the tip of the iceberg. Tsukihime, Melty Blood, Kara no Kyoukai (Garden of Sinners), Notes, Lord El-Melloi II Case Files (Which also got an anime now!); the list goes on and on.
But what I certainly noticed in many things whether it be the anime, manga or games, was that there was always a character, or at least a piece of one character within that series: Saber, aka Arturia Pendragon: The King of Knights and King of Camelot.
She is such a tragic character, and her tale is one to take lessons from, but also in a way, something that inspired many to make her tale of Camelot as something akin to a dream of building a bright future where people could live in peace, with just leaders and just laws to guide them, and defend them from the darkness of the world that threatened them.
As I read her backstory, the more I felt that she had been dealt a bad hand in life being forced to take up the burden of kingship at such a young age and unable to truly enjoy life and all the joys it held for her. For those of you who have seen the original Fate/stay night(2006) series, her ending while more peaceful than before is still bittersweet :'( . Her ending in Unlimited Blade Works, was one of two things to which I much preferred the Good Ending (Sunny Day) as opposed to the True Ending. And Heaven's Feel… poor Arturia… there could've…! *SIGH*
Nonetheless, the Secret Ending of Fate/stay night (Last Episode) was something that warmed my heart with Arturia finding happiness in the afterlife.
There was a Naruto crossover story called "Heaven's Feeling", a one-shot per say of Naruto finding himself in her service as a knight not long after she formed the Knights of the Round Table, leading up somethings that led them to have a child together and she was resurrected centuries afterwards to reunite with them.
This really made me want to do something else like it, and with a lot of help from SliferMK2 (again props to him for all the help he's put in to aid me in this story as well as many others), this story sprung up. This will take place within the Fate universe, but it will have elements and characters from other various works of TYPE-MOON. Now I know some of you will immediately site Nasu and his "Tsukihime stuff can't happen in Fate Worlds" rhetoric but he and a lot of other TYPE-MOON writing staff break and contradict their own rules all the time and then hand wave it away.
I mean the opening panel of Prisma Illya literally says "We've really messed around with canon but don't say anything about the changes." So to cut a long story short I am using elements from all across TYPE-MOON in an effort to make a better story, not to spit in Canon lover's faces.
I'm gonna apologize ahead of time as parts of Type-Moon I'm still unfamiliar with, but I will do my best to try and make this story as good as I can.
And thus, I introduce you all to…
Those Who Dance in the Moonlight: A NarutoxFate Story
Prologue – The Dead Apostle
"You know with that broadsword of yours my king, you're at a severe disadvantage if the opponent gets close to you like this."
"Then… would you please instruct me in the ways of defending myself from these fighting styles?"
"I would be honored to do so. But…! I have but one mandate. You must listen to all of what I have to say as I teach you and pay heed to it. You never know when you'll need it one day."
"I will make every ounce of effort to do so. And, Naruto if I may say this. I am glad we met on that cloudy day upon a sun baked field."
"…t-thank you, my King. I—"
"Naruto! As your King, I do appreciate that you show respect to me, but right now, it is simply you and I. Whenever we're alone like this, then you may call me Arturia."
"I… I'm glad we can address each other like this."
"Now, let us begin before hunger takes us both!"
"As you say, Arturia… 'Hunger is the enemy!'."
-Now, 1993-
Naruto awakened from his sleep with drowsy eyes as the sun began to shine through the windows of his bedroom. While you would never go as far as to call him an early riser, Naruto always seemed to find himself waking earlier than he would of liked regardless of the flaming ball of plasma hanging in the sky.
He really should've gotten some black curtains to block it out.
Taking a look at his alarm clock, he saw that it was an hour 'till noon. "Ugh... Rocco's gonna kill me…" the blonde grumbled out before looking around the quickly lite room of his home away from home. He was in his workshop doing overtime for his pet project, and turned in a little too late last night, "I wonder what kiddo is doing right now?" Deciding to finally get out of bed, Naruto went to the adjoining bathroom to get ready for the rest of the day.
Turning the light on, he was met by the visage of red eyes that he received not long after arriving here: the eyes that one would receive when they became a Dead Apostle.
A vampire.
That's right. Naruto Uzu-f*cking-maki, had become a vampire, or Dead Apostle as apparently the term 'vampire' was used as a broad term to describe those that sucked blood to extend their lifespan. While he himself was fangless, he had only turned one other person into a being similar to himself to save her life. The odd thing was he had never felt a thirst for blood, though the mystery had been solved once he was made aware of his origin.
Either way, he never indulged, or felt the need to suck the blood of others. Something he prided himself on. Looking at the red eyes in their sockets, and the Command Seals(1)on his left hand, memories of Team Seven's battle with Kaguya swam to the surface, "Sasuke..."
"Sorry, Naruto…"
"…Sasuke?"
"But I can't let you stop what comes next."
-381 AD-
Naruto was struggling to keep going, having been pushed to the brink. Even his Six Paths Mode has been exhausted, as trace amounts of it still clung to his body. Everything hurt from the tips of his toes to the ends of his hair was utterly throbbing with mind numbing pain that rivaled a dip in acid. What kind of monster was this? Naruto had fought demons and gods but this... THING that wore the shape of a man made them all seem like children in the face of... inevitability.
"You know, you're not bad. If you had really been at full power, you might've been able to put me in a bad position. Then again, I'm hardly going all out either." The voice of Naruto's opponent spoke up.
Naruto's forehead was bleeding, and the blood dripping down obscured his vision, leaving him to only make out the silhouette of the being he had been fighting. Naruto had been stuck in this strange new land for about a year now, trying to gain information in an attempt to go home. But then one evening as the sun dipped below the horizon of the western continent, he appeared. He had come to simply challenge Naruto to a fight after sensing his power, and while Naruto knew that he wasn't at full strength having been betrayed by Sasuke, he felt that he didn't exactly have a choice but to combat this man.
He had used everything, peerless Taijutsu, Ninjutsu that could only ever be considered as forbidden and even the various transformations he had attained in his long quest. None worked. The man simply dodged, withstood or smacked aside attacks that would have made Madara Uchiha quiver in fear, all the time with an interested look in his eye. If Naruto still held the immaturity of his younger self he would have called it an unfair fight. He would have sited not yet being fully restored, that he was fighting an unconventional opponent and the World itself was actively attempting to crush him away the higher he pushed his power. But Naruto knew deep down that even if all these problems had been fixed this thing would still likely be his end.
With the Shinigami seemingly sitting on his shoulder Naruto had put absolutely everything into an attack. His chakra supply, Senjutsu, Six Path Senjutsu and whatever Kurama had left. Giving it his all, his last Jutsu; the Tailed Beast Rasenshuriken was fired at the man with a speed that Naruto himself could barely track. An attack that was capable of destabilizing Kaguya's entire body… barely scratched his opponents arm.
The response had been Naruto's opponent raising said scorched arm with a two word announcement, a single whisper that carried over the land; causing a spear of wind as long as the Shinju Tree had been tall to phase into existence. The blond couldn't dodge, even if he could see it coming he was simply too tired and too slow. The lance had struck him into the dirt before it carved a massive canyon that stretched for almost 300 miles.
"Oddities and contradictions. Uniqueness and outward thought, these things are what fascinated me about this world." The man spoke as if discussing the weather. "When I headed the call of Gaia all those years ago I never would have thought that something like you could occur. You clearly hold divinity within your body, yet the Age of God's has been over for nearly four hundred years. Gaia attempts to expunge you as she would an invader yet coddles you for being able to use her power, art thou a denizen of some parallel world?"
"Well, either way, I'm curious as to what your future holds. But given how little you were able to do against me; I suppose I can leave you with a gift." Naruto turned to see the silhouette behind him.
"What… gift…?"
"This."
The next thing Naruto knew, was that the man bit down onto the crook of his neck and he felt his blood being sucked from him for an instant, "GHAAAAH!" The pain began to intensify as he felt the man's teeth leave the crook as Naruto clutched the wound and writhed in pain.
He began to scream and grunt in pain, as Naruto felt something course through his body. Kurama was unable to do anything as despite still having him within his body… whatever Sasuke did to send him here had left the fox in a 'chibi' form with much of his power drained, and severing the vocal link they had, but he knew the fox was trying to stave off whatever was going on in his body.
But it was too late. It wasn't so much of an infection as it was his body being overwritten into something of this new world.
"You'll thank me when all is said and done, have a good evening. Oh, and welcome Number Seven." The victor stated nonchalantly before turning on his heel to leave.
Naruto wasn't going to forget this jackass, "H-Hey! You b-bastard! Who… ugh! WHO ARE YOU?!" All he could make out was that the man turned to face him, and saw his blood red eyes.
"I'm Brunestud of the Crimson Moon. Have a pleasant eternity, young man."
On that day, Naruto had not felt pain like this before, as he eventually passed out with darkness eventually rolling over the day, turning into the night.
-Now-
Finishing up in the bathroom, he began to get ready for the day and prepare for the coming events within a few years. Getting dressed in a plain orange t-shirt and black pants, Naruto went over to his desk where he had a few letters among other things laying with stuff from the association, his friends within it and the newspaper.
He recalled when he first arrived, that a damned annoying voice told him to 'kill all humans', and it irritated him to no ends.
Turns out it was Gaia as he found out later on in life. Upon arriving in this world Naruto had felt a cruising pressure from all sides from the Counter Force. His destructive potential combined with the fact he was an 'alien invader' had prompted the Counter Force to attempt to remove him from existence to save the planet. Naruto had later worked out that Kurama had received the same treatment leading to his drastically reduced size. He had activated Sage Mode to strengthen his body enough to withstand the pressure but the moment he did the pressure... ceased.
While it was still debated as to weather the Counter Force was truly sentient or just a defense mechanism, the sentience of the planet, Gaia, had observed him becoming one with nature and began to treat him as it would an extension of its will, like an Elemental or Lesser Fae.
Though apparently, she didn't try to kill him for some reason despite the fact that he wouldn't do her bidding. He chalked it up to his own affinity for Senjutsu and special connection with nature, but whatever.
Naruto turned to the handmade portrait(2)on the edge of his desk with the painting ofherwithin it. He had seen various depictions of her over the centuries, but they never could capture her image properly and they all lacked one thing that he added to this one when he made it: a small, but gentle and loving smile.
"It won't be long now, you know."Naruto's gaze passed to a box on the other side of the room.
"Yeah…"
"I'll see you again, soon…"
-467 AD-
It had been a little over 80 years since he had turned. And Naruto found that he would never age. He would regenerate from any wound received with ease to the point he was no longer sure if he was 'healing' or if time was regressing back to the point prior to damage. He was part of the group of beings called vampires: bloodsuckers. He hated what he had been turned into, to not be able to walk into a village for fear of people running in fear or priests taking up arms against him.
However, this gave him the time to get stronger and recover the power he lost previously when he arrived here. There were quite a few caveats but he had gotten used to them.
But… he never once felt the urge to bite anyone. Even when he saw blood, that supposed urge that he heard that vampires had for it, never overcame him. In fact, he'd be repulsed if he had to suck someone's blood to survive.
Naruto crossed paths with two of those that served Brunestud: Merem and Blackmore. He had become numb to their lectures on how he should give praise to the Crimson Moon that had 'sired him' They annoyed him more than anything else really, but they would put up a good fight. It wasn't until he made it in time to see Brunestud get struck down by a very weird man.
Naruto could say without any shadow of a doubt that Brunestud, the King of Vampires, and Ultimate One of the Moon was a person beyond him. Even with all his old power and those he had developed as a Dead Apostle he doubted that he would come out victorious if they were to clash again. So when he saw what appeared to be a regular human pushing Brunestud to the brink he was unsure of what to think.
A young man of black hair and brown eyes was manipulating the power of space-time in ways that would've made his dad and Obito green with envy. True Magic, a power that defies sense. Naruto had watched how the young man, empowered perhaps by the Counter Force had lay waste to any obstacle in his path in the pursuit of defeating TYPE-MOON, Naruto would have joined him if Blackmore and Merem had not rushed to their Master's aid to hold him back.
Naruto could still remember vividly the scene of Brunestud throwing the literal moon at the young man... though what he remembered more was the young man using True Magic to throw it right back. Brunestud had got a bite in just before perishing, turning the young man into an old man with hair of grey and eyes of red.
Said man was walking alongside him right now in fact…
"Hey! What's with that look, Fishcake? You do know we're heading to the gathering right?" Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg. Clad in robes of black and dark green, the 'old man of gems' clutched a cane in his gloved hands, topped by a ruby that sat right on the border between tasteful and ostentatiously large.
The man that killed Brunestud, someone that Naruto wanted to have a rematch against, but was too late having to deal with the bastard's lackeys. Turns out, Zelretch had a prankster mentality that was exacerbated by the Second Magic, which arguably made the old man a giant troll, even by Naruto's standards of trolling that spoke a lot. He befriended the magician shortly after and told him of trying to get back to his home dimension, or rather reality as he was told by Zelretch.
And while Zelretch can apparently cross between realities, trying to find a specific one can be extremely difficult as there's simply too many to count. Thus, Naruto was forced to accept that it'd be a long time before he could get home, if it was even possible at such a point given that there was no telling where or when his reality could be.
His eyebrow twitched at the name that people always got wrong and he'd correct them…"Not that the old crotchety man would stop."That was another thing. Kurama was reduced to the size of a chibi in an effort to save Naruto when they were forced into this world. While his size was reduced, his power had gone down a margin, but the decades spent trying to recover had allowed him to recover at least half of the power he once held, although the size was still a problem for Kurama.
"Yeah, and a chibi fox commenting on it doesn't help."
"Why you little sh*t."
He hated being called a chibi. Speaking frankly Naruto actually had no idea how old Zelretch was, because while he had seen him aged into oblivion after being bitten by Crimson Moon the amount of time that Zelretch spent outside of the traditional time axis was abstract, for all Naruto knew it could have been a thousand years for him since they last spoke. To avoid headaches of existential proportions Naruto simply thought of the Second Magician as an old man.
Naruto looked to the man with annoyance, "I would say that it means Maelstrom—"
"Which you just did." Zelretch bit back, smirking at him.
"—but considering where we're heading to—"
"And you might get lucky with a woman."
A tick mark appeared on Naruto's forehead, "—no comment—It'd be a whole lot better if you didn't immediately ruin any cred I'd get here. If that's even possible." When Zelretch killed Brunestud and his corpse vanished -with it somehow going to the moon and it turned red for an instant before returning to the white that it normally was- the magician had become number Four of the Twenty Seven Dead Apostle Ancestors. He went on to explain the whole business of what it all meant and while it mostly just went in one ear, and out the other, Naruto realized that Brunestud had made him Number Seven that day when he told him.
Zelretch 'lightly' patted him on the back before speaking again, "Well you are the Number Seven. That's enough cred right there. People here will know you've got enough bite to back up the bark, and they won't screw with unless you do the screwing first. Though that may not be too hard with some women—"
"I'M NOT GONNA BONE SOME RANDOM CHICK, DAMMIT!" Naruto took a swipe at the old man, but he vanished before the fist could land a hit, with Zelretch merely tapping him on the shoulder with his cane.
"You know, one could be more grateful for bringing a brat into a nice social gathering like this. I mean, I could've just up and left ya back on the other side of the world." Naruto turned to see Zelretch with a mock expression of hurt, "Oh the young these days, they never seem to give the elderly any respect or good manners."
One of the many caveats of being a Dead Apostle was that certain things were a lot harder to get used to, his chakra circulatory system acted as Magic Circuits of high number and quality. But unfortunately not many people would willingly teach him Magecraft due to fear of him biting them. Traveling long distance was annoying as hell as Gaia had massively reduced the range of Hiraishin. The first time Naruto attempted to cross a river he had nearly passed out and drowned because Apostle's have an aversion to crossing running water.
It had taken twenty five years for his body to adjust enough to water walk and properly swim again but traveling from one side of the earth to the other was for the moment impossible without the troll's aid.
Naruto just thought it'd be stupid to not accept his invitation to get to where actual civilization was at, though he was hoping they'd at least have some indoor plumbing or ramen. Sad to say, Zelretch said neither one existed right now…
…the horror…
Zelretch's expression shifted to seriousness as they approached a large cathedral with two men standing guard, "Well, it looks like we're here, kid." Naruto turned to see that both men were actually humans going by their eyes.
"What's with these guys standing guard?" Naruto murmured to himself mostly, though Zelretch caught it.
"Probably familiars. They serve long enough and stay loyal enough, they'll get turned by their master." Naruto had found out that ethereal beings did in fact exist in this world, and they could at times take physical form. But he didn't think that people would willingly offer themselves up like that. Naruto guessed that they got talked into the role, and saw the pros outweigh the cons.
Both men looked at Naruto and Zelretch, eyeing them closely to see if they were either familiars, or actually part of the gathering taking place inside the large 'church' if it could be called that from what Naruto saw. It was old and decrepit, with bits and pieces falling off the building, but the feeling of an intangible barrier let Naruto know that a Bounded Field had been set up to make the building look completely abandoned. The guards opened the gate and let the two Dead Apostles through not saying a word. Whether it was out of respect, or fear, Naruto couldn't tell since they looked like statues.
The duo eventually reached the main door with Zelretch taking the lead inside as Naruto followed the older man, taking in the sight of many people, all of which were Dead Apostles or True Ancestors going by their blood red eyes, just like his own. The interior of the former church was drastically different with exquisite decorations and furniture set up, with fire in vases lighting up the place. All of them were conversing with one another, though several glances and face about were thrown their way, no doubt they knew that Naruto and Zelretch were both turned by Brunestud, the top dog around most of the world from what Zelretch told him, that is until the magician 'sent him away'.
"Well, well, well… it looks like people are actually keeping their distance." Zelretch smirked a bit as he turned to Naruto, "Hey, make sure to grab some of the drinks, seriously that wine is to die for in this day and age… or it will be? It's good wine either way. I'm going to go see just who's stupid enough to fall for any of my tricks and have them begging me to show them how I do it." Naruto just arched a brow at the magician, knowing that he was just going to keep making them beg.
Not to say he wouldn't have done the same thing himself, although he wouldn't want to piss off anybody on Brunestud's level, however he wasn't getting that kind of vibe off a lot of the other vampire's here, save for a few.'Thank god bird boy and rat man aren't skulking around…'Naruto thought seeing no sign of Merem or Blackmore. Naruto mainly stuck to the shadows of the gathering, eventually going out to one of the balconies to look over the forested landscape below. Then he felt one of said vampire's approaching him with a signature very much like Brunestud's.
"Hello." A young feminine voice cut his thoughts as he turned to see the source. She couldn't have been more than 14 years old... physically speaking. Lucius black hair that gleamed as crow feathers do cascaded in an inky waterfall down to the middle of her thighs. Clad in an off the shoulder black dress that billowed out like a bell, concealing her legs and feet while both arms were clad in richly tailored silk opera gloves. In summary she was the image of noble adolescent beauty.
"You might as well say something back, otherwise you'll insult her."Kurama chided. Naruto would've said something back, though he figured the girl would've gotten rather impatient since she did the courtesy of starting things politely.
"Uhm, hey. I'm Naruto." He didn't know why, but he stretched his hand out for her to take it. Normally Naruto would've assumed being a vampire meant not having any body heat if the stories were true, and since he was a unique case, well he didn't expect her hand to be so warm and full of life.
The girl smiled as she took his hand and shook it briefly before performing a proper curtsy, lifting her dress and crossing her legs, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Naruto. Although don't you have a last name?" Her brow raised inquisitively. Now, Naruto wasn't one to freely give his full name, lest he risk someone with a grudge or wanting to pick a fight with him if only on a whim, like Brunestud.
However, once again his own bit of politeness rose up to act, "Uzumaki actually." Although… "Any chance you can keep that to yourself though? I don't want my name getting passed around so flippantly and people picking a fight over nothing."
The girl giggled slightly at Naruto's awkward expression, finding some joy in how he worded the request, "I won't say anything, although you may be at a disadvantage with some already knowing your name." Naruto could only wonder how, to which the girl was able to read his thoughts if going by his expression of worry, "While people may not know what you look like, they know your name. The one that made that ruckus on the other side of the world when you fought against Brunestud. He bragged how much potential you had when he started telling people how he turned you into Number Seven."
Well, sh*t…
At least Naruto had some form of anonymity amongst the people here, Great… The girl patted him on the shoulder to put him at ease, "If it's any consolation, no one here will want to challenge you. Given who it is that turned you and the company you keep. Anyways, I'm Number Nine: Altrouge Brunestud, it's a pleasure to meet you," The hairs on the back of Naruto's neck stood up as his eyes widened in surprise.
"You wouldn't happen to be…"
"Related?" The girl, now identifying herself as Altrouge shook her head, "No, not even slightly. The only real reason why I have it is due to compatibility as a potential vessel I am to Brunestud himself. Amongst other reasons…." That made sense in Naruto's mind. He recalled that many ninjas while not related, had the same name only due to their reputations being on the same level.
Sensing that Naruto still was weary of her, Altrouge decided to offer something up, "I'm not here to start trouble, in fact. I'd like to try and help you." Naruto seemed skeptical. Back then, if someone just randomly offered aid in some form or another, they'd be asking for a payment of sorts, whether it be money or a debt that would be paid later on,
"Is there a catch that I'm not seeing?" Naruto didn't want to seem like a dick to this girl, but it was better to be cautious than stupid like he used to be.
Time really made him like this.
Altrouge shook her head, "Nope. No catch at all. Fina-blood," Altrouge snapped her fingers and from behind her emerged a tall Dead Apostle of Balkan features. He presented an object to Altrouge before melting back into the shadows, leaving the two alone. Altrouge held it out for Naruto, "I want to help you out, like I said." Naruto took the item and saw that it was a small block of silvery white metal, however he felt something off with it, as he fiddled with the piece.
"That's a special piece of Mithril mined from lands under my jurisdiction, incredibly rare but durable beyond measure and regarded as the best conductor for Magecraft. I want to help you get stronger. In this world, people like us need to have more strength and peers to keep going, otherwise we get bored and people start dying to sate that boredom." Naruto listened intently as he pocketed the item, "I have heard tale that you wish to take up Magecraft like your friend, Kaleidoscope? But no human was willing to teach you?" Naruto nodded after a few moments thought. "Listen, rumor is that there's a half-Incubus Magus of Flowers that's cropped up in Britain, and you could benefit greatly from his tutelage. While such a thing would not normally be of interest it is said that he possess Clairvoyance, the mark of the greatest Mages from even back in the Age of Gods."
Naruto had been delving into the magecraft when he heard about it in his travels, trying to learn it as he tried to regain his lost power. The practice was certainly less straightforward and mysterious in terms of being recorded. Much like how Ninjutsu was way back in the era of Warring States, in a time when it was still being developed and refined in order to turn the tide in battles. Learning magecraft from someone would certainly benefit him I the long run, and if what Altrouge said was true… then he needed to find this Magus.
"So where is this Britain place? I don't exactly have a map of the world, and the people on the other side more or less just said I should 'go with the wind', whatever the hell that meant." Seriously, if their elders only get high and tell riddles along with stupid sayings like that, they must be some of the most chill people in the world.
Altrouge leaned up against a pillar as she crossed her arms, "You don't have a map of Europa?"
Naruto shook his head, "Nope. The only way I got here was with Zelretch's help. And even then, I never really got a map of the land. I've just been really sticking around the old man, drifting with him."
Naruto had to admit; he was a pretty chill if very… VERY trolly guy. But the man was no doubt a good friend.
Altrouge held her hands apart before a distortion began to form betwixt her palms,"Marble Phantasm", was the simple statement that allowed a mystery of supreme grade to take place. The part of Naruto's mind that was almost constantly connected with the planet via Sage Mode, something that had turned into a minor 'backup' in recent years was able to comprehend that Altrouge was transforming the atmosphere between her hands into matter.
Altrouge smiled once done before she shoved a piece of freshly created parchment into his chest with Naruto taking it: a detailed map of Europa with the borders, land names, mountain ranges, etc. However, he saw that she gave him to pieces of paper. One of Europa, and one of the country that she told him of… Britain.
"No need to thank me, just doing my part as a new friend of yours." Altrouge smiled triumphantly with her eyes closed and arms crossed, as if she just scored a major victory over someone Naruto folded the maps up as he pocketed them away.
"Thanks, now I know where I need to go, and have nice path laid out for me. Now I just need to chart a boat to that place." He couldn't exactly walk from his current place-what would one day become Prague- to britain, he may get there long after this "Magus of the Flowers" had left.
Altrouge pulled up a finger as she spoke up, "Well, that should be easy if you ask Zelretch to just teleport you there, it's well within the bounds of the Operation of Parallel Worlds. No need to chart a boat, as for looking for the magus, well it'll be difficult although the people of Britain know of him and can point you in his direction."
Naruto nodded, seeing that with a reputation like that then it wouldn't be hard to find the man, "Well if the guy isn't moving around too much, I should find him with no problem." He closed his eyes as everything seemed set for him, but when Altrouge didn't say a word, he got the vibe that something was off.
She seemed to fiddle with her hands as she chuckled awkwardly, "Yeah… about that… finding the mage may be harder than you think."
Uh oh.
Naruto was not liking this, "What do you mean?"
"Since the fracturing of the Roman Empire, Britain's been locked in a state of turmoil." Altrouge spoke hesitantly. She saw that Naruto didn't really have a clue what the empire was, but he seemed to understand the gist of what she was saying,
"So since the big man on the throne got whacked off, everyone's carving out a piece of the pie for themselves. Great…" With a country in a state like that, then the odds of finding the mage would go down quite a bit.
However, Altrouge peaked up in happiness, "But! There is a group of people trying to restore order to the country. Not only that, the mage himself is one for such things, and since you yourself are seeking him out, joining the group would be very beneficial for all parties involved there in Britain."
Altrouge was pointing out the common interests they had. The mage was on the side of peace and order. The group most likely had the mage in their company. Naruto needed to find the mage to learn magecraft. Naruto himself had to admit that such a goal of bringing peace to a land in chaos did sound rather nice, to help build and forge a foundation for a society meant for peace and to protect the people was something he wanted to do when he became Hokage. Naruto may have walked this new world for eight decades but the ideal peace of Jiraiya was still in his heart.
It really was a win-win-win for everyone.
And Altrouge giggled as she saw Naruto contemplating everything as he held a hand to his chin with an expression deep in thought.
He had a tendency to look like a 'cutesy foxy' as some girls called him back when he thought about something when he was travelling with Pervy Sage.
"It looks like everything's connecting." Altrouge embraced him as one would a family member, she whispered into his ear, "Make sure that you learn as much as you can; and have some fun, we may live forever, but that doesn't mean we can't find other people outside this world to find happiness with."
Letting him go, Altrouge patted him on the back as the hug ended. Now Naruto had a nice goal to look forward to, "Thank you, Altrouge. Now… where's that old man?"
"I swear, you didn't grab any of the wine?! What did I tell you Whiskers?" Turns out he was right behind the ninja vampire… and with an empty bottle of fine wine… and he looked f*cking slammed… "Get the drinks as soon as possible! People would kill for more of this crap! Should have invited Nyarlathotep, that tentacley bastard knows how to have a good time." Naruto was not amused in the slightest,
"You're the one that drank a whole bottle! Looks to me like you just wasted it for nothing!"
Zelretch just waved it off, "Feh, whatever brat." Zelretch glanced briefly at Altrouge before turning his attention back to Naruto with a smirk on his face, "So, you have gotten to second base yet?" Altrouge co*cked a brow in curiosity before sighing insufferably, "Making jokes based on information gained from parallel worlds is all well and good except when the butt of the joke lacks context. Grow up Zelretch."
Naruto on the other hand, "So not getting into that right now." He was not amused.
"Party poopers…"
Shaking his head, Naruto went went back to his serious mode, or at least as close as he could get with Zelretch, "Anyways, I actually need you to take me to Britain."
Zelretch arched a brow in curiosity, "What for? That place sucks right now Doctor Who doesn't get made for another one thousand four hundred and ninety six years." Not to mention all Dark Ages countries smelt of a pigsty.
"Because I need to find the Magus that lives there to teach me more about magecraft." The ninja responded.
Zelretch could only put a hand to his heart in mock pain, "Huh? Why didn't you ask me? Hello, Magician of True Magic standing right here! Such a cruel friend."
"Because people would go insane from your teaching methods." Naruto pointed out. He'd be worse than Kakashi-sensei and Pervy Sage put together. "Last time you took a student was thirty six years ago and i found him on the ground saying, quote ""I am never playing Paradox-Billiards-Vostroyan-Roulette-Fourth Dimensional-Hypercube-Chess-Strip poker ever again.""
"Hehe, very true." Zelretch snapped his fingers as a gem appeared in front of Naruto kaleidoscopic power flooded into the gem in the shape of Britain before solidifying into a gem of ever changing color, "Just grab hold of the thing, and you'll be there in an instant." Pretty sure that Zelretch was going to put him in some awkward place when he arrived, Naruto kept his guard up as he ever slowly reached out to grab the rune,
"Thanks ya old bastard."
"Any time…" Just as Naruto grasped the rune, Zelretch kept going, "…Fishcake."
Then the ninja tried in vain to respond, "WHY YO—" Zelretch just chuckled at the ninja's position when he disappeared. Shaking a fist before vanishing into thin air along with the rune. Altrouge giggled at what occurred, though she felt Zelretch's eyes turn to her.
Any sense of the playfulness left his visage as he crossed his arms, "So, why did you approach him of all people?" Altrouge was about to speak that is before Zelretch held a hand up to stop her, "And don't use the excuse of 'making friends'. I know that you lead one of the major factions gathered here today, against Trhvmn Ortenrosse."
Whatever little girl persona that Altrouge held was swept away, as the cold look that graced her features showcased an experienced aristocrat that dominated politics, "It is true, I did approach Naruto in the hopes of gaining him as a member of my faction amongst our kind, however I needed him to gain more power in order showcase that he is not one to be trifled with. At his current level, he would not be strong enough to deal with my opposition. Although I will admit he is a kind individual, and such people are a rare sight."
Altrouge led one of the two factions among the Dead Apostle Ancestors, and despite Trhvmn being the main representative, she actually held more sway than he did. This would put the two at odds with one another as both would eventually try to obtain control over the Dead Apostle Ancestors. Zelretch knew better as soon as he saw the girl talking with the ageless ninja; he would've intervened however he didn't seem to sense any ill intent from Altrouge and decided to let things play. Now he had sent Naruto out to Britain which currently was being fought over by the Saxons from Germainia, the original inhabitants of Britain whom were split under multiple lords saying that they were the rightful king, and those still loyal to the line of Uther Pendragon, and if Altrouge pointed Naruto in the direction of who he thinks it is, then Naruto would no doubt meetheras well.
"That is true. He's a kind young man, that would put his own life on the line for those he cares for." Zelretch recalled a bit of Naruto's own words of his past that he was willing to share with him after they met, and he did admire the boy's beliefs. However, if one were clever enough… like Atrogue… they could manipulate those beliefs to their benefit. But that was only an if, a BIG IF… "However, if you try to use that and lie to the young man. Well… I don't think I need to spell it out for you."
Altrouge nodded as if she knew better. Though Zelretch wasn't sure if she heeded his warning or if she played it off as something that could be dealt with in time, "I'm not foolish. I know a smart man when I see one, and despite what façade Naruto can put up, he hides his true self very well." Altrouge held her hands up in a manner that made it appear as if any worry was for nothing, "I never planned on duping him to begin with. In fact, once he grew strong enough, I planned to extend an invitation to him to join my faction. I prefer it if they come of their own free will rather than coerce them to do so. It's degrading and beneath me. I detest such things." Then Altrouge smiled absently, "Though even if he rejects the offer, it wouldn't be such a bad idea to form a pact of sorts with him for an ally." Then she blushed, "Plus, he does have that cute factor going for him. It wouldn't be so bad to have a little fox around to tease on occasion."
Zelretch just got an idea…
"Oh, so that's what you were really after, eh?" He smirked. Altrouge arched an eyebrow, "Huh?"
"Admit it. You just wanted a kiss from him, didn't you little Altrouge?" Now it was her turn to turn red of embarrassment as she scoffed, an "I did not!" flying from her lips. Altrouge crossed her arms as she went back to socializing with the rest of the guests, leaving the laughing Zelretch to himself.
He moved away from the rest of the guests as he as sat down next to a window with the full moon in full glow tonight. All Zelretch could do now was star up to the sky and wonder to himself, "Naruto… you're on a path that will no doubt make you stronger under Merlin's tutelage. But I can only wonder… will you be able to change her story into one of happiness, when all it does it turn into tragedy and sadness in the end?"
In truth, Zelretch always wanted to see a better end to the story of that king. He felt that such a pure soul was one who needed an ending worthy to her name.
-Naruto-
"—U DICK!" Naruto had enough of the old troll. He was about to take a swing at Zelretch, but as soon as he touched the gem, he teleported right to his destination. Naruto looked down to see that he teleported right into the air.
In the middle of the night.
Above a farm.
With animals.
"sh*t."
Indeed.
Naruto found himself plummeting towards the ground without anything to keep him from falling face first into the pile of sh*t. Thankfully the years of instinct kicked in as he pulled out his signature Jutsu that he could still use.
'Shadow Clone Jutsu'
Making a single Shadow Clone, Naruto used him as a human shield with the intent to not allow a single shred of manure to touch him. Shadow Clones had been hit the hardest by Gaia's hissy fit, where before he could make just shy of one hundred thousand, now he could barely manage three. Anymore and Gaia would drop a metaphysical anvil on it.
Hey, he could care less if his clone was getting it. So long as he didn't. But then again, the feeling of it on him… Naruto shivered a bit.
The Shadow Clone could only grimace as he fell down flat into the pile, with the real Naruto holding him in front for protection. The animals nearby could only moo, squeal, or whatever as he made landfall, with Naruto stepping off the clone followed by jumping the wooden fence to get onto actual dirt.
"Why am I such a f*cking asshole?! Why'd you have to use me as a human shield?!" The Shadow Clone was smart enough to close his mouth and eyes, along with clenching his nose shut with an open arm. Getting up to face the original, he tried to shake off what he could but Naruto himself could only hold his laughter in, "Well I—"
"What's all the ruckus at this time in the night?"
A voice cut in as a man with a lantern stepped outside his home, with a wooden axe in hand. Fortunately, the Shadow Clone dispersed as the clouds blocking the moonlight shined down, illuminating Naruto in the night. All in all, he just appeared to be a young boy, lost on the road.
The man squinted his eyes at Naruto, "Young man. Do you realize what time it is right now? And just why are you trying to disturb my animals?" Naruto waved his hands to try and explain with a few white lies of course.
"Oh, uhmm uh… hehehe… well you see I kinda got lost on the road to life."
"So~ lame."The fox chimed in.
The man didn't seem convinced in the least, judging from his still questioning expression. Naruto was about to start talking again… that is until a rumbling reverberated through the air… and all he could do was look away in slight embarrassment. The man caught on quickly, "Well if you're looking for a bed and food, I've got some to spare. With the Saxons about I doubt a young man out alone is safe." Ushering Naruto in, the man opened his door with any sense of negativity seemingly evaporated.
The ninja stepped into the man's house and hopefully the guy wouldn't freak out from his eyes.
Normal people had a tendency to scream their heads off when a vampire was in front of them.
Until he found out he could use his own special eye powers like Genjutsu to make people think he was just a normal boy."Mystic Eyes of Enchantment for the win"he had thought to himself before turning in that evening. A full belly and a warm bed to himself.
Needless to say, Naruto managed to find out the name of both the mage, along with where he was currently residing at. The mage's name was Merlin, and he was at the Forest Sauvage owned by a knight by the name of Ector who served the previous king of Britain. Apparently, there was now a competition being held by multiple lords to finally put an end to the current debate of who will take the throne and retake the lands for the people.
An interesting way to decide their leader, although if simply came down to who was the strongest… well then, the vampires would be in control of matters. So clearly there was something else going on at the congregation.
"Three whole days…" Yes, it took Naruto three days to make the journey to where everyone was at. However, it was not without some trouble. Naruto had come across a few bands of Saxons and bandits making raids on local villages and towns, alongside the aftermaths of said raids. Seeing how many of the bodies belonging to the inhabitants and a few defenders were left to rot, the ninja opted to give them burials as proper as he could since he didn't know any of their names, or the names of where they lived. As for the raiders that fell against the defense, he chose to just pile their corpses and burn them. Better to ensure that disease couldn't spread amongst travelers that had the misfortune of catching the stuff.
Naruto wasn't one to sit by and let things like this occur, but he was no leader to these people. He had dreamt of becoming Hokage for so long… but Sasuke robbed that of him permanently; forcing Naruto to try and find what he wanted now in this new, cursed life of his. If he was being honest with himself, trying to help others wasn't such a bad thing… it eventually turned into trying to create something better for the future and hopefully he could just sit back and enjoy the end result.
Coming up over the hill, Naruto overlooked the homestead where many tents were set up around a makeshift arena with banners held high to showcase the various lords' houses. Many people were just getting the day started with the inhabitants bustling about with armor, food, animals, etc.
It was an overcast day with clouds covering the majority of the sky, the sun occasionally breaking through to cast the odd "god ray" down onto the fields beneath him. Although there was something out away from it all in the middle of a field where it appeared to be a sword jammed into a stone, but… he felt something calling to him, "Do you feel that?"
It was a small stone, barely even a plinth of square white rock that appeared man made more than anything, the sword itself was buried in the stone by maybe five inches.
"Barely, what the hell is it?"Kurama piped over the mental link. The fox did feel that something was trying to create a new mental link, however it wasn't quite like what he and Naruto shared. But something similar yet different perhaps?
Naruto concentrated on the source of the call as he made his way downhill to where he confronted the sword in the stone. The overall design of the sword was as if it were made from the finest forgers, meant for one of nobility. A style of straight sword that Naruto knew was common amongst Europa. However, the closer he got to it, was that the metal making up the blade seemed to glow with some internal golden light the closer he got to it.
Doust thou draw forth myself from the stone?
It was the sword. The sword was the one calling to him. He heard a small gasp from the bushes, but his focus was purely on the sword itself now after speaking to him.
Thou are worthy of thyself. Thou are worthy of Caliburn.
So then… the name of it was Caliburn. The sword said that he was worthy to wield it. Naruto grasped the handle to pull it without effort, but suddenly he stopped. It felt… wrong to do this. Immediately the blade jammed inside of the stone, no longer raising another inch as if sensing his hesitation.
Thou must be no longer human, but inhuman to lead Britain.
"No… I'm not inhuman. I might be a damned vampire, but I'm sure as hell not gonna get rid of what makes me who I am." And that was what made Naruto shove the sword back down into the stone, refusing it entirely now as the blade's light dissipated.
Thou have refused. Another may yet draw forth Caliburn.
Naruto didn't care, he was not a king. These people didn't know him. Not just that, being a Dead Apostle well he highly doubted they would follow him because of that even if he drew Caliburn. Naruto felt an unusual presence behind him that he wasn't aware of before, and they announced themselves with a single question…
"Oh, you chose to put it back instead? How interesting for one such as yourself."
Naruto turned to the speaker and saw a young man garbed in simple robes that appeared as if they were made of the finest fabrics with his hood up to keep his long silver hair down. The tips of it appeared to catch the light and change colors, along with a few flowers that appeared to be more decoration than hold an actual purpose. His expression was one of curiosity and amusem*nt, but also… expectant?
This was the man he had been searching for, "So, you're Merlin I take it." Merlin's smile didn't disappear as Naruto deduced his identity.
Merlin nodded in response, as he raised a finger, "Indeed I am! Although I believe you have me at a disadvantage… Number Seven." Now it was Naruto's turn to be surprised, but then again if what Altrouge told him of what Merlin's special gift of clairvoyance was true…
"Clairvoyance… you saw this coming, didn't you?" Naruto stated more than asked the flower magus.
Merlin waved a hand in the air nonchalantly as if he were talking about the clouds above them, "I am gifted with clairvoyant sight, and I do glimpse the possible futures. But not all for they hide from my gaze." Merlin's eyes opened to gaze at Naruto, "But enough of this. You came in search of my teachings of the mage arts, did you not?"
Naruto nodded as he started to get down on a knee, hoping that this man would take him as a student. Although Merlin waved him off before speaking again, "Uh, yeah we don't do that here. Besides, I was going to teach you anyways before you started asking."
Now Naruto was confused by this, "Ok I wasn't expecting that." Then Naruto started to wave his arms defensively, mistaking that his words would offend the mage, "Not that I'm complaining or anything! But, why teach me regardless? You don't even know me." Merlin waved a finger at the ninja.
"All of which is true, however I've foreseen your future within the court of our king, and I will not be there at times to give counsel to her." Merlin was half-Incubus; meaning he was also a womanizer, not just a renowned magus in Europa. He had foreseen just as he said, and the magus believed that this young man that was not of this world could take his place at her side when the time came.
Naruto was floored by Merlin just flat out stating that he was taking him on as a student, "Thanks, I—wait a second…" Then that last part hit him, "I thought that a king was a man, not a woman." Merlin made a motion for him to turn back around to the sword in the stone.
"You'll see what I mean."
The jousting tournament must have come to an end some minutes ago for the assembled knights, stewards and common folk were slowly making their way over to the field where Naruto and Merlin stood. A few looked askance at Naruto due to his dark clothes and red eyes, thinking him a foreigner of some sort or maybe some inhuman thing like Merlin. They were correct in that case but Naruto had long since grown numb to stares of philistines and idiots. Merlin stepped forth to stand before Caliburn and turned to address the crowd. "Lords, Knights, common folk of Britain, I bid you welcome to this place and thank you for coming so soon."
Merlin bowed lightly, pulling his hood back to reveal his inhuman beauty to all which caused quite a few of the women-folk to blush. "Many of you know me as the wandering Mage who predicted the twin dragons beneath Mount Emrys. In these troubled times we live in a kingdom split and cracking. The Saxons, disease and the tyrant King Vortigern sit to the north, the Gaels to the west and Barbarians to the east, indeed, Britain requires a King!"
There was murmured agreement amongst the people assembled there, a few of the more boisterous bannermen slamming their flags against the floor in appreciation. Merlin waited for this to calm down before continuing, "We require a fair king, one who will be as metal, unbending and sharp. And so I present to you, Caliburn." the Mage indicated the beautiful sword. "I have enchanted this weapon to pass judgement over those who lay their hands upon it, to test their capacity as king. So let it be written, that whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone is rightful king of all England!"
In the following hours no less than six hundred people attempted to pull sword from stone, all of whom failed to move it. From mountains of muscle to young boys with skinny arms and skinnier ideals, none could do more than glare at the blue and gold sword that resolutely remain routed. Naruto was about to go get a drink when Merlin patted him on the shoulder and directed him to look behind him.
Naruto turned to see that it was a girl, not but maybe a year younger than he was walking towards Caliburn. She was short in build, maybe 5'2 clad in dark blue pants tucked into brown boots and a rough white tunic. Her bust was on the small side, perhaps bound as some Kunoichi did. The only reason Naruto knew she was a girl was her scent on the air. Her hair was spun gold tied into a bun at the back of her head and a stray Ahoge jutting from her head. Her elegant face was undoubtedly beauty of a holy virgin, emerald green eyes that would be fit for any king's crown locked against Caliburn.
As she gazed at the sword, she briefly looked right at Naruto and he felt something inside him flutter, almost as if he had seen something unlike anything else in the world. She was confident, yet appeared conflicted as she gazed into Naruto's eyes, no doubt she was the one that gasped before when he began to pull Caliburn. But resolved nonetheless of what occurred.
Merlin stepped forward and spoke to her, "Before you take the sword, ask yourself. Are you prepared to become the king?" The young girl took hold of Caliburn with the metal emanating once more as it did before Naruto, however this time it only began when she took the grip whereas when he just merely approached it did the blade glow.
The girl took a deep breath as she gripped the sword with both hands and closed her eyes, "Merlin."
"Yes."
"What does it mean to be the king?" Asking the question loud and clear.
Merlin merely looked to the sky as he answered her, "That, my dear little Arturia is a question that is not easily answered. For you see, the path to one's kingship is dependent on the one who is king. Though I must warn you, the road you walk will be fraught with peril. Once you draw this sword you will no longer be human." Merlin then looked to Naruto, "But, you will not be alone in this endeavor." The mage had taken notice that his soon-to-be apprentice's eye never once left Arturia.
He foresaw that they would create Camelot together. But after that…
Arturia opened her eyes to gaze at Caliburn, "One's own path to kingship…" She wanted to unite the lands to bring peace and order to her country. To protect those who could not protect themselves. To create just laws, guided by just leaders, and a just king.
Merlin whispered into Naruto's ear, "She's certainly resolved now to begin her time as king. To ensure the safety and prosperity for her people, and the future generations to come."
"Now I see, she's…" As Arturia drew Caliburn from the stone, the clouds parting and a bright light shined down upon her, as if the very heaven's themselves chose her and her alone to begin bringing prosperity to Britain, "…she's so beautiful."
As Naruto saw Arturia as the king, he became captivated by her in that instant.
For she too saw the ninja's eyes upon her, but for once… she was unsure of what path to take.
Unknown to them, another pair of eyes settled on Naruto. But not one with the air of compassion… only of sibling jealousy. And they'd be prepared for a meeting with the Dead Apostle ninja.
-Now-
Naruto recalled that day; it was the day it was almost love at first sight for him. Naruto had become captivated by Arturia along with her ideals that were so similar to his own before when he wanted to become Hokage. He rose from his desk and crossed to the cabinet where the ancient box rested. He unlatched it before pushing it open, looking upon an object of peerless beauty.
He traced his left hand on Avalon that sat within the case, and saw that the time was coming close, "Arturia. My king… my love… We'll see each other again. The vow I made to you that day, I intend to keep it."
Naruto would return Arturia Pendragon to the flesh and reunite their family.
Codex Apostletos
Taken from the notes of L. Barthomeloi
Subject: Naruto Uzumaki, #7 of the Twenty Seven Dead Apostle Ancestors
Alias: Shadowed Spiral, the Benign Ancestor, Grand Uzumaki, Orange
Description:
I... am not exactly sure what to write about #7. As a Barthomeloi I should despise him as a matter of fact yet I cannot help but feel respect for his skill in Magecraft and thankfulness that he does not have a habit of traumatizing students like Kaleidoscope but their are other... unprofessional feelings for him that I shan't commit to paper. From a standpoint as Wizard Marshal I can say that he is a welcome asset to the Association and of others after attaining [REDACTED].
Tracking his movements through the years has been a pain especially seeing as Naruto's main friends in the Association are either firmly in the democratic faction or "hazardous" to approach. The majority of the data I gathered was through a meeting with Merem Solomon organised by [REDACTED] but seeing the animosity between Merem and Naruto I have been forced to discount some of Merem's claims in this report.
Naruto's appearance and presence in our world is nonexistent prior to his first appearance, but he has been active for over 1500 years, the first recorded incident being his confrontation with Brunestud of the Crimson Moon. During that confrontation Uzumaki was able to demonstrate techniques of an unknown form of Magecraft that the Association has only been able to partially duplicate it after recovering a manuscript composed by [REDACTED] but it had at least a millenia's worth of mystery even then. This put's his Magecraft from 1500 years ago firmly in the Age of Gods.
The battle has had indeterminate amounts of damage and claims as to wear it took place but one major consensus is that Brunestud's "Alt Negal" was used to finish the fight and carved out the majority of what we now know as the Grand Canyon in Arizona. After the confrontation Uzumaki was made into an Ancestor by Brunestud. Naruto's status as a Dead Apostle is strange given that he bares apparent hybridization between True Ancestor and Dead Apostle Ancestor traits. My hypothesis is that due to his connection to Nature, Gaia treat him as it would a Lesser Fae, an extension of its will.
The main reason for the Association not hunting Naruto Uzumaki in the past is twofold, firstly is that he is close friends with my fellow Wizard Marshall, Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg and the last time we attempted to hunt the White Princess of the True Ancestors, a person that Zelretch views as a granddaughter he threatened to teleport all of Clock Tower into the singularity of a Supermassive black hole.
The second reason is that Naruto appears to lack Vampiric Impulses and does not require blood to sustain himself. We know that he can turn others but has refrained from it, the only known case being [REDACTED]. I believe the reason that he does not need blood is due to his Origin and unique physiology forming a positive feedback loop but I lack evidence and... I don't think I could simply ask him.
From this point on I shall attempt to chronicle his life so I can better understand Clock Tower's greatest mystery... and a growing obsession of mine.
And done!
(1) The Command Seals that Naruto has for the upcoming Fourth Holy Grail War are those that Master Arturia has in her reality.
(2) The painting that Naruto made of Arturia, you can find on my profile page.
As you no doubt know, this will begin with Arturia's rise to power along with the gathering of her Knights of the Round Table, the creation of Camelot, etc. Mordred will also become a prominent character in this story as there is a plan for her as well.
Anyways, the next chapter will Naruto finally meeting Arturia and their following conversation of Caliburn choosing Naruto as a potential king, becoming Merlin's apprentice, and the beginning of the campaign to unite Britain.
I'll go ahead and get this out of the way with Naruto fighting and losing to Brunestud. He didn't lose his Six Paths Senjutsu, he simply became too exhausted. Naruto is planetary level? Well not when the planet is actively fighting back and crushing you from existence. Ultimate Ones (like Brunestud) lack the concept of death. Arcueid with full power once wanted to kill herself to see what it was like despite the fact the pure backlash would have killed every single human on planet earth. Naruto is strong, undeniably strong. But the environment of the Nasuverse and it's "conceptual bullsh*t" are the antithema to shonen powers.
To make things short, NARUTO ISN'T NERFED... Naruto needs to struggle in order to grow, and without said struggle, there is no story, and if you argue against that, then all I can say is that we have different views on the way to tell a story. But ultimately that opposing view runs into the Superman Problem.
If Naruto is so OP as YOU want him to be, then there is no excitement, no tension, no character development, and no real sense of danger when he meets an enemy. He would one-shot everything and anything that got in his way, and he really wouldn't change or mature in any way.
This concept of"Naruto has to be the strongest in any verse he is inserted into from the get-go"is vexing because it leads to people complaining about things that are moronic when you look at it for more than a second. I site a NarutoxDC story where a reviewer complained for over 600 words that Naruto didn't flatten his opponent in 1 second flat. That opponent was the multiversal New God, Darkseid...
If you still disagree, then all I can say is that we won't agree on this subject, and it's best that it's not brought up at all as I don't really care to comment or see it in the reviews or PM's sent my way with this subject.
As for which grail War Naruto will be participating in... it's the Fourth Fuyuki Holy Grail War:Fate/Zero. I'm sure you guys will enjoy that a lot when it comes back to that ;)
So, let me know what you guys think. And please leave an actual review, tell me what you guys liked and/or disliked about the chapters, otherwise my writing can't improve properly. While it's nice to be told that the chapter is nice and all, like the previous sentence, the point stands.
Anyways, continue to read, review, favorite and follow this story as well as my others.
Until next time :) !
Chapter 2: The Rise of Camelot Part I
Chapter Text
Back with an update and the first chapter of the story! Honestly, this part of the story, namely the Camelot era of things is hard to piece together mainly due to the fact that no one seems to be able to piece together a coherent timeline of the 7 years that Arturia spent uniting Britain, and the 10 years she reigned over the country from Camelot.
Hopefully things will make sense as I've been constructing a timeline to gain a better understanding of how this will go.
Now, onto the first chapter!
Chapter 1 – The Rise of Camelot Part I
-467 AD-
It seemed as if the people were still trying to figure out whether or not to cheer for their new king or demand a sort of redo. Naruto wasn't one to judge since that sword clearly had a mind of its own, and the girl, Arturia as Merlin called her, certainly was worthy to use that fickle stick of a blade. Judging from Arturia's expression, she seemed… hesitant to speak to the people that were supposed to be celebrating this moment for her. Hell, Naruto was 98 and he would feel apprehension if this was his first time.
Merlin nudged Naruto slightly as he whispered into his ear, "You were right earlier when you said that only a man could be called King. However, she is merely posing as one to ensure she can lead her people. Now may be a good time to help her shine. Oh, and please do call her Arthur when other people are around." Merlin shoved Naruto out towards Arturia who along with many others, turned their eyes to see the Dead Apostle approach the new king.
Rubbing his back, Naruto glared at Merlin briefly for putting him on the spot like this.
'Then again, I usually did enjoy being in the spotlight. But not like this.'Naruto thought to himself.
Kurama snorted, looking back at all the times Naruto decided to announce himself,"What's so different?"
"I'm not the one that needs the attention!"
Naruto looked to Arturia with a smile on his face, seeing that she needed some moral support right now as Merlin so put it. Taking a deep breath, he stood before the new king and turned back to the large crowd, "Hail King Arthur! Long live the new king!" Raising a fist in the air, he put on bravado as he cheered for the girl who became king.
He turned to see the expression on Arturia's face whose eye widened with disbelief, most likely after seeing his earlier drawing of the blade begin before he rejected it. The thoughts that swirled in her head made her wonder just why… why would a being considered to be one for the darkness… be on the side of someone like her who would want to purge them, in order to make room for the light…?
Naruto saw that a few people were beginning to get the message that this was happening right here, right now. They had a new king. A king that while still young, was chosen by a sword enchanted by Merlin. A magus known far and wide to be on the side of order and justice. But Naruto could tell that there were still some, namely the knights and noble who tried their hand at the blade, held pettiness in their gazes.
"Well what're you all just standing there for?!" Naruto raised his hands in the air waving at them, "Britain has its king now! King Arthur!" The ninja pivoted and bent a knee to her while she still held Caliburn raised in the air this entire time. He whispered to Arturia as quietly as possible to ensure that only she heard what he said next, "Go ahead. Tell them what you plan to do as the king."
When Arturia first heard of a Dead Apostle in Britain a few days ago, she had been on edge, unsure if she was possibly being targeted by vampires if they somehow found out that she was Uther Pendragon's heir. As such, she kept her sword handy that her foster father; Sir Ector, had given to her when she would train and spar with her foster brother, Sir Kay -whom she was also a squire under him- for defense. With the final day of the Jousting Competition coming to a close, the sword of selection would be held soon. Since her brother's jousting done and over with, she sat out of sight staring at Caliburn for hours, wondering if she was truly worthy as she had been raised to believe.
With the time coming closer and closer, Arturia was about to seek Merlin out for advice, that is until she saw him. The Dead Apostle. She had taken him for a foreigner at first glance with those odd whisker like marks, similar to tribal markings born by the Gaels. However soon she had bore witness to the sight of him being able to pull Caliburn partially from the stone… but then reject it entirely… only one with the capacity to be a king to Britain and save it from the chaos that was consuming it could wield the blade. Simply walking up to the sword caused the reaction and while she herself only received the same thing, she had to touch it in order to get that reaction.
Now he hailed her as the one true king and bent a knee while praising her 'name'.
And this confused her to no ends. Why be worthy and not take it? What drove this Dead Apostle to do such a thing? She fought down a blush as he told her what she intended to do with a smile on his face.
Mustering up the courage she had been building up she gave it her all with a loud and clear voice, "I will save our kingdom! I will save our people and our future!" One by one the people began to pay attention and a few even bent the knee just as the Dead Apostle had. All she needed to do to sway the hearts of these people would be to keep her speech going, "All we have done is live our lives in peace! There is nothing so horrendous that we have done to deserve such tragedy! Foreigners who come to slaughter and take what is ours! A false tyrant of a king, demanding the obedience of all within the lands we inhabit! Uncontrollable plagues that take the lives of those so cruelly!"
The people were beginning to listen intently, "Today, I say no more! Today, I take up this blade to lead us to a brighter future! A better tomorrow! One where no man, woman or child need fear our enemies, nor will they buckle under the thumb of tyrants! I, Arthur Pendragon intend to create a nation that will endure for centuries in peace & prosperity. To create just laws, guided by just rulers, that is my oath to you all! I only ask that you give your all and follow me!" She panted slightly as she put everything she had to sway them to her cause into that address. Arturia was unaware of it, but the image of a mighty dragon in a red aura manifested behind her, causing the people to be left awed by her appearance all the while others were struck by fear and quietly left the spectacle.
Naruto could tell that they too became captivated by Arturia, or Arthur as they were led to believe she was a man. But there would be those that would not accept her as the king. Most likely they'd try to put slander to her name at best. At worst assassination attempts would occur and open rebellion. Naruto wouldn't allow that to happen.
Swords were drawn from sheaths and plunged into the ground from age old baron to lowly hedge knight, Those that bent the knee to their new king hailed her just as he did; just as loud and thunderous as he was.
"ALL HAIL KING ARTHUR, SON OF UTHER! LONG LIVE THE RIGHTFUL KING OF BRITAIN!"
Many didn't see, save for Naruto due to how close he was to her… Arturia shed a small single tear in happiness.
The ninja smiled at the lovely sight.
Merlin approached from behind as many of the people began to gather their things to set out at their king's command, sending off riders to call their bannermen to arms. Naruto got up to face Merlin while giving a mild glare at the magus for his actions, however Merlin merely gave a look of ignorance, "That certainly was quite the spectacle. Now all you need to do is prove yourself to the people that you can lead in battle."
Arturia lowered Caliburn as she gracefully strode forward to Merlin, stepping past Naruto, "But where to start is the question. If I make the wrong choice, then the people will doubt my ability to be king." Naruto nodded as he agreed with her. If Arturia made the wrong choice. A choice that wound up getting them killed, or something that would besmirch her name as the king. Arturia glanced back to Naruto as she noticed that he agreed with her, adding to the already strange situation of a Dead Apostle actively supporting her.
Merlin raised a hand that was emanating a blue & gray glow, "There is such a fortuitous opportunity for use then to demonstrate your capacity as king. A great number of Saxons have made their encampment on the River Glein and given how you so eloquently put in your speech, that you would drive them off our lands, one would be foolish to not seek this chance." As Merlin waved his emanating fingers above Arturia's head, dust fell below to the king as it swirled around her; changing her attire into something else entirely.
A blue and white dress that stopped around mid-shin with ever so lightly frilled edges that served as the only vestige of 'girlish vanity', indeed the dress was built for function and movement. The blue sections of the dress were outlined by thin gold stripes of weaved silk and ran from her midsection all the way to her high collar. Full length sleeves with puffed shoulders sat parallel to the small opening in the upper portion of the dress to allow her petite bust to poke through, again for comfort and practicality as opposed to frivolity. Beneath the dress she still wore the same brown boots and pants.
As for her armor; a steel plate cuirass with black and dark blue lines decorating its surface was affixed around her front and back with no looping "shoulder straps" over her shoulders, instead the back of the piece stopped between her shoulder blades. The left and right side of her dress were defended by two large folds formed from three pieces of curved metal fastened to move with the dress. Attached to the front of the dress was a dark blue 'loin cloth' that seven to cover her legs further. Each leg was clad in plated grieves and sabatons that matched the gauntlets that now covered most of her lower arms. The right gauntlet had fully separated fingers while the left was more of a 'mitten' design
Naruto had to say that the armor and dress look went well with her, fitting her form and concealing her gender as a woman… and it looked stunning on Arturia… he was caught in a daze. Until he was forced out of it when he felt the prick of a blade at his throat. Turns out Arturia had turned it onto him while he was distracted by her change in attire, "Before I begin preparations for the coming trials, I must ask you, Dead Apostle. Why are you here? Come to enchant my old teacher as a thrall?" She spoke with authority as well as lacing a threat in there through her words.
'Try anything and I cut your head off.'
It was not something Naruto particularly wanted to face for while his level of mystery meant that he was rather difficult to kill, a light based Holy Sword such as Caliburn would certainly sting.
Arturia narrowed her eyes at Naruto in suspicion. In all honesty, Naruto should've expected this from her since he just came out of the blue and supported her with no real standing. And after his little starting rouse to push her up as the king, one couldn't help but wonder if Naruto had some ulterior motive.
Naruto would've tried to say something to her, but she pushed the sword further to his throat, "Your next words will determine whether or not you have a head, so I suggest you choose them wisely."
Now that's what Naruto found attractive in a woman. For some reason, he liked the ones that were dominant and had a back bone. He supposed that was why he had tried chasing down Sakura all those years since the Academy.
Wait… did this mean he was a masoch*st?
He hoped not.
Either way, Naruto felt it best to use his words carefully as Arturia put things. Looking over to Merlin, he spoke, "You're right Merlin. She's certainly a dragon, but I'd say she's more like that of a lion and she shines gold like the one of Nemea." Merlin chuckled at Naruto's words with both glancing back to Arturia to see that she blushed up a storm of indignation, before she shook her head to force it back. Arturia opened her mouth to say something… that is until Merlin spoke up.
"While this little bonding moment is quite amusing to see, I'd greatly appreciate it if you lowered your sword from my newest student's neck." Arturia's head snapped to the magus with surprise in her eyes.
"Y-Your student?" Merlin nodded as Arturia slowly lowered Caliburn from Naruto's neck, no doubt realizing her actions bordered on absolute disrespect to her teacher in the usage of her Dragon Core. Prior to her birth, Merlin had given her mother the blood of the Red Dragon, thus granting her the potential to use magecraft, however she lacked the aptitude to utilize it in the way her teacher did. As such she chose to adopt the abilities and skills that would allow her to counter magecraft along with being able to use her Dragon Core as a support system in combat, to either repel enemies, resist magecraft, or increase her own battle prowess in speed, strength or reflexes.
And it worked beyond what she previously thought, the supreme phantasmal species was indeed fearsome.
Now that her training under the magus was completed, she believed that he would help her in providing counsel, but this was unexpected. Most likely Merlin would be preoccupied with teaching the Dead Apostle since he took his tutelage rather seriously, yet he had his humor…
…how she hated being strung up by the leg with a tree vine and forced to tap into her Dragon Core to let her go… she felt like a bottomless pit after getting out of that thing…
"Indeed!" Merlin raised a finger in exclamation. "Young Naruto here has sought me out for my knowledge in the magecraft arts, and I fully intend to take him as my student." The mage placed a hand on Arturia's shoulder to explain further seeing how she was confused by his words, "You needn't worry your pretty little head off…" Merlin's words caused her to become irritated to which Naruto found rather cute, "…I still intend to help you along your journey. Not just that, but I believe that you won't be able to rid yourself of the young vampire here who is no doubt committed to your cause."
Naruto could only smile as he bowed to the new king, though he did feel annoyance that Merlin called Naruto young despite the fact he was nearly fifty years his senior "I am at your service…" Lifting his head, he could only lace his voice with cheekiness that only made him look more endearing, "…my king." Arturia was floored by this boy who didn't look any older than she did, just commit himself to her service. That coupled with the fact that he was to be Merlin's new student would mean that she would be seeing him quite often.
Arturia breathed in deeply as she began to speak, "M-My apologies, Naruto. I overreacted and assumed you were here trying to enchant my former teacher." Arturia closed her eyes as she bowed to apologize for her actions. Clearing her throat, Arturia gazed into Naruto's eyes as she tried to figure him out; especially since Caliburn had recognized him as one worthy to lead Britain but rejected the responsibility, and for the life of her… she couldn't understand him, and this captured her attention.
But given that he did say that he was now in her service, "Naruto." She spoke with the authority and air of a king ready to begin command as the ninja stood at attention.
"Yes, ma—my king!" He almost let that one slip up. Didn't want to get on her bad side already.
Arturia stuck Caliburn down into the ground as she continued, "You've stated that you are in my service correct?" She received a nod of confirmation, "Then as such, you are under both my protection and my command whenever you are not in session with Merlin. I will not ask you of you to perform actions that I will not do myself, nor will I ask you to sully your hands and stain your code or my own, as this would reflect very poorly on me as king." Arturia turned to face the homestead as she motioned for them to follow her back to their tent, "Given what we're about to face, it would be best to introduce yourself to those we will be fighting alongside in order to help build trust."
Arturia lead them back through the encampments, many people were breaking down their tents and packing up their horses to set out with their new king, while others seemed to linger with their gazes cast at Arturia and Naruto that either were filled with mild disdain or disbelief. Naruto chalked it up to the nobles that absolutely refused to acknowledge her as their leader. Though he did see the familiar signs of troops beginning to sortie and organize beneath bannermen, more of which arrived by the hour. Some brought only a group of fifteen while others more substantial Knights, archers and cavalry.
Hopefully this upcoming battle would change some minds and rally more to Arturia's banner. There were still some people that kept their distance now that they got a better look at his eyes, though when they gazed at Naruto, it was more akin to paranoia than awe. Naruto tried to appear as if he was no different from anyone by waving at some of the people, although that only garnered a few absentminded waves or adults ushering in some children away into the houses or tents.
"I knew it wasn't gonna be easy to win people over." Naruto thought to himself. Vampires had that kind of reputation no matter where they went.
"And has anything ever stopped you from trying?" Kurama piped up,"I mean, you've had the girl's blade pointed at your throat and then by throwing her a compliment, you got under her skin and make her blush in embarrassment. She's already warming up to you."
"Uhm… no comment there."
"Hah! Gotcha!"
The fox was right though. Naruto did win people over in the end of things. If he could make a bloodthirsty rogue ninja bawl his eyes out over the death of his student/adopted son, force a psychopathic twelve-year-old to find a new purpose in life; even capture hearts and trust of an entire village that reviled him for so long… well then he was confident that he could make people see past his status as a vampire.
Arturia led them to a large house where a pair of weathered banners with the emblem of a golden dragon adorning the sides of the door. Naruto saw that the banners looked as if they had just been unfolded and placed there within the hour, "The symbol of the House of Pendragon." Naruto turned to see Merlin speak on what he gazed at, "Now that Arthur here has drawn the sword of selection, it was time that the symbol of the Pendragon's rose up again after Uther's death."
Naruto understood that symbols were synonymous with clans, as it represented what they stood for, or what they embodied, "So, a Dragon for the Pendragon clan? Right, makes sense then, plus that aura she gave off…" The way that red dragon manifested behind her as she gripped the sword was as if she was a host to a beast like himself.
Merlin co*cked his head to the side, "Ah, so then… you saw it as well. I will explain it to you in time." Arturia turned to glance at the two magecraft wielders behind.
"Merlin, would you really be so willing to share such things so quickly?" Arturia knew that Merlin had performed a special type of magecraft to imbue her with the blood of the red dragon, and it was the source of her own mana, becoming a Dragon Core... a sort of pseudo-dragon heart that gave her the attributes of the creature. This was something that Merlin told her that she should keep a secret. If anyone else discovered this, then they would no doubt try to extract it from her.
The magus waved his hand in protest, "Have no fear. I have a feeling that our new friend will keep his mouth sewn shut on that little matter." Merlin gave Naruto a knowing look that this was something that must be kept quiet at all costs. Naruto gaze a little salute to Arturia.
"My lips are sealed." Arturia nodded in appreciation.
"Thank you." Arturia opened the door to the house and gestured for Naruto and Merlin to follow her inside, "We're here."
As they stepped inside, Naruto took note of the large table in the center of the room with a map of the island. Making his way to the table, he saw that was divided into the provinces that lords and nobles controlled, along with the various settlements that were under the protection. Small daggers were stabbed into certain places with pieces of paper tied to the hilts signifying which foreigner group were in the areas, however there was a much larger dagger stabbed up further to the north of where most of the others were situated at. The paper tied to this dagger had 'Vortigern' written on it.
This was a war table.
Arturia stood next to him as she gazed down to the map, "Once when the Roman Empire spanned most of the island, it provided stability and protection to our people. My father was the previous true king, and he held a strong bond with the emperor in Rome(1). However, when the empire collapsed, all of the protection, trade and commerce that it provided was swept away." Tracing her fingers on the table to the large dagger, Arturia tapped it a few times, "Not long after Vortigern, someone that my father once trusted, betrayed him and decided to stage a coup to take the throne. The nobles and lords refused seeing that with Uther gone, they themselves could try and take the throne, while others stayed loyal to him and held onto their territory to try and keep the peace."
Naruto saw that she was clenching her fist in anger. No doubt from the betrayals and dishonorable actions that she spoke of previously, "Now the Saxons, Gaels, barbarians and other foreign invaders sweep across the lands; bringing the plague, stealing, killing, raping… and all manner of disgusting things that I will not speak of…" Her voice was becoming steeled and filled with a slight tinge of venom, "… and Vortigern does nothing but sit on his false throne and allow them to come and go as they please to raid our lands. I will no longer sit by as my country and people are destroyed from within."
Naruto could see her determination to help her people, restore order, provide safety… everything that he would've set out to do when he became Hokage. He may not be able to lead like he could have in this new world, but that didn't mean he could help Arturia lead. Placing a hand on Arturia's shoulder, he tried to give some support to the girl that now had to take up the burden of being the king, "Hey, you're not alone in this. I'm sticking with you through and through."
Arturia turned to gaze into Naruto's red eyes with her own green, seeing that he was being truthful to his word. She glanced to his hand touching her shoulder as she felt that his own wasn't cold like she believed vampires to be, rather it was warm and comforting. Something unexpected from such an odd person… Merlin simply stood back and watched the little growing affection with amusem*nt, however… "Ahem."
Both of the young teens twisted their heads to the magus, "As much as I'm enjoying this little bonding moment, and it'd be nice to see more of it, we do have work to do." Arturia was the first to look at their current hand positions, as she blushed slightly before pulling her shoulder away leaving Naruto a little downtrodden by this.
Well he supposed that this would no doubt to people questioning things between the two of them and discover her secret.
"Yes, of course Merlin." Arturia spoke briefly before she headed down a hallway, "I'll need to gather my things."
Naruto turned back to Merlin as he held onto the feeling of Arturia's soft, yet firm form as it held the delicacy of a woman's touch, but the tautness of a warrior whose endured training to become a master of the sword, "That was a nice touch…" He murmured to himself, although Merlin clearly caught it as he grinned like the cat that ate the canary.
"Well, it looks like the rest of our entourage hasn't arrived back yet, so let's get down to business while we still have still have time, shall we?" Merlin waved his fingers as a chair slid over from off the side to allow him to sit down to contemplate on the questions to ask Naruto, as well as formulate a plan on where to begin his training, "So then, what all do you know exactly about the art of Magecraft?"
Naruto leaned up against the table slightly as he crossed his arms, "I know bits and pieces, but nothing really solid." Staring up to the ceiling he wondered if maybe he should've asked that old vampire a bit more on the inner workings of magic… but then again… he shuddered at any explanation the troll would've given, "I know that Magecraft's a study that can be learned with several schools but one has to have Magical Circuits to use it properly, otherwise you get zippo." Making a gesture with his right arm to signify that nothing would come up if one tried to learn magic without the prerequisite, "I also know that there's two types of magical energy: Prana or Od which comes from a person's own internal life force. And then there's Mana, which if the magical energy that's in the environment around you, though really, it's in nature. Once you run out of it, you can refill it with rest and recuperation." Naruto took a deep breath after that little explanation before he continued, "I also know that there's something called the 'True Magic', but I'm a little hazy on the details."
Merlin hummed in thought as Naruto seemed to understand the basics of Magecraft, "You have the basic understanding of it down, though I guess it's better than nothing." The magus got up from the chair as he walked towards a large open room off to the right of where they were at, waving for Naruto to follow him. Naruto saw that the room had a bed with a table filled with many items that one would associate with a magus: a scrying orb, texts written in languages that one wouldn't be able to understand unless they learned it from a magus, gems that shined even when they weren't in the sunlight, jars filled with powder, flowers, animal parts, even an Azoth Dagger if he recognized it from Zelretch's description of those things… which was immensely odd given that Zelretch had also mentioned that the Azoth Dagger would not be invented in this reality of another thousand years or so. Just how skilled a Mage was Merlin?
Merlin took one of the jars from the table as he stuck his hand into it, while he took a handful of powder. Throwing the powder into the room, he drew a circle in mid-air with the powder responding to his gesture; the powder settled down to the ground as it made a perfect circle that encompassed much of the room. "Go ahead and take off your shirt as you step into the circle. Now, this circle will allow me to see what it is that you have within you as a way to better ascertain what I can teach you. However, it all hinges on what I find within you. I may be able to teach you much, or not much at all." Tapping his staff on the floor, the circle emanated a silver light that washed over Naruto. Some of the powder began to take form in the form of various esoteric symbols in front of Merlin.
Placing a hand under his chin, Merlin narrowed his eyes at the words that appeared in front of, "My oh my, of my… this is a pleasant surprise."
Naruto co*cked a brow in curiosity, "So… what's the news, sensei?" Merlin's expression of curiosity turned to glee with his eyes widening with excitement.
"Amazing! Now I see it!" Dispelling the powder in front of him, Merlin rolled up a sleeve to showcase his Magic Circuits to Naruto, the green pathways lighting up beneath the skin "These are what magic circuits appear within those like myself that can use Magecraft. You on the other hand…" Rolling down his sleeve, Merlin snapped his fingers as the powder began to cling to Naruto and highlight his chakra network, "…you already have a preexisting energy circulatory system that draws from a massive core that holds on ocean of power. It's as if you have magic circuits that grew out from it to spread through your body. No, I take that back…" Dispelling the powder on Naruto's arm, "…I shouldn't even call them Magic Circuits, strictly speaking of course. This… this is a Regression to the Age of Gods, with unquantifiable power. If anything, you should be able to make use of the Mysteries from that era!"
Naruto wasn't completely surprised by what Merlin said, having his chakra system as opposed to magic circuits, but for him to deal the news that he could learn something that apparently belonged to Gods? That was interesting, "Well, my chakra network is something that's been a part of me since I was born. Actually, everyone back home has it in their body. I just trained really hard to get as strong as I was before I got turned."
"Tell me more…" Merlin urged Naruto to continue, "…how did it originate within your people?"
Naruto decided to put his shirt back on while he explained, as Merlin sat on the bed like a kid eager to hear a bedtime story, "It's a holdover from my ancestor from about 10,000 years(2)ago, when she was the one that brought it with her from wherever she came from. She kinda was pretty much a god in her own right because of this."
Thinking it over, now Naruto understood back when Brunestud said he had some divinity in him that day. Merlin mulled it over in his head as he himself seemed to understand Naruto's own unique status as a vampire, "From what you've told me, it sounds like you're more akin to that of a True Ancestor than a Dead Apostle, physically speaking that is. And your connection to nature that's very apparent to my eyes is part of that. Not just only, but the vampiric impulses that any would feel that comes with the price of becoming one, you won't even feel them given your Origin."
Now it made sense as to why he never felt the urge to feed off of someone else's blood. The vampiric instincts that would drive one of them to turn people or even kill them… never even touched his mind.
"Whew!" Naruto let out a big sigh, "That's a relief, to be honest I was pretty worried that one day I was gonna crack or something and bite someone."
"If such a thing would occur, then I would stop you as I jammed you to the ground with Caliburn while Merlin took the time to dispose of those impulses."
Naruto jumped at the sudden emergence of Arturia's voice behind him, "Guh!" He turned around to see that she now had Caliburn sheathed in an ornate scabbard, "What was that for, huh?! You could've given me a heart attack!"
Arturia closed her eyes while she spoke, "I almost did? My apologies then." If one didn't know any better, one could see that teensy, tiny little smirk at the edge of her lips. Like a little girl that got away with a lie unlike any other. Merlin held back a chuckle at the display that his former pupil was poking fun at his newest pupil.
The ninja caught on to the little jab, but Artuira spoke before he could, "Naruto. There was something I wanted to ask you, before the others arrive."
Catching onto her tone, Naruto straightened up a bit as he composed himself, "Yes? What'd you wanna know?"
"Why did you reject Caliburn?"
He heard the underlying question 'Why did you reject the position of King of Britain?'
Merlin dropped the humor as he gazed at the two teenagers before him curious about Naruto's answer, just as much as Arturia was.
Naruto took a deep breath as he started, "You were the one that let out that little gasp from the bushes, weren't you?" Arturia nodded.
"Yes. I had been contemplating if my role to become the king was truly meant for me, or someone else." She closed her eyes as she imagined herself or someone else perhaps from what Naruto could tell, pulling that sword. "It was then when I saw you approach Caliburn as it shined brightly in response to you mere presence, just as it did before me… only… you merely approached it, but I had to take the hilt for it to respond to me." Naruto saw that Arturia was gripping the sword tightly but not out of the desire to unsheathe it, but instead he felt that it was out of… inferiority?
Why would she feel that?
Was it because the sword possibly deemed him more worthy than she?
Or was she unsure about her position?
Naruto closed his eyes as he breathed in deeply before he explained, "I rejected it because well… why the hell would they accept me as their king? I'm a vampire. That doesn't look good to a lot of people, since most would prefer to shove me full of Black Keys and seal me in a coffin. Plus, your people don't even know me. I've got no real standing here, even if I took the sword." That was part of the reason, mainly the political aspect of it. "But… when I started drawing the sword, it spoke to me. It told me that I had to become inhuman to lead these people…" Now Naruto was getting into the personal aspect, "…I may be a monster to some, but I'm not throwing my humanity away. Something like that? That's too important to me."
Naruto opened his eyes as he bore into Arturia's own as they widened since he had closed his own to think hard on why he didn't want the sword, "The sword wanted me to be something that I couldn't be. I didn't want that fate…" Naruto placed his hands on Arturia's shoulders firmly to show her that he cared, "You're the one that's meant to be the king. But I won't let you follow the path that sword wants you to, I told you that I'll follow you through and through to make sure that you don't lose your humanity. And I damn well meant it, Arturia. Your oath… the promise you made to the people, I had something similar that I wanted to do for my own people, but that's come and gone now. Now… now I'm going to help you build your dream. And honestly, it's a beautiful dream."
Merlin smiled as he closed his eyes, seeing that his new apprentice was someone that cared for those who he had barely known. Foolish, of that he had no doubt, but admirable.
As Naruto continued to gaze into Arturia's eyes, he saw that this girl felt so relieved by what he told her as tears began to build up slowly. She dipped her down allowing her bangs to cover her eyes, while her hands shook lightly; not from the feeling of inferiority like before, as it appeared that she was struggling to keep herself from bowing in reverence. Arturia's lips quivered slightly as they arched upwards into a smile that would become rare in the future, but he saw a pair of tears drop down to the floor coupled with her voice that was so small, yet so grateful, "Thank you."
Naruto would have gone straight to a hug, judging from the way Arturia was, she wouldn't have objected to it. However, a few voices were approaching the front door forcing Arturia to distance herself as she wiped away the tears and compose herself, "They've arrived."
That and the last time he head read mixed signals from a girl had NOT been pleasant...stupid fae maiden in Gaul!
As the door opened, Naruto took note of four distinct voices, as they stepped into the house.
"I still can't believe that they won't accept Arthur as the king!"
"Believe it, those old men would've preferred placing their own insufferable brats on the throne instead."
"But don't they see? Arthur is our king. The one our people have been waiting for so long."
"Don't worry lads, we don't need those fools. The real supporters are still out defending their lands from our enemies. We'll set out once we've gathered up everything we can, and whoever comes with us."
Naruto saw that three young men all decked out in their armor follow an older man inside the house, taking in their appearances. "Go get your things ready boys, we'll be in for a long trip if anything." The older man said. The younger men nodded, that is before they turned their attention to Naruto, "What're you boys looking at?" The older man turned to see Naruto just as he did. All four of them were cautious and seemed off put by Naruto's appearance, however Arturia stepped forward to begin introductions.
"Sir Ector, this is Naruto Uzumaki. Merlin's new apprentice and my new retainer." She placed a hand on his shoulder to emphasize that these were the facts, "He will be travelling with us in our campaign and beyond. Please be kind to him."
The older man, whom Naruto assumed was Ector seemed taken aback by Arturia's words, as was another. Though one seemed a little happy, while another was intrigued but was just as happy as the other.
Arturia turned to Naruto as she continued, "Naruto." Stepping forward she gestured to Ector to begin the introductions, "This is Sir Ector; the owner of these lands and a knight loyal to my father, Uther. He took me in when I was born; raising & training me for this day and duty. I owe him greatly for doing so." Perhaps in his late forties, Sir Ector had brown hair with the odd fleck of grey here and there kept in a tight ponytail. His armor was slightly more decorative than the others with the crest of a golden dragon emblazoned on each shoulder plate, the sigil of the former King Uther Pendragon. He was maybe as tall as Naruto himself, but the armor gave him a larger look, greaves and sabatons looking a little worn from a lifetime of fighting.
Ector merely shook his head as he chuckled, "Arthur, you don't have to say such a thing. All I did was follow my king's final command."
Arturia merely smiled, "Yes you did. But you enjoyed being a father again. Of that I'm sure." She gestured to the person next to him. A young man of average height with dirty blonde hair that bordered on brown, a kind face and blue eyes. However, his right eye was slightly foggy by some kind of scar that ran from his hairline to his chin. Despite this his face remained kind with a small smile that spoke of warm summers and cool winters. He wore a set of plated armor that was focused mainly on the upper body with the lower armor obscured by a burgundy waist cape. "This is Sir Kay, my older brother. I was his squire before and sparred with him in my training sessions."
Kay smirked, "It's true, though Arthur here is such a sore loser." Arturia's eye twitched at his words, with Naruto smirking at the obvious sibling relationship they had with Kay being the elder, and Arturia being the younger. "But hey, I'm just glad we have another man around to keep things entertaining."
Arturia shook her head at Kay's antics to try and get a rise out of her, "I will not speak of things." Arturia gestured to the young man next to Kay, "This is Gawain, my nephew." Tall, handsome and a very heavily set chest, Gawain's body spoke of a man whom had trained with the sword since just after learning how to walk. His shaggy blonde hair and aqua colored eyes were the image of knightly beauty, but the air was slightly ruined by the way he held himself, like his skill would always win out. While he lacked a breast plate his arms and lower body were decked out in flower marked silver plate while his chest bore a black tunic and was draped by a teal cape lined with grey fur at the collar, perhaps taken from some wolf he had slain.
Gawain bowed his head slightly to Naruto, "A pleasure. Though I'm curious, why is it that Merlin has taken you as a student?"
Naruto could sense that he voiced the obvious suspicion and wasn't quite sure if he could say 'Yeah the mage saw it in a vision one day I'd be in the court', though he guessed Merlin was about to say something given he stepped forward to respond as he placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, "I had foreseen that young Naruto would seek me out to learn from me. And I fully intend to do so, as he has pledged himself to our king's cause." Merlin raised a brow, "Do you really doubt my word, or the kings?" Gawain seemed to back down from Merlin's words as he bowed in apology.
"I'm sorry, please forgive me." He looked to Naruto and continued, "It's just…"
"A vampire helping a king seems pretty suspicious…" Naruto finished for him, "…I'd act the same way honestly." He gave a smile seeing that Gawain was very loyal to his aunt, and he admired that.
Arturia then gestured to the last young man next to Gawain, "And this is Bedivere, one of my closest friends." Bediever had pale blonde hair and green eyes, at a glance one could be mistaken for thinking that Bedivere was a male version of Arturia with even his hair in a similar bun, save for the twin ponytails that hung from it. A simple breastplate and forest green breeches were covered by a white cape black collar.
Bedivere smiled as he closed his eyes to bow to Naruto, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Naruto. I hope we can become comrades along the way alongside our king." Naruto had a good feeling about this one.
Seeing that since Arturia introduced them, he felt it best to do the same with himself, "So, like uhm…" Not quite sure if Arturia had mentioned to them, or at least Bedivere, that she was a girl and not a guy, "…I'm Naruto but you guys already knew that. Let's see I like ramen, which I really need to make some for you guys to enjoy the food of the gods." Everyone just raised a brow in curiosity at the first and last bits, 'food of the gods'… Naruto continued on with his intro despite this little veer off course, "I hate jerks and most bad people in general, which is pretty much everyone we're going after, after today. I do enjoy gardening and reading from time to time, I'm a little outgoing, I like to be active and exercise whenever I can. I like to travel a lot, and I like to think myself as being open-minded to what I can learn and experience." Naruto closed his eyes as he rubbed the back of his head while flashing his megawatt smile, as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Well that sucked… You're nearly 100 years old and you can't do better than your Genin introduction speech?"Kurama commented on the lousy intro.
"Screw you!"Naruto mentally chided the fox.
Any negative sense that they newcomers had of Naruto seemed to sweep away, though he doubted that was what would take to fully disperse any concerns of him being near Arturia.
Merlin patted Naruto on the shoulder, "Well said my apprentice. Now…" He glanced to Arturia as he continued speaking, "…I believe that the king has a plan on where we will begin taking back Britain from our enemies." Arturia straightened up as she turned to the war table to direct their attention to their first course of action.
Merlin and Naruto approached the table as the others gathered around it as Naruto was next to Arturia, "There is a Saxon encampment set up by the River Glein and it will be the perfect first attack in our war against the invaders and Vortigern." Ector placed a hand under his chin as he contemplated Arturia's first course of action.
The region wasn't too far from here, but it wouldn't be easy to cross through the mountainous region to reach the site as the Saxons had small parties scattered to prey upon traveler and trade caravans, "We only have a few hundred men at our call for the time being] but we'll need to leave some here to defend the land from our enemies. It will take us at least two days to make the way if the weather is kind to us." Ector crossed his arms as he turned to face Arturia, "As for the nobles here currently, well some of them don't like the fact that you're the rightful king, so they've decided to hold back their support in favor of you trying to prove yourself."
Arturia nodded as she agreed with her father figure and mentor. She was disappointed by the latter bit of news with those unaccepting of her kingship but she neither blamed them nor cared for them if they were only here in their own self interests, "Have a contingent remain behind as we take the rest of those who follow us, anyone. Men under your command, those nobles who are supportive of us, experienced volunteers, even the recruits that have joined for the tournament in the last few days. We can train along the way when we take stops to rest and make camp."
Naruto saw that she was determined to make use of whatever she could get a hold of for their campaign, however one problem was what Ector brought up: Saxon raid parties. He could have his Shadow Clones scout ahead to provide intel on enemy numbers and positions, etc. Raising a hand like he was back in the classroom, Naruto cleared his throat to get attention, "I think I can help out with giving us a good way ahead so we can keep our numbers high when we reach the main battle site."
Arturia directed her attention to the ninja, "How so? I assumed you would be riding alongside myself and the rest of us in the front." She may not admit it, but she cared for Naruto a great deal already.
Naruto saw the skepticism on their faces while Merlin placed a hand under his chin to see what his apprentice was about to say… or do in this matter. Forming the 'T' sign of his signature Jutsu, three puffs of smoke suddenly appeared behind Naruto as everyone directed their attention to what Naruto did, all the while Merlin looked giddy with what occurred.
Arturia had to admit, it took quite a bit to surprise her. Even Merlin's magical antics had to take a while before she was truly astonished by something, he did… but this was something she never thought possible.
In front of her stood three identical Naruto's that looked just like the original himself. All three of them gave a bow to her, "We're at your command." Their voices echoing one another as they not just looked like Naruto but sounded like him as well.
Arturia blinked as she struggled to keep her jaw from dropping, "Amazing…" Ector, Kay, Gawain and Bedivere all had the same looks of amazement adorning their features, all the while Merlin waved his hands like a giddy kid during the holidays.
"Oh, teaching you will be so much fun!"
Bedivere was the first to get a hold of himself before turning to Naruto, "Was that some form of magecraft? What else can it do?"
"It's kinda like magecraft, but not quite. They're Shadow Clones; solid copies of me that can scout ahead for us. When they disperse, all the knowledge they have comes back to me, so I'll know what they know." Naruto explained. Before Kakashi-sensei told him what they were really meant for in developing his Rasenshuriken. And after spending the last 80 years getting used to only three clones, he used them primarily for just scouting, it wasn't like he could use them in full combat like before.
Kay stepped forward and decided to poke one of them to see if they were actually there, "Huh, they're real flesh and blood copies, not illusions." He turned to Naruto as he smiled in glee, "So now we've got ourselves a one-man army."
Naruto grimaced slightly, "Eh… not anymore." Now the others seemed confused, "I used to be able to make just under a thousand, but… ever since I was bitten and turned…" A lie that he told to conceal the fact that he was not of this world, although he caught that Merlin didn't say anything, "…I've only been able to make up to three clones. Sorry I can't do more than that."(3)Giving an apologetic smile to everyone.
Ector and Gawain both had to admit that this would no doubt lead to saving the lives of their men in future battles. They couldn't deny that they were still suspicious of the boy, but he was demonstrating his ability already to aid them in their cause.
Arturia turned to Naruto with a question, "How soon can you have them scout ahead for us? We'll still need time to gather everything and everyone up."
"Right now, in fact." Naruto turned to the Shadow Clones and nodded to them as they saluted, knowing what to do. "You got it, boss!"
They disappeared as a rush of wind came through the front door, startling the others with as the door having swung open so suddenly and closed just as quickly. Naruto chuckled slightly, "Yeah I should've warned you guys, they fly off the handle pretty quickly."
And with that, they began to plan their next course of action as over the next few hours they gathered everything they could take with them and set out on the road to restoring peace and order to Britain.
It was near the end of fall as the time to travel along the road to war was not bad, but still the conditions were favorable for them, as opposed the scorching heat of summer, or snowfall and cold winds of winter.
Right now, Naruto was walking alongside Arturia who rode upon her horse, Llamrei. She had asked him before they got on the road if he would be alright walking while she and most of the others would be riding horseback. Naruto declined stating that he would be alright, that he was sued to walking long distances on his feet having done so many times in his youth.
When he and Jiraiya had gone on their three-year training trip, he crossed over into other countries with the old perv telling him about all of the 'exotic beauties' beyond the Land of Fire.
Ugh… so many brothels…
Llamrei seemed to take a liking to Naruto immediately for some reason, which baffled Kay who mumbled to himself about 'not being fair' only for Gawain to laugh at him all the while Ector told him to man up and deal with the horse.
Turns out Llamrei had a reputation of messing with Kay, and sometimes on Arturia's supposed request he'd take his stuff and dump it in a manure pile.
What joy.
Kay rode up behind Naruto under Ector's decision. Though it was really more or less on their parts of being a protective father and an older brother looking out for his sister. Merlin rode behind Gawain and Bedivere whom were next to one another, while the rest of the knights were behind that were under Ector, and thereby Arturia's command were in their horses and in carriages carrying their supplies.
Naruto was pretty adamant about getting certain flowers and herbs back at the homestead, claiming that he could make some actual food for them, to which Arturia budged on but not really understanding as to why. She wondered just what he ate before being bitten, so she decided to indulge him on such a thing.
Merlin had explained to Arturia further about the magical armor that he had gifted her, that it was something that would never be pierced by any weapons that their enemies held, nor would it weather or become dented. It was something that she could disperse and redo with the usage of her mana core and even if a weapon of magic could destroy it, she could recreate it in an instant if she willed it.
She had been contemplating on situations when she would have to discard the armor but couldn't think of anything right off hand. Arturia wondered if perhaps Naruto had some input to her slight dilemma; turning her head off down to her right side, she saw that Naruto's eyes were closed as he was walking alongside her, "Naruto, are you alright?"
The ninja opened his eyes as he turned to glance at Arturia while making sure he wouldn't run into anything, "I'm alright, no need to worry about me." He turned his gaze back to the road as he continued, "One of my Shadow Clones came across a small raid camp, so I had him go ahead and take it out for us while the Saxons slept to save time while he takes the supplies they had for us to use." Naruto looked back up to see that Arturia nodded, however he felt that was some bit of… reluctance to what he did, "Was there something wrong, my king?"
Arturia shook her head, "No, there was nothing wrong with what you did. I agree that we will need supplies to keep our growing army healthy and strong, and the fewer enemies the better for us, however…" She seemed to grip the reigns of Llamrei a little tightly, "…it's not very chivalrous to attack a sleeping opponent."
Naruto co*cked a brow in confusion, "What's 'chivalrous' mean? I mean if we can take out an enemy with whatever advantage comes our way, shouldn't we use it to our benefit?" That was one of the many things that had been instilled within him as a Shinobi; to take advantage of anything and everything on the battlefield, or even create one to suit your situation.
Adapt on the fly or die.
Arturia whipped her head to look at Naruto in shock, "You don't know the chivalric code?" Naruto shook his head, only for her to breath in a bit to get ready for a little lecture, "The chivalric code is something that all knights abide by in order to uphold honor and integrity in battle; even the taking of a life must have meaning in combat. Without it, every battle fought would only bring forth the fires of hell and give rise to new conflict brought forth by hate." Arturia straightened her back as she continued,
"To love God and maintain his church. To serve the liege lord in valor and faith. To protect the weak and defenseless. To give succor to widows and orphans. To refrain from wanton giving of offense. To live by honor and glory. To despise pecuniary reward. To fight for the welfare of all. To obey those in authority. To guard the honor of fellow knights. To eschew unfairness, meanness and deceit. To keep faith. At all times to speak the truth. To persevere to the end in any enterprise begun. To respect the honor of women. Never refuse a challenge from an equal. Never to turn the back upon a foe."
Arturia breathed in deeply as she took a moment to catch her breath, "These are the values that knights hold and describe what the chivalric code entails. I intend to fully fight by the code, and win the coming battles without compromising it, with my honor and the honor of all those who follow me intact."
This was something that Naruto admired about Arturia. She wasn't willing to stray away from what she believed to be the right path and wouldn't put anyone in the position where they would have to violate the code of the knight. She'd get along with Mifune quite well in fact, judging from how her code and the Samurai's way of Bushido sounded so similar.
"You know that sounds a lot like Bushido, from the way you described things." Arturia was curious now on something similar to the way she lived by the way of chivalry.
"What is Bushido? And how is the chivalric code similar to it?"
Naruto was recalling what he learned about the samurai from the Land of Iron, and how they lived by the sword, "Well, from what little I remember about the samurai from the Land of Iron, they lived by the sword, kinda like knights do." Rubbing his fingers together, he was trying to recall what he learned from his short time in their country. Snapping his fingers, he remembered as he continued on, "Yeah, their code went kinda like this: The samurai needs to prove that he is just and honourable. The samurai should look at death with disgust. The samurai needs to have full self-control. The samurai needs to be merciful to his comrades. The samurai needs to be polite in every situation. The samurai needs to be honest and respectful. The samurai needs to be loyal to his lord. The samurai will always defend his honor."
Naruto didn't have much time to learn more so, and his was disappointed by that. He looked up to see Arturia was enraptured by his little info dump on her, "I see, so the samurai of your lands live very similarly to us knights." Turning back to the road, as it hid her face from everyone's view, a small smile graced her features, "I hope you can tell me more of your homeland when we have the time to talk."
Now Naruto wasn't too sure if he could tell her too much, but given how interested she was, he felt that he could indulge Arturia without saying he was from another world, "Not a problem, my King."
Ector had his own misgivings about Naruto, but slowly he was warming up to the lad.
Night fell and Arturia gave the order for them to set up camp to eat and sleep, while having some of the senior knights and volunteers train the recruits that came with them with lit lanterns and poles to light up the place.
This gave Naruto the chance to begin his first lesson with Merlin as he stepped into the magus' tent, seeing him already going through a book of sorts unsure of what subject it was, "Ah! You're here; good. While tonight we may not be able to do too much, I can get a better understanding of what you can use." Merlin gestured for Naruto to step forward as his right palm emanated a lime green glow that began to wash over Naruto as Merlin spoke, "Since you have some of the basics down, I'm going to see what your origin and element is to gain a better understanding. However I'd like you to explain just how you managed that duplication ability on your own without an existing Thaumaturgical foundation."
Naruto nodded as Merlin continued his 'scan', "It's a Ninjutsu that I used with my chakra. Chakra's a combination me using my physical and spiritual energy together, and the handsigns help direct the Jutsu into whatever it is that I want."
Melrin hummed as he filed the info away for later as his palm no longer glowed the lime green, "From what I see, your origin is Life, being the Immaterial, and your element is Nonexistence, the Material(4). In short, you can learn everything there is from me, just like I thought." He placed his hands together in a form of mock handsign that Naruto had made as he continued, "Given that Prana and Od are both formed of Lifeforce, it may be easier to think of your 'Jutsu' as a form of Magecraft, where the handsigns…" bringing his hands up as the example, "…are used to kneed the Prana instead of Chakra."
The two heard that things were settling down outside the tent, Merlin ushered for Naruto to head back and get some sleep, otherwise Arturia would scold them both on how their lack of sleep caused them to slog behind.
As everyone settled in for the night, Naruto headed back to his tent which was pitched up next to Arturia's own with the light inside of it already out, signifying that she was fast asleep.
Naruto was drifting into sleep, but suddenly he felt something… foul… just outside the camp. But it wasn't being directed towards him… but at Arturia's tent…
Grabbing a kunai, Naruto rushed out through the camp as quietly as he could to ensure that no one would be disturbed by what would no doubt be a dangerous confrontation between him and this potential enemy.
Rushing through the forest, he found himself within an open field, with what looked like a woman. If ever there was a personification of the term 'tainted perfection' then this woman was it, her body was short and pale, the shade of melted candle wax. Her bust was not substantial but was easily a high B cup that was wrapped in a black dress of irregular design with blue highlights running along its length. Long platinum blonde hair of inhuman perfection hung from the apex of her head to the zenith of the thighs in a waterfall of silvery tresses. There was a cut out in her dress that revealed her navel and Fae symbols sketched into her skin like a set of tattoos meeting up with one large one at her sternum, all in blood red. An obsidian crown was perched atop her head connected to a translucent black veil. The light of the full moon caught in just so letting Naruto see the woman's face in detail, enough to see that she was almost a doppelgänger for Arturia… almost. Where Arturia's face was rounded and benign, this woman's was sharp and cruel, her lips caught midway between a sneer and a smirk. Her eyes were green with a lingering darkness hiding just beyond the senses.
"I was wondering if you would come." Her voice sounded like sweet succulent desire in of itself, "I'm curious though, what is a vampire doing in that girl's company?"
Narrowing his eyes, Naruto gripped the kunai, ready to strike at the woman's throat, but he wasn't sure that he could do it unscathed given how relaxed the woman appeared, "I don't see how that's your business." Naruto's experience with what he assumed was a Fae, judging by her 'feeling' and the Fae symbols, was not good, many of the ones he encountered took a rather sad*stic pleasure in tormenting people for amusem*nt.
The woman waved it off as if it were nothing, "Call me curious, I'm always interested in who my dear little sister keeps around her." Naruto wasn't sure what to feel about that little reveal, but only furthered him to be on edge.
"She's your sister?"
"Morgan le Fay, at your service." Giving a mock hand out as if he wanted her to take it, but instead he stayed where he was, unsure of what she was planning, "And if I might add, someone as strong as yourself shouldn't lower themselves to follow someone as weak as Arturia." She gave a sultry smile as if she was trying to seduce Naruto, "If you know how things really are, why not join me instead?" He wasn't sure if she had planned this or not, but it felt as if she was trying to charm him.
Well… he sure as hell wasn't going to fall for that crap, "Sorry…" Naruto smirked at Morgan, "…but you don't strike me as a leader who's worthy for the throne, or worth following for that matter. Not only that, I have a feeling you've got different plans for the country than what Arturia wants for the people."
Morgan scoffed at his words, "Oh please. That little girl hardly knows what's best for Britain, the throne is mine by rights. She was a bastard from the start, and she has nothing but childish dreams. The only reason she was born was for that the red dragon's power would be used to put down all of the invaders and kill that idiot uncle of ours up to the north who somehow managed to obtain the white dragon's power. Not that he even knows how to use it properly…" Morgan licked her lips like a predator ready to pounce on her prey, "…I can offer you far more than she ever could. Even the throne since the sword clearly preferred you over her…" So, she too saw that little incident, "… even myself if you'd like."(5)She was clearly trying to use her sexuality to her benefit, and she wasn't bad at it. If Naruto were younger, he probably would've fallen for it with some struggle to resist, but thankfully that old pervert taught him to resist such things.
"I think you should leave before something happens that we both will regret." Naruto was prepared to strike, even if she managed to have something in play against him, though Morgan's expression changed into that of a calm political player.
"Oh…?" Snapping her fingers, a magic seal appeared between them with a projection of Arturia sleeping soundly appearing, "Do you really think I came here unprepared? What's to stop me from having my own fun with her while we're talking right now?"
"Me."
That actually gave Morgan pause as she tried to contemplate his response, "Excuse me?"
Naruto wasn't going to hold back, "You heard what I said. Me. You clearly wanted something from me, well you won't get it. I have seen empires rise and fall, battled gods and demons that would make you run for the hills, little spriggan(6). I faced the Ultimate One of the Moon and lived to tell the tale. I'll slit your throat if I have to keep Arturia from staining her hands with your blood, she shouldn't have to. It's beneath her." Naruto bore into Morgan's eyes making his threat very clear to her.
Touch her and you die. Your too slow and I'm a lot faster than you think.
Before long, Morgan dipped her head with the shadows of the night obscuring her face and began to laugh out loud at what he just said, "He…hehe…HAHAHAHAHAHA! So, my sister has already turned you into a cuck! Well, well, well… I can see it already. She's captured you and instilled fierce loyalty!" Snapping her fingers, the projection vanished as Morgan got up from the rock she was sitting on and faded away into smoke that withered away but her voice remained.
"You can enjoy the time you have with her right now, but know this…"
Naruto then felt a pair of hands and arms wrap themselves around his body, with one going to his chest and the other slowly making its way down to his manhood, and he heard Morgan speak once again, "…I always get what I want in the end." She gave a slight bite on his ear as if she was showing affection; a clear mocking sign to him.
Naruto twisted around to see that Morgan faded into smoke once again and vanished for good this time. Feeling the urgent matter to get back to camp, Naruto rushed to Arturia's tent to open and see that all was well. Sighing in relief, Naruto decided to always keep his tent right next to hers when they camped, regardless of what was told of him.
He would ask Merlin in private of what happened out of Arturia's sight and hearing, not wanting to have her concern over what her sister tried tonight.
Codex Apostletos
Taken from the notes of L. Bartholmeloi
Subject: Naruto Uzumaki
Entry number: 2
One point of interest for myself and others of a more... reproductive inclination in the Association is the nature of Naruto Uzumaki's Thaumatrugal Foundation and Magic Circuits. I am unsure if such things could be passed on to the next generation in the form of a crest or if Uzumaki could even reproduce due to his status as an Apostle. Origin and Element are one of the few widely known facts about Naruto Uzumaki amongst the Clock Tower higher ups with only those of the rank Brand and above being able to view them. His Origin is Life (Immaterial) and what I believe to be the reason for his lack of vampiric impulses, we know that since Brunestud originally created the True Ancestors and they subsequently began to feed the creation of Dead Apostles was born out of... apology. A form of impure immortality conferred upon the food source as compensation for feeding the lusts of Brunestuds's 'children' with a requirement that Blood -the life-giving liquid- be consumed to maintain them. I believe that given the fact that Naruto Uzumaki's body seems to be in a constant state of adaption while adhering to what makes him 'him' means that his Origin was able to 'trick' the fact. Vampiric impulses do not manifest due to the fact that the insighting need i.e. liquid that contains life (blood) is already been fed by his own Origin of Life (Immaterial). It is likely to assume that this trait has passed on to any that he would sire as is the case with [REDACTED]
His odd Thaumatrugal Foundation seems to be based off of his element of Nothingness (Material) where he converts the prana in his body into anything that he needs so long as he can formulate the in between steps. Aria's used for molding prana into the required form for a spell can be used in tandem with him weaving hand signs to set off multi layered Thaumatrugy of varying element or nature as it comes from 'nothing' yet still exists. Given his level of Mystery it is not that farfetched to believe that he may be able to deploy the phenomena known as Divine Words.
In regards to his circuits as a whole it is not correct to refer to them as magic circuits, rather they are a Reversion to the Age of Gods of a composition that has only ever been recorded in the Sajyou family several decades ago. I would estimate their quantity at A and their quality at EX in comparison to the only other well documented record we have on Regression to the Age of Gods, Lugh Beowulf. Coincidentally Lugh Beowulf's former 'owner', Touko Aozaki is a recorded acquaintance of Uzumaki after the "incident" in July of [REDACTED].
Done! I almost got carpal tunnel from trying to finish this up as quickly as possible for my beta, but it was worth it.
(1) While yes, the Roman Empire had all but left Britain by 400 AD there was still an emperor on the throne by the time Uther was King of England and seeing as it is believed that Arthur is a descendant of the Romans it is not that far fetched to believe that Uther knew either Emperor Libius Severus or Anthemius.
(2) While we know that Hagoromo was born about a millennia before Naruto's time we have no real idea when Kaguya actually got here or how long she reigned before giving birth to her sons. And don't sight the "Land of Ancestors" arc from the anime cause its filler.
(3) Naruto has a rather large threat level against both the planet and the people of earth, so much so that too many duplicates would insight the counter force to start purging them. A rule of thumb is the higher that Naruto pushes his power beyond a certain point the harder the counter force pushes back.
(4) Naruto's Origin and element are based on a few different factors, his Uzumaki vitality, the mass boost to said vitality by Kurama, the boost to that already ridiculous Vitality by Sage Mode and the Godlike boost given by Six Paths. His Element is nothing to do with Akasha, rather it is the fact that he is able to convert nothing into something which is the basis of Jutsu and the sublimation of Naruto attaining TSO's... nothingness made out of something. Basically it allows Naruto a lot of free reign when it comes to Magecraft.
(5) If you have ever actually read Arthurian Legend (and trust me, my friend SliferMK2 has) then you would know that Morgan le Fay has a crap ton of lovers so her actions here aren't baseless.
(6) A Spriggan is an ugly fairy
A new chapter finished so quickly you might say? Well, the synopsis has been completed for quite some time now and it's helped out greatly.
I should also address some potential concerns with Naruto in this chapter that may have given off the wrong impressions. Naruto is neither submissive or a masoch*st. The latter was a joke so don't take that seriously, and the former well Naruto isn't submissive to Arturia. He is subservient to her out of respect for her, but the next chapter will showcase that he isn't submissive.
Anyways, let me know what you guys think in reviews; be sure to tell me what all you liked and or disliked about this chapter as it helps get a better understanding to what you guys like to read here.
So continue to read, review, favorite and follow this story as well as my other stories on my profile, until next time!
Chapter 3: The Rise of Camelot Part II
Chapter Text
Well, back with a new chapter so soon? Absolutely! The Fate series has been a growing obsession of mine and I'm fascinated by it. Having watched the anime's, I wish that the universe could've been picked up years ago back when the first Fate/stay night series hit tv by Studio DEEN.
But then again given how fan reaction to it wasn't very receptive, it made sense for studio's to stay away from it for a while before the masters at Ufotable picked it up with the Zero adaption and Unlimited Blade Works route, people loved the f*ck out of it, spawning a few more series with Netflix getting involved with the production of Fate/Apocrypha and Fate/Extra Last Encore.
Now with Ufotable's Heaven's Feel route done as an anime film trilogy (though I would've preferred an anime series but either way…), one has to wonder if they will pick up the Fate route and remake it but make it more faithful to the visual novel, but also expand upon it with the new info sources that have been created since '06?
Honestly, I feel that it should be redone under Ufotable,'s direction since it would make sense since they've done Fate/Zero (a masterpiece of an anime series) the prequel; Unlimited Blade Works being route #2, and now they're almost done with Heaven's Feel, route #3. Going back to Fate, route #1, but using the new sources created such as Garden of Avalon amongst other things to expand on Arturia's backstory more so, along with the Last Episode from Realta Nua as the epilogue to the series. The author himself even stated that he wanted to go back and rewrite it a bit admitting that it could've been much better, so hopefully they do decide on this to be their next major project but make it an actual series instead of films.
After that they could do Fate/hollow ataraxia and finish the stay night universe up with a nice bow on top, all packaged together in a super sexy blu-ray collector's set!
Now, on with the story!
Chapter 2: The Rise of Camelot Part II
-Late November, 467 AD-
The weak autumnal morning sun rose with the new day's beginning, with Arturia's small army starting their day off with breakfast and exercise while Naruto himself was trying to prepare his own out of sight in his tent. Over the course of the last few weeks of travel towards the River Glein more bannermen and their forces had declared for Arturia, swelling their small band of warriors to just over 1500. Suffice to say, Naruto managed to procure a few things for himself and using what he could get a hold of and made some scrambled eggs and toast.
Being alive for almost a century taught him that he had to be self-dependent and he had to cook his own food.
At least those tribes he met on the other side of the world were kind enough to teach him with hunting and gathering, along with preserving food for long trips. Cooking was something he had to pick up back when he was with Jiraiya since they didn't eat out a lot, preferring to make their own food instead from vendors or fishing from the rivers.
Given how he intended to showcase ramen to the others, he felt that the least he could do right now before the upcoming battle was share his breakfast with Arturia. Then again despite Britain being a rich and verdant ground with much greenland for growth, some of the ingredients for the Naruto's personal Ambrosia simply didn't exist... yet. Covering up his plate to keep it concealed, Naruto stepped out of his tent to go right next entry to open the flap slightly as to not intrude on Arturia's privacy, "May I come on?"
"You may enter." Her voice came through, not sounding the least bit bothered. Naruto stepped in to see that Arturia had yet to tie her hair up in the bun that she normally had to help conceal her gender, all the while she had been fully dressed, bar her armor. Sitting on her makeshift bed, Arturia had her breakfast on a crate in front of her. Arturia was eating what looked like some bread, fruits and oats along with some breakfast meat all of which were in a large quantity showing that she certainly was a glutton like himself. Although he eventually learned to control his appetite. Arturia turned to Naruto, "Yes, Naruto?"
Naruto took a stool over to sit next to her as he uncovered his breakfast for her to gaze at it in wonder, "What's that?" Naruto took her unused fork and stuck it in the eggs and handed it back to her.
"This is scrambled eggs and toast. Picked up the habit from a Roman legionary I met down in Libya." Arturia took the fork and brought the egg up to her nose to smell it since usually eggs were hard boiled or fried, "Well go ahead; try it. It's not bad or anything." Hesitating slightly to take the bite, Arturia slowly inched the egg into her open mouth and bit down to eat it. At first, Arturia's face seemed neutral, that is until she really began to taste the egg with the seasoning and flavor within. Her eyes widened in excitement as she actually started to begin shoveling the eggs into her mouth, "Uh, my king. That's my… breakfast…" The only thing left was the toast, but that didn't last long with Arturia swiping it up as well.
Before he knew it, Arturia had stuffed her face with his breakfast with a satisfied smile on her face all the while Naruto's mouth moved up in down in stupor at what just happened, "Wha… bu… my breakfast… eggs and toast… all gone…"
Arturia turned to Naruto with satisfaction, "Can you make more?"
"Y-yeah bu—"
"Then you can make more for the both of us." Naruto's mourning of his precious food stopped when she said that causing him to raise a brow.
"Wait, what?"
"You can make more of these scrambled eggs and toast for you and I." Arturia clarified for Naruto.
After tasting that goodness, well… one can't really blame her for being selfish… just a teensy bit…
Naruto now being forced to head back over to his tent, he contemplated that maybe this wasn't the best course of action to start introducing Arturia to the food he ate, "Ok then, I'll head next door to my tent and… start things up again."
Arturia nodded, "Be sure to make enough for the both of us tomorrow morning, after all: hunger is the enemy!" She exclaimed, that is before she gestured for Naruto to stop briefly, "Naruto, before you leave, will you help me with something?"
Of course, he was going to help her. It was in his nature. That and given that his king asked him, he couldn't refuse her, "Of course, what is it?"
Arturia turned around with her back facing the ninja, "Would you please help with my hair?" She reached over to take a blue ribbon and glanced back to give it to Naruto, "I didn't apply it before eating and since you've entered my tent, it would be best if it were done quickly before anyone unaware of my status as a woman were discovered." Naruto understood that her position as a woman in the guise of a king would immediately dethrone her and ruin her reputation, standing and status as a leader in Britain.
Taking the ribbon, Naruto began tying her hair in the bun as she sat perfectly still for him to do his work. Feeling that he should probably clarify something with Arturia, particularly who knew her true gender, "So, uhm… Art—I'm mean my king. May I ask you something?"
"Of course, what is it that you wanted to know?"
"Well, I was kinda wondering who else knew your secret? I mean, I get that Ector and Kay know since you grew up in their house. I get Merlin since he pretty much knows things that no one else does." Then Naruto's mind turned to the other close confidants of hers, "What about Gawain and Bedivere? Do they know?" Naruto could sense that she was relaxed, getting the gist of her forthcoming answer.
"My nephew Gawain is aware of my gender, as is Bedivere(1). Gawain knew not long after he had joined up with us to the tournament back on Sir Ector's lands, as his father asked us to take care of him." Naruto was wrapping her hair up as she continued, "As for Bedivere, he learned not too long after a practice match together. I let my guard down for a moment and he quickly took advantage leading to a blow that, well… left me in a position that revealed myself…" From the way she put it, it was pretty embarrassing from what Naruto guessed.
Though there was something that Naruto caught in her sentence concerning Gawain, "What happened to Gawain's mom?" He felt her stiffen up at that.
Not good.
By this time Naruto had finish tying the bow to secure her hair, "…she is no longer a part of his life, or our family."
"Oh, I'm sorry…" Now he felt like crap after asking that.
"Don't be." Arturia stood up and turned to Naruto with a neutral expression, but he could feel the distaste in her words at speaking of this woman, "His mother is cruel and sad*stic. Nothing more, nothing less. But let us speak no more of this…" Her voice gaining a more upbeat tone along with her facial features adorning a more positive feature, "…we have time to prepare for the upcoming battle, and I would like to hear more of your homeland after our victory." Walking past Naruto, Arturia placed a hand on his shoulder and turned to glance at her newest retainer, "And don't forget to eat."
And with that, Arturia left her tent to begin making preparations for their first battle… leaving a Naruto that was still hungry…
All he could do was stare at the empty plates that she ate off of, and the one he brought with him to share, "Man, she's a glutton."
After getting dressed and finishing breakfast back in his tent, after having to fix it… again… Naruto decided to head to Merlin to ask him a few questions; especially after last night with those little revealing lines by Morgan. Morgan was her sister, which led Naruto to suspect that she was also Gawain's mother after how short and poorly Arturia talked about the subject. Her uncle was Vortigern and made a coup to kill his brother to take power, and somehow managed to gain the power of a 'White Dragon'; and then there was Arturia's 'Red Dragon' power. Was she a host to it like Kurama was to him? And then there were the subjects of his Origin and Element, along with the rest of his training to be conducted under the magus.
Walking through their encampment, Naruto received several nods along with a few brief waves from a few of the knights of their small army. They were either training with one another, reading arrows and bows, sharpening their swords, eating leftover breakfast or getting their armor set for battle. Naruto sent his Shadow Clones out to take not of their enemy's numbers, armaments, positions, etc. for preparations.
Naruto could only wonder just how prepared some of the younger, inexperienced men for war. Memories of the Fourth Ninja War came flashing back after all these years with the bodies piling up before he and Killer B came around to help turn the tide in their favor, but still… too many were killed for the sake of a 'dream' that would only kill them in the end. Although he had also seen his fair share of wars in this world, and while not as explosive as his own they dragged on for longer and brought misery to all.
Pushing old memories aside, he came up to Merlin's tent as he opened the flap up to see Merlin finishing up some reading in a textbook; the magus didn't direct his attention towards Naruto yet, but acknowledged his presence nonetheless, "Hello there, my young apprentice. What brings you here so early in the day, we still have a battle to prepare for. Or rather I should say that you do."
Merlin kept reading away, no doubt deciding on where to start Naruto off in his training, though the ninja wanted to get some clarification and answers, "Yeah, I'm sure I do though since we're still a ways away, and I sent my Shadow Clones out to scout the encampment we've got time. I've got a couple of questions if you don't mind me asking before things get bloody out there."
Closing the book with his reading hand, Merlin placed it on his bed as he turned his attention to Naruto, "Certainly, what would you like to know?" His carefree attitude ever present on his face.
Knowing that his teacher was going to ask him on the how he found out, he made sure to give him an account when he would ask, "Is Morgan le Fay really Arturia's sister?" The previous expression he held before dropped immediately as Merlin waved his hand to the tent flap for it to close as he gazed at Naruto.
"How did you come by that information?" Merlin knew that Arturia's sister had it out for her since birth, seeing that she was born properly to what would be her inheritance of the throne. For Naruto, a foreigner to find that very well-kept hidden information was very concerning.
Naruto took a seat on a crate that Merlin gestured for him to pull up, and began explaining to the wizard the previous week's events, "She decided to make an 'invitation' -and I use that term lightly- to me to join her by threatening Arturia. So, I threatened her back and she disappeared while taunting me. Turns out, you and Arturia weren't the only ones to see me attempt to pull that sword out." Shrugging his shoulders after thinking he made a mistake with the threat, "Guess she figures she can still get to me even with what happened between us."
Merlin closed his eyes as he shook his head, "I must be slipping a little if I could not feel her dark presence. Either that or she's managed to perfect her usage inthatmagecraft." Opening his eyes, he bore into Naruto's own who seemed to realize that he didn't take the right steps in pushing the Fae away, "Regardless, you shouldn't have threatened her. Now she will have her sights on you at all times." Merlin knew all too well just how dangerous Morgan could be.
Fate had a habit of spitting out equals and opposites in regards to who held power in the world and Merlin knew that while he could be regarded as Britain's 'shining' Magus of Flowers, then Morgan was the 'shadowed' fairy that darted between them. His equal in the arcane.
Naruto nodded as he silently admitted his mistake, but with Morgan having something prepared to hurt Arturia, his emotions got the better of him and like he would always do; mouth off without thinking things through, "Yeah, it also doesn't help that she tried to grab my crotch before she left." Merlin's eyes widened a margin before returning to normal, not sure what the magus thought of that.
"Not exactly standard evening conduct for a lady…" he quipped lightly before closing his book with an audible snap. "But there is a precedent for such things, Morgan has thrown herself at many men over the years under various guises including the fictitious Morgause persona to a nymph by the shore. But she came to you in her true form?" Merlin finally rose from his seat to approach the Dead Apostle.
"In that case, be extra careful." Clasping his hands together as he covered his mouth, Merlin leaned in before continuing, "Morgan is a shapeshifter capable of disguising herself as any person she wishes. If she decided that you've captured her interest; not just general, but sexual interest…" Taking a deep breath before continuing, "…she may try to bed you for reasons that will benefit no one but herself."
Naruto shivered at the thought of the Fae forcing him to the bed and raping him for whatever reason, even if it was just to have fun or annoy the ninja. Feeling the need to better understand Morgan, Naruto probed further, "Just who is Morgan exactly?"
"Morgan le Fay is technically speaking the rightful heir to the throne of Uther Pendragon; Arturia's older sister and mother to young Gawain, as well as a few others." Rubbing his temples, Merlin continued on with her background, "She is extremely clever… nearly as clever as she believes herself to be, and she's a practitioner of the dark arts; very powerful, but very dangerous as well. Since her discovery of her Fae heritage, her power has only grown. Enough to match me in terms of magical power." Morgan had inherited the primeval curse that lurks with the British Isles in the form of her supernatural blood that had supposedly died with Uther, but it seemed that fate said otherwise.
Naruto didn't know too much about magic, but when someone practiced that was called 'Dark', it was extremely dangerous in his experience, "So her heart's as black as she feels."
"Yes." Merlin agreed with Naruto, "And she will stop at nothing to dethrone her sister."
Merlin caught that Naruto's hand twitched slightly to indicate anger. Perhaps some previous experience he thought. Naruto having already gotten the gist of Morgan moved onto the next subject, "Alright, and what about her uncle, Vortigern? Morgan mentioned that he has the power of the 'White Dragon' in him."
Merlin nodded as he gazed to the side, "She certainly has a mouth on her…" mumbling to himself before he turned back to Naruto, "Yes. Vortigern is their uncle, and he killed Uther not long after Arturia was born. You have to understand that as Humanity grows more competent in the absence of Gods walking the earth, the amount of "mystery" within the world as a whole begins to dip. There are those who wield powers from time immemorial that fear this radical change can lead only to destruction. Vortigern is one of these people. He deposed Uther due to feeling that Britain was doomed in the hands of 'regular humans'." Shaking his head, Merlin could only feel sorry for those in Vortigern's lands, "As for his ownership of the power of the White Dragon, she's not wrong on that count."
Merlin conjured up an apparition of a large white dragon in between them, "Dragons hold immense power, power worthy to be attributed to the supreme phantasmal species and those who can obtain it; the blood of dragons that is, they achieve their attributes and power. It enables them to gain the power to either inspire their allies, or strike fear into the hearts of their enemies. It gives them skin that is as tough as a dragon's hide; to perceive events that which have yet to occur; or even become a dragon themselves. Among all dragons, the Red & White dragons were known to dwell within Britain, stubbornly persistent beneath Mount Emrys long after the Age of Gods had ended."
Kurama had been listening intently at this point, with the Tailed Beast also curious about the subject,'I'm getting some déjà vu here.'
'Yeah, a little too much like us.'The ninja agreeing with his partner on the matter.
Naruto understood now about the benefits of having their power. It was like becoming a Jinchuriki; gaining immense power by holding within the power of something immense and primal, "So how did he manage to get his hands on the White Dragon's power? And what about Arturia and her Red Dragon power?" He recalled the Red Dragon that appeared behind her back when she pulled Caliburn after making her speech to the people. The presence it held was immense and he could feel as if the creature was right behind her, daring anyone to say otherwise.
"I'm not quite sure how Vortigern obtained the White Dragon's power, although I suspect he managed to come by it's blood and merely drank it. I have heard rumors that he keeps a drake beneath his castle, chained and half mad." Merlin took a book from his stack while he opened it up to a page showcasing a ritual of sorts with a dragon and a woman, handing it to Naruto for him to see, "As for Arturia, well that's actually something that I had done at the behest of her father." Naruto couldn't fully understand the text, but the ritual itself of the blood running from the dragon into the woman he understood a bit, "Uther asked me to imbue his child with the 'Factor of a Dragon', but I needed a woman who could withstand the ritual and was of noble blood. And so, the woman best suited was the Lady Igraine; the wife of Uther's servant, the Duke of Cornwall."
"Upon the ritual's conclusion, the child that laid in her belly was indeed Arturia, but she was not born from the union of the king and queen, rather from a noblewoman of another family." Naruto turned the page to see the dragon behind a young child, "When Arturia was born, she was born not with magic circuits that we magi have, rather, she was born with the heart and blood of a Holy Dragon, beating and flowing within her body. Gifting her with a mana core that makes her leagues above others as well as her potential for becoming a magus." Merlin paused momentarily before he began to chuckle, "Though she had such impatience during training. Little Arturia never bothered to learn magecraft—'Magic is too hard to learn, just teach me to use my mana to improve what I already have'—she could never stay put for long and she tried a few times to take swipe at me with her practice sword."
"I suppose my own ineptitude with long incantations may be a contributing factor, she took my advice of 'smack it with a sword' to heart." Merlin raised his voice to mimic a little girl's when he repeated what Arturia told him during her training. Naruto chuckled at the image of an angry Arturia chasing Merlin down with a wooden sword that he found all to hilarious.
Calming down as Naruto closed the book to hand back to Merlin, "Now it makes sense. It takes a dragon, to kill a dragon." Crossing his arms, he mulled it over before wondering what exactly she gained as a result from the ritual, "Since she has the heart and blood of a dragon, what were all the pros and cons that came with it?"
"Her dragon blood has gifted her with great magical resistance against many things, although she is unable to resist the True Magics, and members of the Divine Phantasmal Species can overwhelm her. Although I suspect that some magics from the Age of Gods would be ineffective against her." Placing a hand to his chin in thought. Dragons were among the top Phantasmal Species and considered rightly so; although given how rare the Age of Gods Magecraft was, it'd be difficult to fully ascertain her capacity to resist such magics.
"There's always a trade-off like that." Naruto said, "Something's always bigger and badder around the corner." Even though Naruto knew that Kurama was considered to be the strongest of the Tailed Beasts, the Ten-Tails and Kaguya were far more powerful. The Uchiha had the capacity to subjugate the Tailed Beast with their Sharingan to control their wills.
Merlin nodded in agreement, "Quite so. Then she has the ability to augment her body with her mana to make her faster, stronger and far more durable than anyone else in the battlefield. Her Mana Burst ability helps compensate for her lack of strength, with being able to send her enemies flying away or repelling projectiles whether they be magic or material weapons, or even act as a shield for her."
To Naruto, that sounded a lot like…
'A chakra cloak or at least an internal one. That's what it seems to me. No wonder she's so confident.'Kurama pointed out to him. His chakra cloak was able to perform almost all that which Merlin stated that Arturia's Mana Burst could do.
"Sounds pretty familiar." Naruto mumbled to himself, though Merlin caught on and figured his apprentice would reveal that in time. Turning his attention back to Merlin, he raised a question about what he was informed of last night, "Last night you told me my Origin was Life, and my Element was Nonexistence. What did that all mean?"
Merlin hummed with the question sitting down to begin explaining, "Well I should probably explain Akasha to you. You see, Akasha is the swirl of the Root; the center of all creation from which all information, people, power and many… many things originate from, and all magi are in pursuit of it. Whether it is to obtain the True Magics or view the records stored there. When any soul is brought into existence, they are ejected from the Root with a single defining trait at the core of their being that defines who they are. This is what is known as the Origin of a person and its effects how and what they're capable of in regards to Magecraft."
Naruto payed attention intently to his sensei's words, "Element on the other hand is the indicator of what you are predisposed to as a magus. There are the five main elements: Fire, Earth, Water, Wind and Ether or Void as it's sometimes referred to. Then there's the sixth imaginary element that can literally be anything from something as disgusting as Urine to an abstract concept like yourself."
Naruto had no idea about this sixth element, although… given what Merlin said about his Element, "I would've thought that my Element was Wind since I used it for so long." Kakashi-sensei and Asuma-sensei helped him refine his change in nature to perfect the Rasenshuriken in combat, and the added benefit of Pa's Senjutsu training made it even more powerful to boot.
"Your Element is Nothingness (Material), a hold over from your..'Jutsu' as you call it. You take the physical nothingness and convert it into a material. Wind may just be the first thing that manifested from the Nothingness of your Element." The magus clarified for the ninja, "You see, Magecraft comes from various Thaumaturgical foundations that use different methods to create the miracles that are possible through them." Now Merlin was giving Naruto a history lesson as well, "The primary foundation used by most mages were those set in place by King Solomon, the King of Magic in 950 BC to allow for more people to use it. The general rule of thumb is that the less people know about it, the more powerful it becomes; however, the more people believe in it, the more stable it is."
Naruto seemed confused by the whole rule that Merlin explained. It sounded all too contradicting. But he supposed that it was based on the fact that Jutsu and Magecraft had different rules from one another. Where Magecraft is based on mystery and wonder with many unable to explain it, Jutsu was based on discovering and explaining the intricacies behind it for others to breakdown, analyze and expand on it so others could replicate the feat.
"So, what all exactly are the types of Magecratf? Are there any schools people go to for that stuff?" Merlin chuckled slightly at the question.
"Nothing so assembled as that exists just yet, though there are Mage's Associations across the known world there is no actual base in Britain as of yet. I have heard of a gathering in London that should be putting that together when they manage to gather enough members and families." Waving that off as if it were just a secondary thing, Merlin continued on, "As for the types of Magecraft. We refer to them as schools in the sense of a broad subject that delves into sub-sections to be explored further. There's Conjuration, Illusion, Alchemy, Invocation, Summoning, Elemental Manipulation, Contracts, Bounded Field Creation, Mystic Code Creation, Curses, Healing, Geocraft, Runes, Necromancy, Formulacraft, Witchcraft and many other esoteric forms."
He went on to explain that there were many other skills that didn't belong to any particular branch of Magecraft but were still used to assist and Naruto may help build on what he already knew with Shadow Clones. The two that Merlin explained in detail were Thought Acceleration and Memory Partition to accelerate and categorize that which Merlin wished to teach him. The sun had risen to its zenith in the sky by the time the explanation had come to an end.
Naruto was floored by just how broad the scope that Magecraft had, "That's… wow. I had a feeling Magecraft had a lot of subjects, but that many? Sheesh, it's gonna take a while to get it all down even with Shadow Clones."
Merlin hummed at that, "You can potentially learn things that I may be able to teach you; but if you intend to learn of the things from the Age of Gods, you'll have to figure that out on your own." Mysteries from that time were beyond his skill level, despite how much he tried to research it.
Naruto saw that he had quite the ways to go in learning; the best thing he figured he could do right now was learn what sounded similar to Jutsu right now, "Ok then, so… any chance we can start with Elemental Manipulation? It's one of the subjects that Jutsu has in common with Magic."
"Certainly!" Merlin exclaimed in excitement with Naruto inwardly eager to begin. "Now one of the better methods at our disposal may be building on what you already have into your own Thaumaturgical foundation. For example no one knows the mechanics of your 'Jutsu' in this land but in your home you mentioned that it was known by many. Assuming that the land's denizen count was comparable to our own then it should hold both great power and stability here"
Merlin ran Naruto through the steps of teaching Naruto the theory side of Magecraft and while Naruto may have once chose to snap his own neck instead of sit through a lecture, he was far older than he looked. With age comes wisdom and patience. Both of which were being exercised to try and ingrain himself with this new system. Naruto found that if he could imagine the element and size he wanted to create then he could form it with the appropriate application of Aria and Prana molding. Concept, Method, End Result. It was simple but effective.
In some casestooeffective given that a minor flame mystery had ended up burning a hole in Merlin's tent. Bedivere and Gawain had been sparring against some of the newer recruits in order to give them some pointers when they had been witness to a thin pillar of fire burst from near the center of camp, skyrocketing to a height of three hundred and fifty feet before dissipating like a snuffed candle. A few of the more green recruits had run for cover and blamed god's wrath. Others had grabbed their swords and armor to run to the King's aid.
"Everyone! Be still and calm, 'tis only the Court Magus experimenting with some battle tactics, be at ease." Gawain shouted, raising his hand to call attention to himself before pointing back to the practice dummies. "Those of you who are new, get used to Merlin's antics or you will end up sullying perfectly good armor, now back to work!" The shaggy haired swordsman looked to Bedivere who smiled serenely. "Merlin's new apprentice no doubt."
As Bedivere joined his fellow Knight in drills and time passed, Naruto continued to practice and refine what Merlin had taught him in the short amount of time until eventually he stood before a slightly soot covered Merlin with a stable gout of flame the size of a pomegranate between his palms.
"Well done, my dear apprentice." Merlin said happily. He watched as Naruto let the fire mystery wilt before fading from view to leave nothing more than a waft of warm air where it had once been. "Keep thinking outside of the box and you will without a doubt become a first rate Magus that will make those snobs of the Wandering Sea and Atlas green with envy." the white haired man finished, causing a small smile to bloom on Naruto's lips.
Although, Naruto suddenly felt a weight settle on his head. Trying to gaze up at whatever it was, Naruto saw what looked like a fluffy white… rabbit-dog thing? It had the features of both animals with the proportions of a squirrel and had made an appearance without Naruto being able to sense it. The creature looked down at him with inquisitive purple eyes while walking in small circles atop the crown of Naruto's skull before eventually settling down amongst the spiky golden tresses, closing its eyes to boot.
It seemed to be sleeping on his head now with the rhythmic breathing lightly rustling at his hair. Not wanting the damn thing on his head any longer, Naruto carefully inched his hand up to carefully pluck it from his head that is until Merlin waved a finger, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
Naruto froze before he could move any further as he looked to Merlin for answers, "Little Fou there is one of the single most dangerous beings on the planetbar acertain spider…" Mumbling that last bit to himself, "…although given that Gaia is treating you in a similar vein he probably sees you as family."
Taking that bit of advice, Naruto turned his connection with nature towards the newly dubbed 'Fou' and saw that the white beastie was made almost entirely of natural energy of such a dense concentration it reminded Naruto of when he had first entered Sage Mode near the Ten Tails. Still, he attempted once more to at least touch the Cath Palug only to be swatted away by a fluffy tail when he got within three inches.
"I'm somewhat surprised, Fou can be a real diva at times and even attacks me from time to time for removing him from his home... you could call him acath-tastrophe."Melin held out his arms as if waiting for praise for his truly awful joke. He pouted childishly when all that Naruto gave him was a thousand yard stare, something that Fou mirrored from his bed atop Naruto's hair. "So mean~"
"Great…" The ninja drooled as he sweat dropped.
After the lesson with Merlin -and getting rid of that little rabbit-dog thing thank God-, Naruto's Shadow Clones dispersed, and the knowledge came flooding back to him about the Saxons they were about to do battle with… and they weren't fully equipped to deal with them head on as they were.
Naruto went to Arturia who had called a war meeting for them to convene on what he discovered. Their war council was situated in a large tent with a few tables set up for their armaments and supplies to maintain their weapons and armor, while in the center stood the table with maps strewn about it. Naruto had been going over the enemy numbers and positions they had, along with what their armaments were and potential strategies that he and Arturia could employ against the Saxons.
Drawing up the positions, Arturia stood on his right while they waited for the others to arrive with Merlin sitting off to the side as war was not his forte, but he would provide counsel to Arturia if need by since this would be her first battle in their war to unite Britain.
Arturia studied what Naruto was drawing up for them, all the while she tried to come up with a strategy to emerge victorious. The clanking of metal boots came clunking through the flap of the tent as Ector came up to Arturia's own right side and stood next to her. Kay, Gawain and Bedivere followed through as Bedivere took up to Naruto's left while Kay and Gawain stood to Ector's right side.
"Oh, good. Everyone's here now. Now I've got the gist of what we're up against here." Naruto finished setting the Saxon positions on the landscape, while showing where their forces would enter into the battlefield, "From what I can tell about their numbers, they've got around two thousand men to battle against our fifteen hundred. Four distinct groups making up their overall troops."
Kay chuckled mirthfully, "We all knew it was going to be an uphill battle no matter what."
"What did the Saxons look like from your observations?" Gawain was curious as to how much information Naruto was able to gain through his so called 'Shadow Clones' that he displayed yesterday. If they could provide detailed information on their enemy's appearances it could help them figure out which of them were the leaders.
Scratching his head, Naruto tired to recall what they looked like, "Well, it was pretty much split between young and old men in the regulars; I'd put their numbers at about sixteen hundred or so. The other four hundred looked better equipped though. I guess they're the 'elite' troops." Bedivere noted that last subject that Naruto brought up.
"It sounds like the latter soldiers are the Gedriht, and if there's four hundred as you say, it means we'll have to deal with four chieftains." The young knight said, "They're the personal troops that are loyal to their chieftains and give the best equipment to battle with."
Ector nodded, "And based upon the regulars, the old men are Duguth, while the young men are Geoguth. Eight hundred each, and they're only given small round shields along with spears." He recalled some of what he knew about the Saxons' weapons, "Not only that, they'll have archers with long bows and slings to keep our men at bay from closing in."
Arturia believed that she had her strategy figured out for this battle…
"In that case, we'll have our own archers fire upon their forces to reduce their numbers. This will give us both a slight numerical advantage combined with the superior armaments and training that our soldiers have in order to enable a full-frontal assault and charge through the Saxons."
She believed that this was what would win them the battle while maintaining their chivalry.
Merlin saw that Naruto had crossed his arms as well as closing his eyes, shaking his head in disagreement, but he wasn't expecting the next words to leave his mouth in response to Arturia's plan.
"That's a stupid idea."
All tent occupants had gone wide eyed at Naruto's objection to what their king said.
Arturia turned to Naruto as she narrowed her eyes at the ninja. She wasn't hurt or anything like that, but disagreeing with a king in such a manner showed disrespect, "You have a better idea to win the battle, then?" She knew that they had quality over quantity and that was what made the difference in a battle between two armies. Despite the few numbers they had, Arturia was confident in their ability to win.
Merlin was very intrigued by what Naruto had to say in his defense.
Naruto opened his eyes as he took a few rocks & coins from his pocket, "Yeah, a way for us to win without sacrificing so many of our men. I've been around for a long time Arthur, and let me tell you that while superior numbers can be overcome it is almost always at massive loss in a full frontal assault. Every one of our troops counts for if we win here and are severely weakened what is to stop the next army from stepping in to crush us?"
"I'm your retainer, and as such, it's my duty to tell you when something is stupid and to help you create something better." He began to explain to set up both sides gesturing who was who, "Ok so… coins are us, and rocks are Saxons." Setting them down, Naruto showcased just what his plan was. He had been contemplating what to do to make this a victory for Arturia that would give them the best outcome while the war council was gathering, "Now if we do what you say, my king. Then the Saxons will only regroup to form up a shield line with their backs to the river, spears out in a phalanx." Naruto recalled how some other armies would use this tactic to form impenetrable defenses while giving them an advantage in terms of whittling down the enemy.
"It's easy to defend from one side and they know that. They'll send out Skirmishers while giving them cover fire with their bows and slings to pick off our soldiers before they can even make it to the battle zone, and giving them time to retreat into the shield wall. They have an entrenched position, meaning with what I've just mentioned, we'd lose men with every failed charge. No, you have to think differently than what you normally do to win this battle."
Naruto took a few of the coins and maneuvered them across the river behind the rocks, "Now, Bedivere and I can take our archers across the river with an escort of paladins to protect them. You and our main forces can draw the Saxons' attention while myself and Bedivere lead the archers to set up behind the Saxons on the other side of the river here. Once there, I'll freeze a portion of the river into icy spikes to keep them from crossing over to attack, while our archers fire at them from the rear."
Naruto glanced at everyone to see if they were paying attention all the while taking note of their expressions; Bedivere didn't seem to object too much to the strategy so far, neither did Gawain or Kay. Ector seemed to approve given his experience in battle that this was something that would be favorable for them. Arturia though, well… he couldn't really tell as her expression had become neutral, although he could sense her unease with doing something that didn't abide by her chivalry.
"Since they know that they can't cross the river from the ice spikes keeping them at bay, along with any of the paladins that'll cut them down if they do manage by some miracle do get across, the chieftains will likely send some of their front guard around the rear to protect them from our archers. I'll take the opportunity to have a Shadow Clone sneak in and disguise himself as one of them to take out two of their chieftains in order to spread disorganization among the Saxons."
"Why not just kill all four chieftains, Wouldn't such a thing cripple enemy morale?" Kay asked, knocking the four rocks representing the chieftains from the board only for Naruto to take two of the rocks and put them back on the table at the center of the Saxon forces, shaking his head.
"No, if all four die then whoever the executive officer of each Gedriht will step up to marshal the troops as opposed to two of the chieftains dying. Each set of troops under their command will wonder who they need to take orders from and likely get conflicting orders. Without two of their leaders, they'll make tactical screw ups since their command has been crippled and cut down to half." Bringing the coins of their main forces Naruto continued on, "Now that we've given ourselves a few advantages, the bulk of our forces will change up into a wedge formation. My king, your troops will wait for one of the Skirmisher groups to return to the line and when a small gap shows itself, that's when you send in the cavalry to charge through and split the Saxons in half."
Positioning the coins into a 'U' formation around the split Saxon rocks before Naruto continued, "Have those with tower shields and spears form up the 'U' formation in defense around the enemy with spears out to prevent them from escaping. Once that's been set up, you my king alongside the knights and myself will take on the now smaller groups. With the last two chieftains cut down we can let the rest of the Saxons surrender if they so choose. Disrupt, divide, conquer."
Letting out breath of relief, Naruto finished his strategy to win. The others seemed more confident in the coming battle, though Arturia had a slight show of frustration as she gripped Caliburn like before back the homestead; the feeling of inferiority washed over her. She knew that his strategy was better, and she silently admitted to it, but still…
Naruto decided to try and ease things up a bit for her, "Look, I get it. This isn't something you'd normally do, but we don't have the luxury right now. If we had more men, then yeah, we probably could do what you said first. But the odds are against us; we're the underdogs in this war. I've been in war before, you have to trust me on this."
Arturia had concede all of the points to him, and it would be foolish to ignore Naruto. Finally lamenting, Arturia nodded in acceptance, "I… I understand… we shall use your strategy in the coming battle." Arturia turned to Ector with her orders, "Ector. Kay, have our infantry ready to assemble and move out within the hour. I want everyone equipped for battle."
Ector & Kay bowed slightly as they placed their right arms across their chests, "Understood sire."
"Gawain…" Arturia turned to her nephew, "…I want you alongside myself as we have the knights and cavalry assemble."
"Yes, sire." Gawain bowing at his king's order.
Turning to Bedivere, Arturia continued, "Bedivere, you and Naruto will ready the archers and paladins to maneuver behind our enemy across the river to flank them."
"I understand, my king."
Nodding in acceptance, Arturia finished the war council up, "Everyone is dismissed." As the occupants left the tent with their orders, Arturia stayed at the war table though she clasped Naruto's shoulder silently wanting him to stay. She wanted to know something that only the ninja could tell her, "Naruto, why did you put your disagreement in such words?"
Naruto got the gist of what she was saying –
'Why did you show such disrespect to your king?'
Seeing how he usually wasn't one to always agree with his superiors orders and decisions, Naruto felt that he should go ahead and get this out of the way to ensure that there wouldn't be any tension between the two of them, "I'm sorry about that, but the way you strategized that wasn't very effective. I understand that you want to maintain your code, but there will be times that you can't hold onto it, or you'll risk everything in battle for it. I was taught that you had to adapt on the fly or die in the fight." Seeing that Arturia was conflicted he tried to soothe her unease, "My king, you have a bright future ahead of you. I meant no disrespect to you at all. I merely wanted to show you that we have other options and strategies available to us. Like I said before; I'm your retainer, and it's my job to question your decisions along with offering advice and strategy when you need it."
Arturia did have to agree with him. She was stubborn at times and her chivalric code kept her confined to a certain way of fighting, however seeing that Naruto clearly had prior battle experience, she had to see the points he made. With their current advantages over the Saxons combined with Naruto's own brand of magecraft and their strategy, victory was assured. Until such a time came where she had learned the art of war she would defer to his judgement.
Although there was something else that Arturia wanted to ask Naruto, "Do you have a code that you live by, Naruto?"
And there was that. Naruto knew she would bring that subject up after yesterday and the little disregard of chivalry from the meeting, "I do have a code. But I'll tell you once the battle's over. Right now, we have to get prepared. I promise you; I'll tell you what code I live by and honestly, it may come as a surprise to you, or maybe not. I dunno… anyways, time to get prepared!"
Arturia nodded in acceptance of his answer, allowing a small smile to appear, "Then I will hold you to that promise. But you are right, we must prepare for war."
The clanking of boots across the ground rang through Naruto's ears as he and Bedivere moved their archers and paladins across the river other side as they got into position to begin flanking the Saxons. So far, the enemy had no idea that they were coming having taken the raid camps out and maneuvering just far enough out of sight from the enemy to not suspect anything. One hundred and fifty archers decked out in light tunics and oak longbows were far faster to move than the entire army and the guard of fifty paladins made it across the river in a minimum amount of time.
Once they drew closer, Arturia and the rest of their forces would emerge from the tree line into the Saxon's view where they would begin getting into their defensive positions.
Keeping within the woodland of the tree line on their side of the river masked their advance along the river until they began to take notice of signs of the Saxon encampment. The smell of smoke and cooking on the wind and even the odd burst of laughter when the wind changed direction just so. Their advance was not completely perfect, finding maybe two dozen lookouts along the bank but with the massive ranged advantage and Naruto darting amongst the trees had them silently taken down in next to no time.
Eventually the encampment came into sight, ramshackle tents of varying size place on the uphill back of one of the many meanders of the River Glein just as Naruto remembered it from his earlier Clone investigation. Bedivere gave the signal to halt the troops and get them into firing lines while Naruto advanced to the edge of their field of vision.
Naruto formed a Shadow Clone to head into the enemy encampment where it would disguise itself as a one of the slain lookouts and take out half the leadership when the time was right.
Bedivere came up behind Naruto as he patted his shoulder to grab his attention, "Our archers and paladins have arrived in force. We should get into position to be ready in time for the assault."
Naruto nodded in agreement, "Alright, my Shadow Clone should be arriving at the enemy camp any moment by now. He'll disguise himself as one of the Gedrhit lookouts we killed to get to the chieftains."
Bedivere followed the chivalric code as well, but not quite so adherent as Arturia was; he was among her closest friends, vowing to serve by her side as he admired her beliefs and it drove him to become a knight under her service. Surprise to say he was not expecting his king to be a woman as opposed to a man; however, this did not deter him one bit. Now he found himself working alongside a Dead Apostle whom by all rights should be fighting against them not for them.
At first, he didn't know what to make of Naruto, although his introduction back at the homestead with the others told him something: Naruto was a kind soul that clearly admired Arturia just as much as he did. His planning of this battle showcased that he had much experience in war, which only made him wonder just how old Naruto truly was, and when he began his life as a soldier. The way he carried himself was like that of one who knew battle by heart, alongside how he spoke of cutting down the enemy with tactics that would divide and confuse the enemy.
He may not fully agree that this was a chivalrous way to do battle… but Naruto's way would help them prevail with minimal casualties.
Naruto & Bedivere moved past the bulk of their troops to the tree line obscuring them from the Saxons across the river in the open plain. Naruto saw that his clone had already disguised itself as one of the enemy to hunt down the leadership, "Ok, so far so good. It looks like nobody's noticed my clone's out of place." It wasn't hard to use a Transformation Jutsu and move through the crowds if one knew how to use it correctly, "We'll wait for the king to show himself to draw their attention." Currently the Saxons were either still eating, sleeping, tending to their weapons or sitting with their thumbs up their asses.
As far as they were concerned, they had nothing to fear.
Oh, how wrong would they be…
Naruto used the little lesson he got from Merlin this morning to begin preparing for the magic he would be employing soon.
Even two Shadow Clones were still good enough to help cut training time down.
Bedivere signaled the archers to begin preparing their bows as his own with the paladins at the ready to defend them. "Nok!" Breathing in deeply before he began channeling the correct energies to use magic through his hands. He had established a 'trigger image' as Merlin had called it of lightning striking a tree.
"Petite warrior, loyal and steadfast. Your devotion is the ice of coldest winters, unyielding and true."Naruto started the Aria, a three count one was all that was needed for this.
"Draw!"
Within the heart of the growing spell sat the evidence of Naruto's concept, a memory used to fuel the mystery of which he was about to perform."Masked hunter, in service to a demon. Your heart is kind but your rage is frigid, unto your enemy an icy hell you shall unleash."
And they waited… the wait was not a long one…
As soon as they saw on the other side's tree line, they could make out the shape of Arturia and her forces moving forward causing the Saxons to drop what they were doing and gearing up for the blood bath about to commence, though they were unaware of their flank being wide open as Bedivere gave the order, "Loose!"
The Saxons unprepared for the attack suddenly found their backs filled with arrows, while some turn to try and run away. Naruto rushed in immediately before the second arrow volley with his hands glowing light orange with frosted steam emanating from his fingertips., "Alright, time to see things pay off!Brave Shinobi, your life long gone. Your virtue shall be remembered as an ice statue carved within my heart, I name you, HAKU!" As Naruto ran, appearing as a blur to the normal eyes of both sides, he thrust his hands out to touch the water with the mana surging through the river; the result? Spikes of ice shot up towards the Saxons that were attempting to turn their attention back their attackers with bewilderment clear in their words.
"What just happened?!"
"The river turned to ice and impaled our brethren!"
"IT'S A MAGUS! THEY HAVE A MAGUS!"
Naruto smirked a bit, mostly at his small accomplishment, but also at the cries of his enemies… he wondered which of them pissed their pants in fear…
Bedivere and the archers moved out from the tree line with the paladins taking the front; the knight and the former group readied their bows for another volley, "Archers, fire!" And let it loose upon Bedivere's command.
By this time several of the chieftains' Gedriht had arrived to form up a makeshift phalanx to protect their comrades; it worked for a bit, however some of them were struck suddenly by what looked like flying stars. Naruto saw that they were directing their shield to protect themselves from the arrows, however they were open for the ninja to throw shuriken that curved through the ice and around to hit their throats. Before arriving in this world, Naruto was had poor skill in curving the shuriken; but having been alive for a century or so, he honed his basic skills to their peak to be ready for whatever came his way.
Several of the Gedriht fell forcing the phalanx to collapse, but now Naruto saw that things were becoming hectic for the Saxons judging form how pitiful they were reacting.
"Where are the chieftains?!"
"They're dead!"
"No! My chieftain yet lives!"
"f*ck your chieftain, what about mine!?"
Naruto's Shadow Clone had taken out half the leadership, leaving half the Saxon encampment without guidance, "Now to kick things up a notch." He jumped over the ice and landed right on top of one of the Gedriht and drove a wind enhanced kunai through the shield that gave with the weapon driving through the skull of the warrior.
Arturia sat atop her horse with her hands gripping tightly at the reigns, Caliburn strapped at her side while her infantrymen and some knights marshaled before her at the bottom of the incline towards the river bank. They had placed themselves just beyond the range of the Saxon bows and sent the occasional group up to engage the Saxon skirmishers. There was a visual dichotomy between the British and Saxon troops, while the British were still and resolute with weapons in uniform correct positions the Saxons were hollering within their rough phalanx.
Hollering and boisterous shouting came from the invaders who added to the company by slamming the ash wood spears against their shields in an effort to intimidate them. Arturia had to admit that despite all of her training she did indeed feel a knot of anticipation.
"My King?" Ector asked from next to her, he to was atop a horse and was to lead the cavalry charge when the time came. "You look troubled, are you afraid?" the aged Knight's held empathy that spoke of years of battles and court politics.
She wished that she could turn her head to him and tell him that she held not a modicum of fear in her heart, that their foolproof plan would lead them to victory without any shadow of a doubt and bring them to the first step in reuniting Britain under a just ruler. But she could not, instead choosing to continue looking at the rambunctious Saxons that filled her view and let her foster father work it out without her voice betraying her.
"I see." Ector nodded to himself, taking her unsaid answer, a grin breaking his stoic slightly wrinkled face. "Good." Arturia finally looked to Sir Ector who continued to speak his piece. "Fear is one of the key parts of battle, it shows that you understand what is at stake, be it your life or those that follow behind you. Take that fear Arthur, take it and let it light the way to a time when fear is no longer needed except when facing those that would induce it by inhuman means."
"Fa-Sir Ector…" Arturia said, correcting herself mid sentence. She was about to thank him when a mass sound rent the air, like a blast of wind or smoke. Tearing her eyes away from her foster father, seeing something that gave her pause. The entirety of the river had been transformed into large spikes of solid ice that jutted towards the Saxons rear at all angles between 0 and 180 degrees. Soon enough she heard the telltale whizzing of arrow volleys slamming into the rear of the Saxon hoard, causing cries of confusion to come from the heart of the enemy encampment.
"Looks like Merlin's apprentice pulled through." Ector said with a chuckle, impressed by the use of Magecraft to turn the Saxon's position against them, "So, King Arthur, give your army their first orders."
Taking a second to steady herself, Arturia nodded, drawing forth Caliburn and riding out before her troops before turning to address them. "Sir Kay!" Her foster brother sat to attention, looking at the impressive figure of his King, "Take command of those with tower shields, have them move to the rear guard and begin the encircling maneuver the moment the main push begins."
Kay nodded, cantering off towards the back of the army. Arturia turned her attention to Gawain, now wearing a breastplate as well as a great helm to protect his head. He was in charge of taking control of half the infantry and knights once the Saxons had been split. "Company!" he shouted, raising his sword high above his head, glinting in the sun that loomed overhead. "Change formation!"
Looking to Sir Ector, Arturia took a deep breath before addressing him. "Sir Ector, take control of our cavalry and begin the charge when the signal is given, you are vital for this victory."
Ector nodded, a smile on his lips before placing the visor on his helm down and raising his sword to the sky, turning to gallop down the line of troops that were beginning to change position. "Hail King Arthur, son of Uther! Hail to the King of Knights!" he proclaimed loudly, his voice carrying clearly across the assembled British forces. The knights and infantry joined their voices with his, letting out roars of righteous jubilation and slammed spears against the ground. The sea of jostling steel was like something out of a dream for Arturia, their calling her name and proclaiming her glory was truly something to witness.
Turning back to the now panicking Saxons, Arturia leveled Caliburn at the foreigners that had invaded her lands. With a straight back and roaring heart she opened her mouth and delivered her decree, scant of fear or uneasiness, now was the time for action! "Infantry, Advance!"
Naruto saw that Arturia was now leading in with the wedge formation as the infantry formed the 'U' around the encampment and began closing in with their forces cutting the Saxons already present on the battlefield; the opening they were looking for occurred and she struck as soon as it appeared.
"Glad to see you listened, my king."
Naruto formed two additional Shadow Clones to aid their battle, "Alright boys, go thrash!"
"Right boss!"
Naruto decided to regroup with Arturia to finish things up.
Ector saw the break in the Saxon line and charged forth with a force of four hundred and fifty of Britain's beast cavalry at his back, spears and swords drawn to smash through the enemy line and cleave them in twain. The Germanic raiders were utterly unprepared for such a focused attack and with their line compromised their was little they could do to stop it. A few of Ector's charge fell to spears and arrows but it could not stop the British cavalry crashing down upon them like the rage of a vengeful god. Ector himself was a master of mounted combat, using the momentum of his horse to cut the enemy force in two, even picking up a fallen Saxon's spear to increase his range.
Naruto's strategy worked well, just as he said. Arturia had brought their cavalry and infantrymen with her to draw attention from the Saxon's backs while their flanking maneuver would cripple them. It wasn't something she was proud of by striking in the back of her enemy, rather she preferred a head on confrontation; however, she agreed that they would need a way to win this battle to showcase that they could unite Britain and prove her kingship.
The Saxons sent out their Skirmishers to draw first blood, however that suddenly came to a halt as they were suddenly pulled back, but also, they were stuck wondering what to even do.
Naruto's doing no doubt. He said that he would cripple their leadership, and this was the result: conflicting orders, unknown positions and confusing soldiers trying to make sense of what was supposed to happen.
Arturia raised her sword to lead the cavalry charge with Ector and Gawain in their wedge formations, while Kay gave the order for the infantry to begin collapsing in with the 'U' formation and prevent escape.
As the second wave of cavalry drew closer and closer to the Saxons, Arturia raised Caliburn and slashed at the enemy from one side to the other as she took the lives of Saxons left and right. Ector and Gawain each did the same, while the knights came behind as to ensure that the enemy couldn't take their horses down.
Arturia was as much a holy dragon as dwelled in her blood, her golden sword splintering the ash shaft of many Saxon spears and cutting down enemies of all ages. While her mounted combat was not at the same level of Ector, when it was enhanced by her core it made it so that she was damn near unkillable against these enemies. Gawain too was proving why he was known as the Knight of the Sun, having jumped down from his horse Gringolet and making literal mincemeat of any Saxon that crossed is path. His longsword sang a song of sanguine death as it took the heads and spines of five Geoguth in a single swing.
He did not pursue those that ran from him, but did throw the odd insult their way for dishonorable conduct, inspiring his allies while demoralizing his enemies all at once.
Bedivere had by this time worked his way back around to reinforce Kay with the both of them fighting back to back against the enemy who were steadily growing more desperate. The maneuver had reduced their numbers from 2000 to just under 1300 in less than half an hour and now that they had been split into two groups; the greater skill and quality of Arturia's troops was shining through like the light of god. One berserker armed with two axes made a beeline for Bedivere, his form bloody and eyes half mad with pain. Bedivere was caught unawares but was pulled to safety by Kay who threw a knife into the eye of the Saxon and sent him crumpling to the mud below.
Out of the corner of her eye, Arturia saw Naruto on the battlefield with those strange knives he used. She as well as the others in her army were like heavy moving objects that could stomp their way through the enemy, but that didn't mean she would use her speed to run across the battlefield and appear like a rabbit at times when she went for their necks; the most unprotected part of the enemy's body. Naruto on the other hand moved artistically like a dancer, moving from one position to another with skill and elegance. He was light as a feather, with no equal.
Yet at the same time he was immovable juggernaut like great Ajax of the Trojan war. One Gedreht had run at the blonde Dead Apostle armed with a Roman Spatha and swung at the blonde's neck with all his might. The Gedreht in question was a hulking 6'7 with muscles that could have crushed a man's skull with enough pressure, decked out in mail and a helm he was determined to take down the red eyed menace. With all this going for him he had swung his sword at Naruto's neck…
Only for the Spatha to literally shatter on contact, shards of steel flying in all directions and leaving no discernible mark on Naruto's neck. The Saxon had looked down at his weapon in a mixture of horror and confusion before back to Naruto whose red eyes were now locked on his. He tried to to attack again only for his body to not respond, enraptured by Naruto's Mystic Eyes of Enchantment.
Naruto slit the man's throat with a Kunai and turned back to his own slaughter. All the time Arturia watched.
In a way she found him… graceful in combat, but also brutal. The way he killed the Saxons was like that of a precise and merciless fighter. He drove his knives into the neck, skulls and hearts, sometimes even going straight through their bodies with a sickening sound that she couldn't describe per say.
She directed her attention back to the Saxons as one tried to charge her with an axe. Jumping from Llamrei, Arturia sidestepped the young Saxons, a Geoguth and slashed at his back to end his life.
"YOU! You the leader, aren't you?! Worthless cur, you and your spy will die for that!"
"Our brothers are dead because of your shameless sneak attack!"
Arturia narrowed her eyes as she turned to see two Saxons with Dane axes and great clubs, armed with heavy leather and chainmail armor and appeared older than the rest; the chieftains and they look none too pleased by their attack. She didn't fully agree with Naruto's idea, but she knew he was right. A tinge of anger swelled up at their threat to her and Naruto.
"I think not Saxon savage, you and your people came to take what doesn't belong to you, and I've had it." She held Caliburn up in her stance ready to take on the two chieftains. Judging from the way they appeared with their weapons and stances, they were the type to try and overwhelm with pure strength alone, no skill whatsoever in their fighting style, "I am Arthur Pendragon, son of Uther and rightful ruler of Britain. And you Saxons, have had your last raid. Prepare yourselves!"
The chieftain charged with their brutal implements raised high above their head to try and crush her to death, but Arturia maneuvered around to take a swipe as the chieftain on the right side; lowering Caliburn, Arturia slashed at the man's ribs forcing him to bend down to try and stop the profuse bleeding, while the other moved around his brother to try and swing overhead, but Arturia lowered herself to roll over and deliver an upward slash across his chest. The chieftain tried to move back to avoid the attack, however he was stopped by someone with a kick to his back; Caliburn drove into him deeply as the blood shot out from his body, and shock apparent on the chieftain's face as he dropped dead in the battlefield.(2)
Arturia saw that it was Naruto that had come to her aid with a smile on his face, "Come now, my king. Surely two chieftains would've been beaten by you quickly?" She smirked as the challenge was apparent in his words.
"They wouldn't have lasted much longer, Naruto. You needn't concern yourself in which the time it takes for me to fell two opponents such as these." Arturia glanced to the remaining chieftain who still held onto life, still trying to stop the bleeding. He glanced to Arturia who had focused all his attention on her, along with the Dead Apostle standing to her side; by now the fighting had begun to calm down with many of the Saxons yielding for the lives to be spared. Pointing Caliburn at the chieftain's head, she spoke, "Do you yield the battle to me, Saxon?"
The chieftain could only glare at Arturia with disdain as he breathed in heavily to stay conscious. His answer was in the form of him spitting at her feet before speaking, "Never…"
Narrowing her eyes, Arturia raised Caliburn high to carry out the execution, "Very well then." With the sword raised above her head, she brought the blade down to the chieftain's neck decapitating him, but before seeing the man close his eyes in acceptance of his fate.
Naruto saw that there was now a certain weight on Arturia's shoulders and felt it best to try and help her, "My king, are you… alright?" Her expression neutral before turning to Naruto.
"I am alright, Naruto. You need not worry for me; I will be fine." Turning back to the battlefield, she saw that the fight was closing with their forces victorious and the Saxons surrendering, "Now we must deal with those that have surrendered."
As Arturia began to make her way over with the rest of their forces, Naruto gazed back to the corpse of the Saxon chieftain for a bit before following Arturia.
First battle's always were the worst.
With their victory assured, and the Saxon encampment taken, it was time to decide what to do with the prisoners. Arturia stood up with Caliburn out with her hands placed on the pommel and the blade down; Naruto, Ector, Kay, Gawain and Bedivere stood up alongside her while her knights formed a line around the prisoners to prevent them escaping. Several archers kept their distance if by some chance a runner made his getaway, while the rest of her forces began gathering supplies and horses to use in their army.
Taking the next step in the aftermath of the battle, Arturia spoke to the Saxons, "I am Arthur Pendragon, son of Uther and the rightful king of Britain. I came here today to stop your attacks on my people and put an end to the misery you cause. However…" Glancing to one of the older Duguth that was at the head of the prisoners, "…I have been informed of the plight that was in your homeland. I know that the only reasons some of you came here was due to flooding destroying your home countries farmland. You came here to try and find a better life and cannot blame you for trying to find such things in Britain, but I will not allow you to destroy and take what others have worked for."
Naruto saw that Arturia was going to give them a choice, although with the paladins off to the side reading their blade and infantrymen beside them, he had a feeling that some wouldn't be given the choice, "You have the choice to leave and live your lives in peace. I will spare your lives this once, but if you decide to discard this chance that I am giving you, and rejoin your brethren in raiding Britain, you will be sentenced to death. If some of you are productive and seek employment then I will allow some of you to become blacksmiths to the army should you choose to continue living in Britain, but it will be under my supervision and those that are in charge here." This was a showing of mercy by Arturia, to showcase that she could be fair, just and merciful as the king…
"However, I have been informed of those who have committed atrocities to Britain. Murder, rape, the list goes on, and that is something that cannot be tolerated."
…now she was going into the punishment part…
"I hereby sentence you to death. It will be quick and painless, that I assure you."
Several of the Saxons were wide eyed at this proclamation, with Arturia's infantrymen making their way to the group and began to take the offenders by their arms, two men for every one offender. Naruto saw that the infantrymen were forcing the Saxon offenders to bend over as the paladins raised their swords to cut their heads off; he noticed that Arturia was not paying attention to what was about to occur, and saw that while she was ok with executions like this… just seeing or even doing the deed seemed to upset her. Instead she gazed at the Duguth that approached her. Gawain seemed to tense up, though Naruto placed a hand to his side and shake his head to ensure he knew that the Saxon meant no harm.
The sound of the swords coming down onto the necks, with many of the Saxons looking away in fear.
The Duguth bowed his head to Arturia as he began to speak, "Thank you. I am… unsure if any other leader would've allowed some of us to live. But please, take what you need as boons. Our finest steeds are yours."
The man gestured for Arturia to follow him, although she turned back to her inner circle, "Sir Ector, Kay, Gawain, Bedivere, make sure everyone and everything is accounted for and oversee the release of our prisoners. Make sure those that wish to leave are set off with the appropriate supplies they need, and those that wish to stay are acclimated to their new positions." The knights understood the king's order and bowed their heads while crossing their right arms over their chests.
"We understand, sire."
The knights left to comply with their king's order, while Naruto was left more or less out of it. Though Arturia seemed to have something different in mind, "Naruto, walk with me."
"Y-yes, my king." Naruto wasn't sure just what it was she wanted him to do, so he just went along with her as she followed the Duguth to the horses that belonged to the Saxons. There were not many, for the Saxons mostly used them for transport.
"Tell me…" Arturia directing her question to the Duguth, "…which of your stallions is the finest you have?"
The Duguth turned to respond, "Our finest one fears no battle despite not having a cavalry. It seemed to always yearn for battle, yet we never allowed it." The Duguth stopped as he gestured to the majestic looking steed before them. It's hide was gray-silver, with white hair, strong muscles and a healthy stature. The horse was the epitome of stallions as it seemed to rival even Llamrei, "Dun Stallion, is his name."
Arturia approached the horse to try and connect with it. The horse regarded her with interest, that is until he pulled back before allowing her to pet it on the nose. Arturia turned to Naruto as she gestured him to come closer. Naruto obliged of course, though he wasn't sure why. Naruto began petting Dun on the nose like Arturia.
An idea came to Arturia's mind. She clasped his left hand with her right and spoke…
"Naruto. Dun Stallion is yours."
He was caught off guard by what she said, "Uhm… I'm sorry but wouldn't he be better being someone else's?" Arturia shook her head at his reasoning.
"No. You need a stallion like the rest of us…" She began to reason with him, "…you may be used to long walks, but one must have a stallion to ride across the country, especially when winter comes, and the snowfall begins to make travelling difficult." Despite what Naruto told her with how he often traveled long distances by foot alone, it did nothing to worry her with his health. Travelling by foot on the long distances no doubt built up sores on his feet, and she didn't want her new chef, er… retainer… to be hindered by such things.
Naruto was about to protest again, until Arturia gave him a mild glare, leaving no room for arguments. He nodded in acceptance, "Thank you, my king."
"Think nothing of it, Naruto." A small smile was given to the ninja before she turned back to the Duguth, "We will have you set off with the necessary items for wherever you go. Your officers will be handed over for burial, while the rest will be burned." It sounded grim to be sure, however, it was not without purpose. Handing over the bodies of the Saxon officers was a sign of being just in the battle, while the burning of the rest of the Saxons were meant to ensure that the plague would not spring up and spread further across the land. They already had that problem and unfortunately it wasn't an enemy that could be defeated so easily. Burning the bodies was the only real way to prevent it from spreading.
The Duguth appeared grateful and understanding of their situation, "Thank you, King Arthur."
With the Saxons set out or joining as smiths to the army, they had taken the boons offered by the survivors of the battle as thanks for sparing them. The casualties on their side of the battle were kept to a minimum with only a few lives lost, along with some limps, bruises and minor cuts. Thankfully no one had lost a limb… yet…
They regrouped back at their camp and made plans to move to a Pendragon loyal settlement not far from their position; on the river Dubglas in the region of Linnuis. It had a large homestead with a position that allowed easy defense along with multiple roads that could be used to travel to and from other settlements across the island; not only that with winter fast approaching, they could make it their temporary home and expand with word now spreading of Arturia's kingship being true from pulling Caliburn as well as the battle to prove her ability to lead in battle.
Right now, Naruto was making his way back to his tent to begin packing up the last bits he needed to saddle up on his new steed. However, as he was passing by the boons given to them, he saw Arturia standing in front of a cage with a small animal inside of it trying to get out, though he could tell that she was enraptured by it. Coming up behind her, he tapped her shoulder earning a response, "Naruto. This animal is it…?"
Naruto saw just what it was and judging from the way Arturia's body language, she desperately wanted to know if it was true or not as he sensed eagerness to just… jump in joy like a kid in the holidays, "Yes, my king. It's a lion cub." The feline from a continent beneath Europa was trying to bite and scratch its way out of the cage, all the while Arturia looked like she was just gonna cuddle the thing to death. "Must have got it from Ghoulish traders down in southern Europa or Viking traders that have been to the Romans."
Seeing an opportunity to get back at her for her little ambush previously, and eating his precious breakfast, Naruto of course could not allow such a chance to pass up.
Naruto reached out to the cage and opened to grasp the lion cub as it began scratching his hands, and promptly handed it to Arturia who looked like she was a dumbstruck kid, "Naruto, what is the meaning of this?"
"Well, my king. It looked like you wanted to cuddle with the little guy…" Naruto playfully said, "…and since he wanted to get out, I thought you might like having him in your arms." Glancing down before directing his attention back to Arturia who was still not catching on to what he was doing, "Not only that, the little guy doesn't seem to mind all that much. In fact, he seems to like you holding him."
The sight before him was simply too cute, though he hoped it would get more entertaining than this.
The lion cub was nuzzling up Arturia's arms as she glanced down to the animal she certainly liked.
She remembered the day of her youth when she was sick and asked her brother Kay to make a wood carving of a lion for her that she cherished for much of that time. However, it was lost one day, and she was downtrodden by it. She always wanted to see a lion running across the plains, but now though… well she couldn't help it… the cub was too damn cute.
Next thing Arturia knew, the cub began to crawl up her shoulder from the arms that once cradled it, and now planted itself square on top of her head. Arturia furrowed her brows at this and decided to try and pull the cub from her head. Sad to say it had little effect as the cub had its paws in her hair grasping on with things becoming more difficult to get it off.
Arturia looked to Naruto to help, only now he was whistling as he looked to the sky with some interest. She narrowed her eyes at the traitor who promptly turned his attention back to her as he did his best to not laugh at his king.
"Well… it looks like you really are more of a lion. A Lion King in fact." Naruto said with some humor. Inwardly though, Arturia did like the title. And maybe having some lion-themed armor sounded intriguing… Although now it seemed that karma was coming back to bit Naruto in the arse with what occurred next.
Naruto felt a weight on his head just like earlier in the day and knew… he just knew exactly what it was…
"There's a rabbit-dog sleeping on my head… isn't there…?" Naruto narrowed his eyes at Arturia who was stifling a laugh, just barely… She nodded in response as Naruto ever so slowly reached up with both hands to try and grab the little bastard. Although this wasn't an ordinary animal since Merlin explained it was his familiar, moreover the fearsome Primate Murder no less, even if in a more manageable form. The furry animal that nestled on Naruto's hand quickly swatted away his encroaching hands without even waking up, "Why you little…" His eye twitched.
"It seems that Sod's Law(3)is merely handing you your comeuppance, Naruto." Arturia chuckled at the position Naruto was in now.
Naruto would've said something, but he was stopped as he felt something land on his shoulder. Taking a glance at the object, Naruto saw that it was a snowflake. Arturia gazed up as far as she could without the lion cub falling off her head, "Winter has finally arrived." She turned her vision back to Naruto, "We should move out as soon as possible now to avoid the snowfall that will prevent most travel."
Naruto knew that trying to move in winter, primarily in the snow filled lands would be very difficult, but not impossible. And their next destination was a place that would allow travel during this time, along with providing warm shelter for them to reside in, "I understand, my king."
The ninja headed back to his tent, but not before Arturia stopped him by the shoulder and spoke, "By the way Naruto. I have a new assignment for you."
Naruto arched a brow in curiosity, "You do?"
"Yes."
"What is it?"
"You will now be my personal chef."
"…" What…? "Huh?"
"It's as I've stated. You will be my personal chef from now on." Apparently, his breakfast made an impact on her this morning, more than he originally thought, "This in no way interferes with your training with Merlin. If he asks, then I will handle it. And it allows for us to talk with each other more so as a result. I still have many questions about your homeland."
There was something that Naruto deduced about Arturia from those few lines alone.
Arturia was a very greedy and selfish girl.
Suddenly she was reminded of something Naruto said he would tell her, "By the way, Naruto. You told me you would explain what code it is that you live by before the battle began."
He knew he was forgetting something, "My code. Yeah, my code is this –
I never give up, never give in, never go back on my word and I always… ALWAYS keep my promises. That's my ninja way. My nindo. My code that I live by every day."
A bit of realization came across Arturia as she gave a smile, "I see. It was not what I expected but, I am glad that you live by such a code. It's honorable and admirable." She realized that when Naruto said that he would be her retainer… that he would stay by her side through all manner of situations… he meant every word.
Drool slowly fell down their foreheads as the two narrowed their eyes at the sources. Both looked to one another in agreement.
"We need to get these things off our heads."
"Agreed."
Codex Apostletos
Taken from the notes of L. Barthomeloi
Subject: Naruto Uzumaki
Entry Number: 3
Naruto Uzumaki is not a member of any of the given factions within the Twenty Seven Dead Apostle Ancestors though his relationship with them is odd to say the least, he is neither a member of Trhvmn Ortenrosse's faction -much to my own joy- nor Altrouge Brunestud's but he does not display the usual behavior of the 'lone wolves' either. Quite to the contrary he possess a healthy relationship with a few members of the Ancestors with an almost pathological hatred for a few of the others. He is known to be Close friends with Zelretch but also Caubac Alcatraz due to their shared love of 'pranking'.
After the emergence of [REDACTED] in the year [REDACTED] he appears to have started hunting [REDACTED] after some kind of consultation with Altrouge Brunestud. If there is such a thing as a moral grey area amongst the Apostles then it is Naruto Uzumaki, I personally have worked with him on several operations which has led to my... un-Barthomeloi-esque feelings towards him. It can be said that amongst the Association his closest contact is [REDACTED] but his go between himself and the Association is a young girl called Hinako Akuta.
In terms of relationships however one comes up in regards to Naruto Uzumaki is the borderline Blood Feud between himself and fellow Ancestor/member of the Association, Gransurg Blackmore, the Moon Drinker. Apparently it started shortly after Uzumaki was turned by Brunestud where the elder Apostle tried to impose worship of Crimson Moon over Uzumaki only for Uzumaki to fight back, hard.
We have been unable to catalog all of their confrontations over the years but we believe Wandering Sea may simply be refusing to give them to us, they are rather stuck up their own rear, but I digress. There is a saying amongst instructors at the Clock Tower. 'If Kaleidoscope, Spiral and Moon Drinker are in the same room, don't come to work that day.' and I can personally attest that the animosity between the Black Wing Lord and Benign Ancestor is a sight to behold.
The most well documented case of their clashing occurred here in London on the 6th of September 1666, an event that later came to be known as the Great Fire of London. The confrontation began when Blackmore and six of his followers confronted Uzumaki in Pudding Lane before Blackmore deployed his Reality Marble, Nevermore. The details are hazy at times with differing reports but after leaving the Marble, Uzumaki was apparently so enraged by Blackmore that he unleashed a Fire Mystery that set the city ablaze, killing all six of Blackmore's followers. Reports also say that Uzumaki was seen saving people from the fire later that night which is partially the reason why the six confirmed deaths are those of Blackmore's followers.
This set a president that the Mage's Association cannot afford a repeat of in modern London so we make sure to schedule their arrivals very specifically ahead of time.
(1) Unlike in canon Bedi Knows that Arturia is a woman, kinda silly considering Gawain and Kay knew but not Bedi despite him being the first member of the round table.
(2) While it may have been anti climactic these were just regular saxon chieftains, no way could they have beaten or even fought Arturia for long.
(3) Sod's law is the British equivalent of Murphy's law
And done! The battle was less words than I expected, but that's mainly due to being inexperienced in writing medieval battles.
The next chapter will have a time skip over a few months, and introduce another TYPE-MOON Camelot character to the story, one that I'm sure you guys will like as this will be another stepping stone to the future of Camelot.
Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and please continue to read, review, favorite and follow this story as well as the others on my profile.
And please, tell me what you guys liked and/or disliked about the new chapter please.
Chapter 4: The Rise of Camelot Part III
Chapter Text
So, another new chapter… exciting isn't it?!
But also, over 100 reviews and we're only into the story within but 2 chapters! Not counting the prologue of course, although I guess you could call it a chapter as well but either way, hell yeah! Let's keep 'em coming!
…pretty please guys…?
Well either way, I'm not sure what more I can say in my AN's thus far, other than I'm glad that people are being positively receptive to the story save for a few that either flamed (which were Guests that I deleted) or those that decided to simply say this story wasn't their cup of tea so early into things. Nothing really wrong with that, only I just wished they would stick around longer to see where things are going and possibly change their minds.
A common theme I found amongst some of the... less than friendly reviews was people screaming about Naruto being "nerfed". To which I have a few things to say. Firstly Naruto has not been put into a situation in which he has needed to use his full power, secondly if his power had not been diminished at all then he would not have any desire to develop in new ways and a character lacking unique development is boring to me. Finally, and this is the one that rankles me, if Naruto were to win every single battle he ever fought with no conflict then the story would be boring. If there is no conflict or adversity then a story is at best power wank and at worst a power fantasy.
No real news on the Fate franchise front save for TYPE-MOON publishing a a complete reference book that is over 11,000 pages long, BUT I found out that Lord El-Melloi II Case Files anime is finally debuting later next month on Crunchyroll! SliferMK2 tells me that it is not adapting a few of the earlier arcs but I'm happy to see more Waver either way. Although I'm curious if it's possible to start up a petition to convince Ufotable to remake the Fate route after they've finished up the Heaven's feel route? Thoughts on starting a petition guys? It'd be pretty awesome if it succeeded like the Young Justice Season 3 petition did :D !
Actually, you know what? I'm gonna do it. Anyone know the best site to start it up? Come on, be supportive everyone :)
One thing that I'm surprised no one mentioned was Dun Stallion. The horse that Arturia gave to Naruto is the one that her Lancer iteration rides into battle. Just a little thing there to have more TYPE-MOON Arthurian Legend in there to mix in with the traditional stuff that's being implemented.
Now, onto the story!
Chapter 3 – The Rise of Camelot Part III
-February, 468 AD-
The sound of snow crunching under the feet of two individuals echoed through the forest, with a pair of horses behind them under the bright yet cloudy day that was steadily shifting into the afternoon.
They approached the corpse of a knight leaning up against a tree with a blood trail that had coagulated on his lower left side. It looked like the knight had been trying to stop the bleeding with a cloth and rope to prevent his death.
"Another one of Cerdic's knights no doubt." Bedivere exclaimed upon seeing the coat of arms on the man's pauldron.
Naruto bent down to lift the helmet off of the fallen knight's head to see that it was a young man, eyes glassy and unseeing. He shook his head at the sight seeing the face of the young knight filled with regret and sadness, "Bedivere. How old do you think this knight is?"
Bedivere bent down to try and estimate how old the young man was; judging from his weathered facial features, the shaggy beard that was growing along with his hair growth, "He appears as to perhaps be twenty-three or twenty-four."
Reaching out with hand to touch the fallen enemy, Naruto placed his index and middle finger on the eyelids to close them, "Why do the young die, while the old linger on in their place…?"
His companion knew that he was talking to himself, but Bedivere did see the point he was making, "Some men simply don't see the good that can come from the truth." The knight rummaged through his sack before he marked the tree with a chalky rock that left a bright blue 'X' on it, all the while he continued, "This knight, as well as the others that we have fought were ordered to march on us to dethrone the king, and place their lord in her stead." Bedivere placed the rock back into his sack, "I could only hope that more would have surrendered before the end of the battles."
Naruto stood up slowly and rubbed small flecks of snow from his boots, all the while he gazed at the fallen knight. Seeing that this young man did not want to die in such a way, nor for such a cause, "They're probably telling this boy's family that he died with honor… they're wrong…" Naruto turned away as Bedivere followed him back to their horses and finished his sentence, "…he just died…"
Mounting their horses, the two retainers of Arturia rode out of the forest back to the homestead they had made into their temporary home for the winter.
Since Arturia's victory at the River Glein, word had spread quickly across the isles of Britain of her accomplishment and so twenty lords had declared her their king, sending their own men to bolster their ranks. When they arrived, they now had amassed an army just over 5000 strong.
However, it seemed that said victory did not inspire confidence into eleven of the lords. As it turns out, they were also at the Sword of Selection ceremony back on Ector's lands, and did not commit anything to Arturia's right as king so they held back. Unlike those that were skeptical and then shown otherwise, they were among the nobles that wanted the throne for themselves or wanted to name their sons or even themselves as the rightful king.
They arrived back at the homestead that had been outfitted extensively since arriving to set up camp along with what was already present for their positional advantage; the outlying lands were very hard to penetrate from the outside due to the forested area and hills forming a natural barrier for them. Once Merlin had taught Naruto how create Bounded Fields, the ninja set a few small fields up at entry points that would flare up if an excess of 500 passed through them; this would give the Pendragon forces more than enough time to get ready, sortie and position themselves in superior flanking positions to defend the homestead. Walls were built along with a moat to prevent sieging the position and giving them, some breathing room in terms of defense.
The two passed by the dock where supplies were ferried up and down the river to homesteads, where vendors had set up shop to sell and trade goods.
Business was thriving, judging from the amount of people that were bustling in the dirt roads, with food, wine, animals, tools and all manner of goods to be traded; Naruto recalled the first day when they arrived and the truth of the rebellious lords was revealed, "I wonder if any of those idiots will try another assassination attempt?"
Bedivere shook his head, knowing that they wouldn't given their current state, "I highly doubt it. The first try was an attempt to settle things quickly. Now that we know who they are, they've decided such things aren't worth the trouble anymore and now we have battles to deal with."
The knight remembered all too well…
-Flashback; December, 467 AD-
Not long after arriving at homestead in Linnuis within a week, they began to set everything up for the three-month winter they would be in for. The snowfall had already started to pave the roads white while the air began to chill. Arturia and her inner circle were given a manor to reside in that was roomy and held rooms for everyone to sleep in, along with the privacy that Arturia needed to conceal the truth. With everything already being set up, Arturia and Naruto decided on a stroll through the homestead before night fell to see how the people fared, and to talk amongst themselves.
"So, did your homeland have dragons?" Arturia asked while the lion cub climbed up to her shoulder to nestle up to her.
Arturia decided to name him Periwinkle of all things…
Why? Naruto had no clue. He just chalked it up to her feminine side showing up just a tad.
Naruto shook his head, "Not really no. I mean dragons were something that were pretty much symbols in temples, but they were never real in the sense of living and breathing. Not like the ones that Merlin told me about." Naruto had made his Shadow Clones to keep their distance and to keep an eye on Arturia along with those around her to ensure her safety. Maybe it was just him being paranoid of the warning Morgan gave him, but he wasn't going to let a single incident slide, and knowing just how some politics were, there would be assassination attempts on her life.
The market that they now began to stroll through was one such place where danger could hide behind every corner.
"But we did have talking animals." Yes, the animals that the ninja could form contracts with and summon to aid them in battle. Such as the Toads of Mt. Myoboku, the Snakes of Ryuchi Cave, or the Slugs of the Shikotsu Woods.
Arturia raised her brows in intrigue. Talking animals were not common at all in Britain; if anything, that would be, "That's… that sounds impossible."
"Nope, not at all." The ninja said as he shook his head, "We had talking toads, snakes, slugs, dogs, turtles, and I'm pretty sure there were a lot more than just that. Some of them were larger than most buildings and like a small castle." Recalling back to the time when he spent on the Hidden Cloud's turtle island and saw those animals, "And then there was a giant turtle that was as large as a small island that moved through the seas, and it had animals from different parts of the world on it that stood as big as houses."
It reminded Naruto of a story that Merlin had told him about the current seat of the Mage's Association, Wandering Sea. apparently an entire moving island that moved around northern seas of Europe to avoid outside investigation. Was such a thing placed atop a similar turtle or another miracle of Magecraft? Merlin was a bit tight lipped on the matter, giving Naruto the impression that Merlin was not particularly find of them.
Arturia saw that there was no lie in his words as she was fascinated by what he said, "Amazing…"
"I really wanted to see them again, but now…" He hung his head down in a slight show of mourning, "…well, it's a moot point now."
Arturia could see that it was something in his eyes; a sense of longing that once was, only now lost to the ninja. There were times when he would be positive and filled with life, while at times when he told her about his homeland, she saw he was filled with regret but at what she didn't know; only now she could see that he yearned for his homeland after their talks.
"Naruto…" Drawing his attention towards her, "…does it hurt to talk about your homeland?"
Naruto put his hands behind his head as he leaned back to stare into the sky while they continued walking through the marketplace, "Honestly… it's all in the past. And getting back well… it's just not possible. Even if I was somehow able to return it has been nearly a century, everyone I ever knew is likely gone" Arturia could see the frown growing on his mouth. For some reason she didn't like that when he frowned, although it quickly turned into a small smile as he directed his face to her, "But, looking at what we're doing right now, I'm starting to see Britain as my new homeland now. I'll put some roots down here and watch what we've accomplished grow and endure."
She could see that he was shifting the mood back to something more positive; seeing that perhaps a change in the way their conversation was going, she decided to tell him more about Britain and its history. That is until they ran into a wine salesman that got their attention.
"A taste of the finest wine this side of Britain, young knight?"
The man looked just like any other vendor here in the market; but in Naruto's eyes, something was… off with the man… the vendor took a cup from his table and poured it up from an open casket that he no doubt would have to give samples out to buyers, "One taste, and you'll name your wife's son after me."
He offered the cup to Arturia, likely assuming she was a simple knight going by her attire since she had yet to disperse the armor showing her knightly status, all the while Naruto kept his eye on the man to read the mood. He mentally gave a signal to one of his Shadow Clones to stick close should anything occur.
Arturia smiled lightly at the vendor's choice at words. Good thing he didn't know.
"I don't have a son on the way, but I won't object to tasting your wine good sir." Arturia was about to take the vendor on his offer that is until Naruto spoke up, wanting to see what kind of reaction he'd get from the salesman.
"My king, are you sure you want to spoil your dinner later tonight with wine already?" Naruto kept an eye on the man to gauge his reaction and could see something change in the man's eyes that set him on edge.
Arturia stopped before she placed a hand to her chin in thought, "You have a good point, Naruto." Her retainer was now her personal chef, and if he said drinking wine would spoil things, well… she wasn't going to disagree one bit.
"King? King Arthur?" The salesman asked in anticipation.
Naruto decided to oblige the man, "Yes. This is King Arthur Pendragon. The son of Uther and rightful heir to the throne of Britain."
The salesman's eyes widened in shock, "My king, I-I'm afraid I have offended you greatly." He tossed the wine out of the cup like soured ale, "That wine? Cheap swill unfit for a king such as yourself. Your name and victory against the Saxons has spread far and wide across the lands." Placing the cup on the table he gestured for the two of them to wait, "I have currently in my possession a cask of wine straight from Rome itself. Like nectar of the Gods; unparalleled in taste and something that would suit you as the King of Knights." The salesman went to the back of the table and picked up a barrel sealed tight filled what he said he had for Arturia, though Naruto became very suspicious of his actions.
The cask was a completely different wood from the other one and obviously better made, but not in the sense of luxury. While the first cask had been made from a cheap looking pine this one was a cherry oak, each metal band screwed perfectly in place with bolts to prevent leaking. And that was odd for Naruto, because for this to be a matured wine the cask would have had to be aged. It wasn't, indeed it could not be more than a week old. Something was off.
Surely by now people knew her appearance as the king, but this man obviously had no idea. Maybe he was pinning too much on the words to reach people's ears too early, or maybe something else entirely? Either way, Naruto decided to test this man as he came back with the barrel as he handed it to the retainer, "I'm actually quite thirsty myself. Let's go ahead and open it up."
The man gave Naruto a disapproving look while the ninja saw that he had a bead of sweat drip of the side of his forehead, "This drink is not meant for the likes of you, only a king." Arturia narrowed her eyes slightly as she raised a brow at the man while Naruto pushed him further.
"If it is for the likes of a king then surely the king's chef need test the produce." Naruto said, taking half a step forwards towards the vendor, his much higher height dominating the vendor's vision like some grim specter.
"Open it." The salesman looked back and forth between Naruto and Arturia to see that he was being pushed into a corner, "I insist." The ninja had a sweet smile on his face that exclaimed anything but sweetness should he not listen.
A brief contemplative expression rolled across the salesman as he obliged Naruto. Setting the cask down onto the table, the man hesitated before Naruto spoke again with a bit of force while keeping calm about the situation, "Go ahead. Pour up a sample."
The salesman turned back to Naruto try and placate him from continuing on, "It'd be a crime to drink fine wine such as this without allowing it to breath."
Arturia agreed with Naruto and pushed him on, "Please do as my retainer says." Periwinkle was getting the same vibe from his owner and seemed ready to pounce on the man's face at a moment's notice.
Nodding in acceptance of what was about to transpire, the salesmen complied, "As the king commands."
The salesman poured forth the wine into the cup and handed it off to Naruto who gently took it and gave it a sniff as the man spoke up, "Sweet is it not? You can still smell the grape and even a hint of strawberry laced into it to add flavor." The man gestured with a nod for Naruto to go through with it.
Naruto brought the liquid closer to his mouth with both witnesses watching in anticipation. "Indeed, quite sweet, but there is something else…" For but a moment, it appeared as if Naruto was going to go through with the swig, that is until he sniffed it again and gave it back to the salesman, "I think that with a wine such as this, a man who can obtain it should taste it first if only to truly confirm what he says is true.'A drink fit for a king', as you say."
Arturia glanced back to Naruto to see that this man was not what he claimed to be. She placed a hand on Caliburn's hilt in the event this man did something to assault them, granted Naruto would act far quicker than she, it had become an instinct from her training.
The salesman shifted uneasily as he tried to dissuade Naruto, "My lord… it would be in poor taste for a wine seller to drink his own stock." He laughed slightly to try and worm his way out of this dire situation.
"'My lord?'" Naruto exclaimed with false vigor, placing a hand upon his chest in mock shock. "And to think that but a moment ago the drink was not meant for'the likes of me'. Take a good sniff, vendor from Rome. Tell me what is in that scent which shouldn't be. I insist." Naruto said. This time, his tone was not in a polite manner. This was an order.
The salesman took the cup from Naruto and it shook in fear. Whether he knew the visible reaction was present or not was fruitless. He had been found out.
Seeing no other option before him, he threw the cup at Naruto as he made a beeline through the marketplace before he found a searing pain shoot through his right leg.
"AAGGHH!"
He tripped and fell to the ground before he found the very same man restrained him to the ground as he struggled in vain to break free.
Naruto's Shadow Clone pulled the man's face close to his, crimson eyes staring balefully into erratic brown, "Bitter almonds... is it common practice in Rome to lace wine withCyanide!?"
Several knights with Gawain at the head came through the crowd that had moved back from the scene in fear of what was happening, "Naruto, what's going on?"
"This man just tried to assassinate the king." The Shadow Clone answered. By this time, the real Naruto and Arturia came up behind with Periwinkle still on her shoulder leaping down to growl at the salesman.
"He speaks the truth. The man tried to poison me like a coward." Arturia knew that Gawain was still uneasy around Naruto, and while she commended her nephew's dedication, she wanted him to accept Naruto as part of their company.
Gawain narrowed his eyes dangerously at the Clone's captive, "Who hired you to kill his majesty?"
Naruto brought the man up as he began to twist the kunai in his leg to force the answer out of him, "This can be easy if you just tell us. The least you'll get is a quick death. Or I can 'persuade' you to tell us, and your death will be painful." He readied his Mystic Eyes of Enchantment if the second option was chosen. Bedivere as well as few other knights arrived behind Arturia and the original Naruto to see what the commotion was.
The assassin could only shakily glance back and forth at those who questioned him, knowing already that his fate was sealed regardless; regicide was a crime in all nations and empires punishable by death. Tell the truth and potentially die a quick death or… have the answer forced out of him and guaranteed death that may or may not be quick.
He had only one choice truly…
"L-Lord Cerdic! He… he hired me to kill Arthur." Naruto looked to Arturia for answers as to who this Lord Cerdic was.
"He was one of the noblemen present at the Sword of Selection, but he along with several others didn't support me when my kingship was declared." Now Arturia could see that now she would be forced to put down more of her own countrymen thanks to this revelation. Clenching her fists in silent anger, she directed her attention back to the assassin, "Who else is with Cerdic? He cannot be alone in this endeavor to assassinate me."
"Lord Balin, Lord Urien and Lord Maleagant, those are the only ones I know of…" Naruto increased the pain from the kunai just a tad sensing that there was obviously more to gain from this man, "…b-but there are seven others who oppose King Arthur. That's all I know! I swear on my life!"
Naruto looked to Arturia on what she wanted done with the assassin, knowing that he obviously cooperated willingly even though he knew death was the end regardless.
She opened her mouth to give her verdict… "I hereby sentence you to death. Regicide is a crime that cannot be tolerated, despite your cooperation. It will be quick and painless, I assure you."
-Now; February, 468 AD-
After that incident, everything coming into the homestead was thoroughly checked by their forces to prevent any more assassins from coming in to kill the king.
"Well, I can safely say that we have things locked down now." Naruto said as he clicked his tongue to have Dun Stallion continue onwards to the stables with Bedivere following behind. Passing through the homestead back to the manor, they saw the troops were going about their business, along with those that had been put to work in the forges. Those that had called Linnuis their home were in their daily routine with talking amongst the neighbors, fixing equipment, cleaning their houses, children playing in the snow, "I wonder if I just started the Snowman Competition of Britain?" Naruto said jokingly.
Bedivere chuckled at the statement, "You might've even given them the'national snowball fight'as well if I'm not mistaken."
Oh yeah, that was another thing Naruto did with the kids of the homestead. Not long after the snowfall began with the blanket finally coming down upon the land, Naruto could tell that the kids didn't have much to do in the winter, so he decided to do something to lift their spirits up. Suffice to say, the mood of the homestead turned cheery when Naruto gave the kids something to do in the snow.
"True enough." Dismounting their steeds as they were tied off to the post with those other horses in the stable to provide warmth and shelter for them.
As they entered the manor, they saw the war council minus Merlin assembled for a reason Naruto knew very well, as did Arturia. Despite the cold winter that had rolled across Britain, they were able to stay warm with the building having multiple fireplaces with little chance of the manor burning down.
Arturia turned around to see them hang their heavy cloaks on the hooks near the door and greeted them, "Naruto, Bedivere. I hope the cold air didn't chill your spines too much today."
"Not at all my king…" Bedivere waved off the concern, "…we finished up in the eastern section of the region and marked up those whom were unable to be recovered by the enemy." They had been sent out to find the corpses of the fallen knights from the enemy, knowing that very likely they would abandon their comrades to retreat and save their own skins. Whether they would be buried or burned depended on the condition they were in.
Arturia truly lamented that they could bury them… but unfortunately, they had neither the time nor the resources to do so. For the time being, they would mark the places there fell, collect their belongings, burn the bodies and send the items back to the families. Just because they were enemies did not mean that they did not deserve some modicum of respect.
Naruto began his own address, "The Bounded Fields are still good, so I'll still be able to detect if another wave comes our way." Bounded Fields were another subject that Merlin had been teaching him in the last three months alongside Memory Partition and Thought Acceleration. With the way his Shadow Clones were able to gather info and flood back into his memory, these things merely sped the process up drastically to ingrain the knowledge into his mind along with increasing his proficiency with Magecraft.
Who said that Naruto was an idiot? While he may have been predisposed to a lean by doing approach, it did not mean that he couldn't study a subject. Although he was man enough to admit that his younger self lacked the patience to do such a thing.
The king nodded, "Good." Turning back to the others, Arturia looked to Ector next, "How many casualties have we endured overall?" The first battle that they had participated in was something of a… disappointment… no that was wrong, rather the battle wasn't quite what she expected it to be with so few men they fought against. It was the second battle that they had trouble with the most.
"The enemy came in with 4000 this time around as opposed to the meager 1000, and that cost us…" Ector began, "We've suffered at around 900 casualties to be confirmed all the while not speaking of those that have bedridden due to injuries and wounds." They did suffer a detrimental loss from these battles. As for the rebel soldiers that surrendered, they were divvied up into two separate groups: benign and criminals. Those that committed crimes were placed in prison, while those who weren't guilty of war crimes were stripped of their armor and weapons, with two months' probation placed upon them. If they didn't commit any crimes on the king's lands within that time frame, then they would be allowed to enlist in Arturia's army. Those that had more agricultural or constructive skills would be placed with farmers, carpenters and blacksmiths.
Ector brought up a letter in his right hand next, "However, we received word from King Ban in Benwick that he's pledged his loyalty to you, as well as sending his son alongside many knights and supplies to our cause; 2000 knights, cavalry and infantry regulars."
This was good news for them, "Along with that, the windfall that came to us from the north a few days ago with those under Vortigern's thumb have made up for our previous losses." Indeed. Arturia knew that those who lived under the tyrant king's land were trying to escape his 'law', but it was very difficult to do so. A little over a thousand soldiers fled due to persecution and heard of the King of Knights' just kingship and mercy.
"And I have no doubt that the messenger…" Arturia drolled slightly in disgust at the mere mention of the man, "…has taken my message back to him."
Naruto knew just how Arturia could channel her inner darkness if she wanted from that display on that day.
-Flashback; Several Days Ago-
Not long after the refugee soldiers of the north arrived at the Linnuis homestead, they were settled in along with handing over information they had to help them prepare for assaulting Vortigern's fortress.
A few days later, a few horses came riding into the homestead under the banner of a messenger, thus they were allowed entry. The guards at the entrance stopped the messenger before allowing him and his small guard group of four into the homestead.
"You ride under a banner to deliver a message, but what is it?" One of the guards asked. The next thing he knew, the messenger took a sack up from his saddle and took hold of a rope with something attached to it.
Their eyes widened at the sight of what it was: skulls and crowns of British nobility. But the one crown that caught their attention more so than any other was…
"I bring a message for Arthur Pendragon." The messenger spoke with authority.
"What's going on here?" Kay arrived to see what the deal was, seeing that the guard rotation was about to shift over. That is until he saw what the guards saw, "…what the bloody hell have you brought…" Kay knew all too well whose crown it was.
Kay decided to personally escort the messenger and his entourage to Arturia whom was conversing with Naruto about something outside the manor of residence as she was petting her lion, Periwinkle.
Bollocks, why that name of all names for a damned lion?
Naruto turned around after hearing their clanking footsteps to see Kay's expression: utter despisal of the escortees and seriousness.
Already getting a bad vibe from the men behind Kay, Naruto narrowed his eyes as he gestured for Arturia's attention to turn around. Getting up, Arturia saw the same sight with Kay approaching, "This man and his protective entourage are to deliver a message to you, my king." He came up to her side as he clasped a hand around her ear to whisper something to Arturia. At first, she displayed neutrality at the messenger; that is until her expression shifted into shock before she narrowed her eyes dangerously at the messenger. The other inner circle members arrived seeing the 'guests' they received to see just what the commotion was about as even a few civilians looked on from a distance.
It seemed as if the air was becoming dangerously volatile just from this scene alone.
Arturia stepped forward to the messenger and spoke, "Before you speak, know this messenger. Everyone is held accountable for their words. Now, what message is that you carry from Vortigern?"
The messenger held his hands out to his side as if presenting a gift to her, "Blood is thicker than water."
Well that certainly was an odd message to bring. Naruto had been around other civilizations and seen enough family feuds to see that Vortigern had heard of Arturia's successes and decided to throw down the gauntlet, yet the messenger was playing with his words. Seeing that it was better to get this out of the way and focus more on their next battle that would no doubt come from the rebels, Naruto spoke up, "Let's not dance with words, messenger. Say what it is you have to say and end this game."
The messenger looked at Naruto as if he were offended by the worst kind of insult, "And just what gives you the right to speak here, peasant?"
"Because this peasant is a retainer to the King of Knights." Naruto countered as he took a step forward to face the messenger. It seemed as if a stand-off was about to occur with the civilians backing off while Ector, Kay, Gawain and Bedivere tensed up ready to draw their swords to defend their king as well as aid their fellow retainer. However, Arturia stepped forward and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder to ease the already potent tension.
"Let us walk to cool our tongues." Periwinkle -the adorable little cub- appeared to be ready to pounce and claw at the messenger should he try anything, but Naruto doubted that it would come to that. Many nations did not kill a messenger and his entourage as it would be a grave dishonor on those who were meant to receive it, and he doubted Arturia would do the same, unless she was pushed beyond the brink of her emotional threshold.
But that would have to take something astronomical to trigger a reaction from her.
Arturia gestured to her left side for the messenger to walk alongside her to translate what is was her uncle wanted to her to hear. The inner circle walked alongside the entourage with four additional knights flanking them, with Naruto and Periwinkle on Arturia's right.
The messenger decided to elaborate, "Arthur Pendragon, your uncle in the north, King Vortigern does not wish to have your blood shed, as you are his nephew. But you must realize that there cannot be two kings to rule Britain."
Arturia stayed silent as the messenger continued, "His majesty wishes only to avoid conflict with you, Arthur. You may continue as you are to put down the rebellious nobles who refuse to answer to you and expel the foreign invaders that ravage the land. But he also wishes for you to turn over the traitors that you've taken into your lands for the proper punishments to be taken."
As for their path, they came to a large bonfire that had been burning for some time now to help heat the homestead in the town square. Arturia stopped to gaze at the fire before turning to the messenger who delivered his final bit, "All his majesty requires of you, is to bend the knee and swear fealty to him."
Well… it seemed that her uncle was giving her an ultimatum… the coward…
Taking a deep breath, Arturia held back in her words, "Well, that's going to be a bit of a problem." The messenger looked at her wearily after the confidence in his voice implied that he would be pleased by Arturia's response, "You see… I've received word that my uncle is actually helping the Saxons raid the lands, and even granting them the right up north to take what they want without resistance."
In the past few weeks, Naruto managed to gain several spies for them to obtain news and rumors that floated across the lips of the populace; this meant such things could be of great usage for future engagements, recruitment, planning, etc. When he told her that her uncle was secretly supporting Saxon raids… on the outside, she appeared to be a calm storm, but the ninja could tell on the inside she was absolutely livid…
The messenger had walked to Arturia's other side as he was now in front of the bonfire, "And if you're implying that the supposed 'traitor's' have done something wrong, then I'm afraid I must respectfully disagree." There was no way in hell that she was going to hand over those who escaped persecution back to the one that would torture and kill without mercy or shame.
"Not just that, but for my uncle to say he does not wish for my blood, then I'm afraid that I must call out such a blatant lie."
The messenger was not pleased by Arturia's response, "Choose your next words carefully, Arthur. For they may be your last."
Arturia looked at the messenger right in his eyes, staring him down before she shifted her gaze to those behind her: the civilians she swore to protect, the knights she swore to lead, her retainers that swore to aid her in her dream. Gazing upon the faces, she could see their pleas to resist the ultimatum given unto her; to fight against the tyranny that threatened them; to save them from the death sentence that would be sent upon them.
"The reaper cares not for our final moments, nor empty words spoken to the wind." Arturia retorted hotly, her emerald eyes reflecting the light of the fire, it was honestly quite intimidating. "It is only by the tenants of the chivalric code that I do not cleave you limb from limb for blatant disrespect. So hold thy tongue ye knave!"
Peering down at her feet in though, she wondered how to put her words without killing this man. She looked to Naruto for an answer, having come to rely on him and his knowledge, coupled with her own growing bond with him.
Naruto saw Arturia asking him for a response, although on some level it seemed as if they knew where it would be headed, even with her chivalrous code within the end result.
He nodded to her.
Arturia pivoted to the messenger as she drew Caliburn from the sheath and pointed to tip at his throat, shocking the man at her actions, "Madman! You're a madman!" At this point the messenger's guards tried to draw their weapons in his defense, but soon found themselves at the mercy of the inner circle and their knights.
"'Blood is thicker than water', my uncle is foolish with his words as he is with his loyalties!" Arturia raised her voice to the messenger as she berated him and insulted Vortigern.
"No man… no man from any nation threatens a messenger, it is dishonorable!"
Arturia ignored his words as she continued to list off the offenses, "You bring the skulls and crowns of MY FATHER AND HIS ALLIES TO MY FEET! You insultMYretainer! You threaten our own people with tyranny and death!" She slowly shook her head at how foolish this man was to think she would abide by these things, "Oh, I have chosen my words carefully,traitor…" Placing emphasis on the last word signifying that she did not acknowledge the same things that he did and condemning his fate already in the end of their campaign, "…perhaps you should have done the same." Pressing the blade further to the man's throat, she stood tall with the air of a king that would take no for an answer for what she ordered him to do next, "Now messenger, you will carry my own to that tyrant who sits on a false throne. If Vortigern demands that I kneel before him, then he must come do it himself. But I doubt he can even get off his fat arse to do anything, while he slums around that which was never his. Take my message back to him, and do not look back. But leave the skulls, they will not be allowed to leave these lands."
Her tone left no room for argument as they escorted the messenger who now appeared as if he had the fear of God put in him by a little girl, not that he knew of course.
-Now-
Suffice to say, the rest of that day was solemn as Arturia took what was left of her father's remains and gave him a burial along with those he knew him well. She didn't wish to be disturbed and Naruto understood why; Ector whom had been a close friend and served under Uther was the same, but he continued on with his duties as the general of their army.
Naruto had to give the man credit for being a dutiful knight and retainer to Arturia, though the ninja also suspected that it was due to him still doing his paternal duty as the king's foster father.
"Once King Ban's men arrive, we'll have around 7000 men or so."
Nodding at the numbers, Arturia raised a point to them all, "I don't want to move on Vortigern at least until we've amassed an army of 10,000 strong to take back the lands." Arturia knew that Vortigern's lands were difficult to traverse based on what the soldiers that fled from him informed them of. And taking his fortress would be a monumental undertaking to free the rest of her people. She turned her attention to Naruto for the next bit, "I'm not sure if it's best to ask this given how we've yet to see any sign of his return from his 'walkabout', but has Merlin returned yet?"
Naruto breathed a sigh of exasperation, "No, he has not, my king." Rubbing his temples at how ridiculous Merlin's antics were, "I'm afraid he may return once you've forgotten his little… uhm, 'condition'."
And by condition he meant pervert.
Their eyes twitched.
-Flashback; One Week Ago-
"So…" Naruto managed to get out, "…why Periwinkle?"
The lion cub that Naruto gave her after the Saxon defeat had grown a bit in the last few months. Now it was a large as a small dog, biting on a thick piece of rope like one. Arturia rubbed Periwinkle's back and forth, stroking the fur of the exotic cat with care; looking up to her retainer, Arturia gave him a look that showed confusion, "Yes, I thought that it would be a good name for him. Why do you and the others think so oddly of the subject?"
Naruto sighed,'Even as a king and pretending to be a guy, she's still a girl at heart.'
'What else were you expecting? Something like Maximus?'
'Kinda, yeah.'
Shaking his head, Naruto decided to not get into it with Arturia, knowing that she could be pretty stubborn on certain things.
"You know what? Never mind about that." Dropping down to pet Periwinkle on the head, the ninja decided to bring up the subject of food, "So, what do you want for dinner tonight? I made that seasoned pork and cheese mashed potatoes last night."
If there was one thing Arturia would selfishly hoard from everyone, including her inner circle, it was Naruto's cooking. She thought that he had been blessed by the Lord Almighty himself with such skill in cooking food, regardless of how meager the ingredients were that he asked for preparation. Putting her free hand to her chin, Arturia thought about what it was that she wanted for the two of them have tonight. Since Arturia wasn't too keen on sharing her chef, the two ate together in her room under the pretense of discussing strategy and her being curious of his homeland; getting to know her retainer as it were.
"Well… I was thinking of—" Arturia stopped as she saw Naruto shivering in… annoyance? Or was it fear? "Naruto, is everything alright?"
Naruto always got this chill up his spine whenever a certain type of person was nearby. No, it wasn't really an enemy…
…most of the time…
Rather it was the type of person that Naruto found that he could barely stand whenever they went into a certain 'mode', "My pervert senses are tingling."
Naruto stood up to look for the source of said senses while Arturia could only look confused at his words and actions, "Naruto, whom is this pervert?"
That caught Naruto off guard actually. Arturia being a woman, surely she must of known of his antics given their time together? Well, he knew that Kay was a womanizer, but he didn't do it openly along with being a gentleman and his reputation as a knight would be sullied if he stepped into a brothel. But still, either way… Naruto stepped off to Arturia's side as he brought his hands to her ear to whisper into it.
Arturia listened to his words, all the while her expression shifted from curiosity to confusion, and then she blushed heavily as she fought it down quickly before looking miffed. Narrowing her eyes, she decided that after Naruto's little description of what a pervert was to him, she didn't like them.
Not. One. Bit.
Aiding the ninja in looking for the source of said 'pervert senses', Arturia did her best to look for an older man that she thought would best fit of what pervert would look like. Naruto suddenly heard a young woman giggling on the other side of the street; turning his head, his eyes widened in realization: he was cursed!
'I'M f*ckING CURSED! OLD MAN SARUTOBI, KAKASHI-SENSEI, PERVY SAGE AND NOW…!'
'Ha ha ha! You poor, poor bastard!'Kurama laughed so openly at Naruto's luck with teachers being perverts.
Cursed he said! Merlin was a goddamned PERVY MAGE of all the things to be!
Dropping his head down, Naruto quietly talked to himself, though Arturia was close enough to hear, "Perverts… why? Why is it that I'm always taught by perverts?"
Well that didn't sound too good in her mind. Patting Naruto on the shoulder, Arturia decided to put a stop to Merlin's perverted antics, seeing how this seemed to upset Naruto in a way. She walked over to Merlin whom was chatting up the young lady all the while she prepped a good slap for the magus; as Merlin finished up saying something he noticed that Arturia was walking towards him, "Ah, your majesty, what can I do for—AGHK! What was that for?!"
Arturia struck Merlin on his forehead with a hand chop while her expression remained neutral. Arturia turned to the young lady and slightly bowed her head, "My apologies. My court mage has some things that he must help me with right now."
The woman shook her head, "Oh, I-I'm so sorry, my king. I had no idea."
Arturia waved her hand to dissipate any fear the woman may have had, "It's quite alright, I hope you have a good day." Seeing that fear disappear was good.
"Thank you, my king."
The woman left as Merlin rubbed his head all the while he could only give a mild glare to Arturia, "Did I do something that I have yet to do?" By this time, Naruto had shaken from his self-pity and made his way to the others with a glare adorning his features.
"Yeah, you're a Pervy Mage." The ninja said.
Merlin visibly flinched a bit before he backed up into a wall with the two young ones glaring at him, "W-Well I can't exactly help it, I mean I am half-Incubus after all. It's in my nature to womanize young and beautiful women whenever I see them." An Incubus was a demon that had sexual intercourse with women many times, and he hoped that saying what would ease the two of them up.
It did not.
If anything, their eyes narrowed even more so as a result with Naruto speaking, "Sorry, Pervy Mage. But perverts get what's coming to them in the end."
"Indeed." Arturia agreed, "As the king, I must punish my subordinates and retainers should they get out of line, and you were about to do just that Merlin." She stepped closer as she unclipped Caliburn from her belt, but she did not unsheathe the blade. The magus got the gist that she was going to either:
A) Whack him on the head to render him unconscious to drag back to the manor for punishment.
Or
B) Jab him right in his manhood to teach him a quick lesson. Which would hurt, very, very, very much.
Seeing that his apprentice wasn't going to help him out one teensy bit, Merlin saw only one way out of this… "YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE, MY KING!" Merlin snapped his fingers as he vanished in a puff of smoke just like Naruto's Shadow Clones would as he vanished from sight.
"Dammit… where the hell could he ha—what the…?" Naruto saw that a note had been left in Merlin's place. Arturia bent down to pick it up to read the contents.
"Sorry that I pulled a fast one on you two, but I couldn't let you two spoil my day. So, I'll be going on a 'walkabout' for a while… at least until you both cool your heads, best of luck!
-Merlin
P.S. Naruto be sure to adhere to your studies on what I've taught you so far and utilize it in and out of battle. Be sure to read that book I gave you going over the Age of Gods Magecraft.
P.S.S. Arturia, Caliburn has the ability to emit a concentrated [beam of light in response to energy placed within it. Just channel your Mana into the sword, point the tip right where you want it to fire off, then let it loose. Do not put all of your mana into it or it will likely shatter the blade.]
P.S.S.S. Well, I don't really know what else to say, oh well."
A chibi Merlin was drawn giving the 'peace' sign to them with a toothy smile.
Naruto could only shake the letter as he grit his teeth in comedic fashion, "That sonuvabitch…" So, his teacher left to go screw some women to get it out of his system until they forgot about it -which they never would- and left him behind in his Magecraft studies!
"…dammit!"
Arturia arched a brow at the message bit meant for her, "What's a 'beam'?"
-Now-
Arturia pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. The situation without Merlin was aggravating; Naruto needed to learn more Magecraft, and she needed his wisdom at times. Sighing, Arturia looked to Naruto, "I see then. Well, I suppose for now you'll have to keep filling in for Merlin until he returns, Naruto."
Naruto knew old pervs like Merlin would take their sweet ass time to satisfy themselves, along with this whole ordeal probably being some sort of test by Merlin. The magus was odd like that with how he trained him, and if going by what Arturia had told him of her time under his tutelage, then things would be quite annoying.
Turning back to Ector, Arturia spoke to the general, "When exactly did King Ban state his son and soldiers would arrive to reinforce us?" The sooner the better. The rebel forces had been a taxing ordeal and she would prefer to push out the foreigners, barbarians and bring down her uncle.
Ector unrolled the letter as he scrolled down to the bits stating the date, "King Ban said that his son should be arriving… today in fact." Rolling the letter back up, he looked to Arturia who had a relieved look on her face, "They should be arriving at the mouth of the river that exits into the channel, it would be prudent for the king to meet our new allies upon landfall."
The King of Knights gave a small smile in response, "Then it is as you say, I will need to ride out and meet them." She directed her attention to Naruto and Bedivere briefly before turning to Gawain, "Gawain, Naruto, Bedivere. The four of us will ride out to escort them to the homestead…" She turned back to Ector and Kay, "Ector, Kay. Stay behind to coordinate our troops in the event of another battle breaking out, I doubt they won't allow an opportunity to pass by if they're watching our lands."
"If that's the case…" Naruto spoke up, "… then wouldn't it be wise to travel with a large contingent of soldiers with us. A king away from their secured location is all too easy a target, as well as those whom he is receiving." He made very good points.
Seeing that they would need a large force to defend against any rebels that go any funny ideas, Arturia decided to follow through on Naruto's suggestion. She turned towards her nephew, "Gawain, assemble a force large enough for travel and defense but leave the rest of our forces here to defend the homestead."
Everyone saluted and bowed to the king in acknowledgment at the king's orders.
Periwinkle had been laying by the fireplace as it chewed on its precious rope toy made for it. Sensing that his owner was leaving the manor, he got up to nuzzle up against Arturia's leg urging her to stay longer. Bending down to stroke the fur upon Periwinkle's head, Arturia spoke to the young lion, "Sorry, Periwinkle, but as king, I have a duty. I'll be back soon though." The young lion seemed to understand her words as it made its way back over to the fireplace where it laid down, resting its head on a paw.
As those leaving to receive King Ban's son and his men, Ector and Kay stayed inside to talk to one another over a certain matter, "You've noticed that she seems to really be listening to our resident vampire lately, right father?" Kay asked.
Ector could see that as well. For the past three months, Naruto had been dining in private with Arturia and while his fatherly instincts kicked in for protection, he knew that if the Dead Apostle tried anything then Arturia was more than capable of handling herself along with Merlin around the corner to put a stop to anything Naruto tried, "Good to know I'm not the only one. Although, I think if he was trying anything 'dastardly'…" Chuckling mildly to himself, "…he would've done so not long after we began this campaign."
"Are you sure?" Kay raised an inquisitive brow. Sure, he could see that Naruto was an okay guy, and his strategies helped them win in their previous battles along with being able to back them up in battle. But his brotherly nature over Arturia was still there a bit, "I mean, don't get me wrong. I think that Naruto's someone that we can come to depend on in battle; he's gotten us by with reducing our casualties against the Saxons and the rebels, but he's still a Dead Apostle. A vampire."
The instinct to spread their influence over others was something that was in their nature.
Ector did a gesture with his head to agree but also disagree, "That is true… however, I don't think he means Arturia any harm at all." Seeing their interactions to bring a smile to her face, even a little one was endearing, "In fact, I'd say that the two are becoming closer to one another; akin to close friends as opposed to a king and retainer."
Kay did notice that as well. Even though he helped organize and lead troops into battle, along with overseeing the duties as one of the inner circle, Kay could see that whenever his little sister and Naruto were talking to one another… she was both awed and happy by their conversations together, "I do see that actually, yeah. Though…" Kay hesitated slightly for some reason that he wasn't quite sure of, "…do you think that maybe they'll become closer eventually?"
Ector wasn't sure about that little bit, "Perhaps, perhaps not. Only time will tell where they take things." Whenever she would perform her duties in public, or sometimes even in private as the king, Arturia kept up a stoic, emotionless visage up to mask her feelings from the people to try and maintain the composure to be an unbiased leader. But he also could see that she was in pain for doing that.
Kay saw it as well, and honestly speaking? He hated it, "Well, he brings out the happy side of her. And if it does somehow in someway go further along…" He shook his head in frustration at the fate that had been placed on his little sister's shoulders, "…dammit. I get it that she's the king, but that doesn't mean she can't find a way to have someone in her life, other than us."
Ector did agree. Arturia needed to showcase the human component to empathize with her subjects, and so far… Naruto had been bringing that part of her out, "I agree, but all we can do is let things go naturally with us not impeding their 'unique' relationship."
With everyone else outside the manor, Gawain headed off to round up soldiers while Naruto and Bedivere went to the main gates to wait on everyone. Oddly enough though, the two brothers-in-arms saw Arturia heading towards the blacksmith forge back the other way. Both looked to one another in confusion as to why she would do so, "I wonder why the king is heading to the forges?" Naruto wondered aloud.
"I'll go see…" Bedivere agreed with the ninja, making his way past the busy people going about their daily duties, towards the king.
Coming up to her side, Arturia turned to see her friend, "Bedivere, what're you doing? Should you not be with Naruto at the main gate waiting?"
"My apologies my king, but we thought you would be with us as well." Bedivere stated. He certainly was curious as to why she wasn't with them instead. Bedivere noticed that she was glancing off to the side briefly where Naruto was before looking back at himself.
"It's something I've been having prepared for Naruto since our first battle…" Arturia explained, "…however, I intended for it to be a secret until we returned if it's almost ready for him." Seeing the weapons that the Saxons used against them, along with how their weapons simply shattered against Naruto's skin, Arturia knew well enough that their future engagements would no doubt involve mystic weapons that could actually pierce his skin. So, she decided to commit some token resources to a special gift she had been preparing for the ninja.
Now, one could say that this was merely a king preparing something for their retainer as a repayment for their service, although Bedivere saw that perhaps this more along the lines of a token of friendship between Arturia and Naruto, "Ah, I see then. I take it that Naruto should not know of this little gift?"
"Correct."
"Very well then, I suppose I'll have to lie to him that you were merely heading off to the privy room then." Bedivere turned about and made his way back to Naruto all the while Arturia could only gain a small tic mark at her friend's excuse. Sighing at her retainer's excuse, seeing that it really was the only thing that could throw the perceptive ninja off, Arturia continued to the smithy where she saw several men working the forges in fashioning armor and weapons for their army; most notably the Saxons conducting themselves diligently in their work. Approaching the head of the forge currently directing a few smiths, Arturia addressed him, "Excuse me, Harrit. May I have a moment of your time?"
The head of the forge named Harrit turned away from his work to see that king standing before him, "Pardon me, your majesty. Sorry for not realizing you were sooner." Quickly composing himself, Harrit had a feeling what the king had come for, "I take it you're here for the 'special request' that you put in months ago after arriving?"
Arturia nodded, "Indeed I am. It is for one of my retainers who does require it, even if he believes otherwise."
When the king had come to his forge with a request on a special order, he was overjoyed and awed that he had been asked to forge such an order. Needless to say, it was very difficult with all of the materials and specifics that were placed in the order, but it would be his masterpiece, "It's almost finished, my king. It'll be ready for you within the day, about an hour past noon I should say."
She had hoped that it would've been ready by now, but she was glad that it would be finished today either way, "I understand; you have my thanks." Arturia slightly bowed her head in thanks to the forge master with him doing the same. She turned to head back to the main gates where Gawain & Bedivere had readied the troops while Naruto had Dun Stallion and Llamrei's reigns, waiting for her.
Naruto handed her Llamrei while he mounted Dun all the while bringing up the question that was evident on his face, "So… Bedivere told me you went to the privy, correct my king?"
Oh, she could tell where this was going… well then, she wasn't going to budge even if he offered to cook her a thousand meals!
"Yes, the need to do so cam upon me so suddenly as we left the manor, why do you ask?" Arturia feigned ignorance that the men's privy was in the opposite direction of the forges.
Naruto had a feeling that she was hiding something from him. He knew that the men's bathrooms where over near the barracks they had set up -for some reason Naruto had no idea why they would set things up like that- along with some housing, so the question was why she headed off to the forge? He asked Bedivere, though his comrade had dodged it a little going off his body language he was lying to cover for Arturia. Knowing just how stubborn she could be, Naruto opted against asking anything else and decided to go along with it, "Ok then, let's head out."
Now Arturia seemed to sense that Naruto knew better than to buy that lie. She looked to Bedivere who merely made a gesture with his hand stating that his lips were sealed of the matter.
Well… guess she'll have to come up with better excuses from now on…
-Elsewhere-
A robust young man in his early 20's clad in well-made dark blue plate armour taking the appearance of an updated and bulkier Roman segmantata of Frankish artistry for the chest with full length greaves, sabatons and gauntlets stood on the side of the ship, up against the railing leading a fleet of 2000 men to Britain up the large river Dubglas. What was not covered in armor was wrapped by a pitch black under suit and mail. Sharp French features were complimented by spiky purple hair, strands jutting backwards as if he had repeatedly endeavored to keep it swept back, and a smaller, frontal cowlick of hair partially hanging over his forehead. This did not distract from his violet eyes that were a textbook example of the Alexandria's genesis.
When his father, King Ban of Benwick had pledged his loyalty to this so-called 'King of Knights', the young man had scoffed at the idea of such a king. For one to pull the holy sword that the widely renowned Merlin had enchanted to lead Britain out of darkness against the foreign hordes pillaging it while a tyrant sat on his false throne to merely do nothing of the darkness that was consuming the land. At first, he was intrigued but then he felt that such a knight was not really anything special; that is until he heard that his own people began comparing him and the King of Knights to one another.
"Young lord, what is it that dwells on your mind." One of the infantrymen to his right side asked the knight.
The knight turned his head to answer, "Merely the one we will be joining soon."
"You mean the heir of Uther Pendragon, Arthur?" The other infantryman that was younger to the knight's left asked, "I heard that he's been blessed by the Fae's with a magus to fight with him in battle!"
The other infantryman shook his head, "Don't believe everything you hear son. Fae's are a myth, and as for a magus…" The man scoffed at that bit, "…a magus would never join battle with soldiers and knights such as ourselves. They're snooty as well as uptight arse's to the point where battle would be something they spit on the notion." The man directed his next question to the knight, "What do you think mi lord?"
"Do not cast doubt so easily on the Fae, for I was raised by river fae in my younger years. I will see if Arthur is truly a worthy combatant. They call him the King of Knights. I must judge the young man myself if these rumors are to be true about a knight such as he to be compared to me." Lancelot du Lac was the son of King Ban across the sea from Britain and was a man that held an old friendship with the previous king, Uther. Upon his death, he swore to help his heir in retaking the island of Britain back from their enemies and would promise the heir a token amount of men and resources to help in his campaign.
At first, he didn't want to come, though he had no real choice given that his father ordered it, but with how the whispers reached his ears of how he and Arthur Pendragon were so alike in terms of being an honorable and chivalrous knight, he had to see the man for himself. Although that was merely in combat that he entered when fighting against singular opponents… his battle tactics were another thing entirely. They were not quite as such, primarily when Arthur had a magus in his company, the so-called 'Shadow'. Lancelot had no idea what to make of that if he was being honest with himself; strategies and tactics that guaranteed victory against their enemies whilst reducing casualties to save the lives of his own men, something that Lancelot did admit he admired… however, the battles were not conducted in the chivalric code that knights lived by. Rather a cunning mind was at work, and the king clearly had one.
Either way, they were coming up to the bay that went up into the river where they would no doubt be received soon by Arthur. That would be when he would give his own judgment to see if he was worthy of his titles and of the holy sword that only the true heir could pull from the stone.
Lancelot got back up on his feet as he made his way up to the captain to begin the preparations, "Captain, take us up to the riverbank docks. We'll start unloading the men and supplies an make our way to Linnuis up the river."
The captain nodded, "Yes, mi lord."
As Lancelot's ship began to dock with the riverbank, and the planks lowered to the ground; all of a sudden, an arrow sheared through the air and struck the young infantryman that Lancelot had only spoken to just moments ago, "AMBUSH!" Lancelot yelled aloud as he quickly took a bow and quiver of arrows from a nearby stand to begin firing down upon their attackers that were hiding in the tree line, however he was forced to grab a shield to block the arrows coming their way, "Grab a shield, all of you! Take cover!"
Their enemy was now making their way to the ship as infantrymen stormed the riverbank, however the captain signaled the few ships behind them to ready their archers to return fire, only to miss their marks haphazardly while managing to take care of some of the rushing enemies.
On enemy managed to rush through to Lancelot's ship, who raised his sword to take the life of a knight who had been struck in the knee only to be forced to lay on his side to try and stop the bleeding and take cover. Lancelot saw what was about to happen as he drew his sword to block the attackers blade, as he twisted his sword away to deliver a upwards slash that nearly cleaved the man in two, with a only his armor and an inch of flesh holding his human form, dropping dead on the deck as blood poured from the corpse/
Lancelot turned to give the captain further orders to relay to the ships, "Captain! Have our infantrymen get into the lifeboats and row to shore to start repelling the enemy!"
"Understood, mi lord!"
As Lancelot was about to rally the soldiers, he still had aboard his ship. However, he heard the rumbling of a cavalry running into the fray. He turned to see the emblem of the House of Pendragon upon the knights that were riding into battle, and lo and behold… he saw the fabled King of Knights with Caliburn raised high above his head, as he swung off to his side to behead one of the enemy.
He could see that Arthur held the air of a king, but he needed to see more if he was a truly noble knight.
"Work your way down to the river men! Give these traitors no quarter!" Gawain shouted as he dismounted his horse as he cut down the rebels relentlessly that charged them. Arturia and Bedivere were in the thickest of the fighting, with Naruto and his Shadow Clones moving about the battlefield.
Their armor had been flimsily made, along with several being amateurs that were no doubt freshly made soldiers sent to the battlefield to die, making them essentially cannon fodder to the more experienced and better skilled knight.
Gawain had made it down to the makeshift dock as six of the rebels rushed forward to strike him down, the Knight of the Sun concentrated on the two that rushed forward with swords raised above to cleave him into ribbons. Raising his sword in a horizontal slash to block the incoming blades, Gawain took the brunt of the force as he swatted the attacker's weapons away from him to turn his own position to slice their throats, as another rebel charged forward to stab him. He pivoted around the weapon at the last moment to deliver a downward slash that severed one of the hands, leaving him completely disarmed.
Gawain would have ended his screams of pain and shock, but alas such a time of action was not on his side.
Out of the corner of his eye, two lances attempted to spear him, "Nice try…" Gawain bent down to take a shield from a dead rebel that had fallen to one of their allies' arrows to cover himself from the spears thrown at him. They pierced the poorly made shield, but stopped before they could go any further into his armor. Taking hold of the handles nailed deeply into the shield, Gawain used his great upper body strength to wrench the the shield in a clockwise motion, conversely causing the handles of each lance to slip from the grips of the enemies.
As he quickly tossed away the shield and sprinted towards the two rebels who were in the process of drawing their swords, only to no longer have heads with a longsword decapitating them. Their heads bounced twice against the wooden decking of the dock, eventually rolling to a stop; their faces locked in a permanent gawp of shocked disbelief.
Before he noticed, a rebel came screaming at him with a shield and spear. Gawain would've taken him down, but he saw blurred fist fly through the air before the rebels head was literally punched off… and the culprit of such a deadly looking attack?
Naruto of course.
The Dead Apostle gave him a knowing look as he smirked at the knight, "That one almost had you Gawain."
The young knight could only roll his eyes, absentmindedly wiping some vicera from his chestplate, "I had that one, you know."
"Sure, you did." Naruto dropped the smirk as he directed his attention behind Gawain who had foregone wearing his usual teal cape. Both of the blondes were approached by a purple haired man with a sword at the ready as Naruto approached him alongside Gawain. "Name yourself, stranger!" he called to the newcomer.
"I'm Lancelot du Lac, son of King Ban." Introducing himself quickly, "Where's King Arthur of Britain?"
"Our king is in the heat of battle alongside Sir Bedivere." Gawain spoke before doing his own quick introduction, "I am Sir Gawain, and next to me is…"
"…I'm Naruto. Currently a student under Merlin and one of the King's retainers." The ninja introduced himself quickly, before his expression shifted to one of concentration before he turned to the now named Lancelot, "Hey, Lancelot. The King's got a plan on how to deal with the rebels…"
-A Few Minutes Ago-
Arturia cleaved another rebel in half as they kept coming and going from the tree line, while Bedivere seemed to be having a bit of trouble as he was now facing three opponents as opposed to one. He was forced onto the defense now with no chance to take an opening at the rebels as he was being backed into a corner.
Arturia slashed at another oncoming rebel with Caliburn in hand, and quickly sidestepped the falling corpse, "Hang on, Bedivere." Arturia leveled Caliburn to where she impaled one of the rebels about to strike at Bedivere's right side, as it drew the other two combatants attention towards her, giving Bedivere the opening he needed to knock one of the rebels onto his back as he swiped away at the ground where the rebel's neck was at. Arturia took Caliburn out from the corpse of the previous rebel as she parried a sword strike from the other rebel that tried to cut her down; she twisted around as she forced the sword to head off the opposite direction while she slashed at the rebel's left side, followed by splitting his skull in half.
Bedivere turned to his king, noting the current state of the battle, "My king. This battle is dragging out, and we can't afford to waste any more time here, while you are away from the defense of the homestead." The rebels were using hit and run tactics like Saxons would have used when outmatched or outnumbered.
She could understand his reasoning. Bedivere had come to be more akin to a personal guard than a regular knight and he worked better with multiple warriors beside him that he knew well enough, "You need not worry for my safety, Bedivere. Rather it is our allies that we must concern ourselves with."
She saw that the incoming ships were beginning to draw closer and dock, noticing Naruto and Gawain's mops of blonde hair in the distance. Next thing she knew, another Naruto appeared beside her as he threw some shuriken into a few rebels as he spoke up, "My king. The boss and Gawain linked up with the leader of our allies and awaiting your orders on how to finish this battle."
Arturia glanced back to the ships currently rolling in to begin providing support with knights and infantry, and towards the rebels down below battling her forces as the idea came to mind from their first battle, "We'll have our men form a phalanx to drive the rebels towards the water. Our allies will then rain down arrows upon the rebels to end things quickly."
The Shadow Clone nodded as he began to relay her orders back to the original.
-Now-
"He wants to do that?" Lancelot asked Naruto. Given their current situation, it probably would've been more preferable to unload his forces from the incoming ships, and push them towards Arthur's forces, however this was something that would end things with fewer casualties for them.
"Yes…" Naruto stated as he relayed Arturia's plan back to Lancelot. It seemed that she had been taking pointers from him in dealing with difficult and annoying situations like the one they were currently in, "…have your archers assemble on the decks to start showering the rebels, while we push them towards your positions with the water barring them from going any further."
Mulling it over in his head, Lancelot saw that the king seemed to care for his men. Something he could admire, "I understand, I'll signal the captains to line up the archers."
The young knight left to head back up to the deck while Naruto and Gawain were left back down on the bank to repel the stragglers that came down to try and board Lancelot's ship.
The blonde duo while not used to fighting alongside one another, were able to coordinate their attacks one after another as they saw Arturia and Bedivere rally the bulk of their forces to form the phalanx to begin the push. Naruto looked to Gawain as they nodded to one another; Naruto made his way back to Lancelot as added support for their new ally in attacking the rebels with his own unique brand of projectiles along with being extra protection for him as well.
Gawain began to rally the few men that followed him alongside the ninja down to pierce through the rebels to link up with their new allies, "Men! Fall back to the bank and form up on defense! Don't let any rebel get past us!"
"YES SIR!"
By this time, Lancelot had finished up relaying the ships' captains to get their archers on the decks with Naruto up next to him as the blonde pulled out some oddly shaped knives that had a tri-pronged tips, "Time to start weeding out a few rebels."
Lancelot watched as the blonde tossed the knives into the air where they landed in a straight line in front of the few Pendragon forces and his ships, which confused Lancelot, "Why would he…?" He stopped momentarily before just barely saw it.
A gray blur cut a swath right where the knives fell as the encroaching rebels fell in a shower of blood that erupted from their neck, all of which were now devoid of heads. The sudden action caught the rebels off guard as they tried to regroup and flee the battlefield…
"W-We have to retreat!"
"Their magus is amongst their numbers!"
…however, it seemed that King Arthur and Bedivere had rallied the bulk of their troops into a phalanx that began to push them back to the ships.
The young knight couldn't help but be astonished by this action, as such speed was impossible for mortal men… that is until the one named Naruto turned to him with a small smile on his face, "Well, I think that'll start the end up now." Lancelot understood now.
King Arthur had a Dead Apostle in his company. A retainer to the King of Knights was a vampire. Naruto was a magus under Merlin.
Lancelot saw more and more of just how Arthur was a just knight like himself, yet he needed to know more… to see more of Arthur's words and actions.
Seeing how the battle was shifting into their favor, Lancelot took the bow he held earlier as he began to line up his shot with the rest of the archers from his ship alongside as the others onboard the docking ships, while he was no archer he could at least shoot straight, "Archers! Draw!"
The Pendragon phalanx was pushing back the rebels, closer and closer…
"Loose!" Lancelot and his archers fired upon the rebels, felling many with every arrow as the phalanx pushed them further into the river, with Gawain and the soldiers he had to strike down any rebel that miraculously survived to get that far.
The process continued until the last rebel fell to the Pendragon forces and allies were victorious in the end. Naruto came down from Lancelot ship alongside said knight where the others awaited them, "Well, that went about as expected." Naruto said.'Though Flying Raijin is still slower than usual, it must be because it is infringing on the territory of the Second Magic what with spatialteleportation.'he thought to himself.
Lancelot was now able to see the king with his own eyes. A young man whose appearance shined with the air of a king, and the righteousness of a just knight. But appearances could always be misleading.
Arturia turned to Naruto as she furrowed her brows in confusion, "Yes, however… the number of rebels were not what I expected. A frontal assault like what I believed they would have done, would need greater forces."
The others nodded in the king's reasoning, that this was not what they expected from an attack by the rebels. Naruto thought of a reason as to why though from his experience in warfare, "They're desperate."
Gawain did see that Naruto was right to a point, "You're right. The previous assaults on the homestead had them expend a significant amount of troops that they could rally in the winter season…"
"…and the ones that opposed the king were never ones to have large forces, merely enough to defend their lands, not make marches across Britain." Bedivere finished up.
Naruto was about to say something, that is until he felt a sudden flash at the back of his mind and flinched. Arturia noticed this and spoke up, "Naruto? Are you alright?"
The ninja nodded, "I am, it's just that the exterior Bounded Field I set up at the edge of our territory was tripped." Naruto had set an additional Bounded Field at the furthest possible distance to give them an advanced warning before they crossed the interior fields, "They're going to attack later on, possibly in the middle of the night given their desperation. I think this is going to be their last assault."
Arturia nodded. A nighttime siege would be difficult, but thanks to the advance warning they had the advantage of time to plan a repel, "I see." Turning towards Lancelot, Arturia gave an order, "Lancelot of Benwick, have your forces disembark from the ships as we need to retreat back to the homestead."
Lancelot was at first going to rebuke the King, stating that he should have some input on where his men go. But then he looked at King Arthur, truly looked at him; saw that unwavering grace and willpower to protect his lands. Swallowing his pride, Lancelot complied with the king's order. Now that they had met, he was bound to uphold his father's pact to the Pendragon house, "Understood, King Arthur."
Arturia turned to the others, "Let's help our allies unload and ride back together."
Her retainers saluted as they bowed their head slightly, "Yes, my king."
If there was one thing Lancelot could say about the king… was that he was greatly impressed by the loyalty he commanded alongside the planning, he made to reduce their casualties.
"Once the rebels have been defeated tonight, tomorrow we will begin gathering up their belongings and make arrangements to have them sent to their families."
And the just & noble actions he took towards his fallen enemies… perhaps… perhaps this was a king he could serve faithfully…
Having arrived back at the homestead after an hour and a half's ride, Arturia had Ector and Lancelot work with one another to begin merging their forces together while Bedivere and Gawain took to the training grounds to instruct the newer recruits, while Kay went over their manifest of supplies and armaments.
Arturia however dragged Naruto along with her to the forge. No doubt for whatever it was she went there previously in the day, "So why exactly are we heading to the forge, my king?"
Arturia turned her head slightly to Naruto while she kept on towards their destination, "After the first battle, I was worried about your safety in future conflicts. So, I decided to make a commission to the finest smith in Britain to forge you armor."
So that's what she went to check up on, "That's ugh… I mean… while that's really kind of you, you didn't have to go out of your way to have armor made for me." Naruto said as he blushed slightly, not used to receiving gifts like this, "I mean the weapons that our enemies use won't be any good against me."
Arturia nodded in agreement, however… "And while I agree with you on that matter, there's no telling when our enemies will come across mystic codes that could harm you." She wagged a finger at him in a playful chastising manner, "A warrior in battle without armor, might as well be a naked fool in the field. It is best to be ready for an eventuality that may never come than to not."
Naruto grumbled a bit before Arturia chuckled a bit at his childish response. Even though Naruto was well over a century old, he was still a young man at heart. They arrived at the forge where Harrit stepped outside to greet the king and the magus apprentice, "My king. The requisition you made has been completed and I was on my way to inform you."
Arturia nodded, "Thank you, Harrit. I'm sure you work will be splendid." Turning towards Naruto, she gestured for him to step next to her as she placed a hand on his shoulder, "This is the one whom the armor is meant for."
Harrit smiled as he gestured for Naruto to follow him inside the hut, "Young man, this armor is by far among the greatest, if not THE greatest work that this forge has crafted yet." Stepping inside, Harrit showcased what was on a mannequin.
Naruto saw that the armor was very familiar in a sense, though given who made the order, he shouldn't be surprised, "Wow…"
Harrit tapped him on the shoulder, "I'll step outside to give you the chance to change into it."
The forge head rejoined Arturia outside where he informed her of what Naruto was doing. After a few minutes, the door opened up as Naruto stepped outside into the snow where Arturia could almost see a mirror image of herself if she were born a man.
She smiled at the sight, "Naruto. You are a proper warrior now in that armor." He blushed in response. Arturia turned to Harrit and thanked the man, "I thank you, Harrit. You do fine work at your forge."
The forge master bowed his head before he left, "Thank you, my king. It was an honor to forge armor for one of your retainers." The man went back to his duties as forge master with the rest of the workers, leaving Arturia and Naruto alone as she took in the full appearance of his new armor.
It was somewhat correct to call it a deep blue trench coat given how it hung around his shins but also had a frontal flap similar to Arturia's combat garb. Full length sleeves adorned each arm with a single large black strip at each forearm. Attached to the back of the coat was a black hood with small white lines. The chest was wrapped in a tightly fitting steel plate cuirass with spiraling black details set upon the clavicle. A pair of matching rounded shoulder guards adhered well to his shoulders by brown straps, intricately placed to hide them from view. Each of his legs was adorned in tight fitting greaves and sabatons that matched how each of his hands bore a well fettled gauntlet, the vambraces hiding beneath the sleeves.
All in all, it was a good mix between mobility and defense with the hood complementing the wearer's mysterious nature. Naruto though could tell that it had been modeled on Arturia's battle dress, only for a masculine wearer with additional armor where Arturia had none. One thing that was apparent was that while Arturia's armor was a royal blue and polished steel, Naruto's was a bewitching steel blue and sky silver.
"I… I don't know what to say…" Naruto mumbled to himself.
Naruto was not used to being showered with gifts like this armor or Dun Stallion. Never once did anyone do so out of concern for his own well being and safety. To be given such things… it made him a little warm on the inside.
Arturia stepped forward as she clasped his forearms and looked straight into his eyes, "Naruto, has anyone never truly given you something like this before?" She could see that he was truly speechless at this gift. Even when she gifted Dun Stallion to him, he wasn't quite sure how to react to it. And now with the armor that was almost a copy of hers, he seemed emotionally affected by it. Was he mistreated in his homeland or have no one to care for him?
Naruto scratched the back of his head as he recalled the first true gift, he ever received in his life…
"Okay, you can open your eyes now. Congratulations, you graduate! Let's celebrate! I'll by you some of Ichiraku's ramen!"
The memory of that day… his graduation from the Academy…
"Well, I mean… I was given a gift when I graduated from the academy." The ninja explained a bit, "It was from my old teacher, Iruka-sensei. He was the first person to actually acknowledge me; the headband he gave me… it showed that I'd become an adult, a ninja like I always strived to be like. But something to protect me, or something that'd help me? I… I never…" His lips quivered slightly before he felt Arturia's grip on his arms tighten up.
She looked him straight in the eye before speaking to him, "I'm sorry if I brought you any discomfort."
Naruto quickly gripper her hands as he placed them away from himself, "No, not at all! I mean, it was a good memory honestly." He couldn't deny that while the memory was something that warmed his heart, the pain that came with it in how he would never see Iruka or anyone else ever again. By now… they were all probably long dead and Sasuke's ideal of being the 'Hokage' was in effect.
Shaking his head of the pain, Naruto quickly changed his demeanor into one that was both happy and grateful, "Either way. Thank you, my king." Naruto glanced down briefly at the chest plate before he looked to Arturia's quickly before she noticed the direction of his gaze, though it seemed that she could've cared less if he did stare for a bit.
No doubt her 'male' mindset had the effect on her own modesty. Though he could be wrong.
Arturia could tell that Naruto's smile was a false one, merely trying to ease her mind of his previous pain. She would ask him later just how old he was, however for now she would go along with his intentions, "Think nothing of it, Naruto." Arturia smiled, "You're my retainer and a subject of my kingdom and as such, your safety and happiness are my priority. Just as your duty as my retainer is yours." Turning back to the manor, she gestured for Naruto to follow her, "Now come. We have a battle to plan out for tonight…"
Naruto nodded, though he felt something was missing from that sentence…
"…and dinner of course."
Yup.
"Right, my king."
The duo returned to the manor where right outside the doorstep, Lancelot was waiting for them. Judging from his leaning against the building, he had been waiting at least ten minutes for Arturia specifically, going by his gaze being directed towards her. Both blondes were curious as to why to which Arturia spoke up on their behalf, "Lancelot, I thought you and Sir Ector were merging our forces together for our campaign across Britain?"
Lancelot was no longer leaning as he approached the two of them, "I'd like to ask you something, if I'm not overstepping my bounds, King Arthur." Whatever it was that he wanted to ask Arturia, must've been serious if he put it like that.
The presence of the king washed over them as Arturia put her 'King-face' on as she nodded, "Let's head inside. I intended to call a war meeting anyways, so we can discuss whatever it is that you'd like beforehand."
"I understand." Lancelot opened the manor doors for Arturia and Naruto to step through all the while the knight gave Naruto an inquisitive look that showed curiosity more than disdain.
As soon as Arturia stepped through, Periwinkle ran up to her as the lion cub rubbed her legs affectionately. She bent down to his level as she hugged the lion and stroked his fur along the back of the giant cat, "Hello, Periwinkle. I'm back now so you don't have to worry about me." The lion cub licked her face as she chuckled a little at the cub's actions. Lancelot looked to Naruto for an answer, though that was more from what she called the lion than actually having one in her possession, with the ninja only shrugging in response to his question.
Arturia got back up as Periwinkle made his way back to the fireplace for its warmth. Pivoting back around to Lancelot, she addressed him, "Now that we're inside, what is it that you wished to ask of me, Lancelot?"
Stepping forward to look the king in the eye, Lancelot needed to know something greatly… "King Arthur. What is it that you are striving to do in your campaign?"
There it was.
What was it that she truly was doing in the end?
She knew exactly what it was she had set out to do, and she would not hide from it, "My intentions, my plan from the very beginning has been to unite Britain and form a utopia that will endure for centuries." Arturia could see that Lancelot was intrigued, but not quite convinced, "A place where a man is entitled to the sweat of his own brow. Where a woman is able to care and comfort those that she loves. Where the children are able to smile freely and enjoy their innocence. Where there is no war, no famine, no plague." She began to smile a bit at the ideal world she wanted to build, "A place where just laws protect the people and the rights of its citizens, where just rulers govern and lead into a brighter future. This is my ideal. My conviction. My dream for Britain."
Just like what Merlin told her about the ever-distant utopia.
Avalon.
Lancelot closed his eyes as he saw that the king's answer was not what he expected. He believed that the King of Knights simply wanted to retake the throne that was wrongfully stolen from him. But now? Now he saw that he held a dream that while it seemed childish… it was a dream one worth following. One that even had a Dead Apostle in the service to a king that was just and kind.
"I see…" Lancelot had a smile grace his features, "…thank you for answering my question, King Arthur."
Naruto could see that Arturia's charisma was infectious with Lancelot's change. She had that effect on people, "Well, it looks like we'll all get along swimmingly." Naruto proclaimed, "So, what's your story, Lancelot?"
Once again, Lancelot was surprised by the current company he was with, "I… beg your pardon?"
The king could see his clear confusion on the question, "I believe that Naruto wishes to know you better since we will be fighting alongside one another in the coming days."
"Ahh, I see then…" Lancelot composed himself before he introduced himself, "My mother died when I was very young; as such, my father had raised me on his own, but his duties as King in Britannia prevented from spending much time with me." Naruto could see a bit of emptiness within his eyes, similar to how he was when he had no parents. At least Lancelot had his father to raise him; something he didn't really receive anything of the semblance until Iruka started cracking down on him.
"One day as I was hiking through the hills of land, I came across a Fae by the name of Nimue. She taught me the just and righteous ideals that knights upheld, and thus I decided to become what I am today. A knight." Now that actually caught them off guard, Naruto especially. He knew that Fae's could be very tricky and cruel, although those that actually cared for mortals were an extremely rare sight, and almost unheard of. Either the Fae was an individual that took care in mortals, or Lancelot made an impression on her to govern such an action and change its outlook on humans. Both were probabilities that could only occur for Lancelot to speak of the Fae in such a way.
"As I rose to my rank, my father sent me alongside the men that came with me today to support you." Lancelot continued, "When I heard about you, King Arthur. I was skeptical. I didn't think there was a knight that could be kind & fair. But when I saw you on the battlefield; when you told me of your ideals… I was proven just how wrong I was." He bowed his head slightly in apology, "Please forgive me for my skepticism."
Arturia quickly waved it off, "There's no need to apologize, Lancelot. Your skepticism is warranted." The resulting rebellion was an example of that skepticism albeit taken to the extreme. Changing the subject around, she turned to Naruto, "Naruto. Have one of your duplicates call for a war meeting. We need to prepare for tonight's assault."
Nodding at his king's request, Naruto created a Shadow Clone in front of Lancelot who stepped back in surprise at the action before he eased up, "I'm on it, boss." The NaruClone saluted to the original as he vanished with the door swinging in and out quickly before it closed again.
Naruto sighed before rubbing his forehead, "I really need to get them to be better."
Arturia turned to Lancelot who looked both confused and astonished at the action, "You'll get used to it, eventually."
Night had fallen, as the townsfolk had gone to sleep with the guard rotations now picking up to keep a watchful eye on the surrounding forests and lands along with the river. They all had been made aware that an invasion force was coming to siege the homestead so were all making doubly sure to lookout for them so sortieing could be simplified as quickly and easily as possible.
Naruto was riding Dun Stallion with a cart of flour in tow out to the field that had been soaked with the blood of battle previously. Now it would be the setting of the last battle against the rebels.
Halting Dun, Naruto dismounted the horse as he undid the cart from his steed before patting his hands together, "Alright, that should be the last one." The horse nuzzled up to Naruto as the ninja pat Dun on the nose, "This should put the odds in our favor." Naruto looked off to the forests as he double checked the other preparations. He saw one of his Shadow Clones wave off to him at the top of a tree, ready to give the signals.
The interior Bounded Fields were set off as he felt that the rebel army was enclosing on the homestead like those previously.
"Looks like their arriving faster than expected." He turned to the Shadow Clone at the top of the tree and nodded off as Naruto mounted Dun once again as he made a beeline for the furthest flour cart at the edge of the field, ready to make it burst open. The Shadow Clone concentrated on gathering up the Mana as he sent a blue surge into the sky, one that only Arturia could see.
Standing atop the battlements, Arturia stepped forward as she saw the small Mana Flare meant for her. Naruto's idea to help put the numbers in their favor was both a clever smokescreen and a sneak attack. All that was needed was for Naruto's first part, and her second part with Caliburn. Recalling what Merlin wrote in his letter before he vanished when she tried to punish him for being a pervert, she slowly began to channel her Mana Core to the sword all the while waiting patiently for the next signal.
Ector and Kay stood off to her right while Lancelot on the left; their archers lined up with their bows and quivers at the ready. Bedivere and Gawain both were outside with their contingent of men at the ready from Naruto's signal.
"King Arthur…" Lancelot spoke up, garnering her attention, "…are you certain this plan will work? It's all too... strange…" He heard that the king's strategies were just as he said, but this was far too unorthodox even for a knight.
Arturia kept her eyes on the field as she continued the process of charging her sword, a golden light beginning to emanate from within the metal like dawn on a midsummer's day, pushing away the coldness of the winter's night, "Have faith, Lancelot. The plan will work." A small smile spread across her face. Naruto's little ideas and strategies always seemed to pull through.
It dropped as the rebel army came through the tree line at the opposite end of the field, "Now it begins."
"Archers!" Ector spoke aloud, "Draw!"
Now it was up to Naruto.
"ANY MAN DIES WITH A CLEAN SWORD AND I'LL HAVE THE DOGS RAPE HIS f*ckING CORPSE!" came the bestial call of a helmet clad rebel from atop his horse, drawing a rousing cheer from his rebellious men.
'What words of encouragement…'Naruto thought to himself as he sweatdropped. It seems that the rebel leaders were now out of patience along with being desperate. He could make out in the night air that this was indeed Lord Cerdic that was leading things.
Patting Dun on the side, Naruto saw that now was the time to put the flour carts to good use, "Alright buddy. Let's do this." Forming another Shadow Clone to ride behind him for his part, Naruto formed a Wind Blade from a kunai as he smashed it open to let the contents out as his Shadow Clone waved his hands to channel Wind Magecraft into the air as he spread the flour through the air. He continued on until the last one was broken up with the flour now palpating the field.
"What the bloody hell?"
"Is this a joke?"
"What a pitiful smokescreen."
Naruto could hear their snickers across the field from his vampiric enhancements, "Oh boy, are they in for a treat." The rebel army continued through the flour cloud without a care in the world as they began to charge up to the main gate.
How little they truly knew…
Arturia saw that the flour was in the air, ready for the net step. With Caliburn fully charged, she began to unleash its power, "Please watch me. I will bring you victory! Sword of Selection grant me power! Cleave the wicked! CALIBURN!" Pointing the tip of the sword out in front of her towards the cloud of flour, the beam of Mana shot out in a bright light that signaled the beginning of the battle.
Flour was such a mundane item in the face of Magecraft, indeed while it was used for bread and other forms of food it was at its core a substance that contained energy. If you put a fire to flour it would burn. However if you allowed flour to rest in the air you increase its surface area exponentially and with this growth, so too did the explosive potential of the flour shoot through the roof. The harmless smoke screen? It was now more explosive than any powder keg and the troops marched in like they were gods amongst men...they would soon find out where they stood once they were laid low by flour.
In the dark of the night with only the torches from the battlements as well as those brought by the rebels, and the moon light… a great fire took the place of the flour cloud as the rebels who were inside were consumed by the flames. It jumped between each molecule of flower like some triumphant god of valor, ravenous in its desire to consume the rebels in its fiery gullet.
The screams of agony and pain rang through the night as Arturia drove them from her ears to keep focus on the battle itself. Necessary evil it may be, but death is still death.
Arturia highly doubted that this would dissuade the rebels from backing down, given their desperation. And she was proven right. She could make out the shape of a siege machine emerging from the tree line beyond the flames.
Ector raised his arm to signal for the archers to be ready, "Draw!"
Lord Cerdic was angry. Very angry… the flour cloud that sprung up was simply a half-arsed measure to blind them. He laughed at the matter with Arthur using this pitiful move to buy time. Amused that the great King Arthur would enlist mills and bakers to defend his pathetic homestead. That is until the fiery explosion engulfed many of the troops. Now many of them were wanting to sound the retreat but he wasn't going to have it.
"Son of a bitch…" Turning towards his second-in-command, he gave his next set of orders, "… get the siege equipment out and ram that f*cking gate down!"
The second-in-command looked to Cerdic with disbelief and would've voiced it, had Cerdic not grabbed him by the collar, "What're you waiting for? Do as I say!"
"B-But mi lord…!"
"Goddamn if they have a magus, I want Arthur's head!"
Cerdic shoved him to the ground as he began to yell out loud now to all of the troops, "I DON'T GIVE A DAMN WHAT ARTHUR HAS, WE'RE TAKING THAT SETTLEMENT AND DRAGGING THAT STUPID BOY DOWN FROM HIS FALSE THRONE!"
He twisted his head as he motioned for the siege equipment to begin heading into the field, directly towards the main gate. The previous assaults had made it clear that the moat surrounding the homestead made it impossible for them to scale the walls up to the battlements. Traversing the river was also impossible given the ice could break down if they tried to step on it. The front gate was their only option, and as such, they needed a battering ram.
"Form a perimeter around the battering ram and break that door down!" Cerdic pointed his sword right where the bright light that ignited the fire. Right at King Arthur. "The sword should have chosen me you little sh*t, ME!"
He could see that as the siege ram was moving across the field under protection, Ector had already ordered the archers to fire off their arrows, but they didn't seem to do much in terms of stopping the advance. Only slow it down briefly.
Seeing that the rebels were pushing for another attack with the siege ram in the lead, the NaruClone shot up another Mana Flare, this time colored green shot up.
It was Gawain's turn now.
Gawain saw Naruto's signal meant for his forces to begin the flanking charge to eliminate those that managed to escape the blazing inferno. It was almost as if a dragon had scorched the Earth, although his aunt basically was with her Dragon's Blood, so it wasn't entirely impossible to say such a thing.
Now though they decided to try and continue on with a frontal assault, and just as predicted they believed they could still win.
Drawing his sword, Gawain let out a cry, "Company! Charge the enemy! For the King of Knights, King Arthur!" He led the charge out from his side of the field with a direct line into the rebels behind the siege ram. Gawain took the head off several rebels before dismounting his steed to continue combating the enemy force.
"This feels too easy…" It was a little too easy in fact. There weren't as many infantries as they expected to try and break down the main gates, with no knights or paladins to reinforce their assault. Their cavalry was mostly wiped away in the previous battles, leaving only the formerly mentioned troops left to combat them.
"SEND THE SECOND WAVE OF TROOPS! WIPE THEIR FLANKING CHARGE OUT!"
Snapping his head to the source of the vice, Gawain saw that Lord Cerdic gave the order with the aforementioned soldiers running into battle to bring them down. He gave an annoyed sigh at this, "Damn… they just won't make things easy."
But then again…
Naruto regrouped with Bedivere and his company on the opposite end, "You were right…" Bedivere began, "…they did have their better trained soldiers held back."
Naruto believed that they'd likely hold back the higher tier soldiers while they send in just the infantry regulars as a means to make them overconfident. If they managed to break down the doors into the homestead, then the rebels would send in their knights and paladins to try and attack Arturia with the rest of the inner circle.
"And now, it's our turn to put the odds back in our favor." Naruto said.
Bedivere could see that Naruto was trembling in excitement with the thrill of battle flowing through his body. Over the last few months, he learned that Naruto was from a group of warriors that enjoyed battle, but he himself was not fond of the taking of life. Despite being a supposed 'monster' that thrived in the darkness… never once did he ever give off the feeling of being dark himself.
The young knight felt that Naruto was more of a brother in arms with is dedication to their king, "That it is." Raising his sword as Naruto put up his hood up, Bedivere let out a cry, "Company! Charge! Do not let the rebels assault our brothers in arms! In the name of King Arthur, charge!"
"AYE!"
The resounding company came down into the reinforcing rebels with a loud bang. Gawain's own company merged into Bedivere's as the rebels began to put up a fight, however the Pendragon's superior numbers broke through as they took down the siege ram before it made its way to the door.
Naruto's Shadow Clone took the reigns of Dun while the original leapt off to join the battle. Taking a kunai as he applied Wind Mana to the knife and extend it into a sword as he began to dive into the thick of the fight. Slitting throats, jabbing spines, nicking limbs, etc. Wind may have been 'the noble element' but that didn't stop Naruto from committing barbarism with it. A few of their archers from the rear attempted to fire at him, however Naruto simply grabbed a rebel and used him as a shield with his body no knocked full of arrows.
Tossing the meat shield away, he lifted his face towards the archers as he activated his Mystic Eyes of Enchantment to immobilize them. Taking a few shuriken out from his pouch, Naruto threw them into their heads as the weapons embedded into their skulls. Seeing Cerdic was now in his sights, Naruto quickly rushed towards the now frightened rebellious lord and attempted to grab him by the throat, however a lone knight attempted to stop but it was for naught. Naruto simply backhanded the armored knight as he practically crushed the armor with blood spurting out from the mouth of his helm and crushed parts of armor.
Naruto took Cerdic by the collar and held him up high with a kunai held to his throat, "Yield the battle to King Arthur, now." His red slitted eyes bore into the man's brown to put the man into a state of fear where he would agree to absolutely anything. With his hood up Naruto looked like the very spectre of death itself.
"I yield! Stand down men!"
And with that, the battle came to an end quickly.
The rounding up of the stragglers came to an end with Arturia confronting Lord Cerdic and sentencing him to prison until a proper tribunal could be held with the other rebellious lords and judgment to be given upon them for their actions to dethrone her.
Now, they were about to retire for the evening, however there was something that was about to commence…
The inner circle had returned to the manor to retire for the evening, but Lancelot stepped up to speak before anyone else started, "King Arthur. My I speak with you?"
Arturia turned to Lancelot, "Of course, Lancelot. What is it that you wish to say?"
Clearing his throat before speaking, Lancelot stood straight and tall to express his thoughts, "King Arthur. I asked you what it was that you wished to do in your campaign. You said something that feels like a child's dream. But that does not mean it is wrong at all." He swallowed before continuing on, feeling nervous for what he was about to ask of the king, "I honestly thought that such a person could not exist. That such a just, king and caring king could exist. I thought you were a folly made up to inspire, but I was wrong. Tonight, when your men fought on your behalf with such loyalty and conviction to your ideals." And here it came, "Please. Allow me to serve you through and through as a knight unto your service." Lancelot had bent a knee to bow his head in asking of such a thing.
Naruto was caught off guard by this as he never really saw any of the other knights show such conviction early on, though he was different in such a regard… or maybe he and Lancelot both were captivated by Arturia with Caliburn in hand…?
The others were in silence as they awaited Arturia's response. Most likely deciding whether or not to allow Lancelot into the inner circle. She turned to Naruto seeing his counsel as a comfort, he stared back and forth between herself and Lancelot as he gave a thumbs up her, no doubt seeing that he would be a great knight in their campaign.
"I would ask you to kneel, but it is fortunate that you are already doing so." Taking a step forward, Arturia unsheathed Caliburn as she held the sword in front of her wit the tip pointed up to the ceiling, "Lancelot du Lac. Wilt thou on this day, pledge fealty to the Isles of Britain and act as one of her Knights?"
"Yes, your highness."
"Does thy wish to abandon thyself, and swear to be the shield & sword of our humble nation?"
"Yes, your highness."
"And does thou vow to never waver in this duty, to act forevermore as a Paragon of Justice & Righteousness?"
"Yes, your highness."
The tip of Caliburn touched his right shoulder, followed by his left, both ever so softly.
"Then I, Arthur Pendragon, son of Uther of the House of Pendragon do hereby dub thee Sir Lancelot of Britain. Let this fact be known to all who gaze upon you. Arise, Sir Lancelot."
Lancelot stood as a lone tear streamed down his face, "I thank you, your majesty. I will endeavor to show you that you will not regret this."
Suddenly, Lancelot felt an arm wrap around his neck, pulling him into a sort of oddly positioned hug if one could call it that, though he had seen it in the taverns when men would relax and bond with one another after a day's hard work. Turns out it was the vampire, Naruto, "Congrats, man! Now you're part of our little inner circle." He said with a cheeky smile before continuing, "Now though, I believe there's a secret that your have to keep regardless of the circ*mstances."
Lancelot was not aware of this, "A secret?" Secrets could at times either do great harm, or great good.
"Yes…" Arturia had sheathed Caliburn at this point, "…as a member of the inner circle, you must know something that can never be shared outside of this room." Undoing the bow that tied her hair up, she waved it around before staring at Lancelot whose eyes were wide in shock, "My true name, is Arturia Pendragon. Daughter of Uther Pendragon and heir to Britain. I am a woman."
For once, Lancelot was speechless at this secret. This… this piece of information was extremely damming to their campaign, and her right to rule as well as carry out her ideals. But Lancelot was not one to back down from his oaths, and he had just been sworn in as a knight to Arturia. However, this revelation made him smile before he spoke up, "I see… I am in the company of people who are truly unlike anything else in the world. A young girl who is the King of Knights that leads many with ideals pure in thought, with loyalty stronger than steel." Then he turned to Naruto, "And who has a being that is one of darkness, fighting on the side if the light. To have such charisma and conviction, I am honored to be of service to you, my king." Lancelot bowed his head once more to Arturia as she did her hair up once again.
"Welcome, Sir Lancelot. To our campaign to unite Britain." Arturia finished.
Naruto however spoke up next, "You know, now that we've been gaining more and more people to our cause, wouldn't it be a good idea to set up the future capital? Someplace where we can move across the island with ease, have advantages from the environment, etc." Naruto saw that with many people now pledging their loyalty, their swords, lances, lives, and all that jazz to her, the homestead would not be a good place to protect and defend themselves as well govern the country.
"He has a point, Arturia." Ector said, "If we intend to grow more, we will need a new place to stay. I doubt this homestead will be able to take on consecutive sieges, as really the winter season is the only advantageous time of the year here, and we will be fighting across all seasons."
Placing a hand under shin, Arturia tried to wonder where exactly they could build, "We can discuss that tomorrow morning when we all have more energy to debate such a thing. For now, though, I believe that perhaps settling on a name for it will be a start."
Naruto was curious about this subject… especially after naming the lion Periwinkle, "What do you want to name the city, my king?"
"I believe I will name it… Camelot. It's not quite Avalon, but close enough to maybe one day it can become as such." And thus, the name of Britain's greatest legend sprung froth on this night.
-Elsewhere; Fortress Vortigern on Mount Agned-
Here sat the supposed throne of the 'True King' Vortigern, whom was truly a tyrant on the isle of Britain. He had maneuvered to dethrone his brother in order to preserve the mystery, or rather what little of it remained for his country, even if it meant committing atrocities and making the people loathe him. Now he sat on his stone throne eating away at fruits brought to him, and now hearing the messenger's words. Light seemed to bend around the tyrant king, as if it could not fall upon one so vile as he that murdered his own brother in the name of his own perverted sense of 'salvation'.
"SO… my nephew has spat on my good graces…" Vortigern was not happy with this response, "…and he wishes for me to march myself down and force him to bend the knee?"
The messenger was standing before his king; instead of being confident and at ease with the presence of Vortigern, he was fearful, "Y-Yes… Arthur will not yield to you, my king. Nor will he turn over the fleeing traitors in his company. Even now after having dealt with several rebellious lords who neither sided with you or your brother, have fallen to his cunning in battle."
Vortigern tapped his fingers rhythmically on the throne, although his fists soon balled up as rage boiled up within him, "I see…" Quickly getting up from his throne, he took the goblet he was sipping wine from and threw it against the wall, splattering the red wine all over the wall and floor, he had long since ceased being able to taste anything aside from the coppery flavour of the white dragon's blood that forever lingered on his tongue. "…I KNEW I SHOULD HAVE KILLED THE WOMEN THAT NIGHT AS WELL!"
Stepping down from his throne, he began to pace around as the messenger could only look to the ground in shame for having brought his king this message.
"I kill my younger brother because the right of kingship belonged to me from the very beginning. I captured and chained the White Dragon down below us to gain its power to inspire fear into the populace. I slaughtered his wife to prevent an heir from being born. I allow the Saxons to take what they want so long as they stay out of my affairs and ensure Mystery is kept in our homeland. But now…!" He sucked his teeth in anger, "Now that bastard claims to be the rightful king! I should've sent an assassin or several spies into his company to slit his throat in the night!" Vortigern would have continued on with his rant but was quickly silenced by the feminine voice that arose.
"Now this is unsightly."
All occupants in the throne room turned to the throne as they saw Morgan le Fay appear from black mist, sitting ever so casually with a swagger befitting one who was meant to rule, "A king who rages over something so small, is terrible to see."
Vortigern frowned at this woman, knowing her reputation although unaware of her lineage and their family connection, "What is it that you want, Fae?"
Morgan gave a sweet smile that promised anything but sweet, "Me? Oh, well… all I could say is that I merely wish to help a king that yearns to secure the mystery of our era to keep magic alive." Morgan vanished into the mist as she reappeared behind him, "I can help you maintain your grip over your lands, and even provide aid in taking that which is in Arthur's hands."
Vortigern knew that such aid from a Fae came at a heavy price, "And just what is it that you want in return, Fae?"
Morgan placed a finger on her lips as she pressed for her desire for giving aid to an idiot such as this one, "I want… Arthur alive, and unscathed. I have plans for him in fact." Raising a finger in front of Vortigern's face before raising a second one, "I also want the red-eyed magus that is in his inner circle." And a third finger rose up, "And last but not least, I want the White Dragon you have underneath the fortress." Vortigern glared at her before she spoke quickly, "Oh come now… you had to have expected me to ask of such things, no?"
The tyrant king could only glare at Morgan before asking his own question, "What is it that you have invested in my nephew and some magus in his company? And why do you want the White Dragon?"
Morgan merely made shrugging gesture sarcastically before responding, "Perhaps I just want a pet dragon? Perhaps I want some playthings for me to violate in mind, body and soul?" She wouldn't deny that she wanted to violate that vampire and make her sister watch every waking moment of it as she took all the pleasure from their coupled pain. "What do you care for material objects? You are but a hole in the world no?"
"…what is that you have to offer?" Vortigern hesitantly asked, however he did not lose his composure lest he appear weak in front of his subjects.
Morgan merely smiled in a sickly way that promised everything he wanted. But she knew even in the end he would most likely fail. She would get what she wanted in the end, like always…
Codex Apostletos
Taken from the notes of L. Barthomeloi
Subject: Naruto Uzumaki
Entry Number: 4
There has been much conjecture as to the actions of Uzumaki during the years prior to his entrance into the association but after he drops off of the map, figuratively speaking. It is of my opinion that Uzumaki has something to do with Arthurian legend given that he has vested great interest in attaining items from that era combined with the name of his primary associate [REDACTED]. I have poured over the Bartholmeloi family archives many a time to see if I could find some linking factor or text that would place Uzumkai in this time period and for the longest time I can say categorically that I was unsuccessful. The battle of Camlann seems to have coincided with a massive burning of the documents kept at the time, making it a catalyst as to why the era in question is thought of as nothing more than myth by the mundane population.
Wandering Sea snatched up many of the documents that remained and they are not particularly fond of sharing but in the last few months I was able to find a single exert from an epic describing the life of Arthur that does not fit in with the common knowledge of the era, ergo I can deduce that it may have something to do with Uzumaki. this is what i found.
The Knight of Sky Silver
"For all the radiance of the King of Knights there was indeed a shadow he cast. All members of the Round Table cast this shadow and from it came the one we all forget, the Knight of Sky Silver. Clad in hooded robes befitting a Magus it is true to say he was a practitioner of the Arcane but his actions sometimes spoke to the contrary. He would charge into battle, sword in hand but cast spells sourced from myriad lands; of which he attained as a student of the flowers.
When Great Gawain stood against Escanor the Proud, the hooded knight watched on from the clouds, and better still when Lancelot lay disarmed the strange magus provided him with oaken arms. But for all his strength in war and magic, and abilities that caused sense itself to bend, that Knight of Sky Silver... failed his king in the end."
And done!
Holy crap, I think this is probably the longest chapter I've ever written on this site. I was hoping to get this chapter out sooner, but several factors and circ*mstances prevented it from happening, but oh well.
So yes, Arturia has finally dealt with the rebellious lords, begun the legend of the capital city of Camelot with its naming, introduced Lancelot, and now Naruto has Proto Arthur's armor.
The next chapter will be another timeskip but don't hate me for that as trying to do the 20 years of Arturia's campaign and reign over Britain is extremely difficult, so timeskips are a must with this story. Especially when things begin to come together in the present.
I do have some NarutoxFate/stay night story challenges if anyone is interested in taking them up, feel free to PM me to ask the details.
Be sure to read, review, favorite and follow this story, as well as the others on my profile.
And please, tell me what you guys liked and/or disliked about this chapter.
Chapter 5: The Rise of Camelot Part IV
Chapter Text
New chapter, yeah!
Though no one seems to really be all that supportive of the previously mentioned petitions and that makes me sad honestly. Does no one want a remake of the Fate route with Kinoku Nasu writing it out to make it better and with Ufotable's mastery of animation, and have it as a series like the UBW route as opposed to a film trilogy like the Heaven's Feel route?
I mean come on, it'd be great for Ufotable to end the entirety of Fate/stay night on a note that leaves pretty much almost everyone with a happy ending, and then there's the Realta Nua's "Last Episode"! It'd be a great send off! Granted, some fans will claim it's just copying Apocrypha's epilogue, but Realta Nua came before that, so that argument is null & void.
And then there's the Camelot storyline detailing its rise & fall. It can serve as a sort of prequel to the Fate route and it would also tie-in well with Fate/Zero given what occurs in that series with shedding light on Lancelot's descent into madness. Hell, it would even be good to shed more light on Gawain in Fate/Extra Last Encore and Mordred in Fate/Apocrypha.
Anyways, on with the new chapter!
Chapter 4: The Rise of Camelot Part IV
-Spring; April, 469 AD-
Naruto woke up with the sun shining through his window, signaling that time had finally cycled around to the morning. "Pretty sure Arturia's up and about now, waiting on breakfast." Getting dressed in his usual attire that she provided him after receiving the armor, Naruto had forgone the steel plate that was part of the gift. He had decided to call it the 'Armor of the Shadow', as he was in a sense standing in the shadow of Merlin at times, or even posing as the magus when he went on a few 'walkabouts'.
The vampire ninja left his room for he could hear the sounds of the people at work, while the soldiers were clashing practice swords. But given their current residence, he had to walk for quite some time to reach where Arturia was currently residing.
After the rebellious lords and nobles were all rounded up, Arturia delivered her judgment as he remembered it…
"I know why you chose to take up your arms against me. I know that a single battle against foreigners means nothing to some of you. But I cannot understand why you, who were so loyal to my father, Uther. Would say that one who takes up arms against our enemies, is naught but a false leader and a tyrant, when the true tyrant lies to the north and a traitor to his kin? I will not allow your deaths to occur. No. I forgive you…"
Needless to say, everyone was shocked by her decision to forgive the lords. A few of them took their own lives, rather than live with the shame of having tried to kill a king whose compassion was now known. Their sons or brothers took up in the deceased's place and swore their fealty to Arturia and committed their soldiers and lands to her cause.
Their response and reason behind this were but from the lips of a single lord –
"To take up arms against a king as merciful and just as thou, is but a folly… nay, a sin against the righteousness of your magnificence."
As Naruto stepped outside the currently in-construction palace that would become the capital of Arturia's Kingdom, he began to see things coming together, slowly but surely. He made several suggestions that were taken into account with the capital's construction. Out in the distance, he could see the perimeter walls being set down that would house a contingent of soldiers with guard rotations set up. The wall would stand at least six stories tall with the top of it constructed to allow soldiers to walk atop it, as to ensure that they could fire arrows from the high vantage point.
The name that had been chosen for this place was an old Welsh term, one that idealised the vision that Arturia had for the country; a place of Idelic happiness,Camelot.
It was in a similar manner in which Konoha had its walls, combined with the ones he had seen from several forts in the country, blending the two together in a nice touch that would have the benefits to have a good offense and strong defense against sieges.
Naruto crossed by the training grounds where he saw Gawain and his younger siblings: the young boy Gaheris and the girl Gareth.
Gaheris was a young man of perhaps fifteen with platinum blonde hair not unlike that of the boy's elusive mother with soft features that were somehow a feminine mirror to Gawain. He was probably 5'7" with his hair cut into a windswept bob that straddled the line between male and female although the small smile on his lips was undeniably boyish in nature, shining through his topaz colored eyes. He wore a set of form-fitting training armor of sturdy workmanship, single bands of steel plate as opposed to a large breastplate like Gawain. He teamed this armor with a cobalt blue muffler that covered his neck and left spaulder, though tucked into the back of the cuirass to prevent it being tugged at.
Clutched in his left hand was an unusual weapon for a knight, a silver partisan nearing two meters in length with a cobalt grip and tassel just beneath the spearhead. He teamed it with a cross between a coffin and kite shield of matching cobalt bearing the sigil of the cross in silver.
Gareth was unrecognizable as a girl save for her face due to the heavy armor that she currently wore. She had happy and girlish features characterized by a broad smile and blonde hair of a shade like Arturia poking over her forehead and framing her green eyes. Her cheeks were dimpled with rosy circles at their epicentre as if she was always blushing. Her entire head was clad in a Coventry Sallet helm with a gated visor currently pushed up to expose her face. For her upper body, she wore immensely thick iron and gold plate armor with pronounced shoulder plates in an attempt to hide her gender.
Since this was a sparring session, the girl was wearing a lightly armoured kilt like a Scottish warrior to aid in mobility, an odd juxtaposition given her heavy armor. Unlike either of her brothers', Gareth wielded a longsword as opposed to the standard European broadsword that Naruto had learned was common amongst knights. The heavy armour seemed to be a theme as attached to her left forearm was an immensely sizeable wankle shield with the image linked wings in golden geometric shapes.
"Come on, Gareth!" Gawain cheerfully exclaimed to his sibling, egging her on in the training, "I'm working my arse off to get you to see that move!"
"I'm seeing it, but you're not making it easy." Gareth protested.
Gawain shook his head, "What? You thought I would make it easy for you?" He had been trying to teach Gareth how to rebound a shield bash from a charging enemy, while he was instructing Gaheris… "Brother!" He glanced over briefly to see that his older sibling was giving him some advice, "Your footwork needs to be better. You won't be able to impale someone fully and still keep your foundation stable."
Unlike the other knights of the inner circle, Gaheris chose to use the partisan instead of the sword. An unorthodox choice, but one Naruto liked in the boy. It would set him apart from the others as being unique in that regard.
Gaheris shook his head since what he was going up against were training dummies of straw and cloth, "Practice against these things isn't the best way for me to get my footwork up to a higher standard." He protested.
Gawain broke from the shield training for a few minutes before he turned to his brother, "Well right now that's all we have to train with." He explained, "Our forces are diverting resources and coin to building the capital and arming the soldiers. Like your weapons and armor for example." Gesturing to the both of them to make his point.
Both siblings' expressions were shifting to that of conceding as they nodded their heads slowly before they heard Naruto, "Morning guys!" He waved back to them with a megawatt smile that he always wore to appear friendly.
Gawain gave a friendly wave, albeit a little reluctantly with a small smile as did Gaheris though he didn't smile. Not their fault since their mother was a majorly dark bitch in Naruto's book. Though Gareth was more energetic as she waved to him rapidly, "Good morning, Mr. Naruto!"
"Off to the king's breakfast, I take it?" Gawain asked. He found out not long after their victory over the rebels that Naruto cooked food that was very… very high in terms of quality compared to the other food that they were accustomed to eating. All the herbs, spices and seasonings that he requested that be ordered in shipments for usage were not going to waste if what he saw on his aunt's face was correct: pure joy.
He also learned when the other inner circle members were about to ask Naruto to cook for them as well, that prompted Arturia to immediately get up and pull Naruto away behind her as if someone just asked for her precious stuffed doll and dared anyone to ask anything else.
Truth be told, Gawain had never seen the value of food tasting good, only the amount was substantial. You were trying to fill your belly, so quantity mattered over quality in his mind.
"No one steals my personal chef away!"
Oh, how he somewhat pitied Naruto…
Naruto chuckled as he nodded, "Yeah. The dragon is a glutton as you know it."
"Don't let the king hear you say that out loud…" Gawain silently said to himself before Naruto left them back to their training.
Naruto continued to make his way over to where he and Arturia had breakfast since they arrived here.
They decided upon making the capital near the center of Britain due to multiple factors –
1) The location provided easy access to all corners of the island from the near center of Britain itself.
2) The land they were settling things down was fertile and had several rivers that ran nearby, or even through the capital for fishing.
3) To the west was a small mountain range where they had natural barriers to keep their enemies from attacking them properly. To the north was a wide river that would've needed a bridge to cross it fully and was currently being constructed. To the east was a wide-open plain with some rocks scattered about leaving it open for viewing to incoming armies that would dare to attack them. And finally, to the south were roads that lead directly to the lands and homesteads that were loyal to Arturia
Overall, the factors were in their favor.
"Naruto, I was wondering when you would arrive." The ninja heard Arturia addressing him as Periwinkle sat next to her. The lion cub that used to sit upon her head and sleep, later grew to be as large as a great dane, with a small mane now cropping up. Despite how large the exotic cat got, he never showed any hostility towards Arturia, himself or even the other inner circle members. He chalked it up to Periwinkle being ripped away from his mother very early on, probably not long after his birth and imprinted on Arturia as his 'mother'. Or maybe the term 'Alpha' suited their relationship better?
"I saw Gawain and his siblings on the way over here and gave them a quick hi and all that."
That was good,she thought to herself. Gaheris was more like his older brother when it came to the perceptions of what people were, although Gareth was a far more cheerful individual than both her brothers. When they were told that Naruto was a vampire, well… it could've been better… but at least Gawain was coming around to it, or at least she believed so.
"Well then, shall we?" Arturia asked as she turned around to head to their little building where he cooked for them and dined in.
Naruto threw her a thumbs up, "Lets."
-The King's Private Dining Hall-
Naruto had decided to make some blueberry pancakes this time around, to shake breakfast up a bit, with Periwinkle eating away at a cow's flank that had been brought in for the little terror from a butcher shop.
Arturia was overlooking the construction plans for the capital in the meantime, seeing everything that was being built that Naruto suggested alongside the wall structure and the 'indoor plumbing' that he said was absolutely necessary and that she'd 'be blown away by it', "Naruto." she said, not looking up from the architect's plans.
"Yes, my king?" The ninja perked up over his work.
She pulled up the schematics of the plumbing system that he had given to the construction foreman and herself, "I've been looking over the designs for the indoor plumbing system and its… very intricate." Indeed, it was. The system would have flowing water in and out of the castle, along with some system that would have hot & cold running water if she read it correctly, "Just how did you come by these plans?"
Naruto turned around as he was wearing an apron covered with water, flour and blueberry refuse as he finished up cleaning the dishes as best he could with what he had on hand, "I know a few people in Rome that can get their hands on some stuff, nothing illegal of course unless I can pay extra for it. But I felt that indoor plumbing was something we needed, trust me. Once you have it, you won't want to part with it." He shivered at the last century's worth of memories of having been forced to make do without it. Even if the plumbing systems of this time paled in comparison to those from Konoha; it'd be a good starting point to make it more widely available across the lands.
Before he met Altrouge, he merely wandered from place to place in Europa when Zelretch brought him over from the Americas as the multiversal Apostle called them, until he entered Rome. It was a stunning city that was as developed as it was massive but lacked a natural beauty that Konoha had in spades. However, he did see that they were trying to advance their developments on the city's infrastructure. He met a few shady people that could get a hold of certain things for the right price, although his Mystic Eyes of Enchantment brought that little obstacle low.
Arturia merely raised a brow at that, "Hmm… hot and cold running water. Private privy's and basins?" Well, she certainly was impressed by it though, "I'm very interested in how it all comes together. But it's all so exciting at the same time."
Naruto chuckled at the way she was acting; like a kid ready to see what the big surprise was, "Building things like this often is. When you create something like this city, you stand back to look at it when it's all finished. When you've passed things onto the next generation, you're able to say'Yeah, I built this amazing place'." Konoha was a place just like that. Despite what was destroyed in battles, everything was built back up, better than before to endure and pass onto the next generation to better the world. If Naruto could capture even a tenth of that raw innovation then he would be happy.
There were more suggestions that he had put forth that would be part of the construction: a military academy that would go on to train the soldiers and knights of tomorrow. A city guard building where they would congregate and assemble to help enforce the laws. Barracks for the soldiers to rest and relax after a hard day's work. Training grounds for those who needed to refine their skills.
A library where the knowledge and history of Britain and other countries would be stored and put on display for them to learn from, in order to better themselves. Though there had been some grumblings from the lords of Arturia's bannermen about 'educating the plebs' but Arturia had done her best to ignore them.
An aviary for bird messengers that would fly to their lands with haste to deliver and receive news. A treasury to finance the city's life as well as aid in trade & commerce when the markets sprung up. A cemetery to bury the dead, be they noble or commoner as no one should be denied a peaceful final rest. A clinic to help those that were ill or in need of medical attention. Public baths to provide for the populace to encourage better hygiene. An orphanage for the children that had no family to care or love them like all should be rightfully so. A park for families to play and enjoy their time together, with their pets and one another. A correctional facility for those that were sentenced to prison with the chance to repent or be given either a life sentencing or beheading.
A memorial would be crafted to commemorate their fallen brothers-in-arms, and past leaders including the previous king Uther with their line going back.
Fertile fields would be made for farmers to plant their crops with an irrigation system set up to provide nourishment to ensure they would make it through the dry times.
And finally, three layers of Bounded Fields would be set up. The first was set up already that encircled the exterior lands of the capital. The second would be set just on the perimeter of the city itself on the walls to warn them of anyone that may have actually sneaked on over if they did not take the main gates that the guards would check thoroughly. The third and final field was set on the edge of what would be the main keep; the fortress that from what the builders claimed would be'The Shining Silver Palace that could be seen from Rome'.
In the fifteen months that had passed since Lancelot's induction to their number, the purple haired Knight of the Lake had also brought with him a contingent of stonemasons and carpenters to expedite the building process.
Camelot would be the start of something similar with them at the helm.
Naruto's words were a praise to her with her own thoughts on the matter. Camelot would be the shield & sword of Britain that would defend its people and create the future from here on out. She would establish the foundation of what would come to be looked back upon by historians as the beginning of a thriving utopia.
But there was something within those words that clicked in her mind; to remind of her something she had forgotten to ask, "Naruto, please forgive me for not asking this sooner, but there was something I've been meaning to ask you."
Naruto's head tilted to the side in curiosity, "It's alright. I mean, we've been busy with the construction, planning, training, etc. So, it's no biggie. What did you want to know, my king?"
She mulled it around in her head, trying to figure out how to put her question into words that would not insult him, "You've been around many parts of Europa, as well as other parts of the world when we've talked in the past." She began, "Even when you spoke of your homeland, you've seen so many fascinating things." Naruto could feel the climax coming up, "Naruto… just how old are you?"
This was a bit of a sensitive topic for him. Naruto would've tried to play around and say he was just sixteen, but this wasn't a question meant for providing humor, "Well, I guess you could say I'm seventeen. But… but I've been seventeen for 88 years." He said with a mirthless tone. Living as long as he did, one would find their very existence questionable, or even as a curse. In truth, it was a curse… but that was only if one didn't find themselves a goal or commitment to something to give it an outlook as a gift.
Zelretch had often spoken of the 'Paradox of Infinite Time', that if a being were given an infinite amount of time to live, then they would inevitably grow bored with life and that all Vampires saught something to stave off that boredom. Be it becoming a genocidal madman or simple knitting.
Becoming Arturia's retainer with the vow he would abide by his code to help her, that's what he had given his life meaning towards.
Arturia, on the other hand, was a little surprised that Naruto had lived for so long as he was before they met, but another question formed in her mind, "You were bitten almost a century ago? How did that happen? Was it in your homeland?" She was anxious for answers; however, she didn't want to overstep her bounds to impede into his personal history. But it seemed she already did, judging from the saddened look on his face, "Oh… oh, I have overstepped my bounds, forgive—"
"No, it's alright." Naruto quickly stopping her, "It's not a subject I like to talk about with people." Naruto took the apron off as he hung it on the hanger, while he pulled up a chair to take a seat, "I was… betrayed by someone. Someone that I thought I could trust. But I was wrong…" He answered before elaborating on what he did, "I wandered half the world aimlessly with no goal in my life. My dream was robbed & crushed before me in an instant I was forced to 'leave'. The battle we were in, so much hinged on it, but I was betrayed in the end. I can never go back there." He looked to Arturia who was utterly shocked by his words, eyes widened and her mouth slightly agape, "And up until I met you, I had nothing or no one to dedicate myself to."
Naruto saw that he needed to steer things back to being positive, "Hey, what's with that look? I mean, I'm alright now. I've accepted things as they are." He put on a false smile as he closed his eyes, "There's no need to worry about me." So focused was he on putting up a brave front for his King did he not notice the moisture building in the corner of his own eyes.
The only thought that ran through Arturia's mind was but one question: Why?
Why would someone betray Naruto of all people? Just how depraved and monstrous could they be!? To betray a person as kind and thoughtful as he… they could be nothing more than a lowly beast!
She clenched her fist in anger at the thought of this leading to his forced transformation into a vampire. How dare they…
Her anger turned to sadness as she saw what Naruto was unknowingly doing… he was crying. Despite how he smiled to ease her emotions, despite having downplayed his pain… Naruto was still hurting from this betrayal for almost a century, and now it seemed that Arturia's question had brought it all up to the surface. This wound upon his heart, inflicted by one that he held close had festered beneath the sands of time. So much that the very mention of it was enough to bring him to tears.
"Naruto… you're crying." She stated as her look of shock turned to worry.
Naruto opened his eyes to see that she was right indeed, "Oh… hey… why am I crying? I mean, I've already accepted things as they are." He started to choke back his tears as he wiped them away. Yet still, the tears continued to drop, "I can never go back home. All the people I met over the years are long dead, and I know things are different now… but…" Then the dam burst open. Self-loathing reared its ugly head from the deep pit of his stomach, chiding him for forgetting while simultaneously damning him for remembering.
His fist clenched and unclenched without his consent, was he truly this pathetic that loathsome memories would bring him to cry!? He distinctly heard the sound of Arturia rising to her feet, likely to slap him for being so childish. He didn't deserve such grace or salvation. He had failed, and he would never forgive himself for it!
He began to sob quietly as he buried his face into his hands to hide his sadness from Arturia, not wanting her to see this.
Next thing he knew, was the sound of a chair scraping across the floor and shuffling of boots towards him. Arturia wrapped her arms around him as she stood up to ease his sadness. She pulled him close as she felt the tears wet her dress but chose to ignore it in favor of providing comfort. She was so much shorter than him, making the sight comical in a way.
"My k-king?"
"What kind of king am I, if I can not help console a single man?" Her reply was earnest, wise and level but throbbing with an unsaid compassion.
She let Naruto cry and let it all out, all the while silently contemplating how she could try to help make this right.
It seemed as if even Periwinkle felt the sadness and moved over to the other side of the chair, as he plopped his head against Naruto's lap, giving a small purr with his paws rubbing against his arm to get his attention.
Still held in Arturia's arms, he turned just enough to see the lion giving what could be equated to a feline's frown. Naruto reached out to pet his growing mane as a means to show that he was alright, though Arturia had something to say, "Naruto." She began to draw his attention back to her, "I do not know what happened between you and this person who betrayed you. But I can see that it has stung you to your very core." She looked down to gaze at his crimson eyes that still held tears that were yet shed, "You were convinced that this person was someone that you could rely on."
"That you could fight alongside them with no worry for any fault, they would cause. But they destroyed your faith in them. And that betrayal placed a curse upon you; having lost your homeland, you lost the chance to live a normal, mortal life." In reference to his vampirism that made him no longer able to age, "But also destroyed your dream."
Arturia clasped his hands as she stood on her toes to reach his level and gazed into his eyes as they no longer shed tears, having dried moments ago, "Whatever your dream was, I believe that it was good and pure, just as you are. But with what we are building together, I hope that it will help heal your heart."
For a moment, everything was silent as Naruto stared at Arturia with admiration but also with a new light at the way she talked to him. He knew that she was always concerned for the happiness of others, as it was her duty as the king to ensure that her subjects and retainers would be positive in all situations. She gave comforting words, and inspirational speeches to people that either needed help or were curious as to what her intentions were like with Lancelot a year ago. However, he felt that she treated him in a similar but different manner than the rest of her subjects.
She gave him gifts that were to either aid or protect him. She asked questions like a friend who was trying to get to know him better. She showed concern with how he was as a person, and his own feelings if he ever appeared to be sad. She praised his cooking skill whenever they ate together although that last one, he suspected was because the rest of the food in the country that other chefs prepared sucked in comparison.
Were these the actions of a king? Or more of…? A person who genuinely cared about a close personal friend, or even…?
No… no, he didn't have a chance in hell with her.
Closing his eyes, Naruto took in the warm touch of her gentle hands, feeling the soft skin clasp his own rough hands that had dirtied themselves over the decades with blood, while hers were protected by an inner light that still resembled that light from the day of selection. Arturia was like an angel to his senses; a light that shone in the darkness with ideals brimming with joy & happiness.
Naruto opened his eyes as he saw that she was blushing, and she, in turn, saw him do the same as her. The two of them looked down at their hands holding onto one another for what seemed like hours; neither of them had really given any thought as to what someone would say if they were to walk in on them in this position.
A knock on the door snapped Naruto and Arturia out of their stare, to which they both knew that they needed to revert back to the image of a king and retainer. As it turns out, it was Merlin who had come in, "I do hope that I wasn't interrupting anything going on between you two, was I?" He spoke with a tone of amusem*nt as if he knew what was happening.
The blondes shook their heads to push their blushes down to regain their composure in the magus' presence while Periwinkle went back over to Arturia's side, sensing how Naruto's emotions were more peaceful.
"Have a good breakfast, did we?" He eyed them both up, seeing that something clearly happened between the two of them, judging from their gestures, positions, state of clothes, etc. What it was, he couldn't say… however, he hoped that it wasn't something that would endanger their future.
His clairvoyance had shown him many things. The time when Arturia pulled Caliburn from the stone; her beginning… and then there was her end, with a lance piercing a mirror image of herself with a red & silver sword raised high to strike the fatal blow, and sleeping peacefully from said fatal blow up against an oak tree.
But those visions were now becoming foggy… changing… Where the mirror would have struck her down, the vision was shifting back and forth to a blurry of the two sharing a tender moment with one another… Where she laid her peaceful final rest, it now was shifting back and forth to a blurred image of her holding a blonde-haired infant as she cried tears of joy alongside whom he believed to be was his apprentice.
Was the Greater History of Man diverging?
But these visions were not set in stone. Naruto's insertion into their lives was changing things ever so slowly, but all it would take to keep these dark visions set was careful planning and cunning from Morgan. If she knew when and where to strike… then there would be no turning back…
Merlin did see though, that Naruto was having a positive effect on Arturia. And thus far, there was no worry for either of them; merely the two were connecting with one another to make the future more positive.
He digressed on that issue at the moment as Arturia spoke up, "Merlin, we were just about to finish up."
"Oh really? Good then." Merlin exclaimed, "Because there is a lesson that my young apprentice needs to attend to very soon." He had something special planned today in fact.
Naruto perked up at the way he put his words, "What's the subject today, Pervy Mage?"
'They're never going to let me live that down will they'Merlin spoke to himself internally before he elaborated for his student, "Today, you will be learning about Divine Words from the Age of Gods. This will be something you will have as an ace up your sleeve against the mage's of today and going forward." And it would be his ace against Morgan as well should he cross paths with her again. But Naruto needed more training before he had a strong chance against her. As he was now, she'd toy with the vampire before delivering whatever torture she wanted onto him, that is until after Morgan most likely satisfied her twisted desire for him, if she still chose to pursue that kink of hers at that point.
Naruto looked to Arturia, seeing that he still needed to clean up the dishes. She sensed his minor apprehension leaving the kitchen as it was, "It's alright, Naruto. You can clean up after your lesson with Merlin."
Arturia knew how diligently Naruto cleaned the dishes whenever he finished cooking, seeing him being pulled away right after just starting, it more than likely worried him that the dishes would be left to smell afoul and become disgusting, "Thank you, my king." The ninja gave a slight bow to the knight-king as he left with Merlin to his quarters.
Arturia glanced around to see that Naruto was about half-way done before he had to leave. She remembered that they needed to hold a war meeting soon to deal with the Gaels. But considering they had a minor presence in Britain, coupled with how her reputation was spreading across the lands with the Gaels believing it best to stay away from her army. Naruto's spies had said that many left the main band to live normal lives like the commoners in farms, forge's and marketers, whittling down their opposition in the long run.
She had ample time to spare considering that it was still rather early in the morning. Arturia clapped her hands together as she prepared herself for the coming task, "Now… where were the extra supplies to wash the dishes?"
Periwinkle could only lay down as he began to snooze off, sensing that this would take a while…
-Merlin's Workshop-
The magus brought Naruto to his little corner of the capital grounds where he had set up his workshop in an underground section that had been constructed. Although it was Merlin's own magecraft at work that set it all up, along with the small Bounded Field that he had set up just on the edge of his temporary residence, "Now then…" Merlin began a tap on the ground with his staff, as the circular room lit up brightly from the floating orbs emitting light for them to see their work, "… it's time you learned how to speak Divine Words. For little recap, how much do you know of them?"
Naruto had been reading up on the text that Merlin had given him concerning the Age of Gods, as it encompassed not just the bits of history of the era that led to its downfall, but also certain aspects of Magecraft that existed at the time. Divine words were just one part of that, "Well, the book you gave me wasn't too clear on how they functioned, just that it's nearly impossible for people born after the death of Christ to pronounce them."
"Correct." He pulled out a book from his sleeve and tossed it to Naruto, "Now it's time to begin. Turn to page 394. Considering what you've learned already, we can skip a hundred pages or two and get straight into things."
Naruto did as he was instructed, as he flipped through the pages until he found the subject 'Helios'. He arched a brow at name, given that it was the name of the Titan of the Sun from Greece, "Helios?"
"That would be the Divine Word in fact." Merlin readied a little spell just in case things didn't go the way they hoped, "You see, most contemporary Aria are simply used to mould Prana into the correct form for the desired spell to take place. Although just as you said with Divine Words, people of this age are unable to say them at all. Myself included."
Now that was odd to say the least. If people derived of the same bloodline, or from a region where such words were familiar, then they should've been able to at least pass the way it was said down to the next generation. But once again: different world, different rules.
Naruto took the info in as Merlin continued on with the lecture, "However, considering that you're in possession of a Regression to the Age of Gods, you're able to duplicate the ritual." That made sense in his mind. Have the very thing that allowed one to use ancient magecraft, then using it would be of no consequence. "Theoretically speaking at least." he mumbled the last part under his breath.
"So, all I do is use my Prana in my voice, and it'll happen."
"Precisely, however there is something that must be done before that, as it is not an easy feat." Merlin wiggled his fingers to the book Naruto was currently holding. Naruto noticed that the word 'Helios' began to glow white as the word rose from the book along with a duplicate and changed the lettering up a bit, "To your left is how the word is said in the common tongue, whereas the word on the right is the proper way to say it when using the Divine Word." Naruto was glancing back and forth between the two differently spelt words, despite meaning the same thing as Merlin kept on, "You must first come to terms with the meaning behind the word, then vibrate your vocal cords with Prana while speaking it." Next thing Naruto knew, Merlin had waved his hand around the air as Naruto felt that he performed some sort of spell, but what it was he wasn't sure before Merlin elaborated, if but vaguely, "Not to worry. Just a precautionary spell in case things go as I believe they might."
Merlin waved it off as he gestured for Naruto to begin, "Alright, here it goes… Helios!"
And… nothing happened…
Naruto was confused by this, while Merlin placed a hand under his chin as he seemed to expect this result. The ninja arched a brow in confusion however, he continued on nonetheless, "Helios! Helios…!" His face began to twitch with nothing happening, "HELIOS!" He gripped his head in frustration, "Ok, what the hell?! I'm saying it, but nothing's happening!"
"It's just as I thought…" Merlin spoke up as he conjured up a sword out of the air, "…even though you have something that allows you to use magecraft from the Age of Gods, you're unable to properly grasp things. Most likely due to the fact that you were born in the Age of Fairies." Taking a few steps forward, Merlin drew a sword from within his robe and readied it as if he was going to attack Naruto, "So now, we'll have to take some drastic measures to make sure you can nail the Divine Words down quickly."
Naruto had a feeling these so called 'drastic measures' involved bodily harm, "W-Wait Pervy Mage, I mean we don't have t—AGGH!" Before he knew it, Naruto saw the light glint of Merlin's blade before he saw it was going for his throat. He dodged the sword at the last moment before the magus got a good slice in.
That was weird and frightening, "Wha…?"
Merlin showcased the slight drops of blood on the tip of the blade flowing down, "That little precaution I made? A spell to slow down your reaction time. Time to sink or swim my apprentice!" The now off-kilter magus said in excitement as he raised the sword again to cleave him in two. He was using a rather potent version of Reinforcement Magecraft on his already half Incubus body to push him into the genuinely superhuman category.
It was like training with Jiraiya to learn the Summoning Jutsu and got tossed down a ravine.
Naruto ducked the initial horizontal slash, the spring steel blade cutting through the air with a high pitched whine. Naruto tried to jump back to get some distance but found his body sluggish to respond, by the time he had begun the Jump he was forced to bring his arms up to guard against the shaft of Merlin's staff which was swung with the momentum of the initially missed swing. Well, sh*t… he was well and truly screwed unless he said the word correctly.
Naruto's circuits wired to life, beginning Thought Acceleration to bridge the gap in his senses that Merlin had instigated against him, he had three Memory Partitions at the current time, and he put all of them to work to ready his Magecraft."Burning in the night as you would in the day, Roshi!"Naruto called out, a russet red magic circle phasing into existence in the palm of his now extended palm.
'Roshi'was a combination of Formulacraft, Elemental Magecraft and Alchemy that Merlin had helped Naruto develop in their time together to take advantage of Naruto's style of Magecraft. Prana was converted into misshapen ether clumps before becoming transmuted into a semi-liquid composed mostly of granite and quartz. The clump of earth passed through the magic circle before bursting into flames and speeding towards Merlin, effectively has become a ball of molten magma.
Merlin cared not for the burning lifeblood of the planet currently careening towards him at Mach speeds, in fact, he did very little to dodge which confused Naruto greatly. The blonde was about to raise a worry when he saw the orb literally pass through the white-clothed Magus, now wreathed in a haze of light purple Hexagons.
"Flash Air, damn him." Naruto cursed at the Archmagus's use of the basic alchemical skill. He took the time to attempt the Divine Word once again, "Helios!" but still the vibration of his vocal cords must have been wrong for nothing happened. Naruto was without his Kunai and Shuriken, so this fight was to be fought with hand and magecraft, and he was man enough to admit that Merlin had him utterly beat in the latter category.
Merlin was already on the move towards him, the reinforcement glowing from his limbs, he was low to the ground with the pure spring steel sword drawn in for a stab that Naruto ran head first to meet.
Naruto's legs were a blur in his own run to cover the distance, picking up a discarded broom handle to reinforce along the way so that he had at least some weapon. Both entered the only naturally lit section of the Workshop, early morning sun flooding into a far off skylight above them like a small star.
The sword lunged forth like a viper striking for its prey, leaving Merlin's shadow and glinting golden in the light of the sun, hurtling towards Naruto's face with intent to kill. Such a trivial thing would not kill Naruto, but while having that thought, he was able to appreciate the way the light glimmered off of the blade, blinding brilliance and the heat of the sun captured in a fleeting moment.. 'wait a minute.' He thought, understanding dawning on his features. The adrenaline in his body spiked up as the Prana began to build up much more than before in his throat. His lips moved to form the word… and judging by Merlin's now shifting expression as he jumped back, the desired effect occurred,"Ἥλιος!"
The next thing they knew, a blinding flash of light and heat emerged from his body. Merlin was forced to bring up a barrier to block the light, as he used Flash Air to displace the fire in places where it wouldn't be of harm to anyone.
A merchant had been selling his produce down in the market of Londinium, "Cabbages! Get your fresh cabbages here!"
What happened next blew the merchant away as fire suddenly appeared behind the man, "MY CABBAGES!"
Naruto coughed as the smoke dissipated around them. He looked to where his teacher was, and saw that while he erected a barrier…
"To think the tips of my hair where singed, despite having a High Class barrier up to keep it from roasting me to bits." Merlin dusted himself off as he snapped his fingers to undo the spell upon Naruto, "Nevertheless, good job my apprentice. Though I have to mention my annoyance at slagging my sword." he discarded the sword to the ground, reduced to nothing more than a blackened handle attached to molten metal.
Naruto felt the spell wash away, sensing that his reaction speed as back to normal, "So, wait, just what exactly was that spell?" He inquired. From what he could tell, it was similar to a chakra flare when he used Kurama's power before he learned to fully control it.
Merlin cleared his throat to explain a bit, "To put it in simple terms: you now have your own version of little Arturia's Mana Burst, but instead of being pure Mana manifesting as searing energy, it took the form of flames that burns whatever it touches along with blinding your enemy."
In short, Naruto now realized he had a hidden move to get him out of sticky situations, bar the Flying Raijin, "Cool." He hummed in satisfaction as he wondered just what situations would call for it.
All the while Naruto pondered the possibilities, Merlin thought back to a few recent visions that he saw, "Dark have my dreams been of late…" He murmured to himself with Naruto unaware of his words. The sight of their king… blackened… and pointing her tainted sword to the throat of his apprentice whom held tear filled eyes…
Merlin was about to take the next step with another Divine Word, namely 'Þórr', in order to have him use a lightning based Divine Word. Something Merlin suspected that he may have a good affinity for along with one for Wind, however he felt a presence cross his Bounded Field, "It seems we have a guest." He tapped his staff to open the door as the clanking of armored boots resounded through the room to reveal it was Gareth.
"Mr. Naruto, Merlin." She began, "The king has requested that the both of you attend a war meeting."
Naruto raised a brow at that, "So who does she want to deal with this time?"
"The Gaels on the river Bassas." Gareth said, "Given that they have a rather minor presence, the king wishes that they be dealt with sooner, rather than later."
The Gaels were currently being led by Baron Finn of the Uaithni Cliach, and while they didn't cause as much trouble as the Saxons or barbarians, they nonetheless attacked settlements for their resources. And if they could be defeated quickly with superior numbers, all the better.
"Put the rat down before it breeds." Naruto murmured to himself, "Well, alrighty then. Let's head on out then, don't want to keep her waiting" Arturia had a bit of a passive aggressive side to her personality when she was kept waiting, although that was mostly shown whenever he was late to cook for them.
Man did she give him the cold shoulder…
The three of them left Merlin's workshop as they made their way to the war council building, all the while Gareth wondered something, "Say, Mr. Naruto…"
The ninja turned his head to look at the young knight, "What's up, Gareth?"
"I've been wondering… if you're a skilled magus, then is it possible for us to win a battle without fighting?" Gareth asked in curiosity. In her mind, if a mage were to enter battle, then wouldn't the battle be won quickly with his magecraft?
Naruto put a hand to his chin in thought, "Hmm… you know… that's actually a pretty good question." Thoughts swirled in his mind to how such a thing could be accomplished with their forces and his magecraft. Suddenly, he got something out of that question. Turning to Gareth, he gave a smile only a fox could make with a cunning idea that sprouted from within, "Gareth, you just gave me an idea for the battle."
The young girl raised a brow in curiosity, "I did?" While she didn't intend for her question to be taken seriously as for creating a strategy, she nonetheless felt a bit of praise in Naruto's words.
"Yup." Naruto confirmed, "And I doubt the king will object to it." Nope. She certainly would not, having learned the very thing that would make it possible.
They were unaware of the black crow perched up atop a tree branch gazing down on them…
-War Council Building-
Arturia looked over the map of the region where the river Bassas was located at, as she tried to derive a strategy to use against the Gaels. The most likely thing they could do was a repeat of their first battle against the Saxons, although given how word spread of their defeat there, it was possible that they would take measures to prevent that from happening to them.
Her brother Kay stood on her left, all the while he kept giving a glance back to the entrance, wondering if Ector would be able to make it before the rest of the inner circle arrived, "Father's getting a little slow in his age."
Arturia perked up as she turned to face her foster brother, "That he is." She knew that Ector was usually the first one here, but lately… he had been the second or third to arrive, "Are you worried for father?"
All Kay could do was scratch the back of his head, as the uncomfortable truth made its way from his lips, "Well, he's not getting any younger. That's for certain." He furrowed his brows, "And he's still running on the battlefield into the thick of things, it's just…"
The unspoken reality of what could occur on the battlefield made its way into their thoughts…
Arturia placed a hand on her brother's shoulder to try and comfort him, "I understand your concerns, and I share them." A solemn look crossed her face, "But if I were to remove him from the field of battle… it would be an absolute insult to his honor as a knight." A knight lived and died on the battlefield. To say that they were no longer fit for their duty, was to spit on their honor and earn their ire.
Kay sighed as he conceded to his sister's words, "Yeah, you're right… but I just hope that he doesn't…" Arturia tightened her grip on Kay's arm to show that it would not come to that.
"You know our father as well as I do. He's far too stubborn and strong to be fallen by the foes we have faced before." She smirked, knowing that Ector's experience and skill were what set him apart from them.
Kay chuckled, "He is too stubborn for his own good." Seeing how his sister was in a good mood, he shifted the topic over to something else, "So, how are you and that whiskered mage doing?"
Arturia could only tilt her head in confusion, "I beg your pardon?"
"You know… the two of you have been dining in private for a little over a year now." Kay started, "He's your personal chef, to which after the rest of us invited ourselves after that one dinner, I didn't think you'd let him out of your arms when you pulled him away from us, like a kid holding onto their doll…" He saw Arturia narrowing her eyes playfully of course at him, "Along with how much you listen to him when he offers advice that you take. And how you shower him with gifts, I want you to know something."
"Oh?"
Arturia wasn't sure what he was getting at.
"Father and I approve."
"…what?" Arturia literally had no idea what he was implying by Kay's words.
Kay sighed at this. Though he should've expected things to be like this, given she had more of a mindset like that of a man than a woman, "What I'm saying, is that father and I approve of him. Should the two of you manage to find a way to have…" Kay put a hand to his chin in thought, "…hmm… to have… relations… despite being the king."
Arturia could only blink.
Then she blinked again.
She blinked for a third time before it finally hit her…
"W-WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" Her face was red as a tomato at this point.
All Kay did was chuckle slightly before he elaborated, "I mean, no one else sees it, but father and I do. I mean, it's pretty clear to the two of us that there's something between you and our resident mage apprentice." He would have said vampire, but I thought that would be detrimental to things.
All Arturia could do was stutter in response, "D…I…y-you… I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT IS YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT!" She quickly turned back to the war table before she spoke again, "You broke my line of thought with that distraction! Now I have to rethink things!" She fought the blush down as much as possible while Kay kept a hand up to his mouth to hide that grin while he laughed quietly.
Outside, Bedivere, Gawain and Gaheris walked side by side to the war council as they wondered just which of their enemies they would be dealing with. However, Gawain noticed Bedivere looking rather unsure of himself as of late.
Patting Bedivere on the shoulder, Gawain spoke up, "Bedivere. I've noticed as of late that you appeared downtrodden. What ails you, my friend?"
Bedivere turned his head to face Gawain, "Oh, it nothing… I have merely been contemplating my place within our campaign, and by the king's side…" He saw that Gawain and Gaheris appeared confused; seeing their confusion, Bedivere elaborated, "I'm sorry. I know that I'm not as skilled as the two of you, nor am I talented in the arcane. I can only wonder why the king chose me to stand alongside him with everyone else in the inner circle."
Ah, so he doubted his position within the inner circle. Gawain felt that he needed to say something on the matter, "Bedivere, no one doubts your ability in battle. We have emerged victorious against all our enemies and the people are rejoicing in thanks to all of us; our efforts… your efforts are acknowledged and appreciated." Gawain explained.
"You say that you are not as skilled as the rest of us knights, nor are do you have potential in the arcane arts. Both are true, but you possess something that perhaps is even greater than the rest of us hold."
"What is it?"
"Unwavering conviction and dedication to the king. But also, humility unlike any other." Gawain stated plainly and fully. Bedivere was an old friend to Arturia and knew her secret. He would take it with him to his grave; but Bedivere also possessed something far greater than the rest of them: humility.
That was in Gawain's opinion, what made Bedivere a spectacular knight unto their king.
And Arturia acknowledged that every time they spoke to one another.
Bedivere patted Gawain on the shoulder in thanks, "Thank you. I wasn't sure what it was the king saw in me before, but your words bring comfort in knowing the truth."
Gawain smiled in satisfaction. He need not worry for his brother-in-arms' morale in the future. As they neared the war council building, they prepared themselves for whatever odd plan their king and vampire concocted together…
-Nighttime; Fortress Vortigern-
Morgan le Fay was a woman who always got what she wanted in the end. Whether it would take ten years or ten minutes, her plans worked out in the end. And if by some small chance they failed, she always had an escape planned out.
The blackened Fae sister of Arturia had made an offer to Vortigern: she would create powerful soldiers to overthrow her sister and she would have said sibling along with Merlin's apprentice, Naruto she believed his name was after some spying through her familiars for her own experiments.
She was heading down into the basem*nt where Vortigern kept the White Dragon chained up and mad. With a dagger in hand, she opened the door to see the beast that Merlin said represented the foreigners that dared to set foot on her isles. However, she saw the dragon as the opposite of her sister; a tool that she could use to craft her downfall, with Vortigern as a test subject, considering he had already drank the creatures blood to gain its attributes, "Now, my sweet child… why don't you stay still, and let me cut into you."
The dragon turned its muzzled head to see the Fae approach it with a dagger. Now… normally a regular dagger would be unable to pierce the hide of a supreme phantasmal species such as dragons and wyverns, however… this was not a regular dagger…
Morgan carried with her that held a sickly-looking dagger that was pitch black with serrated edges, along with blood red lines running along the edge and Fae symbols on the flattened sides. It was not a dagger made from mortal hands.
The dragon struggled to get the muzzle off, however, a black mist emerged from Morgan's free hand as it held the dragon down to prevent it from moving too much for the Fae to extract what she needed, "If you struggle, then this will certainly hurt you without doubt. So please, do calm down. Or don't either way, I still get your blood." The mist had taken hold as Morgan stepped closer to the dragon's hide. She caressed the skin all the while seeing the endless possibilities with the creature that Vortigern wasted away.
Conjuring up a large glass jar the size of her own head, Morgan drove the dagger into the dragon's skin, tearing open a small wound causing the dragon to screech in pain from the Fae artifact piercing its flesh. The dagger's properties made the dragon feel as if it were on fire; whereas its element was lighting & water, the opposite of the fire & wind elements that the Red Dragon wielded.
Morgan held the glass jar up to the wound as the White Dragon's blood poured into the jar rapidly before she pulled it away. Morgan held the jar as the mist pulled it back to her workshop, as she pulled the dagger out of the dragon's hide that began to heal.
The Fae smirked knowing that she had one piece to craft her sister's downfall, all she needed were two more to create it; time to mold it, and then set it loose to bring about Arturia's end.
"Now… I just need to contact that crow, Blackmore." Speaking aloud to herself.
-Gael Encampment Several Days Later; On the River Bassas-
"Ok, this should be the last of 'em." Naruto said to himself. He tossed a collection of swords and clubs onto the giant pile he amassed in the open field away from the encampment. Gareth really did give him a bright idea that Arturia approved of after he explained it to her, as did the rest of the inner circle.
A battle won with no bloodshed.
Naruto could see that dawn was approaching, coupled with the Gaels beginning to stir from their sleep, he leapt atop the pile of weapons, armaments and tools that would've given them combat capabilities as he took a seat to wait for the inevitable.
The plan was that Naruto would sneak into the Gaels encampment, go through every tent, hut and building they had, swipe everything they could to fight against the army, wait for dawn to come along with the Gaels waking up to see they were missing and then surprise the bastards with his new Divine Word.
The flash of light would be the signal for their cavalry to surround them. The river was too deep, to0 wide and considering how fast the water was moving, they'd likely get swept up in the current and be unable to swim out. The Gaels would have zero chance to escape.
"Now to play the waiting game…" He glanced over his shoulder to see Arturia with the cavalry at the ready for the signal, "…and hope that these idiots see reason."
As the Gaels began to wake from their sleep, Naruto readied himself as he recalled the word from when he managed to pronounce it properly before Merlin took his head off.
He could hear the various confusion and frustration in the voices as they scrambled to find their armaments.
"Where did my sword go?!"one disgruntled Gael called in a thick blast of quickly spoken gaelic to his fellow warriors who were equally startled at their lack of weaponry.
"f*ck your sword! Where's my goddamned axe!"
"We have no armor or helms!"
Naruto could only shake his head as they began to argue with one another until he saw their leader, Baron Finn step out of his hut, "ENOUGH!" He saw Naruto sitting atop the pile he made as he pointed directly at him, "It's obvious that damned fool is responsible for our missing weapons and such." Finn stomped his way to the pile. However before he could grab anything, Naruto spoke loud and clear for all to hear, "Before you try to take what I just claimed in the night, I have an offer from King Arthur to you, Baron Finn: Yield to his majesty and the just punishments you and your men will be dealt out appropriately. There's no need for bloodshed today."
Naruto had hoped that this little display would be enough to sway the Baron, but alas… sometimes people are too stupid to realize they've been outmaneuvered before they even knew it…
"Well, despite howgenerous…" Finn drooled out sarcastically, "… that offer is, but I'm afraid I see only one of you in front of us, while you're sitting on top of our weapons. Whereas there are thousands of my men, and no army of King Arthur in sight." Several Gaels had joined alongside the Baron with a confident smirk on their faces, believing that they had him beat, "So pray tell, what's to stop us from picking up our weapons and killing you?"
Naruto tilted his head side to side as he playfully went along with things, "You make good points, but I have but one thing to say to your words." He slowly stood up as he readied himself.
Baron Finn chuckled without humor as the situation was beginning to grate on his nerves, "And that would be?"
Naruto gave a toothy grin as he spoke, "Ἥλιος!"
The Divine Word spoke had taken effect as the fire engulfed the massive pile of armaments, melting them down as the light blinded the Gaels, while signaling Arturia with the incoming charge. They rode with swords and spears raised up in a 'U' shaped formation to block the Gaels from having any chance to retreat, all the while knowing that this battle would and should end without bloodshed.
Baron Finn was blinded for a moment by the now revealed mage's magic, but before he could gather any rage to respond in kind, his vision cleared with the sight of King Arthur and their cavalry charging towards them, ready to end their lives. Seeing as how he first rejected the offer; Finn could do only one thing, "WE SURRENDER! WE YIELD TO KING ARTHUR!" Finn held his hands high above his head, pleading for his life and the lives of his men, hoping that the offer was still up on the table.
Arturia heard his words, along with the gesture, seeing how things would go now she signaled for the other inner circle knights to halt their advance as they encircled the Gaels, while Naruto leapt off the smoldering pile of metal and leather beside her. Arturia pulled up in front of the Baron seeing that he was now kneeling before her, "King Arthur, I-I beg of you, please. Your generous offer, is it still something available to us? I only plead for the lives of my men and myself to avoid pointless bloodshed."
Arturia saw that the Gaels now looked to Naruto and herself in fear of what her response would be, "My offer is still for you to take. These are my terms for your surrender…"
-Several Days Later; In-construction Camelot; the King's Private Dining Hall-
The punishments and offers were carried out just as before with the Saxons after their first battle. Lesser offenders were handed supplies to set out on their way on their own or offered positions as workers in equipping her army. Greater offenders were sentenced to death by beheading with their bodies burned and officers buried. As for Baron Finn; being their leader, the man was taken into custody and sentenced to several years in prison in Londinium before he would be released back into the populace. The man did at least surrender on the behalf of their lives, and Arturia could respect that.
The resources they had available were handed over as boons for Arturia's mercy and generosity, to help bolster their forces. Nevertheless, the Gaels would no longer be a problem to them, having completely shut down that front on the campaign.
Now though it was lunch time as he prepared to fire up his new dish today for him and Arturia: roasted pork, cheese mashed potatoes and salted green beans.
Arturia opened the door with Periwinkle incoming beside her, all the while he nuzzled up against her leg prompting Arturia to make her way over to the cabinet where the lion's meat was kept at, "Let's see… Ah! Here we go." She pulled out a piece of cow's leg before closed the cabinet up and made her way over to the not in use fireplace; the only section large enough to accommodate Periwinkle's ever-growing size and appetite, "Here you go, Perinwikle. Enjoy." The lion eagerly dug into the cow leg to his heart's content.
"I doubt he'll ever get tired of that." Naruto spoke over his shoulder all the while preparing their lunch. Arturia recalled her brother's words from several days ago about their… 'relationship'…
"Naruto…" Arturia inquired.
The ninja glanced back to Arturia as kept going with their lunch, "Yes, my king?"
"Why did you choose to follow me on that day, when I drew forth Caliburn from the stone?" Even though she had asked that when they began to plan out their campaign, Kay's words could only make her wonder more so than before.
Whether or not Naruto could tell the difference between this time and the previous one, he wasn't sure, but he responded like he did the last, "It's like I said before on that day. I follow you, because I believe in your dream and the ideals you strive for. They resemble mine so much, and while I can't do anything to carry them out, I can help you do so instead."
Naruto didn't seem to fully understand the way Arturia put it before, and felt that she needed to clarify on the subject, "I mean as in; why me specifically?" She emphasized that word particularly, "Anyone could have held the same ideals and beliefs that I do. You do. Before you rejected it, Caliburn recognized you as one who could become the king."
Ah… so that's what she was getting at. This was what she was trying to understand: not a question of loyalty, but rather a personal question if there was something else behind his reasoning. Naruto placed the utensils down onto a cutting board before he turned to Arturia who was standing close to him as opposed to sitting down in her chair, "Oh, I see." He rubbed the back of his head before a mild blush ran up his cheeks that Arturia briefly caught before Naruto tried to fight it down, "I guess you could say… on that day when you took the sword. You… captivated me." The god rays had shined down upon her like an angel descending from heaven, "I saw… I saw someone that I could follow through and through no matter what she did. I saw a woman who had a beautiful dream. I saw… I saw someone that I… that I could create a bond with unlike any other…"
All the king could do was listen to his words, he praised her for being all of what he said. Was Kay truly playing with her on that day, or was he implying a part of the truth? She didn't know what to think. All she could do was admire how loyal Naruto was to her, since the beginning; pledging his loyalty to her not even knowing who she was but just by a sight. He cheeks were alit red, but why she did not know…
"I… I see." Arturia spoke softly before she made her way over to her chair, "Thank you. It helped me understand a bit more."
Naruto could only nod shyly before he returned to his work on their lunch. Kurama piped up over their mental link,"Boy, are you stupid."
"What the hell's that supposed to mean?"
"You didn't…? You know what, never mind. You're almost a century old. And you still don't understand things."
"Wait, you're not gonna tell me what I missed in that whole thing?"
"No, I'm not saying a word. I'm just going to wait until you finally see it, and she sees it too, since she too clearly doesn't understand it yet."
"Again, what's that supposed to mean? What're we supposed to see?"
He could hear Kurama's hand slap against his head,"I'll let you know when you finally figure it out, and hopefully she does too, so goodbye on the subject."
"Gee thanks, o' wise and sagely fox."
Later that night with lunch, dinner, training and planning all finished up with the last conversations being finished up, as the constructors were heading to bed after a hard days work, Naruto and Arturia returned to their respective buildings close to one another as Naruto was still unable to not stick close to Arturia. He sat atop the roof gazing up at the brightly lit sky, with the stars and nebulas if he recalled correctly painted the night like an artist with vision unlike any other.
All Naruto could do was think over what all had been said briefly with how he viewed Arturia, and wonder if things were even possible between them.
A voice came up over his thoughts "Naruto, is that you up there?" Naruto turned downwards to where he saw Lancelot stripped of his armor and wearing a training tunic, no doubt having held late session for the men and heading back to his quarters.
"Hey, Lancelot. Heading back to your bed for the evening?"
The Knight of the Lake, as he has been come to be known as with bits of his history with a Lake Fae known to the inner circle and a few of the men, nodded in affirmation, "Yes. Why are you up on the roof of your quarters?"
Naruto sighed as he wasn't sure why though, "I guess… maybe… I've just been thinking about some things lately, that's all."
"I see." Lancelot placed a hand under his chin before he spoke again, "If I may, I'd like to ask you something if you have the time to spare that is."
The ninja shrugged, not seeing the harm in it. The night, while something more of his environment, he preferred sleeping in it than during the day, "Sure, I've got plenty of time." Naruto jumped down to the ground in front of Lancelot and dusted himself off, "So, what'd you want to know?"
"Why do you follow the king?" Lancelot began, "You are a vampire. A Dead Apostle. A creature of the night and darkness that feeds on the helpless. Or rather you should yet you don't as I've noticed within the last year. The king should have struck you down upon seeing you, yet the king maintains that you are a retainer and Merlin's apprentice. Not just that, the king listens intently to your advice and strategies in battle. So, I must ask the question, why?"
Well, apparently this was the second time he'd be facing this question within a single day, "Well you see…" Naruto explained all of which he told Arturia on the day they met when she brought him into their inner circle and the recent question of today. Lancelot's expression remained thoughtful as he took everything in, but he also analyzed Naruto's own behaviour and body language, and it told him a great deal more about Naruto along with how he viewed things between himself and Arturia.
"…and that's really all there is to it."
"I see. Thank you, it's something that I've been wondering for a while now, but the answers are… unique, I should say." Lancelot explained.
Naruto nodded, "No problem. Besides, I enjoy it when people talk to me. Other than Arturia, not a lot of people do so, well except for you and the rest of the inner circle." The crickets began to chirp, signaling that it was getting very late, with sleep something they needed, "Well, I think it's best we head to bed and sleep. No telling what we'll be doing tomorrow."
"Agreed. Have a good night, my friend." Lancelot held his hand out for Naruto to take with the ninja responding in kind before he headed inside to get the rest he needed.
Lancelot, on the other hand, saw a great deal in the ninja's words, behavior and body language: Naruto was in love with Arturia…
The truth of reality, unfortunately, could never allow them to be with one another, "Why is it that fate is often too cruel, to those as kind as he, and those as pure such as she?" Lancelot spoke aloud to himself.
Perhaps there could be a way… maybe they could find a way. And if so… Lancelot could safely say; he would keep their secret.
-Elsewhere-
Somewhere else in Britain, Morgan le Fay had sent a familiar to speak with Gransurg Blackmore, whom now stood opposite of her.
The man's appearance sat on the fine line between intimidating and ridiculous, appearing to near six feet and one inch in height with a lithe build that almost bordered on skeletal. He lacked a true face, instead bearing a black and white featureless mask with no defined mouth and beady red eyes that evoked those of a raven. An outcropping hooked out from the top of this organic mask over his face like the beak of some bird of prey, all of it covered by long black hair that cascaded to just beneath his shoulder blades. A ragged black and purple tailcoat shaped in the style of raven's feathers clad his form; beneath this, he wore a fluffy white dress shirt that seemed to be made of goose down and matching pants. His hands and feet perplexed Morgan, concealed in gloves and boots of a similar design to his mask.
Most perplexing of all were the two large black wings that sprouted from his tail bone that peaked out from beneath the tails of his coat.
"You contacted me, Fae. So… why should I help you in regards to your request?" Gransurg Blackmore. Number 16 of the Dead Apostle Ancestors, also known as the 'Moon devourer', stood opposite of Morgan who held an amused smirk in front of the vampire. His tone was a mix of aloof disinterest but it hid a fervour for information. Now… one person normally wouldn't do something such as that lest they risk getting killed… however, Morgan was not a normal person. For all Blackmore knew, she likely had something up her sleeve to respond if he decided to try and kill her, and it wouldn't be pleasant.
Morgan could only laugh at the vampire's words, "Well let's see… there are three points that I believe you will have to concede to after I've stated them."
Despite the mask he wore to conceal his face, Morgan could tell he arched a brow in curiosity, "Oh?"
"Despite your distaste for her, I am aware that you know Crimson Moon created Altrouge Brunestud, you would know well enough how the process can be replicated." Morgan held up a single finger before she continued, "One: You follow Brunestud even in death." A second finger rose up, "Two: You dislike Atrouge, bordering on hated to the point where you'd try to kill her despite how much power she has over you and Merem." And the third finger rose up, "And three: If you help me, it will make Naruto miserable to no end when it all comes together as everything, he has built with my sister comes crumbling down in flames and misery."
She knew well enough about Naruto now. He was Number 7 of the Dead Apostle Ancestors, as he was sired by Brunestud just like Merem & Blackmore, but unlike those two he hated the three of them having dug up enough info on the ninja, despite how limited it was. And given how Dead Apostles were unable to have children in the traditional way, along with Altrouge being created for the sole purpose of being a vessel for the Crimson Moon but led to the possibility of such a thing occurring… Well, safe to say she had an avenue to craft her weapon…
Blackmore seemed to give in as he chuckled, "Hehehe… so it's true. You don't even need magics to get people to do what you want. Your words are like sweet nectar to the ears." Blackmore turned around to leave their secret rendezvous, "I will acquire for you the secrets of Altrouge's creation and birth. Have no fear. Whatever it is you're planning…" He turned around to where Morgan could just imagine, that without that mask... Blackmore was sending her a sickening smile that took pleasure in the pain she would bring, "…so long as it brings Uzumaki misery, I would gladly help you."
Morgan gave a dark smirk in response, "Oh, I plan on it. You can rest assured on that count." Blackmore disappeared with the blackened Fae chalking up another component to her weapon's creation.
Slowly but surely… it was all coming together…
With this business concluded, Morgan vanished into her trademark black mist back to the bowels of Fortress Vortigern, where her 'contributions' were kept chained up. The viscous howls and screams permeated the air, as the Fae walked past the cells holding the sources back: Ghouls. Morgan had Vortigern hand over his most feeble and weak soldiers to her, as she used her blackening magics and blood of vampires merge to create these rabid animals. Their eyes were black as the night, teeth filed to fangs, nails sharp as claws, and skin as pale as the moon.
They were effectively fodder to throw at her sister's army when it finally came to it. She knew Arturia would want to deal with the lesser threats before turning her attention north to get rid of Vortigern. In which she would focus her full attention in freeing the north of the pitiful tyrant, "I wonder how things will go, once you arrive little sister?" Morgan was now facing a cell where a 7' tall, headless corpse of a knight laid on a table with vines and grass surrounding it. She entered the cell as she strode over to a nearby shelf where the head laid on its side. Morgan took the head as she used her magics to reattach it to the corpse with the vines reaching out to grasp it.
Seconds later, the head's eyes shot open with the knight gasping for air, and Morgan caressing it, "Shh... there, there... my Green Knight. You have a very important role in time. And I plan on you fulfilling it, even if you're just a disposable pawn in the end." The now dubbed, 'Green Knight' merely nodded wordlessly like an obedient dog to its master, all the while the howls of the chained Ghouls continued to rage through the night.
Codex Apostletos
Taken from the notes of L. Barthomeloi
Subject: Gransurg Blackmore
Seeing as I have been writing so much about Uzumaki, I feel that it is appropriate to speak of the Apostle with whom he shares a blood feud, the 'Moon Devourer' and #16 amongst the Ancestors.
Born in what would one day become Austria, Blackmore was a relatively average Magus for his time, though still likely superior to the majority of most modern day first rate Magi. His study of Magecraft focused primarily on the subject of familiar Magecraft relating to birds and the like. Familiar Magecraft has rather fallen out of favor in the last 2000 years with only parasitic old worms like Zolgen Makiri still besotted by it but something about the Magecraft must have been special due to attracting the interest of Brunestud of the Crimson Moon.
He was a staunch follower of Brunestud after he became an Apostle and even follows his teachings in death, though this has caused quite a bit of friction between him and the other Ancestors, none more so than Uzumaki. Other that the Incident occurring in 1666, Blackmore and Uzumaki have been reported clashing no less than 73 confirmed times over the years with likely more that went unobserved. A conservative thought amongst the Aristocracy believe that the animosity between the two is linked to Brunestud, I disagree. I believe that Blackmore had something to do with the [REDACTED] of [REDACTED] and said connection is a sore spot for [REDACTED] and by proxy for Uzumaki.
The one time I saw this mentioned was during my first encounter with Uzumaki some fifteen years ago in the town of Aylesbury, England. But during that time we all had more important matters on our minds...
And done!
Not as long as the previous chapter, but this chapter's purpose was meant to progress the relationship between Naruto & Arturia along with some other bits of character development of the others, introducing new characters, etc. Overall, just progression of the characters and less battle scenes.
Now some of you will protest and say that things seemed forced but let me point this out to you guys.
It's been over a year since the last chapter.
That's right, it's been 15 months since Lancelot joined and I did say that there would be a timeskip between this chapter and the last one.
Also, once again, I've posted up a NarutoxFate challenge up on my profile. A vast majority of the details are already in the challenge so be sure to read through it. If you want to take it up, or know someone that will want to write it, PM me, or leave a review. We can discuss other details if you PM me. Honestly, I'd love to see the challenge come to life as it was an idea that I had along with this one, but chose to pursue this one instead, not because it was better, but because I wanted to do so.
As for the petitions, come guys, be supportive and help out. I'd like to know who all would like to help construct them. Having these series:Fate/Camelot&Fate/stay night: Fateanime series' (not anime film trilogies like Heaven's Feel) done by Ufotable would be amazing with their god tier animation and complete things with the main timeline of the Fate franchise.
The next chapter will have another timeskip with a roller coaster of events planned out, and some thing that I'm sure you all have been eagerly awaiting for. Swords, Giants, Ghouls, Faeries, oh my... I think everyone will enjoy especially in the end ;)
Anyways, continue to read, review, favorite and follow this story, as well as the others on my profile.
And please, when you review, let me know what you guys liked and/or disliked about the new chapter, otherwise I can't better myself when it comes to writing future content.
Until next time ;)
Chapter 6: The Rise of Camelot Part V
Chapter Text
Another chapter! Yeah! Let's see if we can push the review count to 200 this time!
Pretty please…?
I'm beginning to wonder if anyone even reads through my AN's… I mean really… no one seems to respond to them or even strike up a conversation with me about the subjects brought up… Well except for one person to which I'm glad for. Another issue is that some of you raise issues and questions that would be answered if you simply chose to read the AN at the end.
Well, anyways, petitions are still gonna happen, but I need help with putting them together.
There was something that I was confused on, being the Age of Fairies within the TYPE-MOON lore. It says that it happened, but never when, only that it's already over. Well, I figured that the Arthurian Legend era was when that occurred, due to how Fae's were more prominent within this time period given that Vivian gifted Arturia with Excalibur & Avalon, Lancelot was raised in his early years by a Fae, and Morgan herself is a Fae, or at least of Fae heritage that she's embraced to obtain more power.
Anyways, let's continue on with the story! Now, just to let you guys know, it's been a little over two years since the last chapter. Keep that in mind as you're reading.
Chapter 5: The Rise of Camelot Part V
-September, 471 AD-
It had been two years since Arturia bloodless victory over the Gaels, with word spreading across the lands of her victory coupled with the ongoing construction of Camelot. The people rejoiced at their king's progress as she cut a swath across the lands, that rightfully belonged to them; Arturia was becoming known as the 'Perfect King' in due to her success. More nobles and lords committed to the army & construction with coin and trade beginning to flow through the city. The markets had been set up where animals, food, armor, all manner of goods where sold. However, the city guard thoroughly checked the sellers along with their products, as per the policy set up since the failed assassination of the king.
Housing for the people was constructed for the families that lost their homes to foreigners or those fleeing the north from Vortigern… at least those that survived. Ever since the few thousand soldiers that fled down south three years ago, the tyrant had begun to crack down on his people and army; all the while the Saxons began crossing up north to stay safe from Arturia's justice. Well… those that were smart at least. There were still many foolish Saxons who decided to try and hold onto their claims in her lands, but that would be cut down quickly.
As for the walls, they stood high enough to provide cover to the buildings, but they only stretched to that of two stories tall. Either way, guard patrols were set up at battlements along with some barracks that were situated in tents near the steps leading to the top. Soon enough, the masons would work with the carpenters guild to construct a more permanent lodging for them.
A few farmers moved into the city as they began hard at work with planting and cultivating their crops, along with breeding the animals all meant for providing food for the capital.
Naruto stood atop a tower that would be part of the palace, that was progressing along nicely. He took in the sight of the builders, the people, the animals, all of the business that was being conducted in the day, "It's all coming together."
'You don't seem unhappy that she left you behind a few days ago while she took the army off to battle.'Kurama chimed in.
Naruto however shook his head,'Not at all. She left me and Ector in charge of the place until she returns.'
'Ector and I.'Kurama corrected tersely, something that made Naruto grit his teeth in annoyance at the Beast's pedantic-ness. Six months ago, Merlin had begun also trying to tutor Naruto on proper speaking and writing etiquette for the inevitable times that he would have to stand in Merlin's place in the court. It had bored Naruto to tears, and he tended to focus on Magecraft during that time, Kurama, on the other hand, had paid attention and made it his mission to correct Naruto's turn of speech at random times. Never let it be said that he did it for altruistic motives, he just did it to piss Naruto off.
The barbarians had been making hit 'n' run raids on some settlement, though they were driven off by Camelot forces, with the civilians escorted back to the capital to where they could rebuild their lives of what once was lost to the foreigners. Naruto's spies tracked them back to their main holdout: The Woods of Celidon.
A place that was thought little of, truth be told. No one ventured out there due to how dense the woods were, along with the terrain that provided a natural barrier to outsiders. Although Naruto had sent a Shadow Clone out to scout the area for weak spots along with making sure that they would have advantageous points for them to take advantage of.
When they began to make the strategy, Arturia actually requested that he stay behind with her foster father, Ector. At first, he would have inquired why however he then recalled that Ector had taken an arrow to his leg in a previous barbarian suppression raid. Naruto understood that Arturia was worried for her family, as was Kay to which stayed in Camelot with Ector, acting as the 'regents' for the time being.
There was one thing that Naruto found to be very odd with Arturia though; despite three years having passed since drawing Caliburn, and she should have the body of a twenty-one-year-old… yet she still retained her look from that day. Naruto had asked Merlin what the deal was, with his teacher explaining to him that it was Caliburn itself that had stopped her ageing. Had she continued to do so, then her status as a woman would be all that much easier to decipher. Thus it was best for her to remain at the age of eighteen to masquerade as a young man instead.
Coincidentally it bolstered the morale of the British people with the idea that their King would never change and would always be there for them, leading to some dubbing her with the title 'Once and Future King'.
Naruto breathed in the fresh air of the capital as he sat down, relaxed knowing that Arturia would be returning within the day. In a way… this view reminded him of the one back home on the Hokage monument, "I'm gonna be sure to remember this for all time." He ingrained the image of Camelot as it was, for when the city was completed, he would ingrain that image into his memory to see how far it had come. The exterior Bounded Field was triggered, no doubt signaling Arturia's return from the battle. Naruto Reinforced his eyesight to see that it was true indeed, as Arturia road Llamrei at the head of the returning army, the ninja gazed down to see a wagon filled with hay beneath him with the idea of landing on it.
Naruto stood up before he jumped off the tower, down into the hay where he landed softly for the most part that is since gravity was still a pain in the ass. He leapt out to make his way to the central gate where the people began to congregate, they celebrated their king's return.
"God bless you, your majesty!" Coursed a congregation of children, their cherubesque voices coming over the general burble of cheers. Their parents watching on happily.
"The Perfect King returns!" The city guard chanted from the battlements, happy to see the conquering army returning safe and sound.
Arturia kept up a small smile as she nodded to her sides where the people rejoiced, with the inner circle knights right behind her. Bedivere, Gawain, Kay, Lancelot, Gaheris and Gareth, the last of whom had her visor down to help conceal her gender. Although they now had two more in their ranks: Percival & Palamedes.
Shorter than most of his fellow knights at 5"8' but no less striking, Percival had impressive features that one would associate with an idealized knight with brown eyes that matched his swept-back brown hair. A few stray strands hung around his left eye. Of all the knights Naruto had ever seen, Percival had the most stylish armor with an armored red and silver coat that was woven into plates of steel, the plates themselves having intricate red filigree scrawling across its surface. Like most knights, he had a broadsword at his side, though this one had a corded handle and the blade itself was darker than most.
Next to him was Palamedes. This one was of a similar height and build as Gawain but with more rigid features around the face and short hair of an auburn hue. His armor was sparse compared with his peers, only covering the critical areas of his chest, shoulders and legs. All of which were decked in a light looking though still intimidating greenish steel with golden relief present. He wore a brown cape on his back fitted with an array of straps and belts meant to hold a weapon, be it spear or sword.
They had joined a few weeks ago under Ector's recommendation due to their skill in battle and trustworthiness to keep the secrets they held within the inner circle. Both of the knights proved to be surprised at first upon Arturia's real gender shown to them, but they were thrilled to serve such a king; their loyalty was shown to be unwavering in that instant. As for their disposition to Naruto… Percival was too starstruck by the king to really pay attention to Naruto all that much, but he acknowledged him as a comrade who served Arturia. While Palamedes saw Naruto in a kindhearted way, he thought he rather childish when it came down to life or death situations, although it always just a case where they wound up living, either way, all due to the ninja vampire.
Naruto approached Arturia walking alongside Llamrei on the right to their quarters near the incomplete palace, "How did your victory go, my king?"
Arturia looked down to answer, "The battle was fierce, but we prevailed, nonetheless. Our casualties were low this time compared to others; however we will still need to prepare their bodies for burial, as will their personal effects be given to their families." At the back end of their march through the city, horses were drawing carts full of their fallen soldiers, wrapped up in shrouds to prevent the flies from getting into them to provide dignity for when they would be buried later in the capital.
Naruto nodded as he continued, "I understand, my king." He pulled out a small scroll from his pocket and looked it over before speaking again, "By the way, my spies managed to locate a Saxon held castle up in the contested lands." Arturia's eyes widened while her grip on Llamrei's reigns tightened up at the mere mention of the Saxons, given that her uncle allowed them free reign.
"Where are they encamped at?"
Naruto briefly glanced back to the parchment to list off the location where the Saxons were tracked back to, "Castle Guinnion in fact. They have a couple of guard posts, though I can take care of that problem. Thing is, we'll have to sneak in during the night to open the gates for us to get inside." He frowned at the cause, "That place was built to last through a siege, and it would take us several days to break through." He looked back up to Arturia as they arrived at the stables where they dismounted their steeds, "Plus, we'll need to replenish our ranks if we're to take Vortigern's fortress." He briefly glanced around them to make sure civilians were out of earshot as he brought a hand to whisper into her ear, "There have been rumors of people disappearing near the fortress, and no one seems to be able to know how or why. I'll explain later when we have a war meeting."
Arturia could sense the unease in his voice. Whatever it was that he wanted to tell her about these disappearances, there was more to it than just something only trying to surround them, "I understand." They turned to head towards their quarters where Ector awaited to greet their return, "Sir Ector, how fares Camelot's construction and safety?"
"It fares well, my king." Ector replied as he gestured for them to walk behind him, "Construction on the capital has been progressing far faster than we expected, the majority of it due to your reputation inspiring the bannermen to commit more coin and supplies." The treasury was set up to help with the funding along with financial intake to distribute the necessary amount to the city's construction along with businesses within the busy marketplace.
Ector walked on Arturia's left while Naruto was on her right, hood up with the inner circle knights trailing behind them. However, Arturia noticed that Ector's stride was… hindered by the injury he received. She noted how he took an extra bit of stress in his leg to keep pace with them, "As for security, the guardsmen have been vigilant, checking through what comes and goes through the gates. Some of the merchants aren't too happy about it, but after we explained the attempted assassination years prior, they understood well enough then."
"That is good to hear, Sir Ector." Arturia nodded as they finally made their way to the war council building.
The inner circle now stood around the table as Naruto pulled out a map of the region where the castle he spoke of, "Now, I know your majesty, and the rest of you are no doubt tired after having come home from battle. But I feel that we should go ahead and lay things out now while they're still fresh in our minds." Naruto pulled out a dagger and jabbed it into the map as he continued, "The Saxons have Castle Guinnion under their control in the contested lands. While their numbers are within a few 2000 or so, they have a few scout tents to send alarms, as they can raise it to put the castle into a full defensive. If that happens, we'll be laying siege to the castle for days as we lose men to their fortifications." Naruto laid that out clear for them all to understand.
He looked to Arturia who was now contemplating a way for them to take the castle while keeping their casualties down, "Can we sneak into the castle?" The king asked in curiosity, knowing that such a thing could be possible, but given the size of the castle, they would need at the very least six very skilled men to do. And Naruto could only be in four places at once. She knew that Lancelot's skill would be invaluable for them to infiltrate, however… that left the last spot open. The rest of the inner circle were not very adept at this type of play.
"We can…" Naruto began as he scratched the back of his head, "…but I'll need some help in that regard. Plus, we need to go out and find some more recruits after the last battle, I'm sure of that."
Arturia hummed at his words, "I see then. And what of the 'private' matter you mentioned for us?" The other knights' attention peaked with what was said.
Naruto gained a look of slight dread as he unfolded a parchment, no doubt from one of his spies, "Yeah… people up in Vortigern's lands have been disappearing for a while now. At first, they were few and far between. But now they're happening a few every month, and no one knows where they're at." Naruto saw that the knights were paying close attention as they all were in silent dread, "The only real evidence that they've gone missing are broken down doors, and open windows with a few having small patches of blood where they once were before being taken." He could see Arturia clenching her gauntleted fists at the news, no doubt anger swelling inside of her with how no one was doing anything about this mess, "My king. If we're to take Vortigern on, we'll need more than just the 10,000 we have right now. I'm not sure what's going on up there, but it can't be anything good."
Arturia no longer clenched her fist, hearing Naruto's words to hold off from assaulting Vortigern at the moment. She desperately wanted to liberate the people under his rule, however Naruto argued that they needed to deal with the enemies they had that were still on her lands, along with those that would make a difficult time for them while taking the north. The contested territories were currently a border between her and Vortigern with either the Saxons raiding or the opposing armies just waiting for the other to completely cross over and begin the final battle to decide Britain's fate. She turned to face Naruto to speak, "I understand. Even though we have the numbers I originally believed was necessary to assault Vortigern, recent events have shown me otherwise."
She turned back to gaze at each of the inner circle knights, "Until we are fully prepared to assault the north, with cutting Vortigern off from his Saxon allies, along with driving off any other enemies we have within our lands, as well as our men in high morale, I will not lead an assault to the north. I will not risk your lives, or the lives of our men so recklessly until we know we can lay siege." Each of the knights had small smile grace their features at Arturia's words concern for them. Whatever it was that was going on up north, it had them on edge now though. For better or worse, this would have to be a temporary thing.
"Everyone is dismissed, please take the time to rest and recuperate from our days of travel and battle." Arturia gave her command out to her knights. While it may have appeared as one, honestly they were words of concern and caring for the ones under her watch as the king.
Everyone crossed their arms as they bowed slightly to salute.
"YES, MY KING."
And with that, everyone left the war council building to resume their duties and rest before the next battle, while Arturia headed off to her quarters to begin writing out to the nobles loyal to her to send more support in regards to a siege to the north. Naruto followed behind her for he one last thing to say to her, not due to being a matter for her as the king, but instead, something that could potentially lift her spirits a bit, "Off to work getting word out for more men needed, my king?"
Arturia nodded in affirmation, "Indeed. You're welcome to come help if you would like to." Giving him a small smile. Arturia always enjoyed Naruto's company alongside her, although ever since her father and brother gave her their 'blessing', she didn't know how to take that in all honesty and decided to keep it in the back of her mind.
"My king, you're blushing."
Arturia blinked as Naruto gave her an inquisitive look. She shook her head to fight the blush down all the while trying to make up an excuse for that blunder, leave it to a Vampire to see blood flowing to her cheeks. "M-My apologies. I was simply thinking back on something that was… well, it doesn't matter at the moment." Naruto wasn't sure what exactly she was referring to, to get that kind of reaction from her. Although he wouldn't deny that she did look a little cute…
'NO! NO! NO! DON'T HAVE DIRTY THOUGHTS ABOUT YOUR KING YOU IDIOT!'
'Ugh… seriously, that's what you're thinking about right now? It's not even dirty to begin with, so why deny the obvious?'
'f*ck off!'
'Whatever. Wake me when something between you two actually happens. Then I'll start up the speech I've got prepared.'
Naruto slapped his cheeks a bit to focus back on reality with Arturia looking at him somewhat perplexed and worried for her retainer, "Naruto. Are you alright?"
Arturia saw that her friend and retainer was in one of his 'facial changes', usually when it seemed that he was having some sort of internal conversation with himself. Naruto gave a weak smile as he responded, "Yeah, sorry about that. My conscience is just being stupid, that's all my king." He chuckled as he could feel Kurama's snort at the remark. He needed to get his mind off these things and onto something else like recruitment, "Anyways… uh… I should… probably do something right now, like maybe figuring out we're gonna take that castle." Naruto blushed in embarrassment at foolish he may have appeared, though it was also for another reason…
Arturia wasn't sure what brought that about, with a small frown briefly showing before she patted Naruto's shoulder as she smiled again, "I understand then, Naruto. I hope your recruitment goes well for the coming battle."
Naruto nodded, "So do I, my king. So do I."
Naruto turned about to head to the stables as Arturia continued on to her quarters. Truthfully, she was slightly disappointed by that little chat. She always enjoyed Naruto's prescience as it brought joy to her, along with bringing a bit more energy to Periwinkle, who now had grown once again in two years. Said lion was actually making his way through the parting soldiers as he looked up to his 'mother' that was the king, "Hello, Periwinkle. How was everything while I was away?"
Periwinkle chuffed as he stood up on his hind legs to give Arturia a hug that enveloped her, "Ohh… thank you, Periwinkle, but right now I need to get back to my quarters." The lion seemed to understand her as he let go to turn around back to their residence, all the while the lion looked around him in what appeared to be curiosity, "I'm sorry, but Naruto won't be joining us today." Periwinkle let a low rumble that sounded rather sad to her ears; he was fond of Naruto whenever he was around as the lion always seemed at peace when she and the vampire together.
Arturia tried to think of why the lack of the blonde Apostle was making her feel a sense of longing because no matter how hard she tried, she could not understand this phantom feeling dancing within her heart.
Naruto was making his way back to the stables to take Dun out to find some men that wanted to serve, along with at least two men that had skill in infiltration. He went through the inner circle members who did at least have expertise in that regard, or talent that could adapt quickly in a situation like that. Each of them had a skill or ability that made them excel above the others, although Lancelot's own capability would be of great benefit in the infiltration. Thing is though, Naruto needed an archer with high skills with them. And sad to say, none of the knights was as good as he needed them to be.
"Naruto…" Said man turned to his side to see Lancelot tending to his horse, "…where are you heading out to?"
Lancelot had developed well during his time in Camelot, his jaw had become broader and stronger than it was before. Losing the boyish charm and shifting towards a more handsome man. He had ditched the dark purple armour for a nigh identical set in crisp white, golden knee pads and edging surrounding the plates. Blue tassels with golden cross-shaped ends dangled from the shoulders to his knees as some sort of avant-garde cape...Naruto kind of liked it
"Recruiting, actually." Naruto whistled for Dun to come forward, with the proud white stallion marching towards him, "I'm heading over to the contested lands." Naruto began to get the saddle up on the horse as he continued on, "With luck, there's bound to be a few men that'll join up with us. Taverns are always full of Hedge Knights and those with more...shadowy skillsets" Naruto finished getting ready as he mounted Dun with a stableman handing him a pack for the trip, "I'll be gone perhaps a day or two. The king's writing letters to nobles for more support to get ready for the push to the north."
Lancelot nodded as he looked around briefly before he pulled an infantryman aside, "Have the king notified that I will be with the Court Magus Apprentice. We are heading out for recruitment and should be back within two days; possibly with new men ready to join the campaign." The man nodded while the stableman handed him a travel pack just as he did Naruto. Lancelot saddled up atop his horse and looked to Naruto for what comes next; gesturing for him to take the lead, "Shall we?"
Naruto saw that he now had some help and didn't mind it, "Alrighty then, let's head out."
-One Day Later; in the Contested Lands-
The galloping of horse hoofs echoed through the air as Naruto & Lancelot came up to a large tavern where travellers resided to rest or drink their fill.
"Looks like this'll be our first stop, my good friend." Naruto reigned in Dun over to the railing to tie him off to as Lancelot did the same, "Let's see just who wants to come with us."
The duo dismounted their stallions with Lancelot beside him, "Are you sure we should be looking here of all places?" While he did not doubt Naruto's eye for scouting people with skills, in his belief that the vampire was at least several decades old since they no longer aged when turned, he wasn't entirely sure about the tavern in front of them would hold men with skill in battle.
Naruto waved it off, "Sure we will, I mean there's bound to be a few guys that made their way across the lands we're heading into to take the castle. Not just that, you'll find a few guys with skills we're looking for traveling on the road on their own." Naruto could tell Lancelot didn't seem convinced but reluctantly came along with him as they opened the door to step inside the tavern. "Trust me on this, I've been doing this long before you were a gleam in your father's eye~!" he japed goodheartedly, ducking under Lancelot's gauntleted hand that tried to swat at his head.
It was lively with men eating, drinking, talking with one another just as one would expect. Though the question whom they preferred on the throne roused in Lancelot's mind, "I think now the question of which king they believe in will be put to the test."
Naruto hummed in response, sensing that this would take time so he opted for an alternative that may or may not earn them the ire of every man in the tavern, "You uh… might want to keep the door open just in case we need to make a quick escape."
Lancelot could only raise a brow at what sort of unorthodox method the mage apprentice had up his sleeve but complied, nonetheless. Naruto stepped forward and raise his arms in mock joy as he shouted out his next words, "GOD SAVE KING VORTIGERN!"
Well… the desired effect occurred when every man in the tavern suddenly stopped what they were doing as they all turned to the duo with heavy glares. The bartender took an open bottle that was still pretty full back from the bar and ducked underneath it, sensing that things were heading south. The men drew their weapons as they rose from their seats with some even still holding their drinks and food in hand.
Naruto chuckled nervously as he spoke to Lancelot, "Yup. We're in the right place, alright." The men took a step forward as the two Pendragon retainers quickly opened the door just as food and goblets came flying through the air, along with a few daggers that were jammed into the thick wooden door. Naruto held the door handle with his monster strength while Lancelot was on the other side of the wall breathing heavily. He looked at Naruto with an expression of worry for his friends' sanity, though Naruto appeared quite sane, "Oh yeah, we've got loyalists here."
Next thing they knew, an arrow suddenly shot halfway through the door that came within an inch of Naruto's face, "Wow…" He looked to Lancelot as he chuckled nervously, "…and I think we found our archer for the raid."
After clearing things up that they were here on recruitment for King Arthur, not Vortigern, whom every man apparently hated based on how they reacted when Naruto shouted before, they received quite a few men that were willing to follow them back to Camelot to sign up in the army.
But then there was the man that had shot the arrow through the door that nearly skewered Naruto's face. As it turns out, the young man approached himself and Lancelot after many of the others had gone back to their drinking & eating, leaving them alone with the very skilled archer.
The somewhat morose young man had long red hair that hung loosely around his face and shoulders in flowing crimson waves. His features were feminine with a small nose and thin eyebrows, and Naruto could not get a clear look at his eyes for he kept them closed for some unknown reason. Even though his face had no wrinkle from age or stress, he still managed to convey a feeling of sadness from his demeanor alone. A full bodysuit adorned with multiple interlocked pieces of curved steel served as his attire with the only unarmored sections being found at the top of his legs and joints to aid in movement.
Slung over the shoulders was a predominantly white cape with gold threading at the hem and a white-furred collar. For armored, the redhead wore a straight sword sheathed at his left hip which oddly lacked any kind of guard, but his primary weapon was slung over his shoulders. Naruto looked askance at it, debating on calling it a weapon was accurate. It was a silver bow with no less than six bowstrings and prongs along the main body at uniform intervals. A sizeable rounded guard protected the grip... all in all; it looked more like some instrument rather than a weapon.
Yet despite his appearance, both Pendragon retainers could see that he was extremely skilled with the bow as Naruto immediately asked him, "So what's your name, bullseye?"
The man merely raised an eyelid slightly, likely the only thing Naruto could equate to mild surprise. He placed a hand over his chest as he bowed his head slightly, "My name is Tristan, good sir."
Lancelot could tell that by clothing that he was of nobility, "You are a knight of another land, are you not?"
Tristan sighed as he took a seat across from the duo, "You are correct. I am… was a knight under King Mark of Cornwall. However, … I was forced to leave the royal court under… less than desirable circ*mstances." He shook his head at the memory. Tristan fell in love with a woman named Iseult. No, he was made to fall in love. It was a love made to be by means of an aphrodisiac; yet nevertheless, it was the first love Tristan, ever experienced, one worthy for him to devote his life for.
The tragedy probably lay in the fact that Iseult was the woman whom his king loved and vowed to marry. Before long, thanks to the admonition of his king's courtiers who envied Tristan, the archer was inevitably forced to leave the court.
Thus, he set out to find something new to devote his life towards, "Now I find myself searching for something new to devote my life to. I had heard of the tyranny of Vortigern in the north, while your King Arthur fights to depose him, as he brings stability and happiness to the lands he owns." Tristan opened his newly revealed brown-colored eyes to stare intently into Naruto & Lancelot's own, "So I ask thee both… is King Arthur, a man that one can devote one self's life towards serving in happiness?"
Quite the profound question if one were merely just a member of Arturia's army. However, Tristan sat in front of two of her most faithful retainers, members of her inner circle that put their lives on the line for their king. Lancelot was about to respond, but Naruto beat him to the punch, "Absolutely! King Arthur is a king unlike any other. Arthur will not ask you to do something he would not do. The king cares for the people and the lands, to free them from that tyrant bastard Vortigern. The king is someone that we… that I've devoted my life…" Naruto corrected himself with Lancelot with him, as his defense of Arturia was getting the better of him, "…our lives to serving. And we don't regret it one damn bit."
Lancelot gave a small chuckle as he smirked at Naruto's answer. The vampire's own affection for Arturia shined through in that answer, while still keeping her gender hidden when he referred to her as 'the king'. He looked to Tristan in front of them as the archer's eyes were widened slightly. Most likely surprised to see such devotion to a king whose name and deeds spread through the lands.
Tristan most likely had heard these things from his travels, and merely wanted proof of loyalty before committing himself to their cause. Lancelot spoke next as Naruto's enthusiasm calmed down, "What my friend speaks of is true. I hail from Britannia across the seas from my father, King Ban. At first, I did not believe in the King of Knights, but upon seeing the king charge fearlessly into battle against the enemy as I arrived unprepared for an ambush… whatever disbelief I had of the king was swept away in an instant."
Tristan closed his eyes as he dipped his head down slightly; most likely pondering their answers to his question. Before long, Tristan looked back up to the two of them with a response of his own, "I see… very well then. I will serve King Arthur, if you will have me alongside you."
Both retainers smiled that they had another knight of great skill and character… at least they assumed him to be based upon his question… within their company. Naruto, however, leaned on the table as he needed to know one crucial thing, "Glad to have you aboard, Tristan. Now, I've got a question for you: How experienced are you in infiltrating a castle?"
Tristan raised a brow at that, "Intimately." He replied casually as if being asked about the weather.
-Morgan le Fay's Lair-
Morgan laid on her side as she gazed down at the notes Blackmore gave to her concerning Altrouge's creation. The Crimson Moon certainly outdid himself with his work on her; to be used as a potential vessel if the need ever came to transfer his consciousness and essence into her body, however, Zelretch put that plan down quite severely. Though such an observation had not won her many points from the raven themed Ancestor who had stormed off ranting about "The Dark Six!"
True Ancestors were predisposed to being male due to Brunestud's gender, so the idea of creating a new being outside of the constraints put in place by Gaia took some effort. The Ultimate One of the Moon had taken the blood of a male True Ancestor and performed Marble Phantasm upon it to retrofit the existing cells into the male Gamete while doing the same with the blood of a Dead Apostle to create an Egg. The resulting Zygote was placed within the body of a third party who was kept close to Brunestud so his power could quicken the process.
Nevertheless, this was undoubted to help her with the framework of creating her weapon to send into Camelot. As Odysseus once did in Troy, she would create her own Trojan Horse to bring about Arturia's end. She turned to the Scrying Orb situated next to her as she watched her little sister prepare to take the castle the Saxons were currently located in. Morgan gazed at the sword on her hip, seeing that Caliburn's magics were an aid to hide her gender to hold the throne as the king, "Perhaps I should finally dispose of that little annoyance after she's finished up."
-Outside the Castle Guinnion; Several Days Later-
The sound of ruffling bushes came about as Naruto stepped out with Lancelot & Tristan behind him. They now stood at the wall of the castle where the Saxons had no guards. The fools…
Naruto looked to Tristan as he readied his bow, "All set?" One would be very worried of a bowman firing off something with their eyes seemingly close. However, Tristan was not your regular archer; far from it in fact. He tied off a rope that had been reinforced by Naruto's Magecraft to the steel tipped arrow to allow them to scale the walls efficiently.
Tristan took aim before he loosened the arrow where it struck its mark perfectly near the top of the wall. Lancelot pulled on the rope to judge how it held; sensing that it would take their weight, the knights scaled up the wall one at a time while Naruto merely walked up the side like he would the ground. Lancelot had grown accustomed to Naruto's unique… abilities over the years, though he could sense Tristan's eyes widen at the sight but said nothing on the matter given their current task at hand.
The trio of castle invaders made their way to the top where they ducked into a spot that kept them hidden from any guards that could see them. Naruto pulled out a map of the castle with a few 'X's marked on them. "Alright so, we need to get the main gates open for our forces to enter the place. Problem is, we also need to lock down the armory in case they manage to raise the alarm. I doubt they'll get the chance, but better safe than sorry. Next, we need to head into the central chambers where the chieftain is situated at. We'll catch the bastard in his sleep and bring out to have him surrender before things get too bloody."
Naruto looked to his partners as they nodded in agreement with the assessment. He looked to Lancelot first as he explained what his task would be, "Lancelot; you and one of my Shadow Clones will head down to the armory to secure it." He finished before turning to Tristan, "Tristan; you and another of my Shadow Clones will go secure the main gates. Your bow is better suited out here than the enclosed hallways to take out any enemies that spot us quickly."
Both knights nodded as Naruto created three Shadow Clones for them to split up into three teams of two. Tristan however brought up his own question, "What about you? Where will you and your third double headed off to?"
"We'll head to find the chieftains…" Naruto explained, "…with luck, they'll be smart and order their men to surrender. Although prior experience tells me that they won't do it very easily." He recalled the first battle that the last standing chieftain refused to surrender to Arturia; most likely out of spite to her, but also for his own pride in battle.
"Alright, men. Let's get to it and bring victory to the king."
The infiltrators nodded as they split up to their objectives.
Outside the castle walls, Arturia was at the ready when she mounted Llamrei with the rest of the inner circle beside her, and her army at the ready to move into the castle once Naruto fired off a mana surge for her to see. Bedivere was keeping an eye on the top of the walls where he spotted a few Saxons guards with torches, "It seems they're already at work getting the defences down." Despite the darkness of the night, the moonlight shone down brightly with no clouds in the sky to blot it out.
Arturia saw that a few guards were brought down either by arrows or Naruto's speed with his kunai, "They may have already secured the main gates."
"If that's the case…" Gaheris spoke up, "…then, why haven't they given the signal yet?" In his mind, if they had control of the gates, then they would already have the advantage of the battle.
Kay, however, shook his head, "They still need to secure the armory and their leader."
"Have faith in the plan, Gaheris," Arturia said to ease things up for their forces. They would need to be patient as well as collected to prevail tonight.
A pair of Saxons stood guard in the hallway with the armory entrance to their side, along with torches illuminating the place for them to see clearly. Suddenly, their torches went out as a gentle breeze blew through the hall.
"What the hell?" One of them shouted in dismay, not hearing the silent footsteps creeping along the hallway.
"Goddammit, I can't see a damned thin—AGHK!"
Both men were cut off as kunai buried themselves into their skulls, causing them to slump down with their backs up against the wall.
"Yugito."
The lone word relit the torches to reveal Lancelot along with one of the Naru-Clones with an outstretched arm, his pointer finger extended out as it glowed blue; an after effect of the spell casting.
They made their way over to the armory door as Lancelot opened it to view all of the weapons stored within it: swords, battle axes, wooden shields, spears, bows, arrows, slings, daggers, flails, maces, etc. Weapons that they had brought with them over the seas, while others were stolen no doubt based upon inspection of their appearance.
"It looks like we have their armory now," Lancelot spoke as Naruto dragged the two corpses inside to hide them from anyone who happened to pass by.
Naruto and his Shadow Clone managed to make their way to the interior quietly due to his very first Mystic Code: Carnwennan. It was forged from the Mythril that Altrouge had given to him years ago when he first set out to Britain to begin his mage training; the dagger allowed him to meld with the shadows when he channeled Prana into the weapon, rendering him invisible to those who could see him.
The dagger was quite large, perhaps twice the length of a Kunai but far flatter in terms of the overall shape. The handle was a dark blue ovaloid with gold trimming, the end of which was shaped like an inverted Vjajara that Naruto had witnessed in depictions that Merlin had shown him of the Hindu God Indra's lightning bolt. This was on purpose because the shape held the concept which Naruto had chosen to build off of into this Conceptual Weapon; 'Controlling the shape of power', though this was not meant to control lightning like it's divine base. The area of exposed tang that ran between the grip and blade was inset with a banded onyx gem that somehow held a dark gold color yet emitted no light. The Mithril blade was of an arrowhead shape that would give the wielder's hand some protection
Opening the door quietly, Naruto himself slowly made his way over the Saxon chieftain who slept soundly without a care in the world. Naruto crept carefully towards his target, placing the dagger against his throat while clasping the now waking and panicking Saxon chieftain. The hood of Naruto's armor, when worn up, gave him a very terrifying appearance in the night with the red eyes glowing with power… a power that promised pain unless one followed his very commands, "Good evening, mister chieftain. Now if you would be so kind as to surrender to King Arthur, that would be most appreciated."
After the battle, or rather a short skirmish that it turned into with the Saxon chieftain not surrendering along with a few others, unlike the majority of men who were smart enough to recognize the futility of the situation and surrendered. Punishments and offers were carried out, coupled with burials and burnings like before. Tristan was made an official member of the inner circle having proved himself to be both loyal and protective of their cause.
Everyone was getting situated to retire in the castle this time around as opposed to sleeping out in tents like before, with Naruto once again cooking dinner for Arturia. They decided to have it in the chamber where the Saxons chieftain resided in with Naruto preparing what they had on hand along with what the Saxons brought with them or raided from supply chains.
As he was preparing the finishing touches on dinner, Naruto head upstairs to Arturia's room where he suddenly felt something… off… Unsure of what it was, Naruto opened the door to see two people inside: Arturia and Morgan.
His King was restrained by black mist, glaring at her sister with daggers for eyes. If they really were eyes, then Morgan would be dead a hundred times over. Naruto took Carnwennan out as he stepped forward before Morgan held a finger up to stop his advance, "Uh, uh, uh… let's not be too hasty, shall we? I mean, really this is your fault after all."
Naruto's glare became sharpened at the last statement, "Excuse me?"
Morgan could only shrug at his question as she strode over to where Caliburn was put down, picking the sword up she unsheathed the blade as she tossed it between her hands, "Well you were an inattentive concubine to my dear little sister, and such actions have consequences such as these."
Oh, this bitch…
Naruto desperately wanted to spring into action and slit her throat, but the mist restraining Arturia had him very much worried. She no doubt could use her Mana Burst to disperse it… but if it were that easy, then she should've broken free. Morgan seemed to be able to read him like a book as she smirked at him before speaking again, "I know how my sister's Dragon Core functions, so she can't escape obviously. And please, darling… don't bother trying to kill me. We both know you won't since if you do, you lose your little fun time with her, after all."
Both captives grit their teeth at her words. They knew Morgan was going to make off with Caliburn now, with the King's symbol of leadership effectively destroyed. But they also were not fans of the jab she took at the relationship between them.
Naruto reluctantly backed down from Morgan before she took another jab, "That's a good boy." Black mist restrained Naruto just as it did Arturia; Morgan made her way over to him as she lifted her veil up just enough for her lips to kiss his cheek. Arturia's fists clenched up as she seethed in anger at the sight while Naruto tried to move his head back away from Morgan, only for the mist to shove him back towards her, "I mean really, I'm not a slobbering beast with acid in my mouth, it wasn't bad."
Morgan cupped his cheek as she looked into his eyes, "Don't worry, I won't steal everything from you." She glanced back to her sister to take in the enjoyment of her expression, "Besides, it's so much better when you both have so much… only to find in the end, it all comes crumbling down in fire and blood." Morgan laughed out loud as she vanished into the mist that left the captives.
Arturia coughed as she massaged her throat, with Naruto rushing towards her to check on her condition, "Are you alright, my King? She didn't—"
"No. No, I am fine, Naruto." Arturia cut him off to placate his worry. She turned back to the now emptied sheath that Caliburn once resided in, as a lone tear shed, "But Caliburn…" The sword that designated her as the King… that she would pass down to her heir… was now gone… likely forever… Arturia felt Naruto's hands grasp her own, to try and console her over the loss.
Naruto could see that Arturia was now profoundly hurt by what her sister had done in front of her, and without a proper sword meant for the King to wield… "Arturia. My King." Naruto winced at the usage of her first name so flippantly, yet so seriously, he held her hands as he bent down to his knees, "If you need a sword to wield in battle, to pass judgment or anoint those whom you deem necessary, then… I am at your disposal. Use me in Caliburn's stead. Wield me as your sword." He bowed his head to her to try and help lift her spirits up.
Usually, a king would scold their subject for using their first name out in the open as Naruto did, however, Arturia did not. She saw that he was trying to do something good with what he could after Morgan made off with Caliburn and how she… kissed her retainer… Naruto's cheek. At that moment, she wasn't sure what it was that drove her mad with anger at her sister's action… but she absolutely hated it. She wanted to do nothing more than cut her down for that alone. Arturia breathed in deeply at how dedicated Naruto was to her, as she intended to let him know to not worry for her loss of Caliburn, a tiny voice addressed them, "Excuse me, your majesty."
Naruto lifted his head to locate the source of the voice with Arturia doing the same, only for them to gaze at the doorway where a young Lesser Fae stood with her hand raised up in the air like a child asking a question. Naruto stood up as he kept a hold of one of Arturia's hands while he brought forth Carnwennan to defend her; however, the Fae held both up to wave in slight fear, "Oh, pardon me! I am so sorry for not introducing myself properly." Naruto looked confused at the Lesser Fae as he looked to Arturia for orders.
Arturia herself was perplexed by the Fae as it appeared to be like that of a child merely seeking to deliver something unto them. She patted Naruto hand that held her other with her free one to ease up, to which he did before Arturia addressed the Fae, "Who are you?"
The Fae entered the room before she bowed deeply to Arturia, "I am but am an emissary for Vivian: The Lady of the Lake." The Fae stopped bowing to speak again to them, "My lady wishes to aid you, the Promised King of Knights in your endeavors to bring the light and peace back to Britain." The Fae smiled brilliant to help put them at ease before she turned to Naruto, "She also wishes to speak with you as well, Knight of Sky Silver."
Naruto was taken aback by that last sentence, "She… does…?"
The Fae nodded, "She does and has been wishing to speak to you for quite some time now, but you have been busy with aiding the King. She did not wish to keep the two of you apart."
The duo blushed slightly before shaking their heads to concentrate on the new matter at hand, "Where is the Lady of the Lake residing at?" Arturia asked the Fae.
"Lady Vivian is within Dozmary Pool. She has gifts for you, as well as your two most trusted knights." The Fae said before she bowed her head once more, "She awaits your arrival, King Arturia." She vanished into blue dust that swept away before their eyes.
Naruto sighed as he massaged his temples at this new development, "So a Fae that wants to help us with 'gifts' and talk to me. Greeeeaaaat."
Arturia stood up as she patted him on the shoulder, "Have no fear, Naruto. I have a feeling that this is not something as terrible as you believe it to be." She made her way through the door as Naruto followed her, all the while, she continued speaking, "And besides I like that title for you."
"Huh?" Naruto raised a brow in confusion, "What title?"
"The Knight of Sky Silver." She glanced back to her retainer to clarify for him, "The color of your armor plating, it fits you well."
Naruto scratched his cheek at this, unsure of what to say in response.
It did have a nice ring to it.
It wasn't long after the Fae came by that Naruto & Arturia left to find Lancelot & Gawain; Arturia's most trusted knights as they were called. Saddling up, Arturia led them through as the remaining inner circle knights remained with Kay in charge.
Bedivere stepped forward to Arturia before speaking, "How long will you all be gone for, my king?" He was in charge of her personal guard, as it was his duty to stay by her side. And having heard what just occurred with the break-in by Morgan… with the King defenseless.
"We should be back by morning, Sir Bedivere." Arturia stated, "You need not worry for my safety, I am in good hands."
Bedivere did trust Gawain & Lancelot, though upon seeing Naruto all geared up, his worries were placed at ease. He knew just how much the vampire cared for their King, bordering on affection and knew that whenever he was near the King, then he need not worry, "I understand. Good luck, my King."
The four of them left into the night towards their destination to receive the Lade of the Lake's gifts & words.
-A Few Hours Later-
Naruto had decided to take the lead in front to Arturia, while Lancelot and Gawain took from her side behind her for her own security. Arturia did not protest since Naruto did say he would be her sword in place of the lost Caliburn, although she did have to wonder, "Naruto. What 'gifts' do you think the Lady of the Lake has for us?"
Naruto kept his eye on the road as he responded, "Well, my experience with the Fae's aren't what you would call… pleasant. So, I don't really know what she would have for the three of you." He briefly glanced back before he turned back to keep an eye out, "I'm not quite the best person to ask this, but I'd wager she has some weapon to replace Caliburn."
"It's quite possible." Lancelot spoke up behind them, "The Fae are capable of granting powerful weapons and armors to those they deem worthy of them. If the Lady of the Lake truly wishes to aid the King with gifts to help us in our campaign, then they are likely weapons of sorts."
Gawain hummed in thought, "It could be due to what Morgan did with Caliburn."
"And there's no telling what's going on up north with all the disappearing people." Naruto said, "So as far as weapons go… then yeah, I agree with you."
As they continued on through to their destination, a bright purple light emanated from within the forest signifying that they were close to the lake where Vivian resided within. Pushing through the trees, they emerged to see a deep lake where the animals were at about in this serene place. It was as if everything was at peace, without a care in the world. The knights dismounted their horses as they tied them off to a tree trunk while Naruto was the first to approach the lake.
Naruto bent down to touch the water, only to feel the lake was filled with… joy? Happiness? He thought that perhaps his gut was telling him to dive right in an relax here, but he knew this was merely part of the power of some Fae's; their presence was capable of bringing our emotions in people.
Arturia, Lancelot and Gawain approached behind him with the lake suddenly springing to life. Water rushed to the edge where Naruto stood in front of, as the form of a woman standing up took shape in the water.
Her body was composed entirely of water that both moved yet remained in situ, flowing over the form of what was clearly a woman of short height. Long waves of transparent water cascaded from the top of her head like a waterfall down her back, serving as hair. Her feet, no, her entire lower body was obscured by an aquatic dress that was formed from the lake beneath her. Although poorly defined, her facial features were those of a beautiful woman, her eyes appearing to be moonlight that was endlessly refracted within the water's surface.
'It looks like this Vivian manifested herself with the water. She's still in her domain.'Naruto thought to himself before he moved to Arturia's side when she asked the construct a question.
"Are you the Lady of the Lake?"
The construct smiled as she nodded in response before moving back from the shoreline. The construct waved her hands as the water with bright lights springing to life in the form of a path leading towards her; she gestured for them to come towards her. Naruto wasn't quite sure about this, that is until Arturia took a step forward onto the water… and did not sink into it.
Arturia gazed down to see that the Fae's magic no doubt kept them from sinking to the bottom, "Amazing…" turning back to her retainers, she waved for them to follow her, "…it is safe. The magic has made the water safe for us to walk upon. Stay on the path." The knights and vampire looked to one another before nodding at their King's words and did as such.
Lancelot could tell that Naruto was tense with stepping into the domain of the Fae. Naruto's prior experience with their kind was not very favorable compared to his own, so his unease was understandable, "Have faith. If the Lady of the Lake wishes to aid us, then she shall bring no harm."
Naruto nodded as he took a leap of faith, "Alright then." Naruto now stood behind Arturia ready for her protection if she needed, even if Lancelot said otherwise.
Soon the light that illuminated the water increased in its brightness as it grew so bright that they were all forced to shield themselves from the light. The glow died down soon afterwards as they looked around to see that their surroundings had changed. While the lake was still the same, the sky had changed into a bright purple that had what appeared to be stars that dotted the sky, as numerous phantasmal animals flew through the air or rested upon the ground.
They were in Vivian's domain now.
Said woman now took a physical form where the water construct once stood. She was short, cub five feet at the most with floor-length blue and white hair. 'No' Naruto thought, his keen senses picking out that it was not the case. 'That hair isn't white, it's clear, reflecting the moonlight off of the surface of the water.' Though the hair still flowed in a style similar to a raging waterfall, it was now still. Her features now thrown into sharp relief showed pale skin that glowed with an inner residence of spiritual bliss, eyes the same as before but adorned with long clear eyelashes and no eyebrows. A small but well-defined nose sat above blue lips set in a serene smile. From beneath the wave of hair, he could just make out a pair of pointed ears. The obviously now corporeal Fae wore a simple white gown from head to toe with no frivolities or fancy designs, leaving her arms uncovered and feet sticking out from beneath. Said feet stood upon the water with no ripple, as if her presence was not disturbing the water at all.
"Greetings, Arturia Pendragon. It is a blessing to have you as well as your two most trusted knights alongside thee." She greeted them before she directed her attention towards Naruto, "And I greet you as well, brother of mine, sired under the Crimson Moon, I bid you good tidings upon finally meeting thee."
Naruto was taken aback by her words, as he fully expected someone that practically oozed goodness to altogether reject him on the basis of him being a Dead Apostle. But then again, he recalled Merlin's lesson on the Fae, and how he was considered to be a Lesser Fae by the World itself. So, for Vivian to address him in such a manner shouldn't come as a surprise, yet he still was surprised either way.
Vivian looked Lancelot first as she conjured up a brightly colored sword with a purple handle, "Knight of the Lake, please step forward." Arturia and Naruto sidestepped to allow Lancelot to step forward as Vivian held it out for him to grasp the sword, "This is Arondight, the Unfading Light of the Lake. A sword incapable of being destroyed by any means. It shines as bright as the lake; a sword to signify thou's skill as the 'perfect knight'."
A sheath appeared that Lancelot took to the weapon as he bowed to Vivian, "Thank you, milady. I shall use this sword in the service to my King." Taking his position back next to Gawain, Naruto couldn't help but feel the power rolling off the blade, despite being contained by the sheath. Arondight as a blade that was not to be trifled with.
The Fae looked to Gawain as she conjured up a silver sword that oddly shaped compared to Arondight, "Knight of the Sun, please step forward." Gawain did as he was asked with the others sidestepping for him to stand to receive his sword, "This is Galatine, the Sword of Revolving Victory. A sword with a pseudo-sun contained within the hilt; a sword that will aid thee in the time when thine blessing is at its peak." A sheath appeared before him to grasp
Gawain bowed his head in thanks, "I thank you, Lady of the Lake. I shall use your gift to its fullest for my King." Gawain took his position back next to Lancelot as Naruto could feel a slight tinge of heat emanating from Galatin's hilt. She clearly wasn't wrong about the pseudo-sun in the hilt based upon that.
It seemed that the final gift was conjured up before them, as a golden sheath with blue markings and Fae letters appeared before Arturia. However, it appeared that this was, but two gifts as opposed to one. A sword with a golden guard and blue grip was already inside of it, "Proud King of Knights… Arturia Pendragon. This is the greatest gift that I; that the World can offer thee. Step forward, please." Arturia took a step to face the Fae as she held out for her to grasp the sheath & sword. Naruto could feel that this sword was by far the most powerful one he had seen in his entire life. Arondight… Galatine… even the Seven Swords of the Mist didn't also come close to what Naruto was feeling already, and that was just the with the sheath holding the sword's power back.
"The sheath's name is Avalon; named after the Everdistant Utopia." Vivian began to explain, "Its properties will halt thou's aging. Any wound no matter how grievous will instantly heal. And if you desire it, then the sheath shall become a barrier to shut out all filth that would dare stain your magnificence. So long as Avalon remains at your side, you need not fear even death herself."
Everyone was shocked by what Vivian had stated about just the sheath itself… and if Naruto interpreted what she said correctly, then Arturia… was incapable of dying. Just as he was…
Although it seemed that Vivian was not finished. For she had but to explain the last gift: the sword, "Arturia, draw forth the sword." Arturia did as instructed, and upon doing so, they were awed by the blade. That golden glow that was so superb. So peaceful and comforting. The sword held a warmth that reminded Naruto of his time before he arrived in this world… in a time when he was still in training under Jiraiya… a time when he enjoyed Ichiraku Ramen after a mission with his teammates... when he first met his father, and later his mother… Just standing before it brought a tear to his eye, "Its name, is Excalibur, the Sword of Promised Victory…" Vivian began, "…it is the crystallization of the wishes & hopes of mankind stored and tempered within the planet. We Fae's have guarded it closely, so that one day, one worthy to wield it would emerge to defend the people. Its true power will emerge on the day an enemy emerges that will threaten the World." Arturia's jaw could only drop slightly before she recomposed herself as everyone was in shock before Vivian continued, "This sword will be thou's ultimate offence, and thine's symbol of kingship, young Arturia."
Naruto fully understood what Vivan had given to Arturia. The ultimate offense alongside the ultimate defense. She would be unstoppable. Arturia sheathed Excalibur back into Avalon as she took it from the Fae before bowing, "T-Thank you, I am… unsure if my words will be enough to thank thee for the gifts we have received, o' Lady of the Lake."
Vivian placed her hand on Arturia's forehead before she channeled her Mana into the King. Naruto did not sense anything terrible about what was being done, "The power over the element of Water is now part of you, just as the element of Wind is. No body of water will impede you from traversing it, and it shall become thou's weapon in a burst from one's own body or feet." Once again, Arturia was without words for the Fae's gifts. All she could do was bow in thanks to her.
Vivian raised her hand as the light around them began to glow brighter just as before they entered her domain, "I pray these gifts will aid you in the coming days, for thou shalt be in great need of them." She looked to Arturia before speaking once again, "I apologize young one, but I must speak with the Knight of Sky Silver in private, for there is something that he must know of."
Arturia wasn't sure what exactly the Lady of the Lake wished to speak with Naruto, but if she deemed it for his ears only, then she would not speak out of turn, "I understand, milady."
Naruto wasn't exactly sure what to make of that,'I wonder how important it is that she wants to tell me?'
'Who knows? For all you know it could be she just merely wants to know how you're a Fae, when clearly, you're not. Despite addressing you as otherwise.'Kurama reasoned.
The light blinded them once again before Naruto found himself alone with Vivian who began their little private talk, "There is something you must know, brother. It concerns young Arturia." Naruto stiffened with her warning tone, now on edge by what she had to say.
"What do you mean?"
"She is the linchpin that binds the Mystery & Magic of the Age of Fairies." Vivian stated, "So long as that child lives, so too shall this age. If she dies, then we will begin to fade away as the Age of Man begins. Magic & Mystery will begin to wane, the beings that walk these lands will fade into obscurity, and we will become nothing more than myths, forced to return to the Reverse Side if the World."
Naruto understood just how heavy her words were. Arturia was the real source of basically all that was good in this world, with how things functioned, how the people and the Phantasmal Species lived amongst one another. If she died… "I won't let that happen, no matter what." There was no way in hell he would let Arturia die, he had committed his life for her, and Naruto'd be damned if he let anything happen to her on his watch.
The Fae smiled at his words, "I know you will not. I can see that you hold great love for her." Naruto blushed at the statement. He was about to downplay it; however, Vivian raised her hand to stop him in his tracks, "I can see that you wish to express it for her, but you are hesitant to do so. You view yourself in the same light as that of Morgan, but you are wrong. You possess a light as bright as the sun, a warmth that comforts, humility that others do not have within and your love for her is unwavering. You place so little value on yourself when you do not realize just how much you mean to her, and her to you."
Naruto was floored by her words… Arturia… felt the same way? No, that wasn't possible. He was a vampire, a Fae in Vivian's words, someone that could never have a chance with a regular human being. But he had no choice but to admit to part of what she said, "It's true… I do love her… but, how things between her and me, I just… I don't know how that could work." He shook his head before he steeled his resolve before the Fae, "But I do know this: I'd give my life for hers in a heartbeat." That was also true. Naruto had come to love Arturia from afar, even if he could openly say it or show it, he would still show his devotion to his King as her retainer and friend.
Vivian merely closed her eyes as she gave a comforting smile, "One day, both of you shall see clearly where your paths converge." The Fae held out her hands for Naruto to take them, "Please step forward, Knight of Sky Silver. For I have but one last gift for thee." Naruto did as he was asked; she took his hands gently before she channeled some of what he assumed to be her Mana into him. As soon as the process was over, Naruto looked to his palms as but for a brief moment… he could've sworn he saw the symbol of the where it once was when Hagoromo gave him half of his power to defeat Madara and seal Kaguya. Naruto became confused by what Vivian had done to him, "This gift was not of the physical that I had bestowed upon the King and her trusted knights, but one of the spiritual. I could feel that you lacked something within, but the World was denying it to you, therefore, I have bestowed but a small piece of mine own unto you to awaken it. One day, when an enemy that threatens the World, your power shall return to thee. I pray that such a thing will not be necessary, but it is best to be prepared."
As the Fae finished speaking, she raised her hands as the light surrounding Naruto illuminated once again to send him back to the Material World. Naruto found himself back on the lake standing where they were in the Fae's domain, he turned around to see the others already readying their mounts to head back to the castle, "Naruto, are you alright?" Arturia spoke as she held Dun's reigns while atop Llamrei.
The words of the Lady of the Lake reverberated through his mind concerning Arturia's importance, and his own feelings towards her. He shook his head as he concentrated on the here and now with protecting her, "I'm alright, my King. No need to worry about me." Arturia didn't look convinced; however, she had come to accept that sometimes it was all she could do with Naruto at times, as she did not want to impede upon his privacy. Not just that, whatever it was that the Lady of the Lake had told him was something that she deemed for his ears alone; not hers, nor Gawain nor Lancelot's. She decided to leave the subject alone, "Very well then. Let us set out to regroup at the castle."
Arturia handed Dun's reigns over to Naruto who mounted the stallion, with a bit of renewed fervor in his words, "Let's ride!"
-Two Hours Later-
The ride back to Castle Guinnion was a rather slow one oddly enough. Perhaps it was because they now held swords gifted to them by the Fae, that the Phantasmal Species that would emerge in the night kept their distance, or perhaps it was because dawn was now on the horizon. Either way, it would take time to get back to the castle; they would likely make a rest stop at the City of Legion between here and Guinnion. The city was on the border of the contested lands where it was also a Pendragon loyal settlement that supplied them with food and water, along with housing soldiers if they required it from days of scouting or moving between settlements.
Naruto had begun to wonder just what it was that Vivian had done to him,'Kurama, do you know what she did to me?'
'I'm not quite sure honestly. But it feels like something that was cut away was partially restored. All I can say is that maybe a tinge of your old power returned to you. But I'm still a damned chibi!'
'Huh, that's weird. I don't feel any different, though maybe it's only conditional.'
'That's possible. The circ*mstances for her so-called gift to activate could be pretty slim. She did say only when an enemy that threatened the planet would allow you to access it fully. And I doubt that bitch Fae has the power to do that.'
'Hmm… let's hope it doesn't come to that.'
Naruto was roused from his mental conversation as Dun stopped along with the rest of the horses as the sun had arisen over a grizzly sight. A large pile of corpses, with the emblem of Vortigern adorning their armor from what he could tell; however, he could also make out one or two Pendragon emblems. They were likely the scouts they had sent out to observe the contested lands.
"What manner of beast is responsible for this?" Arturia said through heated words. She did not believe in such blood slaughter like this, not even the foreigners could stoop so low to butcher soldiers in battle…
"That would be I, little one."A booming voice spoke. They gazed up to the top of the pile where well… they saw the source…
Now… Naruto had met some tall people in his life, such as his former mentor Jiraiya who was unusually tall for a ninja at 6'3", and while exploring this vast world, Naruto had once crossed paths with a berserker from the Balkans who had neared eight feet in height. But this man, no, man did not convey his size. This GIANT was nearing seventeen feet tall with a body that would not be out of place in a children's fairy tale, each of his legs was as wide as Naruto's forearms were long and his arms looked like they were incapable of movement. Not because the muscles would not allow it but the thought of a humanoid being able to do such a thing while at that size was... ludicrous! His face was both bestial and serene with glowing green and yellow eyes set into deep cavernous pits above an ape's nose. Pointed ears poked from a mass of thick, furlike dark blonde hair that covered the giant's face leading to a long beard.
His entire body was wrapped in the thickest set of armor that Naruto had ever seen. Rather than the traditional steel, it looked like pig iron, at least seven inches thick at the breastplate. Armor covered his entire body save his head, all of it decked out in metallic golden pain that bore many pits, chips and cracks from numerous battles. In his right hand, a hand that was half the size of a wagon wheel sat a gold and steel axe of beautiful artistry.
Overall… the Giant was an imposing bastard.
The Giant hefted the axe over his shoulder as he spoke again,"My name is Escanor, a Giant of these lands. I slaughtered these men, for they believed that they held power over me."He made his way down towards them as he stepped on the corpses, smearing blood with each of his heavy footsteps,"They believed that their tyrant of a king, a human of all beings, could reign over me. My pride simply cannot allow that, nor shall I be ruled over by you, King Arthur."Arturia's eyes narrowed as she dismounted Llamrei, while Lancelot and Gawain dismounted their own horses as they drew forth their blades to protect their king. Naruto formed three Shadow Clones as he positioned himself atop his saddle on Dun to spring into action,"Yes, I know of your name and deeds, o' King of Knights. But I do not trust humans, nor the Dead Apostles even if on serves you to say otherwise."Escanor leveled his axe to Arturia before he raised it high into the air to begin the inevitable battle,"Now, stand still, so I may strike you down."
Escanor didn't get the chance to swing the axe as before their eyes, a black & golden blur appeared before them as it swung a blade of wind onto his right shoulder, coupled with blood spurting into the air, "Like hell we're gonna let that happen!"
The knight's eyes widened as Naruto stood before them in some ethereal golden flames that covered his body. The metal plates had turned black while the rest of his attire was golden, with the symbol of the Crimson Moon on his back. Carnwennan was filled with Wind Mana, giving off a high-pitched whirring sound, like metal blades moving at high speeds.
"Naruto…" Arturia was speechless before his new form. Nether Lancelot nor Gawain could say anything at the sight before them.
Naruto had no idea how, but suddenly, his Six Paths power came back to him. However, he tried to form Goudodama, only to find that the Counter Force was stopping him from going any further and his Shadow Clones suddenly dispersed, most likely to limit his power. Maybe somehow when Escanor made his threat, Vivian's gift kicked in, but Naruto had no idea how long it would last with the World now watching him.
Escanor didn't show any signs of pain as he patted the area where Naruto slashed at him,"I am impressed. Your elated state has allowed you to inflict a wound that I could feel. Not once has anyone managed to do so, and for that, you have my respect. But my pride will not allow you to live any longer."Escanor used his free hand to punch Naruto away, that is until Arturia got over her shock quickly before she leapt into action to come to his aid. She quickly unsheathed Excalibur to swing down upon his arm, only to see that fire emerged from his fist.
"What?!" Arturia didn't feel the heat from the fist until she got close enough before Naruto quickly turned around to grab Arturia to safety. Escanor's fist slammed into the ground where a smoldering crater now appeared in front of him. Lancelot began to sweat due to the heat emanating from the hole, although he noticed Gawain didn't seem bothered by the heat, "Gawain, this enemy… is unlike any other we've faced before."
Gawain nodded in agreement, "Indeed. We should count ourselves lucky, the gifts of the Lade of the Lake will no doubt help turn the tide." For some reason, he couldn't describe what he was feeling, but perhaps it was… resonance with Escanor. Not just that, but as he drew Galatine, Gawain could feel the handle of the sword shake in what he thought was excitement. Did Escanor also possess some sort of Divine Blessing as he did when the sun arose?
Naruto looked back to Escanor as he didn't appear irritated, nor angry, but surprised he was. Arturia took in Naruto's appearance as his golden glow shined so similarly to Excalibur. Although there was a significant difference: nature itself was beginning to flourish. The trees quickly grew new limbs and leaves, while flowers bloomed in full, "My king…" Naruto addressed Arturia to grab her attention, "…I don't know what the hell's up with this Giant, but he's got some sort of power over fire. It's dangerous. I'll try to draw out his powers for you and the others to strike when it's time." Naruto helped her up as he drew Carnwennan back out to begin the battle.
Naruto rushed into Escanor's safety area where he would try to see just what exactly his power was,'If he says his pride won't allow him to be ruled by a human king or a vampire that can wound him. Then maybe…'
He'd have to coax the source of his power out, "So…" Naruto lashed out with a strike to Escanor's head that prompted the Giant to quickly bring up his massive axe to defend himself, "…what's makes you so confident that you can kill us?"
Escanor parried the strike before he swung his axe below to try and chop off Naruto's legs,"I was born with the power of the sun, for it is the source of my pride."Naruto leapt into the air behind the Giant to strike at his back, only to see that his speed was not a joke. He twisted around with the axe to strike at his head, only for Naruto to quickly maneuver his head down to the side to avoid the strike while Arturia saw the opportunity to strike at Escanor's back.
She rushed with Excalibur ready to inflict a blow to his spine, or at least force Escanor down onto one knee. But the Giant seemed to sense her attack incoming as he continued swinging his axe around to inflict a blow. Arturia brought Excalibur up to intercept the axe, with the two weapons clashing against one another, creating a resounding boom that actually left a chip in Escanor's axe, while Arturia was pushed back several feet only for Lancelot to help keep her footing, "Thank you, Sir Lancelot."
"No need for thanks, my king," Lancelot replied as he kept Arondight up at the ready. Gawain went in next to deliver a strike while Naruto distracted Escanor again, with the ninja's golden form beginning to dissipate as he gave a kick to the Giant's face that managed to stagger him briefly. Before Gawain brought Galatine into an upwards slash that managed to pierce Escanor's armor, despite the heat that emanated from his body.
Naruto quickly leapt away, seeing that his Six Paths power was done for now as the Counter Force began to encroach upon him. Naruto breathed in heavily as he took a knee to gather his breath, "So… he's got the power of the sun…" He glanced to his hand that was shaking from the Six Paths having not been used in over a century since his battle with the Crimson Moon. The toll it took on his body was beginning to show with Arturia rushing over to his side while Lancelot stood with Gawain to fend off Escanor while she took Naruto from the battlefield.
Arturia hefted Naruto's shoulder onto hers while the ninja kept pace with her, as he spoke, "My king. Escanor he… he has a Divine Blessing while under the Sun, like Gawain…" Arturia set him up against a nearby tree to recover as he continued speaking, "…he can kill the Giant." Arturia nodded as she understood his words while she glanced back to see Lancelot holding his own with Gawain while Escanor swung his axe through the air as it unleashed waves that would have blown anyone else away bar them for the relics in their possession.
"Naruto, rest easy." She placed her free hand on Naruto's forehead, "We will emerge victorious from this." Arturia stood up as she joined the battle as Lancelot was forcibly driven back while Gawain was attempting to hold down a blow that would kill him with Galatine, "Gawain!"
"My king?!"
"Escanor possess Divine Blessing while under the Sun, just as you!" The knight's eyes widened at this revelation, "You can defeat him with your own!"
It seemed that this declaration prompted Escanor to hold back on his last strike as he allowed Gawain some breathing room,"You too possess the power of the sun? Hmm… very well then, I shall strike you down first before I do so with the others."Escanor leveled the axe towards Gawain with something in mind,"I shall face you one-on-one in a duel to the death, young knight. Do you accept?"
Gawain could see that the Giant was offering him this chance to ensure that his king, fellow knight and magus could escape. But they would not; instead, he was presented with an opportunity to strike down this murderous, proud Giant that claimed he would kill his aunt. Seeing this as the only chance to settle things, Gawain nodded, "I accept your offer to a duel."
Escanor took several steps back as both combatants circled one another briefly before settling into their stance,"I believe that one blow will be more than enough to decide this duel's outcome, young knight."
Escanor raised his axe high into the air as the heat began to build up, with fire surrounding the edge of the axe. Arturia and Lancelot moved back away to cover Naruto as he slowly stood up to regain his bearings before he entered the Six Paths to attack Escanor. Gawain readied Galatine as he felt the power within the blade begin to slowly build up, but it was not enough to inflict a single fatal blow on the Giant. No, he needed to do better; he knew that he had Mana within him in due part to his… mother… he had believed that he would not need that side of him to be victorious in battle, merely his own physical skill. But now… now he needed to use that side of his heritage to prevail in battle if he didn't…
Gawain steeled himself as he began to channel his Mana into Galatine, with the heat rising rapidly to equal Escanor's axe. The grass and trees around them began to singe. The onlookers backed away, seeing that this blow could very likely take them into it. Gawain narrowed his eyes as he stared into Escanor's unflinching green and yellow.
This strike would be their first & last.
"Come."
The Giant made his declaration for him to come at him with Galatine. Gawain charged with his blade ready to strike as Escanor stood his ground. The heat from their weapons seared the earth with fire like a meteor streaking across the land.
"RRRAAGGHH!" Gawain roared as he brought Galatine down in a horizontal strike, just as Escanor brought his axe down to strike at Gawain…
Both combatants were frozen in time, before blood spewed from Escanor as he dropped down to a knee, letting go of the axe,"To think, that a human who too held the power of the sun could fell me in battle. Heh… it seems that my pride got the better of me."Escanor still had the strength to look up to his opponent before speaking again,"Your name is Gawain, was it not young knight?"
Gawain nodded as he held Galatine that began to cool down, "Yes. I am Sir Gawain, the Knight of the Sun. And I serve my king, King Arthur, with all my being."
Escanor nodded in acceptance of Gawain's answer,"Then I am glad, to have fallen on your blade, Sir Gawain, Knight of the Sun."Soon after, Escanor collapsed and died from his wounds, as Gawain jammed Galatine into the ground to take a knee after expending so much of himself to defeat the Giant.
Lancelot sheathed Arondight to go help his fellow knight while Arturia stayed next to Naruto in case he collapsed. The Knight of the Lake stepped through the seared ground to help Gawain up to his feet, "Are you alright, Gawain?"
The Knight of the Sun looked up to his comrade, "I just needed a moment to collect myself." Gawain slowly stood up as he sheathed Galatine, "I am glad though that we had the Lady of the Lake's swords to aid us. Otherwise, I doubt we could prevail, even with our court magus apprentice." Seeing how quickly he tired himself out against the Giant, Gawain wasn't too keen on their odds.
Lancelot glanced back to see Arturia helping Naruto climb up to Dun. Seeing that this little incident pushed them off schedule since they were expected to be back by now, Lancelot believed that for now, they needed to rest before they regrouped back to the castle. The two knights headed back to their steeds as Lancelot began to talk with Arturia. "My king, given the unexpected run-in with the Giant, along with our current condition, it may be wise to stop at the City of Legion to rest for the time being while we send word to Castle Guinnion of our current status, given we were expected to return in the morning."
Arturia could see the logic in Lancelot's reason; Gawain no doubt was exhausted from using Galatine for the first time, especially having to tap into his Mana that he never once used before until now. And she had questions about how he knew about the divinity he spoke of, as well as that golden shroud Naruto donned when he sprung into action against Escanor, "Very well then. Then we shall set off to Legion."
-Hours Later-
The City of Legion was a major trading point for those under Arturia's protection, and with said significant trade occurring, it required a large contingent of city guards to enforce the laws. They were greeted by the lord in charge of the city, who offered them lodging in his manor for the king and 'his' retainers.
Lancelot and Gawain went out to inspect the fortifications of the city if it came under attack, given how close it was to the Contested Lands, a strike from the north was something to consider heavily.
Naruto had forgone his armor plating as he lay on the bed in one of the guest rooms. The sensation of the Six Paths flooding his system, before the Counter Force reacted to his powering up to snuff it out took a bit of a toll on his body. He could still fight if it came down to it, along with his Magecraft and a few Jutsu, but he wouldn't be able to use his Shadow Clones like he usually could.
He closed his eyes as breathed in & out steadily to calm his mind. Naruto heard the door open prompting him to open his eyes to see that it was Arturia in fact; she carried with her a tray with some fruit and a glass of water meant for him as she turned to the ninja, "I know it's not much, but I hope this will help you regain your strength."
"No, it's fine…" Naruto said as he rose up to face her, "…I appreciate it. But you didn't have to do this."
Arturia shook her head, "Of course I had to. You are my retainer, and as such, your safety and health are paramount to my concern." She wagged a finger at him as she sat down next to him, like a mother chastising their child for not listening to them. Naruto flinched a bit before he nodded in acceptance at her words.
Naruto began to take the assorted fruits and munch on them as Arturia smiled at him, enjoying the flavors that entered his mouth. However, she also came for another reason…
"Naruto…" Her words causing him to finish chewing and swallow what he had as she continued, "…how did you know that Gawain possessed a Divine Blessing, along with how it could counter Escanor's own? Not just that, but that golden shroud you donned. How is it that you have never used it up until now?"
Naruto knew the weight of her words. The past always caught up, no matter how hard you try to bury it…
Naruto took the tray from Arturia as he set it down on the dresser near the bed. He took a deep breath before he looked back to Arturia, "My king… you've known me for three long years, and you have kept your distance in regards to my past. But the last few serious talks that we've had like this, you gradually know more and more about me, yet you don't know the full story." He took her right hand with his left and clasped it to reassure her that he would no longer hide it, "I think now, it's time you know my story…"
-Morgan le Fay's Lair-
"Well, that could have gone better."
"Perhaps…"
Morgan had watched the little fight against the Giant through her Scrying Orb. After stealing Caliburn, she wanted to watch her sister cry over the loss of her sword for entertainment, that is until she saw the envoy from Vivian…
That wretched woman…
Morgan managed to get that oaf Escanor to kill a battalion of Vortigern's men along with a few scouts from her sister to test just how powerful these new swords were. She could already see that her son Gawain was given something to aid in his Divine Blessing or even boost it entirely at times. That Frankish knight as given a sword that could never be destroyed by any means and would radiate Vivian's lake light.
But then when she saw what her sister had… of all the things she was given… Morgan narrowed her eyes as she knew just what Vivian had given to her little sister. The ultimate sword and the ultimate source of Mana. She would need to find a way to separate the two of them from Arturia… however, there was also that golden shroud that Naruto donned. When she witnessed it affect the land itself, she was all too curious about the vampire now. No now she saw Naruto for what he was.
The only Divine Dead Apostle in history, and most likely the only one that would ever exist now & forever.
It was settled. His blood would be useful in crafting her weapon. All she needed to do was be patient, play along with Vortigern's plan to hold the north and wait for her moment to strike.
"Dear little sister, your luck will run out…" Morgan spoke more to herself than the other occupant in the room, "…and when it does, I will be there to steal what was yours to craft into mine." She idly tossed Caliburn between her hands, before she gripped both ends of the sword to channel her Blackening magic into the blade. The sword began to twist and bend as the black Mana channeled through it until it snapped in two. Morgan tossed the two pieces of Caliburn to her accomplice in the shadows before speaking, "Bury it wherever you want to, Agravain. I don't care how or where."
The now revealed Agravain nodded his head, "I understand, mother."
The young man left, leaving Morgan alone with her thoughts, "At least I have one child that is of use to me."
-The City of Legion; Naruto's Room-
"…and then, I met you on that day. The rest you know." Naruto finished. The evening had come, as Arturia wanted to remain with Naruto having asked Lancelot and Gawain to help the city guard in upping their routine and security. It was merely an excuse to stay with Naruto as he told her his story.
She was too shocked to interrupt him. Tailed Beasts. Chakra. Hidden Villages. Akatsuki. It was all so unbelievable, yet… she knew that there were no lies in his words. All this time… Naruto had been clinging onto whatever piece of light remained that he could grasp, holding onto it for dear life. His service to her, was that last bit. His dream to become Hokage was robbed by Sasuke betraying them all in the final minute after finally defeating their dark & terrible ancestor. He wished to help her uphold her dreams and ideal. Arturia finally understood Naruto, so much more than anyone else did. They had far more in common than she initially believed.
For whatever instinct within her, telling her to stay composed… all she could do was throw her arms around his neck as she enveloped him in a hug as a pair of tears streamed down her eyes, "You are so strong, Naruto."
Naruto, for all his preparation in expecting the unknown along with being unpredictable, "My king?" He was unprepared for what Arturia had to say or do in situations like this.
Arturia wiped her tears, "You are strong-willed, Naruto. To push yourself through so many situations, to make choices that… even I could not make… to endure tragedy that no one should… it would break anyone." Her admiration for Naruto skyrocketed. Her words alone were not enough to honestly describe what a beautiful soul he held.
Naruto shook his head at her last statement, "I'm not worthy of that praise. Truth be told after I became a vampire, and before I met you." He swallowed hard before he continued, showcasing thoughts that he never would have thought, "I… I had contemplated ways to… to… to just end it all…" He saw that Arturia was shocked by what he just said, but he smiled before she could say anything, "But on that day when I met you, I found someone to live for. I found a new drive, a new dream, but also…" Vivian's words came back to mind as he decided to take a leap of faith here and now, "…I fell in love with you."
There he did it. He dropped it all right on top of her. He closed his eyes believing that she would slap him for saying that he contemplated suicide, or even saying he was in love with her; calling such things foolish and childish.
No, what happened next was utterly unexpected. Naruto saw that she was blushing and not even bothering to fight it down.
Whatever common sense they had, whatever instinct told them otherwise, they ignored it.
They closed their eyes as they brought their lips close to one another as they sealed their love for one another with a kiss. A kiss that became deepened with passion. A passion born from love. Love built over the years of conversing & fighting alongside one another. Their tongues clashed for dominance over one another, but neither cared who would gain it.
They continued kissing for several minutes until they needed to breathe. A thin trail of saliva remained between their lips until it dropped as neither of them bothered to wipe it away. Their cheeks were flushed a deep crimson as they both took deep breaths before Arturia spoke, "Whatever this is, I… I want this to continue between us." And so, the King of Knights reciprocated Naruto's words through not just their act of a kiss, "Naruto… I love you." But through her words as well…
Naruto brought his forehead to Arturia's own as he cried not tears of sadness, but tears of joy, "This… it's the happiest, I've ever been in my entire life." Arturia wiped away his tears as they enjoyed the comfort of one another right now.
The ninja decided to try and bring some humor to their newly made secret affair, "You know, Arturia. If you want me to train you in the way of Eastern Swordplay, and all of what I know about combat, I can if you'd like it to be private." Arturia laughed a little at his offer.
"I would like that, but for now…" She caressed his cheeks, "…all I want to do is enjoy this." And thus, their passionate kissing began again.
'About goddamn time!' Kurama exclaimed.
Naruto ignored the fox as he concentrated on the kissing as he held Arturia by the waist to bring her closer while she still held his cheeks.
Unknown to them, the door was cracked ever so slightly as Lancelot saw the whole ordeal. He felt it was best to leave them alone and keep Gawain along with everyone else from interfering with their time together. Smiling at how his king and friend found happiness in secret, Lancelot left the hallway, all the while deciding that he would do whatever it took to keep their affair a secret, even taking it with him to his grave.
Musings of a Wizard Marshal
By K.Z.S.
You know it's not that often that I find myself actually writing something down beyond journals detailing some of my escapades between dimensions but I find they help in... taking inventory. My perception of passing time is so messed up at this point that I feel only my fellow Magician Miss Aozaki may even begin to comprehend it but here I am, writing about a friend of mine.
I think of Naruto as my friend not because he was there for me not long after the encounter with Crimson Moon -damn that crimson baseball!- but because despite the long time he has walked the earth he has somehow maintained a hobby that is neither self destructive nor boring as all hell. All ancestors have hobbies, mine is observing Parallel Worlds and occasionally meddling in worldly affairs. Roa's is attempting to attain perfect immortality and that confounded friend of mine, Alcatraz is fond of constructing his little Labyrinths...ONE OF WHICH HE GOT LOCKED INSIDE HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Naruto's hobby is collecting relics from Arthurian times to add to his own collection for a variety of reasons. Part of it could be the obvious reason of using them as catalysts for the Holy Grail War but seeing as this hobby started some centuries prior to my students even being born I find that avenue a little hard to believe. No, I think the reason why Naruto chooses to look upon those relics and hold them close is as a reminder of what could have been and hopefully, an inspiration for what he yet aims to achieve..
And done!
Wow, what a doozy… I was writing this chapter when I cam down with strep throat and there was a battle that I had planned out against Vortigern's forces, however I decided to have them finally do battle against his forces in the next chapter which will finish up the "Rise of Camelot" section and move into the "Glory of Camelot" section of the overall Camelot arc that's been planned out.
And now, Gawain has Galatine, Lancelot has Arondight, Tristan, Palamedes and Percival have joined, and Arturia now has Excalibur & Avalon along with a Vivian's blessing to be able to walk on water and even use her Swimsuit's Water Mana Burst ability. Naruto & Arturia have finally entered into their secret love affair, she now knows his story and even will be trained by him in combat by what he knows and has experienced.
Morgan continues to screw with their lives while she keeps waiting for the opportune moment to begin her plans of downfall.
The next chapter will begin their final battles in the campaign to unite Britain under Arturia's banner, as it delves into some Dark Fantasy and Arthurian Legend, as well as TYPE-MOON's own Arthurian Legend with introducing some new things from the lore. I'll also be showing off their swords true powers and abilities, with being able to train and understand their swords far better than before when they received them to ensure that they will be able to take the north.
Now, some of you will claim that their kiss was rushed but know this –
It's been three full years since Naruto & Arturia met.
That's ample time for them to bond over and become closer as a result, especially the last chapter with Naruto's emotional breakdown.
Now some of you will claim that Naruto telling Arturia that he had thought about suicide isn't something he'd do. Well let me just say this: Naruto banked everything on being able to bring Sasuke back over to the village. When Sasuke betrayed him, forced him out from their dimension and effectively destroyed Naruto's dreams and beliefs, stranding him in a world not his own and then becoming immortal with no goal or anyone to commit himself to, I think ending one's life would be something that deep down… he actually would consider…
That's just me though.
Anyways, continue to read, review, favorite and follow this story, as well as the others on my profile.
And please, when you review, let me know what you guys liked and/or disliked about the new chapter, otherwise I can't better myself when it comes to writing future content.
Until next time ;)
Chapter 7: The Rise of Camelot Part VI
Chapter Text
We broke the 200-review mark and within only 5 chapters! WOOHOO! Let's see how many we can get within the next chapter! I wonder if maybe this chapter will get 300 once it's had time for people to read it?
And so, we come to the final part of the "Rise" section of the Camelot arc. Here is where the final battles for Britain will take place, and we move into the 2nd section called "The Glory of Camelot". That section will be followed by the 3rd part "The Fall of Camelot" and the aftermath being "The Ashes of Camelot", thus wrapping up the first Act of the story and moving towards the next Act.
Act I: The Legend of Camelot (Prologue + 11 chapters)
Act II: Through the Ages (8 chapters)
Act III: Fate/Zero (23 chapters)
These are all of the chapters that I'm willing to divulge to you guys at the moment.
There will be more going beyond Zero, but I won't say, as I'd rather keep it a nice surprise for you guys as I'm sure it'll be one hell'a treat ;)
I've finally managed to sit down and listen to the Garden of Avalon soundtrack and it's so damn beautiful, I may wind up going back through some of the previous chapters and posting up points to where certain tracks fit certain scenes in the story during the Camelot Act.
Also, I'll continue to ensure people know that I've posted up a NarutoxFate/stay night challenge up that's divided into 2 parts, with Naruto in the events of the UBW route with some Fate route elements (I may add a Heaven's Feel route option that also has Fate route elements) and following into Apocrypha. And if you would like to take up the challenge, or know someone that would do so, drop by it and take a look at the details. Either leave a review on it, or PM me to talk more on it.
Anyways, on with the new chapter, and the conclusion to the "Rise" section of the Camelot arc!
Fair warning, there will be a lemon in this chapter. And it's the first one that I've written so please don't be so critical of my writing when it comes to this scene as well as the romance as it's not my strong suite.
If you want to skip it, go ahead, the beginning & end will come up with "{}".
Chapter 6: The Rise of Camelot Part VI
-Late November, 473 AD-
Naruto tossed and turned in bed as his eyes opened drowsily with the sun beginning to rise, shining through the ornate glass window into the room. He rubbed his eyes to get the gunk of sleep out of them, all the while, feeling like he had just finished up a relaxing day at the sauna back in Konoha. He looked to his left to see Arturia was still sleeping, hair undone, wearing a one-piece nightgown and a peaceful look gracing her features. Naruto smiled at the sight that he never got tired off, "How did I get so lucky with you?" He brushed a hand over her hair that felt like soft silk carried the scent of cherries.
"I could ask the same thing." It seemed Arturia had already woken up before he did but was merely trying to make things last as long as possible. She smiled as she opened her eyes while she took his hand to caress between her own before rubbing it against her cheek. Naruto slightly shivered which Arturia gave a small chuckle. Her skin was as soft as virgin snow, and Arturia always seemed to get that reaction from Naruto whenever she did something like this.
Ever since they began their secret love affair, they had done everything in their ability to hide it from everyone. Well… mostly everyone… unbeknownst to the couple, Arturia's father & brother figured things out very quickly that the two were now rather intimate with one another. However, Uzumaki and Pendragon had yet to take the next step in their relationship in terms of… making love to one another for a multitude of reasons.
Even though Naruto was a Dead Apostle, he was a unique case ever since Merlin explained his condition to him. He had no vampiric impulses, along with holding a certain level of Divinity within him that there was no telling what that did to him. Merlin had called him a 'symbiotic ball of contradictions' where those things that were impossible or unlikely thrived within him.
Then there was the adverse effect that his chakra would have on his body. It was building up once again after he regained his Six Paths power, all in due to Vivian's gift no doubt. Their fear was If Naruto & Arturia ever did make love, and something came out of it… well, both of them would have been happy regardless with a child born from their passion, but the status of her gender being revealed would be in jeopardy. Then there was the status of the child as well. Being called a bastard since it would be born out of wedlock and not having any legitimate claim to the throne as heir to Uther. Though the memories were old, Naruto could still recall how those called 'clanless' were looked down on by those in power.
And finally, Naruto would be revealed as a vampire to the public, and everything could be destroyed.
His Apostle status was no secret amongst the King's court with some having accepted him with open arms. While others like Gawain and Gehris were holding a sensible amount of caution. However, the mob is bigoted and easy to anger; his red eyes alone drew whispers that he was some devil. Rumors were abound of the strange blonde that walked in Camelot's shadows.
Naruto had reached out to Altrouge in this time to ask her of such a thing occurring, Merlin having lent him a butterfly Familiar to send a letter to the Balkans. He preferred a speedy delivery to one by hand that would have taken months. As luck would have it, she had responded in kind that they would not have any fear of such a thing occurring since the Crimson Moon 'sired' him, and Ancestor reproduction was nigh impossible without outside intervention. Although Altrouge did reluctantly say that Naruto's status was unique as he was aware of beforehand.
Either way, it was all too great a risk. But that did not deter their love for one another.
Speaking of the vampiress that pointed Naruto in Merlin's direction, she was glad that he had found someone to enjoy life with, along with a goal to work towards and gave him her best wishes. Although she did mention that Blackmore was rumored to have been in Britain about two years ago, Altrouge had said that he had stolen something of great importance to her, with Naruto deciding to keep an eye out along with an ear to the ground to find the disgusting Crow if he could. Whatever it was that Blackmore had stolen, Naruto had a feeling that a resident blackened Fae would stick her nose in it.
Arturia pulled Naruto back into bed as he tried to rise, something he tried to fight half-heartedly until conceding, they snuggled up to one another in bliss. Seeing that the morning was still just beginning, they had some time before they would be forced to go back to becoming the king and retainer in front of the masses, "I think it's because I'm just so likable. I mean what do I have that isn't just A-grade charismatic?" Naruto jested as their foreheads touched one another in a show of affection.
Arturia's rolled her eyes and played along with her partner, "Well… you could always…" She left it trailing off to tease Naruto as she shrugged her shoulders as if she wanted to say something but opted not to. One would be hard-pressed to reconcile this more laid back girlish side of Arturia from the stiff King Arthur, and Naruto felt privileged that she only showed this side to him.
Naruto playfully narrowed his eyes, "Oh come on~ I was kidding about that last part." Arturia stifled a laugh before she took a nearby pillow and swatted him lightly, "Hey!" Naruto took the pillow off his head as Arturia sat up at the head of the bed crossing her arms, giving him an innocent look as if she had nothing to do with it.
Naruto was about to say something until a knock on the door interrupted their intimate time together. It seemed that someone had already gotten up for the day before they did. Catching the odor of sweet blossoms masking sex, Naruto quickly rolled over the side of the bed and grabbed Carnnawen off the bedside table muttering a muted "Nyx" under his breath. The shadows beneath the bed frame pulsed before widening and Arturia watched in muted fascination as Naruto's entire body slipped into the shadow, leaving her alone.
With luck, his clothes weren't in plain view, being stashed in Arturia's closet since no one ever goes into it bar herself.
As it turns out, it was Merlin, "Ah! Good morning my king!" The flower magus merrily greeted, "I trust your sleep was well enough?" He gave a knowing smirk as if he already knew the truth, "I went by my apprentice's room, but he wasn't there, so I assumed he had already woken up to start his day. You wouldn't happen to know where he is, would you?"
Arturia's posture straightened up, seeing that her old teacher seemed to know the answer already, she felt it best to at least be somewhat honest though she didn't directly state anything in the event that one of the inner circle walked by, "He came by briefly to inform me that he was heading into the marketplace to gather some things, though he never said as to why. Perhaps he intends to inspect the bonfire construction sites?" Ever since the Linnuis homestead, Naruto had suggested that they create large bonfire structures to help heat the capital during winters to help with the farmlands inside the city to keep crops from completely dying out, as well as provide heating throughout the civilians' residence to ensure they were warm and not shivering through the season.
Merlin hummed in thought while he pulled a package that was wrapped up in white cloth out from his robes, "Well, in any case. I brought you some reading material that I thought you could benefit from in the future." The magus placed the book on a nearby chest of drawers before he turned back around to the open door, "If you happen to see my apprentice, do tell him that I have a new lesson that he needs to attend. Though I don't think the message will take that long to reach his ears." Casting a sideways glance to the shadows beneath Arturia's bed, he chuckled to himself before he shut the door to head to his workshop, leaving both occupants to themselves.
Naruto crawled out from within the shadow and dusted himself off before heading to the closet to grab his clothes, "I think he knows about… us." Naruto knew that Merlin was very perceptive given his wisdom and clairvoyance.
That and he was a Pervy Mage.
He had experience in such things. The fact he was half incubus was also a contributing factor.
Arturia breathed in deeply before she nodded, "If he did not, he more than likely would not have come by with that message for you." She wasn't a fan of lying to those close to her, but she, unfortunately, had no choice in the matter with so many secrets that would destroy things. Arturia turned away while Naruto quickly changed clothes to head to Merlin's workshop for the lesson all the while she contemplated on ways that maybe… just maybe… that everything could work out in the end for them. But before that, she needed to prepare herself in the coming days, their assault on the north to depose of her uncle for good was coming.
The shuffling of clothes stopped, signaling Arturia that it was alright to look back over to Naruto who walked over towards her. Shifting her position on the bed, Arturia got up on her knees to be at Naruto's head level where the two shared a chaste kiss between before he left. Breaking off their kiss, Naruto quietly whispered to his beloved, "Have I ever told you, how much I love you?"
"You do it quite often." Arturia replied before she gave Naruto another quick peck on the lips before pulling away and speaking again, "Now go head to Merlin and finish up your lesson."
Naruto sighed before he relented to that cute, adorable yet beautiful face, "Alright, alright. I'll go see what Pervy Mage has in-store today." The ninja spoke before he left Arturia's bedroom.
Feeling that she too needed to get dressed, Arturia was about to head into her closet, that is until she glanced back over to the package that Merlin had brought forth to her. Her curiosity got the better of her, and she found herself striding over towards the wrapped-up object and undid the cloth to see just what it was that her old teacher believed she could benefit from.
It was a thick tome of heavy leather binding and a rough hide strap holding it closed, but the title was still legible, scrawling out in gold leaf cursive. At first, Arturia was flabbergasted; she coughed a bit when she saw the title all the while her face became as red as a tomato, then her lips quivered in absolute embarrassment.
'How to Please Your Significant Other'
"D-damn you… Pervy Mage…" It seemed that Naruto nickname for the magus stuck with her as well and it was rightfully earned. Well… maybe he did have something for her to learn from… right…?
-The Tower of Magi-
Naruto made his way through the halls of the palace which had been mostly completed, with only a few minor things left to furnish such as a few rooms left to finish up. Although the Grand Hall where the court was held and the Private Garden were among the last significant structures left to finish. Giving a few waves to the guardsmen that were coming off their shifts from the night's watch and rotating with the rested men, Naruto arrived at the tower where he and Merlin practiced their Magecraft.
The tower was deceptively thick, appearing to outside observers as a smooth tower of marble that was outside of Camelot's keep. The apex of which held a design similar to that of Merlin's staff. The interior contained separate floors pertaining to the specific schools that Merlin had taught Naruto, allowing him to hone them to their peak without any distractions from the other subjects. Each wall, floor and doorway had been furnished with Magecraft to expand it. In layman's terms, it was bigger on the inside, but it went so much further than that. Taking the stairs to the top floor, Naruto saw Merlin preparing some sort of ritual; a transportation one if he read the markings correctly, prompting Naruto's curiosity to rise, "What's with the ritual? Trying to summon something?"
Not skipping a beat, Merlin poured some tea into a pair of cups as he began to explain, "More along the lines of the opposite of summoning." Merlin held the other cup for Naruto to take, the Apostle accepting it before he shifted the subject around, "Though I must say the king's step must be rather quick to traverse from the palace to the marketplace for you to receive my message." The magus arched an amused brow while he smirked at Naruto who's cheeks briefly gained a dusting of red before shaking it off.
"So…" Naruto rubbed the back of his head while he glanced around the room, trying to find something more interesting to look at than giving the Pervy Mage the satisfaction, settling on the view of the British countryside laid out beyond the balcony of the tower "…you know about us, huh?"
Merlin wagged a finger at his apprentice, "You can't fool me, dear apprentice. Even though you've lived longer than I, I am far more experienced in such matters than thee." Merlin laughed before waved off any concern Naruto had, "Have no fear, no one other than myself is aware of your secret love with the king." He paused briefly before he stroked his chin in thought, "Although I do believe Lancelot knows."
Naruto's eyes shot up in panic, "Lancelot knows?!"
Oh sh*t…
Merlin quickly waved his hand to try and calm Naruto down, "I highly doubt that he will say anything on the matter. In fact, I suspect he intends to take the secret to his grave." Naruto sighed in relief at this bit of news. Merlin had kept a very close eye on his king and apprentice ever since they returned from receiving Vivian's gifts, as he noticed that the two were more intimate than before. Not long after that, he did on occasion spot the Apostle sneaking in and out of her room during the evenings and mornings when most were still asleep. Lancelot had at times sent off those whom would've somehow discovered the meetings; thus, Merlin concluded that the Knight of the Lake did secretly support the pair and wished that they would find happiness even if they lied to everyone in public.
Which brought up the next item that Merlin felt that needed to be addressed, "I have also noticed that you've been working on ways to depose Vortigern without Arturia killing him, would you care to explain why?" He had known that Naruto was trying to devise such a way, however even if it did succeed, then things would not get better for Britain.
Naruto looked Merlin in the eye as he knew just what road Arturia could potentially head down if she did kill her uncle, "I've… I've had to fight family to the death before. It's not a pleasant thing. I've seen what happens when family members, brothers… fight & kill one another. And it changes them, forever."
Even after he knew the truth of the Uchiha Massacre, Sasuke swore vengeance against the Leaf after the Gokage Summit and even up until his supposed 'reform' leading to his betrayal just after they defeated Kaguya, Sasuke was a completely different person. Naruto knew that Arturia had already taken lives in battle; that she was a pure soul and desired justice, not vengeance, unlike his spiritual brother, but still… killing one's own family was a nasty thing, regardless. If Naruto could prevent that and even overthrow Vortigern without Arturia's innocence at the cost, then he would find a way.
Merlin merely shook his head as he pulled up a chair to sit down, "Sit with me." Taking another sip of his tea, Merlin believed that it was best to help guide his apprentice to think more realistically, to help guide their king to a better path. Merlin often had Fou watch over the private lessons that Naruto gave to Arturia when it came to combat with swordplay from the Far East, deduction tactics to help see through deception and traps in the heat of battle or even in expanding her usage of the basics of Magecraft that essentially turned theory into a very dangerous ability even in the most overwhelming odds.
Even that saying he had imparted to her,'Look underneath the underneath', were wise words indeed.
But if Naruto thought that he could protect her from every nasty thing in the world, then he needed to help pull the veil from his eyes to help him see clearly. Naruto pulled up the chair opposite of Merlin while his teacher spoke, "Tell me… if a flower only blooms in one direction. Is it still a flower?"
Naruto furrowed his brows at the question. Merlin always had some clever way of trying to make a point by confusing people with his words, while saying that they merely needed to think about the answer in which it would be revealed in all to them.
"I guess… maybe?" Naruto asked rather than claimed, "I mean if it still blooms even a bit, then it's still a flower."
Merlin shook his head at the answer that was more of a lopsided question than anything else, "Are you letting the flower grow or preventing it from finding its way? You can't protect her forever, you know." It was kind of Naruto to try and take on the aspects that one usually would change others, but it was foolish to do so.
Naruto straightened up at that statement, "Yeah, I know that but…"
"But what?" Merlin asked as he was curious if Naruto really could try to defend his stance in the argument.
Naruto looked down into the tea where he gazed into his reflection, looking back on the naïve boy who thought that he could redeem a comrade that was soaked in blood and yearned for more, "Even if she does kill Vortigern, her heart would only become cold in the end." He looked to Merlin with a defiant look in his eye, "There's no way I'm letting that happen. When you've got family blood on your hands, you can never wash it off."
"You speak from experience and melancholy, but you let it tinge your sentiment, Naruto." Merlin huffed, replacing his cup on the nearby table and stapling his fingers in thought.
Seeing that Naruto did not comprehend his meaning, Merlin hummed at the experience that Naruto clearly had, or at the very least appeared to have witnessed in his life, "Perhaps, but if she does not slay the Dragon tyrant, then Britain will only decline into civil war with some still advocating for him to return to the north." Merlin took another sip of his tea before continuing, "Not just that, if she does not, then her dream and ideals will only become harder to reach. While they may be childish, they are not wrong, nor are they bad, rather instead it will be a long and troubled road she will endure. One that you can aid her in if you continue to do so."
Naruto met the gaze of his teacher, his eyes full of determination. "I will do whatever I can to make sure she doesn't walk that path-"
"That's the point, you!" Merlin cut Naruto off in a rare showing of temper that brought the blonde to a complete stop. "You look at Arturia and see yourself when you were younger and hope to keep her hands clean because yours are dirty. But Arturia is not you, Naruto, do not take my tone as an insult to your ideals, but what you try to guide Arturia along is born of your past." Merlin's face returned to its usual calm state, but his eyes remained fierce. "Those who wallow in the past are incapable of making a better future; if you look upon the world from the past, then the past is all you will see."
The magus brought up a finger in another point to make, one that he was confident that Naruto would take far more seriously given his experience with the blackened Fae witch, "One day, Arturia will have to kill her sister to achieve her dream. Do you think that Morgan deserves such a thing as mercy from the king's justice?" Naruto opened his mouth to respond, but Merlin beat him to the punch, "Of course she will have to do so. Morgan is far too vindictive and dangerous to Arturia's dream. She would love nothing more than to burn it all down, leaving the king in despair at all the effort she put in to create her ideal kingdom, only to be stopped by you. You who would try so hard to impede on her dream; even spitting on her honor and your love for Arturia, to protect her innocence. Then you aren't a retainer or even a lover… just an old man angry that someone doesn't see things the way you do."
Merlin's words seemed to reach Naruto as his apprentice's eyes widened in that last sentence. He dipped his head down in shame, all the while Merlin continued onwards, "Your love for Arturia is indeed a good thing. But it can also blind you to the truth. She is a woman that has made her own choices in life, and those choices of the future will help steel her resolve to forge the utopia she wishes to create for the people." Merlin set his tea down for the last time as he stood up to finish their conversation up and move onto the lesson, "If you truly love her, respect her, admire her, and acknowledge that Arturia is a king, then you must aid her in carrying out such extremes. Otherwise, it will all be nothing more than an insult to her."
Naruto realized that Merlin was right. He couldn't protect Arturia from what was to come in spilling of her family's blood. But that didn't mean he couldn't help ease that burden from her shoulders. Merlin patted him on the back to help raise the mood into a cheerier atmosphere, "Now, I do believe that a lesson is due today, is it not?" Today would be quite the lesson indeed…
Taking in a deep breath, Naruto sat his tea on the table as his usual bravado rose back up, "Yup. So, what's on today's agenda?" Glancing back briefly to the ritual markings, Naruto inquired his teacher further, "You said it was the opposite of summoning. So, is it reverse summoning? Banishing?"
Merlin walked out onto the floor as he elaborated, "Given your connection to Nothingness, we shall see how you can navigate the Imaginary Number Space today." Gesturing for Naruto to step into the ritual circle, Merlin prepared the spell to send him off.
Naruto wasn't sure what it was that Merlin just said, "The what Space?"
Oh, Merlin had a feeling that this was something he needed to remind his apprentice of since he had most of his attention directed to Arturia for a good while, "The Imaginary Number Space is a space in between the spaces of Textures. We have the planet Earth, which is the celestial body and then myriad layers of realities stacked atop one another until you reach us here on the surface world. They all technically occupy the same space but are separated by the Imaginary Number Space."
" A place where nothing exists, and yet everything does exist, with no way to navigate it, unless one possesses a special connection to that which is Nothingness. Very much like yourself. It's similar to the concept of Hollow." Tapping his staff twice, the ritual circle began to activate with a hole suddenly appearing in the floor that leads into some bright green light. Naruto took a few steps back before he felt the tip of Merlin's staff in his back, "Now we shall push your connection to its limits, and you must find a way out of it. Good luck, my apprentice!" The magus merrily cheered the ninja on as he shoved him into the hole who screamed a few vulgarities at his teacher before the hole closed up to conclude the ritual.
Merlin walked back to the table to continue sipping his tea, all the while remaining patient for his apprentice to return, "And now to play the waiting game."
-Naruto-
"Oh, you douchebag…" Naruto was now floating in the middle of quite literally nowhere, with a dark dense fog obscuring his vision along with some floating lime-green lights dotting the fog. It extended seemingly forever in any given direction and Naruto had a hard time orienting himself given there were no reference points. The green lights that peppered the void ebbed and flowed with each passing second, something that has become harder to gauge. This entire place was little more than a place where concepts and realities met, and Naruto Uzumaki couldn't make heads nor tails of it.
' How do you plan to get out of this one, genius?'
Well, Merlin had stated that the Imaginary Number Space was a place in between textures; most likely it was what separated the Material World and the Reverse Side where the Phantasmal Species from the Age of Gods now resided within. It's also where everything exists, yet at the same time it does not.
'Well, Pervy Mage did say my connection to Nothingness could get me out of this place…'Which meant that he needed to put quite a bit of work into this lesson.
Naruto began to put four Memory Partitions to start setting the foundation of escaping. The thought of desire came to mind, as even though it was regarded as a sin of sorts by some cultures, it was a very strong emotion that could empower one to accomplish their goals. The desire to escape, the desire to see Camelot again… the desire to see his beloved drove him to escape this space. Naruto crossed his legs while he 'sat down' to try and 'feel' out the Imaginary Number Space to see if there was at least something that he could use to help aid him.
Tapping into the Six Paths power within, Naruto extended his senses outwards through the space to form something that could open the way back to the tower, something such as the Sword of Nunoboku could be useful, that is if it could tear open a way through dimensions. Then again he was sure that half of everything Obito had ever said was bullsh*t at this point. No, he'd need something far more powerful. Something like Excalibur's light came to mind…
Seconds dragged on into minutes and hours to Naruto whose eyes remain closed the entire time, only the sound of flowing nothingness to accompany him; his mind never straying far from that brilliant golden light.
"Heh, here I'm trying to escape this damned space… and yet, I can help but think of that beautiful smile of hers…" Naruto had Arturia on his mind for many a times during the day, thinking of how many ways that things could get screwed up if they were discovered, or on what way could Naruto try to make Arturia's day all the happier whether it be food, or amusing stories from his childhood that were able to bring a laugh out of her. Merlin's words' reverberated in the empty space around him, about letting Arturia become her own person instead of being dragged down into his past ideologies. More than anything he remembered the light that had filled the field on the day of selection seven years ago, before he had any connection to Arturia. That feeling was beyond romance, not tarnished by something so subjective...it was euphoria.
Suddenly, a bright light began to radiate before him forcing the blond to shield his eyes temporarily before he used Reinforcement on his eyes to allow him to adjust to its brightness; even then, it was like staring at the sun, "What the…?" This light was warm and comforting, just as Excalibur was… and yet, Naruto could feel that the source, was frighteningly powerful… "Holy sh*t." Naruto felt the light's power was overwhelming, flooding his senses with power beyond imagination… a power that could help him escape this space, or eternally damn him to it, "Ok, time to take this slowly."
'Woah, hey! Be careful here, there's no telling what the hell that light is!'
'I already got that feeling when it suddenly appeared. But if this light can get me out of here, then I should at the least check it out.'
'Have you ever considered the possibility that one day flying by the seat of your pants is going to get you killed?'
Naruto got up from his position to try and walk towards the light, only to recall that he couldn't, seeing that there was no gravity in this space, "Guess I can try to reach out and grab it, I guess." Still in the Six Paths form, Naruto reached out with a cloaked hand to grasp the light, feeling that he managed to grab onto something solid: a handle of sorts if he was feeling it correctly, "Time to take a leap of faith." Naruto grasped the handle to pull on the object that began to take the form of a silver pole.
The pillar of light did not react favorably to such treatment and began to crackle angrily before growing thicker and taller, piercing the heavens and dropping to the depths of the mist beneath him. When he did not relent the green mist began to condense into layer upon layer of white clouds that formed around Naruto and the pillar in banks, one stacked atop the other but all fastned in some way to the central pillar of golden light. Naruto continued on regardless, reasoning that if he stopped now he would at best be back to square one and at worst...he didn't really want to think about it.
He tugged on the pole as hard as he could using his enhanced strength, coupled with Reinforcement to recall his cloaked hands back to his body to try and sue the object to escape the Imaginary Number Space, "Come… on… get loose… you damned… stupid… THING!" Naruto finally yanked the pole out of the light that still radiated before him, however he now observed the object he was now holding: a shining silver lance that seemed to twist around the pole, with the guard twisting around to open up like an odd flower blooming.
'Careful with that lance, Naruto.'Kurama spoke up, with a worried tone evident in his voice,'I have no idea just what you did, but that lance… holy crap is it powerful…'Disbelief and shock became obvious in his words.
'You know what it is?'Naruto inquired.
'No, but it looks like you merely pulled a piece of that light from the source, and it just took form of whatever you were thinking of at the moment.'Kurama continued to observe the lance's energies, seeing that it was linked very closely to the source, despite having a piece of it being broken off,'In fact, that thing is still drawing power from the source, even after being split apart. I'd wager it'd still do just that even if we do get back to the Material World. 'The fox could see that Naruto unknowingly created a weapon that held an infinite amount of destructive potential.
Naruto stared at the lance in shock, as such a thing was unheard of. If what Kurama said was accurate, then the level this lance had was unquantifiable in terms of power… In fact, he was so focused on that matter alone, he was ignorant of the hole that appeared in front of him. Turning his attention to this new development, Naruto could feel the air of the magi tower that Merlin just shoved him out of breeze through the whole, with the image distorted; most likely the texture that separated the dimensions.
"Alright, back home we go." Naruto thrust the lance through the hole that tore it open even further as he tried to push himself through with all his might, however, he felt a tugging sensation on the lance that pulled him back through to the tower as he deactivated the Six Paths before the Counter Force began to act up again, leaving the Imaginary Number Space for good.
-Minutes Earlier; The Magi Tower-
"YOU DID WHAT TO HIM?!" Merlin had to cover his ears to keep his eardrums from rupturing after Arturia practically shouted at him in both annoyance as well as anger at her old teacher for basically shoving Naruto into some other dimension for a lesson.
Arturia came to ask Naruto for some help in regarding their assault on Vortigern's lands to finally depose her mad uncle, only to learn from Merlin's mouth that he tossed him into a place where there was quite literally no way of escaping unless the Apostle tapped into his connection to Nothingness, but there was no telling how long that would take.
As for the magus' current situation, well… "I mean, he does have a special Origin that can get him out of it." He chuckled all the while nervously searching for little Fou, hoping he could help him get out of the incoming beating. Sad to say the little familiar was nowhere to be found, so distracting jokes were off the table.
Arturia crossed her arms, as she narrowed her eyes at Merlin, wondering just what kind of punishment she could subject him to for doing such a thing. As she began to speak once again, Arturia saw a dense fog emerge from in between them, along with the tip of a shining lance if she was correct emerge from it, prompting Merlin to swoop in and save his proverbial ass from the king's punishment for tossing her secret lover into the Imaginary Number Space, "Aha! I knew he could do it!"
Arturia quickly lost her imposing stature with the contemplation of concern crossing her face, as she grasped the lance to pull Naruto through the hole and back into the tower, with Naruto's golden shroud dissipating as he held onto the large lance that came with him. Naruto coughed a bit before he tried to clear his throat to speak again, as Arturia helped to prop him up as she patted his back, "Naruto, are you alright?!"
Naruto blinked as he undid the Reinforcement on his eyes to see Arturia helping him up, "I'm fine, though I brought back something with me." Oh yeah, he almost forgot… "By the way, Pervy Mage…" The ninja turned to his teacher, who was too shocked apparently as his vision was directed at the lance Naruto was currently holding in a manner that was about to whack him on the head, "…I think you're due for a smack on the head for that little 'lesson' you gave me."
Naruto raised the lance high above his head, just merely intending to put a bruise on Merlin's forehead, that is until his teacher quickly brought a hand up in protest, "WAIT, DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS THAT YOU'VE BROUGHT WITH YOU?!" Pointing directly at the lance.
Arturia & Naruto were both stunned by Merlin's extremely rare panicked tone, as he never… EVER… sounded as such before in the years they've known the man. Naruto slowly lowered the lance as was beginning to worry what it was that he brought back with him, "What did I bring back with me…?"
Merlin stepped closer as he brought his free hand to touch the lance, that seemed to spark briefly causing Arturia to jump briefly before she placed a hand on Excalibur to draw it if necessary, but Merlin halted her with a gesture before he began to explain, "This… my young apprentice, is Rhongomyniad."
Now Naruto understood what it was that he was holding… what he brought with him… what he just touched in the Imaginary Number Space with his tenant whistling in amazement,'Of all the things…'
In previous lessons with Merlin, Naruto had come to learn that the tower that fastens the Material and Reverse Side separate from one another, was a pillar of absolute light that kept them from merging into one another, but also securing the planet together. It held power beyond imagination, surpassing almost everything in existence, thus ensuring the stability of the world would remain as is. If the pillar ever came undone, the damage would be beyond catastrophic, with reality being torn asunder and the Age of Gods being re-enacted… or at least the World would be placed in a new age that was very much like it.
Rhongomyniad was essentially a weapon that could break the world if its wielder were so inclined to do so.
Naruto shakingly held the lance, as if it were but a fragile thing, contrary to the evidence of what Merlin revealed, "Ok, so. I'm holding a weapon that can break the world and have no idea how to use it properly."
Merlin ran his fingers across the surface of the lance while Arturia was now contemplating that little nugget that Naruto dropped, "H-How… I-I don't understand." She turned to Merlin for him to elaborate further, "Merlin, how can this lance'break the world', as Naruto put it?" She had long let go of Excalibur's grip but remained on edge, nonetheless.
"Of all the things…" Merlin murmured to himself. He was analyzing Rhonogmyniad to see that despite being separated from the primary source of power, it was still drawing upon it to empower the weapon. The only weapon that Merlin knew could match it was long lost inthatfoolish, tyrannical king's treasury somewhere in that desert of wandering savage tribes. But not evenhehad anything in his possession that was the original of this lance, nor the Fae gifts that Vivian bestowed upon Arturia, Lancelot & Gawain.
Something that Merlin was very grateful for inwardly, knowing that Caliburn was a copy that was no doubt inthatlost treasury and would break before the original model he forged for Arturia to become the king.
He knew that Arturia was not very knowledgeable in these subjects, so he elaborated for her, "…young Arturia, what you see before you is but a shadow of Rhongomyniad's true form. A pillar of light that binds the world together and yet separates the Material from the Spiritual worlds. The Lance that Shines to the Ends of the World. A lance that has the potential to as Naruto said,'break the world', by destroying the barriers to allow the Phantasmal Species in the Reverse Side of the World to migrate back over to our realm." He glanced to Arturia whose jaw had dropped slightly with wide eyes while Naruto was still frozen in place, "If that were to occur, then things would become very dire for not just us, but those who could crossover as well. Although we may be able to use it in some form or another."
Merlin went over to the stairs to begin delving through his library to look for a specific book, "And by the way…" He turned to glance back to the other occupants of the top floor, who in turn did the same, "…I do believe that it is suited to better hands, don't you think so, Naruto?" He turned back to the stairs as he descended below leaving Naruto & Arturia alone with one another, with the ninja knowing who was far better experienced as well as benefiting greatly from having Rhongomyniad in their hands.
Turning to Arturia, Naruto bent a knee as he held the lance up to Arturia before he spoke, "For a king that wields a sword that promises victory, then a lance that shines to the ends of the world would do far better in your hands than my own." Ever since Vivian told him that Arturia was the linchpin for the Age of Fairies, he had done everything he could try and find new ways to ensure that she could never die, even going as far as to forge a unique armor that was even greater than the one she donned in battle for preparation against Vortigern, seeing that he would be their greatest challenge in the campaign's finale. And now with Rhongomyniad, things seemed even brighter for Arturia's victory and dreams to come to fruition.
Arturia stared at the lance that Naruto was handing to her, unsure of how to feel about wielding such a power. On the one hand, she saw that he was passing on a great weapon that if in the wrong hands, could wreak devastation unlike anything ever seen before. But in the right hands, it would be the greatest shield & sword to protect what is just in the world. Arturia slowly inched her hands over to the lance's grip to take it from her kneeling retainer; gripping the handle, Arturia hefted the weapon into her hands to note that it was far lighter than she initially thought, just as Excalibur & Avalon weighed less than the average sword & sheath, so too did Rhongomyniad compared to a standard lance.
"Thank you, Naruto." She hefted the lance up in front of her to see that the weapon reflected her face with light dancing around within it, signifying that it was not of this world. Although since she had it out with her, "Naruto, please stay kneeled." An idea came to mind…
Naruto arched a brow at Arturia's words, but complied regardless, "Uhm… alright then, I'm kneeling."
The next thing he knew, Arturia placed the lance on his left shoulder before she placed it on the right, "Despite that this isn't very traditional since knighting is performed with a sword, not a lance. This will have to do for now."
Was she knighting him? What for?
"On this day; I, Arturia Pendragon, King of Knights and Britain, do so proclaim my retainer: Naruto Uzumaki, to be my knight. My Knight of Sky Silver." Arturia raised the lance as she held it downwards as she held her hand for Naruto to take, "I know that you are not fond of the attention, but I believe that you deserve a proper title. Even if the people are unaware of your deeds for me, this was the least I could do."
Oh, so that's what she wanted to do. Naruto had preferred to stay out of the spotlight when it came to the public, seeing that a Dead Apostle was a mage under the king, but if he were to be recognized as a knight instead, even an unorthodox one at that, "I… thank you, Arturia." Ever since they began their secret relationship, Arturia had been adamant in Naruto calling her by her true name when they were in private as opposed to being called 'my king'. She knew he was showing respect, but she had enough of that from everyone else in the capital, and Naruto made things different for her with how she was addressed.
A nice change of pace was always good.
Naruto took her hand to stand up as he pondered what to do next, although Arturia spoke first, "Naruto, I also came here for your consultation in regards to dealing with our final battles coming forth." She knew his spies had snuck into a few villages in the north providing them with intel that could help them to find victory against their enemy, along with his tactics that were hard to predict.
Scratching the back of his head, Naruto wanted to try and divert the conversation towards something else, but she was in her 'king mode' per say, so he needed to placate her while still addressing the issue, "I see. Hmm… well, I can help out with that definitely since I still need also to see what reports my spies have sent back. Although…" He left the sentence unfinished to draw Arturia into his other intentions.
"Yes? What else?" The knightly king inquired.
"…well I actually had something in mind for us. Just the two of us actually… a date." A date was an idea that came to mind after his talk with Merlin on the matter of her. He realized that he couldn't stop Arturia from taking her uncle's life, but he could still do something to help her ease the process even if it was just for a bit.
However, the term of what a date meant was utterly lost on Arturia since they had yet to have one together since their duties kept getting in the way. Now though, it seemed that Naruto had one last opportunity to share something that couples usually would between them, "What is a date?"
She co*cked her head to the side as her expression shifted into cute confusion.
Damn her for being such a… but that just meant she was so adorable, and he couldn't help it but be enraptured by her.
Clearing his throat to explain a bit, Naruto's own blush rose up from how he was already picturing things would go, "Well, a date is when two people who love each other very much spend time together and do some things with one another." He hoped that would be enough to help clear things up for her.
"Do we not do that already in secret?" Naruto's adorable king asked with innocence.
Guess she didn't get it.
Shaking his head, Naruto tried to explain a bit further, "Not really, I mean yes we do eat together apart from everyone else, we do talk a lot and even train together, but…" He sighed at how this was going, "…a date that I'm talking about is, well… me taking you, the both of us out to do some… stuff together away from all the business that's about the country." He saw that Arturia was a little surprised that he'd say this, though she stayed silent as he finished things up, "It'd give us the one chance to be just… us… no king. No knight. Just a couple doing something together without a care in the world and pretending that we're a pair of teenagers in love with one another."
Arturia was floored by what Naruto just proposed to her: temporarily abandoning their duties to go off gallivanting on some lovey-dovey time together. On the one hand, she wanted to chastise him for making the suggestion, but on the other hand… she actually wanted to do this so badly. Being the king took up a lot of her time, with maintaining the kingdom while protecting the people; however, she couldn't deny that it was stressful & tiring at times.
To be able to get away from it all, even just for a bit would be something that could help clear her mind of the coming battles. "I, I think I would like that, Naruto. Just the two of us." However, there laid a problem within Naruto's idea, "But, who will be in charge of affairs while I am gone?"
Naruto already had thought up something to help in that regard, "Well, I can take your place for the time being." Shadow Clone and Transformation Jutsu combo for the win! However, Arturia didn't understand given her confused expression, "Just watch." He demonstrated for her the Jutsu combo to reveal that he produced an exact copy of Arturia herself, with the disguised clone twirling around to showcase the illusion that the king was still in Camelot, as it ended with a curtsy that made Arturia inwardly wonder if she seemed a little too girly as a king.
"So, what mischievous little plan do my current and former student have in mind to make it appear that the king is in two places at once?" Merlin's amused voice rose up as he stood at the top of the stairs with a book that hid the lower half of his face, no doubt finding the scene entertaining.
"It's just a—"
"We're trying to—"
"For a—"
The three other occupants of the floor tried to answer, before they overlapped one another and stopped to see that was getting them nowhere before the clone dispersed to allow fewer mouths to speak, prompting Naruto to go first, "We were, uhh…"
He scratched his cheek in embarrassment before Arturia took over, "What Naruto is trying to say is that… we were planning on—"
"A date, perhaps?" Merlin finished as he chuckled at the sight of both soon to be lover blushing lightly since he figured it out.
'Damned Pervy Mage was probably listening in the whole time.'Naruto thought to himself.
Merlin made his way over towards the two, as he held the book off to his side now, "In any case, you'll need some help. Perhaps a certain knight that is aware of your secret love affair could help with that?" Wiggling his eyebrows, Merlin was already giving them a bit of help in that regard to keep their cover.
Naruto got the gist of what Merlin said, but Arturia was shocked by that, "Someone knows?!" Panic quickly ensued before Naruto gripped her shoulders to comfort the girl.
"Lancelot does know, but he's not saying anything." Naruto explained, "I don't think he'd tell a soul about us together."
This calmed Arturia down as she breathed a sigh of relief.
In any case, Merlin tapped his staff on Rhongomyniad to direct their attention towards the weapon, "While the two of you will be on your secret rendezvous, I will be needing the lance to place a few restraints upon it, just to make sure its power doesn't cause any unwanted changes around the place."
Seeing that such a thing was indeed unwanted, Arturia handed the lance over to Merlin who had tucked the book under his arm to free his hand up to take the lance, "It will take some time, but I should have it ready for you to use before the siege of the northern lands. So, the two of you can run along now, and enjoy your little date." Merlin gave them a shooing gesture as he continued back over to a large table that held many a magical item.
Naruto & Arturia looked to one another before the ninja started to speak, all the while he ran Thought Acceleration in tandem with Memory Partition to plan their date out accordingly, "Well, let's uhm, head back to our rooms. I'll have some Shadow Clones go pick some stuff up, while we get ready." He brings up a finger for a point for Arturia, "Make sure to wear something that no one would associate you with being the king as well."
Arturia nodded as she believed that she did have something the likes of which he mentioned, "I understand, I may have just what it is you're referring to."
And with that, the young couple headed off to get ready… and hopefully, avoid any suspicions.
-Four Hours Later-
Naruto had his Shadow Clones head into the marketplace with a large picnic basket in hand, with everything packed for what he had in mind for their date, "Ok, lunch? Check. Flowers? Check." He was going over the essentials in his head to make this the perfect date. It had to be good for her, otherwise he doubted that any possible future secret rendezvous would be enjoyable, or at least bearable since was the first date he had ever taken a girl out on.
You would think that so many years on his lonesome would have made Naruto savvy to how to court a girl, but the majority of that time was spent preoccupied with many ventures that left little time for women.
Jiraiya had always said that Naruto had a natural charm which made girls fall for him easily if he put some effort into it. Thinking back on the past for a bit, Naruto never did have any romantic feelings for anyone bar Sakura, though he had long since concluded that it was less romance and more a need to be accepted. However, he never really got the chance to speak to Hinata after his fight with Pain. When she confessed herself right there on the battlefield, he was too shocked even to speak coupled with how everything went downhill from there with the Gokage Summit, the war, etc. Naruto was too distracted by those events to talk to the Hyuga and let her down easy. He shook his head at those thoughts since it was in a past that he could not change.
But now? Now, he found someone that he felt a deep and sincere affection for, a person who made his day just by existing and she had not rejected him when he had made this known. He had no regrets in admitting his love for Arturia.
Naruto mentally checked to feel the Flying Raijin kunai placed on a tree trunk that had been set outside the walls at the destination he had in mind so that they could evade unwanted eyes, "Ok, Flying Raijin marker is set." Checking his attire of a simple white tunic, blue pants and brown boots, coupled with the illusionary spell he used to change his appearance slightly, no one would see him as Merlin's apprentice. His eyes had returned to their original sky blue, along with his hair cut short and the whisker birthmarks gone, Naruto appeared similar to his father in his youth.
Finally, standing in front of Arturia's door, Naruto shook imperceptibly in both anticipation & nervousness at the date. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door before speaking up, "It's me, Naruto." He spoke softly but loud enough for her to hear from within.
"Come in." He could make out Arturia's soft voice from inside, though it sounded a little muffled. She most likely was in her closet getting ready. Naruto quickly opened the door to step inside as he looked down both ways of the hall to make sure no one saw him enter before shutting the door. Setting the basket down on the nearby chest, Naruto turned his attention to the closet from which Arturia stepped out to show her drastic change in appearance. No longer was she garbed in royal blue clothes that designated her as the king, nor of royal blood, or even possessing the atmosphere of a leader. Instead, her hair was let down ending just below her shoulder blades, along with her attire: a floor-length one-piece dress in baby blue with puffed shoulders and a cream cote fastened around the bodice. All in all, she was just another British girl that looked like she was enjoying the day like any other in the country.
Naruto stared at her in a daze of sorts, not used to seeing this side of Arturia, having grown accustomed to the usual clothes she wore. Seeing this Arturia blushed before she spoke up, "I, uh… I chose this for its simplicity. But I still have doubts about this…"
"Not at all!" Naruto snapped out of his stupor while he suppressed a twitch at the side of his mouth away, already backing up her appearance, "No one will even think that you're the king wearing that. I mean, it… it looks perfect on you. Uh, in that… girly sort of way. Yeah!"
Arturia dipped her down a bit in embarrassment, "I'm sorry for not appearing more like a woman to you…"
Naruto shook his head quickly before trying to explain things, "No, you're beautiful whatever you wear, it's just that, well, you always pretend to be a guy in front of other people. Now though, now you can look more like a girl than before. You can be a woman." He recalled Jiraiya pulling him off to the side and telling him he was an idiot for telling Sakura she hadn't changed at all in the three years of their training, despite believing that Sakura was always a woman in his eyes.
Arturia, on the other hand, seemed to have no confidence in her girlish appearance, as she downplayed it rather than accept things; most likely all in due to her upbringing to have the mindset of a man as well as a knight, to lead the country.
Said king had raised her head back up in surprise that Naruto had complimented her in such a way. Arturia held no value of such things, and it honestly came as a surprise. She blushed as she looked away briefly before a small smile graced her features that Naruto thought wasWAYtoo adorable in his eyes, "Thank you…" Arturia replied quietly. Other than that, she had no idea how to deal with such things…
A knock on the door alerted them to someone possibly walking in on their situation, but with luck… "Excuse me, your majesty? May I come in?" came the measured baritone of Lancelot from the other side of the door.
Arturia bucked up to regain her 'kingly' tone, "You may enter."
The Knight of the Lake opened the door to see both his king and friend in commoner clothes, causing him to arch a brow in curiosity, "Might I inquire as to what the two of you are about to do?"
Naruto picked the basket from atop the chest and made his way over to Arturia's side all the while he gently interlocked their hands with one another, "Well, the king and I are going out on a date today before we begin our assault on the north. And we uhh…" This was getting awkward, Lancelot just held a straight face the entire time he was explaining things.
Then Arturia stepped in to finish things, "Naruto was about to ask you if you would aid us in keeping this a secret from everyone else." Merlin had informed her of Lancelot's knowledge shortly before Naruto's return from Imaginary Numbers Space.
"I was not aware that you both knew that I knew of your…" Lancelot tried to put it into words that were appropriate for their unique situation, "…affair?"
Naruto sighed, "Pervy Mage knew, and then just mentioned it aloud to himself, though I'm pretty sure he meant for us to hear it."
Lancelot hummed at that bit of news, though he really wasn't all that surprised by it. He had known Merlin to be a crafty person to figure out all the secrets in Camelot, "I see." Placing a hand to his chin, he briefly thought on the matter before he answered, "I can provide aid in keeping your appearances up in the capital, but I will need some help in that regard." Naruto immediately formed two transformed Shadow Clones, each taking both Naruto & Arturia's appearances as they would usually in their blue garbs. Lancelot nodded as he smiled at this, "I think… that this shall work out well."
Naruto gave him a megawatt smile in appreciation all the while Arturia bowed her head slightly in thanks, "Thank you, Sir Lancelot."
Naruto held Arturia's hand as he left their friend with the disguised Shadow Clones, as the ninja activated the Flying Raijin to teleport himself and Arturia to his ideal destination.
-Somewhere Else-
Arturia had seen Naruto demonstrate his strange teleporting ability, or as he called it the 'Flying Raijin Jutsu', something that he had learned in his youth as a way of connecting with his deceased father on some level. He had also mentioned that it was one of the first pieces of 'Jutsu' he had been able to adapt into Magecraft. Seeing it was one thing, experiencing it was another. As soon as her lover activated the Jutsu, she felt her body lift weightlessly off the ground for but a brief moment, only to plant themselves right back on the ground. Only it wasn't ground, rather it was sand as white as snow in the winter. Arturia took in their surroundings to see that Naruto had teleported them to a beach that was secluded by nearby rock formations, along with flower patches that dotted the shoreline, clear blue water and fresh air that smelt like the autumn turning into winter. It was a place that held a comforting atmosphere for anyone that traveled to this destination if they managed to find it.
"Naruto…"
"I found this place actually while I was out running some errands for Merlin one day…" Naruto had set the basket down while he took out a large blanket to set down for them to eat and relax together, "…it's one of the most beautiful places I'd ever seen in this country, and after we started seeing each other. Well, I thought that maybe you'd like to visit this place one day when we had the time to spare." Once he set the blanket down, Naruto sat down to begin setting the plates down for them to eat their lunch.
Arturia sat down as she merely gazed at the food Naruto managed to prepare for them in just a few short hours, Shadow Clones no doubt making things all the easier as well as faster to complete. Naruto had prepared Menemen from Byzantium with sumac yoghurt for himself, spiced roast plum and almond French toast for Arturia, and as for dessert; a simple dessert consists of custard mixed gooseberries, raspberries and rhubarb. Naruto looked up to see that his date was practically drooling on one side of her mouth at the sheer sight of what he prepared for them. He chuckled before he spoke up, "Arturia, you're drooling over on your left side."
Arturia blinked out of her gaze, feeling a little embarrassed, she quickly wiped the left side of her mouth before she responded, "I…! That was…!" She gazed down briefly at the food before she looked straight at Naruto with Bright red cheeks, "I was merely inspecting your food, I mean... I have no doubt it will be delicious, but that drool was merely a—a reaction? I just…" She was quickly cut off by Naruto as he inched over to kiss her on the cheek.
"I know, I know." He could see that Arturia's pride was taking a slight blow from the embarrassment, so he felt the need to try and help her out of the situation, all the while stealing a kiss from her, "You were merely inspecting the quality of the food by sight, just to make sure that nothing seemed out of place or bring something to my attention." The Apostle hummed in satisfaction with Arturia relaxing after he 'explained' her reaction to their lunch.
The two ate in tranquility, as the waves gently rolled across the sand all the while Naruto contemplated on the next idea he had for their date, though he noticed that Arturia would take a few brief glances every now and then over to the beach. No doubt she wanted to go put her feet in the water, to feel the rush of the waves wash over her, "You know..." Naruto spoke up to grab her attention, "…if you want to go play in the waves, even just a little bit, we can do that."
It seemed that the more Arturia was away from her kingly duties, the more she acted like a girl her age honestly would, "We, can? I hope we have enough time for—"
"We have plenty of time, don't worry. Lancelot and my clones are handling things well enough, and I'm sure of that." Naruto waved off her concerns as this date was meant to help ease her mind, along with getting Arturia to relax before she dips her hands in her uncle's blood.
Arturia had gobbled up her food quickly after hearing that, placing her finished plate down before she took her boots off and sat up to make her way over to the shoreline where the waves gently washed upon the white sands that made up the beach. Ever so slowly, the young girl inched over to the water as the waves came down upon her feet, bringing forth a rather relaxing sensation that washed away whatever tense feelings she had about today. She closed her eyes as she allowed the stress to wash away, but suddenly she felt a pair of arms wrap around her; Naruto's no doubt after having finished up his own food and putting it away. The ninja planted a small kiss on the crook of her neck that made her giggle a little due to his breath running down her neck tickling her, "I wish that this moment could last forever…" Arturia said to herself more than to Naruto.
The ninja halted the kiss as he placed his chin atop her head, making their appearance a little comical, if a little romantic, but an idea popped into his head… Naruto quickly scooped Arturia up; she became confused as he held her bridal style and started making his way out further into the water all the while applying chakra to his feet, "N-Naruto! What are you doing?!" Now Arturia was holding onto Naruto for dear life with all her strength. Even though she had the blessings from the Lady of the Lake, she couldn't help but be slightly afraid of falling into the water.
"Hehe…" The ninja tried to adjust his head so he could see properly since Arturia wrapped her arms around his neck as tight as can be, "We're going water walking, of course. I'd ask if you'd want to dance, but I don't think the waves will let us."
Indeed, the waves while gentle weren't in the best condition for doing just that. Naruto would've had her keep her feet atop his own as they danced across the water as if they were in a ballroom. A large wave came their way as Arturia silently clamored up for Naruto to take them back to the beach, "Naruto!" She couldn't help but smile slightly at how things were going if her lover wasn't who he was.
"Don't worry!" He was preparing to make a jump over the wave to give his girlfriend a little excitement for the date, "Trust me, this'll be fun!" Naruto grinned ear to ear with the wave incoming straight at them. Despite how the water was not a vampire's best friend, Naruto applied Reinforcement to his legs as he bent down slightly to leap high above the wave and into the air.
Arturia yelped as they rose high above the wave, only to start laughing as they came down with the water splashing them a bit. Naruto looked to see that while Arturia wanted to keep going, she really wanted to get back onto solid ground with an idea popping into the Apostle's head…
"Want to see something that I always did back in my old home, and what I see every day?" Naruto had made his way back over to the shoreline to set Arturia down.
Now that was something Arturia was curious about, "What is it?"
She turned just enough to where she could make out the grin on his face, "Grab your boots, and I'll show you."
Letting her go, Arturia rushed back over to the basket that Naruto had already packed up to put her boots back on, as the ninja slowly made his way towards her. Picking up the basket, Naruto held out his hand to Arturia who dusted herself off after getting her boots back on, "Ok, I'm ready." Grasping his hand firmly, Naruto teleported them to their next destination.
-Elsewhere-
The Flying Raijin kunai that was embedded into the stone ground vibrated before a flash of white appeared before it. Arturia had known that the mountain range off to the west raised high above Camelot; however, the view it provided that now was stunning. Now they stood on a significant cliff edge that was large enough to hold a few dozen people on it. She could see the silver palace almost finished coupled with the farmlands, houses, the park as well as the river gleaming through the city; even the cemetery & memorial that would soon be completed were all an awe-inspiring sight. The people going in and out of the city along with the houses that dotted the parts of land that were prime for living appeared to be ants to the naked eye.
"That's some view, huh?" Naruto said as he still held her hand. Arturia could only nod, as words were not enough to describe that her dream was almost at completion, all the while, she gazed at the capital. Naruto had let go of her hand, as he set the basket down to rummage through it before he pulled out something new, "I got something for you, Arturia."
She turned her head to see that Naruto produced a bouquet of colorful flowers, "They're beautiful." Arturia took the flowers as she sniffed their fragrance, "These flowers smell wonderful."
The ninja rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, "I… well I picked a few of them from some places I found, some at the beach, while a few others from a flower shop down in the marketplace." Several of them were rare roses that could only be found in hidden places on the island that he needed to break the sound barrier to get them in time before this moment. He silently thanked Ino for those lessons with preparing flowers for someone during his spare time when he was bored out of his mind on his days off from work.
"Thank you…" Arturia responded, "…I will have these placed in the window back in my room once we return to the palace." Turning back to Camelot, Arturia sat down at the edge as she placed the flowers next to her, with Naruto doing the same with the basket. The two sat in silence for a minute before Arturia spoke up again, "It truly is a sight to behold."
Naruto nodded in agreement, "Back in my home, there was the Hokage monument with their faces carved into a mountain like this." He began reminiscing all those times when he was younger, "Everyday, I'd head up to those heads and sit there looking down at the village that I'd be in charge of when I became the Hokage. I'd think 'When I'm Hokage, no one will look down on me ever again, they have to acknowledge me!'" He remembered sitting atop the faces once again after his defeat of Pain, to see the village was slowly rebuilding before the war broke out and that Danzo douche took control temporarily as the unofficial Hokage, though Naruto never actually met him before Sasuke had killed him.
"But then after everything started to get closer to the war, I'd think instead'I'm gonna lead the village into a bright & peaceful future. A future without war or suffering, a place where everyone can smile and the other villages would side-by-side with us.', 'cause honestly, I think deep down, that's what I really wanted to do." Jiraiya's ideal had sunk deep into Naruto after his death, coupled with how much wrong he saw with the way the ninja world was, he wanted to break the constant fighting & mistrust that had been sewn in for generations.
"A future without war or suffering…" Arturia said to herself, "…that's a beautiful dream." Ever since Ector had begun training her to be a knight and king, he would take her out on travels with Kay to show her what all Britain was suffering from. The images of burning villages, raids and corrupt officials played back in her mind at how she desperately wanted to change this status quo of perpetual chaos. It was then that Arturia made her decision to save her people, to help build a better tomorrow, and to ensure that all of her efforts, as well as the efforts of those who would serve her would not be in vain. Camelot was that ideal, or rather a stepping stone to that dream she held and still held to this day.
"Naruto."
"Hmm?"
"I'd like to stay here, just for a little while longer." The view she had of Camelot was something she never wanted to forget.
Naruto said nothing as they both sat in the comforting silence of one another, all the while they leant up against one another like a couple merely enjoying the day.
-Arturia's Room-
After the two lovers fell in silence atop the mountain range, both had fallen asleep as nightfall had come and the day was coming to an end, with tomorrow being the day they would plan for their siege of the north. Now, Naruto had teleported them back to Arturia's room with their appearances of the Shadow Clones retiring for the evening to their quarters and dispersing with nothing of any importance occurring in the day, as Lancelot helped keep things relatively quiet.
"I really enjoyed today, even if we fell asleep up there," Naruto said.
Arturia smiled as she held his hand, all the while she had been dreaming someday that the two of them living in some quiet cottage in the countryside with a few children running around. It was just a dream, but a dream she wished could be fulfilled.
But fate was simply too cruel to them.
Naruto cleared his throat briefly before speaking again, "Well, I uhh… should probably get back to my room and put things up." Gesturing with the basket that he jiggled while Arturia brought up the flowers, placing them on the chest.
However, she stopped momentarily to see the book that Merlin had given to her earlier this morning… and it made her wonder… were they in the right time do such things? They had been sleeping in the same bed together many times in secret, as they kept their secret hidden, no doubt with Merlin along with Lancelot's aid, to which she had no idea up until today… but now after reading that, and with no doubts in her mind that Naruto was the one person she loved from the bottom of her heart… "Wait, Naruto."
The Apostle turned back to face her before he left her room, "Is something wrong, Arturia?" That look of innocent concern crossed his face that she found romantic about him, even if he had no real idea what he was doing in the first place.
She slowly mustered up her courage to start things up, "Would you be so kind as to place a barrier that keeps sound from leaving this room?" Arturia knew that if things did go that way, then there would be quite the commotion buzzing about in the city.
Naruto arched a brow in confusion, but he went ahead to turn to the door placing a hand over it to do as his love requested, "Alright, barrier's in place." Turning back to Arturia, Naruto wanted to know what she was asking for exactly, "Why did you ask me to do that?"
Heading over to the bed, Arturia sat down as she patted next to her for Naruto to do the same, "There's something I want to ask you… but… I wanted to make sure there were… precautions, just in case…"
Naruto sat next to Arturia, as he set the basket down, but she quickly took his left hand and squeezed it. Something she only did unless she was very nervous about something, "In case of what? Are you alright?"
Arturia nodded before she took a deep breath and breathed out to steel herself for what was to come, "We have been sleeping together in secret many times in these past two years." She turned to Naruto to look him straight in the eyes; a gesture that made his heartbeat accelerate with blood rushing to his face, "And I know that the future is uncertain, along with how more than likely politics will get in the way of things. I enjoyed today. For once, I was able to be a young girl and enjoy our love to its fullest." She turned slightly as she clasped her right hand over Naruto's, "For tonight, and if we ever can again before it can never happen again… I have a proposal…" The sound of the wind rushing by the window was all they could hear before Arturia spoke again, "…make love to me, Naruto."
Silence.
Absolute. Deafening. Silence.
It was all Naruto could hear, as his heart raced at the speed at which he ran. He thought that he'd have a heart attack if it went any faster. But… she did have many points. How long would it be before their positions forced them never to allow them to sleep in the same bed? How long before their secret affair was exposed?
All secrets came to light eventually, no matter how deep you buried them. Far too many examples came to mind…
But despite all this, his emotions got the better of him as tears dripped from his eyes; not those of sadness, but rather those of happiness. Naruto closed his eyes as he smiled brightly, "I… there's no one else in the world, that I'd make love to." He gripped Arturia's hands as she shed a single tear sensing his answer proper, "You're right. There's no telling how much time we'll have after the upcoming battles. I know that our love will still endure, but let's make the most of it tonight while we still can."
{LEMON START}
Both lovers wiped their tears away as Arturia stood up to head to her closet. But she turned back briefly to speak again before closing the door, "Please look away until I tell you to, Naruto." Her voice was fleeting, yet it held happiness of what was to come.
Arturia shut the door, allowing them both time to get ready. This would be their first time making love to one another, and while Naruto didn't have any real experience, he did pick up on some things back during his training trip with Jiraiya. Let it be known that proofreading erotica gave one ideas of what to use in bed. Naruto began took his boots off, followed by his own clothes dropping into a pile on the carpet; he felt his body begin to shiver and they hadn't even done a thing yet. He was all too nervous about what was to come between them.
He heard some ruffling from inside the closet but did not turn to look since Arturia did ask him to keep his gaze away until she asked him to do so. The door opened with small footsteps coming closer up behind him, Arturia's voice entering his ears as he felt her warm breath tickled against his back, "I'm done now, Naruto. You can look."
Naruto did as she asked, only to truly see just how feminine she looked underneath her clothing. Her skin held a creamy tan that spoke of good health, yet it made her appear to glow in the darkness making everything else fall away before his eyes. Her thighs looked soft & supple, like those of a goddess; however, there was clear muscle showing through. Instead of swelling to the surface like some Amazon, they were well-toned like those of the kunoichi he remembered. As for her breasts, they were not overly large nor were they small sitting at a modest B cup; their swell conforming uniformly to a succulent teardrop shape. It reminded Naruto of a sweet treat he had salivated over on a warm summer's day, capped with cherry red nipples.
All of the worries Naruto had, anxiety born of uncertainty, were swept away upon seeing her bare like this. His mind became a blank upon seeing Arturia's beauty.
"Arturia…"
Arturia blushed at his tone, sensing that he too was surprised by her body's reveal having always kept it hidden under multiple layers of clothing. But she did not let this deter her, "I know that neither of us has experience in this situation… but I have been… reading on how..." her face reddened with each passing word as her words drifted off into unintelligible mumbling.
Naruto's heart jumped into triplicate digits at the proclamation, "Y-You h-h-have…?" She was too damn adorable and beautiful for him to even fully register what she just said. His body, on the other hand, clearly did as he felt the blood rush downwards towards his nether regions, his arousal becoming known by the rising down below.
The bare king nodded as she placed her hands on the vampire's chest, "Merlin… that man… he gave me a book on the matter." She wanted to murder the half-Incubus but found that right now she didn't care. Seeing that Naruto was frozen in place, she let out a snort of laughter at how what many would consider a monster was brought low by but a glance before she spoke again, "Having you stand up before we start is troubling." She pushed him down onto the bed to where he was sitting down once again, "Let me take the lead."
Caught off guard by her boldness, Naruto could do little more than be dragged along for the ride when Arturia planted her lips against his own. It was sloppy and lacked technique, but he couldfeelthe passion in the way her body moved against his glibly, seeking to find harmony amid a torrent of uneasiness and first-time jitters. He waited until an opening appeared in the sloppy lip word before reciprocating in kind, lips gliding against one another in a tantric dance that grew more heated with each passing moment.
As time passed the erratic nature of their makeout session began to be succeeded by a slower but more measured movements that sent shocks of electricity up each of their spines. Feeling emboldened by the cute moans that his partner was letting out from their coupling, Naruto slowly snaked a hand around Arturia's waist while the other trailed fingers through her spun gold hair. Trailing a lone finger down her spine, taking the time to trace each vertebra the digit caressed, Naruto found his hand resting on the soft tissue of Arturia's ass and with no warning, save a predatory growl, he squeezed. Arturia's mouth opened in a deep moan of appreciation, the feeling unexpected but welcome, and in this moment, Naruto pounced.
Capturing her open mouth in a kiss, Naruto ran his tongue across his lover's lower lip as if asking permission to enter, something that Arturia allowed promptly, her own tongue sliding out to tangle with the Apostle. There was no battle for dominance as the wet muscles tangled, only a mutual dance of pleasure that produced muffled sounds of appreciation from both of them. Naruto could sense all of it, the taste of cinnamon on the tip of her tongue and salty sweat that brushed against them as they continued to grind against one another. Feel her heartbeat from the blood running beneath her skin and even the sweet scent of her growing arousal permeating the room. It was intoxicating, like being placed before a glass of water after walking through a desert.
Was this what vampiric impulses were like? Maybe, but Naruto did not desire to drain this fire of passion into himself like a parasite, no he wanted to kindle this flame of passion, so it warmed both of them. A sentiment that was confirmed when Arturia mashed her breasts into his chest to deepen the kiss, her hardening nipples lighting fires within him.
After another minute of heavy french kissing and groping from both parties, the need for oxygen forced them to break the liplock. Both gasped in air and shared a longing gaze, "Wow.." Naruto broke the silence with a small smile that Arturia mirrored. The late evening light filled the room and played across her skin like fae dancing around their goddess, and Naruto did not blame them, for what more could she be in this moment than a goddess? Arturia's eyes crinkled in half-lidded bliss before she slowly pulled back from Naruto, much to his confusion. He followed her up as she progressed down until she knelt between his knees.
Naruto looked down to see Arturia look down at his turgid member, with a small smile gracing her beautiful features, "Wait, what're you—?"
"It's alright…" Arturia interrupted, "…I know that you're nervous, and I'm nervous as well but...I want to try this. I want to explore my lover's body and leave my mark upon it." she purred musically, emerald meeting ruby yet shining with more radiance than any star. "I love you Naruto Uzumaki, and now I can show it."
The next thing Naruto knew before his mind went blank and lost his voice, was feeling Arturia wrap her fingers around his member as if it were a precious piece of treasure. Blood continued to rush down further at the actions all the while Arturia merely touched it, "It got harder after I took hold of it." She mused before slowly giving it a single pump; with that stroke, it hardened further.
"W-wait… Arturia…" Naruto tried to ask her to stop but found that he genuinely couldn't. He didn't want her to stop at all. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to."
He placed a hand on her shoulder, only for Arturia to look back up to him, "It's alright, Naruto. As I said: I want this. Let me take care of you for once." Arturia directed her attention back down to his hardened member to kiss the tip of his shaft. It twitched out of instinct before Arturia spoke again, "Here we go."
Naruto had let go of Arturia's shoulder as he gripped the bedsheets instead to try and control himself before he felt her warm, wet mouth cover the tip of his co*ck.
She was giving him head?!
Just what kind of damned book did Merlin give her?!
Arturia braced her hands on Naruto's inner thighs to spread his legs apart slowly as she slowly took more into her mouth, "Mmmm… Oh—uhm, Naruto, don't worry…" She mumbled in between her 'kisses' as he was referring to these as, "…You make me feel wanted… let me do the same for you."
Naruto felt something touch the tip of his co*ck; something wet, yet it was both rough & soft to feel. Arturia was now caressing his tip with her tongue as if she were eating ice cream in some strange manner. He could feel each and every one of her taste buds caress the sensitive flesh in excruciating detail.
"Ah…" Naruto felt the ecstasy run through his body at the sensation Arturia's tongue was bringing to him. His back arched from the pleasure coursing through his being that was already numb from any form of reason.
Arturia continued her tongue work as his co*ck now became fully erect and ready for the deed to be done, "Hm… hmmm. You've gotten bigger… that's good." Arturia's were robotic, but the desire in her voice belayed it. She was falling back on technical terms and battlefield rhetoric because she could not articulate these new experiences. Her grip on his co*ck tightened slightly. Now she began to go back and forth with her mouth, as she stroked her fingers in unison, all the while she kept her tongue licking the head before it moved downwards. Naruto's a bead of precum dripped from the tip of his co*ck, touching Arturia's tongue and yielding a widening of the eyes, "Hmm… oh, Naruto. You're getting wet… ku…mmm… don't hold back…"
The taste was not anything significant with perhaps a hint of saltiness and a consistency a hairsbreadth thicker than water, but the thought that she had inspired a reaction from her lover made Arturia practically quiver in happiness.
Now Arturia started to bring his co*ck deeper into her mouth, her motions making a wet slurping sound was something that made Naruto only gasp in pleasure. He could not put his finger on what he liked expressly, but rather the whole experience was pleasurable. Arturia's saliva began to escape her lips, leaving trails of it on his member that mixed with his precum; it only made the wet noise all that much more obscene. She began to go a little slower before her tongue began to lick the pay attention to certain areas, causing more gasps from both parties. She stopped momentarily to look up to Naruto as he was caught briefly in a daze before he shook his head clear, "Should I go slower…?" Arturia said, blowing her warm breath on his co*ck again that got a few twitches as it hardened up even further, "…or should I be gentler?" Her voice spoke of someone unsure of themselves.
"Agh! Uhhh… this is…" Naruto's mind could barely comprehend that the gentle girl he loved would get so passionate about something as lewd as this. But then again, they were trying to make the most of this night, and it seemed that Arturia did not want any moment of it to go to waste. The ecstasy was raging inside of him, a heady mix of hormones and pride tempted him to be aggressive, like an animal taking what was rightfully his. But he had to resist that urge to do so, he may be a vampire but he would not lower himself to the status of an animal devoid of logic for the sake of a quick rut. This was the woman he had fallen for, and he was going to show it!.
The pleasure was both intense & satisfying to feel; Naruto couldn't help but simply let Arturia continue with the lead as she slowed down before she moved both her hands around his back while she moved her lips back up further to the tip but keeping a good amount of his co*ck in her mouth. He felt a drip of saliva drop from the apex if her pink lips to his thighs and he all but lost control.
Naruto tried to pull back before the pleasure overcame him, but Arturia pulled him back towards her, seeing that she didn't want to stop until she reached a certain point, "No… I'm not… done…" She gripped his co*ck again before she began to stroke it softly, "…not yet…"
"But I'm gonna…" Arturia went back to the speed that Naruto seemed to prefer, as she moved up and down his shaft within her mouth. She hummed as if she sensed what he was about to say. He was about to cum in her mouth, sensing that he couldn't take it anymore. His back began to arch and almost give out from coming close to his release.
"Fu… ahh, it's… alright…" She spoke when she could in between strokes, "…I can feel… mmmm… that you're… hm… agh… still tense…" Arturia was devoted to her diligence, and it showed, Naruto briefly touched her shoulders to feel that her entire body was bathed in sweat born of work and arousal. He himself was the same, though he was on the verge of something else. Feeling a tightening in his balls and a sudden rise in pleasure, Naruto's eyes widened in recognition of what was about to happen, and he had to tell her, "I-I'm cumming!"
Arturia acted quickly as she suddenly let go of his co*ck just before climax, grunt in desperation mixed longing. However, when Naruto looked down at Arturia he saw a mote of mischief dancing in her eyes, "I felt that if you released now before we truly begin, then it wouldn't be as satisfying." Naruto grimaced but let out a snort of laughter at the foxlike deception, his groin aching from having been edged by a novice. He collapsed back onto the bed as Arturia proceeded on.
The king got up from her position beginning to crawl up onto the bed above Naruto where she planted a kiss on his lips, seemingly rejuvenating him before she continued to crawl to the bed head and turned back to Naruto as she laid down, "Now, onto-uah!?"
Arturia let out a squeak, and Naruto bolted up and wrapped his arms around Arturia, reversing the position so that he was the one on top, looking down at her with barely restrained hunger and glowing red eyes. "That wasn't very nice leaving me hanging like that." Naruto ground out, his eyes like smoldering embers in the fading light of the evening. "But I think that maybe you should be attended to,my King!"Arturia let out a full-body shiver at his husky tone.
Sanguine orbs picked out that Arturia's eyes were a little hazy and unfocused, but she directed her attention towards him all the same. Her breathing was heavy as her chest rose up and down quickly, yet slowly at the same time, seeing that her own stamina was being pushed to the limits. At that moment he could tell you exactly how much blood was flowing through every vein in her body, how many directions her eyes pointed in the space of a second or even the number of synapses firing in her brain. None of it mattered, for she had done right by him and he would be damned if he couldn't return the favor.
Seeing that she had spread her legs to showcase her maidenhood. A small patch of blonde hair existed; however, it was neatly done & well-trimmed; it seemed that she did her own grooming down there as well. The ninja dove his head to her slit as his mind began to come back to reality briefly, though the pain in his groin area was still there, it was secondary to the need to cause pleasure as opposed to taking it. He inhaled deeply to breathe in the scent of her flower and the nectar that leaked lethargically from the neat folds of her labia, blowing against it lightly and grinning in delight at seeing the twitches from his lover's core. Arturia forgot to breathe as the anticipation of what was to come overcame her, then releasing a full-blown moan when Naruto traced the nether lips with his tongue. "Uuughh! Naruto!"
Receiving head had made Naruto a little parched, and since he was sweating, then this would be an excellent way to quench his thirst. Arturia shivered as she felt his tongue slowly part her maidenhood and enter the sacred garden, "Naruto…" She gripped the sheets of the bed to keep any knee jerk reactions from heading to her other hand that was currently gripping Naruto's hair, "…t-thank you, but…" He began to push and prod at the slick silken walls sending an all-new form of pleasure through her, "…please… be gentle…"
"I, hm… I'll be gentle… mmmm…" Naruto said in between breaths as he continued to explore inside her slit, already beginning to taste her core. It was a paradoxical mix of salty and sweet that was truly unique.
"…kuh, ah…!" Naruto had slid his tongue deeper into her slit, rolling his tongue in a maddening dance that made her eyes bug out cartoonishly. Considering how much was already beginning to leak out, she may have been turned on more so than he previously thought while she was giving him head. Naruto decided to caress her thighs as he continued to tongue her walls that excreted the clear fluid from her body.
"Ahh…!" Arturia jerked her body a bit after Naruto found a sensitive area on her inner thighs that made her moan loudly. He lapped up the juice to quench his thirst, not caring about the taste or the source; he was too caught up in the pleasure to really think all that straight. The smell of her puss* made Naruto all the more aroused as he felt his co*ck stiffen up more with precum dripping once again onto the bed along with the bestial hunger clawing at his inhibitions once again, "…haa, ah… ahhh, huh, huh…" Arturia moaned from the tactile tongue as Naruto continued to eat her out, all the while drinking her nectar; it plastered the exterior of her slit, as it began to drip onto the bed, making a noticeable wet spot, even in the dimly lit room. Her hair tickled his nose, but it did not deter him, instead keeping his focus on pleasuring her.
He cared not of what he currently consumed, for to Naruto it was the nectar of the gods and little more than a reward for dutiful servitude to his Goddess.
But Naruto didn't have enough. Feeling that he could get deeper, he slid his tongue further into her puss* to gorge on her; she seemed to sense what he was doing as she let go of his hair before she brought her legs to wrap around his head to help the ninja go deeper into the king, "…fuh! Y-You're… going deeper… inside…?!" There was no pain in her tone. Only pleasure was present within as Arturia's body relaxed from the sensation of Naruto tasting & moving within her deep inner walls.
Naruto nodded to add a few extra motions to the ones he was already making, "…Mmmhmmm… I think that… it's only fair…"
Arturia felt her own climax approaching due to just how sensitive the area her lover was pushing it; she let her legs loose a bit while still keeping them wrapped around Naruto's body, she touched his head to have him lift from his gorging, "I-I'm… almost there… huh?" She blinked briefly, showcasing that her eyes were starting to glaze over with instinct slowly taking over. She gasped as Naruto traced his fingers across her inner thighs that made her gasp & shiver from the pleasure it brought her, throwing her limbs out to stretch while relaxing for them to finish things up.
She was pulled from her trip to cloud nine when Naruto unceremoniously pulled his tongue from within her. "What!?" Arturia cried from her position on the edge of Nirvana, her voice full of want and need. She met Naruto's gaze and saw his face literally glowing with vulpine mischief. His face was easy to read even in her arousal addled state. 'You deserved that for leaving me in the same situation',and it was something she could not deny.
Naruto himself licked his lips as he wiped away any excess nectar, noting that he no longer felt thirsty, seemingly satisfied by Arturia's slick. Arturia looked up to the ceiling briefly before she looked back to Naruto and gestured that it was time, "I'm ready…" She reached down to caress his cheek as she continued talking, "…this… I want this to mean something… between us… our love for one another…"
Her lover understood well enough what this would mean; that this would be the consummation of their love for one another. The cruel fate was because of their status as both a woman posing as a king, and a Dead Apostle, was that they could never have children together, not in the traditional way or even be open about it. But nevertheless, this was something that they meant to have together from the bottom of their hearts, "I know…"
His member and her puss* were already soaked & twitching in anticipation as Naruto slowly crawled up to Arturia's face, planting butterfly kisses on her body from below her waist, up her stomach, her breasts as he kissed her nipples ever so softly with Arturia wondering if that was but a tinge of how mothers, as well as wet-nurses, felt when breastfeeding children. Finally, Naruto arrived up to her face as they stared into their eyes, gazing into their souls seeing the beauty in each other; closing their eyes, the lovers kissed passionately as Naruto placed his co*ck's head right onto Arturia's slit garnering her to moan slightly from the sensation. She broke off the kiss before she looked nervous before Naruto placed another kiss on her lips before speaking again, "Don't worry… it'll hurt at first. But then it will feel good soon."
Arturia nodded as she understood what was to come briefly and then pass, "Go ahead…" She planted a small kiss on his lips one last time before Naruto slowly inched his member through her lips. A wet sound followed with their slicked sex's gliding to meet one another; he inched his co*ck further and further right up until he made contact with her hymen, sensing that she was preparing for the pain of it breaking, "…I'm ready, Naruto."
Naruto thrust his member through the hymen quickly as Arturia yelped in pain before she settled down as she threw her arms around his neck, bringing him down to her face with Naruto giving her kisses on the lower neck, "Ahhh…. Naruto…"
"It's alright, Arturia…" The ninja said before halting his kissing, "…the pain will pass; I'll stay for as long as it takes." Blood trickled out from their union, Naruto remaining still as the sharp pain of being deflowered pulsed into dullness with each passing minute. Arturia buried her face into Naruto's neck to ride out the waves of pain, and he simply embraced her, with her every step of the way. After half a minute had passed the pain had abated to the point where Arturia was ready to continue. She nodded into Naruto's chest to signal him to continue, feeling him begin a slow pumping within her.
Arturia moaned in ecstasy with passion and surprise laced within her tone, showing that already the pain was merely an afterthought with joy taking its place.
Arturia had kept her legs wrapped around Naruto to allow him to move up from his previous position, only to now rewrap them around his waist, "Oh Naruto… you wish…" She said huskily into Naruto's ear, "…I am yours tonight… just as much as you are mine…" Naruto kept moving slowly back and forth inside of her, all the while Arturia traced her hands across his body, feeling all of the scars he accumulated over the years, especially the fist-sized, starburst scar that was permenant on the right side of his chest and back.
"But please, cry out my name!."
Naruto continued to go slowly all the while letting Arturia do what she wanted with him, whether it be kissing the bottom of his neck, caressing his body, or wrapping her legs around his waist to keep things going. His co*ck was like a sensitive nerve that twitched every time he made a thrust or pulled back. He could feel that her walls were beginning to tighten up slightly, as his member began to grow harder, making the pain more distant with this slow rate of thrusting. He would've asked her if it was alright to pick up speed, but then her words of doing what he wished came back to his mind, "Arturia, you are mine... and I am yours!"
"Mnn, ahhh… please… more…"
Seeing that she was alright with things, Naruto thrust inside her womanhood at a quicker pace. Each time she let out a moan filled with pleasure, as he increased the tempo, something that she took joy in. Words passed between them at every other moment, from sordid exclamations of delight to sweet nothings whispered in the ear, as Arturia's arms were placed to the sides of her head, "Ah, ahh, hah…!" Even in the dark room, Naruto could see that her white skin had become flushed over the course of their lovemaking, along with the bed comforter having several wet spots signifying just how hot they had become coupled with the fluids they were creating from the act.
The next thing Naruto knew, was that Arturia's walls were now moving in a very different fashion than before. "Arturia, what're you—"
He looked to her for an answer as she moaned out in between words, "I… I want you—my love… ahh! To feel good… like—guh! As I… do…" Arturia bucked her hips as he felt her climax grow nearer, with his their lovemaking having made her tight passage all but frictionless. A loud moist slapping of flesh followed next as they disregarded it, with both finding it rather attractive in a way; a sign to Naruto that he could go faster, "D-deeper!" Arturia shouted into his shoulder as she pulled herself up for a but a second to keep her pride & dignity, to avoid sounding like a sexual Goddess.
Dragon blood & heart or not, she was still human, and she wanted to maintain her rationality in regards to keeping her sexual desires in check, if but barely.
"Haa—ua, ah, ahn, ahh—!" Naruto looked down to Arturia with a slight bit of concern at the possibility that he was causing her pain, however she shook her head as she wished for him to continue, "…uha… ah… haa… I-I will be fine… Naruto… I'm so close, please!"
The rational part of Naruto's mind shut down at that point with only the urge to make love to Arturia, and Arturia alone. Sexual desire began to overtake him as Naruto raised her hips and thrust as deep and as hard as he could into his love, "…ugh! Yes! I-I can feel you… deep inside…!" He couldn't tell if she was screaming in pain or pleasure. Maybe both? Either way, Naruto kept pumping into Arturia as the wet slaps of their lovemaking filled the room. Her puss* was tight to the point where Naruto felt that he was dipping his co*ck into a velvety vice.
Arturia threw her arms around Naruto's head with her fingers interlocking withing his spiky golden mane, as if she felt that she was going to be sent into the bed head if he continued to thrust into her womanhood. Like a lioness that claimed a fox and refused to let go of her claim.
Naruto could feel that tightness building within him once again and knew what was about to happen, "I—I'm… agh! About to… cum… huh, agh!"
It seemed that Arturia was about to reach her climax as well, more than likely what she wanted in the beginning of their lovemaking, "Nha, ha…! Ahh, yeah, ahn, uhh, ha… ahh—together!" A few tears leaked from her eyes, as Naruto's co*ck hardened up Arturia tightened up her walls as Naruto continued to thrust into her at his current rate, "Please… I'm cumming, Naruto!"
That last emotion-fueled and passion-filled shout drove Naruto over the edge and broke whatever dam was left in Arturia's sex.
Naruto climaxed with an exclamation of unabashed ecstasy that harmonized with Arturia's own call, a choir of pleasure singing to the heavens above and the underworld below of the union of two lovers. The torrent of cum blasted forth like a cannon into her depths, joined by thick streams of a rolling climax. The feeling of her lover reaching climax triggered Arturia's own, throwing her head back as she came and clamped down on Naruto's shaft to milk him for all he was worth. White stars burst into existence within her version as she was carried on wave upon wave of org*smic bliss.
She pulled him into her with her arms and legs as his co*ck was buried deep within her womanhood, letting out a sigh of post-coital contentment with both riding out the high of love. Gaining back some sense, Arturia brought his head down to her face as they kissed with Naruto shedding a few tears of his own. Naruto felt himself begin to grow soft within his lover but made no move to pull out. At that moment, regardless of past or future, all was right with the world.
{LEMON END}
Naruto lifted his head to see Arturia's eyes glazed over, although she seemed to register him as she gripped his shoulders to see what state he was in, "Naruto… you're trembling." She could feel his entire body shake as he tried to lift himself up but to no avail.
Naruto was too tired to try and get up, despite waving off Arturia's concern, evident in her voice, "I'll uhh… I'll be alright…" He felt Arturia's left hand make its way down to his back while her right gently caressed his head as she planted a kiss on his lips before giving him another on his forehead, guiding him down to nestle his head on her collarbone, near her breasts, all the while she stroked his hair affectionately.
Arturia began to doze off, though not before checking to see that Naruto had already been knocked out from everything, "Huh…" Her eyelids flickered as she turned to see the night sky through the window, if but barely since the heat they were producing had completely fogged it up, "…I have no regrets…" Sleep soon took her into dreams that turned her entire day & night, into Heaven itself.
-The Next Morning-
The sun rose through the cloudy sky that overcast the capital. Light shined through the windows in Arturia's room with both lovers still sleeping off the night of sordid love without a care in the world. Arturia was the first to wake up when she blinked away the sand in her eyes to feel that Naruto's was still within her, though now soft the presence was quickly felt. She looked to see that the candles had long gone out with the wax having melted down to the nub, making her set a mental note to have them replaced. The scent of sex permeated in the air of the room, Arturia noting that it would take quite a few scented candles to cleanse the place of it in case anyone every did notice it. She highly doubted that would ever occur, but one can never be too careful these days.
The Pendragon king would have been quite content to simply lay there with her lover for the rest of the morning and the hours yet to come, enjoying the dull ache from her core. But knowing that they had quite a bit ahead of them today, Arturia gently brushed her fingers through Naruto's hair who was beginning to stir, "Naruto. It's time to wake up."
"Hmmm?" Naruto groggily opened his eyes to see that the new day had come, with his lover already awake. Huh, even after becoming exhausted after sex, Arturia always was the first to wake up before himself. He lifted himself off her body to remove himself from his lover, only to note that they were both still slightly sticky from before, last night had undoubtedly been messy, "Oh… we had a lot of… fun last night, I'm still feeling fatigued." Getting up on wobbly limbs made things a little difficult for him, as he was sure Arturia was still feeling the same.
Arturia giggled a little before the both of them got up from the opposite sides of the bed, as each seemed to notice something different about the other. Naruto saw that she looked to almost glow in the dawn that made her shine brighter than before, all the while Arturia could see that certain weight had been lifted off the Apostle's shoulders. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to make this a little bit more common…?
"So…"
"So?"
The moment was slightly awkward for them, although that didn't mean they weren't enjoying things already. Naruto was the first to rouse himself from the amused daze they found themselves in, moving to gather his clothes, "We should probably get baths before we see anyone else. Burn the bedsheets as well." Turning to Arturia as he continued to speak, "No telling if anyone'll walk in on us this early, and well…" To be honest, Naruto wasn't sure what to say other than… "…I don't regret what we did last night, Arturia." He said with a straight face as he smiled at her, "I enjoyed it, and I want to keep this going between us as long as we can."
Arturia hummed in agreement as she got up to make her way over to Naruto, wrapping her arms around his neck to bring him down to her level and planting a kiss on his lips, "As do I." The two of them closed their eyes before kissing once more before Arturia spoke up, "Whenever we can, when we have time to just ourselves, we'll make love again." Letting go of Naruto's head, Arturia went over to her closet before she turned her head to speak again, "But right now, I believe that we need to call forth a war meeting to discuss our assault on Vortigern. I think it's time we finally dealt with him and ended the civil unrest."
Naruto closed his eyes his posture slacking before straightening, a severe feeling coming over him as the two returned to being king & loyal retainer, "Very well, let's get down to business!" He said that megawatt smile of his breaking through the stormy disposition.
A pair of hot baths, along with cleaning up the king's room and a few hours later, Arturia had called for a war meeting to deal with their final enemy in the north.
Currently, she was making her way to the war room with Bedivere alongside her, whose attire had changed a bit within the last two years. While probably the weakest amongst his peers, Bedivere had not slacked off in his training over the years and could still be counted as one of the finest swordsmen in Britain. Therefore he wore his long white cloak with pride as a challenge to any who would fight him, for his skill with a blade was such that not a speck of blood would stain its surface.
Bedivere came to answer the summons by the king, whom he had noticed was rather upbeat today, "My king…" The Knight of the King's Guard spoke up, Arturia turned her head to direct her attention towards her friend and retainer, "…you seem far more positive than you normally do. Did something occur yesterday?" He couldn't deny that he was curious about what caused this good-natured change in her.
Arturia opened her mouth to respond, however, she found that the words weren't coming to her. Closing her mouth being unable to speak properly, Arturia could only mouth some words as Bedivere arched a brow in confusion. Seeing that she couldn't divulge what really happened, even to the one in charge of her protection, Arturia felt it best to skirt around the truth a bit, "Something did happen yesterday, Bedivere. But it is rather…" Her cheeks blushed a bit before she fought it down, hoping Bedivere didn't notice although he did indeed, "…personal, I should say."
Bedivere gave an understanding nod, "Ah, I see then. Then I shan't inquire as to what it was. I assumed that you had taught Periwinkle some trick." Although he had a sneaking suspicion that his magus friend was the one responsible for this change, throughout the years he had known Naruto; the knight had seen him to be a good man, one that he could trust in and out of battle. But ultimately, he had seen that Naruto brought out the best in their king whenever they were together. And for that, he was eternally grateful.
It was ironic. Naruto was a Dead Apostle. Something that they should have killed on the spot, and yet they accepted him, or most of the inner circle accepted him as one of their own. He had seen that Naruto tended to keep his hood up these days to keep the populace from seeing his eyes as they tended to draw adverse reactions from those with closed minds. Then again, Bedivere was a man that always chose to see the good in things, rather than the bad like others would.
They finally arrived at the war room, seeing the rest of the inner circle had been waiting for a few minutes for the king to arrive and begin their final battles.
Arturia strode over to Naruto's left side before she looked down upon the map of the north, where Vortigern lay and the last true enemy they had. Clearing her throat, Arturia decided to begin the meeting as she addressed the inner circle, "Thank you all for coming. I know that our campaign has been a long and bloody one, but we have done a great many things for our country. Today, we shall begin the preparations that will bring us victory over the tyrant that sits in the north."
Turning to Naruto, she motioned for him to lay out the information that his spies had gathered for him, "My spies have managed to find out about the main route that our forces will have to take to move into Vortirgern's fortress." Naruto brought up on the map as he pointed to a dagger jammed into the table, "On the River Tribuit, there's a fortress that allows passage in and out of the lands under the enemy's control. If we can take it down, it'll be easier for us to move in while we take the civilians away from the battlefields. It also prevents Vortigern from expelling us as easily as he would have liked."
"How many men can we expect to be garrisoned there?" Gawain asked.
Naruto brought up a roll of parchment with a few details on the fortress, "At least 8000 men armed and ready to defend it from within, quite a few of them conscripts but the majority veterans." Naruto stated, drawing graons from the knights who knew that veterans were always harder to fight than recruits. "There's a nearby village that has several families living there while they're forced to give quarter to the soldiers." Naruto shook his head at such a thing being cruel to those living there, with other people taking what didn't belong to them under the pretext of 'it's the law', "Then there are the fortifications. Multiple battlements with archers at the ready, catapults set up along the walls, massive doors reinforced with steel, with the structure forcing us to lay siege." Naruto placed the parchment down as he breathed in deeply before giving it to them straight all the while he turned to Arturia, "In all honesty, it may be better for you, my king, to unleash Excalibur's true power to obliterate the fortress to save our men's lives for the assault on Voritgern's main fortress."
Ever since they acquired the swords from Vivian, Arturia, Lancelot & Gawain had been training to understand their swords better to utilize them to their highest potential. Both Arondight & Galatine were impressive blades to be sure, with powers that made them unique in their own right, their abilities being suited for laying waste to entire armies at a time. However, it was Excalibur that had been seen as the strongest of the Fae swords, if not standing over all swords in existence. Merlin had admitted to Naruto that it was likely that Excalibur was the'Sword of Light that had defended the planet'from the'White Titan'12,000 years ago.
After Naruto helped Arturia train in his own sword arts, combat, etc., the ninja magus had taken a lot of notes after studying the blade extensively to the point where he knew just how much power could be generated with Arturia's standard Mana Burst… and holy sh*t were the calculations something to behold…
Arturia hummed as she patted Avalon before speaking, "I understand. I can demolish the fortress in a single stroke. That should be more than sufficient to obliterate the structure to allow us free reign into the northern lands." When Naruto had told her of Excalibur's destructive potential after she added just her Mana Burst to it, she realized just how dangerous the sword could be, but also saw that it would inspire their army to continue onwards through even the direst of situations.
Ector had stepped forward as he directed everyone's attention to the larger dagger signifying their final goal on Mount Agnes, "That will prove to be especially advantageous when you assault the final fortress. I have a feeling Vortigern will no doubt recall as many of his soldiers to defend it, once you arrive on his doorstep after taking the river fortress." Ector had been drifting more and more into that of an adviser than a combatant ever since his injury two years prior. The man had been adamant to Arturia & Kay to not worry for him as he felt that his time on the battlefield had come to a close, so instead, he chose to take up other duties in service to the kingdom.
Arturia took note of everything that had been spoken of with what they would be facing. However, there was still one thing that concerned her… "Naruto, have your spies managed to discover the truth of the disappearances?"
Naruto shook his head, "I'm sorry, but no. They have not. Whether they were too afraid to find out, or some other means that prevented them from finding the truth, I don't know."
And that was ultimately the one thing no one liked. Information that had yet to be revealed on dark elements such as these vanishings was something they dreaded; leaping into the unknown, only to find a horror that they had yet to encounter. One that would no doubt take many lives.
Their army had amassed to 15,000 strong, all of which were regulars, archers, cavalry, knights, paladins. They had the support and the will of the people to help push them through to garner their trust. The swords they took up for their protection held the light that shone across the lands.
And so, Arturia made her decision…
"In seven days, we will march north to depose Vortigern." She declared, "In these seven days, I want our men to spend time with their friends and family. I don't know what horrors we will face, but if they are to be as dark as we believe them to be, then seeing the warm light of what we have built will do the troops morale some good." Arturia knew that no one should die terribly before seeing their loving family, one last time. The previous day has shown her that such things do one a vast amount of good for the mind, body, soul & heart.
Naruto smiled at her words; concern for the well being of the men under her command showing. Arturia then saluted the inner circle as they left the room to spread the word around the capital of what was to come.
-Naruto's Workshop-
Not long after the war meeting was dismissed did the inner circle begin to spread the word to those under their command about the seven day grace period before they began the siege, though Naruto had asked Arturia to meet him back at his workshop as he had a gift for her.
Now Naruto stood in front of Arturia with a medium-sized treasure chest, magical energy leaking through the edges of the rim, prompting Arturia to inquire what this was all about, "Naruto, what is in the chest? And why does magical energy emanate from within it?"
Naruto began to undo the latch as he explained, "Well, it's a new set of armor I made for you over the last seven months." Lifting the lid, Naruto showcased a sort of cloth that was colored similar to her royal blues, but that's where the similarities ended. Arturia took the fabric and held it up to her body, showcasing it to be something akin to a leotard, "I managed to enchant the armor to disperse and reapply itself by your command and using your Dragon Core."
Had he forged new armor for her?
That was unexpected, "Thank you, Naruto. But there was no need for you too—"
"Uhp, uhp!" Naruto interrupted her mid-sentence, raising an index finger to make a point, "I have to repay you for the armor you had made for me all those years ago, so now it's my turn." He gestured for her to go ahead and put it on, wanting to know her opinion of it.
Glancing back down to the leotard she held briefly, she relented to Naruto's gift as she went into her closet to put it on. It took a few minutes to get it on, though after doing so… well…
Arturia stepped out to showcase that the leotard hugged her body, showcasing her various curves, along with exposing a bit of her upper chest. Both occupants of the room blushed up a storm, but for multiple reasons. For Naruto, well… granted he had already seen her naked, he found that the leotard made Arturia's sex appeal skyrocket. Whereas with Arturia, she was a little embarrassed to be wearing such a thing during the day. Neither was sure of what to say other than he just began to stutter, "Well, go ahead and umm… use your Prana to don the armor…"
"R-Right!" The embarrassed king stuttered. Channeling her Prana through the leotard, Arturia felt the magical armor apply itself to her body.
The overall design of the armor was similar to Merlin's original creation given that the style of armor construction had been handed down to Naruto through his tutoring on Mystic Code creation. Where it diverged was Naruto's design having a more defined shape and more liberal use of armored sections. The cuirass itself remained the same but was attached to a pair of fully armored arms as opposed to the simple vambraces and gauntlets from before. Whereas the prior gauntlets were multiple plates of metal, Naruto's design involved large yet sleek single metal plates of a curved design for the added shoulder guards and extended greeves.
The armored skirt had been ditched in favor of a blue and gold cavalry 'swing coat' making for a fantastic increase in mobility, the armor instead bulking at the hips for protection.
Then had come the decoration. Periwinkle had been none too pleased when Naruto had come to him one day with a pair of shears, but the big cat had forgiven him when the Apostle had left him alone in a room with a freshly slaughtered cow for the trouble.
At uniform intervals throughout the armor were vast swaths of lion fur, alchemically reinforced to be stronger than steel yet lighter than a feather. The majority of it had been sewn into the prow of the new helm, modeled in the visage of a snarling lion in silvery steel. The golden fur of Periwinkle trailed down the back to look like a true lion's mane.
All in all, she looked more like a Lion King now.
Arturia could only look at the mirror in the room with awe at how well crafted the armor was, making her resemble a lion, "Naruto… this is…" She was without words of this gift, "…thank you." She turned back to the ninja as his blush receded from his cheeks, looking proud at his accomplishment, while happy at her gratitude.
"I had some help from Harrit with the armor design with what I had in mind." Taking several lessons in the forge all those weeks were time well spent in sweat & effort in the overall design.
Arturia could see that her vision wasn't impaired at all by the helm's design. Most likely some form of enchantment by Naruto to allow her full view of her surroundings. She placed the helm back on as she dispersed the armor to change again in her closet, with Naruto now thinking ahead of what they'll be facing; she was acutely aware that Naruto ogled the way the leotard pinched her ass.
Arturia stepped back out with her royal blues; closing the distance between the two of them, she got up on her toes to plant a kiss on Naruto's cheek, "We'll have a week before we enter the fray once again. I thought perhaps it would be best for everyone to be able to spend time with their loved ones." She guided her lover over to the bed that Naruto kept in his workshop to contemplate on how to spend their free time for now, although it seemed that things just weren't as they were meant to be.
A knock on the door signified for the duo to spring up from the bed and distance themselves from one another to keep appearances. Arturia dusted herself off before she cleared her throat, "Enter."
The door opened to reveal that it was Merlin in fact, with Rhongomyniad in hand, "Why hello there…" The flower magus said before stepping inside to shut the door, "…my little students who clearly think that I didn't know about the privacy Bounded Field around this room." Both Naruto & Arturia blushed in embarrassment as Merlin wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at what it was really meant for, "Anyways, let's just ignore that little bit of fun you had and focus on this cute weapon of mass destruction right here." Waving Rhongomyniad in the air.
Naruto had noticed that the power that it emanated once before upon leaving the Imaginary Number Space, was now like that of Excalibur's or perhaps maybe just below it? Naruto was intrigued by this development, "What kind of seal did you use for the lance, Pervy Mage?"
Merlin huffed at the question, seemingly irritated that his apprentice didn't notice that there was more than one on it, "I'll have you know that it took thirteen seals to restrain the lance's power." Naruto was surprised by what his master said. He knew that keeping Rhongomyniad's power in check would take some effort, but for Merlin to place thirteen seals upon a single weapon spoke volumes of just how difficult it was to do so upon a weapon such as this: A Divine Construct.
Just like a few of the Fae artifacts that Vivian had gifted to them. Now while Arondight & Galatine could be considered A-rank, while Excalibur was A++-rank, Avalon and Rhongomyniad went above and beyond the classification system.
Merlin stepped forward to Arturia as he handed the lance over to her since Naruto was the one that had discovered the weapon and had given it to her, Rhongomyniad was rightfully hers. Arturia grasped the lance gently believing that it was best to keep such a weapon handled with care, all the while she wondered if it was possible to draw forth the power it was emanating the day before, "Merlin, how will I be able to use Rhongomyniad's power if you've managed to restrain its power completely?"
Merlin merely waved his hand to correct her, "Actually it's power is rather massive, despite the seals I used to hold it back. You can still use the lance as a weapon, even though it's not truly meant to be one. Nevertheless, the seals have conditions upon which, when released, shall gradually bring the holy lance back to its original power level."
"And the conditions are…?" Arturia asked while leaving it open for the magus to finish.
Merlin tapped his staff to conjure up words that told them just how the restraints could be undone, "Well, these are the restraints set upon Rhongomynaid to ensure that will not grievously harm the world around it –
'The battle must be more powerful than oneself.'
'The battle must be an honorable one.'
'The battle must be to live.'
'The enemy must not be an Elemental.'
'The battle must not be inhumane.'
'The battle must be one-on-one.'
'One's comrades-in-arms should be courageous.'
'The weapon must not be used to harm the innocent.'
'The battle must be for truth.'
'The battle must not involve self-gain.'
'The battle must be one against evil.'
'The battle must save the world.'
'The battle must be for the salvation of all.'
"These are the conditions one must have to unleash the holy lance's power fully. Although if one were to have a strong enough will, such as the two of you…" Merlin said, pointing to Naruto & Arturia both, "…then it's possible to bypass those seals, although I doubt either of you would do so to violate your morals. Hence the honorable conditions that the lance now has placed upon it."
Arturia nodded with this new information in mind for what was to come, "I see then, thank you, Merlin."
"Think nothing of it!" The man waved it off, "I mean, if that lance were used to its full potential, we'd die all very horrible deaths!" The other occupants paled before Merlin placed a hand under his chin, "Or rather more than likely the textures would merge if one were to do so, in which we all live, but things just get wacky at that point." He finished with a somewhat speculating & cheery tone. Merlin shook his head as he made his way out of the room, "Regardless, I do hope the two of you will enjoy yourselves now." Merlin opened the door to leave. However, he turned his head to glance back at Arturia, "Oh, and by the way, my king. You can summon the lance at will with your Mana, should you have need of it. It'll be sent into a pocket dimension for the time being, just so you don't have to worry about lugging it around. Have a good day!" The magus shut the door, leaving the two occupants alone once again.
Arturia looked down to the lance as she channeled her Mana into the grip, only to see a bright flash of light that made the lance vanish into thin air. Naruto made his way over to Arturia as the two maneuvered their arms around one another before he spoke, "Now, before Merlin ever so rudely interrupted us, where were we?"
"We were just about…" Arturia brought him down for a kiss on the lips, "…to decide what to do for the rest of the week."
-Morgan le Fay's Lair-
Morgan viewed through the Scrying Orb at Vortigern handing out an elixir to his most trusted officers amused at how gullible the man truly was. She chuckled to herself out the desperation her uncle was showing.
"Mother…" Agravain stepped into the room, noticing that she was not displeased with her uncle's efforts, "…you don't seem disappointed at the progress that Vortigern has made with his forces. Arthur's own army now marches north to dispose of your ally, and yet you're… amused?"
Morgan looked to her son, seeing that he didn't know just how advantageous her position was, "Because whoever wins, I cannot lose." She turned back to the Scrying Orb as Vortigern gave some speech to his men, who raised their arms in salute, they groused about being the 'superior race', "You see, if Vortigern does by some miracle win, then I will have my sister, your siblings and the Dead Apostle in my hands. If my sister wins, then I can continue with creating my weapon to be my puppet from the two of them." All Morgan needed was the materials from the two to craft it.
Agravain could see her reasoning, but he could only wonder about that elixir she gave to Vortigern. "And what of the elixir you gave to granduncle? Would that aid them at all?"
"HA!" Morgan laughed loudly for a brief moment before she chuckled, "That 'elixir', is nothing more than a drug I concocted to have Vortigern's more zealous men become emboldened by stupidity and bravery." She shook her head at her son, thinking she actually was trying to help the stupid man, "No, this is merely entertainment. Although I will say that it is rather intriguing that the man was able to achieve his transformation…"
Yes. The coming battles would be all too fun to watch.
-Seven Days Later; Near the River Tribuit-
And so, it began…
Naruto had sent his Shadow Clones ahead of the bulk of their forces to kill any enemy that scouted beyond the river to keep the element of surprise. As luck would have it, he encountered a messenger that was carrying letters to a Saxon chieftain named Horsa that was Vortigern's contact down south currently in hiding. He'd be dealt with later on once the country was freed and united under the banner of Camelot.
Arturia dismounted Llamrei, she stood atop a hill overlooking the fortress that stood between them and Vortigern's lands, just as the sun began to set. She was adorned in the Armor of the Lion King that Naruto had made for her, her inner circle saddled at her rear, and the army behind them. The forces of Camelot massed to their rear 15,000 strong. Men ready to give their lives for a better future for their country of Britain.
She drew forth Excalibur from Avalon before beginning to speak, holding the golden blade at the ready, "My fellow countrymen…" The king loudly spoke with pride and authority befitting one such in her position, "…my retainers, we have come so far since we began to retake our country from the foreign invaders, that dare set foot on these lands to take what is ours. We have brought traitors to heel and given them new faith in the future we build for our loved ones. Now…" A golden light began to gather around her, as the warm comfort of Excalibur started to swell within their ranks; the soldiers listened to the words of their king that brought them joy & faith in her rousing speech, "…now we depose the treacherous tyrant who brings slavery & death to Britain!"
A thunderous roar from the soldiers rang through the air. If Vortigern's men down below in the fortress didn't know what was coming for them before, they sure as hell did now. Naruto could see that the enemy forces were now assembling into formation as they readied catapults and archers to defend the structure, "I know not what we face beyond this point, only that we shall face death & victory! Today, we rescue our country from an age of chaos & tyranny, and usher in a future brighter than any one of us can ever imagine!" The golden glow of Excalibur was reaching its peak, as Arturia channeled her Mana Burst into the sword to unleash upon her intended target below them.
"For today, we set the principle that the world will one day follow! We carve our names into the history of the world! We fight for our right to choose our future! Our fates! THE DARKNESS THAT SHADOWS OVER BRITAIN, WE SHALL END IT ALL!" The army was roused to the speech as they shouted in acknowledgement of the king's dream & ideals, "YES, LET US PUT AN END TO THIS! THE GATHERING BREATH OF THE STAR! THE SHINING TORRENT OF LIFE! EXCALIBUR!"
Arturia swung the holy sword downwards to release the Mana she had stored within the blade, a large beam of light flooded the vision of everyone that gazed upon it. Naruto had helped Arturia train with how to properly channel, aim, and direct the blast of Excalibur at whatever she wished; in comparison to Caliburn - that was far easier to handle since it was merely a small beam that shot out from the tip - Excalibur unleashed a wave of dense golden light that incinerated everything in the path of the sword's downward arc. It took Arturia a month to master Excalibur with her own skills, and an additional ten months to learn what Naruto had taught her of swordsmanship from his homeland, or in this world, it would be referred to as the Far East. The time it took Arturia to truly unleash Excalibur's full power was in less than a second; her speech and gathering of the light was all merely just a display for the masses of her power as well as her unyielding will to achieve victory, and the peace she sought for Britain.
The wave of light crossed the distance to the castle in less than a fraction of a second, scorching the ground beneath it and causing the nearby river to begin to boil from being in close proximity. Within that ephemeral moment, the soldiers who had sworn themselves to the dragon king were caught short, transfixed by a light that shone through the darkness of reality. As their castle was wiped from the face of the earth, not a single soldier muttered so much as a whimper, to be engulfed by that light was to embrace Invictus.
-Fortress on the River Tribuit-
None of the scouts that had been sent out into enemy territory had returned back as scheduled. The only explanation was that the army of Camelot was marching on them, with having their own spies killing the scouts. The officers in charge now beginning to accompany their men to alert the rest of their forces while a few stayed behind to prepare for the inevitable siege that no doubt come their way.
"What do you daft bastards think we're doing?!" An officer shouted above on the battlements down below to the infantrymen that were pushing catapults into position, while archers rushed out with half-filled quivers as well as shoddy bows in hand, "Get ready! This isn't a damned drill!" They spotted King Arthur in some heavy silver armor, standing atop the hills above them with many of his soldiers assembling behind him, signaling that the king I the south was ready to move on the north.
Now they began to assemble to hold off the army of Camelot until reinforcements arrived, but a few of the men highly doubted they would be receiving relief anytime soon, "Make sure you've said your prayers, boys, because it's likely a lot of us will die today!"
The next thing they knew, they saw golden light begin to swirl around Arthur above their position, with a bright light shining down. The next thing the poor bastards knew was the warm light heading straight for them.
All they could do was take comfort that their deaths would be quick, painless, but strangely enough above all else… they would die with some form of happiness in their hearts…
A cavalryman was riding further north to the nearby village to alert the men stationed & quartered there that the enemy had arrived en masse. The galloping of his horse was beating like a thunderous drum that knew no end to its pace, only to stop momentarily as a bright ray of golden light struck where the fortress once was. All that was left was a sizeable smoldering crater that had all but completely annihilated the structure along with everyone and everything within it.
The soldier quickly resumed his duty, not looking back upon the enemy that was now marching downhill to confront his king sitting in the dark citadel.
As Arturia let the last of the blast loose from Excalibur's blade, the tip was touching the ground, beginning to burn it into a glass, showcasing that the light of the sword, despite having been released to the fortress, still held power that signified it as the strongest sword in existence. Arturia knew that Rhongomyniad could do the same; however, she felt it best to save it for the final battle against her uncle, not knowing just what he had planned for her
Raising the blade once again, Arturia turned to her retainers and army as she shouted, "TODAY, WE WILL FIGHT! WE WILL STRUGGLE! AND YET, WE SHALL EMERGE VICTORIOUS! FOR I SWEAR THIS UPON MY BLADE!"
The army roared as they raised their weapons high into the air, with cries of victory in their throats.
"Hail, King Arthur, son of Uther! Hail the King of Knights! Hail Camelot! Hail Britain!"
Arturia hopped atop Llamrei as they charged through the obliterated land that once held the fortress that would have impeded their invasion. Naruto rode up alongside her on Dun as he muttered a few words, not knowing just what lay beyond this point, but better to say them now before his potential time had come, "Once more into the fray, into the last good fight I'll ever know." Naruto readied Carnwennan as he kept it at the ready to strike at a potential enemy, "Live and die on this day. Live… and die on this day."
A young boy had been playing with his friends late in the evening all the while avoiding Vortigern's soldiers who were patrolling, arresting those who stayed out after curfew. Since people tried to flee in the middle of the night away from the tyranny, but alas, not many could escape.
Now they were heading back to their houses in the village to avoid getting any beatings by the soldiers that supposedly were protecting them. Suddenly, a bright golden light emerged from beyond the tree line as a soldier was riding his steed into the village where an officer stopped him, "What are you here for? And what the bloody hell was that damned light?"
The messenger was almost hyperventilating from what he had seen, "K-King Arthur! His army blew the gates down just now!" He dismounted the horse as he fumbled the water skin to get a drink to try and calm his nerves, "I-I was o-ordered to spread the word, t-to defend the lands."
The boy overheard the soldier as he was now just outside the door with his mother no doubt finishing supper up, but the next thing he knew was that the officer snapped and went looney, "Put the villages to the sword!" He turned to face the soldiers under his command, with a fist raised high above his head, "String the people up and burn them alive! Rape the women! Castrate the men! Drown the infants!"
Several of the men went into a different direction as they carried out the twisted orders of their superior, though a few remained behind all to shocked by what had been said, with one of the men questioning it aloud, "But sir, some of the men have families in the vi—"
He found a sword being rammed through his chest by his commanding officer, "THEY ARE VERMIN!" He pulled back with the corpse of the soldier dropping down into a pool of blood all the while the officer-turned-zealot continued to shout aloud above the now screaming villagers and soldiers committing such fiendish acts, "NOT WORTHY OF PITY, NOR MERCY! FOR WE SERVE THE DRAGON KING, FOR WE ARE THE MASTER RACE AND THESE HUMANS ARE NOT BUT ANTS BENEATH OUR BOOTS!"
A gush of blood erupted, in a straight line that ran down from the officers head to his groin, with his body now splitting in two with the now infamous 'Shadow' twirling an oddly-shaped dagger in his right hand, before he bore blood-red eyes into their very souls, "If you boys want to surrender, then I suggest you do it quickly before the rest of the army gets here."
If he had the commanding air of Arturia, he was sure that he had it down to a 'T'. The men quickly disarmed themselves as they got on their knees as they raised their hands before shouting in unison, "We surrender!"
"Good," Naruto said as he smirked before the Camelot forces arrived to intervene to stop the senseless slaughter of the villagers. He turned his gaze over to a young boy who was hiding behind a few pots trembling in fear, only to see that he needed to make things right in the boys' eyes.
Naruto made his way over to the boy as he bent down to eye level with a warm smile, "Are you alright?" The boy nodded hesitantly as the Camelot army rode through to end things quickly. Naruto rummaged Through his back pocket to pull out a piece of bread that he had made for the trip and broke it in half as he handed it to the boy. The child carefully took the bread looking back and forth between the food and Naruto who nodded for him to take a bite of the loaf before his eyes widened in shock at how good it tasted to him. Now granted bread was just bread, but then again, Naruto had meticulously prepped and made food for he and Arturia on their way, and his food always tasted better than what the rest of the country had to eat, so seeing the kid absolutely devour the half-a-loaf was endearing.
Standing up to begin rejoining the others, Naruto turned around as he said his last bits to the kid, "Make sure to get your parents and head south to Camelot. It's a lot nicer down there than up here. See ya later, kiddo."
The next thing he knew, the kid had lunched at Naruto as he hugged his leg tight as he could before he let go and looked up to Naruto with a few unshed tears, "Thank you, mister knight."
Naruto was about to correct him, but the sincere look on the kid's face to see that most likely he had been starving stopped him in his tracks, "It's what we knight's do kiddo." Patting him on the head, Naruto turned back to the now quelled chaos as the Camelot forces finished with defeating the enemy.
It wasn't long after cleaning things up did the Pendragon army begin to have the villagers gather the necessary belongings to head down south to avoid the coming battles.
As Arturia stood with Naruto out away from the majority of the forces, they were discussing what to do in how to assault Vortigern's fortress, that is until a mother, and her son had approached them before speaking, "Excuse me, your majesty, King Arthur?"
Arturia directed her full attention as she took off her helmet to face the mother and child with an earnest smile on her face, "How can I help you, ma'am?"
"If it weren't for you, your majesty…" The woman spoke as she clasped the gauntleted hand of the young king, "…we have been kept as prisoners in these lands in all but name. Fed little food, given little clothing, many of our own die from the winters that blanket the lands or the plague claiming our lives." Naruto had turned his attention down to the mother's son to see it was the very same one that had he had given bread to. The boy gave a smile as he waved to Naruto with the Apostle waving back before turning his attention back to Arturia and the boy's mother who continued on, "Vortigern has these lands under his 'protection', and yet he allows foreigners to take what they please. I am thankful that you,myking, have finally come to liberate us from the yolk of tyranny."
The woman got down on her knees as she bowed her head in reverence to Arturia. Arturia herself knew that many of her subjects would bow in such a manner; however, she believed that such a thing was unneeded. Bending down to look the woman in the eye, Arturia spoke to her, "Please, there is no need for you to bend the knee so quickly and so low. I have merely come to save all of Britain from the evils that would harm our people."
The woman shed tears as Arturia rose back up with her hand to help her up, "Thank you, King Arthur." She turned to Naruto before she smiled at him, "And thank you, young knight, for giving food to my son, Pelleas. He said you gave him bread of the finest taste, and that all knights help those in need."
Naruto put his hands up to try and excuse himself, "Oh, please ma'am, there's no need to thank me. I'm just doing what anyone would do in the situation." He chuckled as Arturia gave him a sly smile knowing full well that Naruto had a big soft spot for kids.
The woman shook her head, "No, not truly anyone would do so." She turned her attention back to Arturia as a worried look came across her face, "But your majesty, I know that I have no right to ask anything of you, but please I beg of you! My sister and her family live not far from here, about a days journey in her homestead just northeast, at Rock Breguion. She meant to come and bring food that she had stolen from the soldiers, but she never came, and that was four days ago." Desperation appeared on her face as she practically begged Arturia next, "Please, I beg of you. Will you find the cause of this? It… it would bring me peace of mind as well as the others that have family there."
Naruto could see that a few others passing by turned their gazes over towards their way, most likely having overheard the woman's plea. Arturia knew that something was wrong ever since Naruto's spy reports said that people had been disappearing for quite some time, but for an entire homestead to just completely go silent? No, some dark manner was at work here, and it would be crushed with no mercy, "Have no fear, ma'am. I will find out what has become of your sister and her homestead. On that, you have my word as the King of Knights."
"Thank you!" The woman began to sob softly, "Thank you, so much your majesty! Truly, you are our king!" She and her son, Pellas left to continue with the rest of the civilians making their way south to safety; meanwhile, Arturia turned to Naruto now wondering just what it is they may be facing.
"So, what do you believe is behind such a thing?" Arturia asked.
Naruto placed a hand under his chin as he contemplated just what exactly could be responsible for this little bit of news, "I'm not sure. The only thing I can even remotely think of that could be behind the disappearances in the past years, and now apparently taking an entire homestead… it could be a vampire perhaps." Ever since Altrouge had sent him that letter concerning the theft of something by Blackmore, he had a good feeling that the crazy crow douche was in town per se, knowing that somehow Morgan was involved. But then again, there was no direct evidence to support that. Either way, Naruto had theorized that given the state of the people's homes after discovering they had vanished, the only logical conclusion would be a vampire doing the deed.
Arturia furrowed her brows at the prospect of facing against a vampire like Naruto. He had told her that the best way to kill Dead Apostles would be to either stake them in the heart and cut their head off completely while burning the stumps to prevent reattachment; using holy weapons such as Excalibur, Arondight and Galatine to fatally wound and kill them; or send word to the Church to ask for assistance in eliminating the Apostles as the Priests of the Church Executors would wipe away any and all who had been bitten or was doing the deed of biting. But he warned her that doing so with the third option would bring a lot of unwanted attention to their efforts in creating her dream for Britain.
"I see then." She made sure Excalibur was at the ready just in case, "We will head to the homestead as soon as possible. I'd much rather deal with this investigation and hopefully put down the ones responsible for the disappearing civilians these past few years." This one of the last few battles to truly liberate Britain from evil; she would not allow it to endure anymore.
Naruto nodded his head in acknowledgment at his secret lover's decision, "I understand, my king. I'll go inform the inner circle and have Lancelot & Gawain ride ahead with us once we set out."
-Near the Rock Breguion; Two Days Later-
It had been some time since they set out towards their destination, but the forces of Camelot were mentally preparing themselves for what horror lie in wait for them. Naruto had decided to stay on foot once they neared the homestead, sensing that despite Dun's eager for entering battle with his rider, the Apostle felt it best to keep him out of the fight that would turn bloody very quickly.
He marched alongside Arturia who had kept constant vigilance in the front with the inner circle, bar Lancelot & Gawain, spread around to help balance the scales and ensure that the men did not lose morale if the situation turned south, to which Naruto believed that it would without a shred of doubt.
"Naruto, if we encounter the one responsible for the disappearances, inform me at once." Arturia spoke with her kingly tone, "I need to look them in the eye as I deliver the sentence upon them." She needed to look them in the eye to question their sick, twisted reasoning for committing such vile acts before she put them to death by the sword.
Naruto nodded in affirmation, "I understand, my king."
Lancelot looked next to Gawain as he felt uneasy about the situation they were heading into, "I take it you feel it as well, Sir Gawain?" The Knight of the Lake asked.
The Knight of the Sun looked up to the sky to see it was red like blood; a dark omen that death was not far away, "Indeed." He gripped Galatine as he felt that the sword was emanating heat slightly in response to the ominous air they were stepping into.
One of the aspects of the Fae weapons that the Lady of the Lake had bestowed them, was that they could warn them of the presence of dark creatures. In Galatine, the hilt would heat up, In Arondight, the sword would begin to become alit like the moon. And in Excalibur, the sword would vibrate or 'wring' to warn them. Lancelot slightly unsheathed Arondight to see if his own sword was informing him of anything dark. However, the sword remained its usual yellow/violet color scheme.
The moon rose high as the sun faded with its light, now leaving them travelling with torches to light the way. Typically they would have set camp at this point in time, however, they were near the homestead at this point. As they emerged from the treeline, Naruto sniffed the air as he came to a sudden stop that prompted Arturia to raise a hand to signal the halt. Arturia turned down to Naruto wanting to know of the situation, and judging by Naruto's expression, it was not good, "Naruto. What is it?"
Naruto sniffed the air one more time before he narrowed his eyes before replying, "I smell… death, my king. We should proceed with the utmost caution at this point." Naruto pulled out Carnwennan as he made his way to the edge of the homestead that he saw where multiple torches and lamps were alive with a fire still burning within them; only barely having contact been lost some time ago.
Nevertheless, Naruto took the lead to see just how bad the situation was as they entered the homestead. Arturia and the others dismounted their steeds before coming around to investigate. Arturia furrowed her brows at the site: destroyed doors, shattered windows, broken fences and several farm animals with some blood on them that looked both fresh & old.
But most of all… there wasn't a single civilian in sight… Not even the corpses…
"Naruto…"
"I know. There's no one here. At least, those that I can smell that would be alive…" Naruto didn't want to know what exactly went down here, but he needed to know what they were up against.
Arturia turned to Gawain as his siblings came up behind him, "Gawain, Gaheris, Gareth; find the civilians. Their bodies must still be here." If they could find them, then at least they could provide proper burials or burnings depending on the state of their bodies.
"Understood, my king." The trio of siblings went deeper into the homestead as Naruto looked into one of the houses to investigate. He took note that there was an apparent struggle: torn bedsheets, a flipped over table, a pitchfork that was skewered into the wall with blood dripping from it as well as on the walls. However, the blood that had been smeared were made by… claws? Maybe an animal? He scratched that theory off the list when he noticed that 'claws' held what looked like opposable thumbs in the smears.
That left either perhaps a werewolf or vampire most likely. Naruto doubted that it was the former as the smell of wet dog permeated the air whenever they were near or had passed through the area, and Naruto didn't catch a whiff of it at all while investigating.
That left just the vampire.
"What dark creature did this?" Lancelot stood at the entry as his eyes were wide in shock at the aftermath of the scene Naruto was investigating.
Naruto turned to his friend with a solemn look, "A Dead Apostle… no. It'd be more correct to say, that a Ghoul did this."
Arturia came over to inquire her retainer on the why, having heard Naruto's statement about a Ghoul being responsible, however, Bedivere's voice rose up in alarm, "Behind us!"
Everyone turned to their rear with their weapons drawn as the torches that illuminated their vision showcased the shadow of a single being ambling towards their position beyond a hill. None of the holy swords warned them of the being hostile, nevertheless they kept their weapons raised in caution. As the being came into the light, it was revealed to be a little girl in tattered clothes with blood splattered across her face and right arm, dripping like that of crushed fruit.
"A child!"
They lowered their arms as the little girl, who now appeared no less than ten approach them. Arturia sheathed Excalibur as she took her helmet off to hand to Naruto, before approaching the girl. The men parted to make a path between the two as Arturia now stood before the girl who collapsed before Arturia took her into her gauntleted arms, "Child… who did this?" Arturia needed to know what happened, despite knowing that such a question would, without a doubt be traumatic for the little girl.
The girl began to slowly close her eyes as she spoke ever so softly to the young king, "It's quiet… they came with… eyes from the blackest depths… teeth that cut and tear… like rabid dogs… with their claws of demons… they took them into the night… some ran…" Naruto had come up behind Arturia to listen intently to know what kind of Ghoul they were dealing with, but these weren't the average run of the mill Ghouls, "… but they took them into the houses… to the center… and the green knight led them… he looked at me… he let me live… then they left… but it's quiet now…" The girl's eyes became heavy as she passed out from the shock and blood loss. Naruto handed Arturia's helm to Lancelot who had approached to hear the last bit on the one that led the Ghouls, as the Apostle began to apply Healing Magecraft to the innocent child that had already seen too much to bear.
Arturia had a scowl on her face, already unable to stand the insult that was dealt with her. These people werehersubjects as well asherresponsibility. She would not stand for this any longer.
"My king!" Gawain's voice came over the air filled with alarm, "We found them!"
Arturia stood up even with the girl still in her arms, as they all made their way over to the trio of siblings, only to see a sight, unlike anything they had seen before. A sickening tree, or what could be called a tree was constructed from the corpses of the inhabitants of the homestead; their bodies twisted, bent and put in the worst possible positions with their blood & entrails strewn about to look like vegetation as the blood-soaked the ground. Many of the men began to lose their lunch with the inner circle having to hold their breath to avoid doing the same. The soldiers started murmuring amongst themselves in fear of what they were about to face, or those reinforcing their victory over the enemy.
Naruto had grown accustomed to such things beforehand in the century, but still, the sight itself was nothing short of disgusting that made him angry.
Arturia on the other hand… Naruto had seen that her fists were trembling in anger, no different from when he had finally confronted Nagato after defeating the Tendo Pain. Naruto brought a hand up to her ear as he spoke softly, yet with firm resolve to carry out his words.
Kay could hardly make out what Naruto said, despite being next to them. The only thing he caught was 'kill'. He knew that the Apostle had a calming effect on his sister, as it would be best to not say anything at the moment. All Kay could truly be glad for right now was that father had stayed behind as Regent of the capital, having his previous injury finally end his time on the battlefield, now being the one to help oversee the political game as well as day-to-day duties to help ease Arturia's burden of leading the country.
Naruto formed a Shadow Clone who took the girl from Arturia's arms as he looked her over to see that she had no external injuries or wounds to be concerned over. Nevertheless, he continued to apply healing to the girl as he sprinted off back south to the civilians making their way out of Vortigern's lands.
Arturia looked up to the tree of corpses, before she turned to Gawain, "Sir Gawain. Give them a pyre." She looked back to the 'tree' with disgust & sadness, knowing that trying to remove their bodies from the position they were in would be a disaster.
"Yes, my king." Gawain unsheathed Galatine as he channeled his mana into the blade to bring forth the fire within the weapon. The sword became a lite with light, and with a single swing, Gawain unleashed a slash of fire that consumed the 'tree' of civilians to provide some small measure of comfort for their sanctity.
Arturia turned to Naruto, now wanting blood for what she had seen, gave an order, "Search the homestead if anyone else survived." She more or less said aloud to everyone, "Get them away from here. If the ones responsible are still lingering around, then behead them. The punishment for this is death without mercy; this disgusting, barbarism will not be tolerated in our lands."
The ninja understood that his king would not be swayed otherwise from this decision. The rage, the hate… he knew well enough that right now was the time to kill something; he agreed. Naruto handed Arturia's helm back to her who donned it to see that the image of a vicious lion now looked upon them all, ready to strike at her intended prey.
The inner-circle, as well as the various soldiers, began searching the homestead to see mostly abandoned houses along with bloody messes of past struggles to fight back. Naruto had gone with Bedivere as the inner circle all had gone into pairs, with Lancelot & Gawain opting to stay with the Arturia. The two entered a barn that had been reasonably untouched from the way it appeared, other than the crimson handprints of someone trying to open the barn door to run away from the way it looked like. Naruto went over to a haystack to see that the corpse of a woman was lying down with her eyes closed, and large patches of blood coating her features. Bedivere inched closer to inspect the corpse, placing a hand on her neck to see that she had bite marks like that of an animal, still dripping with blood, "She's been bitten." The knight turned to Naruto who quickly made his way over to confirm his fears; Ghouls had entered the homestead to begin a slaughter to feed and turn the populace into a trap to eliminate as many of Arturia's forces as much as possible.
Naruto placed a hand on the neck to turn its head over on both sides to see that they still had time. Forming two Shadow Clones, Naruto needed to warn the others, "Go make sure everyone knows we may still have bodies in the houses. Ensure that they inspect the necks for bite marks, and if so, cut the heads off; we can't let any more Ghouls spring up."
"Understood!" The Clones quickly left the barn to spread the news while the duo prepared to end a future threat. Naruto took the woman's head to drag out of the hay while Bedivere unsheathed his sword, to swipe the neck clean, severing the head from the body as Naruto channeled some of his Mana into his hand that set the head ablaze with fire. He dropped it down onto the body with the flames consuming the corpse, putting down a potential Ghoul.
They were unaware of the silent rustling from the haystack as they turned away to leave the premises and search for more tainted bodies.
"This was intended to be a trap, was it not?" Bedivere asked Naruto. The knight may have not been the strongest, or the most skilled, but he could see when something was off with a situation.
Naruto hummed in response. But, before he could open his mouth, he felt something off for some reason… He turned around to see another corpse, one that was ripe with dark life in the form of a Ghoul that had befallen a young boy, lunging right at Bedivere's back. Quickly pushing his brother-in-arms down before the Ghoul could bite him, Naruto channeled Wind Mana into Carnwennan to slice the creature in half as a loud screech emerged briefly from its guttural throat before being sliced in half.
The Apostle knew that the corpses they were finding were beginning to turn, and knew the best was to simply shout it out, as he helped Bedivere back up to his feet. Channeling mana into his throat, Naruto shouted it out, "THEY'RE TURNING!"
Lancelot was right by the king's side making their way back to the town hall where hopefully there was some evidence of survivors, alas none had arisen at all. Arturia furrowed her brows further, not that they already weren't; instead, it seemed that she was becoming frustrated with nothing really occurring.
Naruto's Shadow Clones were going around warning them to behead & burn any corpses they came across to prevent Ghouls from rising up in their place. They found a few bodies, but not many were still left strewn around the homestead.
Arturia had just cut the head off one corpse clean with Excalibur's tip lighting the body a flame, all in due to a small channeling of her Mana Burst into a concentrated mini-blast that melted whatever it was that the tip of the blade touched, like molten magma spewing from a volcano that cooled instantly to prevent the flesh from healing.
"Another victim…" Arturia said to herself, although Lancelot heard her clear to see that this was taking a toll on her.
Placing a hand on her shoulder, Lancelot tried to help ease her emotions even though he knew well enough that Naruto was far more capable of doing so, "Have faith my ki—" He stopped suddenly as he noticed down below in his sheath that light was emanating from Arondight. Lancelot partially unsheathed the blade to see the light was warning them…
"THEY'RE TURNING!"
Gawain with his siblings in tow were beheading a few corpses just outside a house near the edge of the homestead. Gareth was breaking open oil lamps that she had procured from the inside of one of the homes to use the oil as an accelerant, while Gaheris alongside his elder brother beheaded them. They took no pleasure in this work but were motivated to at least make sure these people got the rest in death that was robbed from them in life.
Gawain slashed another head with Galatine, making ready to move to the next one as its head rolled away, that is until he felt the grip vibrate quickly with the shouting of soldiers behind him.
"THEY'RE TURNING!"
The next thing he knew was that a soldier had been sent flying into him with a force that nearly knocked the wind out of him. Gawain checked to see that the soldier was dead after being impaled by a large axe no doubt, judging from the wound that bled out profusely with the intestines hanging out. Angered briefly by the loss, Gawain heard the clash of several swords before he pushed the body off of him to see just who it was that had sent him flying.
The knight was... off. He was hugely tall yet still under ten feet in height covered in thick steel plates and a mossy green tunic with holes in it revealing rotting flesh that trembled ghoulishly in the light of the moon. From between the joints and plates came pulsing vines that sewed the fantastical knight together, puppeteering him like some macabre marionette. The man's face may once have been that of a lord, regal features now besotted with postulating growths and weeping skin. His eyes were foggy and uncoordinated, but that did not stop him from cleaving the soldiers of Camelot in two. However it was his weapon that made Gawain wary, It was a great, black two-handed axe with glowing, red Fae script running up the handle and blade, they smoked lightly with black miasma.
No doubt this poor soul was one ofmother'sexperimental hobbies…
Gripping Galatine in his hands, Gawain charged through to face off against this new foe, "I am sorry this fate befell upon you, but I will end your suffering, Green Knight."
Arturia found a Ghoul suddenly rushing out of the front door, scrambling as it screeched into the night with blood on its lips and piercing black eyes. Lancelot quickly acted to defend his King, as he brought Arondight out to combat against the creature with the light that it refracted, showcasing a new ability not seen until now: its light was burning the Ghoul.
The creature's skin seared to a crisp within moments of contact, sending it spiraling backwards writhing in pain from the burns, a sight that both the King and her knight watched with interest. Turning to see a small group rushing towards them, Arturia built up her mana into her arm as her elemental affinity, the wind began to build up around her fist with a violent rotation that encircled her arm.
"Strike Air!" Arturia punched with all her might sending the whirlwind right at the Ghouls that sent them flying high into the air, the wind slicing their bodies to ribbons as the air cannon struck a house that was obliterated into dust. It was not true magecraft but rather a simple energy manipulation exercise that Naruto had helped her adapt for combat. This was her first time using it in battle and needless to say she was impressed with the results.
"Sir Lancelot, we may have a way to end this quickly!" Arturia said as she slashed at another rising Ghoul charging like a rabid animal. Despite how dangerous these creatures were, they were at least predictable, unlike regular soldiers. The scent of burning flesh permeated the air as Excalibur cleaved the Ghoul in two, immediately cauterising the wound it inflicted and leaving two halves of a smouldering Ghoul to waste away on the floor.
Lancelot drove Arondight into a pair of Ghouls that tried to overwhelm him, he twisted the blade before taking their heads off, "So I gathered!"
The Ghouls came in more frequently from the black mist that appeared from the shadows of the houses. They needed to find a way to end this before any of their men were turn. Those casualties were reduced at least with Naruto's Shadow Clones aiding in killing the growing horde, which was further reduced in thanks to the third Shadow Clone rejoining the battle.
King and knight schooled their features as they stood back to back, each one covering the other's blindspots before slicing away at any would-be attacker. Although light was detrimental to the Ghouls, they had been robbed of all but scant animalistic reason, reason which was quickly overtaken by the bestial urge to feed. They threw themselves at the two on droves numbering in the low dozens, but it did not matter, their prey had come too far to die here. The average soldier would have seen nothing more than flashes of gold and light blue if they turned to their King, arms, legs and all other types of limbs were sent flying in an almost beautiful dance macabre.
But it was not over yet.
Elsewhere, Naruto & Bedivere had run out of the barn, to regroup with Arturia, but not before Naruto pulled out a kunai with a paper bomb attached to it. Channeling Wind Mana into the weapon, Naruto threw it into a Ghoul leading a charge outside of the barn, "Time to close up shop!" A resounding explosion of fire & lighting blew the barn into bits with the blast incinerating everything within it, leaving no chance to ensure that wooden stakes wouldn't hit any of the men.
The duo cut their way through the Ghouls as they made their way through the homestead to try and help their forces from being overwhelmed by the horde. Bedivere fared well with most of the Ghouls converging on Naruto, something that he took notice of within the carnage that was taking place.
Driving Carnwennan into the head of a Ghoul before the Apostle channeled Fire mana into the blade, an element that he wasn't used to, engulfing the creatures in flames. Dropping the corpse, Naruto decided to test something out, "Alright, let's see just how badly they want me." Naruto ran further away from his allies to get some distance while he slit his palm open and waved it around to fling blood into the air.
Bedivere saw what Naruto was doing and could only wonder why he would do such a thing, "What are you doing?"
"Making myself as the bait!" The ninja-knight responded.
The action got the result he wanted, as many of the Ghouls trying to kill the Camelot knights broke off from their engagements with the smell of blood now very strong in the air. Most vampires preferred the blood of the living; drinking the blood of fellow vampires while still doable, wasn't very common as it was considered to be 'low-class' or 'cannibalistic' among the Dead Apostles. Ghouls on the other hand, just didn't care. They were deprived of any and all higher levels of thinking, becoming nothing more than attack dogs that pounced onto whatever that was nearby to feed off of, even themselves.
A terrible fate for those that failed to become true vampires, with it being a high chance for those who serve them and wish to become one.
'How do you plan to kill all the walking, slobbering corpses coming your way?'Kurama had noticed that quite a bit of the horde was making its way towards Naruto as he stopped near a statue that had Voritgern sitting atop a throne with sword in one hand while having a severed head in the other; Uther no doubt.
'A Divine Word if I'm right about these things…'Naruto had to duck underneath a flying Ghoul that leapt out from a tree to tackle him to the ground, only for it to crash into a few pursuers. The upper echelon Apostle could only feel sorry for the victims that were chasing him down,"…and I think I'm not the only one who has a good idea of what to do."Naruto noticed the light of Arondight begin to shine brightly off in the corner of his eyes. The holy sword of refraction would work well to burn away the Ghouls in a flash of Mana infused light.
Naruto channeled Mana into his throat as the growing horde rushed into to surround him and uttered the words, just as Arondight's light flashed across the sky,"燭龍!", The homestead was consumed with light as everyone shielded their eyes from the combined efforts of Naruto's Divine Word and Arondight's light to burn the Ghouls away.
Taking the name Yu Long from the jade dragon from Journey to the west, the divine word invoked a blast of concentrated light in the shape of a Chinese dragon. While the dragon alone would kill a good number of the undead the light is emitted would be refracted by Arondight to increase the range to a large area of effect. Naruto could hear Lancelot shout out the mantra that would unleash Aroindight's power,"Reaching to the end, beyond the boundaries! Look upon this light and be turned to ash, dark creatures! ARONDIGHT OVERLOAD!"By the time the light cleared Naruto was standing in an empty clearing surrounded by nothing more than dust and echoes; the smell of roasting flesh on the air. "Ugh!" Naruto grunted in distaste, "Apostle or no, you never forget that smell."
-Moments Ago; Gawain, Gaheris & Gareth-
"RRAAGHH!" Gaheris shoved his lance straight through the Green Knight's right arm that appeared to be its dominant limb when wielding the axe. Gawain was forced to parry some of the blows to try and survive the onslaught of attacks the undead knight threw at him, all the while the Ghouls focused more on the others. Gareth had lost her sword after impaling a pair of Ghouls to a house to keep them from attacking any further, and left with only her shield, she needed to use it to the best of her ability to try and aid her older brother.
Many of the Ghouls were leaving them alone to chase after something, Mr Naruto's work no doubt, as he was known for doing many rather unorthodox moves in battles. This gave Gareth the chance to bring up her shield to ram into the Green Knight; the female knight ran straight into the Green Knight's leg and forced him to get down onto a knee as she took hold of the rotted leg to keep him down, while Garehis held one of his arms in place with his lance.
Gawain had been knocked down onto his back after the last strike, it was thanks to Galatine that he survived. Had it have been his previous sword, then he had no doubt that the blade would have shattered on the first strike against the axe. Gawain quickly seized the opportunity that his siblings provided him just as the Green Knight tried to wretch free of the siblings hold, but before the moldy undead could even try to do so, two bright lights forced him to close his eyes as to not be blinded by the sources with Gawain facing away from them.
The eldest of the tree ripped himself from the floor in a burst of superhuman speed, the blast of light empowering his Numeral of the Saint if even for just a fraction of a second. The strong knight slammed into the undead with the force of a canon and sent him skidding to the other end of the clearing, only to spit out a curse as the accursed green knight quickly recovered. His sword form was impeccable even when partially blinded, but he was still limited by mortal flesh. The Green Knight had no such limitations, the vines that ran through every highway and byway of his body ripping muscle and breaking bones to whip the great axe around as if it were a toothpick.
"Confounded beast, I know not what my mother has done to you, nor do I know if you can even hear me!" the great broadsword swung down like a fallen star crashing into the steel plate of the Green Knight's shoulder, sparks exploding from the point of impact. "But stand against my King? Try to hurt my siblings? For that, I shall have your head!" Gawain shouted, wrenching Galatine free before beginning a flurry of hefty diagonal and horizontal slices. It was not long before the reinforced amor that the Green Knight wore was pitted and cracked from the relentless onslaught.
Without a word, Gawain sped up his assault, giving no room for a response from his opponent, all of this playing out throughout two and a half seconds. But in his sibling fueled rage, he did not notice the slow rise of the axe into the air or the growing wind in the clearing.
It was only at the last second did Gawain notice the flash of green above him, prompting him to jump to the side. The axe sunk into the ground faster than a lightning bolt with the crash of thunder following. From the point of impact came a slash of green magical energy that sliced cleanly through the thirty feet directly in front of it...then it kept going through the first house and the second. The flames produced from where the axe had slashed were acidic green and crowded away at all they touched.
Knowing that it was only his experience that had saved him and that he had let himself be engulfed by anger, Gawain knew that he had to end this quickly. Kicking Galatine up into his waiting hands, Gawain crossed the distance to his foe in a fraction of a second, thrusting the sister sword of Excalibur deep into the rotten flesh that had been exposed by his earlier attacks. Using the momentum built up by the attack as leverage to push the taller fighter back, Gawain's armored leg whipped out to sweep the Green Knight's leg and send him tumbling back, losing his grip on his axe.
Thinking on his feet, Gawain jumped high into the sky and grabbed the errant axe from the air, he swung down with all of his might to the struggling monster. The blade struck true and sank deep into the roots that held the Green Knight's neck together before slicing through the spine and what was left of the neck. The vines and roots animating the corpse ceased their writhing, the green corrosion of the axe eating away at them like a plague while the head rolled away.
Gaheris took removed his lance from the corpse while Gareth turned to retake her sword, only for them to see around the homestead that the Ghouls were turned to ash by the light, as their bodies remained frozen in time.
Seeing his siblings were okay, Gawain threw down the axe, taking up Galatine once more and left to reinforce the King, something the two soon followed along with. No one was there to see the discarded axe pulse with magical energy, nor the remaining vines of the body starting to reach for the bisected head. Gnarled plant matter burrowed into the stump where the head ended and began to drag it towards the body once again. With a sickening crack, the head was jammed back into place, rotted green blood coming from the newly formed scar.
The Green Knight unceremoniously sat up before rising to retrieve his axe, "Cursed…."he said in a rasping tone, sounding like two lumps of rotten wood being ground against one another. "Oneyear...Knight of theSun…" its lips were contorted into some disgusting mockery of a smirk before he lifted the axe on its shoulder and walked off away from the battle.
It had to return to its mistress.
-Arturia & Lancelot-
Arturia dipped her head down as she shut her eyes fiercely to keep the light of Arondight out, and no doubt Naruto having heard him call out the Divine Word to help exterminate the Ghoul horde. Sheathing Excalibur, Arturia took her helmet off to wipe away a bit of sweat that had built up inside as she breathed out before composing herself.
Bedivere had made his way over to them all the while he kept his sword drawn, to which she couldn't blame him. Recent events had shown them to never let their guard down, "My king, Sir Lancelot, I take it your part of the Ghouls eradication was your doing?"
"Indeed…" Arturia nodded before continuing as she gestured to the Knight of the Lake, "…however, it was Lancelot's sword that did most of the work." She turned to said man as he approached them, having to get some distance between himself and Arturia to ensure Arondight wouldn't blind her, "Well done."
"Thank you, my king." Lancelot lowered his head briefly in thanks, "However, I do believe that our magus friend was also responsible for the eradication."
Speaking of said magus, Naruto was dusting off ashes from his armor before speaking up, "Ok, that worked out well enough." He sneezed before turning his attention back to Arturia who gazed back at the majority of the death that had occurred. Many of their soldiers were killed by the Ghouls before Naruto & Lancelot burned them to death with light
Arturia was unconsciously clenching her fist as she bit her lip with blood being drawn, all of our anger at what her sister had done with Vortigern's aid, no doubt, "Morgan, I will ensure justice finds you for this…" Naruto approached her and carefully placed a hand on her shoulder to provide some measure of serenity.
Arturia turned to Naruto with fire in her eyes, "Make no mistake, I don't intend to charge in recklessly, not after this…" She turned to the others as she continued, "…but we cannot allow this to happen again. Make sure we have accounted for all of our fatalities and give them the proper rites." Arturia turned her gaze out to the devastation within the village, "Ensure their belongings are collected and their bodies cremated. As much as I would like to have them returned, we cannot take the chance." Turning back to her knights, Arturia gave her orders, "Ensure that all of our men are accounted for; that they are in good health and that they are ready to march onto Vortigern's stronghold."
"Yes, my king!"
Lancelot & Bedivere went off to carry out and spread the orders, while Naruto stayed beside his love, "My king… I think we should take a day to rest and clear our minds to refocus on the way to our goal." Naruto didn't want her to go charging off blindly to her uncle's place without a plan. He managed to get a map of the area, and the ninja had a good idea on how to take it.
Arturia turned to Naruto with eyes that seemed so tired, yet so angry at the same time, "I'm the King of Britain. My duty is to protect everyone under me. To show them that we fear no enemy. That no crime will go unpunished nor will the sentence be carried out in an unjust manner." She closed the distance between them without compromising herself, "What am I supposed to do while my uncle, sits on his arse while the rest of the people suffer under him? I cannot let him live any longer, not after this."
And that's what made Naruto do what he could to help Arturia. The blood of family on one's hands changed them. There was no way in hell Naruto was going to let her tackle this on her own, "You know what I said before…" Arturia nodded before Naruto continued on, "…I have a plan to take the fortress and come out on top. One that doesn't require us to sacrifice so many lives for victory."
Arturia spun around in an instant, "Tell me."
-Two Days Later; Fortress Vortigern-
Vortigern sat on his throne, unamused.
Not.
One.
Bit.
The forces he had sent out to the fortress on the River Tribuit were wiped clean from the lands. The troops he had stationed nearby were defeated with some surrendering. The Ghouls and the Green Knight that he planned on using to kill Arthur were all defeated while his nephew only suffered a few losses. Now his soldiers were making a valiant last stand against Arthur's army, even from here, he could hear the incessant drum of combat and that damned Fae Witch was nowhere to be found.
"And so, the reign of King Vortigern comes to an end…"
Well, speak of the Devil, and surely, she shall appear…
Vortigern turned to see Morgan leaning against the throne with a neutral expression on her veiled face, "I thought you said your creations would have killed Arthur… or was that all a jest, Fae bitch?"
Morgan glanced to Vortigern as her eyes narrowed at the man who insulted her, but she didn't take it personally, "They would have, had the Lady of the Lake not have gifted her and her most trusted knights with weapons we Fae forged, who was I to surmise that they would give my sister the Sword of Light that Defends the Planet; along with that vampire of hers…" She let the last statement sink into her uncle as a realization struck him.
"You mean to say… that Arthur is a little girl?!" Vortigern was now brimming with furious rage the mass of shadow that constituted his face began to contort into a beast, with the iris changing black briefly before he regained control of himself.
Morgan smirked ever so slightly that it was unnoticeable to the enraged tyrant; taking in the sight as her amusem*nt, "Quite so, my little bastard sister, Arturia is the 'King of Knights'…" the dark Fae chuckled before she continued, "…I dare say that the only chance you have is to turn yourself over completely to the White Dragon. Though I doubt you would be little more than a shadow of Fafnir."
The sound of battle grew louder as the large metal doors that lead into the throne room were being knocked on, or rather banged viciously on. Morgan looked to Vortigern one last time and gave him a mock wink, "Best of luck! Not that you'll have any!" she tittered before vanishing in a puff of miasma. Vortigern took a swing at the smoke before letting out a growl of rage.
The doors blew off their hinges with a bombastic clatter, Vortigern saw three figures enter his throne room: his grandnephew Gawain with a silver sword that had steam coming off of it, his now revealed niece Arturia, with a golden, glowing blade; and a young man in sky silver armor and a dagger that was emanating Wind Mana that more than likely blew the doors down. The vampire no doubt, judging from his red slitted eyes.
"Vortigern…" Arturia's voice was low, yet loud as it reverberated through the throne room with stern and restrained anger, "…your time as the King in the North is finished. Your army lay shattered, your lands in ruins, I suggest you surrender to prevent further bloodshed, but that would probably be a useless statement given what kind of man you are."
The tyrant king's face twisted further into anger at Arturia's words, "The kind of man I am…" He stood from his jagged ebony throne and marched slowly towards them, as his pitch-black form began to ripple and distort, "…the kind of man that I am, IS ONE!" His body contorted down on all fours as wings sprung up from his back. Arturia and her knights held their weapons ready to defend themselves, "WHO WILL NOT YIELD!" Vortigern grew in size that made the vast throne room shrink in size, all the while leaving more than enough space for the knights to maneuver themselves for what was to come with his voice becoming beastly, "BRITAIN TO MAN ITSELF!"Their eyes widened in shock at the sight of what Vortigern had become…
"OR A BASTARD CHILD THAT CLAIMS TO BE A FALSE KING!"
No longer were the knights standing at the ready to attack a man… no… now before stood a massive Black Dragon. The symbol of their enemies that threatened to overtake Britain. Vortigern's head drew back as his mouth began to glow a white, signaling that he was about to use his Dragon's Breath with lighting building up around his face.
Naruto's connection to nature reeled in pain at what now stood before him. Vortigern was a hole in the world and stood against the common sense of man, now empowered by the blood of a supreme Phantasmal Species, one so steeped in mystery that if it got loose, none would stand a chance. He knew instinctively that they had no time to retreat to safety from the attack, "My King! Avalon!"
Arturia knew well enough what Naruto had meant, "Stay by my side! Both of you!" Arturia sheathed Excalibur as she brought forth Avalon in front of her, "Look upon the everdistant utopia! AVALON!" The scabbard dissipated into particles that surrounded the three, just as Vortigern unleashed his Dragon's Breath; Lightning and Ice. The ice froze everything within its range, as the lightning blew away the walls and structures, with the door leading into the hall collapsed. The weather outside began to turn into rain and thunder, as Vortigern's presence was a hole in the world itself.
The explosion kept going, expanding upwards into the clouds above and into the heavens beyond that. The dark light made all who looked upon it quail in despair at the might of the dragon lord who had inherited the darkness of Britain... no.
This was Britain given form, a horrid beast spitting bile and hate upon those who lived there all for the sake of preserving its own sense of reality.
"We have to end this now, my king!" Gawain shouted as the roar of the dragon bellowed through what was left of the hall.
Naruto had to agree with Gawain. Vortigern's dragon power was stronger than Arturia's own, "He's right, he's getting stronger by the minute, and the weather outside is becoming bad if that crack of thunder's anything to go by." Naruto saw that the tyrant-turned-Dragon was crawling his way over to them. They could hide behind Avalon's barrier with Arturia, but then they'd just be playing defense the entire time, with the rest of the army and inner circle vulnerable to the bastard.
Arturia glanced to her knights by her side, as she motioned for them to tackle the beast from its sides while she took him head-on. It was no problem for her, all in thanks to Avalon, however Gawain & Naruto would need to be quick with their own attacks. Excalibur's golden shine became bright as can be just as Galatine's light emanated from the hilt that channeled into the blade, all the while Naruto channeled Wind & Fire Mana into the dagger to inflict the opposite of the White Dragon's power to weaken it.
They split up and dashed at it from three separate angles to deliver as much damage as they could, but it was a seemingly fruitless endeavor. The pitch-black scales seemed to eat away at the matter that came in contact with it. Naruto turned quickly, raising Carnaween above his head, summoning five large balls of magical energy. "Ye five great dragons of destruction and ill repute, Harken!"the orbs began to grow and shift into the shapes that mimicked their dark opponent, drawing a growl from the black dragon."Your horror is warranted, but your crimes are suspended. You are needed to slay my enemy!"Naruto sped forwards while the dragons continued to grow in size till they Vortigern.
Gawain saw what Naruto was about to do, coming to the conclusion that if they were going to beat Vortigern, then it would have to be now. He held Galatine out before him before turning it to the right. "Tyrant King! In your horror and fever to maintain your ideal, you have ruined countless lives!" Tossing Galatine with a superhuman feat of strength and letting out a shout, Gawain watched as it span further and further into the sky till it was but a pinprick. "Each and every life you have incurred a debt to, for lives and happiness unattainable!"
High above them all came a sudden explosion of light that pushed away the darkness exuded by the dragon if but for a moment, the glare obscuring it to most of the soldiers fighting outside. None looked up at it, but that was for the best, for where there had once been a sword was now a small star burning bright. A large golden magic circle formed beneath Gawain's feet with him at its center.
"This sword is a reflection of the sun, now Tyrant King, I shall collect your debts!" A second later a concentrated beam of golden light shot down from the star, stopping before Gawain. Grimacing in exertion, Gawain grabbed the base of the pillar in both hands as if wielding a sword. Planting one foot forwards while bracing his arms in readiness, Gawain let out a roar before swinging the entire pillar of light out in a lateral arc. "EXCALIBUR GALATINE!"
The broad wave of concentrated light collided with Vortigern who let out a screech of pain tinged anger, being sent sliding back into the destroyed walls of the keep. But the bombardment continued when Naruto's five magecraft constructs dogpiled onto the dragon before detonating with the force of a fifteen megaton nuke. The amount of dust kicked up by the blast was such that the entire battlefield was blanketed in a thick smokescreen of dirt.
"Keep the pressure on!" Naruto called, sending a blast of wind out to clear some of the dust.
Arturia followed his lead into the dust with Excalibur clutched tightly in her hands, knocking away pieces of fallen debris that continued to rain down on them from above but then being forced to jump to the side as Vortigern's great draconic maw emerged with frightening speed. She let out a shout of exertion and slashed upwards with the golden blade to carve up the open mouth, the divine construct nicking the roof of the beats mouth and sending it running back into the dust as it spits out some of its almost black blood onto the floor.
Snarling in discontent, Arturia pursued her transformed uncle, her armored form dancing amidst the destroyed room like a ballerina of combat, wanting to bring an end to this horrid creature, a being that had been the cause of so much misery for her and countless others. Amassing Prana once more in her arm before swinging outward, Arturia used Strike Air to create a vacuum that sucked the dust away. Vortigern was revealed to them once again, his dark form silhouetted by the lightning strikes racing across the heavens.
"Naruto, keep him pinned down, Gawain, how long before you can use Galatine again?" Arturia barked out orders to her two retainers, not taking her eyes off the battlefield for even a moment, causing both of the male blonde's to pay attention. "You can sense it can't you, he is a slave to his power, but once he gained control over himself, he will only grow stronger, therefore we must finish him now."
"I am not sure, my King. That was the first time I have used Galatine in such a way beyond practice, and we grow more fatigued by the second." Galatine's blue glow was fainter than it had been before, he watched as the dragon roused itself from whatever affect their prior attacks had dealt it. The dark glow from the mouth of the beast was the only warning that Gawain was given before he was forced to bring his blade up to bat away a black beam of concentrated fire.
Naruto was not idle in this time. His red eyes darted from side to side, hoping to pick out any details from the environment that could be used against his enemy, settling on the remnants of a large archway that now stood over the Dragon King. Bounding forth in a flutter of movement like a leaf caught in the wind, Naruto juked and jived around more of the black beams that Vortigern fired from his growling form, somersaulting in ways that the human body would break if a regular person were to attempt. Arturia took this as a chance to advance of the Dragon seeing as it's attention was firmly placed on Naruto, steering clear of the ever-encroaching shadow of black magic energy that seemed to drip from Vortigern like foul ichor.
Reaching the archway, Naruto placed his hand against it and utilized the most basic of Magecraft skills, structural analysis, to analyze the composition and nature of what was left of the once grand edifice."Stresse! Gehen!",the short Aria was all that was needed to send a shock of potent magical energy into rock, more importantly into the myriad weaknesses and imperfections within it, each and every one calculated in such a way as to elicit a precise reaction. The main crossbeam of the archway was sheared off from the point of impact with a biblical crash, sending the seven hundred and forty-five tonne slab of marble and granite crashing down on the dragon.
Vortigern let out a trembling screech of pain and distraught anger as the massive rock piece pinned him to the ground, but that was not all the ninja had in store for the tyrant. Naruto's body exploded with golden light as he engaged Six Paths mode, ignoring the sudden influx of information about nature beneath his feet. He could hear it, the cries of Britain raging out at being perverted by such a vain and disgusting creature as Vortigern. He knew that he would not be able to hold the boost in power for very long, given that he could already feel the tremblings of the Counter Force.
"Herald of all creation, heed my call! Burn away that which is my foe, dice it from existence and scatter its ashes to the seven winds. Let none remember your name amid thespiralingtorrent of the Root!"Above Naruto a familiar whir began to form as he took in the ambient Mana and combined it with his Prana, spiraling it in so many different directions while condensing its nature to a small ball. Concept and memory, set. In between steps understood, miracle duplicated as far as Gaia allowed. Push beyond. Further and more extensive did the orb grow, filling the ruins of the castle with nothing but the screech of a demonic bell.
Arturia and Gawain looked upon what Naruto had created and openly gawked at the size and complexity of the technique, no less than a trillion individual blades of sharp magic rotation within a giant blue-white orb with a gold and red nucleus at its centre. As it grew four curved white blades expanded from its epicentre with magic circles of each individual element at the four corners and poles of the sphere."Mother's wish, father's genius, son's desire and lover's blessing! Let the name be known and carved into the world, ARCHMAGUS RASENSHURIKEN!"
With that, Naruto hurled the spiraling projectile down at the overgrown lizard, expanding to the size of a small house before striking like a meteorite hitting the earth and causing the Dragon King to let out the most unholy cry of rage and pain. A trillion blades of Prana endlessly cut away at the thick scales and began the act of grinding them down to a fine powder, but that was just on the surface. The lightning spells woven into its primary spell would shock away at pain receptors while fire spells cauterized the wounds, preventing them from healing over completely. Water and earth would aggravate the burns to the point of unending agony before the central nucleus reached critical mass and exploded like a supernova.
The entire upper floors of the castle were wiped away in a vermilion flash of pure power, Naruto himself having to use a quick burst of Flash AIr to distort space to avoid being caught up in the blast.
The cloud bank above them all sputtered out of existence from the sudden movement of superheated air into the atmosphere and in the days to come many who were at the battle would complain about a bright spot in their vision from where they had seen it.
Naruto disengaged Six Paths mode in an effort to maintain power before sprinting for the crater in hopes of finishing the beast once and for all.
But as Naruto dashed forward, he failed to see the tail of the Dragon whipping right at him from within the debris kicked up by his attack, the deadly spikes that jutted from it impaling him. Naruto let out a hoarse shout at the unfamiliar pain, he had for so long been used to things not being able to injure or wound him for the last eighty years, so to his surprise what came next was indeed a genuine surprise. Already recovering, Naruto dug his fingers into the tail's flesh and used his strength to tear it from the tail before ripping it out of his stomach and tossing it to the ground.
"Naruto!" Arturia screamed in horror at seeing the large hole in Naruto's stomach, but he waved her off with a and shout.
As Arturia leapt into the air to deliver a blow at one of the wings, only to find the Dragon's tail lash against her body. Arturia was flung back into the wall as she felt the stone break against her back, "Dammit, I didn't expect something so big to be so…" She was cut off as she felt her shoulder grow damp with something warm, "Wha…?" Arturia looked to her shoulder to see that a spike that came from Vortigern had jammed itself into her body, and piercing it.
All there looked at what was left of Vortigern and were shocked to see him still standing albeit with some effort. There was not a single scale on his body left untouched by the onslaught of the attacks, and one of those black eyes had been completely blown from its socket, not to mention its wings now lie in bloody tatters. "How the f*ck is that thing still alive, and how did it hit me?" Naruto grunted, looking away from the panting dragon to his own wound.
'Idiot! Did you not listen to those lessons from the Flower Magus!?'Kurama roared, his power surging towards the injury in conjunction with Naruto's vampiric healing.'When Brunestud bit you, it integrated you into the systems of this world. The White Dragon has been alive for tens of thousands of years so it has far more mystery, of course you would be susceptible to something derived directly from its power.'
"Naruto!"
He heard Arturia's voice as she struggled to slash at Vortigern's jaws attempting to bite her in half, just as Gawain rushed to his side while slashing at the belly of the dragon. He quickly pivoted himself to Naruto's side to hold him, "Are you alright?" The Knight of the Sun asked, looking at the slowly closing wound.
Naruto simply stared at the hand that now had his blood on it, with the hole the spike made still in his body, "I-I'm fine, but… I'll worry about me; you and the King need to focus on Vortigern." Gawain would've protested, but seeing the King face the tyrant on her own valiantly, he needed to aid the King. If Naruto stated that he would take care of himself, then he would do so. "I've weakened it enough to be killed, don't waste this chance!" Gawain nodded as he propped Naruto up behind a pillar out of the battle, with the Knight of the Sun charging back into the fray.
As the vicious battle continued on, Naruto saw a door that held on the odd sensation that he couldn't describe. As much as he wanted to help Arturia in the fight, he was in no state to go back out before regenerating, already starting to feel dizzy from the wound. Some sort of poison or toxin that was within the spike. Naruto mused that somehow Vortigern had been enhanced by Morgan, and if this feeling he was getting was something similar behind the door, then he needed to investigate to make sure there weren't any more surprises waiting for them, "Ok, nothing ventured… wait, wrong saying. Crap I don't know, but I gotta find out if there's more here than we think."
Naruto took out the spike as he began applying healing magecraft to his wound as he opened the door to smell another Dragon down below… "Great…"
-Arturia & Gawain-
The intense battle felt as if it had carried on for an hour or so, yet there was no telling of time right now. Vortigern attempted to swipe away at Arturia,"I WILL BURN BRITAIN TO THE GROUND TO STOP MAN FROM OBTAINING IT! YOU ARE WEAK AND NOT STRONG ENOUGH TO PROTECT THESE LANDS!"The Dragon bellowed at Arturia as the light from Excalibur began to fade after slashing at the flesh of her uncle, little more than a dull fire now compared with its former shining glory. Gawain's own blade had lost its own shine with the darkness that Vortigern emanated from within, as the storm raged outside while their armies clashed one last time.
Gawain began to falter with his blows all the while avoiding the claws and tail of the dragon before he shouted, "My King! The body of the enemy is Britain itself! Despite our holy weapons, we cannot win as we are now, we should retreat!" Vortigern embodied the darkness of Britain and the curse that lie within it.
However, this did not deter Arturia one bit. With a smile that showed no hint of despair, "Fear not hardy Gawain, for he swallowed Galatine's light and could not consume Excalibur's own!" She ducked under the tail that ruined a pillar that caused a portion of the foundations to collapse beneath them, only for the debris to strike one of the ruined wings causing Vortigern to cry out in pain as the wounds Naruto inflicted were aggravated, "I will require your assistance once more. But where is Naruto?" She saw out of the corner of her eye that he was nowhere to be seen. Arturia believed him to take cover as he recovered from the grisly wound that scared her half to death, having become accustomed to no weapon, be they blade, arrow or spear to harm him at all.
"IT IS YOUR HUMANITY THAT WILL LEAD BRITAIN TO RUIN!"Vortigern bellowed out, seeing the smile upon her face that showed him nothing but weakness in his eyes. For a true king of Britain, could never let humanity to rule and safeguard the lands.
Arturia lost her smile as she called out to Gawain, "Pin him down! We cannot allow him to escape!" Arturia dodged a small blast of lighting from the dragon's mouth as she twisted Excalibur down to stab Vortigern's right foreleg to keep him from moving. Vortigern let out a painful cry as he began to thrash about as his tail to nearly sideswipe Gawain as he rushed forward to pin the other arm down, "Good, now to end this once and for all!" Arturia called for Rhongomyniad as she channeled her Mana into the spear to charge it up and undo the seals placed upon it.
The spiral lance changed form with light that shone as bright as Excalibur, if not more so. Gawain was shocked upon seeing the weapon, as he had never seen it before until today, "What is that shining lance?!"
Wind emanated from its form before gold and white energy began to spiral outwards from its center, pushing back her uncle's darkness. With each seal unlocked came a metallic click, the light growing brighter with each one until rings of magical script encircled the spear that shines at the world's end.
Arturia held the lance behind her as she positioned herself to thrust the light into the dragon, "Holy lance, anchor! Let the light be released from the Ends of the World!" Seven seals came undone as the area around her began to vibrate and blind all to the King's magnificence, "It shall split the heavens, and connect the land!" She attempted to undo another seal through her own will but believed that with the power she had with seven undone, that it would be enough to kill Vortigern, "Anchor of the Storm!" she sprinted forth before jumping into the air and falling towards her enemy.
"RHONGOMYNIAD!" She thrust the spiraling lance forward, the light skewered Vortigern in his heart, ripping clean through his body and cleansing the darkness with holy fire. The shockwave released had sent Gawain flying back, and the clouds blew away from the land where the castle had once stood as if the world wished to stand in reverence of what had just occurred.
As the light died down, Gawain let his arms down to see the dragon that was once Vortigern fall to the floor, as life began to leave his breath. The maw of the dragon had come down only inches away from Arturia, a figure falling from the flesh that had been stolen. Gone was the dragon king of the north, so to was the pitch-black hole in the world, all that was left was a simpering old man clad in tattered armor,"SO… YOU HAVE THAT LANCE… FOOLS… TO DEFEAT A TYRANT, YOU WOULD CALL FORTH EVEN GREATER RUIN… CHILD OF MY BROTHER, UTHER… YOU CANNOT SAVE THIS KINGDOM… YOU CANNOT WIN AGAINST MANKIND…"
Arturia narrowed her eyes at the old man, "I beg to differ. Everything that I and my retainers have done, have saved this country from evil, as is your own as well."
The former dragon merely spat up blood to the side before he let one small haughty laugh,"BECAUSE THE AGE OF FAIRIES IS NOW OVER… NOW THE AGE OF MAN WILL COME FORTH… THE POWER YOU WILED IS BEYOND MAN AND AT ODDS WITH MAN… AS LONG AS YOU EXIST TO CONTRADICT WHAT IS, BRITAIN HAS NO FUTURE… DAMN YOUR FATE… THE OLD BRITAIN FELL… LONG…AGO…"
"What do you mean?" Arturia could only find confusion in his words.
Vortigern shifted his head up slightly to glare at Arturia, before his voice began to return to normal and fade away, finding the strength to muster up one last speech,"Don't you see dear niece? Humans do nothing but bring about the downfall of common sense and mystery. It is that human weakness that brings about strife and suffering. Look at you, a monster… a dragon such as I… playing at being a human... that contradiction will lead Britain to ruin.A true king...can never be...human."
And so, ends the reign of the tyrant Vortigern… only for the victorious niece to wonder… was he right in the end?
-Naruto-
Naruto made his way down the stairs slowly as he held his healing wound, "What the hell do you have down here, Vortigern?" His question was answered as he came down to the floor as he saw it: Albion. The original White Dragon, the opposite of the Red Dragon whose blood flowed and heart beat through Arturia's veins.
'Watch your ass down here…'Kurama warned the Apostle,'Who the hell knows what else is down here.'
What once would've been a majestic, yet deadly creature, was now but a shell of its former self. Chained and forced to feed on rotten meat, the dragon was barely a threat. It held numerous cuts in its scales where a mystic dagger no doubt, was thrust into the beast's hide, no doubt for the powerful blood it carried.
Naruto saw off to the side that numerous, large bottles of the dragon's blood had been filled to the brim with cork capped off on the vials. No doubt Vortigern had used them to try an empower himself to be able to transform into the damned thing, "You really got it bad, didn't you?"
Albion seemed to understand him a bit as it barely nodded its head, like an animal that had long accepted its fate in confinement. Whether or not this being was Arturia's enemy, Naruto would not allow the dragon to suffer any longer, though neither would he put it down, if by some chance he could since its Mystery was greater than his own.
Naruto would free the dragon, for one last soar through the sky. Judging from the way it was looking at him, that was all it wanted to do, "Alright, Albion. I'm setting you free." Naruto saw the chains that held it down in specific places to hold him back; channelling his Wind Mana into Carnwennan, Naruto sliced through the bindings as Albion got up from his confinement before the two had a stare down that was merely a conveying of thanks.
Albion stretched his slightly tattered wings he ran through the wall that led out to a cliffside, where the dark clouds that Vortigern once conjured up, had begun to vanish, signifying Arturia's victory.
At least he knew now why the castle shook, along with the power of Rhongomynaid being unsealed to kill him, "It's a new day…" The sun rose up from the dark clouds with the god ray shining through the room. Naruto turned to the two bottles of dragon blood, and while he had no need to consume it, he didn't want it to go to waste, "Maybe I can make some Mystic Codes with Albion's blood as the core of them?" Dragon's blood was extremely valuable and powerful. Powerful enough to turn a normal man into a dragon if he so desired it. Powerful enough to imbue a girl with the power to strike down any enemy, she chose to point her blade out.
The possibilities were limitless…
Gathering the bottles of blood into a sealing scroll, Naruto made his way back upstairs to see the Gawain and Arturia standing over the corpse of Vortigern, who had fallen as the dragon, "I see you two were able to handle him pretty well, my king."
Arturia whipped her head around as she rushed over to Naruto; the image of the wound still fresh in her mind, "Are you alright? Did the wound inflict anything serious on you? Will you need treatment? Will you—"
Naruto brought a hand up to stop Arturia's questioning. While it was sweet of her to be concerned for his health since he too was surprised by the sudden incident, he eased her worries, "I'm fine now, you don't have to worry about me. I've treated my wound, see?" He gestured to the healed wound.
Arturia looked back and forth between the wound and her secret lover's expression, not entirely convinced that he was alright, "Very well then… but from now on…" She raised a finger that slightly wagged a bit, "…I want you to never take such risks again. Is that understood?"
Naruto would've played a bit with his words, but with Gawain looking at the exchange, he didn't want to bring any suspicion towards their relationship. The Knight of the Sun was already eyeing them wearily, and it would do no good to bring his attention, or anyone else's towards them, "Understood, my king."
Arturia nodded in response, "Good." She turned back to the corpse of Vortigern, "We've finally done it…"
"Britain is free, my king," Gawain said as he sheathed Galatine.
Naruto stepped forward as he placed his free hand on her shoulder, "I think the army will want to see their king's victorious speech, no?"
Arturia hummed in response, "Yes. After this ordeal, the men could use some good morale after all we have endured these past seven years." Naruto went to retrieve Excalibur who promptly returned it to Arturia, as they made their way back outside to the large courtyard where her army had forced Vortigern's remaining forces to surrender.
The inner circle made their way towards those who fought the tyrant, with Kay bringing up the question, "I take it that the so-called 'Dragon King' is dead and no longer a problem?" He knew the answer, having heard the roar of the dragon, along with that strange bright light that shot through the roof of the castle, nevertheless he asked away.
Arturia gave a small smile as she nodded, "Indeed. While I would've preferred that he surrender to us so that he would stand trial, Vortigern is no longer in power, with Britain now free of all threats to her people and lands." She looked around to see a battlement that rose above them all and promptly made her way up to give her speech to the army, with the inner circle following behind. Looking around the courtyard and beyond, Arturia was proud of their accomplishments and achievements, and so was the time to congratulate them all, "My fellow countrymen… today, we have won!" The army roused in cheer at the news, "Today, we have freed Britain from tyranny and evil! This is our time now! We will continue to protect Britain as we build our future, free of such things!" Another rousing cheer louder than before rose up, "And now, we can at last rest from our ordeal over these past seven years, but we must remain vigilant, for whatever threats that may come for us. Whether they be from within our lands, across the seas from barbarians and Saxons, or the fractured Roman Empire that seeks to rebuild and retake what they've lost, Britain… Camelot, will stand at the ready!" A final cheer came from the army as the men were proud of their King's words for them.
Naruto stood right next to hear, and was about to bring something up in a whisper to her ear, however… the frown upon her face led him to ask if she was alright, "My king… are you alright?" It was very rare for him to see Arturia frown, and when she did, it meant she had something on her mind for a little bit.
Arturia turned to Naruto as she appeared to be in some sort of small daze, "Hmm? Oh… yes, I am alright, Naruto. There's no need to concern yourself over me right now." She glanced to the previous wound and back to him, "However, I want you to make extra sure that wound will not act up again, understood?"
Naruto chuckled a bit, "I understand, my king."
While Arturia deflected Naruto's concern, her uncle's final words were gnawing away at her mind. Her humanity is what brought them this far… but… if the Mystery & Magic of the age was coming to an end, what did that mean for Britain's future? Perhaps on some level… was he right…? Perhaps a king needed to be inhuman to rule Britain…
-Several Hours Later, the Remains of Vortigern's Throne Room-
Footsteps echoed through what was left of the throne room, with only the corpse of the Dragon within it, "Oh, Vortigern…" Morgan le Fay had returned not long after her sister, and the army had left to set up their camp not too far away from the castle, "…despite having the White Dragon's power within you, and taking his form, you failed in the end. Just like I knew you would." Of course, she knew her uncle would fall to her sister. It helped to incite his anger with the revelation that a little girl was the one responsible for such actions of overtaking his 'kingship' if it could even be called that.
On the other hand, she had no idea that Arturia possessed Rhongomyniad… that was something she wasn't sure how she would deal with. Nevertheless, she would continue to plan away at her sister's downfall. Morgan strode over to the patch of blood that had been made from Naruto, with the spike having been pulled him his body that had been drenched in his blood, "You really should be more careful, Apostle. You never know what might happen if someone were to make something of this…" Morgan chuckled briefly before she had the second requirement for her tool…
The Blood of the White Dragon, Albion.
The Blood of the 'Knight of Sky Silver', Naruto; a divine Dead Apostle.
Now she needed one last thing… and it would be provided by her sister in due time…
Musings of a Wizard Marshal
By K.Z.S.
I have often found myself wondering about that great pillar of light that fastens together the world, Rhongomyniad. For such a thing to exist yet have so little information about it, you can't help but wonder where it came from. Was it a phantasm coughed up by the planet for the planet like Excalibur after it? Or instead handled by those who forged this world from atoms and fire. All I know is that given how it pins the textures to the planet it would fall into the realm of the Gods, but the Gods have left this world, some have died while most of them simply moved on to a higher plain.
After Cammlann, [REDACTED} took the lance with him and hid it in a small village deep in the Welsh countryside in the hopes that none would find it and that maybe the mystery of the age could be preserved. Of that, I have to thank him because navigation of textures is one of the steps towards the Second Magic and I can't exactly have people finding out the mechanics of that in too much detail...not without me teaching them of course~.
It became a tradition amongst that village to pair the lance with a line of infants in the hopes that one day, King Arthur would return through them, noble but foolish. But I can't help but wonder, perhaps there is another facet of the Kaleidoscope where Arturia never let go of the lance. What would she have become then I wonder? A goddess in an age that could have used miracles? Or maybe just a woman determined to do anything to stay by her lover's side.
-Of Things to Come…-
"I've known for quite some time about you two…"
"A marriage proposal?"
"You will be loyal to our king…"
"I will need you to take my place in court from time to time."
"I'm afraid of what this will bring us."
"You are still so beautiful…"
"And now…? Now I can create my tool… my child Mordred…"
Holy crap! This took forever, easily the longest single chapter I have ever written at 41K… so many things got in the way, but I still managed to get this done.
Anyways, this concludes the 'Rise' section of the Camelot arc, with the 'Glory' section beginning next and the drama goes up a bit that follows further on with introducing more Camelot characters.
Also, I will more than likely attending college this semester, so there's no telling when I'll be able to update, but I'll be sure to work on this story whenever I have the free time to do so.
Be sure to let me know what you guys liked and/or disliked about the chapter in the reviews please, otherwise I can't become a better writer. While I appreciate the kudos and all, I do enjoy seeing actual reviews. Flamers will be ignored, so anyone that's all "You suck at writing, kill yourself." You guys shall be ignored.
Anyways, until next time!
Chapter 8: The Glory of Camelot Part I
Chapter Text
Big Chungus.
That was the name of the last chapter, and rightfully named as such. I'm not sure if I'll be able to write another chapter that long unless special circ*mstances interfere, and I'm forced to do so. Although there is one upcoming chapter within the Camelot Act that may beat it or so.
Anyways, I was kinda disappointed by the lack of reviews from the previous chapter compared to the others, as well as how many have been popping up in comparison to the vast amount of people that have favorited and followed this story. But I guess that's just the way of fanfiction, no harm no foul.
In other news, the second Heaven's Feel film, Lost Butterfly, released this November on blu-ray. The third film, Spring Song is releasing in theaters next year for those of you that don't know. The Fate/Zero complete series blu-ray box set released in October, though it said there was supposed to be uncut episodes, though having watched it through and on Netflix, I hardly saw a difference. As for Grand Order, the Babylonia series dropped and while I'm not too big on the arc, the series has been a lotta fun, however… the thing I'm most hyped for are the Camelot films set to release within the next couple of years!
But I still want Ufotable to remake the Fate route either as a TV or film series and complete the full story of Fate/stay night! Preferably a TV series, to get the most out of having a good story with proper development to make us care about the characters. The Heaven's Feel films just don't draw you into the characters properly to make you care about them, not like the DEEN series, Zero & UBW did. I couldn't bring myself to really care what happened. Sure, the animation is god-tier, but nothing else drew me in.
And so now, on with the next chapter! The 2 nd section of the Camelot arc, "The Glory of Camelot"!
Chapter 7 – The Glory of Camelot Part I
-Summer 474 AD; Camelot-
Eight months have passed since the usurper, Vortigern, had been toppled. All of Britain had finally been united under Camelot, with Arturia accepted as the rightful king of the country. The capital had at last been completed, with the palace standing above all other structures, adorned in metal plating that shone brightly as silver when the sun gleamed down upon it.
'The Shining Silver City of Britain'
That is what Camelot was called by those living within and beyond their lands. A city that would one day rival Rome in Italy, even surpass the Empire's crown jewel from its halcyon glory.
Naruto stood atop the nearby mountain that oversaw the city standing proud and tall. Many structures had been finally built within the wall that stood sentinel at six stories adorned with battlements and quarters for the city guard to bunk for rotations.
The drawbridge leading to the northern wall was completed connecting to the old Roman road system that had trade flowing up to the far north in Scotland, where the lords of those lands pledged their fealty to Arturia for her graciousness and defeat of the usurper.
Speaking of his king, as of late, she had been rather off kilter in a way, distant from him and yet overprotective in other ways.
"I wonder if she's doing alright?" Naruto sat up from his spot on the mountain, the very same spot where he had taken Arturia to back on their first date, and teleported back to his room in time to see the door open with his muse entering, "Ar—" Naruto quickly corrected himself, unable to break from the habit of calling Arturia by her real name, the door was open, and there was no telling who else was outside with her, "—my king. Was there something you needed to talk about?" Judging from her expression, it was a serious matter.
"We're going to march on the Saxon's final War Encampment." Red eyes widened slightly at the news. Ever since Vortigern was deposed, the Saxon raiders had been cut off from their primary supporter and erratic changes in their command structure that followed led to raids on small settlements. They had become desperate to survive in Britain with Camelot cracking down on all invaders.
"And I take it we'll need to discuss our next move?" The Apostle asked.
Arturia nodded brusquely, "I've actually taken the liberty of discussing the strategy already with the others."
Naruto was subtly shocked by her words, "Oh, I see…"
Arturia quickly moved into the room, making sure to shut the door behind her, "I apologize. The meeting was held between the others and me this morning." She gripped his shoulders, getting up on her toes to give him a peck on the lips, "I did not want to wake and worry you over the details. From what I understand, the battle will be short and swift with the Wild Hunt at our side."
Ah yes… the Wild Hunt.
An army of warrior fairies and phantasmal beasts that swore their fealty and lives to Arturia not long after she had killed Vortigern with Rhongomyniad. It had been led by many beings of power and high repute over the millennia, the Great God Odin being a foremost example. The sight of a mortal with the blood of a Dragon, wielding legendary holy weapons to strike at darkness had shown them that such a being was worthy of following into battle. That and being the linchpin to the Age of Fairies brought one many benefits to utilize in certain situations.
Naruto knew just how well such an army could be used to cripple the opposing force, in a world where the average human held no inherent supernatural power. The ninja sighed at Arturia's concern for him. Arturia had consistently stuck to Naruto like glue, pulling him along with her to meetings, their meals, training… bedtime… amongst other more intimate activities. She never once allowed him to leave her side, save for a scant few things, but that was it. Perhaps it was seeing him wounded in battle that brought her to these actions?
Naruto leaned down and placed his forehead against her own as he closed his eyes, "I guess you have everything in hand then." The way he spoke held tones of disappointment, although he was not offended by her choice.
Arturia embraced him before speaking again, "I need you to watch over the capital while I'm gone as Regent." Naruto stood straighter at those words, being regent was a considerable responsibility, having to oversee the day-to-day activities, tending to the requests from lords, along with ensuring the protection of the city among other things.
"Alright, I'll be sure to take care of things while you're gone." They shared a chaste kiss before they departed to the rest of the army awaiting their king.
Night had fallen in the day that had passed since the departing of the King of Knights' army. Naruto was left to tend to the daily tasks of running the city along with responding to the requests and messages from local kings and lords. He pulled up his hood to help maintain the glamour that he was Merlin who had been officially listed as Lord Regent while the King was absent.
Merlin, unfortunately, had gone on another of his "walkabouts", leaving Naruto alone to do most of the work. Damn that Pervy Mage; said teacher of his had commended him on all of his progress with his Magecraft, with praise higher than most other. The Mage had even wondered aloud with his unique Origin, that something even more powerful could one day be achieved with time & patience. Naruto had been playing around with the idea of attempting to develop one of the skills inherent to the majority of Dead Apostle Ancestor members, but his current Magecraft related thoughts were turned to more mundane aspects of it.
Specifically, what had happened to Albion in the months since the great White Dragon had been released. According to Merlin, it had last been seen digging down into the heart of Old Londinium. Maddened by its time spent tortured at Vortigern's hands it had attempted to physically burrow to the Reverse Side of the World but had suffocated deep beneath the ground. Even now groups of Magi from both the Atlas Academy and Wondering Sea had begun to set up facilities in that area. The blonde closed the letter, applying a red ink seal to it before stamping it with the King's sigil. "The thing they don't tell you about ruling is that it's a logistical nightmare," Naruto grumbled to himself.
Cath Palug was sleeping peacefully atop his head, to which the Apostle had all but given up on trying to get the little bugger from its claimed sleeping spot. If Fou wanted on his head for naptime, then by the light of Excalibur did he get it.
At least the little familiar had let him be when he was going over the design of a new sword that he had been trying to forge with the blood of Albion; Clarent was its name.
Radiant & Brilliant Royal Sword.
It had been one of Arturia's first requests to Naruto after the throne was secure, commissioning a new sword of selection to replace the now lost Caliburn.
A sword that would designate one as the king and bestow the rightful succession of the throne to the next in line. Though it would also be used for heavy combat as opposed to the previous sword, Caliburn; being able to handle hardier magic and stand against those who would threaten Britain. The blood of Albion would enable one to use the lightning within it to be fired off as a wave similar to Excalibur's light, although nowhere near as powerful. Naruto mused that it would likely be comparable to Arondight and Galatine. While the outward appearance of the blade would be Silver, once activated Albion's blood would leave the sword dyed in a permanent, red-stained color, that would never fade from the edge, something that would showcase the mystical property of the blade to all who would gaze upon it. Given that he was considered a Lesser Fae by the World, Clarent would be the first Fae construct made in the Material World by his own hands.
He decided that once it was finally forged, he would inscribe Fae lettering on the blade, just as the other weapons that he had seen, to showcase just how different the blade was compared to others.
"So, glad that the day's done and over with." he said, depositing the last paperwork firmly in the'OUT'trey on his desk. Now, Naruto had time to finally sit down and relax for the night. He had tended to the garden within the palace; being a past time hobby of his back when he was still in Konoha, he always enjoyed the work on flowers with making sure they were always healthy to bloom for the seasons, and even brighten up Arturia's room along with their scents to lift her spirits up.
Naruto relaxed as the full moon had risen high above the sky, with the celestial light shining down upon the city. The people had retired for the evening and gone to sleep. The city guard rotating on patrol. The braziers used to illuminate the streets and rooms for those staying up in the after-hours had been lit.
"I wonder how the king's doing right now?" Naruto spoke aloud to himself, knowing fully that he had a guest approaching from behind.
"I'm certain the king is doing just fine." The aged, hoarse voice of Ector rose up. Naruto turned from his spot on the bench that sat in the center of the garden. Ector was an old man now with hair white as snow, yet despite all of that, he still stood proud and tall as a man that was once a knight under the king. Ector wore his casual clothing, although the cane he held was rather new to the ninja.
Ector sat down next to Naruto joining him as he gazed up to the sky, "The moon is certainly full tonight, wouldn't you say so, Naruto?"
For whatever reason, Naruto couldn't help but feel something off with Ector tonight, a torrent of negative emotions wafting from the old man, "It really is, although I don't think that's the reason why you came out here tonight."
Ector nodded at Naruto's assessment. It was hard for a person to fool Naruto's read of the mood, "I'm certain you've seen her recent decisions as of late? Mainly towards you?"
"I have… and I can't figure out why though…"
Ector placed a hand on the blonde's shoulder to try and explain things a bit to Naruto, "It's from that wound you received from Vortigern. Ever since you came back, she's been concerned for your safety, even if she feels it best to restrict you from battle." He knew just how fiercely protective Arturia of what she considered to be precious to her.
Lord knows how many times she cuddled with that pup Caval when he got sick for a time when she was younger. She refused to leave him alone for a week. "You are her unwavering pillar of strength, and seeing that said pillar can be hurt for the first time? It terrifies her."
Naruto could only grow confused at Ector's words, "But… there's no way I'm letting that happen again." Gesturing to himself as Ector gave him a sad smile, "I was just caught off guard once, I know that I'm not invincible, but I know now that there are things here in this country other than that Fae bitch, that can actually harm me."
Ector was about to speak, that is before his shoulders shook and he brought a perfumed rag from within his jerkin, to his mouth and began to cough rather violently. Naruto grew a concerned look on his face before Ector managed to stop, waving his worry away unconvincingly, "I know. But you must understand that Arturia will protect those that she loves dearly… even those who believe themselves unworthy of love at all, like yourself."
Naruto's eyes widened mildly at what Ector had implied, "So you know about us…?" The Apostle dipped his head down in abashment for not consulting the man who raised his beloved, before committing to a relationship. Granted things were quite different here, yet Naruto couldn't help but feel that bit of shame and embarrassment for doing such a thing.
"I may be old and widowed for many years…" Ector began as calm as can be, "…but I never forget what being in love and being loved by someone looks like." He finished with a sincere tone that spoke of happiness, "I am proud of the woman that she has become, as it would not have been possible without you in her life." Naruto listened intently at what sounded like a heartfelt speech, "I have to admit, when I first met you, I didn't trust you, despite Merlin taking you on as his student. However, seeing you and her over the last seven years brought joy to my heart. You brought out a side of Arturia that I never thought that she would show as the king. A king that endears her subjects with emotions that show the joy of the world." When he had begun her training, he initially believed that Arturia would not allow herself to showcase her emotions to become the king that she felt was necessary to save and rule Britain.
Naruto wasn't sure what to say, "I…"
Ector held a hand up to halt his sentence, "However, there are some things that get in the way of love and life. To speak frankly, I had hoped that you would one day be my son-in-law." Ector pulled out a folded-up parchment from his robes and with much trepidation handed it to a rather shocked Naruto.
At first, Naruto was confused by the usually firm but fair man, unused to such unsureness in his posture, before he froze at the contents within the letter –
"To his royal majesty, King Arthur Pendragon,
Lord Leodegrance of Cornwall wishes to extend his friendship as well as strengthen his bond with the House of Pendragon through holy matrimony. Lady Guinevere, daughter or Leodegrance has stepped forward to join our houses, so that our great country Britain and the Kingdom of Camelot may endure for generations to come."
There was far more writing upon the letter in that neatly slanting cursive, but Naruto paid it no mind as the parchment slipped from his fingers to land glibly on the dry grass beneath them. Naruto's head dipped in shock before he plucked the letter from the ground and handed the parchment back to Ector, who watched the Apostle bury his head in his hands to just take in… this… lie… "Isn't there… another way this whole matter can be settled…? I mean she can reject it, can't she?! She's the king!" The ninja exclaimed in denial of what was coming.
Ector slowly shook his head, "I'm afraid not. Lord Leodegrance is a man that had supported Uther greatly during his reign, and he has a considerable amount of influence amongst other nobles." Ector explained, "While Arturia is the king and her word is law, but I fear spurning Leodegrance is folly. While all of what she and you have built together and accomplished cannot be swept away or even ignored… I'm afraid Leodegrance could use his influence to make things difficult for us all. Not enough to overthrow Arthur, mind you… as that in itself would be both political -if he somehow survived the retaliation- and literal suicide, but enough to make the future of Britain troublesome."
Cornwall was a significant province, and Leodegrance could stall any future developments with expanding, maintaining and ensuring that Camelot would endure for centuries to come. Planting false rumors and lies, smearing the king's name and whomsoever was close to Arturia, such as her retainers. And if the man found out the truth behind several of the people that helped build Camelot to unite Britain…
Too much was at stake once again, only this time the battlefield was the royal court, as opposed to a war front in the fields.
A far more dangerous battlefield where one never knew who their allies were… or enemies…
"Look upon my works, ye mighty and despair,"(1)Ector said, a look of melancholy upon his aged features. "I heard some great ancient King from Egypt said that once, seems appropriate."
"So…" Naruto began somberly, "…there's no chance of her being able to marry who she wants to…" Naruto looked to the moon as he continued, "…I want to marry her… but there's no chance in hell that'll ever happen now…" Naruto took a deep breath to steady himself in the face of this crushing news.
Ector could see the pain of never being able to have a family in Naruto. Despite being a Dead Apostle who had seen more than his fair share, the love within his heart never ceased for Arturia.
"And I would have happily given my blessing if fate was kin—" Ector began to cough again, far more violently this time around as the perfumed rag was now showing blood on it. Now Naruto knew why it was scented. To hide the blood from his nose and keep things quiet.
"Ector…"
The elderly man wiped the blood away from his lips as he chuckled to himself, "I don't have much time left… it's why I came out here tonight, to tell you before I go…" Ector coughed a little lighter before Naruto placed his hand on the man's shoulder to perform Structural Analysis to see what he was suffering from. Unknown growths on both lungs eating into the bronchial system and damaging Alveoli production. Tumors, Naruto realized.
"Ector…" Naruto began, "…you have lung cancer, and it's terminal."
"Ah… so that is what has caused this…" Ector coughed a bit more into the rag as he wiped away the blood.
Naruto had come to see Ector as a sort of relative to him, not a father but maybe a stern older brother or uncle. The man had raised Arturia from birth, being more of a dad to her, than a father or teacher. The man had hoped to one day see him and his little girl together with a family… "I don't know how to treat what you have, but I can keep you alive if I just..." Never once had Naruto sucked the blood of another living being. The idea of drinking blood in itself was something that disgusted him to no end. But if there were a chance to save someone that he cared for, then he would make the offer if there was still time, or even outright bite them if time was short.
However, Ector shook his head as he held a hand up to stop that line of thinking, "No. I lived as a man, and I shall die as a man. Please respect my choice, Naruto." He looked to the sky once again, to gaze at the bright & beautiful moon… "I know you will look after her when I am gone." Ector closed his eyes as he breathed in deeply before exhaling calmly, "The moon sure is full tonight… please… promise me this: take care of her."
Naruto shed a lone tear, as it streamed down his face before he wiped away to give his response, "I will."
As Fou begin to wake up from his nap and pawed at the ninja in worry, Naruto looked on as the vampire watched the life quietly slip away from Ector…
"So passes Ector of the Forest Sauvage, knight of the realm and a good man."
-One Day Later; Hill Badon-
It was midday as Arturia sat upon Llamrei along with the inner circle below the hillside. The Saxons had been preparing for battle for quite some time now with several fortifications meant for repelling assaults, although there were a few cracks in their defense. They had set up what remained of their siege engines as a ramshackle defense with archers posted atop them, a desperate defense from a desperate enemy.
"I guess it was too much to ask for a surrender?" Kay said atop his own horse right beside her. They had sent a messenger envoy of Gawain and his siblings to the Saxons with terms for surrender without bloodshed, alas as Kay said… surrender was just wishing thinking.
"It would seem so, Sir Kay." The siblings returned by horseback with disappointed expressions.
"My king…" Gawain started, "…the leader of the Saxons, Horsa, brother of Hengest, has rejected the terms of surrender."
Gareth spoke up next through her helmet, "The man would rather die fighting as his brother did against another Pendragon. I'm sorry, my king, but we may be in for a long battle." She wished Mr. Naruto was here right now with the rest of the inner circle. He would've been able to come up with something to make things easier for them all.
Arturia nodded, "I had a feeling that it would come to this, unfortunately." She motioned for Llamrei to stride forth in front of everyone, just as she conjured Rhongomyniad in front of everyone, with many of the soldiers surprised by the sight of the lance gleamed in the sunlight.
Gareth was enraptured by the sight of the beautiful lance and wondered if maybe she too could become a master of the weapon. Having skills with multiple weapons made for an all more skilled knight that could defend the people, since Mr. Naruto used his dagger alongside the oddly shaped knives and 'throwing stars' if she remembered correctly.
Arturia channeled her Mana into the lance, not to undo the seals, but to rather call upon something else entirely… something more elemental… raw… powerful… ancient…
Raising the glowing lance high above her head with the tip pointed to the sky, Arturia shouted out, "Come ye spirits of the Wild Hunt! Your King bids you to service, chase down my enemies for the glory of the hunt!"
As Arturia called out, the wind began to pick up, and clouds formed overhead far faster than what could be considered normal. The soldiers found spectral beings begin to step past them, be they animals, Fae, knights in white armor, or other Phantasmal Species step up the king they pledged themselves towards. The king raised Rhongomyniad high into the air to signal their charge, "Come my knights! My army! We shall join the Wild Hunt in victory! Today, we push back our enemies so that Britain may never fear another enemy again!"
And so, the charge began… a charge that had signaled to the world that Britain was unconquerable.
-Two Days Later; Camelot-
Naruto had been reading over reports of what was going on back in mainland Europa. And they weren't good in the slightest. Apparently, the newly instated Emperor of Rome, Lucius Tiberius, was going around trying to put back the empire of old. So far, he had reclaimed parts of North Africa, Asia Minor, and Eastern Europa, however, he was having difficulty with the rest of the continent with resistance at every corner from the various neighboring lands.
Although it was Tiberius' attitude that was the most significant problem of all. He was an arrogant and selfish little sh*t stain of an emperor. He believed that because it was his right by birth to be the emperor, that all things belonged to him and him alone, giving him the right to take what he wanted, even trying to rebuild the old empire. This was creating friction with the offshoot Byzantine Empire that had broken away from the central empire some hundred years prior.
That was an issue that would have to be dealt with eventually, the sooner the better.
But… there was the recent event…
The door to his study opened up with one of the guardsmen in the entryway, "Mi lord, the King and army have returned." The guardsman informed Naruto.
"I'll meet him at the palace gates." Naruto got up from his desk as he made his way through the halls outside, to see Arturia riding into the capital as the people showered her with praise and adoration.
"Our King, Arthur Pendragon!"
"The Promised King!"
"Bring peace to Britain!"
"Hail the King of Knights!"
Naruto stood outside the palace gates with the guardsmen standing at attention. Naruto did his best to put on a positive face, yet… dread and sorrow lingered in his belly for what he had to tell Arturia. Her face still held that warm, comforting expression that just melted away all the problems in the world, like a goddess that held some sort of divine power. Naruto made his way over to Arturia as she dismounted Llamrei and handed her off to the stablemen before she turned to Naruto, "I'm glad to see you again, Naruto. How fares Camelot?"
Naruto forced a smile onto his face as he knew that what he had to say wouldn't be easy, "Camelot fares well, my king." His eyes darted around quickly as Arturia rose a brow at his unusual behavior.
"Naruto, is everything alright?"
"I think… I think it's best if you and Kay come with me… alone…" The forlorn tone he held wasn't a good sign. Arturia turned to Kay and gestured for her to come along with them as they went back into the palace.
The brother and sister followed Naruto through the halls, all the while he informed them of the recent events and news being obtained, received and passed around the lands, "While Camelot and Britain both have been doing well, over in Europa, the new emperor, Lucius Tiberius has been trying to reclaim part of the old imperial regions. And I have no doubt that he'll try reclaim Britain." He handed the report to Arturia who read the parchment describing the kind of man he was, as she frowned at the contents, already not pleased by this.
"I see then." She folded the parchment up as she and Kay continued on walking alongside Naruto, "If he makes any sort of demands that we bend the knee, then he will know of our response; that will be made loud and clear."
Kay chuckled, "I don't think anyone would be stupid enough to challenge us after what just happened. Little Tiberius should accept that the Roman Empire will never truly return." The Saxons defenses broke down in a matter of minutes with the Wild Hunt as their vanguard. The enemy had begun to scatter with many either going down fighting or surrendering to plead for their lives. Punishments were carried out, survivors sent away to scatter, etc. A typical day for them after a battle.
They continued onwards over towards the more isolated area of the palace, though this only confused them a bit, with Arturia bringing up the question, "Naruto, where are you taking us?"
He desperately wanted things to be different. He didn't want to tell either of them the news. Yet he had no choice.
"A few days ago…" He choked slightly with this information coming from his mouth, almost as if he was trying to swallow bile itself, "…Lord Leodegrance of Cornwall sent a message to you." Directing his attention to the parchment that Ector had handed to him.
Arturia rose a brow in mild surprise, unsure as to what it was that a nobleman of such stature would send a letter to her for. Unfolding it, she saw the handwriting just as Kay did who eventually donned a look of incredulousness at the contents, "Surely you jest?!"
Arturia's eyes became downtrodden at the marriage proposal. It was something she dreaded ever since she drew forth Caliburn. She knew that she would have no choice but to marry a woman to keep up appearances to hold the throne since no others were suited to save Britain. Naruto was one that the sword recognized as someone that could have become king, but he rejected it in favor of supporting her all the way through their campaign.
She had hoped that… there would be another option before her to reject such proposals… however, she was unsure if they would work or not.
Folding up the parchment, Arturia placed it inside her coat pocket before turning back to Naruto, although Kay was more vocal about this than they were, "You can reject the damned thing! You're the king! They can't force you to marry a complete stranger!" Kay held no illusions that the two in front of him didn't love one another dearly, as he held no qualms or worries if the two decided to tie the knot in secret one day. Hell, he and father both had been somewhat supportive of the prospect… speaking of father, "Where's Ector? Bollocks, where is the old man? Sleeping?"
Then the air shifted around slightly to accommodate the news that was about hit the king and her brother. Naruto looked down briefly before he mustered up the courage to tell them, "Ector… he came to me last night to tell me about the… proposal…" He spoke with mild revilement at the word as he quickly course corrected his tone away from disgust, "…he said it was something he needed to tell me. One last thing he said. That he asked me to do before he left… he wanted me to watch over you, Arturia. And I gave him my word that I would."
Arturia and Kay were both wide eyed with confusion at his words, "What do you mean, Naruto? Where did father go?" The girl asked before Naruto turned around as he gestured for them to follow him down below into the palace's lower levels into the cellars.
"I didn't want anyone to know yet… at least until the both of you got back home." He continued on through the lower halls, up until he came to a door that held several barrier sigils on the surface. Naruto held his hand up to dispel the barrier, "Ok… step inside and shut the door behind you…"
Naruto was the first to open the door as he stepped inside to reveal a body covered with a white sheet.
Arturia and Kay both were confused by Naruto's actions; however, upon seeing the covered body, a deep feeling of dread overcame them both. The two entered as Naruto uncovered the head to reveal Ector, almost sleeping peacefully without a care in the world…
The room held a deafening silence before Naruto spoke, "He had been hiding it for a while now… from everyone… he had lung cancer. We've been so busy these past months that none of us caught it. He came to me last night, and asked me…" Directing his attention to Arturia who stood motionless as her eyes were fixated on Ector's body, just as Kay, although while Kay's eyes were wide in shock and mouth slightly agape, Arturia had yet to show any emotion as her eyes seemed to become soft while holding back tears.
"…he asked me to watch over you, Arturia." Naruto went to Arturia's side to hold her hand who held it tight as can be before Kay shed a few tears as he wiped them away. Turning back to the door, Kay made his way outside before he spoke to them, "I-I uh…" his voice quivering in sadness, "…I need to… go out and… get a drink or two…" His tone spoke of a man who would not be satisfied by a simple drink or two.
Arturia had yet to look away from Ector's corpse as she kept her face calm with no response at all from this event that would've shaken anyone, just as Kay before her, but… she stood like a statue. Naruto held her hand before he tried to speak up, that is before Arturia began, "Please make the proper preparations for the coming funeral." Her tone held little emotion beyond slight sadness from what Naruto could make out, "Ensure that a procession will be carried out from here to the cemetery." She let go of Naruto's hand as she turned to leave the room, however… her last words were like a punch to his gut, "And send word to Lord Leodegrance… I accept… the proposal…"
Her words were like that of salt being poured on an open wound. Naruto couldn't help but feel sorrow at the path she had chosen… "I-I'll make sure everything's… in place… Arturia…"
"Thank you, Naruto…" Arturia's voice was soft, desperately trying to forestall a damn of emotions that would spill without warning.
As Arturia shut the door, Naruto looked back to Ector's eternally sleeping form, wondering just how things seemed to be going, "I hope that she can come back from all of this soon."
-Kay-
"Another, please." Kay lifted his hand up for another ale to come along. After seeing his father's body, along with being told how he died, he needed a drink.
Well, more than just a drink.
So far, he had finished his fourth and was going on his fifth. What kind of son was he to not have seen that his own father was slowly wasting away, ravaged by cancerous tumors?
Kay had gone over to the pub get rid of his sorrows, only to find that each drink just brought him further down into it. The bartender sent another bottle of ale his way with a worried look on his face, "Eh pal, you sure you're good for another? Don't want 'ta pass out and have all that ale come back upstream."
Waving the bartender off, Kay merely gestured for him to fork over the next bottle, "I'll be good. Just send me another." The bartender would've said something, that is until he saw who the man was along with recognizing the expression of a man who had suffered a great loss.
"If you say so, sir." The bartender handed him another bottle of ale, seeing that Kay had a great deal of tolerance to remain lucid, despite having down four bottles already.
Popping the cork off the bottle, Kay started to down the ale; tasteless as it was, he didn't care right now… all he wanted to do was numb the pain.
"Kay, what happened to you?"
Kay turned to see Bedivere no longer in his armor standing next to him with a worried look on his face, "Oh… well, I guessh I just came here to deal with shome… things…" he slurred to the King's adjutant.
Bedivere pulled up a stool next to Kay, having never seen this side of him before. Kay had always been the one that had the greatest sense of humor, bar the blonde Apostle of course. He'd either be caught on occasion bedding a woman, regaling people with the tales of their exploits, or any other number of well-mannered merriments. To see him in such a depressing state was unheard of before now, "What happened to you? You were in high spirits after we came home, and then you went with the king and Naruto back to the palace. Was something said between the three of you?" Bedivere had hoped nothing terrible was said between them.
Kay had guzzled down the ale with a single swig before he turned it upside to reveal the contents within no longer present. The death of his father hit him hard. Harder than he thought it would have, "Father… Ector… he… he passed away… while we were off on the field of battle…"
Tears began to build up underneath his eyes, as Kay brought his hands up to his face to hide his sadness, not able to bear the public showing. He held onto the neck of the bottle of ale with such strength that the green glass shattered, embedding an inch-long shard of glass in Kay's palm. Kay paid it no mind, numbed to the physical pain of his emotional turmoil.
Bedivere, on the other hand, was shocked by Kay's words. In his eyes, Sir Ector had been a great mentor figure to him ever since he met the veteran knight many years ago. The older man had always seemed to showcase that regardless of one's age, it was utterly meaningless in the face of battle. However, ever since he had suffered the injury to his knee did Ector begin to step back from battle, coupled with taking on the political duties when their king was unable to do so. Now though, it seemed that everything had caught up with Ector… "I… I-I'm unsure of what to say… only that, I am truly… and deeply sorry for your loss, Kay." Truly he was indeed. Even though Bedivere had known the man for a great deal of time, he was not of his family.
Bedivere placed a comforting hand on Kay's shoulder to try and help him through the ordeal. Not just that but drinking his sorrows away would do him no good, "Come, Kay. You don't need to be here in a pub getting drunk from ale. It isn't something that you father would want you to do. Plus, we need to get that shard of glass out of your hand."
Kay wanted to protest, but he knew his comrade-in-arms wasn't going to budge on this. Sitting the last bottle down, Kay reached into his pockets to pull out some coin and dropped most of it on the bar, "Keep the change…" Stumbling up from the stool, Kay's legs wobbled as he reached out for Bedivere to help him out of the place, "…shorry 'bout thish."
Bedivere shook his head, "No need to apologize." Taking Kay's free arm over his shoulder, he hefted the near drunken man up as they made their way back to the palace.
-Naruto-
After Arturia & Kay left Naruto alone to arrange for the funeral and acceptance of the marriage proposal, the apostle immediately wrote a response letter on the king's behalf that the proposal was accepted as he handed it off to a rider to have the message delivered. Well, that wasn't exactly correct. The letter which had inevitably been sent was his sixteenth attempt to write such a letter for each one prior had incensed him with emotion to the point of destroying the letter or rewriting it from the beginning.
As for Ector's funeral, one week from now, a procession would be made from the palace to the cemetery where the remains of Uther and his forefathers were lain to rest. Despite not being a member of the Pendragon family, Ector had raised and taught Arturia as his own flesh & blood, thus Naruto felt it best that he be treated as if he were royalty of Britain. He sent a few Shadow Clones to help the carpenters and masons to construct what would be Ector's final resting place to ensure it would be fit for a wise knight such as he.
Now, Naruto was trying to find Arturia in the large castle; she wasn't in her room, quietly mourning the passing of her foster father, nor was she in the meeting room to go over recent events with the inner circle, but neither did she seek him out to inquire what all else had transpired while he operated as regent during her short absence.
"Where the hell is, she…?" The one location he had yet to check over was their private practice area. It was built to ensure that Naruto could train and teach Arturia in the ways of eastern swordplay, along with his own fighting strategies, tactics, etc.
As he walked through the hallway towards his destination, he could hear the swings of a sword, coupled with the sounds of wood splintering into many pieces. Naruto opened the door to see Arturia, having discarded her armor, only wearing her royal blues with a practice sword in hand, chopping down dummies one after another. Naruto could tell that nearly all of them had been effectively turned into piles of wood meant for the fireplace.
She had taken her grief out on these poor things instead.
Seeing that Arturia was on the last dummy, she brought the practice sword down to shatter it just as those before, only this time she didn't stop. She continued to swing downwards to strike the floor repeatedly until the sword itself shattered and Naruto quickly stepped in to prevent Arturia from getting injured, "Arturia! Stop this, you'll hurt yourself after doing that!"
Quickly gripping Arturia's wrists, Naruto forced her to let go of the broken sword before he spun her around to grab her by the shoulders to see that she had been mourning in her own way. The signs of dried tears stained her cheeks, with puffy red eyes and unshed tears threatening to drip downwards. Arturia looked to Naruto in sadness, yet also confusion.
He knew well enough what she was thinking: Why had he been taken from her?
Naruto was unable to answer, as Arturia collapsed to her knees and began to quietly sob. Naruto bent down on his own knees to hold her close, just as she clamped her arms around him, tight as can be to hold onto her safety net. The apostle began to stroke her hair slowly to provide her some comfort in the recent death in the family, "Arturia… I—"
"Why… why him…?"
She mumbled loudly into his chest before he answered, or rather failed to answer, "I don't know, Arturia… and… I'm so sorry that I don't know… I guess I'm a terrible retainer to you, if I could've found out his sickness sooner." In truth he couldn't. The diseases that plagued people were very difficult to spot in this era, unlike back home where they were identified quickly with trained medics alongside advanced technology, all they had were herbalists and magi if one could find them, and convince them to help heal them of their ailment.
Naruto wasn't that skilled in healing magecraft, with all he could do was merely stop bleeding and accelerate the body's natural regeneration.
"No… no it's n-not…" Arturia's voice began to choke from holding in her emotions the day, "…not your fault…" At that point, Arturia let her sadness loose as Naruto held her closely.
After nearly an hour of letting her emotions run free, Naruto quietly carried Arturia through the silent castle to her room, being sure to remain out of sight, to lay her down. With the sun no longer overhead, Naruto felt it best to have Arturia retire to her chambers for the evening. The combination of having just returned from their last battle, Ector's death and the marriage proposal in such a short time had left her mentally drained. Naruto needed to get her to rest and clear her mind for the coming days.
Opening the door, Naruto carried Arturia bridal style before he set her down on the bed and closing the door to block unwanted eyes & ears, "You need your rest, Arturia." Turning back to her closet, Naruto went inside to grab one of her nightgowns, "I've sent a messenger to Cornwall on the matter of the marriage…" He said quietly, not a shade of enthusiasm what-so-ever.
Naruto hated this, with every fiber of his being. And Arturia could not blame him. But he would do what he had always done...Naruto would endure it.
"As for your dad's grave…" Naruto continued on as he brought out a blue nightgown for Arturia when she began to remove her clothing, "…I've already made the arrangements for carpenters and masons to begin its construction. A funeral procession will begin from the palace, leading into the cemetery. Only us and the rest of the inner circle will be in attendance. I've asked the Chief of the City Guard to ensure privacy is kept, along with keeping order during the funeral." Arturia had discarded her royal raiment for the nightgown as Naruto finished up.
Arturia nodded as she donned the nightgown, "Thank you, Naruto. I'm…" She swallowed a bit before she spoke up, "…I'm very thankful that you were able to arrange everything in Merlin and Ector's absence…" Naruto could read between the lines, she was still within partial denial judging by the way she mentioned Ector, "…but Ector is my father…" Arturia's tone sounded confused more than anything, "…why did you refer to him as my dad?"
Naruto sighed lightly before he made his way over to the bedside that Arturia now sat upon, "It's an odd quirk of my mother tongue that doesn't translate well into English, but I can try to explain it as best as I can. The difference between fathers and dads is that, well…" Scratching the back of his head, Naruto tried to explain things as simple as can be, "…a father is one who is the one that helps bring you into the world, but beyond that, they don't do much. A dad is the one who raises, teaches, and makes their kids' life good. They help set them up for their lives in the end, and love them to no end, always worrying whether or not they're safe."
While Naruto's upbringing wasn't like Arturia's, he had come to see Jiraiya as his dad, but even then, with his own biological father, he couldn't truly call him father, for he was also dad. It was when he first met him during Kurama's rage against Pain, did he see that his father was a dad from the get-go.
Arturia closed her eyes as the last few tears dripped down her cheeks, "I see… yes. Ector was more of a dad to me than just a father." She gave a small smile before looking back to Naruto, "Thank you. I was always fond of the days when Ector took me out to train and teach me." There was more she wanted to say but felt it best to get some rest.
Naruto was about to get up from his spot, but Arturia held his arm back. Even if she didn't say it verbally, her eyes told him that she wanted him to sleep with her tonight. Taking the queue to disrobe, Naruto did as he was bid and crawled into bed with Arturia, they held onto one another in comfort, drifting into heavenly dreams, while silently dreading the coming days and emotional rollercoaster that would take its toll on them.
-One Week Later-
Dawn had come to Camelot, and news of the upcoming wedding was spreading like wildfire across the lands. No doubt due to Leodegrance trying to establish that his daughter would be the queen soon. Camelot has been bustling with activity in celebration from the announcement, although behind closed doors of the palace, it was a different matter entirely. Primarily for the king and her secret lover.
Neither were happy with this predicament, nor could they truly go against it.
Yet right at this very moment, they did not wish to wake from the beautiful dream they were having in Arturia's room.
Naruto had awakened after Arturia as usual, although there was something off this time…
"Naruto, you're up late again!"
Arturia's cheery voice came over his ears. Wait a minute, cheery? In the last few days since the death of Ector, Arturia had been immersed in a funk that lay somewhere between depressed and resolute, so this sudden turn of personality didn't make sense to the male blonde at all. Rubbing his eyes clean of sand, Naruto got up to turn towards his lover and see why she wasn't as downtrodden as the days before, "You sound rather cheery this morning, Arturia." He turned to get his clothes as Arturia emerged from her closet in a dress that… he never expected her to wear, even when compared to the one worn on their first date several months ago.
What she now wore was far removed from both her usual blue battle dress and the long one-piece dresses she had worn on occasion, giving Naruto pause to take in what was now before him. Arturia wore a white Tulle dress to just above her knees with a single white petticoat used to pad out the space between her thighs and the dress, flaring it out like the blossom of a flower. Moreover, it had no sleeves to speak of leaving her arms and shoulders bare to the elements. Black filigree marked the separation points between the six 'petals' of the dress which was set off by a sizeable black bow worn at the neck, spilling over her modest bust.
The usual braided golden bun that kept her hair in place had been traded for a short ponytail and black bow sitting behind her head. Finally, the Lilly-like ensemble was set off by a pair of white silk gloves and black leggings tucked into low heeled shoes.
Overall, a dress that showed her feminine side even more so than before. Naruto was rendered speechless at the choice, "Uhm… wow… you…"
Arturia quickly made her way over to the front of Naruto in order to get up on the tips of her toes, wrapping her arms around his neck to bring him down to her level, "It's not something that I would have worn normally, but I feel that today would be a special occasion." She planted a fleeting kiss on his lips before striding over to the nearby chest to pick up basket very much like the one he had brought with them on their first date.
"Arturia?" Naruto asked in confusion; unsure of what it was that she had planned for them, "Did you plan out a date for us?" This wasn't something he expected of her, especially after what happened last week. It seemed, for lack of a better term, off.
Arturia closed her eyes as she nodded her head, "Yes…" Her voice was tinged with melancholy, despite how upbeat she appeared, "…I know that now may be our last chance to enjoy ourselves, like a normal couple in love…" Naruto approached her to wipe away the yet unshed tears that threatened to stream down her cheek, "…and after last week—" She looked up to him before she closed her eyes to try and tell him that she was happy for what they were about to do, "—I want to do something enjoyable for the both of us."
So, she wanted to get away from everything again to try and forget the pain?
Naruto didn't exactly agree with this, but right now, Arturia more than likely wouldn't be in the best of states to continue leading Camelot. She needed to clear her head to go forward with her decisions, "Alright, I understand." Naruto looked down to the basket that was covered with a small sheet, "What did you have in mind?"
"There's a festival going on in the city of Bath…" Patting the basket she held, Arturia continued on, "…as for lunch, well… lately I've been… practicing on making food as you do…" She blushed in embarrassment as Naruto's eyes widened slightly. He had always been her personal chef; preparing and making food for her since everything else they had around the country flat out sucked.
She was also a glutton after all, so it couldn't be helped for her to be a little selfish with food. However, that did not detract from the fact that Arturia hadNOculinary skill to speak of with Gawain being the only person on the continent being able to stomach her food with no complaints. Maybe it was a family thing? Scrap that, Naruto had seen the grimaces of forced acceptance the last time he had seen Gareth and Geheris try to eat something Arturia had made.
Nevertheless, the fact that Arturia had been trying to make proper food like he did surprised him quite a bit, "You've been practicing? On your own?"
"I-I have…" Arturia nodded, "I wanted to surprise you with what I made." Taking Naruto's hand, Arturia gestured for Naruto to take them out, "Well, shall we be on our way?" Taking hold of his arm, Arturia clung to Naruto who briefly wondered if perhaps she had this date planned beforehand, which was surprising that she wanted this before Ector's passing.
Naruto couldn't say no, but Arturia's eagerness didn't appear to allow her to see that she was getting ahead of things, "Well, first off, we need to swing by my room so I can get into some clothes proper for the date. I mean…" Naruto gestured to himself, still wearing nightclothes, "I doubt the people of Bath would take kindly to me turning up without any clothes, eh?" Chuckling a bit, Naruto gave Arturia a toothy smile before her eyes widened a bit before blushing in embarrassment.
"Oh, yes. You're right, my apologies. It's just that—"
"You were getting ahead of yourself, and wanted to get the day all to ourselves, right?"
"Y-Yes! I… I did." Arturia dipped her head down slightly. She did still rush into certain things without thinking them through.
Patting her on the head, Naruto lifted her chin up to give her a quick kiss, right as he used the Flying Raijin to teleport them to his room to get ready for the day. Arturia felt a tingle flow through her lips that reverberated through her body that sent a chill up her spine, although it wasn't negative as one would assume. It was as if lightning coursed through her body to prepare her for the exciting day to come.
"I'll just be a minute." Naruto went over to his closet to gather some clothes while Arturia took the time to actually steal a quick glance around his room. It was odd that despite having been living in the palace for a great deal of time, she never once came to Naruto's bedchamber to actually look at its contents, instead, he joined her in her room on most nights. She initially mistook him to be somewhat disorganized; a bit of a slob with how laid back and easy going he was most of the time when they weren't dealing with kingdom affairs or jumping into battle.
Instead, everything was spick and span. Clean as can be. Grimoires, books, scrolls and parchments were all organized accordingly to whatever system Naruto had set up in his bookcase. His armor was on a mannequin set up in the corner with cleaning tools set aside on the nearby chest, along with some arcane writing next to it. On the other hand, an easel was set up off to the side of the room, with tools required for artistic pursuits. Arturia was unaware of this side hobby of his, "Naruto, I had no idea that you were an artist."
"I'd hardly call myself an artist," Naruto's voice came from inside his closet, "It's just a side project that I've had for a while, but I never got the chance to just sit down and paint something." Stepping out of his closet, Naruto was dressed in similar attire from their first date, along with his hair and eyes having changed color, "I've had some inspiration, but a lot of things got in the way. But now that things are starting to settle down, I've been wondering what the first painting I make should be."
Forming two Shadow Clones with Transformation, Naruto created copies of himself and Arturia just as before, "Alright, you two know what to do." The clones nodded, just as the original stepped up next to Arturia to take her hand, teleporting outside the capital leaving the clones to themselves.
That is until Merlin opened the door too quickly for the couple to slip away. "I just returned to hear all of the very interesting and quite poor news, and now I see that the king is shirking her duties for the day…" the flower magus stated with a somewhat stern look, already seeing two of Naruto's duplicates, with one transformed into the king.
"Eh he he…" The non-disguised one chuckled briefly before the other tried to explain, "You see—"
Merlin quickly raised a hand giving a smile, "You need not explain things to me, it's quite obvious that the king is in need of a clear head and a joyous day to recover from what she has lost and agreed to." Merlin knew well enough just how a woman can be in such a state of mind… all those gorgeous young maidens certainly had a set of lungs like a banshee!
-Sometime Later; Arturia & Naruto-
(OST Choice: Bleach OST, Irish Dance)
"Wow! The festivities are astounding!" Arturia exclaimed in childlike excitement.
The pair of secret lovers teleported beyond the capital walls where Naruto carried Arturia bridal style as the ninja dashed along old Roman roads to the city of Bath where they now were walking hand in hand through the city that was bustling with activity.
Bath was a city that was so named due to the many Roman Baths that were built there during the original Roman occupation of Britain centuries ago, taking advantage of both rivers and local hot springs to create a place of pure relaxation for the conquering sons of Romulus. After the Legions had pulled back, the name had stuck along with many of the baths themselves. Say what you will about their policies, Romans were masters at building concrete structures that lasted.
Arturia turned her eyes to every amusem*nt sprawled across the city square and the main thoroughfare: music, dancing, food eating contests, puppet shows, a line of men in mock armor for jousting and melee tournaments.
Suffice to say she acted like a girl her age, with Naruto thinking her too cute to not admit it.
"You really are acting like a girl today." Naruto said amused.
Arturia looked back to Naruto, looking slightly miffed at his words, "Oh, you don't think I act like a girl?"
Naruto quickly placated her as he waved his hands to try and stave off a little future 'punishment', "N-Not at all! It's just that—"
"Got you!" Arturia interrupted with a smile that beamed like the sun. The little thing had teased him. Naruto knew very well that Arturia had already skipped the five stages of grief already and was wanting to ignore everything else. Such a policy may be good in the short term, but in the long run he was unsure if it would be good for her, but seeing her now…
Naruto shook his head as he gestured around them, "Well anyways, what do you want to do first? We can—"
"Let's dance with the music, Naruto!" Arturia quickly took his hands as she began moving with the music's rhythm. it was a fast beat, played mainly on drums and rudimentary stringed instruments like a Jew's harp or Vielle, some clay flutes and the odd lyre, working together to play an upbeat tune that was Gaelic in tone.
Although Naruto began to squirm a bit at how she was twirling him around the square with several people looking on in amusem*nt, "But I don't know how to dance!"
"Neither do I…" Arturia replied, "…but who cares!" Glee held in her voice at the sensation of dancing with the flustered Naruto made her happy all the same. Music wrapped around them in an intoxicating miasma of euphoric bliss and absentminded humor. Colors and sounds blended into one for an ephemeral and transient experience that while others may watch, only the lovers could see. They lacked technique, poise or anything else a dedicated dancer would call structured, but it did not matter, for the two made up for it in passion; planting seeds of creativity that would grow both day and night until they bore an apple bright.
As the two continued to dance with the music, the others that had been around them began to slowly back away as Arturia dragged Naruto around the square. The onlookers had been amused as some cheered and laughed in merriment, though the rhythmic clapping soon synced with the dancing lovers as they were immersed in their spinning world surrounded by the cowed.
As they continued on, Naruto could sense that the music was coming to an end, he decided to add a little flair to their dancing, quickly taking their momentum, Naruto took Arturia by the waist as he held one of her hands to lower her down into a deep corte of sorts that caught Arturia off guard. Nevertheless, the display garnered applause from the crowd as they cheered on the couple for their odd dance. Naruto brought Arturia up as he waved to the people around them with Arturia following suit, "Well, how was that for a surprise dance?"
Arturia looked up to give Naruto a slight stink eye, "I thought you said you didn't know how to dance."
The ninja shrugged his shoulders, "Yeah I don't, but I did see how some people would end their dances like that." Spending time in Rome along with some other large cities where nobles resided in where they held banquets and parties for whatever reason, as they danced to their heart's content.
Well, she couldn't really say she didn't like it, but would've preferred knowing ahead of time. Arturia quickly pulled him aside, "Well, let's see what else we can do here! I heard they had an amphitheater in the city, let's go see what they have on play for everyone." Arturia had always wanted to see a play…
-Some Time Later-
"NO! THAT'S NOT WHAT HAPPENED!"
"This may have been a mistake…"
After the two found the amphitheater some three hours ago, the couple attended the play of'Jason and the Argonauts'. An astounding tale that regaled the adventures of the famous Greek 'Hero' Jason with his fellow adventurers such as the legendary Hercules, or Herakles as per the original name from Greece, who accomplished the Twelve Labors and was welcomed among the Gods, along with the swift Atalanta, a renowned Huntress of Artemis who landed the decisive blow to the Calydonian Boar on her own.
Then there was the 'treacherous witch' of Colchis, Medea, who murdered her own brother to join up with the crew who became obsessed with the captain of the Argo, as they escaped with the Golden Fleece.
It would've been considered a good play, however, there were two things that said otherwise:
1) The acting was rather terrible in Arturia's eyes and they did little to convince her this was any good.
2) Naruto had read through the tomes, texts and books that he and Merlin found with the history of the Age of Gods. The events being reenacted and being compared to what he read, well… suffice to say…
"You've gotta be kidding me, in reality, Jason was a massive thief, who didn't have any skills other than some charisma. Medea was forced to love the guy because of a damned god's manipulation, and forced to kill her brother, and Jason slept with so many women and even raped her." Naruto crossed his arms as he sat back down in dissatisfaction, "This whole thing is just terrible…" He said as he turned to an equally dissatisfied Arturia, "…they have no idea about what really happened. What a way to butcher history."
Arturia hummed in agreement, "Not only that, but their acting is terrible. I am glad though that we didn't have to pay our way in, or I would be demanding our coin back." She originally expected this to be done professional actors who knew what they were doing… but clearly this was not the case… Arturia sighed as she got up from her seat before she took Naruto by the arm to lead them out of this disaster of a play, "Let's see what we can get into to compensate for this loss of several hours."
-Nighttime-
And what a day they had to themselves. Arturia had entered an eating contest, although she demanded that Naruto head into the kitchen and cook her food she enjoyed… which as expected, caused some arguments between him and the actual cooks -if they could even be called that- leading to a fed up Naruto who just used his Mystic Eyes to enchant the cooks into letting him take the reins. Naruto had also played an underhanded tactic by feeding the other competitors the food that Arturia had prepared; who would have thought that a human's face could turn such a shade of purple? It was certainly worth the minute of cheek pinching that Arturia had given him after telling her that he had 'lost' their food.
By the end of things, Arturia had won the grand prize being a few items of her choice, a large sum of coin and a private bath in the city. She decided on getting a stuffed lion-bear doll while she gave the coin towards an orphanage that needed money to stay afloat. Arturia would make it a priority to ensure that such places would have sufficient currency to provide the children of Britain a proper home that could care and love them.
Now, she and Naruto were in one of the large bath houses built by the Romans that could've held a few dozen people within it, however they had it all to themselves. Naruto had already stepped into the hot spring, he relaxed into the water, with his back up against the wall, Naruto slid down onto the steps to sit, relax and enjoy the hot bath, "This is nice…"
He heard Arturia's footsteps up behind him, "I think I'll join you in here." Gone was the prude that had got hot under the collar at Jiraiya's smut, Naruto was now a romantic at heart, though there were times when his innocent nature would rise up. And staying in a hot bath with his lover where someone could accidentally walk in on them was one of those times. Naruto blushed a bit as Arturia lowered herself next to him as she leaned up on his shoulder, "It's so nice in here."
He could not deny that at all. Naruto slowly pulled Arturia closer towards him by the waist as the setting sun shone down into the open roof of the bath house, along with many torches alit along the perimeter creating light that illuminated the interior for them to see everything around. Vampiric eyes took the time to look at Arturia, truly look at her. The way the steam traced her lithe form with lethargic tendrils of snowy vapor, how beads of sweat trailed down her back, each one capturing the setting sun within its liquid prison and her shoulder length hair out of its ponytail to tickle his chest like the finest feathers of a bird of prey.
Naruto put his own head atop Arturia's, he wanted to take in what was likely going to be their last true night together as a couple without worry. However, before he knew it, Arturia lifted her head up while pivoting her body around to sit on his lap, her perfectly rounded derriere settling upon his growing excitement, "Naruto…" Arturia began, "…when the wedding comes, I doubt we will have much time together again…" She looked off to the side where the entryway was located at before turning her attention back to Naruto, "…therefore, for this night… I'd like for us to make love once again…"
The ninja understood well enough in the truth of her words, "Regardless of that, I will never stop loving you, even if we can't enjoy it so freely anymore, I will make this count." Naruto brought his lips towards Arturia's own as they meshed perfectly with their tongues dancing within for dominance, but neither caring for this night…
-Two Weeks Later; Camelot-
With a fortnight having passed by since Bath, Naruto & Arturia both did their best to make it through the weeks without drawing attention to one another. Today would be the day of Ector's funeral… however, it was not the only occasion that would be occurring today.
Naruto was preparing himself for the funeral procession, until Merlin entered through his bedroom door, "Ah, good to see you're still here." The flower magus quickly shut the door, he quickly turned his gaze around the room for a bit before directing his attention back to Naruto, "Sorry about that…" Merlin apologized to a visibly confused ninja, "…I did a little faux pas that I clearly wasn't supposed to, and now Fou wants to kick me in the face."
"…"
"…"
"All I can say is, good luck with that." Naruto said as he just raised a brow in curiosity at how he planned to avoid the little beast.
Merlin just gave him a face fault, "Oh, don't be like that." Pushing himself away from the door, Merlin approached the window that looked out towards the cemetery, "Well, anyway, I must say… I never expected you to be so calm about what's going to occur soon." Indeed, it was. Merlin fully expected Naruto to be trying to find Arturia a way out of the marriage proposal, and yet… he was not… perhaps Arturia had said something to him? Or Ector?
Naruto breathed in deeply before exhaling a long breath, "Oh, I hate it alright, even last night I found myself chewing through steel to alleviate my anxiety, but there's no other way. Arturia has to do this. If she doesn't…" The apostle left the sentence hanging in the air, letting Merlin know that he would not be fighting against this, "…well, anyways, today's the day of the funeral, so I've made sure to keep the ceremony private for just the inner circle." Naruto was finishing up on his appearance as he donned the hood to help conceal his vampiric features from passersby.
Merlin placed a finger under his chin in thought at how Naruto just accepted things as he did, "I see. Well then…" Turning towards his young, yet old apprentice, though had not yet become a graduated Magus of his, Merlin was about to say something until he saw something out of the corner of his eye from the window, "Oh… well this should prove to be quite the event."
Naruto was confused by his words, until he moved towards the window to see an envoy of knights surrounding a carriage entering the inner part of the city, "Wait that's…" He applied Reinforcement to his eyes to zoom in on the sigil that the knights were wearing upon their armor: Cameliard.
It appeared that Lord Leodegrance and Guinevere decided to arrive in Camelot early to support their future'son-in-law & husband'on such a day of sadness.
"I need to get down there to help out with the situation." Naruto quickly left the room as he ran down the hallways to the entrance of the palace.
Although, this had an effect of leaving Merlin on his own… with Cath Palug turning the corner to see him in Naruto's room… the flower magus was currently hiding from the little beast, and it appeared fate decided to be entertained for a bit.
"N-Now, Cath Palug, I know you don't want to—"
"DIE, MERLIN! DIIIE!"
"Not my hair you bestial Cath-tasrophy!"
Well, suffice to say, the sight of a little rabbit-squirrel thing assaulting the greatest mage in all the lands was either to entertaining, or frightening depending on one's point of view. A pair of palace guards were entering the hallway were now hearing said struggle, decided it was best to back up and continue their guard rotation elsewhere…
-Outside; the Palace Entrance-
Arturia as well as the rest of the inner circle had arrived outside the main keep to begin making their way to the cemetery with the funeral procession, that is until a squad of guards came along to inform her that Lord Leodegrance had arrived in Camelot along with is daughter Lady Guinevere… her soon-to-be'wife'.
The fully-grown Periwinkle nudged her right side, he looked up to her in what appeared to be confusion, if it could be described as such, the lion unsure as to why his 'mother' was feeling a sense of being uncomfortable with what was coming. Arturia stroked the lion's mane to reassure him that it was nothing for him to appear worried about it, "Don't worry for me, Periwinkle. Everything will be just fine." She gave him a small smile to help comfort the lion as he nuzzled her leg affectionately.
Naruto had arrived rushing in with his hood up over his head, as he skidded to a halt to her left side, "I really wish I knew they were coming so soon."
Arturia turned to glance at him, "It's alright, Naruto. We shall be as cordial as we can be right now before the funeral."
As the entourage stopped before them, one of the knights opened up the carriage for his lord as the occupants stepped outside for those present to see Leodegrance and Guinevere. Tall and well built, Leodegrance of Cameliard looked like what one would most associate with a noble of Britain with striking hawk-like eyes set with a prominent Roman Nose and a well-groomed black beard. Leodegrance' short black hair was beginning to thin towards the apex of his head, but that added to his charm in some way. For clothes, he was adorned in a black leather jerkin and red pants tucked into soft-looking boots. Over the jerkin rested a shoulder cape bearing the Sigil of Cameliard, a golden lion on a black plain, appropriate for today's meeting be it by happenstance or design.
However, he was almost poultry when compared with his daughter in terms of appearance.
She was a beautiful young woman that looked to be in her early twenties with waves of long flowing chestnut brown hair that shimmered glossily in the light of the chamber, two unusually long bangs framed either side of her face and trailed down to her waist. Teal eyes dominated a soft, kind-looking face with small pink lips and a thin nose, nary a single blemish adorned her flawless white skin save for a beauty mark upon her right cheek. Slightly taller than Arturia, Quinevere's body took on a much more voluptuous figure with larger breasts and a clearly defined hourglass figure, all of it hidden behind a tasteful aquamarine and white gown reminiscent of waterlilies. Weaved into the prow of her hair was a simple circlet formed of one golden band and an emerald set into its center.
Both made their way as any of British nobility would with grace and stature befitting such as them.
Leodegrance and Guinevere both bowed their heads to Arturia as the lord was the first to speak, "It is good to see you, your majesty, our good King Arthur." Leodegrance lifted his head with a solemn look on his face, "We heard what had occurred to Sir Ector, and we rushed to the capital to give our condolences. I apologize if we had intruded upon you, sire." And the man did seem genuine in his words, as a solemn look graced his features as Guinevere did the same.
Arturia raised a hand to wave it off, "It is alright, Lord Leodegrance, Lady Guinevere. I appreciate your gesture of kindness…" She struggled to smile but found that she couldn't as she glanced to Naruto who had dipped his head down enough to obscure his face from their visitors. No doubt Naruto was not fond to them at all; however, he held his tongue and decided to simply stay quiet as he kept his distance all the while remaining by her side, "…however, the funeral procession is about to begin."
Guinevere took a step forward before she spoke with a voice that nearly any man would be soothed by, "If I may, your majesty, perhaps father and I may accompany you alongside your knights and…" She briefly glanced to Naruto with the first assumption in mind, "…your court magus, to Sir Ector's resting place. To help ease your pain and show the people that we are betrothed to one another before the wedding takes place." Guinevere spoke as one was well versed in speaking from political standpoints, seeing that it would help the people know that they would be at ease with the future queen at the king's side in 'his' time of loss.
Naruto wanted to speak out and say that he'd stay by Arturia's side in the procession and funeral, though it would only make things head south, so he kept quiet, all the while he balled his fist up inconspicuously as Guinevere spoke. No one noticed, save for Bedivere and Lancelot who seemed concerned about their friend, the two knights glanced to one another in wonder why Naruto was not in high spirits, or rather Bedivere himself was unsure.
Lancelot knew though. The Knight of the Lake knew how deeply Naruto loved Arturia, and to be forced to hide their love from the public with both unable to truly stay with one another in bed with political marriage getting in the way, it struck the heart. If there was another way…
Arturia nodded at Guinevere's logic, "Perhaps… that would be for the best." As for their wedding… "And if you and your father are willing to stay in the palace come the wedding day." To her, this was a logical decision to make as the king.
Everyone was moderately surprised by the king's words, although Leodegrance and Guinevere were quick to recover as the man gave her a bright smile, "I think that is a splendid offer, your majesty!"
Naruto was about to say something, that was until Merlin, appearing behind the ninja, placing a hand on his shoulder. Guess the flower magus was able to get away from Fou for a bit for this, "We have many rooms befitting of your status, milord, milady. I will ensure that everything will be taken care of." Both subjects had turned towards Merlin in confusion, not knowing who he was after Guinevere assumed the hooded Naruto was the court mage, "Ah, where are my manners? I am Merlin, the Mage of Flowers and Court Mage to our great King Arthur himself! My student here…" Patting Naruto on the shoulder as Fou, who had caught up with Merlin, climbed atop the opposite shoulder of the vampire, "…is my replacement for the day I can no longer serve our king. Please treat him well with respect; he has indeed earned it with all of which he has contributed to building Camelot and serving our king."
It seemed that Merlin was trying to help make things amicable between them, in the hopes to avoid any animosity that would spring up. Arturia nodded along with all of Merlin's words, "Indeed. Had he have not joined up with us, many lives would've been lost. Not just that, but Camelot itself would not exist as the shining utopia it is today without his contribution. I owe many thanks to my Knight of Sky Silver."
Guinevere's eyes were widened marginally in surprise, yet Naruto could sense a bit of admiration with her at how well they spoke of him, "I had no idea that one so accomplished as yourself was in the company of great knights that follows the perfect king…" Those words seemed to make Arturia's finger twitch a bit at how she was resolving herself to try and act as such, "…you are one whom many should respect, as an arcane knight."
Leodegrance stepped forward with an outstretched hand, "I am glad to see that a man such as yourself serves the king. I hope that once my daughter marries into the Pendragon family, that you will continue to serve." A knight of such renown status was one that a king could trust. A mage that served the king was one who gave guidance held knowledge that gave great aid. But an arcane warrior was a rare thing indeed; almost unheard of in this day and age. If someone of such a class served the king, then it would be in one's best interests to help them stay on their good side.
Naruto stared at the outstretched hand for a bit, he felt that he had no real choice but to take it. Grasping the lord's hand, Naruto felt the firm handshake of Leodegrance in his genuine gesture. The man bore no ill towards him at all, "I fully intend to serve the king, andqueen…" He struggled to say without showing any discomfort in his voice, to which he was lucky that no one took notice of, save for perhaps Arturia herself, "…for so long as they endure, so shall I. For the sake of the people and the future that we build for the future generations of Britain." There wasn't a lie in his words. He would continue to serve Arturia for as long as she lived; never would he abandon her.
"It makes me glad to hear such words, with your devotion." Leodegrance said.
That is until he turned to Arturia whom had stepped forward as she spoke, "While this has been a reprieve of pain, but now the funeral procession must go on, Lord Leodegrance, Lady Guinevere." And on cue, a group of knights with Ector's eternally sleeping form placed within a casket came out from the palace. The wagon was decorated with multiple flowers, with casket decorated with a flag of Ector's house and sigil: A seven-pointed star of azure atop a silver sun, framed upon a plane of red and silver stripes.
Arturia gestured for the guests to join her and Sir Kay at the forefront, as many a knight came from behind as they joined from behind as they began their march from the palace to the cemetery. The people of Camelot all held flowers as they threw them into the air where they landed atop Ector's casket. The city guards helped maintain order for the entire event, as they stood vigil to watch for any wrongdoers that may take advantage of the day, though there was, but not a single one that attempted to do so. They eventually arrived in the cemetery where they came to Ector's gravesite where a statue made in his image stood over it; it made the man appear younger than he once was, filled with vigor and strength… a man that had never known defeat or loss, a symbol of strength that no matter how a knight aged, he would never fall but on his own time.
As they all gathered around the gravesite, where Ector's casket was lowered into his final resting place, Arturia stepped forward to deliver a speech to say farewell for her dad, "Thank you, all of you for attending this event." Arturia began. Although, Naruto had noted that she held no pain within her voice so to speak, making him wonder what she would say about the man that raised and taught her.
"Sir Ector was a man of great respect and admiration. And so, I feel it fit for everyone to know all of what he had done. From the time of his youth, he was an exemplary man becoming a master of the spear, the bow and the sword. All things befitting a perfect knight." She began, "Ector served my father, Uther for a great many years when he first became a knight unto his service, as his loyalty never waned, even after my father's death. He took me in and raised me alongside Sir Kay, the man that I am proud to call my brother…" Naruto glanced over to Kay whom had a few tears shed as he wiped them away as Arturia continued with a steely resolve, "…he rose to become a general as he raised a prosperous homestead where he held off raids from the invaders, be they Saxons or Picts, and it became the staging ground where our allied forces came together to free Britain to live prosperously. Now we take it as an example where the people know full bellies and warm summers, where the children could play amongst one another without fear."
Arturia took a breath in before she continued on, "When the usurper, Vortigern rose up and assassinated my father, Ector remained steadfast in standing against him in the early days. His unwavering conviction that Britain would thrive once again out of the darkness, became a driving force that I myself came to uphold, and will continue doing so. Let us never forget, Sir Ector, General of Camelot. For he is a shining beacon in dark times." Arturia stepped back as she stood next to Guinevere and Kay.
Naruto wanted to maneuver over towards her, though it was no longer an option as he saw Guinevere attempt to clumsily hold Arturia's hand. It took a bit of time, but despite the situation, 'Arthur', relented as the future queen held the king's hand. All Naruto could do now, was bare the pain…
Tristan though felt something off with the way the king spoke, being instead… devoid of emotions with her speech and manner of her body language. Gareth was right next to him, who seemed to notice it as well as he spoke to her with barely enough volume for her to hear, yet make out, "Why does the king not show emotions for such a thing?"
All Gareth could do as she saw Naruto's hands clenching and unclenching into fists, "I'm… not sure… maybe Mr. Naruto knows?" After all, Mr. Naruto had all the answers… didn't he…?
Tristan did not respond, so wrapped up in his quandary was he that he opened his golden-brown eyes, a rarity amongst the inner circle. It was apparent that Naruto was close to the King, and this turn of events had affected him, But King Arthur seemed oblivious to it.'Does the king not know how his people feel?' he wondered to himself.
After the funeral had come to an end with a somber melancholy everyone returned to their quarters, whereas Naruto made a beeline for Arturia, his mind awhirl with questions about the way she had delivered her speech. As he opened the door, he saw she had discarded the royal fatigues and armor leaving her to gaze out the window. Arturia turned to Naruto as he shut the door; pulling his hood off, the man approached Arturia with one question in mind, "Arturia, why did you speak about Ector like that?"
Arturia did naught but raise a brow at Naruto's words, "What do you mean, Naruto? I spoke of his achievements and the legacy he left behind, was that not what I should have said?" It may not have been as it seemed, but she could almost detect a tone of accusation in his words; as if he believed she dishonored her dad.
Naruto, however, shook his head, "No, that's not it. What I meant was your tone." He stood in front of Arturia while she simply stared at him with an odd look, "You didn't sound like you were hurt in any way by Ector's death. He raised, trained and made you the woman you are today, but you never once sounded sad or hurt by the loss, like anyone in the same situation would be." Naruto cast a glance down to Arturia, looking for an explanation on why she chose such a detached mode of address.
Arturia closed her eyes as she breathed in deeply before turning to the window, seeing a small rainstorm was about to come down on the city, "Naruto, the people look to their king as a pillar of strength and guidance, unflinching in the face of tragedy. Regardless of how I feel…" She stilled in her words for a brief moment before she continued on, "…the people must see a king with an iron will that will not cave into their emotions nor let it cloud their judgment. That the subjects of this Kingdom have no reason to worry for me without the guidance of the one who raised me."
Despite wishing to complain at hearing her words, Naruto couldn't find fault with them. She did have a point about the people needing to see a strong leader before them to quell any fear that their leader may not be fit, although… "I suppose on some level, you're right. But there is a difference between being detached and being numb to your own feelings. Leaving such a thing to fester makes a rift with the people. Trust me, I've seen that happen before…" The Kage's of other nations, including the Hokage's themselves, held certain beliefs doing what they thought was right by the village, and while some worked out well enough, others came back to bite them.
Arturia heard Naruto's words, having been told about previous leaders making similar decisions, "I understand your concern, Naruto. But you need not worry for me." Placing her hands on his shoulders, Arturia gave Naruto a serious look, "But now, we need to discuss how to proceed with Guinevere and her father…"
Ah, that little nugget…
It was an odd thing, really. Guinevere knew that she would one day have to marry a man of nobility, such is the way of the aristocracy, and so she resigned herself to that fact, and as such steeled her mind and body for any manner of man. However, upon first hearing of King Arthur, was the thought that he was no doubt a kind, compassionate and caring man who would treat any woman with love and care. Then as she laid her eyes on the king, she was swept away by his youthful appearance, not genuinely believing the stories that the people spun about the king's youth having been blessed by fairies. He could not have looked older than eighteen at best in that brushed steel plate with an aura that exudes order and serenity.
She could see that he would make a fine husband for any woman, with his chivalrous attitude and care for the kingdom, however, upon hearing his numb speech about Sir Ector, the man that had raised him, she tried to hold his hand to help build a bond between them. With the wedding already being planned out it seemed best to give comfort to her fiancé, only to find him struggling to grasp her hand, or perhaps was she the one struggling?
All Guinevere knew was that it would take some getting used to, and thus she decided that patience was the order of the day. Arthur would come around soon, so it would be of no genuine worry for her in truth. And perhaps soon she would be heavy with a child to raise and care for. Though that line of thought had been cut short when one of the knights, Gareth, had come to bring her to a secluded part of the castle for some strange reason.
"Sir Gareth, while I mean no disrespect to you, why are you leading me through the castle?" Guinevere questioned with curiosity, "I can only imagine that it would be for something of importance given the lateness of the hour, but to what end?"
The helmeted knight turned to face her, a small voice coming through the helm, "The king, as does the rest of the inner circle needs to speak with you of important, but private matters, milady." Sir Gareth turned back to continue leading her onwards, "That is all I can say for now, so I must apologize if this causes you to worry. Have no fear, there is nothing in the walls of the palace or Camelot in general that will harm you. On that, you have my word as a knight under our king."
Well, if Guinevere couldn't trust the word of a knight of King Arthur, then who could she trust? Nodding her head in acceptance, Guinevere continued to follow Sir Gareth deeper into the castle where they came to an iron-bound door. Sir Gareth opened the door, and gestured for her to step inside, "It's alright, milady. There's nothing to be afraid of."
Blinking once before she stepped through the threshold as Gareth came behind and shut the door, only to see Arthur and the entire inner circle before her, "Your majesty, was there something important that you needed to gather your most trusted knights, and myself?" She also saw the younger court mage with his hood up, Naruto if she recalled correctly from a passing conversation with Merlin, standing alongside the king, standing far too close? That made no sense to her!
The king moved out of Naruto's shadow as she strode towards Guinevere and began to speak, "Lady Guinevere before you commit yourself to the position of queen, there are several things that you must know, regardless of political standing. And it is of utmost importance that they shan't leave this room, not even to your father can know." The way the king spoke was as if it were something so damning…
This only brought confusion to her face, which twisted into a queer look that she directed to 'Arthur', "Your majesty, I am afraid that I don't fully understand. What could be so grave that you bring me here, yet do not trust your soon to be father-in-law?" Her answer came when 'Arthur' reached behind 'his' head to undo the ribbon. The tight bun of golden locks came loose in tandem with the King's armor.
The king was…
"The reason why we brought you here is to know my secret, that I am a woman." The now revealed king told her, "My true name is Arturia Pendragon, daughter of Uther and the heir to Britain's throne." Arturia spoke aloud with no lie in her tone.
Guinevere was utterly flabbergasted causing her to stumble back and try and regain her footing, all the while she wondered aloud, "W-Why… h-how…?" She turned to each of the inner circle members to see that none of them were surprised by this revelation, making it clear that they all knew the secret of the king's true gender, "You're a woman…? But then, why not declare yourself queen instead?" This was absolutely maddening!
Arturia sighed, indicating herself. "Because despite the utopia that we aim to create, none of us hold any illusions about what humans are. We are deeply rooted in our prejudices and set in our ways." She nodded to herself in affirmation of her own mindset, "Indeed, were I to rule as queen there would doubtless be those that would question my strength, and it would not be long before a 'suiter' would marry me to take the lands we have cultivated as their own. Thus, the great lie."
Naruto took the ribbon and began to redo her hair, further confusing Guinevere, although the knights knew that there was something between the king and apostle, "Because, it is simply all too late at this point in time, Guinevere…" Arturia added, "…Merlin's prophecy that had spread amongst the people that only a king could save Britain from destruction, not a queen. To come out as a woman would mean Camelot would fall in a short time. For if I were proved a liar, then they would have no reason to believe in any of the ideals I preached. The entire country would be sent into chaos without a leader on the throne to continue protecting it."
Guinevere still seemed confused by all of this and was about to speak again, just as Naruto finished doing Arturia's hair back into the bun, the arcane hooded knight spoke up, "Lady Guinevere, there are many secrets in the world that are meant to be kept as such, this is one of them."
Naruto took his hood off to allow the lady the chance to see his face, though she seemed to almost freeze in fear upon getting a good look at his eyes, "Y-You… you are…!" She pointed a shaking finger at the ninja now knowing what he was exactly.
"Yes. I am a Dead Apostle. A vampire. But you have no reason to fear me…" Naruto opened his mouth to reveal that he was fangless. "…for you see, never once have I ever sucked the blood from the living, nor have I ever felt the inclination do something so disgusting…" His voice was laced with harsh bile at the prospect, "…I've served the king ever since her campaign to unite Britain and create Camelot began. I've earned the trust of our king. But if you still doubt these secrets staying as such, then indulge me enough to tell you a story, about a clan in a faraway land."
Arturia's eyes widened unnoticeably, she was a little surprised that Naruto was going to bring up something from his original land, "Nearly two centuries ago in a faraway land, there was a walled city, founded by two great, powerful and well-respected clans. Eventually, more and more clans joined up with the two, and for nearly eighty years, the city prospered. That is until about ninety years ago, a tragic event occurred that resulted in one of the founding clans to lose their standing and respect." Now Arturia knew precisely what he was talking about.
The Uchiha Massacre.
A bloody event that she swore that she would never allow anything similar to occur as the king. It had been confessed to her one night, where she had asked if there ever was a moral justification for kinslaying. Naruto had supplied her with an answer, that is not to say that she liked it.
"And so, they believed that the only way to reclaim their standing, was to stage a coup." The rest of the inner circle became surprised and drawn into Naruto's story, having never heard of such a thing occurring, "When the leader of the city discovered this from one of the clan's own people, who was loyal to the city as a whole, the leader tried to find a way to dissuade the clan from carrying out their plan."
Naruto breathed in deeply before he continued, having never thought he would be forced to bring this up as an example for needed secrets, "The leader tried to convince the elders that a peaceful solution through words and that statements could be made to stop it all. But in the end, it was doomed to fail... one of the elders had seen the outcome already and managed to eventually convince the other elders and the city leader that the only way to stop the coup, was the clan's destruction. So, they ordered the clan spy to sneak into the night and kill every man, woman and child. His own brothers, sisters, cousins even his mother and father." Guinevere covered her mouth in shock as her eyes widened in disbelief at what Naruto just said. The rest of the inner circle wore similar expressions, and Arturia closed her eyes while ever so slowly shaking her head at the tragedy that eventually lead to Naruto's vampiric status.
"As terrible as that decision was, it averted civil war. Can you imagine, Lady Guinevere if the rest of the city discovered the truth of the truth behind this massacre? Absolute chaos... never ending strife and death..." Naruto eyes bore deeply into Guinevere's own as she slowly came to understand his words, "This is why we have committed ourselves to ensuring that the king's gender, as well as many other things, remains a secret."
Guinevere took it all in as she slowly but surely came to the realization. All of this was merely a front to help hold Britain together under the banner of Camelot to help the people. She resigned herself to the fact that she would be forced to political marriage… and with all of this new information revealed to her… what else could she do, but marry for the sake of Britain…? Closing her eyes, Guinevere took a few steps forward before she bowed her head before gazing at Arturia, "I understand, your majesty… what would have me do to help keep Britain at peace?"
-Nine Days Later-
For the next two days, the preparations were made for the wedding before it commenced on the third day. It had been grand, but a somewhat short event with the wedding presided over by the local archbishop much to the raucous applause of the crowd that had been jammed into the central atrium of the main keep. But from his position high in the rafters looking down upon the wedding, Naruto had made barely a sound. The after-party lasted for seven days and seven nights of merriment and drinking that saw all of Camelot glowing with light deep into the evening of each day. Tonight, was the final night in which the festivities were slowly coming to a close. All the attendants were in high spirits for the most part, though some merely put on appearances such as the king, the queen and the inner circle but one was not among them…
Naruto had relocated himself to the top of the mountain overlooking the city accompanied by several bottles of ale. A foolish thing really since alcohol didn't have any effect on him at all, but he couldn't stomach the sight of the wedding, a wedding that he had hoped would be between Arturia and himself. He looked down upon the capital, glowing in the dead of night with the fires of those celebrating. Thousands of small lights gathered together beneath the ideal of Arturia, giving her the strength to provide them with strength. But it was built around a lie.
"They're all so happy… yet they don't know a damned thing…" Naruto gulped down another bottle as he tossed it behind him without a care in the world, "Can't even get drunk…" He looked to the moon and spat at it in disdain, "…thanks for robbing me of that, you asshole…" An odd thing really. The one thing he wanted most right now, was denied to him by just being himself.
"Fou~?"
The apostle attempting to get drunk turned to see little Cath Palug sitting off to his right where the tossed bottles were at; the little familiar's head was co*cked to the side in curiosity, staring right Naruto. Naruto looked at the bottle before he tried to get another drink, only to find Fou diving right at his hand to swat it out, "Hey! What was that for, huh?! Can't you see that I'm…!" He stopped mid-sentence as the look that Fou was giving him was one of what could be interrupted as disappointment…
Naruto looked back to the bottles of ale before Fou came over and kicked them over; the little beast was trying to tell him something, "Fou~! Fou~!" Naruto gave a humorless chuckle as he got the feeling from Cath that he shouldn't be trying to drink his sorrows away from the last few nights.
"Yeah…" Naruto said as the emotions began to come forth, "…you're right, Fou…" He tucked his legs up to his face as he buried himself into them, "…I shouldn't try to do that…" At first, tears came down with Fou making his way up atop his shoulder. Next came to huffs to try and hold it back; Fou nuzzled up against Naruto's cheek to try and comfort the vampire a bit, as best he could. And finally, the cries and tears of sadness came forth with the pain of never being the one down there days ago, to trade vows in holy matrimony…
"Why… why couldn't that have been us instead…?"
-Morgan le Fay's Lair-
It was time.
Now it could all begin with her work upon the weapon, "It's seems now I can start with my sister's downfall." Morgan looked towards the scrying orb to witness Arturia leaving the party for a brief moment, heading to the gardens where she shed silent tears before wiping them away, "How foolish of her to take such action, why should the great Lion King care for the opinions of sheep?"
"Mother…" The voice of Agravain called out to Morgan as he stepped forward in the armor that he would wear when he would be brought to the king. He was tall and well built, similar to her eldest son, Gawain, in a way, but it was there that similarities to the Knight of the Sun stopped. Morose features dotted a deeply lined and serious face with slicked-back black hair trailing to the bottom of his neck in lank locks. His eyes were deadly serious and lacked any form of pity or morality within their cold blue depths. His armor was similar to the initial set worn by that French knight, Lancelot, save for the fact that it was matte black with a white-furred collar, a simple bastard sword hung from the belt slung around the waist of his cuirass; this did not take attention away from the black front cape that hung between his legs similar to her sister when she wore her armor. Strapped to his left shoulder was an opulent blue and white-furred cloak that trailed all the way to the floor and concealed his sword arm.
"…I'm ready to depart for Camelot." His baritone voice filled Morgan with glee.
"Very good…" Morgan rose from her throne as she turned towards the three vials of blood, she acquired months ago from Vortigern's fortress: The first held the blood of Albion, the White Dragon. The second held the blood of her sister. The third and final vial held the blood of Naruto, the only Divine Dead Apostle in existence, "…go forth and introduce yourself to the king and court. I've already made the arrangements for your name to have status and backing. Enough to insert yourself into the inner circle and gain my sister's trust." Morgan made her way over towards what appeared to be a gothic mirror. She tapped it twice, with the reflection opening up into a dark corridor where black mist emanated from it.
Agravain knew full well what his mother was going to do now, "You're going to createit, now mother?" To try and create a homunculus from the blood of a Dead Apostle was near impossible as far as he knew with his limited knowledge on the creatures of the night.
Morgan turned back to her son with a smirk, "Of course. Thanks to Blackmore's theft of the method behind Altrouge's creation, I've managed to plot out all of the adjustments I need to make with my sister's blood along with the vampire's own, as well as having recovered the ritual that Merlin performed to infuse her with the blood of the Red Dragon." The vials gave off a sickly green glow as she began to step into the mirror, "I have everything I need to make, and this pocket realm will only help speed things up. Now go forth and plant yourself among the ranks of Camelot's finest so that all they have built may come crashing down!" Morgan waved her hand as the mirror returned to its original appearance and Agravain gave a brief bow before he left his mother to her machinations.
Funny, to think he would have a new sister of sorts, if only for her to be a tool for his aunt's destruction? He cared not, for he truly hated women.
Musings of a Wizard Marshal
By K.Z.S.
Being and immortal leads one to be drawn into their lusts far more than those of a mortal, despite how paradoxical such a thing may seem to the outside viewer. You would think that having limited time on earth would inspire mortals to grab life by the nuts and have their way while they can, and I can confirm from numerous other realities that this is sometimes the case. But Immortals need something to alleviate their boredom and lust is very easy to fall into. Lust for flesh, lust for power, lust for knowledge and the one that I am guilty of, lust for entertainment.
But Naruto? He's different, his forthright need to bring back his beloved is so fervent that he has shunned almost all forms of lust for over a millennia, which makes it funny as hell for me to taunt him about being surrounded by beautiful women and refusing to take them to bed. Although there was one with whom he threatened to dance the tantric tango, I wonder how the King of Knights would react to that one? Perhaps it's time to take another turn on the Kaleidoscope to see what different perspectives it has to offer...
This chapter serves as a bridge between arcs, introducing us to the main players of the arc and the feelings of the players moving forwards.
Man, this chapter was put off for a long time. Sad to say, I wanted to jump back onto it, but I was forced to move out with my house getting renovations for a couple of months, and the move back in has only prolonged it's status, so I apologize if it doesn't seem up to snuff from the previous chapters. Plus, I'm pretty sure Big Chungus sent my Beta into a coma so he needed some rest. But also helping out a friend with planning out his own story a bit, and vice versa with a new NarutoxFate/stay night story:
"Another Heaven"
It takes a Naruto from a slightly alternate post-Kaguya battle and he winds up in the Nasuverse a year before the events of the Fifth Fuyuki Grail War begins. Don't expect it to be following only a single route though, as it will be a bit of an interesting way to go about it, as I'm also bringing in some other Nasuverse characters to try and make things interesting.
Anyways, the next chapter Moonlight will be another timeskip, and we all get introduced to prolly the most adorable ball of rage we've ever seen in Fate ;)
So, continue to read, review (no flames or insults as those will be ignored and reported), favorite and follow this story as well as the others on my profile. And with reviews, please tell me what you guys liked and/or disliked about the chapter, otherwise I can't improve my writing to make the story better.
Until next time, see you guys later!
(1) This is a quote from the poem "Ozymandias" about Ramses II, it essentially boils down to mentioning how nothing lasts forever regardless of how mighty it may seem.
Chapter 9: The Glory of Camelot Part II
Chapter Text
Good morning/afternoon/evening everyone, it's been a while since the last chapter and I am happy that as of right now the story is sitting at a healthy 333 reviews, exactly 1 third of the way to 1000, for that I thank you all. Now before we get into the AN propper, indulge me in a little housekeeping:
PLEASE READ MY AN'S BEFORE READING THE STORY. THEY CONTAIN ANSWERS TO SOME OF THE QUESTIONS YOU GUYS MAY HAVE FOR THE STORY.
So, several people have been asking me if the pairing will be NarutoxArturiax[Anyone else]. While I can understand the difference in taste and I know many are fans of Naruto being with multiple women at the same time... I just don't really see the appeal, I think it's because the amount of Multi's on here that just made me lose my appetite for them compared to a single pairing.
Let me be clear:
The pairing is set and cannot be changed at this point. You will not be able to convince me otherwise.
As an aside, some of the suggested "additional pairing options" were...bizarre.
I mean, Guinevere? Morgan? The connotations of being with either in the context of this story so far are a higher mystery of life that I choose not to ponder.
Ergo, NarutoxArturia.
That's it. Anyone else would kind of ruin everything else planned and set in motion.
I've also noticed how some people are voicing discontent about the upcoming ending of the first act of this story, in that it's something that appears to be unchanging, despite the Prologue already having it set since it starts with a waking Naruto in the 20th century. There is both a practical in-world reason for this (The Quantum Time Lock) and a narrative reason as well in that the eventual ending playing out the way it does galvanises Naruto to make sure that it doesn't happen again.
Another reviewer commented that I'm not doing the character of Naruto justice for this at all in that he's not changing what will occur, and that Shirou in another Fate/stay night fic - that has Fate route Shirou winding up in Arturia's time before she pulled the sword- where Shirou tries to change things. Well, allow me to share my thoughts and beliefs on this comment.
Naruto isn't changing Camelot all that much, but instead bringing over what he could from Konoha into it, to make it better and set the foundation of what the modern world will one day become. Rather instead, Camelot is changing Naruto.
I know that this isn't a traditional way of storytelling; however, this is one that will allow more people to see how Naruto has changed from his canon self. Naruto's original beliefs were all and utterly shattered by Sasuke's betrayal with him tossing Naruto into the Nasuverse in Kaguya's collapsing dimensions. He still held some of it, but it's changed over towards more along the lines of being more realistic, yet still holding to the ideal that the world can be a better place, only Naruto now knows that not everyone can be saved. You can try to do that, but it's up to them to take your hand.
This coupled with small things help shape the future down the line that will pay off in big ways.
Other people believe that Naruto can still be OP and the story be good, however as much as I like an OP Naruto as much as the next guy does, I have to treat him with at least some of the in universe rules or else he becomes a pain as an author to invent reasons and situations why Naruto didn't instantly curb stomp and then there would be no story.
Someone argued that it's a nerf to Naruto, but really, it's not as I've explained it already. Naruto needs to struggle in order to grow, and without said struggle, there is no story, and if you argue against that, then all I can say is that we have different views on the way to tell a story. But ultimately that opposing view runs into the Superman Problem.
If Naruto is so OP as YOU want him to be, then there is no excitement, no tension, no character development, and no real sense of danger when he meets an enemy. He would one-shot everything and anything that got in his way, and he really wouldn't change or mature in any way.
This concept of "Naruto has to be the strongest in any verse he is inserted into from the get-go" is vexing because it leads to people complaining about things that are moronic when you look at it for more than a second. I site a NarutoxDC story where a reviewer complained for over 600 words that Naruto didn't flatten his opponent in 1 second flat. That opponent was the multiversal New God, Darkseid.
If you still disagree, then all I can say is that we won't agree on this subject, and it's best that it's not brought up anymore as I don't really care to comment or see it in the reviews or PM's sent my way with this subject.
Now with all of that out of the way, on with the new chapter and please do enjoy it!
Chapter 8 – The Glory of Camelot Part II
-April, 476 AD-
"Well, I must say I do good work. You'll be in charge of training it, from now on." The dark fae spoke, serene words dripping with venom that could fell most armies.
"Iunderstand, mistress," The monstrosity replied, rotten teeth grinding against one another disgustingly.
"And do be sure to not hold back. I don't want this weapon to grow dull or lose the edge to kill." Groused the third, his voice a cold monotone that allowed a mote of chagrin into its dark expanse.
"Very well then. I suppose it's only natural for the White to be able to match the Red after all."
-Camelot; the Hall of the Round Table-
Two years had passed since the wedding like fleeting snow in a desert, the union between the King and Queen solidified that the future of Camelot and Britain itself was secured, and God willing, an heir wouldn't be far behind. Or at least that was the belief of those who didn't know the truth.
"I am honestly thankful for these past few years of peace. Camelot and Britain continue to endure in prosperity." Arturia spoke with a hint of pride within her tone as she addressed the Court of Camelot. Her royal blue and brushed steel armour had been joined by a knee-length blue and white cape worn around the shoulders, framing her form before the eyes of her knights.
On the day of the wedding, Leodegrance had gifted the King and Queen a large round table, apparently having been inspired by the King's chivalry and the respect held for the knights of the inner circle, it was a place where all were equal to voice their opinions to the King. Arturia sat upon a high-backed chair of oak and tailored blue upholstery that was a recreation of the marble throne in the throne room, standing out amongst the knights who each sat in smaller but no less fine chairs befitting their station.
As for Naruto, he sat himself atop a simple wood chair before a large desk to Arturia's right, though placed slightly behind her as per his occasional duties as court mage, for once more he was adorned in Merlin's robes. The illusive Flower Magus having once more left the capital to speak with the forming Magi stronghold forming in Londinium.
There were three new additions to the court since the wedding. Firstly, Sir Bors and King Pellinore. Bors was Lancelot's elder cousin who had sailed overseas from France under King Ban's orders to help provide strength to the solidifying Kingdom of Britain. As for King Pellinore, the title was kept more out of respect as opposed to actual monarchy, for his rule over his large barony during Vortigern's reign. Pellinore was in fact Percival's father; Percival had suggested to Arturia that a man such as his father could help provide counsel to help in regards to politics due to a life spent navigating the backroom stabbings of court culture.
Arguably the eldest member to join since Ector's passing, Pellinore was a man in his very early fifties with a sturdy frame. Unlike the rest of the Round Table, Pellinore was completely bald, having shaved his hair entirely due to not being bothered to wait for the rest of his hair to fall out. He wore mostly dark grey mail over which was a sweeping cloak that hid most of the chainmail from view. His face, while somewhat craggy, held a serene smile that gave him the air of a gentle giant.
Sir Bors, on the other hand, was perhaps thirty, a shock of auburn hair framed his face in neat bangs to reveal forget-me-not blue eyes. He wore a red cloth jerkin bearing his family sigil over a set of brushed silver plate that locked more ceremonial than combat ready.
As for the third addition to what the people had come to call the Knights of the Round Table, though at Naruto's insistence the newer members did not know Arturia's gender, was a man named Agravain. He had been introduced to the Round Table by a well-known if somewhat reclusive French noble by the name of Bertilak de Hautdesert with the swell of nobles offering their best knights to the King's service. Many of them were adequate while many more were all bark and no bite, but Agravain had been accepted due to a unique ability that the others lacked. Despite how he appeared to be rather stiff, the man had a great talent for juggling many issues and requests from local and foreign dignitaries, lords, big-name merchants, etc. Thus, he had been offered the position of Secretary of the Round Table.
Arturia turned to Agravain as he brought up several papers, "So then, how fares the capital and country?"
Clearing his throat, Agravain began to list off a few things that he thought would bring up some good news to help with the mood, "For starters, the trade markets are overflowing in business along with the people bringing in goods from Ireland over the Irish Sea. However, the language barrier is proving to be an issue at the ports, it also might be prudent to double-check if anything potentially harmful got brought over."
"In regards to the orphanage you had constructed eighteen months ago, it's well supplied and furnished for the children to live in while potential parents have yet to come forwards. The grand library has been filled with many texts donated from our more arcane acquaintances who transcribed them from the Library of Alexandria before it's burning." Agravain said, turning over the list in his hands, his eyes never leaving the paper, his brow creased at one strongly worded report.
"The peasants have been making an effort to educate themselves, although a few lords called such a decision into question." The black armoured knight flipped over to a new paper, "As for security, I do believe that since our domestic enemies are vanquished, thus we can reduce the shifts of guards to a slower pace, along with shifting many of them over to the army if Tiberius in Rome decides to turn his eyes towards Britain."
Indeed. So far, Tiberius - little upstart that he was - was making a mildly concerning amount of headway in his so-called 'conquest' to reclaim the old imperial remnants, though he still met resistance from the Byzantine Empire to the east in Asia Minor. Still, he was taking the lands near Germania, and it wouldn't be long before he turned his gaze to Britannia and Camelot.
A murmur of agreement washed over the room, no doubt they would be dealing with the upstart emperor in the future, although there was one among them who wasn't quite with the rest of them, "I'm not sure about that myself." All eyes turned to Naruto who maintained his appearance as Merlin, Fou sat atop his right shoulder at attention, "Even though we've brought the rebel lords under Camelot's banner years ago, drove off the foreign invaders, and took down the usurper Vortigern, there still stands one last domestic threat to Britain: Morgan le Fay."
Even though they hadn't heard a peep out of her in a little over half a decade, not since she stole Caliburn from Arturia, Naruto had no doubt the Fae was still out there scheming to get the throne. Gawain and his siblings shifted uncomfortably in their seats at the mention of their mother. Despite being the one who brought them into this world, she seemed to always get some uncomfortable reaction out of them. Naruto could sense the negative emotions that the others were having on the Fae, which wasn't surprising given how much trouble she had brought to them, however there was one whom Naruto didn't feel any real negativity rolling off of: Agravain. That was odd, and it bared further investigation.
The blonde's disguised red eyes shifted imperceptibly while contemplating the secretary, his mind awhirl with thoughts that he would keep to himself until he had evidence. Agravain's lack of negative emotion was to be expected given he was only a recent addition to the Round Table, but as a new face, he had been subject to Naruto using his spy network to run a background check to see if the reclusive lord that had recommended him was correct to do so. What Naruto had found was unsettlingly mundane in its details, every single claim that the knight had at his back was verified to be true in some regard or another, every T crossed and every I dotted.'It's too mundane.'Naruto thought, filtering out the conversations amongst the Round Table to focus,'It's almost as if he's a storybook character written to be mundane yet skilled, generic yet somehow special. There is no apparent dirty secret, yet that makes me wonder. What are you trying to hide?'
He was roused from his thoughts as Arturia spoke up, "Have you managed to ascertain her lair's location?" Arturia turned to glance at Naruto as he gazed back while shaking his head in response.
"No, my King. I'm sorry, but my spies haven't found where she hides."
If the King seemed dissatisfied at the answer, then she didn't show it, her face remaining uncomfortably stoic. "I see. Until we're able to discern her location, it would be best to leave the matter off to the side. I won't waste any lives in pursuit of where my sister may scheme from." She didn't mean it to sound harsh or to imply non-commitment with the matter, Arturia simply didn't want to jeopardize the lives of those under her command, especially when there was the looming threat overseas. Her sister was a spider, sitting quietly in the corner and feeling the vibrations of discord across the world while she weaved her webs of schemes; plotting from the shadows, very rarely acting directly, or merely using others like Vortigern to do the dirty work for her.
Naruto nodded his head as he put his concentration back to the other matters of the court, as he began putting two Thought Partitions running for the current matter, while the other began running through the various locations where Morgan could potentially be hiding. All the while his tenant spoke up.
"Hey, don't get too much in a tizzy of what she said."Kurama said nonchalantly to his partner.
'I know, but I don't think we should throw away the idea of getting Morgan out of the picture.'
"Don't get me wrong, I'm 100% with you on killing that Fae. But she brings up the point about not wanting to waste lives away."
'Yeah, you're right. I guess for now I just gotta expand my spy network to see if I can rope in a few mages if possible, to help hunt her down.'
-The Tower of Magi-
After the court was concluded, Naruto made his way up to his workshop to continue progress on his various projects. Clarent was coming along smoothly, although Naruto was taking his time with this one since it was meant to be the sword that would bestow knighthood onto those worthy to come to the Round Table. The mold was formed, but unfortunately this would be no simple smithing mainly in that the process was... complicated. Trying to bind the conceptual energy of the White Dragon's blood into a physical form without it blowing up in his face was something that had given him a few sleepless nights. His first attempt had ended so poorly that the blade had shattered so forcefully that he had been forced to pull shards of enchanted orichalcum from his skull's right orbit,'Thank the sage for healing factors and vampiric regeneration.'he thought with a morbid mirth, a phantom itch manifesting where he had pulled the shards free from.
The material was one of the hardest thing to get right for the sword because each enchantment used to strengthen magically enhanced metal did not seem to mix well with dragon's blood, the draconic liquid overloading part of the enchantment matrices, causing errors in the alchemical syntax that resulted in a cascading degeneration in the metal till it was no longer capable of containing the magic. He had initially thought that he could circumvent this problem with a superior metal, Mithril or Adamantine being his prime choices.
Choices which sadly had ended in dead ends. Until Naruto had looked into it, he had not believed Altrouge's claim that Mithril was the rarest metal in the magical world, considering that his uncanny luck and hard work would step in once again to find the silvery mineral. "The thing about luck is. Eventually, it runs out." Naruto said to himself, lifting up the 8th of an ounce of Mithril he had managed to acquire in the last two years. According to Merlin, the majority of the Mithril had disappeared during the destruction of the Norse texture of the world in 1000BC, making what was left a commodity people would trade their very children to get. The fact Altrouge had managed to scrape together an entire ingot of the stuff was a testament to her connections and influence.
Adamantine was in far higher amounts and nearly as good as Mithril, but in a place out of Naruto's reach. Merlin had cautioned Naruto that Wandering Sea was obsessed with all things of the Age of Gods and while they held a significant deposit of the divine Grecian metal in the moving mountain they called home, the Wandering Magi would just as soon vivisect the Divine Dead Apostle Ancestor as they were to let him in to even see it.
After much pondering the solution had been simple, steel. Easy to access and work with and conceptual malleability that aged back to many a smith god such as Hephaestus or Vulcan. The process would be slow, very slow, but he did not have to worry about many accidents that he could not nip in the bud. Most Magi would turn their nose up at using something asbase,but Naruto cared not, he was known for making miracles from mongrels.
This would be his greatest work yet.
As for the other project that he was currently working on right now was a lance for little Gareth. The sweet thing had come to him asking about having a special lance of her own, after seeing Arturia use Rhongomyniad in their last battle against the Saxons as she unleashed the Wild Hunt to aid them. Well, who was he to say no to such a sweet face asking for a new weapon?
So far, the lance had taken less time as he wasn't the prolonged process that Clarent would be using, choosing to go for both sturdy and flexible in order for the lance to be lifted lightly for Gareth's smaller build. He'd even add in a 'Mystic Code Firing Mechanism' into the lance, similar to the massive crossbolt stations he remembered seeing back home while on his training trip with Jiraiya. Fiddling with the finely machined gear of either-lite into the snow globe shaped mystic code and watching it begin to spin lethargically, emitting a blue glow within the glass confine of the globe.
It would create a concussive blast of sorts when she would strike the lance up against the desired target, to give it an extra 'kick' per say.
"I'm sure Gareth'll get a kick out of this!" Naruto chuckled briefly before looking around quickly as he didn't want anyone to make an unintentional pun.
"That pun sucked. Merlin's worse aspects are rubbing off on you…"
'Well aren't you a ray of sunshine this afternoon.'
As Naruto shifted over in his seat to grab a set of tools to continue working, he stopped briefly as one of his clones in Camelot suddenly popped sending a rush of memories to him,
A small figure darted around the corner, their figure obscured by the tattered brown cloak they wore, they looked back to him but disappeared before the clone could pursue.
"Huh?" Naruto shifted in his seat as he turned his head to see someone leave around the corner, "That was weird. Must've been one of the servants; guess they got a little spooked or something." Naruto shook his head as he directed his attention back to the lance, "Oh well, back to work."
As for the brief spectator that had been watching his clone, they decided to keep on exploring the city.
-Elsewhere-
Among the curving streets of Camelot's outskirts, the morose and thin-lipped Agravain made his way through the streets, his black armor he wore drawing the gaze of peasants and merchants alike. A cold glare quickly from the Secretary cowed the inquisitive glances and many mothers made to bring their children inside to not incur the knight's ire. Passing a half-hearted wave to the eastern gate guards, getting the attention from one of the stable boys who rushed to attend him. "I intend to go hunting for the afternoon, saddle me a horse as soon as you can," he ordered commandingly, long blue cloak fluttering lightly in the breeze.
"At once, Sir Agravain! Christopher, Blake, Lennox! Bridle the finest steed available for our honoured guest," the stablehand replied before barking out orders, the three layabout stable boys hastily dropping their game of cards. Within the next two minutes, a thoroughbred black mare was led out to the waiting knight.
Agravain nodded in acceptance before starting to mount the horse. "I will be back before mid-afternoon, be sure to be ready to receive me upon my return."
"But my lord," the stablehand asked, features twisting in confusion, "You bare no bow or spear. How do you intend to hunt game with nothing but a sword? If you wait a moment, I'm sure that Lennox would fetch-"
The suggestion died in the stablehand's throat when Agravain fixed him with a glare that sent a shiver down his spine, the words grinding to a screeching halt as if a pair of strong hands had clamped around his throat.
"You doubt my ability, peasant?" Agravain's words were perfectly level yet frigid as the coldest winter. "I will need nothing but my sword for this, and you would do well to remember your place in this world."
Not waiting for a response, Agravain grabbed the reigns of his horse and turned it away from the stablehand who collapsed when Agravain's glare left him, his body drenched in cold sweat. Proceeding at a trot towards the eastern gate, he did not have to wait long before the gates were unbarred, and twin portcullises were drawn up by a series of gears and pulleys deep within the curtain wall that surrounded Camelot. Once the gate was finally open, he dug his spurs into the horse's flank and galloped off into the British countryside.
Riding in silence for a time save for the telltale gallop of his steed, Agravain kept his mind focused on his objective, it was not until he was sure that the capitol had disappeared from view that he turned off the main road into one of the thick forests that constituted Camelot's natural defences. An hour later and the King's Secretary felt a jolt of static at the nape of his neck, telling him that he had passed beyond the final sensory bounded field that Naruto had installed and refined over the years.
Letting out a small sigh at a distance he had to travel for this, Morgan's child told himself that it was necessary that he not be discovered, for his mother's plan to go off without a hitch.
Agravain was a man who understood the merit of long-term planning, although let it be known that he wasn't one to have much patience for such trivial matters. Of course, now Morgan had created the weapon that she so desired there was nothing to fear, but he saw the numerous flaws and complications that would no doubt spring forth from such a wretched thing. Ergo, Agravain felt the need to take proactive action concerning his aunt's downfall.
While his insertion into the Round Table had faced relatively little opposition, he felt the gaze of Merlin's shadow upon him like a hawk. The King had introduced the blonde as her Knight of Sky Silver, an arcane knight unto her service since the beginning. Naruto was his name. A name he knew well enough from his mother's ranting and scheming. She had assured him that the cover she had set for him was fool proof with hundreds of people hoodwinked with false memories to corroborate the story that hispatronhad given the King. Despite that, in the time that Agravain had been in the capital, he had come to a singular conclusion.
Naruto didn't trust him.
Every conceivable precaution had been taken to prevent this ranging from the carefully scripted introduction and downplaying of his abilities to the pendant he wore around his neck now. It had been given to him by his mother as a method to totally shut out his negative emotions after their ally, Blackmore, had told them of Naruto's apparent empathetic ability to sense negative emotions. Despite that, Agravain could feel it deep in the pit of his stomach that the blonde did not trust him.
A significant problem when it came to the task of getting closer to the King. He would need to have an ace up his sleeve should it come to trade blows with the Apostle, as well as the King. During the earlier meeting at the Round Table, he introduced a minor French nobleman named Bertilak de Hautdesert; a man that was interested in trading in the capital in rare materials along with bringing heavy coin to the markets of Camelot. The negotiations went well for the most part, save for the light glare Bertilak would send Gawain every now and then. Naruto was getting suspicious and began questioning the Frenchman until Agravain decided to convince the King to end the day's meeting.
He knew how well that Naruto had a network of spies seeded throughout the Kingdom, and healwaysfound out the little details. It was the reason why Agravain found himself dismounting his horse in an apparently empty clearing so far from Camelot's walls because hispatronwas leaning against a nearby oak, its bark mottled and rotting from some apparent blight. Aggravain dismounted his horse and strode towards the finely dressed noble with purpose, not stopping when he began to speak.
"So, what was it that you wanted to speak with me…" the French accent shone through his perfect English, "…SirAgravain?" Bertilak held some sarcasm within the mentioning of Agravain's anointed status as a knight. Clearly mocking him for taking on such a trivial matter of being the King's Secretary.
Gritting his teeth in annoyance, Agravain stomped towards Bertilak and promptly slammed him up against the tree trunk as he spoke with a calm, yet collected rage, "You. f*cking. Idiot. Your obsession with Gawain threatens the plan." His black gauntleted hand clenched into a fist and in a blur of movement slammed into the noble's jaw, sending him flying some fifteen feet away from Agravain where he landed ungracefully on his rear.
The figure of Bertilak sat destitute on the floor for a moment, his head down against his chin as Agravain slowly began to approach him with a twitching fist but no follow up attack came. Instead, the clearing was filled with a cavalcade of disgusting sounds emanating from Bertilak when he began to rise to his feet, his exposed flesh jiggling and wiggling ghoulishly from something moving beneath the skin until a gnarled green root burst forth from his neck. Agravain watched on with distaste as the Frenchman's body began to heave and convulse, skin losing its healthy parlour to be replaced with that of a corpse, muscles bulging naturally beneath the flayed rotting flesh. Hair receded into his scalp accompanied by the foul wet crunches of bones and teeth cracking against one another only to reset into a far larger body than Bertilak had ever been.
Finally, with a wheeze of bark filled lungs signalling the completion of the transformation, Bertilak's appearance shifted into his true identity: The Green Knight.
"Oh,please…" The undead abomination of Morgan's work spoke through the rough vocal cords he still held, "…allIdidwassizeupmydestinedopponent." Agravain shifted to a less combative stance at that, thanking that Morgan had gifted the undead brute with a little more intelligence, "Besides,it'snotlikehewon'tdiebymyhandeventually.Icanwaitfor ourfatedrematch."
Agravain wasn't amused by how nonchalant the Green Knight was being, "Either way, you know full well how we must proceed." He quickly looked around to see that the Green Knight was alone, "Where is it?"
"Whereiswhat?" The undead knight responded, not knowing what Agravain meant.
"The weapon. Where. Is. The. Weapon…?" Agravain said impatiently, "Youwere placed in charge of conditioning it."
The Green Knight looked to the side for a bit before gazing back at Agravain, "…I lost it back in the city…"
The veins upon Agravain's forehead bulked and protruded garishly as his face contorted into a mix of disbelief and abject loathing for his treelike companion. All manner of animals ran for cover when two words bellowed forth from Agravain's now snarling face.
"…YOU WHAT?!"
-The Tower of Magi-
"Well, I think that'll do it for the day on the lance," Naruto said to himself as he got up from the workbench. He made his way between the floors of the tower looking for a particular tome that bore the symbol of the moon in a shade of crimson that gave Naruto a twitch in aggravated remembrance. Cracking it open and beginning to read the chapter that he was looking for saw Naruto puzzling over his own development of skills. His Magecraft was progressing at a level that Merlin was satisfied with, but that did not mean he didn't run into the occasional plateau of stagnated development that he had to figure out how to either overcome.
However, it was after many months of musing and self-contemplating that the red-eyed blonde had come to a rather unsatisfactory conclusion, that he had been neglecting his vampiric abilities. He still despised the very concept of drinking blood, but that was not what he was looking into because the three boons of Apostlehood could potentially elevate his skill to new heights. Firstly there was his Mystic Eyes of Enchantment that were almost universal to all Apostles of a certain level of development. Secondly was the ability that was inherent to the True Ancestors, Marble Phantasm.
However, Naruto's current area of research was considered a Herculean undertaking to those of the Moonlit World, a Reality Marble. Considered to be the pinnacle of Magecraft by many different schools of thought, the ability to overwrite the World with your own smaller world held an appeal to Naruto that had been made apparent ever since he had first had the term explained to him by Zelretch several decades ago. The problem was that acquiring a Reality Marble was both natural as breathing to some and literally impossible for others.
"Reality Marbles you say?"Merlin had said just before leaving on his trip to Wandering Sea,"Tricky little things because you need to be a certain kind of person to attain one. I'm considered an Archmagus, but I can't develop one due to the way my Incubus heritage affects the layout of my mind. Other people can develop through decades of Magecraft study, but the mechanics of each Reality Marble will be different depending on the person producing them."
Merlin believed that Naruto could potentially develop one given how most members of the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostle Ancestors possessed one and a message to Altrouge had told Naruto that all True Ancestor's possessed aspects and fragments of Brunestud's own Reality Marble.
Growing aggravated by the lack of progress he had made, Naruto tossed the book onto the desk and ran his hand through his hair. "Come on, Naruto! You can do this, the theory is simple," Naruto spoke to himself, voice echoing around the empty room. "You create a bounded field which contains a representation of your inner world and push it beyond you. Inside becomes outside and outside becomes in, but the only thing inside me is-"
Naruto stilled, his whole body becoming stiffer than a board. "I'm an idiot, why didn't I think I think of this before!" he cursed under his breath before rising from the chair to speak with the one person in mind to help him out. Heading towards the centre of the room, Naruto sat down in a meditative pose as he delved into his mindscape to talk with Kurama about it.
It had been a long time since he had been inside the mindscape, with parts of it changing from the original sewer it once was, into something more along the lines of a stone-walled fortress with water reaching up to his ankles. Kurama's little corner hadn't changed really, which Naruto chalked it up to the fox having that bit of control over it, "Oi, Kurama! I need your help with something."
The fox had been going in and out of sleep was slightly startled by Naruto appearing before him, though the beast quickly regained his usual composure that he always held,"And what would that be with…?"The great dane-sized fox spoke,"…if you want help with relationships, I'd say you're barking up the wrong tree."
Naruto rolled his eyes bringing up his current topic, "No, I'm talking about developing a Reality Marble."
Kurama raised a brow at that,"A Reality Marble? What makes you think I could help with something on that level of a scale?"Reality Marble's where no joke and took massive amounts of energy to create as well as maintain for an extended period of time. Because it was essentially suppressing the will of the planet for a time, a sort of Bounded Field that was slowly being erased by the Counter Force due to it being a foreign world invading the Earth itself.
"Because of the Tailed Beast Mode," Naruto began to explain, "You're essentially a non-corporeal being. Just a mass of chakra that exists in my soul, but you can extend that as a physical manifestation of yourself. What is within me becomes what surrounds me, do you think that could form the basis to work off for the Reality Marble?"
Kurama regarded his partner for a minute before humming in thought,"Hmm… it's a good explanation. And while the Tailed Beast Mode does work in a similar way, though you're talking about a Reality Marble. You're pushing your entire mental landscape into the real world as opposed to just my Chakra; and the Counter Force won't take too kindly to that. It's far more difficult than you think."Kurama put a hand to his chin in thought however,"On the other hand, the Counter Force isn't affecting you as it once did in the past."
Naruto silently agreed with that statement, no doubt Vivian's gift had been slowly at work trying to remove the restrictions the world had placed on him, "Which means that it's possible to create one. I've been accumulating Mystery for a good while now and since the Counter Force's has been lax on me, I think part of my old power is also coming back." The old shinobi powers that he had were returning slowly but surely to his body. And if he could find a way to achieve its full return any sooner, while combining it with his Magecraft that he's learned so far…
All in all, the world saw him less of a threat, and more as 'protector' of sorts. Protecting the linchpin of the one who held the Age of Fairies in the world per say.
-The Training Grounds-
"Keep your stance postured, manoeuvre correctly, hold your sword with both hands, and you will not see defeat at an enemy's hands."
Lancelot had taken to the training grounds to oversee and teach some of the newer soldiers that entered the army. It was something that he did enjoy in the meantime to help ensure that the younger men had the best chance to overcome any odds that came their way. After the latest meeting, Lancelot felt the need to get his mind off some of the more complicated matters of the kingdom, choosing to leave it to Agravain with his new position.
As Lancelot finished with a bit of a lesson, he turned to see Tristan watching on from the sides with his usual, sorrowful appearance. If it ever changed, then there would be raining dogs and cats…
Turning back to the trainee's, Lancelot spoke up, "Go ahead and take rest, young men. We'll continue later on in an hour. You've been sweating and working, now enjoy some comfort in rest."
"Yes, sir!" The recruits responded as they made their way to the bunks to rest.
Lancelot turned his way towards Tristan as he came over to his fellow Round Table member with, if what Lancelot could make out from his meagre inquisitive expression, "I didn't want to interrupt your training, Lancelot."
Lancelot waved it off briefly, "It's quite alright, Tristan. I was already nearing the end of the lesson either way." Lancelot pointed the practice sword down as he buried the tip in the dirt, "And besides, they looked as if they were going to drop of boredom." Both men gave a small chuckle at his words. Which he wasn't wrong. Ever since they had deposed Vortigern, the times of peace had only grown with no real threat in sight, other than the potential one across the sea, and the dark mystic threat still lurking from Morgan.
"Well, I suppose I can't fault you for that at all…" Tristan said, "…although, I do have to ask: what do you think of Agravain and his position?" Upon meeting the man, Tristan felt no emotion to speak of, but beyond that, he appeared to be a knight, just one adept with the quill.
Lancelot hummed a bit before he spoke up, "Well, I think we both know that the King has many duties, and Agravain being the secretary merely helps fill in the for the skills that the King lacks. In this case, academic management." He chuckled a bit before he saw Tristan raising a hand to his chin in thought.
"Perhaps…" Tristan said aloud, "…although I do have to wonder if the King lacks something else more important?"
"What do you mean, Tristan?" Lancelot inquired.
Tristan was roused from his thoughts as he shook his head, "Oh, pay it no mind, Lancelot. I should be going, take care, my friend." And with that, Tristan left to tend to his own things, all the while Lancelot gazed back at him, wondering just what he had meant. As Lancelot turned back towards the barracks, he caught sight of the Queen out on a nearby balcony, gazing out on the city with the beauty of one such as only she could hold. Lancelot was unaware that he had been entranced by Guinevere's grace, the shined as bright as the sun…
It was almost a recreation of the beginning of an old tale of a Celtic knight that had gone on the run with his lord's fiancée. Almost…
-The Tower of Magi-
A resolutely clear clang beat across the empty room, sparks flying from the point where the forging hammer collided with the superheated weapon, ripples of Damascus style forging bending and curving into a macrocosm of patterns. Sweat beaded down Naruto's forehead while he used a wind Mystery to heat the forge to increasingly high temperatures that, if left unchecked, would reduce a god portion of the castle to slag.
The sound of the forge at work resounded through the room, as Naruto worked Clarent's grip into the tang of the blade. He looked to the glowing Lava Style: Rasenshuriken that formed the core of his forge, the rapidly spinning chakra construct's sunlike core held in place by numerous Bounded Fields being maintained by fast paced calculations running in his thought accelerated memory partitions. Dipping the blade once more into the crucible and wincing lightly at the heat, Naruto uncorked a vial of the White Dragon's blood and deposited it into the Rasenshuriken's core. He resisted the urge to grin when the molten core of his greatest attack shifted to a sanguine brilliance that cast great shadows across the wall behind him, instead watching in fascination as the motes of draconic magical energy that the vortex cast off were slowly drawn towards the blade and absorbed into the metal.
This process was repeated several times before Naruto withdrew the white-hot sword and smoothly quenched it in a vat of oil. Letting go of the handle to leave the process to work, Naruto slowly dialled down the power to the Rasenshuriken till it petered out and the workshop was quiet once more.
While it was still a ways off from being complete, Naruto wasn't going to take any shortcuts with this blade that Arturia asked him to forge as Caliburn's replacement. As he continued to work away, he heard a knock on the door, prompting Naruto to set the tools down, "Come in."
As the door opened up, it revealed Percival to be the one who was knocking, "Naruto, do you have a moment?"
Naruto saw that Percival seemed to have a little concern on his face, which meant something was wrong, "Sure, but what's the matter? Did something happen?"
"It's the King…" Percival began, "…she asked for you and for everyone to clear the throne room for you. She said that there was something that she wished to speak with you in private over." Percival always admired the King and her actions, and as such, there were times when he would spend with her to learn and better himself to ensure he could always be a knight worthy of such a King.
Naruto nodded as he quickly ditched the leather blacksmith's apron, "Of course, if she needs help or something, I'm always there for her." Leaving his work behind him for the time being, Naruto made his way through the halls to the throne room where Arturia was gazing out the windows over the city. Giving a brief look around the room to make sure that they were truly alone, Naruto spoke up, "Arturia…" The young girl-king turned to her secret lover with a small smile, "…Percival said that you wanted to talk with me privately. Was there something wrong?"
Arturia shook her head as she made her way over to meet with Naruto, "Not at all, Naruto. I just wanted to have a private moment with you." She took his hands as she stood on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on his lips, one that he returned in kind, "We don't get to have these moments to ourselves very often, so I like to take every opportunity we can get to have tender moments like this."
Naruto understood well enough how things had been since the political wedding with their duties and appearances taking precedence over their secret relationship. As he held her close to him, he felt something different about his lover, "Arturia, your magical energy has shifted slightly."
"Well, I suppose even magical energy changing up would be a nice flip around, like a fashion statement, I suppose?" Arturia was trying to make a joke of the situation, though Naruto didn't find it as amusing as she was trying to make it. This was a deeply serious matter that needed to be addressed.
It was impossible for Arturia's body to change since she had taken possession of Avalon, the Fae artifact having stopped her ageing processes. Her Dragon Core always emitted the energy of the Red Dragon, with an added Holy attribute due to Merlin's meddling prior to her birth, and nothing would change that. Only now, he felt something more foreign. He couldn't put his finger on it exactly, but it evoked an old hazy memory from nearly a century ago.
It would take something with powers approaching that of a Divine Spirit for such a thing and he was sure that there was no Divine Spirits still on Britain's shores, only that perhaps there was some magical residue from Rhongomyniad since she last used it to summon the Wild Hunt. Was Rhongomyniad overpowering Avalon's influence? That shouldn't be possible since it rejected everything, including the Five True Magics themselves. Zelretch himself would have a difficult time overcoming the sheathifhe didn't play dirty that is.
But then again, he was the Kaleidoscope of all people, playing dirty was his specialty. Either way, this was all too troubling a matter not to address now.
Naruto's expression showcased his concern that must have been quite unsightly on Naruto's usually sunny features because Arturia lost her smile moments after seeing it, "Arturia, this isn't something to joke about. The fact that your Dragon Core changed even slightly, means something is beginning to overwrite your energy with something else."
Arturia blanched, her eyes conveying shock and an underlying disbelief. Not so much of what was happening to her but rather seeing Naruto become so serious. "Surely you jest, I mean I feel fine Naruto, better than ever." Arturia said, pumping her fist a few times to try and placate her paramour. She stopped moments later upon seeing that Naruto's face had not changed from its concerned frown.
"Physically you may not feel anything but what about your mind? Any feelings or compulsions to do things that you don't consider normal?" Naruto asked, holding Arturia by the shoulders.
"Please, Naruto, I'm sure this isn't of much concern-"
"Arturia!" the King looked up at Naruto with shocked green eyes at his sudden outburst, so different from what she was used to but deep in those large ruby red eyes, eyes that she could easily get lost in their vastness, she saw that he was concerned for her. Her cheeks gained a dusting of red at that, this closeness had been lacking in recent months and she guiltily relished it. "Tell me if you have seen or felt anything out of the ordinary, even if it was just a stray thought that didn't make sense. Please, this is important."
Arturia looked down briefly before she gazed back up to Naruto, "I… admit that I've been troubled by a dream I had of late. It was… dark, to say the least…" She had overworked herself at the Round Table last night, leaving her alone to have the dark dream.
Naruto could feel Arturia's shoulders shake at the mention of this dream. It was very rare for her to be unsettled by something like this, "What happened in this dream?"
-A Vision of What Could Be-
Arturia found herself waking up within an alley, despite having been in the meeting room at the palace, "How did I get here?"
Sitting up against the wall, Arturia got up to make her way out of the alleyway only to find herself astonished at the sight: Camelot, far more substantial and grander than she ever thought possible. Buildings that scraped the sky, made of both metal and stone, with large banners hanging from the roofs and the people were all joyous with glee. Almost too much joy, as if there was no darkness for their light to illuminate; A sterile happiness that was coldly clinical.
Arturia continued to walk through the people that paid her no mind as if she were some invisible spectre, further out to a square from where she could see the walls of the capital standing higher than before, stronger than before, the guards manning the battlements little more than specs. She turned around to see that the palace was far grander than before, surpassing anything she had ever seen or dared to dream of, being a castle made entirely of marble that shined as bright as silver, reflecting the sun like a gleaming diamond jutting from the earth, into the heavens while the banners of Camelot fluttered in the wind.
"It's all so beautiful…"
She felt someone bump into her and tried to apologize, "Oh, my apologies I…" However, she stopped before she took in the person's, or rather heavily armored knight's appearance. It was almost inhuman to be perceived as a protector of the people, as she gazed around her to see the citizens were in silent fear of the knights.
They were massive, a legion of nine-foot-tall behemoths that were identical in their broad stature. Clad in thick steel plate that appeared to be a more intense version of Aruturia's combat gear save for the fact that It was for men, a black cape slung over their shoulders. Metallic grey with hints of gold circling each plate and lashed together by well worked brown straps. Each knight clasped a massive silver and blue kite shield on their right arm that was two thirds the knights' height. Their armament varied from large broadswords similar to Arondight to bows of two meters in length and even some two and a half meter long halberds with wide pike-like heads.
The most unsettling thing about the legion was their helm. A dome of thick silver steel shaped into the marriage of a Barbet and a Spartan hoplite. Unsettlingly it was sealed completely shut and bereft of eyeholes save a single cyclopean opening from which no light escaped. The hollow knights continued on to its previous destination, leaving Arturia to try and investigate further, only to suddenly find herself now standing outside what she believed to be the capital gates.
Turning around to look above her as she saw that while this may seem like Camelot, it was not in the same place geographically. Gone were the green rolling hills and lush forests of Britain, replaced by a lifeless wasteland of tightly packed grey and brown packed earth that extended for dozens of miles in every direction broken up by the occasional giant crater, the parabolic spaces -each one ranging from half a mile to three miles in diameter- looked as if they had been struck by fallen stars. In the vast distance, Arturia could make out two differences. To the west stretched a seemingly infinite desert of yellow sand while to the north was a mountain range that she did not recognize.
"W-what is this place? This is not Britain," Arturia stuttered before turning her eyes to the wall, some movement catching her attention. Around the walls had grown a shanty town of sorts formed of thousands of brown tents and rough wooden structures. The people walking amongst the city were obviously not British natives given the colour of their skin being far darker and features lending more to a desert people. She blinked when a mother and child passed her, the mother garbed in a flowing black robe that obscured all but her face.
"Citizens of the Holy Land! Form a line before the gates for the Lion King's Holy Selection is about to begin!" a voice boomed from the very walls themselves startling Arturia to turn and look to the walls. A shock of red drew her eyes to the top of the main gatehouse where it merged into the curtain walls.
Tristan stood at the edge, alongside hollow knights armed with bows and Tristan held Failnaught in his dominant hand with several arrows knocked into the bowstrings already. Feeling uneasy about the situation, she turned back out away from the main gates as she saw the unmistakable figure of Gawain, alongside several more of the hollow knights armed with halberds, shields and swords that stood taller than her nephew. He stood in front of several people, all of whom were in line with their families, with wagons stacked to the brim, and many others were all camped outside the gates in pitched tents. It was almost like a ghetto that she had seen up in the north as they moved through Vortigern's lands to eliminate any holdouts after his fall, along with spreading word that the people could rejoice at their newfound freedom.
As Arturia made her way closer to Gawain, all she could make out what was being said over the swarm of voices was that they were asking, no begging… to be let into the capital city, that the ends of the world was bearing down upon them. Why? Arturia continued on before she stopped at the sight of Gawain raising Galatine and charging the blade up with the power of the sun… and swung down…
"NO!" Shock and horror came from her voice as her expression matched it, "GAWAIN, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Arturia's legs kicked with all her might to reach out and stop Gawain from going through with his actions, only to find that every step shook to forward felt as if she was slogging through thick mud. She tried with every fiber of her being to stop this atrocity, only to shield herself from Galatine's immense heat as the fire that emanated from the blade overwhelmed her field of view.
As Arturia stopped in her tracks, all she was carnage. The burnt corpses of the people begging to be let in, with the survivors trying to get up, only to be struck down by arrows from above, "TRISTAN, STOP THIS MADNESS!" She shouted up to the heavens as she turned around to see the archer knight having lowered his arm as he opened his eye barely for her to see the cold, unfeeling gaze as he merely looked at her as if she were questioning him.
"Why? You ordered this, my King." Tristan stated as a fact.
Arturia could only look at Tristan with confusion as horrified befuddlement spread across her face, "W-What did you say…?"
"You ordered it to be."Arturia stood still as her blood ran cold from the voice… her voice, yet it held a reverberating grand tone. No that wasn't correct. It was as if another voice had joined her own, or was it the other way around?
As she turned to face the source of the words and saw herself donned in the same armor that she wore when they assaulted Vortigern, only there were a few stark differences. For one, this other self appeared much older, as if she had never taken Vivian's gifts on that night, appearing around her late twenties or so if she was to judge anything. The fur laced into the armor was also different, a white that fluttered in an absent wind. Her hair was much longer, including her more… upper area… was far more developed… However, it was those eyes. While they remained the same green as ever, golden light shone from her pupils like stars.
This was a King who showed no mercy… no emotion… no sympathy. Only cold logic and understanding beyond what mere mortals could comprehend.
A true goddess.
"What do you mean, I ordered that?" Arturia rasped out in fear of the answer, before she built up the courage to yell at this person who sat on a throne that was beyond what any King should have, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT I ORDERED THAT?! I WOULD NEVER HAVE—" She was cut off by her older, divine counterpart.
"Yet you did."The divine Arturia gently lifted herself from the massive throne as she conjured up the lance, Rhonogmyniad."You, who seeks to perfect chivalry, to create a perfect nation upon this Earth, under the heavens as you strike down all who will threaten this utopia."The spear began to emit light and unravel until a ring of golden magical glyphs began to orbit it while she ever so slowly made her way towards herself,"This is the fate that awaits you, should you choose to continue down this path."Before Arturia could even ask what path she was taking, she found her counterpart gone, reappearing before her with Rhongomyniad poised to impale her through the stomach; just as the holy lance was about to make contact, Arturia awoke from the dream that foretold a nightmare.
-Now-
As Arturia finished telling Naruto of the nightmare she had, the ninja held her close so he could feel the slight trembling of fear in her body. Arturia wrapped her arms around him as tight as she could, only to find herself hyperventilating the end of the story, "I'm afraid, Naruto." Arturia spoke as her voice held fear within her tone, "Afraid that whatever it is that she told me… will happen…"
"I won't let that happen…" Naruto said as he cupped her chin up to his view, "…you know that, Arturia." He brought his face down as they delved into a kiss before Arturia felt the same weightless sensation overcome her as they broke the kiss to find themselves out before a great lake in the countryside, "If the world should reject you then I shall reject the world, if what you fear is becoming a goddess then I shall become the devil. There is no world where I would let that come to pass so long as I love you. I will never go back on my word!" he stated as a solemn vow that boomed over the empty throne room.
They held each other for a time before Naruto's lips finally curled into a small smile, "But right now, let's do something to relax for a bit before we get back to it."
Arturia chuckled a bit in agreement, "You're right. Right now…" She kept hold of one hand as they went out to take a walk on the lake, "…let's enjoy the moment together for a bit."
-The Outskirts of Camelot-
Suffice to say that Agravain had become incensed by the Green Knight's lackadaisical approach to his responsibilities would be an understatement. All the undead knight had to do, was simple: Train and watch the weapon.
Simple an order as can be given to one's self.
Only it seemed that mother failed to instill responsibility to the Green Knight despite fettling his mental capabilities, and now the weapon was likely compromised, or would be in some form or fashion. So, that left Agravain to come up with a backup plan to kill the King, should the weapon be unable to do so when the time came. He knew that Arturia was blessed by the Fae, Vivian -his mother's polar opposite- and as such, he sought a way to ensure he could remove those blessings.
To this end he currently found himself speaking to a group of dirty looking workers at one of the few mines that supplied the capital with its raw materials. "I will need high-quality iron for some chains." Agravain told the lead miner he was speaking with. "The prison and interrogation facilities are rather lacking and I think some new iron could make for a good replenishment."
Upon returning from his "hunt", having left the Green Knight to pick up an arm that Agravain had severed in retribution, Agravain left the capital properly after finishing his secretary duties for the afternoon in order to start his contingency. So, he went to the local iron dig site, where he established it as a means to provide high-quality iron to ensure that they would have it for whatever structures they needed.
Even for chaining prisoners in the jailhouse and dungeons.
"Of course, Sir Agravain," The lead miner spoke up, "I can have the best sent directly to the palace if you would prefer, mi lord." The man knew well enough to recognize if a knight of King Arthur was before him, and merely wished to help him in whatever endeavor he was hoping to achieve. Surely it could only be something that would better their lands.
Agravain knew that if any excess iron was sent to the palace when it wasn't needed, and when no one really even had need of it, Naruto would no doubt start taking a far closer look at him. Something that Agravain didn't need on his back, "No, I will come to collect it for myself. It is a personal project that needs secrecy for the time being."
Cold Iron was a substance that would remove the blessings and protection that the Fae bestowed on those whom they deemed worthy, and the King no doubt had several blessings bestowed upon her by Vivian. The Fae were also allergic to it, just as werewolves to silver. His mother had not taught him much of Magecraft beyond a rough outline on Mystic Code creation and a little enchantment. If he could use the long process to create Cold Iron and combine it with enchantment to forge chains of Cold Iron to bind Arturia to remove the blessings.
The lead miner nodded, "I understand, mi lord."
Agravain shook the man's hand as he began to make his way back to the central keep with thoughts of how badly things could get if they didn't get the weapon back in time before significant damage would be done to it.
Or if it fell into the wrong hands.
"Damn you, Bertilak.
-Naruto-
"Now where the heck did they go?" Naruto was currently out in the stone streets of the capital looking for someone. After he and Arturia went out for a half an hour to clear her anxiety and worries over that dream she had, Naruto went back to work on Gareth's lance. But upon passing by his quarters to grab a few things, he had been stilled by another clone popping sending him memories of the same figure that was watching him beforehand ambling around the place. Unsure of who they were, Naruto felt it best to find and question them on why they were watching him.
He couldn't find them in the palace or anywhere on the palace grounds, so the only place they could be was in the city itself. He highly doubted they left the capital, otherwise whoever it was would not have made an effort to appear before his clones not once but twice in the space of several hours.
As Naruto walked through the streets with his hood up, he noted that a few people wave to him with smiles that didn't quite reach their eyes, he could see the same emotions within them just as the villagers once did after Orochimaru attacked the Leaf Village during the Chunin Exams: happiness with an underlying sense of unease.
"These people really need to not look a gift horse in the mouth…"Kurama piped up in slight annoyance,"…if it wasn't for you, over half of these things that make up the capital wouldn't even exist. They'd all still be in mud hovels and dirt roads smelling of horse crap."
'It's alright. Distrust of the unknown is not new to me.'Naruto replied internally.
It was true that the inception of many ideas that were used in the construction of Camelot could be traced to what Naruto remembered of Konoha. Maybe a part of him wanted to try and continue it here in this new world after his first world became lost to him? Perhaps he wanted to recapture some sense of his homeland after nearly a century? Or maybe he simply wanted these people to have a better start in life as opposed to falling into the quagmire of filth and superstition that had torn apart many civilizations.
All in all, Naruto was alright with his situation. He may have stepped in as Merlin's shadow from time to time when the half-Incubus went on his walkabouts -charming women more like it-, but that didn't mean the people could recognize him as much as they did his teacher. Then again, he never caused flowers to spontaneously bloom in his presence as Merlin did, rather instead just choosing to wear the armor and robes that Arturia gifted him back on that day.
However, he would not deny that deep down in the hearts of man they would doubt and fear that which they did not understand. And red vampiric eyes didn't always make people feel at ease, given their reputation.
Naruto stilled upon spotting something out of the corner of his eye, turning quickly to see the little figure standing on their tiptoes looking into a toy shop front in a small alleyway off the main street, "There you are," he muttered to himself, slipping between the throng of people and using them as a cover to move into the alley with no discernible sound being emitted despite his armoured boots. Naruto made his way quietly behind the small figure who was garbed in a cloak of sorts on that concealed their facial features, though strands of blonde hair poked from the edge of the hood. "So…" Naruto said aloud causing the petite figure to turn towards him, "…whatcha doin' there, kiddo?"
Upon closer inspection, Naruto could see that it was definitely a child, the way they held themselves a dead giveaway. The kid was small, the tip of their covered head barely reaching four feet in height, a quick sniff told Naruto that this was a girl by her scent alone.
"Oh, uh, I uh…" The girl kept her face shadowed by her tattered cloak, but Naruto could sense a pulse of nervousness course through her when looking up at him. She dithered for a few seconds like a spooked deer before starting to twiddle her fingers in what appeared to be embarrassment, "…I just wanted to see what kind of toys the shop had. That's all."
Well, Naruto couldn't fault the kid for that really. Although for some reason, his senses were compelling him to investigate further, like some quiet voice was calling out to him from deep within, an old feeling that felt alien yet old as time itself. Nevertheless, he didn't want to come off as a demanding adult to them, memories of dismissive and angry villagers demanding him to do as they told him would never fade from his mind, "Why're you hiding your face from everyone? Are you just shy about it, or something?" He mentally face palmed at his glib comments, there was probably a better set of words to use.
Though the tyke didn't seem to register his apprehension because after a few seconds of thought she lifted her dainty hands to the hood and revealed themselves to Naruto, whose brain ground to a halt, caught as it was staring at this little girl, no older than six. She had a mane of messy golden blonde locks that framed her rounded face like a lion's mane, odd spikes of hair jutting off at random angles in defiance of gravity and common sense. Her face... oh her face… creamy white skin like virgin snow made up a soft-looking face, her forehead partially obscured by a fringe coming in from both sides of her head, drawing his attention squarely to the two perfectly cut emeralds that were her eyes, filled with mirth and childish curiosity. The tip of a single canine snuck out from beneath her top lip, like looking down into the face of a smiling lion cub.
What brought Naruto up to a complete, earth-shattering stop was the two solitary black lines stretching across each cheek, like the whisker marks that he bore.
For clothing, the little tyke wore a black tunic and shorts fastened together with a red and gold belt and small worn brown ankle boots. A tomboyish red and gold bolero jacket was worn from the clavicle up, but her shoulders and arms were obscured by the ankle-length hooded brown travelling cloak wrapped around her shoulders.
"...This is impossible."Kurama commented, his usual booming voice replaced with a soft burble.
Naruto was too caught up in the young girl's appearance to respond to Kurama's own shock. It took him a few scant moments to collect his thoughts enough to ask the Biju something,"Kurama, can you?"he did not even know what to ask his friend."Is-is this real? Did I pass out while forging Clarent?"
"No, this is very real, partner. She isn't producing any kind of chakra but,"Kurama took a bit to focus more intently on the little girl's power source, and that was to only find familiarity with the energy,"…her power is dragon based."Too many thoughts were racing through his head right now to really focus on those things.
Right now, the best way to proceed forward with this situation is to play it by ear and discover the truth that he may already know, just from looking at this little girl…
Pulling off his own hood, Naruto revealed his red eyes, bracing himself for her inevitable cower of fear at the inhuman trait as many people had through the years, but the girl didn't show an ounce of fear at the sight, but instead, emerald eyes glowed with awe and curiosity, "Wow… rubies…"
Naruto paused, a pit forming in his stomach that was quickly filled with a feeling he could not place, "You're not afraid of them?"
The girl merely jumped lightly on her heels with eyes brimming in excitement, "No way! They're so cool looking and pretty!"
Well, at least she wouldn't run from him like some kids would, "So who are you if it's alright to ask? What're you doing in the city on your own? Don't you have any parents?"
The girl seemed to freeze for a second before she looked to the edge of the empty alley and then back to Naruto, "My name's Mordred, but… I don't have any parents." The little girl now named Mordred looked behind her briefly to see if someone was there, which made Naruto wonder if maybe she was a runaway, "I wanted to see the city and the castle after I got away from the boogieman…" Mordred rubbed her right arm reflexivly as if soothing it from some pain, to which Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly before they returned to normal, "…he hurts me sometimes. And none of the other kids would play with me 'cause of my whiskers."
The memory of the lone swing at the academy entered Naruto's mind; the pain of being alone, with no one to spend time with was something he knew all too well. That settled things for him, "Well if the other kids I the city won't spend time with you…" Naruto stood up to his full height as the young Mordred looked up to him, "…then, I'll spend time with you." He held his hand out for little Mordred to take, "So, what do you say, Little Mo? Think this old man can play with you?"
Naruto's little name for Mordred didn't seem to affect her much as her expression broke out into one of pure joy, "YEAH!" The happiness of a child always brought a smile to his face, as Mordred took his hand as tight as she could.
"Well…" Naruto lifted her up into his arms as he held her before him, her little legs dangling and kicking back and forth like she was treading water, although Naruto noted that she was far too light for a child her age, "…let me give you a tour of Camelot, Little Mo."
Mordred pouted at being held in such a way, kicking her legs out a little more with surprising strength until she wrestled out of his grip and climbed up behind his head, slinging her feet out till they rested on either side of his neck and rested her head atop his own.
"Giddy up!"
A chuckle began to emerge from Naruto's chest that grew stronger and more bombastic with each passing moment. This girl had spirit! "As the great knight commands!" he proclaimed loudly, drawing a yip of delight from the little girl riding upon his shoulders before an exertion of his powerful legs blasted the pair off into the streets of Camelot.
As the day went on, Naruto took Mordred to a variety of child-friendly places in Camelot and even got her a sweet treat from the local candy shop. It was not much compared to the ice creams and sugary delights of Konoha, but a well-made treacle tart was never amiss when he had felt a craving for confectionery. It seemed that Mordred was of the same mind as her noble steed because the site of the shop keepers gawping at the ninth such tart disappearing down the little girl's throat had been enough to make Naruto double over with laughter.
After a detour to a small park in Camelot's northern quarter, they came to the food market as various chef's and vendors sold food, all made from different exquisite meals from the different lands that traveled across Europa and through Britain. Naruto held Mordred close to him as he guided them through the crowd of people all preparing to order or dine on their food, "Stay close. Little Mo."
"Alright."
As Naruto approached a vendor and began ordering some more substantial food for him and Mordred, the impossible girl's attention began wandering around the food market, taking in the sights, sounds and smells of the people around her with wonder, amazement and awe. People of all walks of life made their way around the market. Nobles furnished in their expensive threads and dublets walking with their contingent of retainers, bartering deals with merchants to stock their pantries for the next month. Men and women haggling with the sellers heatedly while children ran and played at their mother's skirts. All the time the city guard watched on silently, their patterned jerkins and helmets worn with pride. They were King's men, doing the King's work.
Although there was one sight that Mordred caught sight of something that would be forever ingrained into her little innocent mind, "Here you go, sweetie." The view of a mother handing her child a plate of food as they sat down on a nearby concrete structure, "Thank you, mommy!" The child replied with a sweet smile, giggling when his mother ruffled his hair good-naturedly.
For Mordred, it set a precedent that stood in stark contrast to what she was used to in regards to something. That a mother was one who provided nurturing to their child, something she was not used to yet craved.
"Here ya go, Little Mo."
Mordred turned to Naruto to see him handing her a leg of mutton for her, she took a deep whiff of the roasted meat and salivated openly at the wondrous scent. She looked up at Naruto, for the first time her eyes showing some level of trepidation, "This is for me?"
Naruto nodded, "Yup. Every growing tyke needs to eat healthy food."
As Mordred took the mutton from Naruto, a bright smile rose up, "Thank you, mommy!" She sank her teeth into the mutton and tore away at it like a famished lion fresh off the hunt, eyes honed exclusively on the meat before her and not watching Naruto's face twist. A myriad of emotions were apparent on Naruto's face, changing between them at such a rate that no one observing him would be able to pin down the overarching mood, but eventually, it settled upon a singular smile. Acceptance.
His heart swelled hearing her words, misused as they may be, but he wasn't about to argue pronoun use with a six-year-old. But he wasn't going to complain, certainly not with this lion cub. Naruto just chuckled at her words and actions as mutton was stripped clean from the bone in a matter of seconds, almost like Periwinkle used to when he was younger whenever he or Arturia would deliver him a nice slice of beef or pork to gorge on, "No problem, Little Mo."
Their adventure would proceed for many more hours where he put the mystery of the girl's origin out of his mind, content to give her a day of bliss and bask in innocent laughter that only one unaware of the evils of the world could produce.
As the sun began to set, Naruto and the little Mordred were out by the edge of the city near one of the main gates as some people were leaving the city to head back to their homes beyond the walls, guarded by several patrolmen at night. It was here that Naruto held Mordred's hand as the duo continued on with the sightseeing of Camelot, while Mordred held in her other hand a wooden carving of a lion; much like the one that Arturia still held from her own childhood that Kay made for her, even if it was more like a dog than a lion.
"Thank you for the toy lion, mommy." Mordred cradled the wooden toy as if it were her most precious possession.
Naruto ruffled her already wild hair a bit as he nodded, "You're welcome, Little Mo."
Mordred got a little agitated by his nickname for her, "I'm not little!"
Oh, now he couldn't pass this up, "Of course, you are."
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am—!" Mordred stopped abruptly as she briefly caught sight of Agravain walking through the streets. Eyes lighting up with recognition that quickly morphed into fear and terror.
Mordred didn't like him, but she liked Naruto, and she wanted to spend more time with him, but she needed to get away before the bad men came for her like this. With that in mind, there was only one thing she could do, "I-I'm sorry, but I gotta go now."
Naruto grew confused at Mordred's words, and was about to ask why, until she spoke up again, "But, you gotta promise that we can do this again, ok?" Her smile beamed as bright as the sun, appearing like Arturia did every time she gave him that smile that only he received.
Naruto bent down to Mordred's level as he held out his right pinky for her, "I pinky promise, you Little Mo."
Mordred co*cked her head to the side… in the same way that Arturia did once before when he asked her out on their first date together. It was all too adorable and suspicious, but he ignored that with answering the little girl, "A pinky promise? Does that mean a lot?"
"I suppose it does between a mother and his lion cub." Naruto indulged her, a serenity taking him to the edges of Nirvana because for that infinitesimally short time that this little girl -an impossible girl that he dare not question for fear she would slip away like a dream come morning- looked up at him, all was right in the world.
Mordred smiled as she brought up her opposite hand and interlocked it with Naruto's, creating a unique bond between the two that would change things for the both of them, "Ok! I'll see ya later, mommy!" And with that, Mordred turned away as she rushed off into the crowd as Naruto stood back up to keep an eye on her.
He spotted Agravain off to the side, heading back to the castle with haste that one would expect of a busy secretary… then again, Naruto didn't exactly trust the man just from the way he presented and spoke of things, but he had yet to prove he was a threat to Arturia and Camelot. So, Naruto kept his attention on Mordred as she waded through the ever-decreasing crowd as people left through the city wall and one of his Bounded Fields only thing though…
"What the hell is going on here…?"
Mordred didn't trip it.
That wasn't possible.
The Bounded Fields that surrounded the palace, the city and the nearby fields that he had up as a security measure ever since the capital's construction were all keyed to his blood. He could always feel the people coming in and out of the fields, especially those he was close to.
He knew that Agravain had left the city but not beyond the outer third field and knew that a few of the Round Table had gone into the city on occasion for whatever reasons they had. Even if Arturia had left the palace, he would be aware, having become so familiar with her presence and signature.
"I need to know the truth…" Naruto muttered to himself as he turned back to the palace as he threw his hood back up. He would find out who Mordred truly was in the future. Kurama seemed to be reading his mind and decided to keep the name ongoing,"That's what mothers do."
That comment seemed to bring a small smile to Naruto as he continued on back to his room, with a whole new set of thoughts in his mind that if proven right, maybe something to represent the bond between he and Arturia.
-Morgan's Lair-
"Good grief, Mordred. You should have known better than to run away from your teacher." Mordred drawled condescendingly, snapping her fingers. Her shadowy figure was illuminated by a dark purple flash and ears soon filled with the muffled screams of a child in pain. "That's good, I want you to scream, pain is weakness leaving the body after all, and you must have no weakness." Though veiled, her cold green eyes filled with mirth and perverse joy at watching her weapon twitch and roil unnaturally in the grips of her agonizing mystery.
After a day of searching the outlying forests, Mordred was picked back up by the Green Knight. And while the undead man wanted to punish her for running off on her own, Morgan had something else in mind for her. Even now the undead sat off to the side, taking a whetstone to his axe in slow, deliberate strokes; he absentmindedly picked at the roots that reached the arm that Agravain had severed, all the while watching the oncoming punishment, "While I am glad that you were able to slip into Camelot with such ease…" Morgan spoke as she traced her finger along several vials of strange substances that gave off an eerie glow.
Currently, they were in her primary workshop, where Morgan stored her various projects, experiments and other dark texts, tomes as well as remains of creatures that were to be considered of hostile nature. She had them pacified through fear by her very presence alone.
The wooden lion that Naruto had given to her was ripped from her grip by a tendril of blackened magical energy, tossing it to the Green Knight for his own usage. True to his brutal form, he decided to smash it under his heel, with Mordred yelling out to him in confusion and despair that the only gift she had ever been given being reduced to sawdust.
Morgan summoned forth chains that strung the young girl up and with cold detachment, she had forced a horse's bit onto her mouth, to hold her tongue. Tears were building up as Mordred struggled in vain to try and break free of her restraints but found herself unable to do so, all the while Morgan continued on, "…you disobeyed my stringent orders. You were to not leave Bertilak's side."
Morgan took one of the vials and uncorked it with a foreboding pop before letting the contents drip into her pale hand. Placing the vial back on the shelf, the black witch rubbed her hands together before she brought forth red lightning that sparked out from between her palms, and with no warning, she thrust it towards the terrified little girl.
The impossible child tried to scream in pain as she the lighting coursed through her sending unimaginable suffering throughout her entire body, only for the bit to hold it back as the full tears fell from her eyes. She could only wiggle her body to try and alleviate the pain, but it was for nought. Morgan was accelerating her growth to ensure she could speed up the process for when the time was right to strike at Camelot; all of this was for the throne that was rightfully hers from birth.
The lightning continued on for hours as Bertilak left to bring something back to his mistress. Mordred's pain subsided briefly before she delved into her own thoughts as Bertilak brought Morgan a horned silver helmet that would conceal one's identity. A little something to throw people off from her true heritage. Morgan left to attend to this matter as Mordred could only look at the woman with confusion, pain, and hate.
Morgan was the one that had given her life. She was supposed to be her mother. So why put her in such pain? Why would she do this? The pain lingered on as her body smoked muscles straining against a forced shift in her chafed arms and bloodshot eyes, and all she could do was think of the smiling face of Naruto.
He was more of a mother to her than the witch was… Morgan le Fay was no mother of hers… that was reserved for the one who nurtured her.
'You're not my mommy, but I know who is…'
-The Royal Palace-
As another week drew to a close, Lancelot had sent the trainees back to their barracks for the day, informing them that tomorrow they would resume. Now he had removed his gear to head up to the balcony Guinevere had been seen gazing out into the city for hours, unsure if she was alright. Lancelot came up behind her as he called out to the Queen, "My Queen, are you alright?" Guinevere turned to see Lancelot as she held a seemingly bored expression on her face. No doubt in due to the lie she was forced to keep from the populace, "You seemed…" Lancelot struggled to find the right words to say, "…off, today. Is there something wrong?"
Perhaps it was her own natural beauty that he had been enraptured at that moment a few days prior, though as his duty as a knight to Arturia, he felt obligated to ensure not just her own well being, but all of those of the inner circle, and even his fellow knights. Those in the army, the guardsmen, even the trainees. Tristan himself appeared to be in some form of conflict, yet he could not divulge an answer to the Knight of the Lake, which only made his desire to see the Queen greater than before with her own state.
Guinevere waved a placating hand to Lancelot as she turned back out to the city that became aglow with evening merriment with the bustle of taverns lighting up, patrolmen with their lanterns wading through the stone streets, "Oh, it's nothing, Sir Lancelot." She took a deep breath in before she continued, something that Lancelot knew was a sign of stress settling in, "Just, merely contemplating on where my life has gone, nothing more."
Lancelot understood that she had accepted the position to help keep Camelot together with Arturia, knowing full well that she was likely thinking on the King, "I know that things may seem difficult with the King, but she means well with everyone. She cares for all of those that serve under and beside her." The times where she would strike up a conversation flashed through his mind with wanting to ensure that he, as well as the other knights of the army were in high spirits.
The Queen turned back to Lancelot with her eyes showing interest in the subject of the King's treatment of those around her, "I know that." Guinevere glanced off to the side before focusing back to Lancelot as she leaned onto the right of the balcony to relax a bit, "Arturia treats me well, and she does not give any reason or sign that she dislikes me, however…" She touched the circlet at her forehead for a brief moment before she stopped to continue, "…the way she treats me in public. I can see that it is hollow. Enough to fool the mob, but I can see that it is hurting her within." For one as just and kind as Arturia is, all Guinevere could do is wonder why she torments herself with a false marriage.
Lancelot nodded as he understood well where Guinevere was coming from. Before coming to Britain, Lancelot believed that rulers would cast aside that which caused them pain, but upon meeting Arturia, he learned that not all did as such, and it was a necessary thing at times, though he felt that she was in a trap of man's making with the laws and customs of their civilization.
Damn the one who said women couldn't be strong leaders on their own.
"The King endures her emotions as she always has in the past." Lancelot looked over his shoulder to see that no one was around before deciding to open up a bit on the past to try and help Guinevere understand Arturia more so to help her. It was likely that the King did not fully entrust her with the past, which he understood why, since Guinevere was still fairly new in a sense to the inner circle that had liberated Britain from the threats she faced before, "In times when I myself was filled with such rage at the treatment of the people of Britain, from the foreign invaders to the tyrant Vortigern, the King always held her ground in her emotions to remain steady to act."
"Never once has she allowed her emotions to cloud her judgment in the pursuit of the perfect Kingdom that history would look back on with kindness."
Guinevere seemed to disagree a bit with her next set of words, "Yet her pursuit of perfection becomes too much for those around her, even yourself to bear."
Lancelot didn't seem to acknowledge her words, whether he believed them or not was irrelevant. Even if she were to pass on Camelot to a possible heir, her dream would continue to build and strive for that perfected kingdom for all to prosper under, "I admit perhaps for some of us, it is too much, although our resident Apostle does not believe it as such. He admires her far more than anyone else, with kinship unlike the rest of us." Lancelot looked down while he lowered his voice as he spoke the last sentence, "His heart was captured by her, and she in turn."
Lancelot's eyes bugged out upon just realizing what he had let slip. Turning back up to Guinevere, her own eyes were wide in not shock, but realization, "It makes sense to me now…"
They were in love with one another. She couldn't see it until now, yet in hindsight, it made perfect sense. Naruto was always close to Arturia, more so than anyone else, including the rest of the inner circle. She had allowed him to do more than what a retainer would be able to do with their King. His lack of presence at the wedding, coupled with the red eyes he had as he came back to the palace that night was his way of coping with the situation.
The marriage forbade them from ever being with one another, indeed as husband and wife. The blow both took from this situation wounded their hearts, thus creating an illusion of a king and her retainer.
Guinevere closed her eyes as she shook her head, "Their own feelings have begun to fester into something putrid." She looked back to Lancelot, who glanced off to the side in shame and embarrassment at his slip of the tongue. Guinevere decided that she needed to do something more to help in easing this burden on their shoulders, "Sir Lancelot…"
Lancelot brought his attention to Guinevere as he could see the beauty she held, "Yes, my Queen?"
"I ask this not just as the Queen, but as one who cares for the people, and those who serve the Kingdom of Camelot. Please, help me ease the burden upon their shoulders; our King and the one she loves."
Lancelot understood full well what she was asking of him. Even though the marriage was just a show to the people to see a true King and Queen at the helm of the country, Arturia's mind and emotions were being chained down from being able to express herself as the young girl that loved the vampire, whom was far more human than most men he had ever known. Despite her position as the Queen with many assuming she had no real power, Guinevere still held it and influence to do something to help ensure that Camelot would function. This would mean she could take several duties from Arturia to allow her and Naruto to spend the time they wished to have with one another, as Lancelot knew full well that they would sneak off at times to do so with Naruto taking her place at times with a disguised duplicate that was reasonably accurate.
Well, if this would protect those close to him, then he would accept the Queen's request regardless. Lancelot took a knee as he gazed up to Guinevere, where the moonlight shone down upon her like angel, framing her in its silver grace, "If it is to protect that which I hold dear and close to my heart, be they my friends, my family, or my Kingdom, then there is no depth… no length that I will not go to preserve it all. On my honor as a knight to you, and our good King, this I swear to you." Lancelot lowered his head one last time as Guinevere brought her hand down to brush the hair out from his face as she gave him a heartfelt smile.
"You know, I think that you would look handsome if you grew your hair out, Sir Lancelot."
Lancelot raised his head to see Guinevere beginning to chuckle, a small laugh beginning between them to which he found that he too was laughing late into the night.
"Heh, perhaps I should."
Musings of a Wizard Marshal
By K.Z.S.
In my long and rather amusing life I have come across a few things that I find absolutely abhorrent beyond compare and while it would take far more pages than this notebook has to offer to explain them. But, to mention three off the top of my head it would be as follows: The destruction of the omniversal bar because Funny Valentine got into an argument with one of the many aspects of Yog Sothoth, the existence of Crocks as a form of shoes and the Quantum Time Lock. To avoid a lecture, I will simply say this, Gaia is a fickle bitch because depending on the dimension she will operate under different rules. And one consistent rule upon THIS particular world is the Quantum Time Lock.
Essentially on this reality, "Parallel Worlds" have a conceptual weight to them and the Counter Force will select a choice number of "mainline" worlds that are allowed to progress within the Greater History of Man but if these worlds were to spawn infinitely in all different directions based upon every choice ever made than eventually the conceptual weight will eventually crush the base that all of the worlds stand upon. To avert this the Counter Force will place a QTM within the timestream once every 100 years at key moments in history. Their presence will also shift the causality of adjacent worlds so that events play out in a similar way. And if a world should stray too far from the path it will be culled, and its energy used to reinforce the base.
Once in place it becomes impossible to change the locked moment, even if time travel or a certain Omnipotent Wish Granting Machine were to be used. You may be able to change the input and process, but the "outcome" will always remain the same.
But indulge me to wonder, what if a person was made aware of the QTM and after one formed and given 100 years to plan on how he would guide the world? You can wonder... I on the other hand, can watch.
Well, this chapter took a little longer than I originally thought. Now we have Mordred introduced along with other new things primed to set the powder keg off later down the line.
Now, the Glory section of the Camelot act will be expanded on with two additional chapters, leading to the Fall and Ashes of Camelot chapters later, that will bring the Legend of Camelot act to an end, with leading into the Naruto's time in the Nasuverse up until the events of Fate/Zero.
Anyways, I have a Bleach fic of course if anyone has chosen to read it, is going through a massive rewrite with bringing in some things from TYPE-MOON and rewritten up a bit to have them fit within the Bleach-verse, and of course the pairing will be one of a kind as I've noticed that there isn't one of this unique pairing to which all I can say is be prepared to be amazed.
So, please tell me what you guys think of the new chapter, what you liked and/or disliked about it and the story thus far, along with reading through my PM's that I send to respond to you guys. They have the answers to all of the questions and concerns you may or may not have for the story.
Continue to read, review, favorite and follow this story as well as my others :)
Chapter 10: The Glory of Camelot Part III
Chapter Text
Another new chapter! Yah! Well, I'm glad that people enjoyed the last one, though I wish you guys would go more into detail about what you guys liked and/or disliked about new chapters when they're posted, it makes my day and helps me become a better writer further on down the line. More importantly, we passed 400 reviews on this story which is another milestone in what is becoming a favourite story of mine to update. COVID being the dispassionate viral blight that it is is responsible for the writing of this chapter being delayed and thus I apologize for the wait.
Anyways, I'm surprised no one mentioned the Oath Under Snow reference, or talked too much about the Lion King nightmare, other than just going all adorbs over Little Mo and Naruto's time together which is fine and all, but hey, to each their own.
Seeing as I've been tinkering with Morgan's abilities, please, if anyone knows of a great Black Speech translator from LOTR, please tell me as I've been wracking my head on how to write some things down in it. I was able to put some sentences together through some translators, both canon and a single fan-made one, but it doesn't feel right to me. If anyone can help me out with such a problem, I would be grateful.
In TYPE-MOON news, they began the Fate/Type Redline manga not too long ago, and I freakin' love it! It is now the age of Okita! Or so she says at the end of the first chapter in the fan translation. But yes, Okita, Nobu and some of those from the GUDAGUDA events are finally getting their first serious storyline as it's a complete rewrite of the KOHA-ACE spoof manga. Thus we get new characters, and full-blown Grail War set two years after the Third Fuyuki Grail War in the Imperial Capital during World War II. Seriously, go hunt it down online and read it, you won't be disappointed! I might incorporate some elements from it into this story, though I'm not saying for certain ;) !
In slightly depressing news, the Camelot movies have been postponed due to COVID as well as several FGO events and a range of other things, though at least Spring Song is coming out in August now. Though I was never a fan of Heaven's Feel in general
I recently found out that there's a bug in FF's system that no longer sends notifications to alert anyone of receiving PM's so now we have to check things by going to our profiles.
Now, on with the new chapter!
Chapter 9 – The Glory of Camelot Part III
-Fall 477 AD, Camelot-
With the falling of grains within the great hourglass known as time, the months and years crawled forwards into the fourth quarter of the century; as autumn leaves began to fall and dance in the wind that accompanied the autumn. Despite the senescence of the year of our lord 477 sinking its fangs into the flora of Britain, the capital city could not have been more alive, the burble of commerce and general contentedness permeating the city's high curtain walls. Absolute Kingship, perfect organization and perfect strength, this trifecta of feudal governance had made Camelot's lands, and peoples flourish. Several dozen new structures had been added in those intervening years using both magical and mundane means; a few children were running towards one such a new construction in the city, being the Grand Arena.
Its construction began right around the same time the other major buildings within the capital city, though given its nature as entertainment it was a secondary priority, it wasn't vital to the city's prosperity; a complement to enjoyment perhaps but not a necessity. Though upon its completion, thousands of people were able to sit in the arena with it being modeled after the various ancient amphitheater's from Rome and Greece. Due to the simplicity of their designs and while Naruto was by no means an architect, he had contributed his memories of the Chunin exams stadium of yore.
The overall results of construction created Britain's very own version of the Flavian Amphitheater. While not quite as tall as the Roman's grand Colosseum, it traded it for width to allow more people in to sit and watch the events that took place within, it also served as a rallying point for citizens in case Camelot ever came under siege. The overall area was divided up into four quadrants where various events could be held; a pie-slice shaped 1.32-acre land that held certain features such as trees and small ponds to break up the grass plain; grown by Merlin's magecraft at the behest of Naruto's memories. The separating walls served as an extension of the stands from which watchers could stand atop and could be retracted to give certain areas more space for an event.
Today, for example, the west cardinal wall had been pulled back into the central pillar to allow more space to the jousting setup, the primary component being the royal pavilion where the King, Queen and Court Magus resided able to observe all four areas at their discretion. It was a marvel of mechanization that Naruto had built and been installed by Roman architects that had settled in Britain fleeing Tiberius' ever-deteriorating rule. Today was the day that the King decided to hold Britain's Grand Tourney in celebration of the anniversary of Vortigern's defeat four years ago, with the Melee and the Joust as the main attractions coupled with an Archery Competition that the masses flocked to see.
On a more amusing note, the excess space in the Jousting half had been co-opted with tents for drinking and eating competitions that the King and Sir Kay had insisted upon, some might say demanded.
The foster siblings' fondness for their respective vices was showcased in their additions. Arturia's love for food, well, more so food made by Naruto, and the heir to Ector's lust for booze. Casks of wine, spirits and even concoctions from the orient could be found being served to the rowdy clientele from noble lords to village drunks. Suffice to say the usual mead they were used to in the country didn't sit well with many of the higher circles of aristocracy that gravitated to the capital.
In the Royal Pavilion, which was shielded from the sun by a pyramidal top made of blue fabric, Naruto stood alongside Arturia. At the same time, she sat upon a high-backed oak chair styled after a lion and dragon with plush upholstery in blue. Alongside her was a chair slightly smaller than hers though no less plush, where Guinevere sat in repose as the Queen in silence as the King and Court Mage Stand-in spoke to one another; with the massive gathering of the people talking amongst themselves coupled with the various events overshadowing their conversation with one another.
Down below in one of the sectioned off quadrants of the arena, Lancelot was currently dueling against another knight from Britain as the final of the Melle that had started off as a sortie of twenty enlisted knights -including Lancelot- with another twenty wandering knights from various baronies and principalities hailing from all over Britain seeking glory in the eyes of the King. Ten aspiring peasants had also joined the melee to make up the numbers though once it had commenced, they had quickly been whittled down and escorted off the field. After twenty-five long minutes of clashing steel and splintered shields, there were not but two left, Lancelot and an older knight by the name of Gael.
"The years have done wonders for your swordplay, Lancelot, I had feared all the mystical whiles of the King of Knights had whittled away your mastery of arms!" Gael shouted, bringing down his greatsword, nicked and dented with decades of use. The Knight of the Lake was a peerless knight eclipsed in raw technical bladework and strength by Arturia and Gawain while the sun was up alone, but Gael was no slouch by any means. Pushing forty-seven with a somewhat scraggly grey beard, a lifetime of war and tourneys had forged a body of steel and will of iron.
Lancelot met the weathered greatsword with a right-handed upward slash from the springsteel longsword he currently wielded, choosing not to use Arondight out of a chivalrous fair play, something he regretted moments later. The greatsword exerted a monstrous amount of raw pressure onto the sword in Lancelot's hand that he feared the blade would snap.'As much as a monster as I remember!'he thought, using a snap decision to redirect the large blade into the dirt as opposed to a blade lock. Stepping into Gael's personal space, the Frankish knight brought his armored knee up into the red garbed knight's codpiece.
Gael let out a grunt of pain and withdrew to a safe distance in a deft movement that was surprising for his age. He took a moment to reevaluate Lancelot's form with a smile on his face, something the Knight of the Lake returned. It turns out the two were close comrades from many battles fought together at King Ban's order, and the older Knight had come to Camelot seeking a friendly duel to see how the other had fared in the years apart.
Lancelot squared his shoulders to take his measure of Gael, maintaining a firm two-handed grip in the handle on his sword. "Haven't seen you sweat so much since that debacle in Burgundy 11 years ago, you only had stubble back then." Lancelot retorted, dropping his stance before launching forwards in a blur of movement intent on using speed against the older knight to overcome the disparity in sword might. However, the red knight's greatsword was as good as defense as it was an offence, sweeping strikes and devastating thrusts causing Lancelot to work to get in any damage.
Spring steel and rusted carbon steel sparked and crashed, deluges of sparks from every collision whipping the crowd into a frenzy like the gladiatorial games of old, both men smiling all the while. The rapturous battle and crowd reveled in one voice and cried out in blood pumping ecstasy, 'Cry, oh Havoc, and let slip the Dogs of War!' A crushing helmsplitter from Lancelot crashed down on the edge of the rusted greatsword, putting yet another crack in the decrepit yet mighty blade, his face a vision of excited exertion, ripping back and laying hit after hit upon the same spot to wear down the beastly opponent's potent defense. Gael weather it like a mountain in the face of a typhoon, his mouth, obscured partially by his beard, opened in a bellow of advance. Leaping into the air and lunging forwards as a beast would bury the tip of the sword where Lancelot had been standing had he not sidestepped.
In the King's throne, Arturia watched the clash with great interest. She was proud of her Knight who over the years she would say was the most well-rounded fighter in the entire Round Table though she had to confess her interest in the other knight. "The red hooded knight takes your eye, my King?" She looked up, startled by Naruto's words yet quickly nodding upon seeing the amused red eyes shining from under his Shadow's hood.
"Indeed, there are few knights that can compete with Sir Lancelot in a melee without magical assistance, and of them, none are little known, what can you tell me of him?" Arturia asked her lover with interest, her eyes going back to the battle when the crowd let out another roar of approval.
Naruto nodded, he knew, of course, many of those arrived to take part in the tourney had been vetted by his spies to ascertain if they were a threat to the capital or Arturia. Internally he griped to Kurama about how Agravain, the hook-nosed bastard, had been politically maneuvering to have his spy network reduced in funding but gave Arturia her information with a smile. "Yes, an odd fellow, known simply as 'Slave Knight Gael', a wandering knight who has been walking battlefields for many years now,"
"Slave Knight?" Arturia questioned the title with a shadow of concern in her voice's inflection; slavery was something that she deplored and had worked to eradicate from the land so hearing it as a defining word of such a knight did not sit well with her. It was why human trafficking was an offence punishable by death under Camelot's legal system, to sell your fellow man into bondage was something her sister would find appealing, and Arturia was not her sister.
Naruto waved his hand in placation, assuaging Arturia's concerns quickly, "From what I have heard the term is a mocking endearment, he only ever takes the smallest amount of payment from those that employ him. A Pontiff in Constantinople said that he might as well be a slave for selling his work so cheaply, the name stuck." he explained, taking a sip of water from a nearby table before offering it to Arturia, she waved him on to continue. "He has apparently traveled wide and far, stories from him range from the heart of Europe defending a young girl who just wanted to paint a painting to dueling Mongol horse lords in the steps."
Arturia nodded enthused, seeing aspects of the late Ector in this Gael, the eternal will to push yourself to be just even long after most knights would have hung up their swords. "Fear an old man in a profession where they die young, eh?" She asked rhetorically, drawing nods both Naruto and Guinevere. They continued to watch the battle bellow, seeing Gael use a feint to bring the Round Table Knight in close before turning on his heel to send his red mantle into Lancelot's face and used the brief break in combat to disarm the Frenchman, the springsteel blade spinning away and digging into the ground.
So invested were all the watchers that none saw the Queen's fingers dig into the arm wrests of her seat, worry playing across her beautiful eyes when she looked upon the Knight and his lack of protection.
Lancelot jumped backwards, partially shocked the underhanded tactic yet respecting it, all the same, Gael had always been an innovative and unorthodox fighter that made up for his lack of inherent skill with guile and beastly follow-ups. Simultaneously running over options in how to bring this battle to a concise ending, his purple eyes spotted a loose yet thick tree branch on one of the nearby trees hanging low. Dodging a few arching slashes from the Slave Knight, Lancelot maneuvered towards the tree before crouching low when he recognized Gael was going to make one of his beastly advances. "Raaaagh!" Gael roared, a chaotic lunge sending the blade straight for Lancelot; however, the latter knight jumped from his crouched position, snatching the branch from the tree before bringing it down on the crack he had made earlier with all of his might.
The blunt force thwack against the crack of the blade sent reverberations through the rusted sword that widened all the existing cracks before, with a crunching 'TWANG' the blade shattered. Lancelot du Lac had just one a duel using nothing more than a stick. The crowd erupted into almost insane levels of cheering at the climax of this chivalrous combat spectacle, the Slave Knight rising to his full height and staring down at what was left of his sword blankly before tossing it at Lancelot's feet. "Goodness, you have grown Lancelot, no longer Ban's boy frolicking with lake fae, you're a true Knight of Owner now!" he proclaimed in a voice that was both bombastic yet soft.
Lancelot shouldered his tree branch, his slightly longer hair swaying around his face as he approached Gael before clapping him on the back good-naturedly. "Don't sell yourself short, old man, age has not dulled your skills one bit." He congratulated, lifting the man's arm into the air so they could both receive the standing ovation from all spectators, even the King rising from her seat to congratulate both. And he noticed, perhaps refusing to acknowledge it yet noticed all the same, that the Queen clapped for him most of all…
In the South Eastern Quadrant of the arena, a squared-off section of flat grassy ground some twenty meters square from which five wicker targets spaced equally apart from one another. However, an additional ten meters behind these five targets were another set of five targets though unlike their predecessors they were not uniform; instead, they were at a different distance and angles to throw off an Archer's depth perception. The further out from the wall, the more the terrain began to grow less controlled and regimented, trees and rockeries cropping up till the far end of the quadrant looked like a proper wild forest. Indeed, even amongst the trees and rock outcropping targets could be spotted at different elevations and even hidden partially by trees.
At the line that signaled the beginning of the archer range, there was a stretch or large corded rope that let the archers know they could advance no further to take their shots. The line for the Archery competition was quite a bit longer than for the melee, the diversity of people taking part was equally expansive when compared to the clientele of knights of before; everyone from the lowliest peasant or hunter with training with a bow to veteran soldiers looking to try their luck for a king's boon. Amongst the brunettes, ravenettes and even the few blondes, there was one man who possessed hair of such vibrant red that his identity could be defined even at from an acre away.
"This should be interesting," Naruto said upon watching the archery competition begin, eyes following the Knight of Lamentation from his position at the very back of the line, as always his eyes were closed. The reason for Naruto's interest was that in the last week while the blonde Apostle had been busy with a personal matter, Merlin had taken it upon himself to tinker with Failnaught, and Naruto was curious to see what his teacher had been able to do. Merlin may have sometimes bit his own tongue mid incantation, but he was one of the best magi in the world for a reason.
Over in the line, Tristan quietly kept walking forwards as the other Archers advanced to the front and took their best attempts at the daunting archery range. In contrast, most of them were able to get anywhere between great and passable groupings on the primary targets the others were relatively untouched. Gold eyes remained closed while his other senses took in the abilities and conditions of the day, the sound of arrows whistling through the air, the way bowstrings were drawn, and arrow fletchings fumbled. To Tristan who had spent just as much time as a musician as he had a knight, the sounds of the battlefield were just as important, if not more important than what the eyes saw.
"I'm going to humiliate you, sour features, I'm gonna show the King and People that gutter trash like you doesn't need to be in the Round Table."
Tristan stopped mid-step at hearing those words spat with a superior vitriol that played in discord with the happy air entering his ears, but this was not the first time he had listened to the voice. Keeping his eyes closed when turning his face to the massive olive-skinned male glaring down at him did the Round Table's archer quirk a brow in saddened incredulousness.'Come now, I simply thought this man was a buffoon with an excess of hubris, to try this is sad in the most pathetic way.'He internalized with a measure of exasperation.
A mullet of curly black hair sat upon a head that was disproportionately small compared to the rest of his body, arms and shoulders that were closer to tree trunks and boulders than muscle attached to a muscled body covered in brown furs. Matthias or Cornwall was the Royal Hunter and took to the position like fish to water, having stocked Camelot's pantries for years on end at this point. He was not a particularly friendly man, nor was he all that well-liked by the Round Table beyond Agravain, but his skills in the hunt were undeniable. Which is what made his hubrisf*cking unbearable.
Kay, Bedivere and Tristan had many a time found themselves relaxing in a tavern after a long day's service to the King only to hear Matthias brag loudly of his archery or spearmanship skill. How only the King as a 'beyond human' being was able to eat the quality of his meat. But beyond all of that, Matthias hated the Round Table, specifically Tristan.
"All the other Knights, I can understand their place at the table. Gawain? A gorilla with the power of the sun at his call. That French f*ck Lancelot? He's better than any other human with a blade." Matthias continued. The line continued to slowly slide towards the mark as the philistine droned on and on about the problems he had with the Round Table with Tristan doing his best to ignore him as he literally had fifteen more pressing matters to focus his mind on right now. "And then there's you, Tristan the sad little man with a harp, being an Archer isn't special, neither's playing music and I can do both!" Matthias boasted, making Tristan contemplate playing a ballad just to take his mind off him, "After I beat you in archery today in front of everyone, I'll write a song of how impotent you truly are, then I might pay that trollop Iseult a visit."
Gold eyes opened fully in quiet fury at those vulgar words and the air stilled. Few things in this world could make the pessimistic redhead legitimately angry but bringing upthatname when this...knavehadn't earned it was a sure-fire way to draw out the fury hidden under layers of sadness. Iseult of Ireland had been the cause of much sorrow for Tristan before he had joined Arturia's crusade against Vortigern. She had been a lady whom his uncle and former lord King Mark of Cornwall had been betrothed, his uncle had sent him to retrieve her so they could marry. After an adventure in freeing her from the hands of an evil schemer that had claimed to slay a dragon, Tristan and Iseult, that purple-haired, blue-eyed beauty(1)had accidentally shared a love potion with and fallen madly in love with Tristan.
Tristan had not had the best childhood, having been known as the Knight of Lamentation long before he had even become King Mark's knight, his father Rivalen had died in battle without ever being able to see Tristan's face. His mother Blancheflor died in childbirth, right after naming the boy Tristan and entrusting him to a loyal subordinate of Rivalen, Loire. Yet Loire had never loved the boy, seeing him as a burden wrongly forced upon him and thus Tristan had never known love until Iseult and he had drunk that potion. Life is however cruel, and due to the machinations of those in King Mark's Court, Tristan was forced to turn the woman he loved and loved him over to his uncle before being banished from the lands. Though fostered by a potion, though fleeting and taken from him, Tristan never stopped loving the woman even in his sadness, so he resolved to do one thing, humiliate Matthias for daring to speak her name.
When his time came, Matthias dug his monstrosity of a longbow into the ground and used his foot to brace it before knocking a ballista bolt as his arrow, developed muscles drawing back the steel string until the bow began to creak with the strain. When the bow looked as if it was about to snap in two, Matthias let the bolt fly, twisting in the wind and leaving a shockwave in its wake soaring past the first and second set of targets to embed it's shaft deep into the bullseye if the furthest target obscured by two trees. The crowd exploded into shocked applause at seeing such a magnificent shot loosed by the Royal Huntsman, hitting something that many would think impossible without magical assistance.
"What now, Knight of Lamentation!? Best that!" Matthias shouted, swaggering to the side and waiting for Tristan to take his shots, confident that his one shot would upstage Tristan regardless of how many shots Tristan took.
With deft steps that brought the red-headed to his mark brought a hushed quiet over the crowd, the King watched her knight with encouraging eyes, seeing the way that vibrant red hair waved in the wind, his back to them all yet she could sense his eyes were open. Thousands, including one Divine Dead Apostle Ancestor, watched as Tristan hefted the new and improved Failnaught into a ready position at his side before gauntleted fingers began to play a fast-paced trill. It was a musical ballad filled with intense feelings of both sadness and elation that made those watching tremor in their hearts, but soon they all noticed something visually occurring in this recital. With each pluck of the silver and black string did a silvery blue line form in the air, each one arcing in its own unique path between the trees and around rocks once they had cleared the grassland.
Naruto who was watching things from the side as a Magus and Shinobi felt his admiration for Tristan grow, 'Vacuum paths, using Magical energy imparted into the sound waves of his music to create cutting winds that can loop around defenses...that's pretty damn ingenious!' He thought, mentally admiring Tristan's use of what was specialized wind manipulation.
When the thirtieth such vacuum path had been created, Tristan knocked his arrow and pulled it to the extent of the strings would allow, becoming sheathed in white magical energy of the bow "Song to Iseult!" Loosing it, Naruto and everyone else watched as the arrow of energy stuck the nexus of the vacuum paths before splitting into thirty separate streaks of light that traveled down their set out paths and bifurcated all thirty targets in less than a second. He turned to face the crowd and did not even look Matthias way, gold eyes looking over the stunned audience.
Sir Tristan had just hit all targets with a single arrow.
"YEAHHHHHHHHHH!"
The spectators cheered, losing their minds in the euphoria of the miracle they had just witnessed, what would become known forevermore as the Ballad of Iseult and for but a second, Naruto saw something that in his mind was even more magnanimous, a small smile upon Tritan's lips and golden eyes.
"Something catch your eye, Naruto?" Arturia asked the Apostle a few minutes later while she kept her eyes on the Joust that little Gareth was about to compete in again, "You're about to miss Sir Gareth and the lance you made for them again."
"Sorry about that, my king…" Naruto said while directing his attention back to one of his completed weapons works, "…I was merely watching Sir Tristan gracing us with a smile."
Now it was time for both the King and queen to be mildly surprised by such a thing as they both appeared to have raised brows and smiles of their own, "Sir Tristan, smiling?" Guinevere asked in mock disbelief as she playfully shielded her smile that was growing infectious, "Surely you jest?"
Contrary to what one might assume from being either side of what was essentially an extramarital affair, the relationship Naruto and Guinevere had with one another wasn't negative at all, quite the opposite. At times, the queen and vampiric knight got along rather well, even if they didn't say much to one another; merely holding respect and on some level of admiration for one another in a sense for what they did to maintain the Kingdom in their own way.
"My name is not Surely, and I never jest my queen." Naruto cheekily replied as Arturia chuckled at the response.
"Here she comes!" Arturia said excitedly when she peeked up to see Gareth ready herself atop her horse, primed to joust once more with her white-tipped lance. The King had watched in the last half hour of jousting had filled her with renewed pride in her rosy-cheeked niece and her ability. Jousting was a challenging sport with a surprisingly high fatality rate even when competitors were decked out in full plate armor. All it took was a splintered lance or a bad fall to cause grievous damage, even with safety measures in place Camelot's jousting setup was daunting. Taking up half of the arena was the flat ground that riders would charge at one another down, and that meant there was a lot of speed to be gathered.
Little Gareth, shorter and lighter than every single other rider by at least two heads, had done wonders in whipping the crowd into a frenzy, the British peoples' adoration for underdogs on full display. However, none had been prepared for the sheer spectacle of a 'boy' no taller than five feet effortlessly unseatingsevenriders back to back. Now she sat resting in her saddle with white spur adorned sabatons against the horse's flanks looking to unseat her eighth to claim victory like her fellow Knights of the Round Table. Looking up into the stands, her round green eyes picking out the Knights for moral support and finding the smiling visages of both her elder brothers staring back at her from the crowd in support, so too did she find Sir Lancelot waving to her in his white armor; armor that she had modified her own to emulate.
In her time in service to the King, Garath had come to respect and care for those that the King trusted as her own family, each one special in their own special way but aside from all others, she respected Sir Lancelot the most. To Gareth, the Frankish knight was everything that she aspired to be as a knight, strong, skilled, wise, ferocious and above all popular with the common folk. It was not vanity that drove her to aspire to emulate these things but the heartfelt desire that she should strive to become like the man who she viewed as the ultimate knight, for then she could indeed be of the most exceptional service to the King and her vision. The youngest Orkney sibling turned to face her aunt as well as the queen and Mr. Naruto and lifted her lance in salute before lowering her visor.
As the two knights readied themselves to charge, Gareth's lance began to cycle through its orbs of stored mana that had been loaded into the firing mechanism. The signal had been given for the two to charge; as they rode near for the clash, both knights readied their lances and drove them into the shields they held up for protection. The impact from Gareth's lance produced a small shockwave of blue mana that spread across the opposing shield as her opponent attempted to land his own strike, pulling a trigger concealed in the handle. The blue mana that flowed around the lance was drawn into formulacraft sigils at the edge of the frontal cone and travelling along lines carved into the hull to the weapon's tip; a bubble of hyperdense mana birthing like a marble-sized blue star before detonating like a cannon.
The enemy rider's shield buckled under the sudden supernova of force in addition to Garaeth's already perfect thrust, launching him off his saddle to pirouette backwards off of his stallion he rode into the soft grass some thirty feet away with a cracked sternum and six broken ribs. Bursting into rapturous applause at Sir Gareth's eighth and final victory to crown her the champion, none but Naruto and Gareth herself was aware that at that moment the lance had been on it's lowest possible setting. Everyone else was far too focused on the girl's radiant smile that shone brighter than her brother's Galatine when she removed her helmet to do her victory lap; catching flowers tossed from the crowd.
"Sir Gareth has become quite the knight, hasn't she?" Arturia asked Naruto at her side as they all clapped to see the young girl's victory.
Naruto nodded with a cheeky grin splitting his whiskered cheeks as he felt a swell of pride within him in seeing the fruits of his labors at work, even if it was just a mere tournament among friends and allies. "I had a feeling the lance I made for her would work the way I intended, though I haven't been able to come up with a name for it yet." He put a hand to his chin in thought,
"Hmm…" Arturia hummed in thought as for what to name Gareth's lance. Names were emblematic of many things in regards to both the weapon and the wielder, basing it upon how Gareth acted in battle, even in friendly sparring sessions and duels, "…Sir Gareth is much like a rampaging She-Wolf. Perhaps that would be of some inspiration?"
She was right in that matter, 'She-Wolf' was a pretty accurate description to describe Gareth, ever bounding forwards as part of the pack to chase down and pummel the enemy, the wind in her hair and thrill in her heart. "Well, if that's the case, then perhaps Ira Lupus would be the name of her lance?" Yes, that would do well for the customized lance Gareth now held.
As the Grand Tourney drew to a close, it came time for the awards ceremony to be held and boons to be handed out to the victors of the tournaments. Very few were surprised that of the three main events were won by members of the Round Table, they were after all the cream of the crop of Camelot's forces with each one capable of reforming the landscape and slaying armies. More than that though, today was a day of remembering a hard-fought war fought for the sake of peace and justice, it was right that Arturia's inner circle that had bled for that victory should be bathed in victory.
The eating competition had oddly been won by Gawain this year who despite being blessed by the sun had a stomach like a black hole that cared more for quantity than quality. As much as it had pained Arturia to not take part in her personal pastime and event that she had set up she thought that it would be better for appearances and political appearance that she remained in the royal pavilion to watch. As a consolation prize though she had been able to enjoy a quiet dinner alone with her lover, something that she was sad to say was becoming rarer as of late.
Of course, Kay had won the drinking contest, Palamedes and Bors had helped the dirty blonde haired knight perform a keg stand into a vat of over-proofed whisky that Naruto was sure had dragon's blood in it. It all but confirmed in his mind that Arturia's foster brother had a liver on par with a TYPE. Shaking his head at the memory, Naruto stood beside Arturia and Guinevere in his guise as Merlin to help give the three victors their trophies. Arturia produced a new black and gray cloak for Tristan, one made from the finest of furs in Britain that may or may not have been stolen from Matthias by Naruto, as she draped it around his shoulders with the Knight of Lamentation kneeling before her, the small smile had not yet left his features, "Well done, Sir Tristan, you aim never fails."
Tristan gave a small nod, keeping his silence before responding with a level voice, "'Tis but a time for good company and enjoyment, my King." Kind words, that while on the surface were but a reassurance of his own skills, however, beneath them were unsaid intent in silent effort to let the King know that she could enjoy herself like any other person, regardless if it was time for such events or not.
With Naruto, he held a pair of Yatagarasu feathers up to the kneeling Gareth, a gift that while may not seem much, were in fact very well valued in the mage community, "You did well, Sir Gareth…" Naruto gestured for her to remove her helm which she rested on her side, while the elder blonde pinned the feathers to either side of her hair, "…these feathers come from a three-legged raven in the far east and symbolizes guidance. I know they'll offer it when you are in times of need, Sir Gareth."
Gareth had a bright smile on her face as she stood up, "Thank you, Mr Naruto, I'm grateful for all the hard work you put into my lance."
"Ira Lupus." he supplied, drawing a curious glance from the girl.
"Hmm?"
"Your lance; Ira Lupus should be its name from now on," Naruto said with pride.
Gareth gave small thumbs up that Naruto himself would on occasion be seen using around the castle, taking it as a sign of approval.
As for Lancelot, he knelt before Guinevere while she decided on something simpler yet at the same time, something that any man would have done anything to receive from a beauty such as her; she dipped down to give the Knight of the Lake a small kiss on the forehead. Lancelot's eyes briefly widened, and the onlookers gave a slight chuckle at the sight, all taking it in stride as a joke. Several people had to cover their mouths before they began to laugh when Lancelot rubbed his forehead in embarrassment, He looked to the side to see Arturia and Naruto covering their mouths. In contrast, Gareth was openly chuckling, Tristan merely smirked at the man, "That was… kind of you, my queen."
Guinevere pushed a lock of purple hair out of his sightline as she smiled, "Think nothing of it, Sir Lancelot." Oddly enough, she enjoyed the sight of a man that composed himself so well in and out of battle, becoming flustered and embarrassed by such a minor show of affection.
With the Grand Tourney now over, or rather just the tournaments, the vendors were allowed a few more hours to sell their wares and products, meaning that the King and court were needed to resume their daily duties.
Fortunately for Naruto, a missive had arrived, Merlin had returned, so there was no need for him to attend court in his place, although he would have to review the records to ensure he would be up to speed on previous sessions. This left Naruto with free time for a few hours, and he planned to spend it meeting a little ball of energetic fluff known as Mordred. The source and movements of the little girl were something that had proved most elusive to him, almost as if there was something actively working to make her movements hard to track to his senses. Still, every time he laid eyes on her, those thoughts fell away in favor of basking in her warm happiness.
A change of clothes and a few kilometres walk later saw Naruto walking up a small hillock, taking the time to wait for the little rascal, Naruto sat down underneath the giant oak tree that had grown atop the hill that overlooked the city park.
"Always good to see this every day, just people enjoying their time doing whatever it is they want or need to do." Naruto spoke to himself as he watched as children playing knights with one another, tag, and even trying to catch fish in a stream. Meanwhile, quite a few women had gone further downstream to do laundry, bringing their basins and supplies necessary to do the job. Who'd've thought such a simple method could just about clean clothes as well as a washing machine did? He had brought up in a previous court meeting with Arturia to have a public laundromat building constructed to allow the people better facilities to clean their clothes, this had, unfortunately, run into a brick wall known as Black Iron Agravain.
As he continued gazing out over the park, he heard a pair of footsteps rushing up the hill towards him, "I made it!" Naruto turned to see that it was little Mordred. She had grown since he had last seen her, by perhaps a year or two given the minute change of facial structure, but she was still only pushing just above the four-foot mark. Mordred's blonde hair had lost some of its unnatural spikes as it had grown out in a wave of golden tresses to messily settle at her mid-back. Ditching the tattered brown cloak revealed a red jacket with gold embroidery worn over a black tunic fastened by a single gold button at her solar plexus. The tunic was tucked into a pair of knee-length baggy shorts from which a pair of white tight clad legs slotted into rounded well-made ankle boots of reddish-brown leather. A single short dagger was sheathed at her side, attached to her waist by a belt made of the same leather as her boots.
Mordred was panting a bit as she made her way over to the oak tree to sit next to Naruto who brought out a book, "Come here, kiddo!" He held out his right arm for Mordred to dive in for a hug, upon which she promptly glomped him like any would their loving parent, "So hey, I've got something planned for us today."
Mordred's eyes brightened in anticipation, "Really?"
The Apostle nodded as he held the book out for Mordred to take, "Here, I got this for you. It's a story that my godfather wrote, and I had started translating for people over here to read, and I thought that you might enjoy it." Translating the 'Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja' had been a bit of a pain, especially seeing as shinobi as a concept didn't exist in Europa. Still, he was able to produce one copy of it from memory since he had lost it nearly a century ago. He enjoyed reading the book growing up, even as a teenager that had grown out of childish things for the most part, but he thought that Mordred would like it given her age, accelerating as it was. What he did not expect was for Mordred to begin shedding tears as she gazed at the book like it was some foreign thing that she had no idea what to do with, "Hey, Little Mo, what's wrong?"
He gently took hold of one of her shoulders while he wiped away the tears with another hand, "I-It's just that I… I… I don't know how to r-read…" She looked so happy, but yet at the same time, so sad… that's when it hit Naruto.
She had never been taught how to read.
What a cruel thing to rob a child of, so early in their life…
Seeing such a look on the child that he viewed as his even if he was still scared to check was agony, Naruto was putting his foot down this instant, "Well, then we can stick a pin into our plan for the day." Wrapping his arms around Mordred, he spun her around with a loving smile with the child becoming confused at his actions, Naruto sat her in his lap while he rested his chin atop her head, "I'm gonna teach you, Little Mo."
Mordred raised her head up a bit to see Naruto smiling down as he used a handkerchief to wipe away her tears. Seeing how much Naruto cared for her, Mordred sniffled a few times before looking back down at the open book, "Thanks mommy…"
As Naruto began reading to Mordred, his thoughts drifted back to the other times they had spent together.
-A glimpse into the Past-
The heavy rain had come as it always did when spring came upon the country, Naruto was sitting down in a moderately sized tavern to do some reading up on old legends concerning the primeval curse that laid within the land. Long before man had truly claimed Britain as their own, before Brutus of Troy had dashed Gogmagog to the Reverse Side were the Fae, the supreme rulers of the land. Though Fae were creatures paradoxical in their pursuit of fun and amusem*nt, especially before Oberon and Titania had formed a court having been blatantly malicious in their treatment of humans. Millennia of vile trickery and magical suffering bled into the land as a gestalt truth of the Fae's original sin, this tremendous and wicked power was known as the primeval curse of Britain, and it dwelled in the Pendragon lineage.
Merlin had told Naruto how Morgan was able to tap into its curse and turn it into a great weapon to empower her black mysteries, as the Aria's she used were used in a tongue that was all but dead save for those who knew the art. Yet when spoken, it was an insult without being one, as just reading one of the lines that had been printed, even as it held little meaning to him, made Naruto scrunch his nose in disgust, "'Ghurarmu shirkush' agh azgushu.'A sacrifice of blood and bone… what the hell, a ritual?" A shiver ran down his spine as he finished the sentence. Slamming the book shut, Naruto carefully set it aside to keep an eye on and not to damage it, despite his instincts telling him to burn the book due to that one line, "What a disgusting language…" Merlin had theorized that the language had gone back as far as the Age of Gods possibly, but its origin was still hotly debated since so few had practiced the language in True Deamon cults, with the only ones that perhaps knew more of it were those in Holy Church, though they were tight-lipped about it.
As he spoke to himself, it seemed that even Kurama was affected by the words themselves,"AGGHH! Never speak in that hideous tongue again!"The Tailed Beast exclaimed in anger as he clenched his ears in reaction to the words that his partner just spoke. Clearly, the black speech was enough to drive the two of them into such emotions to never hear or speak it again, though if they were to truly understand how to counter Morgan's Magecraft, they needed to learn more on the subject, not to use, but to eradicate. Such a thing did not belong in Camelot or the world as a whole.
He had been waiting for little Mo to arrive, so they could have a nice lunch together that he made back at the palace and brought with him in a basket. Typically, Naruto would've brought her up to his place for this instead; however, he didn't want to attract Arturia's attention so soon, especially when he was still unsure if Mordred truly was of their blood and what that meant. Not only that, it would only incite Agravain, the uptight bastard, to promptly believe that somehow Morgan was behind it with the intent to assassinate Arturia, to which on the one hand, Naruto did see that kind of viewpoint, but on the other, he could never see a child as innocent as Mordred as a murderer.
His thoughts were interrupted when the door from the tavern swung open just as quickly as it closed with the hooded Mordred quickly rushing in, Naruto quickly grabbing a towel from a nearby hanger as he made his way over to the drenched little girl and proceeded to dry her off starting with her head. "Oh, now who is this I wonder underneath this towel, eh?" He asked with faux curiosity and humor laced into his tone. Mordred stifled a giggle as Naruto continued on drying her off, without lifting the towel from her head, "Could it be this strange whiskered little girl I had been waiting on for some time now?" The giggle continued on as he finished drying her off, though he had yet to take the towel off, before slowly lifting it off, only to see a pair of hands covering her face, "I wonder, maybe she's just hiding from me." Setting the towel down, Naruto clasped his hands around Mordred's own tiny ones and gently brought them down to see her adorable little face, "So this is where she was hiding."
Mordred's ever-growing grin had finally split into a big smile as she began to laugh without reserve, "I'm sorry I was late, mommy."
"That's alright." She proceeded to hold her arms out when Naruto scooped her up before he made his way back to their table, "Now…" The Apostle said as he held Mordred close to him, "…let's eat!"
"Yeah!" The little tyke had thrown a fist in the air as if she were getting some victory over the weather.
-The Present; Naruto & Mordred, the Streets of Camelot-
Upon finishing up the book and mentally evaluating that Jiraiya's debut novel was surprisingly short, Naruto decided to take Mordred back by the candy shop in the city close by where they first met one another. The two of them walked hand in hand through the cobbled streets of the capital in the joy of one another's company, the hopping girl swung their arms back and forth, "So, what've you been thinking about doing when you grow up Little Mo?"
Mordred still seemed to be a tad irritated at the nickname that Naruto had given her going by her cheeks puffing out and scrunched her little nose up, "I'm not little!" Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction; remembering the days when he had said a litany of similar things like that, he didn't hit a proper growth spurt till he was 17. The little girl had stopped with the amusing name rejection as her mind drifted back to Naruto's question, "But what I wanna be…? I dunno. I guess I…" She scratched the back of her head in thought with her free hand, "…maybe I wanna go on adventures like you do." Mordred exclaimed as she pointed at Naruto who arched an amused brow at the answer.
Naruto had often at times told Mordred stories of his exploits back when he was still human in the Leaf Village, and even in his service to Arturia with how they fought against the invading foreigners, the rebellious lords and the tyrant Vortigern. All tales that made any child marvel at the wonders of his life.
-Another glimpse into the Past-
Naruto crouched down as he searched through some shrubbery in the park, looking for his objective, "Hmm… I wonder where she could be…?" He asked with a smirk as he heard some ruffling behind him, "Oh where, oh where, could she be~?" A little tune came upon his lips to make things a little entertaining.
He and Mordred had decided on playing a few games in the park together, with tag having been the first, and now it was time for hide-and-go-seek. Suffice to say, Mordred was very good at hiding. So far, the Apostle had refrained entirely from using his enhanced senses to find it like nothing, instead opting to give the little girl the time of her life in trying to outwit and hide from him.
The little thing knew all too well now.
Though he finally had her…
Naruto slowly inched closer to the bushes and prepared to pounce, "I… got you!"
…or so he thought…
He pulled the shrubbery apart to reveal, nothing. Suddenly he felt a mass of clothes and flesh slam into him as the force was far greater than he initially thought possible, "NII! Surprise!" As it turned out, Mordred decided to climb up into the trees and ambush him thoroughly.
Now, while most kids her age weren't very strong, she was quite the opposite. As it turns out, her unique biology granted her strength beyond what was thought possible for a child. Mordred's little ambush of slamming into Naruto turned the tiny area they were in into a small crater. As Naruto's body made impact with the ground, dust was kicked up into the air causing Mordred to shield her eyes before rubbing them to refocus her vision to see the results of her lineage at subconscious work, "Mommy! Are you ok?!"
Mordred got up off of Naruto before she shook him a bit, to see him shaking briefly before managing to find the strength to flip him over, only to be granted the view of him holding back laughter before he quickly surprised her as he wrapped his arms around the girl before they both began laughing as Naruto let out his victorious cry. "I got you, Knight who shouts Nii!"(2)The two continued to roll around the crater in joy before calling it quits.
-The Present; Naruto & Mordred-
A somewhat depressed look came across Mordred's face as Naruto appeared disappointed and confused, "Why's it closed?"
The two stood in front of the now closed candy shop. The front door had a large lock on it, coupled with boarded-up windows and a sign of foreclosure.
Mordred's innocent question brought a pang of disappointment to his heart while he tried to come up with a reason her mind was able to comprehend, yet sadly he couldn't. "I don't know, kiddo." Though he knew well enough that more than likely anything, Agravain had shut it down due to tax reasons. Agravain excelled in three areas above all others in the Round Table, his secretariat skills, ability to understand the ebb and flow of the cultural economy and torturing people. It was why despite his passive-aggressive discontent, the Black Iron Knight had been put in charge of Camelot's coffers.
He turned to see how Mordred appeared letdown by this unfortunate closing; not liking this look upon her face, Naruto had something else in mind, "Come on, I've got something else in mind now." He led Mordred back through the streets directly towards the palace.
-The Palace-
Peaking around the corner, Naruto scanned the hallway as he held Mordred up in his arms to hopefully get away with this little change in plans, "Okay, looks like we're clear, Mo." Naruto said as he stepped out from the corner, he practically tip-toed his way through the hall to their destination.
Although, Mordred herself was somewhat confused by where Naruto was taking them, "Where're we going, mommy?" She whispered ever so slightly to the Apostle, who was clearly upset about the sweets shop having been closed down.
"A secret~…" Naruto said playfully when he turned a corner and opened up a door to reveal a rather spacious room that had been set up for a special occupant. After Naruto stepped inside with Mo still wrapped up in his arms, he quickly shut the door, and Mo turned her gaze around to the other occupant of the room and gasped as she covered her mouth in surprise, "Little Mo, meet Periwinkle. The King's very own lion." Yes, Periwinkle the lion had his very own room. Over the last few years, the lion had grown to full adulthood and rarely left the palace itself, only to venture out alongside his 'mother' and himself whenever they had the little free time to let the exotic cat stretch his legs. Now granted he was always fed large meaty chunks of beef and pork on occasion to ensure that he wouldn't stalk the local animals, meant to be butchered for the markets or even attack one of the citizens.
However, the once mighty lion was entering his twilight years, the ravages of time catching up with him, he no longer held much strength left. Now Periwinkle laid down upon the cosy mat that Arturia had commissioned for him, with various items here and there to help keep him in shape and play around with. The lion raised his head to see that it was the man that his 'mother' was always so fond of, and a little girl who bore a striking resemblance to his 'mother'.
"What kinda cat is that?", Mordred asked in mild excitement mixed with an undercurrent of nervousness. Just about anyone would be so upon seeing a massive alpha predator like Periwinkle, in the minds of common folk, lions were just as exotic as Dragons.
Naruto made his way closer as Mordred held on tightly out of slight fear of what the cat would do, "This Little Mo, is Periwinkle the lion." Kneeling down, he set Mordred down to stand on her own, though she still clung lightly to the Apostle as Periwinkle got up to make his way towards them, "He's the kings own lion; don't worry about him hurting us, he's harmless." Naruto held his hand out in comfort, as Periwinkle drew closer and closer, while Mordred's grip tightened up. Periwinkle inched towards the palm. Giving it a sniff before rubbing his nose against it, "See? He's a purring puss* at heart. Now you try it." Naruto gestured out for Mordred to do the same.
Glancing back and forth between the other occupants of the room, Mordred hesitantly held her own hand out as Periwinkle chuffed for a bit before sniffing it for himself. In a strange way, he recognized Mordred, much like Arturia, sensing her as the offspring of sorts to his 'mother'; somewhat as a 'sibling' in a strange sense, a member of the pride. As time seemed to stand still, Periwinkle began to nuzzle Mordred's hand and enjoyed when she giggled at the funny sensation that the lion's nose seemed to tickle with every nuzzle. Mordred looked back to Naruto as he gestured towards the lion, with Periwinkle having acknowledged Mordred as someone friendly.
The sight was adorable when Mordred began to pet the lion's mane as she could feel the softness of the once mighty animal; turning towards Naruto with a look of amazement adorning her features, coupled with a bright and open smile like a kid on Christmas morning, "He's… so… fluffy!" She jumped up and down before laying her head up against the mane while Periwinkle wrapped Mordred up slightly with his right paw to bring her closer.
Naruto merely smiled at this little girl whom he had come to care for which tonight, he had finally plucked up enough courage to find out the truth of her bloodline.
Late was the hour in Camelot, for all had gone to sleep in the city, save for those who stood guard over it as well as the surrounding lands and Naruto himself took to his room for personal tasks. After Mordred had finally let go of Periwinkle's mane after an almost nauseating amount of lion based cuddles the day was coming to an end. Naruto had asked her for a small drop of blood to check and see if she had any infections, to which the young Mordred wasn't sure what he meant at first, before explaining he wanted to ensure she was healthy.
The tyke complied of course, as luck would have it, she didn't even become squeamish under the sight of blood being taken from her. Then again, if going by the occasional bruises she would often have times as she swung by, only for Naruto to heal upon arrival, Mordred was not one to shy away from something considered grizzly. As much as the concept made his blood literally boil, he had other things to check tonight. Holding up the vial of blood to the light within the room, Naruto inspected the contents to see that it was enough for what he needed.
Turning towards the table, where Naruto had two other vials of blood, one marked with his own, and the other marked with Arturia's, "Time to find out the truth." Setting down Mordred's vial alongside the others, Naruto went over to a jar of glittering powder, much like the same that Merlin had used to confirm years ago on how to start his magecraft training, where he began to sprinkle the dust as he channeled mana through the substance as he kept his eye on the blood vials. As he closed the jar up while setting it back in its place, Naruto watched on as the vials became alit with the powder showcasing their work at hand; Naruto's vial glowed red, just as Arturia's vial glowed blue… Mordred came to life with a magenta light, "…"
He had known, known for a long time now that this result was entirely possible but dared not to believe, content to live in the bliss of the present instead of facing a truth none too pleasant...one just proven correct. Mordred was his and Arturia's daughter, born away from the love of what should have been and tortured by some outside force… and yet. "I'm... a real parent…" he said, scarcely believing his own words or the elation he felt at having a child. This did not stop the slew of darker thoughts swirling in his thought partitions. Now it was all but confirmed that somehow, in some way, Morgan managed to create Mordred from their blood. Something that he thought, and even Altrouge through their letters to one another had all but confirmed that it was impossible.
'What're you going to do now?'Kurama asked in curiosity about how Naruto would handle this situation. He knew that odds are Mordred was, without a doubt his kid. Hell, the whiskers were a dead giveaway, though the question of how she came to be was the ultimate question. The only thing he could chalk it up to was being a homunculus that Morgan created, which wasn't out of the realm of possibility as it was rumored, she could create very unique beings from this sub-category of Alchemy.
'I don't know yet.'Naruto said as he pulled up a seat to sit down to fully digest the truth he unearthed,'I should tell Arturia about it, but I'm not sure if I should do it so soon.'Lately, their relationship, while not strained, was hitting a bit of a rough patch per say, with the governance of affairs taking priority over personal things.
Turning his gaze over towards the box that held the finished blade that was Clarent, "Besides, I think tomorrow will be the day I unveil Clarent to Arturia and the others." Oh yes, after four long years of designing, forging and finishing the blade that would bestow knighthood onto those loyal to the king, and anoint the future successor, to which Naruto hoped with some extra time and preparation he could help teach Mordred how to be a proper leader, along with establishing that she was her and Arturia's daughter to hopefully build up their relationship… maybe… just maybe… that Mordred would inherit Clarent.
Vivian had regarded him as a Lesser Fae to which meant that upon his forging of the sword, using Albion's blood as the core, coupled with a few extra additions from his Formalcraft, suggested that in a way it was a Psuedo-Divine Construct. Not quite like Excalibur and Avalon's level, but very much like Arondight and Galatine's own.
Either way, he believed that this would be one of his greatest works yet.
-The Next Day; Hall of the Round Table-
With the day beginning as the king and court assembled, all were in attendance when Naruto had announced that he had finished the new Sword of Selection that Arturia tasked him with forging, with many eager to see what would likely be a blade as beautiful as its predecessor Caliburn.
As everyone took their respective seats, Naruto stood alongside Arturia while Merlin sat at the court magus desk next to her, though it seemed that Fou decided to sit on Naruto's shoulder this time around. Guess the half-Incubus did something to earn the cold shoulder from the small Beast as of late. What was it? Who could even say at this point since he had done a litany of things that could be described as disturbing the peace ranging from eating dreams to leaving a spate of hermaphrodites in a brothel in Kent? Naruto idly thought it might have been to do with the new shield that Merlin had created to potentially serve as a sheath for Clarent and it's apparent ability to subdue nature spirits; an ability that Fou had been on the receiving end of.'Who the f*ck names a shield Wynebgwrthucher?(3)'Kurama asked, trying not to have an aneurysm at the memory of the shield's mouthful of a name.
Regardless, it was time as Naruto sat the box off to a side table nearby and lifted out Clarent for all to gaze upon. "Everyone, I'd like to present the Radiant and Brilliant Royal Sword, the new blade that will bestow knighthood onto to new members of the Round Table, and pass on to the heir of Camelot henceforth. I've named it Clarent."
Unlike Excalibur or the now lost Caliburn, Clarent was a greatsword much wider than either of the preceding blades, and unlike either the Fae construct or Merlin's Sword of Selection it had a far from standard coloring and design. The guard structure was in the style of a delta wing sweeping backwards to help protect the hands of the wielder while the ovaloid decoration descending over the blade's fore was encircled and bisected by an artful approximation of an as yet blank sigil space. The guard and pommel of the sword was a pearlescent silver which paired well with the red leather wrapping of the hilt. Still, eyes were drawn to the blade itself which was a vibrant crimson like freshly drawn blood, with such vividness that it drew inhalations of breath from many bearing witness to it as the sun that shined through the windows glistened upon the blade. Along the fore of the blade to its razor-sharp rounded edge was a line of Fae script teamed with Naruto's own preferred Formalcraft. Finally, from the end of the pommel, a pair of red silk tassels lay as the last vein decoration.
While it was a spectacle to behold visually it's aura was far more awe-inspiring, those in the blade's presence sensing the aura of radiant power like a looming thunderstorm ready to let loose crimson skyfire upon its master's enemies. Even those with no supernatural senses at all would find themselves subconsciously acknowledging 'This is the weapon of a conquering king'.
Overall, the court was impressed with its design and the power that seemed to radiate off the blade. A small round of applause from several of the knights such as Tristan, Lancelot and Bedivere was as good as any a show to bring a smile to Naruto as he was about to glance over to Arturia, wanting her approval more than anything in the hopes that he had succeeded in fulfilling his king, and his lover's request…
"While the blade is certainly one to behold, I'm of the opinion that it is too distant from Caliburn."
…but his gaze was directed back to Agravain, who voiced his thinly veiled disapproval of Clarent.
"And is that truly such a bad thing, Sir Agravain?" Lancelot asked in curiosity laced with a tone of disapproval of the Black Iron's seeming dismissal of Naruto's hard labor. Not too long ago he was shown the blonde's Mithril dagger, Carnwennan, that held such control overshadows that it would turn a lesser man's legs to jelly. The Armor of the Lion King that he had forged for Arturia when they assaulted Vortigern's fortress, and lands was a work of art that protected the King to no end. To say that Clarent was not as fine as these works was an insult to Naruto's capabilities as a smith.
Agravain grunted brusquely as he shifted in his seat before speaking once again, "The radiant silver has no place in regality, blue and gold have been symbols of color that designate our king, as well as Camelot. To try and change even one thing would begin to place doubts in the people's minds." He glanced around briefly to eye everyone at the Round Table, "Or have we forgotten that the color of red was one of Vortigern's own? That the color of blood was something he preferred when he marched his armies through our civil war? The Romans, now led by the upstart tyrant Tiberius, flies red on his banner, even having dyed his sword blood red to spread fear to his enemies."
Now while these were reasons that weren't entirely dismissive, they held some merit after that explanation as a few members of the court began to seem to silently agree. However, full convincing had yet to take hold, as Tristan spoke up, "Then perhaps it is simply time to change the meaning of red from blood to perhaps courage instead?" Tristan saw no reason why such things could not be changed. It was all part of the natural order with kingdoms in changing what was into what could be.
"What would the Knight of Lamentation know of courage? You who snipe your enemies from a distance and wears a sword for little more than show, bereft of even a guard?" Agravain shot back at the red-haired Archer with distaste clear across his features. "The King is beyond us all, a Holy Dragon made flesh wielding the Holy Sword of the Planet, it has set standards of inhuman elegance that a red flecked piece of steel can never hope to replicate and should the King switch to it, the bannermen will begin to question if their perfection is fading."
Aggravain was terse, monotonous and above all, pragmatic in his speech, never mincing in his words in regards to what he meant. In an advisor, it was something to be appreciated, however, given the subject matter he was about to find himself as the spark of a truly massive argument.
Bedivere, upon seeing Tristan's face twist with discontent at Agravain's words, was the one to make the first rebuttal. "Bold words for one that never fought amongst us until long after the battle was done, Sir Agravain. Tristan's skill with a bow has saved countless more lives than your barbaric methods of information extraction, not to speak that Clarent is a weapon forged at the hands of our friend long before you saw fit to enter Camelot's gates." Bedivere shot back, his usually placid demeanor showing vestiges of anger.
"Oh don't be so presumptuous as to accuse me of barbarism in comparison to Magi, it does not deter my points in the slightest." Agravain bit back, a vein pulsing visibly in his temple, "It is all well and good being chivalrous knights going around winning wars, but never forget that it is the realm that we govern and the realm that watches! Idle thoughts and feelings in the public consciousness can topple empires if left unchecked, and it always starts with something simple red weapon in the hands of a King that could use a Divine Construct."
Eventually, things began to degrade into a brief argument within the court; small bickering as Naruto himself was unable to really say anything as he believed that such a case was foolish, soon the hall was filled with full bellowed shouts all the while wondering how things got to this point, only for Arturia put her foot down. "Enough!" The court became still as the air froze at her command, "Sir Bors," the bald older gentlemen knight who had been quiet for the twenty-minute long shouting match turned to look at his King, "You have more experience with the governance of the people and the effect of iconography in society than the rest of us, what is your view?"
Bors sat up straighter at the command before taking a few seconds of silence to compose an answer. "I believe," he began, drumming his fingers on the table as he spoke, "That while Sir Agravain is using the worst possible way to explain it, that he might have a point." The other knights gave him incredulous looks particularly Percival and Geheris who had never seen the jovial gentlemen disagree. "Vortigern and his river of blood have left his mark upon Britain's culture like a malignant stain that shan't be vanquished for a century yet, a shift in color is easy to set the populous ill at ease. As for Sir Naruto's blade? It is indeed a truly fabulous sword, but Clarent should not be introduced to the public so quickly when Excalibur holds such allure to the people. My humble opinion, your Majesty."
Naruto and Merlin shared a glance with each other under their hoods, red meeting magenta in silent agreement that this is not how they had expected this to go, Fou's ears fell at feeling the comparison in the room. He was the Beast of Comparison, so long as mankind used means to compare to one another for superiority he would never be beaten, but seeing his friend, for that was what he thought of Naruto, have his creation be compared to the fallen tyrant was saddening. Arturia kept her eyes closed for close to a solid minute before opening them again, having come to a decision.
"I have heard all of your merits, each holding discourse with logic and reasonings to each their own." Merlin gave a small sigh, knowing full well what her decision would likely be based upon her actions within the last few years, "Naruto, your forging of Clarent is grand and a splendor to look upon, but I must consider how the people would view such a blade as Sir Agravain has pointed out." Naruto closed his eyes as he gripped Clarent tightly, "We shall strive to change the public's perceptions of the former tyrant and slowly let the idea of Clarent slip into their minds, one day it will be wielded for its intended purpose, but for now, Excalibur will be wielded to knight new members and eventually when our Kingdom is truly perfect I shall take up the blade, but not a day before."
Naruto's eyes dipped down as his grip on Clarent tightened, wondering if perhaps his work had been for nothing in how Arturia essentially rejected that which he was tasked to create. A small lump formed in his throat before swallowing it as he turned his attention to Arturia, "I understand… my king…" Naruto turned back to the box where he lay Clarent within its protective fabrics before locking it again as he then left the room of the Round Table.
Arturia eventually dismissed the court for their own duties all the while the King herself and Merlin remained behind, though for reasons unknown to all but themselves. The absence of the Apostle told the King something that deeply roiled within her emotions that she tried earnestly to keep under the surface. She had chosen duty to the realm over her lover's feelings, logically it was the sanest and most radical choice, and yet…
Arturia placed her head in her hands as she stifled a brief grunt before shattering her chair in displeasure after she heard Merlin leave his desk while laying a hand on her shoulder, "Love truly is a fickle thing, they say." The young woman king looked up to Merlin who had comforting words for her, "You should love him, despite your own dedication to your duties as the king. Despite how strange and fickle it truly is, love can bind things greater than just those whom it will encompass, but that which the time and greatness of it all."
It was the Age of Fairies that he was referring towards. So long as the young -or old Apostle depending on one's point of view that is- stood by Arturia with the love they shared, the Magic and Mystery of the age would live on for generations to come. Its decline was slowly beginning, though it held out with the linchpin still alive and well with good spirits, "Keep up your positivity, even in the darkest of items, Arturia. It will be what guides you to a better future, though I do not speak of only yourself when I say such things."
It wasn't often that she was ever addressed by her first name by those around her, save for the flower magus and her lover, or even her older brother. When done so, it was never to really be used in business dealings or matters of the court, but rather to help give advice, ease her mind, or provide comfort in some form or another. Arturia sat up from her seat as she dipped her head down in a slight bow, "Thank you, Merlin." The king took a deep breath in as she exhaled with some relief in her mentor's words, "I should pay more attention to Naruto. His dedication to myself and Camelot is unwavering, as his love for me… I should stop by his room more often." She stated with a small smile as she left Merlin merely chuckling a bit at her meaning with some… intimate actions no doubt on her mind.
-Lancelot & Guinevere-
In another part of the palace, Lancelot and Guinevere had decided to take over reading over some documents for Arturia. "I may not care for the Black Iron Knight, yet I cannot deny his skill as our country's secretary." Lancelot was aiding Guinevere in going through notes, personally sent and government focused, to help ease the burden of kingship from Arturia's shoulders in the hopes that this would allow her and Naruto time to themselves in private secrecy. Their joint work cut down the excess of queries, bills and requests that the King was expected to attend to in hopes of letting her have some time to herself and Naruto, something that the pair did in secret.
Guinevere chuckled quietly at the Frankish knight's displeasure with the paperwork, more deft with a sword than a quill. She was no stranger to such things having prepared herself beforehand with her father's own paperwork, believing that eventually such patience and skill with this task, "Oh, come now, Sir Lancelot. Surely the means of the pen is nothing to the might of the sword?" Guinevere teased, sat on the opposite side of their shared robust desk. Her long chestnut brown had been tied into a ponytail to reduce the off chance of getting quill ink on it.
Lancelot let out an exasperated sigh as he set some papers off to the side that were deemed 'unimportant', "I admit that the sword is far more simple than the pen, however…" He glanced over another pile of letters some 12 inches in depth as he brought them towards himself, "…I won't let this be my downfall." A mere jest he made, though one that did entertain the Queen a bit.
"I have to admit though…" Guinevere began, "…that was likely the first and only positive comment I believe I have heard you say about Agravain."
Lancelot could only rub his temple to ease the incoming headache that he knew full well that Guinevere was egging on intentionally. True, he knew that this was just to bring some entertainment into things, as well as making sure that Arturia wasn't bothered by these menial tasks.
For Guinevere, she had to internally admit that what began as a way to help Arturia with her role as the King and allow her more time with her secret lover, over time this was starting to become something more. Ever since Lancelot had come to comfort her on that evening, she had to admit that the Knight of the Lake was a man of his word, endeavoring to aid Guinevere in helping make the governance of Camelot all the easier. However, whenever his gentlemanly demeanor came through, she felt a flutter within herself that made her feel like a woman as opposed to a political playing piece. The way he spoke to her, the way he acted towards her, she would've contemplated her ever-growing emotions for Lancelot in her chambers alone later. That is until her internal thoughts were interrupted with a heavy thud as she witnessed Lancelot drop a letter to the floor as he sat in the seat with his hands clasped around his head, "Sir Lancelot, is everything all right?"
Lancelot could only slowly reach down to grasp the letter he dropped, "My… family is sending… my son to me…" The Queen's eyes were wide in shock at Lancelot's words. A son? He never mentioned fathering a son in all his time here, although her confusion and his sadness were made clear by his next sentence, "A son that I… had not known lived…"
Guinevere placed a comforting hand on his shoulder to ease his ailing constitution as she took a knee to lower herself to his level. Something that normally someone of her status would not and should not do, however, she was not like most other women in such positions, having accepted her role to hold Camelot together. Yet, she dared not turn her back on one of her subjects, a knight unto her king, who dared not sully their image of being a noble knight, "Tell me. How did this come to be, Lancelot?"
He would've corrected the Queen that she had forgone the 'sir' as per his position, though his emotions were now clouding his judgment a bit. He breathed deeply before explaining the letters' contents and how his son came to be, "Before I came to Britain, I was not the same man as I am now." He began, "I was a womanizer. I took several young maidens to bed, yet I did not continue courting any of them. My father learned of my 'activities' and sent me to train as a knight unto one of his lords as a means of punishment and to have me better myself." Shifting in his seat, Lancelot continued on with the explanation, "Now, one of them, as I have learned, bore a son…before perishing in childbirth" He handed the letter to Guinevere for her own eyes to confirm, "…Galahad is his name, and I've missed fourteen years of his life… his family is sending him here to be squired much like I once was before…" He could not bear to look her in the eye for such a stain on both his honor and his humility as a man, "…what kind of man am I? A man that had never bothered to learn of his prior shame, and to not take responsibility?"
The Queen could see his heart was heavy with both burden and sadness, for a man such as he felt worthless at this news of unknown kin to be revealed. Guinevere knew that she needed to do something for him to ease this pain, as her heart beat at a rapid pace, though unaware that what would come after would be something akin to instinct. She set the letter down as she cupped Lancelot's chin to look towards herself, "Lancelot, you are a good and honorable man. A great knight and I know that you will atone for this in time. Regardless of your past, it does not define the kind of man that you are now. I…" Her throat began to choke slightly as she attempted to reign in her emotions to stay as professional as she could be, yet they began to spread through her words, "…I know that you are someone that I trust more than anyone else. You are willing to keep the affair of the king and your fellow vampiric knight a secret; this showcases the love you have for them, even in different forms." Guinevere brushed some of Lancelot's hair off to the side as he gazed at her with the hope that perhaps was there for him.
For Lancelot, the Queen's words were comforting to his ears, for as he bore into her eyes, and she him, slowly but surely he wrapped his arms around her waist just as Guinevere pulled his head closer to her own. What occurred next was but the instinct of how Arturia and Naruto began their hidden love.
They kissed with comforting passion, for both knew that this would be the beginning of another affair that lied in Camelot's walls, hidden from the rest of the kingdom, just as that between the king and the Apostle.
The gears of causality had begun to turn, it would not be for years until they arrived at their calamitous final stop.
-Spring 478 AD-
"Hooray! The king has returned!"
"Our good King Arthur Pendragon!"
"Welcome back your majesty!"
It had been several months since the events of Clarent's dispute occurred, several border disputes and minor religions had made the sword fall to the back of the Round Table's minds. One of the previous rebel lords from the days of old attempted to begin an uprising to the east. However, it was cut down before it could even start as Naruto's spies throughout the kingdom kept both eye and ear down to the ground for any whispers of rebellion. In particular, the previous lords that attempted to stop Arturia from uniting Britain under her banner were to blame here. Even though Arturia forgave the rebels, that hadn't stopped Naruto from still distrusting them, so he made sure spies were sent to each of their holds to watch and report.
In a way, Naruto supposed that he had become the 'Shadow' of the King, as some of the people often seemed to refer to him due to their matching armor. Because of this, Naruto had once thought of himself having become similar to Danzo; however, there were several significant differences between himself and the Shinobi of Darkness. For one, he didn't crave power in secret, nor did he constantly plot against those close to him out of fear they may kill him. All Naruto did was to protect the nation, it's people, his friends, and the love of his life. Nothing more, nothing less.
Now after having put down the would-be rebellious lord, Naruto rode up behind Arturia's left side with the rest of the Round Table, minus Kay who stayed behind as regent of the capital in his sister's stead, the scarred knight had taken over much of Ector's duties since his death.
He glanced behind him briefly to see Lancelot's son, the young Galahad riding alongside with Bedivere, having become the latter's squire upon arrival in the capital city.
Even for his age, the boy was not overly tall when compared to some boys his age with cheeks still clinging to some baby fat despite a pointed chin being evident on his face, and his figure was athletic but one remarkably healthy with much room to grow. Pale blonde shaggy hair to the point of being near white, brushed down into a fringe that obscured his left eye, leaving the right golden brown one to be seen. Looking around himself with a look of quiet curiosity and some apprehension showed him off more, the boy's face did not seem to match the garb that he had been dressed in.
Garbed in a tight-fitting black cuirass with purple detailing at the neck and clavicle, the boy also wore it with a purple shoulder cape over his pauldrons with four golden charms hanging by straps at his front and back; quite similar in point of fact to a certain Knight of the Lake's charms. As a squire, he was far less armored on the arms and legs than a true knight instead opting for lightly armored black sleeves and vambraces while tucking dark grey pants into black greaves; lower body obscured by a matching purple kama outlined in gold that hung to his ankles.
Riding a bit closer to Arturia despite it being somewhat out of rank and order, not that Arturia herself minded, Naruto struck up a small conversation with her on their new potential addition to the Round Table, "I have to say, young Galahad has been learning at a fast pace."
Arturia turned ever so slightly as she spoke up, "Indeed, much like a sponge to water. He's been learning everything that has been presented to him." Were there once a time that Arturia smiled as she spoke with Naruto in public, she did not as she continued on, "Perhaps one day he will embody Camelot's ideals… our ideals and hopes for the future of Britain." She had watched the progress of many of the soldiers under her service, though it was Galahad that had caught her eye more so than others with his tenacity and natural-born skill to absorb the teachings of the Round Table members, even Naruto himself with his more unique skills that she had come to learn of in their own training time.
As they came closer to the palace with the populace throwing flowers and various other items of celebration, they had to welcome them home, Mordred was among the people, albeit hiding within an alleyway with a brown cloak concealing her features. She was getting used to her new 'age' after Morgan's latest 'acceleration' to appear that she was fifteen. It had been quite some time since she had seen her 'mother' last met seeing this now was truly a gift. She watched on as the King and the inner circle, the most trusted and recognizable knights came down the main road to the palace, where she saw her 'mother' ride up next to the king. Even though she was enamored at the sight of the king, the shining Armour that chimed like bells, with soft royal blues that stood out, Mordred saw that the both of them were instead… sad… "That's Arthur, the King of Knights…"
Mordred's breath hitched briefly before calming down as she felt the cold hands of Morgan upon her shoulders, "Yes… he is the one you must aim towards striving to become…" The black mist briefly appearing around her sent chills down her spine, though she held back her fear as she turned a bit to see the vial of blood hanging from within a pendant that Morgan wore around her neck. The same pendant worn by Agravain to prevent Naruto from sensing either her malignant presence or the tidal wave of negative emotions she emitted.
Next thing Mordred knew, she was pulled from the streets back further into the alley and into a derelict house by Morgan, "…and now you will join his armies to climb the ranks until you reach his court of knights, just as those who ride with him." Mordred looked down to see that the Dark Fae had conjured up a helmet that went along with the armor that appeared to replace the cloak she was previously wearing.
Like many knights' in Arturia's retinue the armor centered around a central steel cuirass made of brushed silver steel eclipsing most of the chest in a semicircle, but with several key differences in terms of detail. Upon the chest was the red detailing beneath the bevor in the shape of triangles suspended beneath a red arch over a stylized red symbol similar to 'V' in the center of the armored chest. Similarly, the rounded silver pauldrons, a tad more bulbous than most, bore thicker red lines that paired well with the red undergarment that both arms were clad in down to the wrist before being encased in thick steel vambraces of three interlocking arrow-shaped plates. The legs were enshrined in a set of cuisse, polyene, and greaves in silvered steel connected to a pair of sabatons with pointed toes.
However, the most defining feature of the armour hung at the waist. Either side of which were more robust versions of Arturia's oversized defensive tassets, each made by a single smooth metal plate marked by red markings and suspended by a hope skirt-like apparatus at the front allowing for the perfect marriage between defense and movement. Hanging in front of this was a set of five leather strips that dangled to knee level to obscure the center line weak points. All in all, it was an impressive set of armor, even without a helmet.
"You must never remove the helm in the presence of anyone, regardless if they are the king or not," Morgan said as she placed the helm on Mordred's head to conceal her identity. If her sister were to see the puppet's face, then her plans would fall apart. Part of Mordred wanted to simply cast down the armor and run away, to spurn Morgan's orders and never see her again. Still, the damage formed from years of pavlovian conditioning had forced Mordred to accept a depressing yet straightforward fact. Running away would never keep her safe from the pain.
For quite some time now, Morgan had been sowing small seeds of discontent within some of the lords of Britain to dethrone Arturia, although the spies of the vampire that kept watch were beginning to grate on her with how it was stalling things. She would need to take some of them out while simultaneously slipping whispers of falsehood into the ears of the lords to begin a civil war once more. However, these were not the only plans she had laid down, having begun them long before when she started the process for creating Mordred… Britain would be hers, as per her birthright…
Morgan then stared into Mordred's eyes beneath the helm, despite the slits it held to hide her eye color from anyone who might peer too closely, "Earn the king's trust. Gain a place at his side at the Round Table; the Inner Circle, and only then will you have what you desire. Let the people fear you and rejoice in your presence." Morgan faded away into the black mist, it was best not to tempt fate, yet that did not stop her voice from reaching her ears, "Do this for your 'mother', dear sweet little girl of mine." As Morgan left her puppet to be the Trojan Horse, she would need to get in contact with her only useful child in the meantime.
As the witch left Mordred alone in the derelict house, Mordred backed up to the wall as she shook briefly before she tried to reign in control over herself. Mordred hated Morgan; hated her even more when the fae said she was her 'mother'. And while her hate for her rose, the fear of Morgan was even greater, like a looming shadow of pain and misery that rested over her head constantly, promising nothing but the pain should she dare go against her wishes, "Yes… mother…" Mordred let out haggard breaths as she fought to control the fluctuating fear that permeated the air now.
Steadying herself, Mordred headed back to the street where she watched the tail end of the king's procession head into the palace with both dread and excitement. The former due to what Morgan had planned, while in the latter she wished to be nothing but a knight to the king. Ever since Naruto would regale her with stories of himself and the king, she couldn't help but come to admire his majesty, believing the King of Knights to be nothing but perfect.
Nothing more, nothing less.
And then there was Naruto. The one who showered her with love and warmth. Teaching her how to read and write. Playing with her every chance they had together. But the King was sad, deeply sad along with her true mother and the sight of them both so morose made Mordred feel like she had a lot to live up to. She wanted to lift that weight from their shoulders so it could never be tarnished by unhappiness.
Maybe this could be her chance to spend more time with him, like a parent and child bonding once more. She bounced a bit on her feet in excitement at the prospect, "I'm gonna go on adventures, just like you mom…"
-The Palace Garden-
Later as the evening closed in, Naruto sat on a bench in the garden to mull over the progress of things, primarily his Reality Marble,"It's nearing completion with 60% of it done. Just the need a few things left to do."
"The introspection of its foundation is set, just need to build it up more so now, which shouldn't be too hard for you."Kurama was currently situated next to Naruto's mental representation in the mindscape where they both surveying a stream while the castle took form behind them beyond a forest. However, this was not the final product, with Naruto already having figured out what it was that would be the central keystone of his Reality Marble. What its ultimate representation would be, was-
"Looks like you've got yourself a visitor outside."
Just as the fox said, someone was making their way towards Naruto as he roused himself to speak with them. Turns out it was the young Galahad who had come to speak with him, "Hey Galahad, how's it going?" Naruto asked as he gestured for the squire to take a seat alongside himself.
"I'm quite fine myself, Sir Naruto," Galahad sat next to him and took a moment to get himself comfortable on the padded bench, "I've been contemplating all of what our nation stands for and what it represents." He gazed out to the edge of the garden as it overlooked a good portion of the city where a park was visible, "Although, I had hoped that perhaps my father would attempt to bond with me." He said with mild disappointment, not wanting to sour what appeared to be a good mood between himself and one of his mentors.
Naruto felt his brows crease a bit in slight disappointment at hearing that. He knew that getting to know a child you never knew you had wasn't easy, but it sounded as if Lancelot wasn't even trying to bond with his son, "Lancelot is… a good knight and a good man, but his past had never really struck me as being a man prepared to be a father." If Naruto's words were meant to encourage Galahad, then they failed, judging by his eyes closing with disappointment. Hearing how your father was a womanizer and tried to hide such a reputation before refusing to get to know his son did not paint a good picture, "But I'm sure he has you in his thoughts and prayers every day. He just..." He took a moment to find the right words, "Just needs to find how to be a father, you know? I know that in his heart, he loves you."
Naruto's words did have some relieving effect as Galahad had but the briefest of smiles before he spoke, "I suppose you're right. I don't think of Lancelot as a good father…" The arcane knight caught the meaning quickly, "…yet I am glad that I was born. I feel as if I truly can carry one the legacy of Camelot into the next generation of knights."
Galahad felt a pat on the back as Naruto smiled at his words, "Well then, I'm glad that you have a positive outlook here in Camelot."
As the sun began to set, Galahad had gone back to his studies to leave Naruto to go see how their new recruits were doing under his old man's training regime. He studied each of the recruits to see who else could rise to the same level of a caliber, both in mind and body to that of the Round Table, although there was one set of armor that caught his attention, being a horned helm that concealed their entire head from view.
This was curious.
Deciding to stay behind, Naruto sought to see just who was under that helm, although as he came down to the training yards, the familiar smell of his Little Mo came to mind. So, Morgan once again took years of her childhood away? Damn that black fae whor*…
As the training session came to an end, Naruto and his Little Mo remained although it seemed that the latter tried to feign ignorance as to his identity, "Mi lord…" Mordred spoke with a deeper voice, most likely in trying to mask her feminine tone although Naruto noted that it wasn't all that great an attempt, not that she needed it, unlike Arturia, "…I…"
Naruto held up a hand to stop Mordred from continuing on with the charade, "I think we both know that you don't need to try and hide yourself from me of all people…" He spoke with a knowing tone as he stepped closer to Mordred as she held her training sword down, "…my Little Mo." Mordred visibly deflated a bit at that nickname he held for his little girl, "Oh, come on, it's not that bad."
The slight teasing made the young girl redden her cheeks in embarrassment, though Naruto didn't need to see it to know of her reaction, "I'm not little! Not anymore!" She quickly put down that outburst as to not show any prior connection between them to try and appear as someone new to the army, "…I joined up because well, I wanted to be like you and the king, mom. Seeing the king march through the city, his visage was… perfect…" Awe laced in her tone.
Although the apostle could only smile at her words with joy in his heart, he was somewhat concerned with how Mordred's tone shifted, "Well, I'm glad my stories inspired you to join up." He gave a brief look over Mordred's armor to see that it was more of a fear-inspiring set, as opposed to something more noble or elegant compared to the rest of the knights that decided on personalized armor sets, "But I did see the power and speed in your swings, you should take it easy. We're not going to war anytime soon."
"But, I know about the Roman Empire trying to rebuild itself in Europa!" Mordred exclaimed, "I want to serve the king! I want to…" She looked down to her feet before she breathed in deeply before she began speaking once again, "…I want to be like you and the king. If I can do something that neither of you can, then I'll do it."
Naruto could hear the commitment in her voice, wanting to become a part of the kingdom, to care for its betterment and interests. He motioned for her to follow him out of sight nearby. For some time now, he and Arturia had hit a bit of a rough spot in their relationship, with governance taking precedence over personal matters. They weren't drifting apart, instead the cold shoulder was being given to him, though he didn't let that deter him. Now though as Mordred became a part of their army, and if he could help her rise to the Round Table… maybe… just maybe… he could bring Arturia back to more personal matters to showcase that they had a daughter alongside them.
'Not a bad idea honestly.'Kurama noted through the mental link they shared,'You know, if this is some scheme of Morgan's, taking the mini-king away would be a big blow to her.'
'Ever the tactician you are.'
'And make things better between you and Turi.'Kurama's nickname for Arturia of course.
Granted, Mordred may not be entirely natural, yet she still held the best qualities of the both of them, "I believe you can, Mordred." He said her true name with pride, something she caught, "And I will do everything I can to help make that happen. But ultimately…." He grasped the helm she wore as he took it off to see that she had indeed aged as he believed and feared, to the same age as Arturia herself, practically a mirror image of Arturia save for her whisker birthmarks and more wild hair, "…I am proud that you chose to follow a noble path and life." He grasped her head to bring her closer and placed a kiss on her forehead as he ruffled her hair, "My brave, sweet little girl."
For Mordred, those words made her heart jump in joy. It made her feel like she was loved and cared for by a real parent who gave a damn. A parent that didn't use fear to drive. Hearing it from Naruto meant so much more than Morgan, she let her sword drop as she pulled Naruto into a hug that surprised him briefly before he returned the loving gesture. The two simply settled into a slight sway before they left to their own quarters in the city.
-Late Evening-
The day had come to an end in a relatively succinct fashion bereft of drama, pomp or circ*mstance after Naruto had seen to it that Mordred was settled in the barracks in a private room, regardless of the whiskered girl's grumblings about not wanting to be treated differently. It was an effort to keep her concealed until he was able to bring up to Arturia the subject of kids because plopping a physically eighteen-year-old girl in front of your partner with no groundwork was likely to get his face smashed in. It was why he currently rested above the covers of their shared bed in nothing more than a pair of shorts and a cheesecloth shirt.
He wanted to have a simple and quiet night in with the woman that he loved without any interruptions. The serenity of the moment was ruined by the sound of a quill scratching across the parchment, causing Naruto's features to sour as it's meaning was apparent even before he turned his gaze to the window. Arturia, garbed in a white cotton nightdress and her hair loose from its trademark bun, was scribbling away on a figurative mountain of paperwork that she had brought with her from the latest meeting. Her vibrant green eyes held bags under them from what would have been a week of sleepless nights since the return to the capital.
Naruto sighed at the actions, pinching the bridge of his nose before rising from the bed and making his way over to the King, musing on what had brought all of this on. Since the latest rebellion had been summerly quashed by the might of the Round Table, Arturia began to cast doubt on her managerial skill as a king and been taking paperwork to bed regardless of Naruto's statements for her mental health. "That's enough for one night, Arturia," Naruto said, his arms encircling Arturia from behind and resting his chin atop her thatch of golden tresses, "You're dead on your feet and need a good night's rest, come to bed."
"No," she replied simply, her writing only ceasing for a moment to dip into the inkwell again, "I'll come to bed when the work is done." A streak of stubbornness in her words might have made Naruto chuckle on any other night, but right now his lover needed her rest. With a deft movement that was a blur to the King, her quill was removed from her hands, and the inkwell tossed out of the window to splatter some poor night guard patrolling down on one of the keep's lesser battlements. "What in the- Naruto!" she turned in her seat to see the red-eyed blonde storing the quill in the bedside table, "What is the meaning of this?"
The blonde in question did not respond at first because he was being sure that the draw was alchemically sealed shut to prevent the quill from being retrieved, turning to the disgruntled king with a no-nonsense stare before replying. "The meaning is telling you to go to bed before you work yourself into an early grave because this has gone on for a week now and I'm beginning to worry that you forget that fae protection or not you're still a human being that needs rest and relaxation," Naruto said in a no-nonsense tone, arms crossed.
"I can relax whenever I want to, right now I need to get my work done or else it will continue to pile up and satisfy the people." She went on quietly, "The more things that I can't do means that the people are not being served and thus I am not doing my job as the King, why else would Lords continue to rise in rebellion?" The petite beauty questioned in reply as she walked up to the taller apostle, "Perfection, I need to strive to be the perfect monarch or else all of this will come crumbling down, and I can't rest until the work is finished, do you understand."
Naruto actively facepalmed at the spitfire, locking eyes with his lover, not letting the point drop. "What I understand, Arturia, is that I haven't seen you smile since the Grand Tourney several months ago! You're pushing yourself too far with no rest, and it's making you ill, and I will not stand by as the woman that I love runs to her doom for something as silly as paperwork." The male blonde was quickly becoming irate but what was said next would forever be etched in his mind.
Arturia gnashed her teeth in discontent before rounding on Naruto with a pointed stare, "I will not permit myself something as frivolous as love until Britain is well and truly saved!" She shouted at him, the words echoing off the walls of the room like the tolling of the evening bell. She regretted the words the moment they left her lips because she didn't truly mean them, not really, they were the product of months of managerial pressure building atop the prophetic vision in her dream, a need to correct whatever the phantom perceived as the 'flaw in herself.'
But they had been said now, vapid and untrue as she thought of them, they could not be taken back, and already she could see the myriad of feelings dance in Naruto's eyes. She had compared their love to a frivolity like some kind of temporary fun. "Naruto... I didn't mean to..." she struggled to get the words out as she reached for him, green eyes despairing when the blonde began to turn away.
"It's fine, my King..." Naruto replied, hair shadowing his ruby gaze. Now more than any other time that Arturia had known the apostle she caught a glimpse of what Naruto was before she had met him, a world-weary immortal unsure of what to believe in anymore. "I... perhaps you should rest alone tonight to clear your head." The scion of Uzumaki turned on his heel slowly before woodenly walking to the bedroom door, Arturia's hand reaching for that retreating form yet never quite reaching until the door closed behind him. The room was quiet again with nothing to hear but the muted snuffles of a woman trying desperately not to break, only when she was sure that Naruto's footsteps had retreated entirely did she permit herself to bawl.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" She said between tears of self-loathing that continued to beat down her cheeks no matter how hard she tried to stop them. Throwing herself onto the bed, Arturia buried her face into her pillow and cried herself to sleep, not because she deserved it but because she had for but a moment made the man she loved with all her heart feel worthless. "I will make things right, I have to make things right, I'm going to make things right!" She repeated like a mantra regardless of her steadily wetting pillow, letting loose emotion that had been hidden for far too long. The path to Kingship and love was walled by thorns and in her lonesome did she finally contemplate just what not addressing such wounds to the heart could do.
"I will make this kingdom perfect, so I can spend the rest of my life loving you…"
Several floors below in an otherwise empty hallway, Naruto walked in complete silence with none around to hear his bare feet against padding slowly on the stone flag floor with a bland face. Coming to a stop in front of a seemingly blank stretch of the marble wall and turning to face it, the blonde's fist surged forwards with little warning to punch the wall, cratering it under the superhuman strike. Spiderweb cracks splintered outwards from the point of impact while Naruto kept his fist buried amongst the newly formed crags with a maintained neutral face.
'She didn't mean it, you know that, right?'Kurama asked after a few moments of silence from the blonde, having sensed that while Arturia's words might have been caused by frustration, they had no heat behind them and regretted the moment they had been spoken.
Naruto sighed before pulling his fist from the wall with a swift yank and idly made a mental note to talk to the masons tomorrow to get it repaired, looking down at his hand that was undamaged beyond a minor scuff on the knuckle. "I know." He replied, watching the scrape heal to nothingness as a combination of his healing factor and Gaia's temporal regression worked at it, "She's had a rough week and a good night's rest will make her right as rain." Naruto's words were almost hollow in their intonation because while he was perfectly aware that Arturia hadn't meant it, they still stung coming from the lips of the woman he loved.
Within the mindscape, Kurama used his humanlike hands to massage his temples in melancholic nostalgia,'You know your parents got into a lot of arguments when Kushina was pregnant with you right?'he asked rhetorically before continuing.'Love is a prickly thing that I doubt I'll ever truly understand as you humans do but from what I have seen arguments like this do happen from time to time, and it's best to accept that for every argument that is eventually resolved your relationship is stronger for it.'
Naruto allowed himself a few minutes to gather his thoughts, setting off down the hall again and entering into the area of the central keep reserved for servants and castle staff in hopes of starting on a potential breakfast to smooth things over in the morning. "I guess, she just needs to slow down and enjoy life before she chains up her emotions behind this 'wall' of duty," he concluded.
Kurama nodded sagely at that, emotional suppression in the name of an ideal was a slippery slope that quickly led to an unenviable end if not corrected, look at Danzo's root, forced to murder their closest friends and family to kill their emotions. It would be up to Naruto to guide Arturia by hand if needed aw-
Naruto stopped becoming as still as a statue, his nose catching something on the air that was not meant to be in this part of the castle. It cut through the ambient musk of cooking and cleaning products that would usually be found in the staff section of the castle, tangy like iron with an underlying sweat of greasy hair. 'Agravain,'he thought, recognizing the scent of the Knight of the Round Table who even amongst his peers had a very particular smell.'What the f*ck is Agravain doing in this part of the castle after sundown? His quarters are on the other side of the castle.'
'Getting food? Wouldn't be the first time one of the knights saw fit to raid the pantry for an evening snack.'Kurama suggested, though his instincts like Naruto were very much telling him that something was off here. Agravain had a very particular opinion of serving staff and peasants, namely that he thought of them as dirt under his boots and if he wanted something from the staff, it would be brought to him in his room.'Begs the question, what could be so important that he needed to take care of it himself?'The fox asked suspiciously, Naruto withdrawing Carnwennan from his waistband and intoning its name in a hushed voice.
A pulse of power and Naruto began to sink down into the shadows of the hallway cast by flickering torchlight, travelling through the umbral realm of shadows for utmost stealth where the only mark on the real world was an irregular shadow masked by the darkness of evening. Silently he followed his senses through the labyrinthine hallways towards where Agravain's scent grew stronger, eventually finding his way into the laundry section where his hidden eyes lay upon the Black Iron. He was garbed in his armor and blue mantle even at this late hour and talking in a hushed tone to one of the chambermaids.
"As you requested, Mi lord, but this is most strange." The chambermaid said in an unsure tone, handing the Knight a bundle of blue and white cloth from behind her, eyes unsure beneath her white cloth bonnet. "But-"
"But nothing, peasant." Agravain cut off the woman's arguments while storing the bundle under his arm, his severe eyes almost glaring down at the diminutive woman, a looming giant clad in imposing armor. "Now tell me exactly what you are going to do?" He asked his words more a statement than a question.
The chambermaid gulped audibly and shook a little before nodding to herself, taking a deep breath to steel herself in the face of Agravain's aggressive demeanor, "An hour before sunrise I am to take my cart on a scenic route of the castle where you will drop off the King's clothes, and I am to continue on my way. I will not touch the clothing in any way, then I will return to my room and resume my work." She said, doing her best not to wilt under Agravain's look.
Within the realm of shadows Naruto's eyes narrowed on the pair, feeling fear and apprehension from the woman and a void of emotion from the lank-haired knight, his suspicions had just jumped up by several orders of magnitude. 'What is Agravain doing with Arturia's clothes?'he mentally questioned with a frown, watching as Agravain slipped the woman a small sack of what sounded like gold coins.
'Nothing good.'Kurama replied seriously, watching through Naruto's senses to see any more indicators of what was going on with the secretary of the round table,'Best follow him from the shadows for now and see where he leads us.'He suggested, drawing a mental nod from Naruto in response. When Agravain swept down the hall with purpose the blob of shadow that Naruto dwelled within slipped from the wall to join up with Agravain's own shadow to follow him to where the suspicious man intended to go. All the while, Naruto and Kurama discussed the potential meanings of this action and what they were going to do should the revelation of truth prove to be truly wanting.
To say that it wouldn't end well for Agravain was an understatement.
He traveled along in silent travel for some half an hour as Agravain traversed the palace, mentally concluding that the path was one that Agravain took to avoid being noticed as it avoided nearly all populated areas. Descending a steep flight of steps into the cold earth that formed Camelot's foundation brought them to a featureless stone corridor ended by a thickly barred steel door at its end, Agravain withdrawing a heavy key from within his mantle and using it. The clank of well-oiled tumblers and bolts sliding within the lock heralded the door swinging open, Agravin briskly closing the door behind him and relocking it once he had entered, tossing the clothes onto a workbench. So focused on his personal rituals did he not notice the blob of shadow detaching from him to merge with the gloom of the corner, nor the red eyes that watched his movements like a hawk.
Taking a look around told Naruto all he needed to know about what this place was, Agravain's personal torture chamber which he used to extract information from potential threats to the kingdom. It was a blight upon the perceived perfection of Arturia's rule but existed as the same necessary evil where Naruto dwelled. Yet, the sight of thumbscrews, pairs of anguish and even a rack propped against the wall made him apprehensive of what the other man indulged in for fun. Setting that morose thought aside for the time being, Naruto watched as Agravain unfurled what the blonde recognized as Arturia's royal blue battle dress, which last he had seen was handed over to the laundry staff to clean for tomorrow.
Setting the dress down, Agravain walked to a shelf of cutting implements and made incisions along the lining of the arms, chest and hem let an expert surgeon or seamstress before making his way over to the other side of the room. Pulling out a brick to reveal a strongbox hidden within the wall which he retrieved, Agravain extracted a series of greyish silver chains interwoven with several hypodermic needles connected to glass vials of some kind of green viscous liquid. With a gentleness that Naruto wasn't aware Agravain even had, the chains were slowly slid within the incisions into the stitching and slowly fed through the lining of the dress until they were totally invisible to the naked eye. Sewing the incisions shut completed the look, and Agravain folded the dress once more into its bundle before leaving the room.
When he was sure that Agravain was long outside of earshot and away from the torture chamber, Naruto emerged from the shadow as a silent wraith, his bare feet making Nary a sound when crossing the stone flags. The apostle picked up the dress and scrutinized it, the only signs of tampering being the very tips of the needles poking inwards from the dress. "What are you up to Agravain?" he asked in a whisper before using structural analysis.
He just about nearly screamed.
Red eyes steadily grew wider in abject unadulteratedFURYas the mental gridwork of the most basic of magecraft skills washed over the dress of the woman he loved and came to understand just what barbarism Agravain intended. Laced through the lining of the dress were cold iron chains arranged in such a way to not be felt yet let their power aggravate the conceptual allergy of Fae blessings, leaving Artoria undefended from the piercing of the needles which had been smeared in an anesthetic to not be felt. Within each vial was a highly distilled form of what Naruto recognized from his studies as hydra venom, perhaps the single most potent venom in the supernatural world, hundreds of thousands of times more potent than Botchilum H.
Kurama openly snarled from the results of the structural analysis,'If Arturia puts on this dress she will be stripped of her fae protection and dosed up with enough hydra venom to fell a Dragon before she gets four steps from the room and wouldn't even know she's been poisoned!'The Tailed Beast raged. However, his mighty anger was but a pilot light next to the quasar of rage pouring off of Naruto. Unconsciously the blonde muttered a divine word to reduce the dress and its nasty surprise to cinders in less than a second. Agravain intended to murder his King, and Naruto was going to find out why.
An hour later saw the black-haired man return to the chamber to look over some paperwork though no sooner had the door closed behind him did he feel the edge of a mithril blade pressed into his neck. Staying perfectly lest he finds himself with a slit throat, Agravain watched as slowly spiky blonde hair and whiskered cheeks pushed into his peripheral vision but was taken aback by the eyes. Red eyes that usually shone with happiness and amusem*nt were full of such vitriolic anger and hate that they emitted light that was scolding to look at, and these eyes looked into him. It was only decades of witnessing his mother's heinous experiments that gave him enough steel to not let his apprehension and fear show.
"Good evening, Agravain," Naruto said, voice a void of anything yet burning with a supernova of quiet rage, "Have a pleasant walk? No? How bad for you because your evening is about to get a lot worse."
Agravain swallowed stiffly, feeling the blade chafe his Adam's apple, "What are you doing, apostle, you know it is treason to threaten your fellow knights? The King will have your guts for garters!"
Naruto's face did not change at the frankly pathetic attempt of intimidation, had he wanted he could have killed Agravain the moment the knight walked in, the only reason Naruto hadn't yet was that he needed answers. "So's plotting regicide," he replied before viciously backhanding Agravain across the room, slamming into the distant stone wall with enough force to leave a dent. Agravain let out a grunt of pain, but that was all he was able to do before Naruto was upon him with an enraged stamp. The matte black cuirass buckled like paper mache under the force of the blow making Agravain let out a winded gasp before Naruto dragged him up by his lank black hair to send his knee crashing into his nose. Blood splattered against the floor and wall from the wet crunch, the dazed Agravain too dazed to be aware that Naruto had dug his fingers into the steel of his armor to tear it asunder.
By the time he became cognizant enough to take in his surroundings properly again, he had been stripped down to his undergarments and tied to a chair. Naruto towered over him, face hidden in shadow save for those angry glowing eyes that looked stared down at him imperiously. Lethargically drawing the mithril blade up before plunging it into Agravain's thigh with such force that the son of Morgan wasn't aware of the pain until a moment later, which was of course so blinding that he let out his first real call of distress. Naruto left the blade to sit in the leg as rivulets of blood welled up from the new wound and trailed down Agravain's leg and across the floor.
Panting a few times to overcome the pain, Agravain did his best to school his features and looked up definitely at Naruto which was somewhat impressive given his clearly broken nose. "If you intend to kill me, then get it over with, I have nothing to gain from talking to you, Parasite!" he barked hoarsely, insulting Naruto while he was at it, though all he could see in this darkness was a shift in Naruto's glowing red eyes.
"Were it only so easy," Naruto replied gravely before beginning a summary beating upon the bleeding man, his fists harder than any steel rattling bones and bursting blood vessels as they rained down blow after blow upon Agravain's well-built body. "I'm going to keep hitting until you give me the answers I'm looking for, if you should die along the way then I'm going to jumpstart your heart and carry on till you start talking," he said dispassionately. At the same time, blood and saliva ran down from Agravain's busted lips, which even now attempted to twist into a morose smirk.
"Ish you kill me...den…" Agravain slurred through a swelling face, cold eyes still looking up at Naruto, "Camelot will be dusht...wisin a week!" he chuckled to himself, blood-stained shirt now clinging to his chest. In fact, so close did his shirt cling to his chest that Naruto was able to make out the beginnings of lines underneath. Curious, Naruto tore Agravain's shirt from his body and threw it into the corner of the room, revealing an intricate series of script lining his chest and abdomen. A vein pulsed angrily in both of Naruto's temples upon recognizing that infernal black speech of Morgan crisscrossing the morose knight's chest, in his mind pieces finally falling into place.
"Ley Fey!"Naruto seethed in a toxic miasma of rage, tempted to rip Carnwennan from Agravain's thigh and slit his throat then and there, it all made sense now. Pile up work upon Arturia to the point of exhaustion before slipping in the poison dress that the king would be too tired to notice, stripping her of her power and poisoning her in one fell swoop. Taking a step back to look at the line in more detail regardless of the headache they gave him, Naruto was about able to make out that they appeared to be mottled on Geis of some kind. "What are these Geis linked to, talk!"
The blonde continued his assault on the revealed agent of their enemy, a far cry from the jovial man that had hugged his daughter this morning, replaced instead by a postulating ball of toxic anger in the shape of a man. A cracked sternum finally coaxed Agravain enough to answer, they were life link Geis linking him to over one hundred of Camelot's bannermen in charge of providing money, crops and a flow of other things necessary to the kingdom as well as members of potential rebellious factions. Morgan had deliberately not told her son to whom he was linked only that should he die then the pillars of support for Camelot's prosperity would perish along with him and rebellion would be sparked all over the country.
It was a devious plan because it meant that should he live after being discovered he could quite smoothly run Camelot into the ground but should he die then it would become a certainty.'Why not turn this weapon against the whor*?'Kurama asked from within,'Think about it, he likely knows the ins and outs of Morgan's entire operation, and if we can guarantee his loyalty then Camelot can put Agravain to work making the capital more stable while we pick off or replace those he is life liked to!'It was rare for the fox to be the voice of reason in favor of bloodshed. Truth be told he was inclined to pop Agravain's head like a grape had the situation been any different.
Naruto growled, at both himself and the bleeding man before him, 'So what? I doubt we can bind him to our own Geis contract, who knows how many booby traps Morgan has hidden in this damn black speech!'
Kurama pondered for a moment before letting out a truly weary sigh for what he was about to suggest,'Use your mystic eyes on the deepest level of the subconscious.'Naruto could tell Kurama's words were filled with distaste, memories of Madara bewitching him with his eyes likely to the fore of his mind.'Smash right down to the deepest layer of his mind and plant a mandate of loyalty to the crown and kingdom, it's not a perfect solution, but until Le Fey is dead, it's all I can come up with.'
Naruto had to relent to the fox's point. The location of Morgan's lair had eluded him for so long, and now he had a prime source of information. Not just that, but Agravain's secretary skills were invaluable; without him, the infrastructure of Camelot would collapse within a matter of months, perhaps even less so. How frustrating to have an enemy in front of you that you could not kill, "Do you know what the main objective of torture is, Agravain? It's not to extract information, it's not even to cause a painful death. No, it's how to cause the maximum amount of pain for the minimal amount of damage."
Naruto gripped Carnwennan, still buried in Agravain's leg, and sent a pulse of Mana into the blade. Agravain watched in genuine fear as black began to leak out from and trace its way through his veins and arteries, agonizingly filling his body with an encroaching cold fire that leaked into his nervous system. "The Gáe Bolg was a spear said to ram itself through every highway and byway of the body as an infinite number of painful barbs, tearing up the body from within." Naruto explained, maintaining eye contact with the black eyes of Agravain the whole time to watch the man's mental fortitude begin to fray from the pain. "I'm doing the same right now with shadows, first with your veins and arteries, then your nervous system before finally reaching your organs... but I'm healing the damage as fast as it happens. Final question Agravain, how long do you think it will take before they reach your brain stem?"
Agravain did not reply to the words spoken coldly to him, his mental processes doing their absolute best to deal with the exquisitely unique pain of his body being slowly torn apart and sewn back together. He was breaking out into a cold sweat as the shadows began to prod his nerves like knives scraping at the back of his mind. He was struggling to find the right word for this emotion for he had not sensed it in so long that he had long since forgotten it, fear. He was used to pain and had long since ascribed to his mother's rhetoric that it was merely weakness leaving the body, but this lethargic torture was something so perversely invasive that soon enough he began to panic. By the time it had subsumed his aorta and began to scythe through his alveoli and the bronchial system, he was almost whimpering.
"Come on Agravain, where's all that bravado from earlier? What did you call me, oh yes, a parasite? Well, I suppose what you're feeling right now must be pretty close to having a nasty little parasite." Naruto slapped Agravain's now pale face, bringing attention to his red eyes, "Crawling up and up to where you live in that skull of yours, ready to gnaw away what makes youyou… how sad, if this goes on any longer, I doubt you'll have the mental faculties to be able to even remember your own name." he continued before finally he saw a chink in the mental fortitude.
Red eyes glowed, and Mystic Eyes of Enchantment smashed into Agravain's mind like a falling star, pushing through years of mental conditioning like water rushing through a cracked dam, eventually coming to ensnare the man's deepest subconscious."You will strive to help create the perfect kingdom and remain loyal to the crown,"he instructed, placing the command that would come to define Agravain's life from here on out. Agravain went limp in the chair and stared at the floor for a time as Naruto withdrew the shadows and healed the damage done to his body. "Tell me everything you know about Morgan's lair" Naruto spoke when the once again fresh-faced knight looked up at him. Despite Naruto's own misgivings at acting in such a way, he would not allow any harm to come to his love or the nation he helped create.
-The Next Day; Hall of the Round Table-
Despite having extracted the location of Morgan's lair from Agravain, Naruto had not pushed much further while the edict was still taking hold, yet Naruto would not discount the advantage they now had. Arturia, whose eyes were still a little red from her tears the previous night, forewent her usual dress in favor of the cataphract armor of the Lion King after her regular dress had not been delivered by the chambermaid when she had awoken. She looked longingly at Naruto but intended to apologize after the meeting, yet not knowing what Naruto was about to bring about.
"Alright so, I've been meaning to bring this up but, we should discuss bringing up who to fill in the remaining seats of the Round Table." Kay began the meeting this time as he gestured around them to the two remaining seats that would seat knights at the table. Thus far they were all of sound minds and skills to make it such a prestigious honor, yet it felt as if they did not have enough senior members to lead the army in battle should the threat of Tiberius rise up.
Arturia hummed in knowing that their ranks were swelling with excellent knights with good potential. However, "If there are any among our knights that are believed to be of such esteem and skill, then they will need recommendations from our inner circle." By doing this, it would ensure that people of similar skill and ideals would help shape the future of Camelot. She looked over to Naruto who appeared to have something on his mind, as did Agravain; as such, she gestured for them to speak, "Naruto, Sir Agravain, I'm certain that the two of you have something to bring up?"
Both addressed men stood up as Naruto spoke, "Yes, Agravain and I were able to finally determine where Morgan's lair is located." The bomb had been dropped as everyone's eyes shot up in astonishment.
As for Arturia, she quickly responded, "Good, then we finally put my sister's madness to an end." She gazed around to each of the seated members of the round table with determination in her eyes, "I want everyone here to make ready for battle. You all should take care, train, and relax before then. I will not have a single one of you sacrifice your lives for this mission, but we can finally end the darkness that threatens our great nation and land."
"YES, MY KING!" Was the resounding response from everyone, perhaps even more so from her niece and nephews to no surprise. They too yearned to be free from Morgan's shadow that stained the land of Britain.
-Elsewhere-
In another part of Britain, a woman of fair form was preaching before a large gathering of a crowd in a village far to the west of Camelot, isolated for most of their lives from the outside. Yet, they knew of the events that took place within their country with their good King Arthur, "And I say to you all, that our good King Arthur, is not a man, but a Holy Dragon, sent to us by the almighty himself and blessed by the fae!" The woman exclaimed as many of the people around her cheered as she continued on, "The king is our saviour and leader! Even if death should take them, 'tis nothing more than an inconvenience to the king. For they shall rise both mind, body and soul and all shall rejoice at the eternal kingdom for our people!"
"Here, here!"
"Praise the king!"
"Long may he reign!"
And with that, the woman left the villagers who began to worship the king… all to her design…
The woman ventured into the forest as black mist swirled around her to reveal herself as Morgan to no one but herself, as she vanished soon after from the area only to reappear in her workshop where she found one of her servants waiting for her,"My Mistress…"The voice spoke with a hollow, metallic tone that reverberated as if they were not truly there… something dark and inhuman,"…why do you spread the worship of your enemy? Your sister is the enemy, yet you wish for your future subjects to worship her?"Confusion was within her thrall's tone, so she decided to amuse herself for a bit.
"All I merely wish to do is prepare for any eventuality that Mordred may not be as useful to me as I previously thought. Thus I have decided to ensure that our family line will continue on through the centuries to come. For many puppets to be born for me to use at my leisure," Morgan spoke as she walked about towards her collection of various artefacts, most notably the vials of blood she procured from Vortigern's fortress that were filled with Arturia's blood.
"I cannot ignore the miracle birth of my sister, and I had hoped to use her as ruling from the shadows is far greater a power than ruling from the throne." Twirling one of the vials around her fingers, she knew that this would likely be a long-term plan, yet she believed that it would pay off in the end, "Besides, I want our family line of Pendragon to persist through the ages, any ruler worth their strength and power should know to have a prosperous family…" Morgan spoke with dark humor, "…not only that, the vampire, nor anyone else will see my next puppet's creation coming."
Musings of a Wizard Marshal
By K.Z.S.
f*ck the Fae.
Say it with me, f*ck the Fae, pointy-eared little sh*ts the lot of them running around smelling their own farts and telling everyone it smells like roses. Okay, minor venting on my part done but you would not believe how much of a multiversal constant Fae dickishness actually is. The mundanes have it in their minds that fairies, Fae, the fair folk or whatever you wish to call them are these benevolent magic sprites that enlighten whatever area they enter with mystery and wonder and for the most part they might be right. But that does not mean that they are without their rouge elements, I mean before [REDACTED] rose to the position of Modern Magecraft Theories Lord, his predecessor had his heart stolen by a Fae for no other reason than amusem*nt at watching what the good doctor would do from then on.
And that is AFTER Oberon and Titania brought them together in a singular court in Avalon, how Shakespeare was able to meet them is so far beyond me that I am half tempted to jump timelines just to watch it happen. Alas, long before Brutus of Troy incapacitated the Gogmagog of primeval Britain the Fae were far more open in their torment of humanity, the darker Pendragon daughter inherited this sin of the Fae that became forever known as Britain's Primordial Curse, and we all know how that one turned out.
Though I suppose I would be remiss not to compliment their truly magnanimous ability to craft Divine Constructs, Avalon -the sheath, not the place- is truly one of the most fabulous magical constructs ever forged. I doubt Vivien will ever grace the current world with such an object ever again... however, I don't know how Naruto would take to ever meeting the Lady of the Lake again, after all, while Vivian sees Naruto as her younger brother…
What she did to young Bedivere is a sin that is not easily forgiven...
Damn, this took a little longer than expected, but it's finished. Anyways, this site no longer sends notifications about receiving any PM's so please do check your inbox's for messages, as I do try to respond to every one of my reviewers if I get the chance.
So, only 3 more chapters left to go for "The Legend of Camelot" act, before we move onto the second act "Through the Ages" and we get to the third act that we all know and love "Fate/Zero". But this it doesn't mean the story will end there, but rather it will go beyond that, though I don't want to spoil everything, just know that things will certain get very fun, exciting and different from the canon that we know the main Fate timelines, so it will be going off the rails.
The next chapter definitely will have some Tolkien-inspired stuff within it, so I hope you guys will enjoy it.
Also, is anyone well versed with characters of Dragon Age? Please PM me.
Anyways, please be sure to let me know what you guys liked and/or disliked about the new chapter and continue to read, review, favorite and follow this story as well as my others that I have up on my profile. The next story that's due for an update is my Resident Evil one, "The X-virus" and it has been put off for a while to allow the remakes to enter the public and allow me time to revise and re-edit my synopsis for the Raccoon City arc.
1) It is strongly hinted by dialogue from Tristan during FGO's SERAPH event that Meltryllis of the Sakura 5 bears a striking resemblance to Iseult
2) Behold my one shameless Monty Python reference and despair!
3) Wynebgwrthucher is the name of one of King Arthur's shields, different from Prydwen as this shield was apparently used to subdue Cath Palug at some point, it is hinted in Fate/Strange Fake that it may be in the possession of Richard the Lionheart.
Until next time ;) !
Chapter 11: The Glory of Camelot Part IV
Chapter Text
Hello everyone, I know that in my AN of my Resident Evil story that I said I would be updating my Marvel story. However, as of late, I've been running into a bit of a writer's block for the next chapter along with a lukewarm reception to its return. So I felt it best to attempt writing on another story to see if it may do some good instead.
So, here we are with the next chapter and fourth part of Glory of Camelot before we move onto the next part, and then finally the Fall of Camelot. In this chapter, you'll see quite a few Tolkien inspired things and elements within it, and I do hope everyone enjoys it. The Black Speech that Morgan uses here is a mix of both canon, newly constructed from the films, Shadow of Middle-Earth and a fanmade version. Still, there will be translations of it at the end of the AN for you guys to understand what is being said along with some Fae speak by Naruto, a mix of Gaelic and Elvish from Tolkien's amazing works.
This chapter also takes a theory that's been circulating in the fandom since the second Lostbelt opening dropped some time ago, so I apologize if it ends up not true, but if it is, then wow will that be awesome. On top of that, several other things that will help set up the future are presented in this chapter, along with some humor to lighten the mood up a bit. Now, whether or not the English Lostbelt does do what I think it will do with what's been theorized and implied so far, I will continue on with this. If it adds something new to the lore, then I may be able to incorporate it into the story, I don't know.
Also… CASTORIA AND PROTO MERLIN WERE MADE FOR FGO! Seriously, I did not see either coming, but I can't wait for the former to arrive in the NA servers with Proto Merlin hopefully coming to the original game. I would start a JP server account, but I don't feel like going through all of part 1 and Epic of Remnant again, being forced to rebuild my entire collection of Servants from the ground up. Especially since some of my Servants have become so rare that it's almost impossible to draw them.
The Gacha is hell…*shudders*
In TYPE-MOON news, Spring Song released, I'm neither here nor there on it, of the three routes Heaven's Feel just never clicked with me. The first FGO Camelot film has been moved to December of this year, and we'll also be getting the Chinese Lostbelt in the NA servers. Now as for that Fate route remake, in all honesty, it may not release until after the Tsukihime remake sad to say, which is a major downer for Arturia fans, even though Ufotable has already animated the Last episode from Realta Nua and is in the TYPE-MOON museum in Japan. I've heard that they MIGHT put it as an extra on the Spring Song Blu Ray, but I doubt this as it makes no sense whatsoever, speaking in terms of storytelling since it's Fate's True Ending, with no ties to Heaven's Feel.
I mean Nasu has stated previously that he wasn't proud of how he wrote the Fate route and rewriting has been something he's wanted to do. Ufotable already has the assets to do it now. Even many of the voice actors from some other shows of Fate have wanted to see the Fate route remade with today's tech and let's face it, the DEEN series while not bad, hasn't aged well in comparison and not entirely faithful to the original VN, despite their efforts to make it better. But the success of FGO is actually slowing down the production of other projects that TM has had on the backburner for getting near 20 years now. I sincerely hope Nasu and Ufotable reconsider in developing the Fate route remake as soon as possible and complete Stay Night in its entirety, only make it better than both the VN and the DEEN series.
Anyways, on with the story!
Chapter 10 – The Glory of Camelot Part IV
-Late Summer 478 AD; A Village in Wales-
Months had passed since Morgan began to preach her sister's legacy as the Holy Dragon that would never die, with the villagers she found to be easily swayed by the wonder and legends of Arturia to be like a God among Men. In her mind, Mordred was a blunt object, meant to be wielded with delicacy, but still one with an all too destructive purpose of smashing down the pillars of faith that held Camelot up. That plan had however been curtailed by the affection Naruto had shown the child, weakening the influence that she held over Mordred with each assurance of care andempathy,just the thought of the word threatened to twist her cruelly beautiful lips into a disgusted sneer. The plans she had set in motion here would make sure that her next masterstroke would be born well away from being contaminated by something so repulsive as human sentimentality.
The Witch of Britain made her way into the village square where the dawn was slowly approaching to wake the inhabitants from their sleep, "All that power; power to change the world and yet he rejected me. Choked by human morality even when he long since passed beyond it, how utterly moronic." She said to herself in slight disdain, "On that day dear sister, if our positions had been switched, would I have your life and you mine? Would a golden-haired Apostle have courted me to the ebony throne?" Morgan mused in a rare moment of pensive self-reflection before dashing it aside like waves breaking on the coast. Regardless of what kind of man they were, the pleasure of power and joy of flesh was something they always inevitably gave into. One or the other, or even both, Men would fall to these desires. Urien, Accolon and other men considered to be great kings and warriors were such fine examples when she ensnared them to her will and power, "The naivete of dedicating oneself for something as frivolous as love is not even commendable, it's just moronic."
As the sun continued its lethargic rise over the eastern hills, Morgan amused herself with thoughts of what could have been, traipsing down the mental menagerie of maybes and never-weres. What if she had taken her younger sister under her wing when she was still too young to be influenced by the late Ector's repulsive chivalry or the half breed incubus fanciful love for the human race. Would the great Holy Dragon have helped her tear down their decrepit fossil of an uncle? Making Britain a place where the Fae were no longer restricted in their torment of humans? Would the Wild Hunt have rallied behind a Black King to chase down those that slighted either of them in a bloody chorus of roars? So many thoughts, so many possibilities and none of them within her grasp.
Alas, such thoughts were nothing but foolish for they spoke of lost pasts and did not aid her in the present. Now, she had been hard at work creating the tools necessary for her to take Britain, be it by sword or shadow, Morgan would have what is rightfully hers.
As the villagers began to awaken with breakfast having come and gone, many of them gathered to listen to her words and fell into a trancelike state before she conjured up a silver chalice that held an unmistakable sanguine liquid, "Gather 'round! Gather 'round my followers, for today, we ensure our king's bloodline continues on!" Morgan explained, fully consumed in her guise as 'Envoy of the Dragon', a title the people of this nameless village had made for her.
Her words honey in their ears, a roar of elation and applause came from the villagers as their faces filled with joy at the prospect of aiding the King of Knights' bloodline continue on after death. Morgan hoisted the chalice above her head to showcase the dazzling shine it held to draw their attention towards it, "In this chalice, this grail, holds the blood of our king." Bringing it back down to rest against her midriff, Morgan continued on, "I ask of all those who can bear children, to take this blood into them. This blood will one day give you and your family the privilege, the honor, the noble grace to bear the future embodiment of our king." The witch gestured for the women to come form a line in front of her, "Come forth, bend thy knee in acceptance of the king's blood! True salvation shall not come from the shepherd God of the Hebrews but of the Dragons of Britain!"
The first woman who came to Morgan bent down as she passed the chalice down to the villager who took the blood-filled cup as she took a single sip before Morgan took it back, "Rejoice young one, for you will be one of those who will carry on the glory of our king."
The young woman smiled as the blood dripped from her lips and stained her teeth with red while her eyes were in a hypnotized fog, "I am honored, my Lady. May I one day bear the future of our people."
Morgan gently traced a finger along the side of the woman's face before lifting the blood-covered digit up to lick clean, "Yes my dear, you truly are honored…" Despite the low chance of a new puppet being born within this era, Morgan had no doubt one day, a child would be born that would grow and mold into an exact copy of Arturia in body. As for the mind, she would work on that bit herself personally.
Sometimes all she needed to do was bend, manipulate, even break minds to mold into her liking. Perhaps they would even prove more powerful than her sister or Mordred. In truth, Morgan did not hate her sister, not so much as envy what was given to her since birth along with the love and adoration of the people that came with being the ruler, the savior of their homeland. All of which she had desired since she was still so young. Was Morgan hypocritical for desiring the love of the people yet treating the emotion itself as anathema? Of course, but she had long ceased caring for her own flaws.
She would be the savior of Britain, not Arturia, nor her secret Apostle consort.
-Camelot; Tower of Magi-
Months had passed since Naruto learned the location of Morgan's lair, brought Agravain to heel in a deep enchantment with his Mystic Eyes, and told Arturia of it in that meeting of the court. Rather than march straight onto the Dark Fae's hiding hole, it was agreed that they would need to gather more information and plan accordingly before going on such a dangerous mission. Ultimately though, it was decided they would finish Morgan under the light of the next full moon when Arturia's power was at its absolute peak and allowing her to draw out Excalibur's maximum capacity for them to gain the best odds.
It was not without its flaws as it would put Gawain, arguably one of the heavy hitters of the Round Table, as far from the Sun as possible, but even without the Sun, Gawain was still a skilled knight the likes of which could decimate an army by himself in a night. When brought up in their planning, the man had been adamant that it was worth the trade-off to give the King the totality of her power.
They would be heading into the black heart of Morgan's stronghold, a place that very few had seen and of them most were either dead or so thoroughly traumatized that they had rather killed themselves in their cells then reveal what they had seen. Excalibur would smite down upon the bleak edifice of the dark Fae like the wrath of an angry god, its golden light smashing through malignant curses to bring justice and vengeance long due.
"And, done…" Naruto had gone to Vivian in the hopes of gaining more information about Morgan and her abilities as Merlin could only provide that she was skilled in the Black Arts. Now he held his latest work high to inspect it with the glamour it held, all the while thinking back to his meeting with Vivian.
-Weeks Prior-
Naruto rode out to the lake where Vivian had requested they come to years prior when she had given her gifts to them at Dozmary Pool, only now Naruto sought her out hoping for an audience to learn more of Morgan.
Having taken Dun as his steed, he made it to the pool within a short amount of time early into the night only to find two Seele Fae of the summer court waiting in the trees that marked the beginning of the hidden path to the pool where Vivian dwelled. At first on guard by their appearance and the fact that their presences blended seamlessly with the surrounding environment, slipping past his senses as a sage, only the briefest hints of veiled mischief had alerted his empathetic sense of their presence. But feeling the beginnings of his ire, the two Fae quickly explained that they were there to greet him, that apparently Vivian had been expecting him, signaled by how the pathway into her domain was already lit with violet lights.
As before, Naruto dismounted Dun before he made his way along the path to the center of the pool, where the willow wisps brightened up before he closed his eyes to shield himself from the overwhelming light. Naruto opened his eyes to see that Vivian had brought him once more into her domain, a place that was close to the Reverse Side of the World; yet held part of its atmosphere and Mystery. Glancing around to see that the numerous phantasmal species that once permeated throughout the area were fewer in number now, "Vivian?"
"Yes, my brother?" The Lady of the Lake's voice came from behind him as he turned to see the Light Fae sitting on a nearby rock stroking the back of a dog with bright green fur, a Cu Sith he realized after a moment. Naruto noted her expression was one of slight discomfort within this place.
Making his way towards her, Naruto began his inquiry on Morgan, "Vivian. I found out the location of Morgan's lair, and we're going to make a raid on the place to end her for good come the full moon." The Apostle soon stood close to Vivian as she listened to his words, "I came because I was hoping that maybe, you might have an idea what Morgan will have to use against us."
As Vivian listened to the Apostle's words, she ceased her petting of the Cu Sith that laid down and turned to him, "I am aware of what thou and thy beloved are planning, and what thou intends to do." Closing her eyes, Vivian took a deep breath before she turned her gaze to Naruto, "As for what Morgan holds within her domain, I know not much of what she has at her disposal. Many of our kind do not intrude into one another's domain as it is not welcome to do so, without their permission that is. It would be seen as an offense in the court without good reason." Naruto knew that at times Fae did cross over into the World to interact with mortals and one another, though he wasn't aware of any Fae laws per se.
Titania and Oberon were the Fae that ruled over all others, having set their courts within Avalon, but not aware that they had set up laws of their respective sides. He thought that the Fae could freely go wherever they wanted so long as their destination held a good measure of Mystery for them to manifest into. Naruto supposed that it was too much to ask any more of Vivian for anything, "Alright then, I guess I came here for nothing. Thank you though, for giving me some of your time." As Naruto turned around to head back to the Material World, he felt Vivian's hand on his shoulder, holding him in place to stay. Confused by her actions, Naruto turned to address this situation, "I didn't do anything wrong, did I?"
Vivan gave a small chuckle before she gave him a smile, "Nothing at all, save for perhaps that you did not listen closely to thine words." Her smile dropped down while she kept her hand on Naruto's shoulder, "Recent days have simply proved a derision of good tidings bordering on obtuse calamity within the courts of both Avalon and Tir Na Nog. You are familiar with your Celtic brethren, yes?" Vivian asked with a brow raised in question.
Naruto nodded quietly at the Lady of the Lake's words because he had been looking into more on the Fae since his forging of Clarent. "The Celtic land of the Fae and eternally young and home to the two courts of Seele and Unseelie. I had read that they've had the run of the place since the Tuathan pantheon retreated to Denan after the end of the Age of Gods, and the Christian's began to arrive in Ireland." He paused then, seeing her nod in pleased acceptance of his answers. "Why, what happened? Have the Unseelie been pillaging children again, I had heard that it was one of their more despicable pastimes."
The Unseelie or Winter court of the Celtic Fae was a congregation of many creatures and Fae who sat more on the negative side of the moral spectrum, the kind of Fae who would set fires in a wicker house and bewitch the owners not to notice it only to cackle with glee as they burned. They were cowed in this behavior by both the British court at Avalon and the Seelie Fae of summer, thinking back now had two Seelie Fae not greeted him at the beginning of the path to the lake? "...Why is the Irish summer court in Britain? Vivian, what has happened?" Naruto asked, eyes narrowing in remembrance of the guard like pair waiting on his entrance.
Vivian shifted her weight from foot to foot as she listened to his question before letting out a sigh of resignation with underlying inflections of uncertainty as she spoke, "Thy lover's ascension to the throne of Britain's magical sphere hath had unforeseen consequences amongst a few of the Court. Gwyn Ap Nudd, Tuathan demigod fae and guardian of Annwyn, hath defected from Avalon to the Unseelie of Tir Na Nog." Naruto started at that as while the name of this apparent demigod did not ring familiar; he knew of Annwyn from his tutoring with Merlin, the great inverse tower that served as the unseen entrance to Avalon. "I see that mine words doth stir recognition in yee, brother of mine, yet I doth not think thee understand the severity of such an act of defection."
"Why, who is this Gwyn ap Nudd?" Naruto murmured in response, mentally taking notes for knowing his luck it was likely to be important later on down the line.
Vivian crossed her arms under her perfectly proportioned bust, co*cking her head to one side, "While who he is matters only moderately, what he represents is far more the dire reality, brother mine. Gwyn ap Nudd was the former leader of the Wild Hunt before young Arturia." She said with an air of finality, taking Naruto's sharp inhalation of breath at her words in stride, "Indeed, thy response shows thy understanding of the stakes. There art some amongst the moonlit world discontent with a lynchpin so aligned with the light and thus side with those of a darker nature in the shadows of the world... many of mine own small court here have fled back to Avalon in fear of these uncertain times."
Naruto contemplated Vivian's words and actions and much as it pained him to admit it there was a strange level of sense he felt from all of it. Arturia's uniting of Britain was something unaccomplished for a very long time, and it was only wishful thinking to believe that ALL of the phantasmal creatures and Fae would rally behind Camelot, there would be those that preferred the way things were before, and this Gwyn ap Nudd must have been infuriated when his captaincy of the Wild Hunt had been all but usurped by this human. "Endless problems befall a kingdom for it to know prosperity, we need to remove Morgan now before these shadowy Fae conspire in the dark to begin some Fae civil war." Naruto concluded earnestly, his posture becoming rigid as freshly wrought iron, "Do you have anything to help me, Vivian? A decisive strike to the murky underbelly of the Fae will nip this civil war in the bud before it even has a chance to begin!"
"I hold both words of wisdom and caution that thou must listen, and a gift for thou's future troubles. One that I believe will aid in both here and then; in times to come beyond what is now." Naruto raised a brow at how she mentioned 'gift'. Was this another weapon of sorts like Excalibur? Or some defensive/healing item like Avalon?
The Fae dropped her hand from Naruto's shoulder as she held them both out towards where a bright light was conjured before him as he gazed at it intently once it was revealed by the dying light.
The object that Vivian had produced was without a doubt a contradiction in terms of its mundane looks paired with what it was made of, and all Naruto could do was silently break down what was being presented to him. A thin staff, some six feet in length with a dully shimmering indigo surface that the blonde immediately recognized to be processed Mithril, the bottom of which was tipped by the gold glinting of adamantine. The staff's head was a golden spoked basket arrangement with a coiling wooden branch curling out from it similar to Merlin's staff if less overgrown. Additionally, the staff had several pieces of ornamentation that the Magus of Flower's staff was lacking in. From between the spokes poked a hooklike handle that reminded Naruto of a beast's horn pointing downwards and at the apex of the entire staff was a blue and silver jeweled chevron bearing a pair of red tassels that fluttered lightly in the breeze.
"This is the Staff of Selection." Vivian began, "A staff that Merlin…" She spoke the flower magus' name with slight disdain in her tone, "…had fashioned for the king, should she hath chosen a different path to kingship." Naruto had known for many years that Arturia held great aptitude for becoming a Magus, and a rather powerful one at that given the raw output of her Dragon Core, but while he had done his best to teach his King some combat Magecraft she simply lacked the temperament for it. He had been like that as well once, but that had been tempered by nearly a century of self-reflection and Arturia did not have that. The path of the sword was one of pragmatism and in the land of Britain, the powerful and pragmatic ruled.
Oblivious of his internal contemplation, or perhaps perfectly aware and almost amused, Vivian continued her explanation of the staff in a sweeping tone. "It may look like a staff, but in truth, it was constructed from the remnants of Marmyadose, a Divine Construct once wielded by the Great Herakles."
Naruto whipped his head to look at Vivian with surprised crimson eyes. The revelation of the staff's true nature was a shock to be sure, and indeed it gave off a certain vibration to it, an echo of ages long past that only Divine Constructs could produce. "The Herakles? Son of Zeus and Alcmene and greatest Hero of Ancient Greece?" Naruto asked, absentmindedly running his finger along the Mythril shaft that practically hummed with mystery.
Vivian nodded happily, pleased with Naruto's knowledge of the great yet tragic hero of the Twelve Labors, "The very same. Forged in the flames of Mount Etna by the smith god Hephaestus using Mythril from the walls of Olympus' throne room, Marmyadose was wielded by the great hero until his funeral where it was given away like much of his other gear to those that attended." She explained as she slowly began to circle Naruto and the staff, her footfalls upon the water's surface producing no ripples. "Battered, nicked and passed through the hands of hundreds, nay, thousands, it still holds its power of divine light even half a millennia after the son of the Hebrew God brought the Age of Gods to a close."
Looking at the staff in light of this, Naruto came to a few conclusions and a single question about Mamyadose, firstly that it was likely the Tang of the once bladed Divine construct reshaped for a more Arcane user. Secondly, 'Herakles must have been over eight feet tall to have had any hope of wielding this as a sword.'He thought incredulously at the mental image of a great wall of muscle barreling down a mountainside with the sword held aloft and calamity about to rain.
Naruto fixed Vivian with a curious expression before asking her the question that had begun to percolate in his mind the moment she had mentioned Merlin's involvement, "How did you come to have it if it belonged to Merlin last?"
Vivian's airy and serene façadebroke for a moment, and in those scant seconds, Naruto could see her beautiful features overrun by the tide of negative emotions that cascaded out of her and caused the Cu Sith at the water's edge to whimper. The phantasmal beast's noise of discontent raised the Lady of the Lake from the tempest of frustration that had briefly overtaken her and sent an apologetic look to Naruto. "Forgive me," she said, almost sheepish in delivery while tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear, "Mine experience with thine teacher is one of antagonism and annoyance as it has been since Merlin was but a half-bred whelp proclaiming of Dragons sleeping beneath the mountain. That iridescent haired knave gave it to myself as recompense for using his Clairvoyance to gaze upon my unclothed form as I bathed one evening." She groused, unknowingly reminding Naruto of his godfather. "From what I hath gathered, Mamyadose had fallen into the hands of King Rience of Connacht to the west who ran afoul of Tir na Nog and the Seelie Fae. Merlin, on one of the floral brigand's many journeys, agreed to assist the Seele in bringing mischief to the one that had crossed them." Vivian said with an inflection of grim amusem*nt on the word 'mischief.'
Naruto rolled his eyes at that while Vivian held herself above many of her darker counterparts, she was still capable of vicious thoughts and taking enjoyment in misery, as was the way of the Fae. He sighed, "What did he do? Turn them into Tanuki's licking their own privates or something?" Naruto questioned, having once been on the receiving end of Merlin's so-called 'Magical chloroform' when the latter had wondered what Kurama's dreams tasted like.
Vivian smiled thinly, tempering her long elegant fingers, "If only it was something so simple and benign as mere transfiguration then mine temples would not be betwixt with such aggravation as I feel when recalling this tale. Neigh, he arrived on the eve of Samhain and begged hospitality from the little king who invited him to stay the night for the festival the following morn when the Seelie would arrive. That night did Merlin sneak herbal extracts most obtuse into the King's food so come the arrival of the Seele did the King's greeting consist of little more than uncontrollable defecation coinciding with his speech." She finished with a huff of annoyance, one that only grew in magnitude at Naruto's audible chuckle, "He made off into the night shortly after with Connacht's hounds on his heels, not without the progeny of Zeus' blade under his arm and having bedded all six of the King's daughters!"
The blonde Apostle did his best to maintain a neutral face as the story progressed, but soon his lips twitched upwards and wobbled with barely restrained amusem*nt until eventually, it became too difficult to hold back. Vivian, ever the prim and proper Fae, began to pout and let her cheeks redden in embarrassment. Soon after other sounds joined with Naruto's stifled chuckles, its infectious miasma drawing chitters from lesser Fae and pixies hidden in the trees to troops of fireflies that glowed in time with amusem*nt. Even the Cu Sith chuffed in amusem*nt at the tale of Merlin's acquisition of such a famous artifact, it had helped to somewhat brighten Vivian's somewhat dour mood that had taken hold of her as of late.
Wiping a small tear away from an amused red eye, Naruto slowly came down from his amusem*nt and slipped back into a semi-serious posture, face becoming neutral as Vivian continued. "From there he converted it into his Staff of Selection, but it had little use when the King chose the path of the sword instead of the Magus. I pray that this will be enough for you, my brother, to brave the evil that dwells in Morgan's domain."
Looking down at the staff once more, Naruto gently took hold of it to feel the aura of the thing wash over his arcane senses, feeling a bright light and warmth that resonated with his very being. Inspecting it once more, Naruto could see that there would be some adjustments to be made for the staff to be more battle-ready per se, "Thank you, milady." He said as he bowed his head slightly in respect to Vivian.
Holding the staff to his side, Vivan then spoke up, "As for what lies in wait for thou, Fell things are drawn to her power, misplaced though it may be…" Naruto listened intently to the Fae's words as he kept his attention on their meaning, "…the curse that inhabits these lands, the Umbra of civilizations light is a force that had long been formless. 'Tis only through our people's meddling and dalliances with Humanity's misery that it has become such a detestable stain on the world." Naruto furrowed his brows in slight confusion before he recalled Merlin telling him how the curse came to be, along with how Morgan was born a human girl before embracing her Fae heritage and becoming corrupted by it leading her to dabble in the Black Arts.
Such vagueness was par for the course with Fae and a century of life told the blonde to push on, Naruto voiced his own question, "So where did the Primeval Curse of Britain really come from?"
As the words left his throat, Vivan's expression changed to one of worry, along with a slight hint of fear if Naruto could guess, which did not make him at ease. She drew closer to him as Vivian carefully wrapped her arms around his waist before she moved her right hand up to the back of his head to whisper into his ear, "There was a time, when a great evil walked the Earth in the Age of Gods unseen, veiled by lies and trickery upon all… an evil that existed long before our birth, the White Titan's rampage, it is the shadow of civilization… we do not speak its name, for not even we know of its true name, merely one, a title that was fashioned to its likelihood…" Naruto was growing all the more worried by Vivian's words with the origin of the curse; something that was truly so evil and heinous that no one would speak its name out of fear? Names held power, a truth from both a magical and psychological standpoint that Naruto understood all too well. When Obito had begun his crusade under the Moon's Eye Plan, he had used Madara's name as his cover to incite great fear and hysteria amongst the Elemental Nations which was a testament to the power of a name.
"Formless, shapeless, silent yet ever-present, it is the shadow born to counterbalance civilization deep in the hearts of all capable of thought, hidden in shadows playing across cave walls. As time progresses and man generates their own light to beat back the fear of mystery, this shadow endures in physical form deep in the land of Britain, under even Avalon and the Reverse Side." Vivian explained cryptically in a whispery voice that somehow echoed over the pool's surface. "We Fae, the forebears of Avalon or Tir na Nog made sport of tormenting humans in spite of their civilization not caring that it fed this... this... Beast." Vivian said at last, a tremor going down her spine that Naruto felt as clear as a midsummers day.
"Beast?" Naruto questioned, keeping Vivian close for fear that she would bolt like some startled pixie, "It is a physical creature then, or was at some point in the past?" The Fae were, without a doubt, one of the scariest beings on the Reverse Side of the World when they put their minds to a task. The quality of weapons and artifacts that they could make, their manipulation of time and space as well as the general concentration of mana in the places they called home rivalled the now absent Gods. For Vivian, a scion of their race to be afraid of something was a perturbing thought to be sure.
The Lady of the Lake shook her head slowly and met her Apostle brother's gaze with reluctant eyes, some apparent uncertainty in them before speaking. "Perhaps once, and perhaps once again but right now it is merely an inert miasma of toxic karma endlessly spiraling within every rock, tree and river of Britain. A curse within the land and nothing more under the current circ*mstances." She finished, an open-ended answer that she had no intention of elaborating on from here.
Taking a step back as she let her hold on Naruto go, she smiled briefly before she held a finger up like a teacher would when they were about to begin a lecture, "Now. As for thou's upcoming actions, take heed. Too much light or darkness would be adverse for all, for some things are better left untouched." Naruto became visibly confused at her words as the Light Fae could see it in his mind for why he would likely question her words, "Thou must see, Morgan is the darkness of Britain, much as the usurper Vortigern before. Thine own power is the light of Britain, just as thou's beloved is now." She gently brought her right hand up to where she held her index and middle fingers that glowed a brilliant golden light as Excalibur did, "One must be careful with thou's actions, for they may result in great catastrophe."
Vivian brought her fingers up to Naruto's forehead before she gave him a mark that was reminiscent of four diamonds, two of which were connected vertically while the other two were horizontally apart on both sides of the other two. The mark glowed briefly before it faded, "I have given thou one last piece of my own power to aid thou in what is to come. For we pray for the safe return of thee and thy beloved, as well as the right choice made for the good of all. But know this, the both you will be welcome to Avalon in time."
And with that Vivian took a few steps back before the water began to turn, swirl and envelop Naruto to send him back to the Material World, yet it did nothing to stop him from trying to make sense of Vivian's words, "But what do you mean with the 'right choice'?" The water eventually made its way up to his head as it covered him yet did not restrict his voice, "Whatisthe right choice in all of this?"
Despite his vision being blurred with being sent back, Naruto could still hear Vivian's parting words, "Tis something only thee and thy beloved can decide upon."
-Present Time-
Those were the last words Vivian had given before he was spat back out into the real world with the staff alongside the new blessing he received from Vivian. He had contemplated just what exactly Vivian was trying to impart to him, "What did she mean, by 'the right choice'?" Sensing that Kurama was asleep given that he hadn't responded, Naruto opted to take a look at the finished work he had made on the Staff of Selection that Vivian had given him.
To bring the former blade of Herakles more in line with what Naruto would deem as a suitable method for him he had made strides towards that most vaunted of True Ancestor abilities, that of Marble Phantasm. While the blonde was perfectly aware that it would doubtless take him decades before he could crack the truth of the ability to bend the texture of the world to his whims, he had come to understand one facet of it in his work to develop a Reality Marble, clustering illusions.
By giving form to illusion and layering it one atop the other a True Ancestor could trick the probability of the World into bringing about something that was otherwise impossible, it was as if one had a bag of one white stone amidst ten black. The clustering of illusions would shift the probability so that the white stone could be drawn from the bag one hundred times, which was statistically unlikely. When applied to the act of forging it meant that otherwise impossible amounts of energy or abilities could be pinned to the created weapon, though what Naruto intended was beyond simply that.
Marmyadose was a Divine Construct and thus beyond the scope of humanity to reproduce under normal circ*mstances. Moreover, the materials, method of construction and history were lost to the mists of time in an age where that level of mystery was long lost.
But Naruto was not human, he was a Dead Apostle Ancestor with the vestiges of the Divine clinging to his body and soul which was just enough to trick the thaumaturgical systems preventing Marmyadose to return to a vestige of its former power.
Naruto had meditated heavily with the staff across his knees in his workshop with the forges blazing and allowed himself into a mental fugue. Residual Memories was a form of Magecraft that he was not particularly good with despite his considerable use of other mental Magecraft skills such as Thought Acceleration and Memory Partitions, and the further back one gazed with an item or location the fuzzier the memories would become.
For the first few days, he had sensed nothing beyond the mystery of the object across his knees from morning till noon and noon till night, an endeavor that had yielded nothing but frustration until the fourth day it finally clicked. Within the deep recesses of his mind, he felt the deeds of the great hero for whom the weapon had been forged like smoke rising from a long since snuffed fire he could feel the beats of Hephaestus hammer upon the Mythril and the blaze of Mount Etna scorching his back.
It was a peculiar out of body experience that he could not maintain for any more than an hour at a time before the smoke of memory faded back into the mists of time, but it was a start, and Naruto Uzumaki was nothing if not persistent. Soon enough he could feel more than see the life of the man born as Alcides, of a youthful boy wanting to make his way in the world with optimism that the world seemed all too happy to strip from him. Red eyes had fogged with grief not his own as great madness yielded to a crying man cradling his wife and child, setting out before an unjust king to seek his redemption.
In the half-awake hypnotized state, Naruto had worked for days on end shunning food and water to give form to the labors as best he could and cluster them around the staff, not truly reforging it but letting the hopeful glow of a man seeking redemption to cling to the present day in some way, and Gaia answered. With every staccato beat of the hammer or whir of a Lava Style Rasenshuriken at the heart of his forge, Naruto Uzumaki gave life to something long since past, yet forever yearned for.
After much work and many sleepless nights, Naruto had been able to conclude the forging of his newest masterpiece. It was almost unrecognizable from the original staff that Vivian had given him with only the upper staff and chevron remaining, and even those had undergone significant changes. The basket and wood assembly had been removed and melted down to allow for addition to the top chevron that now gleamed in Adamantine splendor enshrining a large aquamarine crystal mined from the mana rich earth of the former stronghold of the tyrant Vortigern. The bottom half of the staff was now a completely different story, the Mythril shaft of the staff feeding into a golden hilt and thick 'blade' that looked to glow as glimmering ivory and Adamantine. The handle of the 'blade' was protected by a stout, spiked heart shaped guard, and the 'blade' itself bore a striking resemblance to Avalon. The entire staff from top to tip glowed with some unseen light that the mind could not quite comprehend yet knew was there not unlike Excalibur, yet while the Sword of Promised Victory projected an intangible feeling of Invictus, Marmyadose gave off something else, something more humble yet equally radiant.
Hope.
A humbling presence that he had whenever he was in the presence of his lover and their daughter. Hope that made one feel at ease whenever they wished for something better than what was.
Speaking of them, Naruto decided to pay a visit to his lover and their homunculus-made daughter, "I should go see them since I'm free now." Placing the finished Marmyadose into a cushioned box, Naruto made his way down to the barracks where he had Mordred placed into a private room until he could figure out a good way to introduce her and Arturia to one another in a safe manner; one that didn't result in him getting punched in the face by Arturia.
Slapped? Maybe. He was acutely aware that the sabatons he had designed for her cataphract armor may end up reducing his testicl*s to mush for this, but the blonde was confident that he could regenerate from it. 'Gods I hope so… maybe a slap is wishful thinking at this point.'That he could deal with via date with tender loving, reasonable conversation along with a good dinner between the three of them to talk like parents and daughter.
Making his way through the castle, he was saluted by the guards that stood to attention when they passed on their patrols, along with a kind greeting from sweet little Gareth who was on her way to find her brothers in preparation for the upcoming mission. The subject of that discussion was most likely going to revolve around Morgan given she was the Orkney siblings biological mother, killing family; Naruto realized was something that must have weighed heavily on the younger two of the trio. 'Gareth and Gaheris might have been part of the opening stages of our final assault on Castle Vortigern, but they did not assist Gawain in striking down their uncle. The prospect of Matricide must be... disquieting for them.'Naruto thought, exiting one of the palace's side entrances and beginning to traverse Camelot's high walled streets.
Eventually, Naruto made it down to the training grounds where he saw Mordred sparring with a newcomer; one who could very well have the makings of a Round Table member just as Mordred and Galahad do. His name was Ywain, for at the moment he appeared to be on the same level as his Little Mo was.
Ywain was perhaps a few years Mordred's biological senior with handsome features that fell in line with what many would call 'Princely', a sharp chin and high cheekbones paired off well with dark grey eyes with a dash of blue. His straight black hair was well ordered save a large lock-like fringe that fell over the left side of his nose. Standing at six feet exact, he was clad in a set of well-made matte black knight's armor that fitted tightly to his lithe yet athletic form. The cuirass was separated into two well defined upper and lower sections made slightly differently colored metal plates, the lower fit tightly to his ribcage and waist while the upper plate covering his clavicle to the beginning of his neck bore the heraldry of a gold lion on a pale blue plane; two white tassels with cross charms hung from either side of the plate as ornamentation. As with many of Camelot's knights, Ywain had rounded-off shoulder guards under which was pinned a knee-length black cape with white edging that swayed lightly against his greave and sabaton clad legs. His gauntlet and vambraces were two pieces of well-hammered steel with hinging at the wrist to allow for movement were resting against his waist where a matte black longsword was sheathed, though of note was the twin bandoliers of throwing knives slung around his waist as well.
Mordred parried Ywain's strike as she shifted her weight to drive the pommel to her opponent's midsection, only for Ywain to quickly step back before he brought his sword up high to deliver a vertical slash to the head. Mordred though instinctively brought her sword up to block the oncoming attack, "Come on! That was easy to see coming! It ain't an edged blade, so swing it like you mean it!"
Mordred taunted Ywain slightly, as she brought her sword down slightly to push Ywain back before he settled into a stance with a calm smile, "I should hope so, Mordred. Otherwise, our spar would become rather stale."
"You're a smart one, eh? Well, don't worry, I've still got plenty more to go before I beat you."
"If you can, then please… do come…"
Mordred did not take the invitation for battle lying down, launching herself forwards with a kick aimed squarely for the center of Ywain's chest aiming to knock him onto his back quickly. Ywain was a spry one though and sidestepped the initial rush and used it as the impetus for his own attack, swinging his training sword across Mordred's left side with hopes of landing a blow on her left arm. Mordred, however, had inherited the unpredictability of Naruto whether she knew it or not, letting her momentum from the earlier kick carry her forwards and pivoting on her right foot to perform a front flip. As her helmeted form went inverted the sabaton clad left foot caught the flat side of Ywain's sword kicking it wide before pirouetting in mid-air to bring her own sword to slash Ywain's right vambrace with a metallic clang.
Ywain grimaced as the vibrations went up his arm from the successfully scored hit but decided to keep the spar going, noting that Naruto's presence was the blessing to kick things up a notch. Making a chopping motion with his left arm allowed Ywain to draw forth four throwing knives from his bandoleros and send them whizzing at Mordred while the ravenette used the breather they afforded him to get some distance. Mordred tsked in annoyance and used her training sword to deflect the four razor-sharp blades that dug into the ground before she set off in pursuit of her partner. Ywain stepped in to meet her bringing down his training sword with all his might in an overhead helm splitter that Mordred met with a bark of joy.
Devolving into a blade lock, Ywain began to sweat as Mordred's greater strength was brought to bear on his blade, weary arms trembling slightly under the abuse while his training sword began to bow dangerously. Taking his left hand off of the hilt of the blade allowed it to twist downwards and let Mordred's own strength send her sword sliding towards the floor. What Ywain had not been counting on was Mordred letting go of her training sword entirely to launch a blistering straight punch right to the center of his cuirass. It was in this moment that Ywain showed a spontaneity and swiftness of thought worthy of praise, knowing that he was too close to dodge the punch he reached out with his free hand to Mordred's still falling sword and took it into his own. Just prior to Mordred leaving a sizable dent in his chest plate, the black-clad knight was able to cross both training swords edge out into the path of the oncoming fist.
From the sidelines, Naruto watched on approvingly as the pair executed such spontaneous moves and had to give credit to Ywain's action even if it would not stop Mordred, as was proved when the clenched steel fist thundered home against the crossed blades with a subsonic 'wump'. A shockwave of pressure expanded out from the point of impact sending the young man skidding backwards while both of his swords shattered under the force of the punch. Forced to let go of both weapons, Ywain was sent tumbling back a dozen feet coming to rest on his front under the shade of an old Yew tree. Mordred on the other hand, took this as evidence that she had won, thumping her hand against the center of her cuirass in a small celebration. "Not bad, beansprout! You're the only one out of this lot to give me a run around so far!" Mordred proclaimed boisterously before moving to help her training partner up.
Between the potential Round Table recruits, Mordred, Galahad and Ywain each held high aptitude for becoming members, having created a bit of a rivalry to see who among them was the most worthy of joining the King of Knights' highest order of knights. Galahad wished to join as a way to grow closer to his father, Lancelot, but to also continue carrying on the ideals that they all held to the next generation. Mordred wanted to join because she admired the King and Naruto, wanting to be just like them in a place where she felt that she belonged. As for Ywain, Naruto couldn't quite tell why he had joined, only noting how he was in a way, empty, in a similar way that he once was before he met Arturia. If anything, Ywain was looking for a purpose of his own in life, having joined the army several months ago; coupled with this little bit of friendly sparring with Mordred and Galahad at times, Naruto could see that the young man was slowly finding camaraderie in their group.
"As much as I'm sure the two of you want to keep things going…" Naruto said as he approached the dueling duo, both of whom had stopped to turn towards the Apostle smiling at them, "…I had hoped to speak with Mordred in private, Ywain. I hope you don't mind that?"
Ywain stood up straight as he gave a slight bow in salute before heading off back to the barracks, "Not at all, milord." He said before briskly jogging to the entrance of the field, as he made his way to the barracks, Ywain turned his head slightly towards Mordred as he spoke, "I do hope we can continue our duel at another time, Mordred."
Hefting the practice sword onto her shoulder and tapping it against her pauldrons twice, Mordred smirked behind her helm, "Oh don't worry. We'll pick up where we left off sometime later. But I'll still win in the end, maybe give you a few scars girly boy!" She chuckled at the small jest she made before Ywain smirked back as he waved it off before leaving the training ground.
Naruto turned towards Mordred as he gestured for them to head to her private room, to which she still didn't like, "Mom, why do I have to stay in my own room, away from the rest of the recruits?" She didn't want any special treatment as she wanted to prove her worth just like the rest of the recruits, just as Ywain did. Even more so to showcase that she could become a squire like Galahad was to one of the Round Table members. Mordred had hoped that her mother would pick her up once she had climbed up through the training camp, to become a full soldier, and earn her place at the Inner Circle. Some of the other recruits grumbled that she was getting special treatment from one of the inner circle, and despite not getting any looks, she could hear some of the jealousy in their whispers at being given a room of her own coupled with some of the rumors of who made sure she was given such things; the words 'vampiric devilry' had been said more than a handful of times. However, there was an overwhelming majority of appraisal from the recruits and trainers that witnessed her skill with a blade.
For Naruto, he had reasons to keep Mordred away from the other recruits since women weren't allowed in this society to take up arms in the army or become knights. Coupled with being the daughter of himself and Arturia that bore features that even the most dimwitted village idiot could see came from the King and her shadowy retainer. The prejudices of Britain were not yet culled enough to stop the fallout of a child not born of marriage from the King and Queen, the scandal alone was something that he did not want to even contemplate.
"Well for starters, other than your gender, I have my reasons." Opening the door, Naruto gestured for Mordred to head inside first before shutting the door behind the both of them and tracing a 'Hush' sigil in the air, "Not only that, I want to make sure that you're safe." Since detaining Agravain Naruto had become borderline paranoid that Morgan may try to take her away, that was not happening while he could still keep his daughter close and protect her from the witch. To him, he would do anything and everything to keep his little girl safe.
Was this what his own parents had felt on the night of his birth? Being willing to impale themselves to protect him from harm even at the cost of their lives and in his father's case afterlife. He did not regret slamming his fist into his dad's chakra-construct stomach for what he did but being a parent had given him a shade more understanding.
Removing her helm, Mordred shook her head from left to right to let her hair return to its usual spiky ponytail now that she was out of public view, the years of conditioning a psychological trauma inflicted by Morgan to maintain secrecy had left their mark, "I can take care of myself, mom." Mordred said indignantly, not liking the clear special treatment Naruto was giving her, though she would never admit that she was embarrassed by his actions of paternal affection given how starved she was for it. As paradoxical as it may be, Mordred desired her 'mother's' love with all her heart but wanted to earn it on her own.
Naruto merely arched a brow as he chuckled at his Little Mo's response, "Well, anyway, I wanted to drop by, see how you're doing." The blonde took a seat on a wooden bench as Mordred began to remove parts of the armor before she sat down to wipe the sweat off her brow with a towel she had been provided with by Naruto, "I can see you've been honing your skills alongside Ywain and Galahad."
Setting the towel aside and abandoning her current attempt to unbuckle her sheath, Mordred turned to Naruto to address his observations, "Yeah, I've been trying to get better, though I kinda feel… out of place when I see everyone else going about their business." Naruto knew that Mordred was different when it came to the other recruits. Where they learned the refined and somewhat elegant way of fighting from the Round Table and their chosen subordinates, Mordred had her fighting style practically beaten into her by Morgan's choice of trainer. She fought with ferocity and unrelenting power that could knock down just about anyone; even Gawain and Lancelot would have to watch out for her sheer power once fully perfected, then likely only Arturia or himself could match evenly.
Naruto reached around to pull her in close for a hug as he spoke, "I think it's because you already have a bit of a leg up on everyone else with your training." Mordred turned towards Naruto as he continued, "Mordred, you have so much potential and talent, with a good part of it already developed putting you above the average recruit by leaps and bounds. That means that it will take longer to find your limits and push beyond them, things that others struggle to achieve you can do with ease." Naruto assured her, reminding him of the feeling of alienation that could come from facing no challenge in a specific field, "All we need to do is find those limits and areas that require work, which is something you and I will be working on together after I return from our task tomorrow night with the King." Once they had dealt with Morgan, Naruto planned to help promote Mordred to the Round Table to help hone her power and abilities given the higher quality of training the group subjected themselves to maintain their positions as Britain's greatest knights.
But another part of Naruto hoped that Mordred's presence could help drag them out of the rough patch that he and Arturia had been getting into since his lover had been forgoing personal happiness in favor of duties as the King. In some ways, the thought of doing such a thing disgusted him, but a quiet voice in the back of his mind just wanted his little family to get to know one another, even if he was still formulating a plan on how to break the news to Arturia.
Mordred perked up at the news, "Really?" Naruto nodded in response, though Mordred's eyes narrowed upon processing the last section of her mother's words, "But wait, what task are you doing tomorrow night?" She had to admit, she was curious as to what it was since they weren't in wartime, it seemed odd that Naruto would be sent off with the King with so little fanfare dripping down to the other soldiers, "Is it another lord trying to start some coup?" If so, then she wanted to accompany them.
Taking a deep breath in, Naruto decided to tell his daughter in a show of faith, "No, it's not a lord we're going to deal with. We're going to put an end to Morgan le Fay."
The air seemed to drop around Mordred as her head turned so quickly one could almost hear the slight snap. For Naruto, such panicked and frantic movements made his blood boil towards the topical Fae, yet did not let it show on his face. Naruto inched closer as he wrapped his arms around Mordred who shivered ever so slightly in fear at the mention of Morgan's name. No doubt, that fear had been ingrained into her being by whatever Morgan had done to Mordred for whatever sake of her designs, yet he would not allow that Fae whor* to continue plaguing their lives… "Mordred, once we return, shewill neverharm you, or anyone else, ever again. I promise you."
He hugged his child tightly, her own leeth arms returning the hug with bone-crushing strength, "Please, come back, mom." She whispered through her sharp breaths as the mixture of both fear and worry permeated in her tone.
Naruto leant down and planted a kiss on Mordred's head as he stroked her hair gently to try and comfort the scared child of what horror could occur should the worst happen, "I will." They remained holding one another in this moment and through the rest of the day, a parent comforting a child that their nightmare would soon end.
-Rome; Capital of the Roman Empire-
Having finished the dark ritual that would culminate through time, Morgan returned to her workshop where her Acolytes had finished working on her own gift to Lucius Tiberius, the upstart emperor that was likely the only real power that could rival Camelot at this point, though it was kept at bay by Arturia's allies in Europa through political influence and decent favors traded.
Now though, she had kept her fair guise as Morgause, one of several names and forms she took on to deceive others. Taking her stroll through the streets filled with people to the palace where Tiberius reigned from, Morgan recalled the history that led Rome up to this point.
In short, the current state of the empire was terrible, having become a shadow of its former self with the majority of the infrastructure had broken off to form the Byzantine Empire. They had suffered a series of powerless puppet emperors dancing to the strings of a corrupt Senate that elevated then killed emperors when they had served their use, sometimes multiple within a single year. Many ancient titles such as consul had long since lost their meaning and were doled out as party favors. However, things had been changing these last few years since the latest, and some argued 'Final Emperor' had been raised to the imperial throne.
Tiberius' rise to power had been like many of the dozens of puppet emperors that had come before him, a stopgap measure to prevent a full-blown insurrection from whatever demographic was proving hard to control that year. In this case, it had beenExercitus Romanus,specifically Legions two through to twenty-one of the twenty-eight standing legions of Rome.
A dedicated student of war, Legatus Legionis Gaias Lucius Hiber Tiberius was elected as Emperor after his prowess on the battlefield was noted by winning over twenty battles against seemingly impossible odds. His ascension had brought the unruly legions in line and bolstered the morale of the populace to levels not seen since Constantine the Great two and a half centuries prior. This ended up being problematic for the one that had elected him to the position as not only had Tiberius done the job that they had elected him for -quieting the legions- but his popularity was posing a threat to their rule. So as many times before the Senate arranged for anunfortunate accidentto befall the Emperor of Rome, but when the Senate tried to dispose of him after outliving his usefulness, he fought back and murdered almost all of them in one fell swoop before beginning his bloody campaign to reclaim lost territories. While the people have suffered under his reign, they seemed to have become oblivious to their own suffering, rallying behind Tiberius as the first real force of the old empire's glory in two hundred years.
"What an easy man to use…" Morgan whispered to herself. Yes, Tiberius would prove useful in helping her dethrone her sister, even if he only held a single purpose. Approaching the palace itself, Morgan made her way up the steps up until she was halted wordlessly by a few guards crossing their wicked-looking halberds across the entrance.
"State your purpose, plebeian." The lead guard ordered with an authoritative air, "Or go back to the rest of the rabble in the streets."
Knowing full well that she needed to ensure she had an audience, Morgan's eyes glowed with a dull purple light that slowly leached its way into their waking minds, "My name is Morgause, the Bringer of Gifts, and I have come bearing one for your Emperor."
The guards hefted their weapons as their pupils dilated coupled with the lead guard's monotone voice, "Apologies my lady, follow me closely to the throne room." Morgan followed behind the lead guard as they made their way through the palace halls that were filled with servants and carpenters fashioning exquisite décor to the structure of the palace, be they walls, floors or the ceiling, it appeared that Tiberius was one to indulge in his power with such things despite their vulgarity.
Eventually, they were brought to a large pair of double doors that stood twelve feet tall, open to showcase the throne room in its splendor rebuilt to what once was lost from the fall of the old Empire. As Morgan was led inside, the lead guard approached a nearby table with whom Morgan saw was Tiberius himself, sitting down before a parchment of what appeared to be structural schematics as he took a knee before Tiberius, "My Lord Emperor, you have a guest. A Bringer of Gifts, Morgause is her name."
Not even bothering to look up from the parchments, Tiberius responded, "And what gift would some plebeian, a commoner, have for an Emperor of Rome such as I?" There was something about the man, something hiding within his voice and presence that set off alarm bells in Morgan's mind, a familiarity she could not quite place.
"One fit for an Emperor, such as yourself," Morgan replied to garner the man's attention towards her.
"Oh? Would you care to prove such a thing, woman?" Standing from the table, the notions that Rome's current emperor was some simpering boy with wet lips from his mother's teat were banished in one glance upon his figure. Tall, he was without a doubt a beast of a man standing at seven feet tall with broad shoulders and a well-muscled chest that could only be earned by years, nay, decades of endless graft and practice in the pursuit of physical perfection on the field of battle. He could have been called handsome had his face not been set in such a contemptuous grin, splitting otherwise delicate features to reveal the monster hiding underneath but that was nothing compared to his eyes; highlighted as they were by his thicket of messy crimson hair. His eyes were a vibrant and intense violet that gave the illusion of glowing amidst the flickering shadows cast by the nearby crackling hearth, filled with such endless ambition and will to move forward that had she been a lesser person, Morgan would have considered taking a step back in trepidation.
Yet she was not.
This was a man who wanted the world and would not settle until all walked under his banner, an admirable quality had it not been offset by such a manic demeanor. Compared to the gleaming silver of the knights of Britain, the Emperor wore matte grey plate armor with a hint of yellow playing across the surface like tarnished gold, frivolous yet undeniably practical with a thickness that a warhammer would have trouble denting and several grooves inset to allow blood to slues off without additional cleaning needing to be done. However, without a doubt, the ruler's most defining piece of clothing was the calf-length coat slung around his shoulders, predominantly black with vivid red lapels and a royal purple collar edged with gold leaf finery and pinned to his shoulders by a pair of golden tasseled epaulettes.
Morgan gave a wry smirk, one that wasn't unnoticed by Tiberius whose own dipped down at the unspoken challenge he made clear as day, "Indeed I do." Holding her hands out in front of her, Morgan conjured forth from her black mist a sword within an ornate, crimson scabbard, "A sword fit for an Emperor unlike any other."
Morgan did not bother to unsheathe the blade, but instead opted for Tiberius to approach her slowly, coming around the edge of the table until he stood opposite of her to stare at the sheathed blade and herself before he took hold of the sword in mild curiosity then smiling in what he thought would be a win on his part, "I sincerely doubt that a plebian…" Tiberius began to unsheathe the blade before he slowed down to see that he was going to eat his words, "…such as yourself… could… present a blade, like this…"
It was a greatsword not unlike Clarent in overall design with the same rounded guard and tasseled pommel, but that was where the similarities to the Apostle's creation stopped. Indeed, this sword was some two feet longer than the average greatsword with a predominantly silver blade, the edges of the entire thing were of sanguine shading that faded the further into the blade they went and were seemingly slick even when the blade itself was dry; it looked as if it were slick with freshly drawn blood. The silver body of the sword was thick with neatly inscribed etchings depicting floral designs from guard to tip in a black so dark it seemed to suck in the light of the surrounding area yet left the gleam of that crimson edge and silver body untouched in their radiant splendor.
It indeed was the blade of an Emperor, yet the aura it gave off would give all those that looked upon it a queer shiver up their spine, the beautiful artistry of a flower's path to the sun being twisted towards something foul and inhuman yet lacking any of the grace of the phantasmal Fae. "The name of this blade is Florent. As I said, 'tis a blade fit only for an Emperor such as yourself." With those last words, she was finally able to understand what it was about this Tiberius that was tickling feelings of remembrance in her waking mind, he was like her son Gawain. Indeed, within his strong and without a doubt well-trained body Morgan could feel that there were not one but several different fragments of divine blessings clinging to Tiberius like Ivy upon a castle wall.
Tiberius held the blade aloft and allowed his power to thumb to the surface into the new sword that this potential ally had gifted him, the lines and streaks of red beginning to glow as a thick shroud of mana the color of freshly spilt blood enshrined it. The entire throne room was illuminated in this horrific beauty while the last emperor began to chuckle lowly, "A far off woman comes off bearing a gift to a Roman Emperor which resonates with the powers of my divine ancestors, yes, this is indeed a most fortuitous day!" The redhead proclaimed lifting the blade aloft and walking to the open window. Outside the palace, the citizens of Rome would look up to the palace of their emperor where a majestic, yet terrible power poured forth under the cloudy evening sky. Taking the greatsword in both hands and raising it high above his head, a great pillar of sanguine mana rocketed into existence to tower far over the capital before Tiberius cleaved Florent heavenward with a jubilated cry. Like a certain Holy Sword, a beam of utter destruction was cast up into the cloudy sky in an arc, splitting clouds and evaporating them all at once.
With a boom of thunder that reached over the seven hills of Rome, the heavens parted to the will of Tiberius, a black yet open sky that had the people of the city dancing in marvel of their leader's power.
Morgan could only smile, oh what an ally she had made.
-The Next Afternoon; Camelot-
Having finished making the preparations for the upcoming raid, Naruto made his way to the Round Table meeting hall as Arturia made it known that all those involved with leading the upcoming mission must attend. Having spent some time with Mordred for the day, Naruto made it a priority to ensure that he would make a recommendation to Arturia for her to join the Round Table along with ensuring she would have the chance to prove herself in everyone's eyes without drawing too much suspicion to herself until the time was right to explain everything to them.
Opening the doors to the hall of the Round, Ehangwen, Naruto took up his place at the desk on Arturia's right where the rest of the inner circle had assembled, all of whom had chosen to not wear armor, opting for a more relaxed atmosphere before they jumped into the fire. Merlin was over in Londinium speaking with one of the leading Magi families that were currently constructing the eventual new Association branch. Taking in their expressions, Naruto could see that some measure of anxiety was present in everyone, most notably Gawain and his siblings and with good reason. Bedivere and Tristan appeared calm as could be with what they were about to set out on, as did the rest of the Round Table, although when he briefly looked to see Lancelot's own facial features, he could see that it was eerily similar to how Naruto was after his first time with Arturia; he appeared relaxed though with a glow of a great weight lifted off his shoulders.
Perhaps he found a kind woman in the city to have a relationship with? He pondered asking the Frankish knight after all of this was said and done, but discarded it, not wanting to pry too much into his life since Lancelot helped him and Arturia conceal their relationship. It was best to respect his own possible, budding relationship with this mystery woman.
Arturia turned her head slightly to glance at Naruto taking his seat, "Naruto, I'm glad you've arrived in time. We were just about to start the meeting."
"Apologies, my king." Naruto said as he situated himself, "I had to tend to some personal business alongside finishing up a project for the upcoming raid." Having finished the staff's design into a proper weapon that fit himself, Naruto was confident in its capability.
Arturia waved it off as if were nothing, "That is alright." Turning back to the rest of Round Table occupants, Arturia began, "Given all the time has passed since we were made alert to my sister's location, I hope that everyone here has made the proper preparations for what is to come." Seeing that no one spoke up, she took it as confirmation to continue on with the next subject, "Until we return, Sir Kay…" She said turning towards her foster brother who came to attention, "…you will remain as Lord Regent of Camelot until such time."
"I understand, my King." Kay responded respectfully with a nod, "I'll need to send word to a few people around to help keep order while you're gone." He wasn't as skilled as Ector was, and despite the last time having been left as Lord Regent, it was difficult to maintain order in the absence of his sister. The endless stream of questions had driven him to partake of the bottle far more than before stepping into his father's shoes.
"Do you trust these people to help govern fairly? Woe betides any that would abuse your good nature to take advantage of your forgiving heart" Arturia asked, not sure as to whether or not these people could be trusted to help her brother.
Kay could see the doubt in Arturia, but it wasn't misplaced, "Of course I do, although having a few other members of our court here could help as well, more so." Which in turn would help out with ensuring that the capital ran smoothly so long as the people could see that they were still under their protection.
"I see then…" Arturia mulled it over in her head of who would remain at the capital, along with whom they would need for this deadly raid coming up, "Percival, Palamedes…." She said, drawing their attention, "…shall the two of you remain behind in the capital to safeguard it?"
Percival was the first to respond, "If you believe it is best, I shall remain, my king."
"As shall I." Palamedes responded in kind.
It seemed that issue was settled, Sir Bors and king Pellinore also volunteering to assist managing the home front, both of whom, while were strong and skilled fighters, felt that their age and lack of innate unique or outstanding ability would be the weak link in the mission to Morgan's base. As such, they had chosen to remain in the capital as before and help Kay, Percival and Palamedes.
Nodding in affirmation, Arturia was about to launch into the logistics of their assault, that is until a rapping came from the door, "Enter, please."
The doors opened up for a man garbed in a scaled set of leather armor along with a cloak drawn over his head to help obscure his identity, "Apologies, my king. But I have important information on hand." It was one of Naruto's spies that had gone to ground after Agravain's bewitching months prior.
Naruto gestured for the spy to come closer, to which he handed him a parchment before making his way to the door and bowed before leaving the chamber. The guards closed the door as Naruto read through the contents before sighing in mild annoyance, "Perfect timing…" Dropping his hand with parchment in hand, Naruto rubbed his brows causing Arturia to grow slightly concerned.
"What has happened, Naruto?"
Naruto handed her the parchment as he cleared his throat; seeing that the rest of the Round Table had grown curious at his change in demeanor, "Lord Cerdic has been secretly gathering troops to fight under his banner..." Bedivere and Gawain's expressions were set in annoyed disbelief while Lancelot sighed in exhaustion at the news, "…it seems the mercy you had shown to him years ago was for naught…" he said to Arturia who narrowed her eyes as she read the details, "…he has grown tired of the regime we set up for the people. And now intends to march down south here with the intent to sabotage the capital's supply lines, convince guards to become turncoats, and crown himself as the King of Britain." The Apostle remembered all too well the unification years they were in when they began fighting against the chaos, some of the lords did not see Arturia as their king with the intent to overthrow her.
They had other ideas in mind.
Yet after forgiving the lords, allowing them to keep their lands and soldiers, giving them a second chance to showcase their devotion for their country. Even after making peace with the country, disposing of Vortigern, pushing off the foreign invaders, and establishing the greatest city in Britain's history… it seemed they grew bored with peace and decided to be resentful. Yet at the same time, the lords could not see Arturia as human, with her ever-growing yearning for perfection, not allowing her humanity to show to the people that she too was one of them.
Handing the parchment back to Naruto, Arturia's hands had balled into fists before a mask of neutrality took over, "We do not have the manpower to go put down both my sister and Lord Cerdic at the same time or one after another." She would've preferred taking care of something like this minor task first before mounting an attack on Morgan's lair, yet if she did so, she believed that if they dallied too long, then they would lose the element of surprise on her sister. Agravain, bewitched as he was by Naruto's Mystic Eyes, had been sending his usual report to Morgan save for being tweaked under Naruto's hand to make sure no truly valuable information was given away, or that the mole in their ranks was compromised. There could be NO margin for error with this or else lose surprise.
Tristan opened his eyes from their usual squint at Arturia's short dismissal of their latest problem, "My king. I understand that the evil that Morgan inflicts on Camelot, Britain and its people is great, but if left unattended, would not a rebellious lord be just as terrible to deal with?" In his mind, while Morgan was a dagger in the back just waiting, yet at the same time, a rebellious lord was gangrenous flesh upon the fine musculature of the country's body that grew more toxic by the day. To leave it unattended was to invite chaos and potential ruin.
Naruto broke the silence with a solution to the problem that fell in line with both his own desires and those of the realm, "I believe I have a way to deal with this, as well as showcase two promising recruits that they can help fill in the seats of the Round Table." This was it.
Arturia turned back to Naruto having taken her seat once more at the table, her features softening as she witnessed a giddiness glinting behind his eyes, it had been months since she had seen that, "What did you have in mind?" If Naruto was offering up a solution to a situation as thorny as this, then she didn't mind listening to what he had in mind.'Perhaps once my sister and this last Lord fall then I can make amends for my mistake that evening.'She thought with shadows of self-loathing, months later and she still despised herself for what she had told the man she loved in that second of shortsightedness.
"Two of our most promising recruits, the young Mordred and Ywain have been training with vigor, seeking to climb the ranks to become leaders, just as the rest of us here at this table." He knew well enough that Mordred held some of that same charisma that Arturia held, just as he did before when he was still human. Mordred's style of battle relied on using overwhelming power and shrewd cunning to win a fight; being able to adapt quickly on the fly along with pushing through whatever pain was inflicted on her, yet she needed someone to act as a counterbalance to these qualities. Ywain was able to keep a calm and collected mind, looking at things with an analytical eye before acting; ensuring that he could find the surest path to victory. Although if anything, Mordred was the one who could just charge through whatever he had in mind.
"The two of their skills complement one another." Naruto began to explain things, knowing that this would convince her, "Mordred is headstrong and courageous; he yearns to prove himself as a member of the Round Table. Ywain wishes to find a place for him in Camelot, hoping through his work, that he can discover the kind of man he is." It was plain as day that Naruto was reminded of how he had been when first finding himself amongst Arturia's retinue, "I can have my network get ahold of the plans to Lord Cerdic's fortress by tomorrow. Send Mordred and Ywain to lead a small contingent of soldiers to put this rebellion down before it starts, whereas we continue on with our initial plans to assault Morgan's lair."
Arturia nodded in recognition of those names. Mordred was perhaps the most devout and outspoken of the recruits, according to the reports from Lancelot and the Master at Arms, the horn-helmed knight would be the first to verbally defend Arturia should any detract her. Mordred was one of the recruits who got up the earliest to train and the last to leave the grounds to his private barracks, yet the young recruit always wore a helm, which Arturia found to be a strange thing but what were they all of not a mass of contradictions and eccentricities? Perhaps he held some disfiguring injury under that helm that he was too vain to show to the world, if true then that was not good, vanity could prove to be deadly when commanding troops into battle.
Yet, she could see that Mordred held so much potential. When Arturia permitted herself enough leave of duty- a rarity these days- she found herself watching the recruits training and the silver knight with horned helm never disappointed in showing the willpower of a leader, if a little rough around the edges.
As for Ywain, Arturia could see the similarity in how the young man was to Naruto upon their first few weeks together. She saw no problem with Ywain wishing to look for his place in the world through joining the ranks of their army. If it aided Naruto in his journey, then so too shall it help Ywain, "Very well then." Understanding that this was the only solution they had on hand, Arturia acknowledged the plan and continued on with the meeting that would ensure the downfall of Morgan.
Once they concluded the meeting, it was agreed that other than Kay, Bors, Pellinore, Palamedes and Percival, all of the Round Table would take part in the mission, coupled with forty of their best, bravest and most skilled soldiers, including the young Galahad.
Despite his status as a squire, even if to one of the Round Table's most senior members, his skill was without question head and shoulders above your average knight, coupled with his choice in using a sizeable cruciform shield, allowing him to be able to protect several of their soldiers in this deadly mission.
With everyone having left for their rooms to prepare for the raid, Naruto and Arturia remained behind to speak in private, "You know, once we've taken care of your sister, maybe we can go out on a date?" Naruto said as he and Arturia held hands across from one another, "Like our first one? Fresh food, fresh sea air, dancing on the waves…" He listed off, "…cuddling together after a nice night." Mentioning the intimate nights in bed they shared prior to Arturia's change after killing Vortigern.
Arturia sighed lightly as she closed her emerald green eyes before gazing back at Naruto's vivid red, "As much as I would enjoy it, I must ensure that there is no political fallout from either Morgan's dying gasp or the preemptive strike against this infant rebellion. I can guarantee at least some of the barons will see it as an unwarranted attack the like of which they knew my late uncle for." The King of Knights could see the pain in Naruto's eyes over the rejection of his offer. Memories of her blonder from months prior swam before her eyes like seafoam washing onto the beach, Arturia quickly attempted to remedy it before it swept away any lingering chance of making amends, "But, I do not wish for us to continue like this. Being… distant…" She tried to find the right words, yet her throat ached to speak the truth, "…I want things to be like they were before. Like we used to." She reached up to his face to bring him down to her level as she placed a firm, yet soft kiss on her lover's lips who returned the affection and held her love closely before they broke, "But for now, we have work to do, my love." She stroked the right side of his face affectionately with his own calloused fingers rising to caress the back of her hand in understanding.
He would've brought up his conversation with Vivian over their choice to kill Morgan, being the right choice; however, he opted against it. Naruto simply wanted to be selfish for once in his life and have this moment and all of what he and Arturia built together to himself.
In another part of the castle, another pair of secret lovers were saying their own words before the great leap into the abyss.
Guinevere aided Lancelot in strapping his armor on as he stared out through the window, into the evening sky with night approaching, "Are you certain that your son should accompany you as well as the other Round Table knights? This seems to be too much for someone as young as him." Guinevere asked as she finished with the final straps to his chest plate. Over the months she had spent with Lancelot in secret, the queen often found herself watching from afar to see how the man she had come to love treated his bastard son. She had hoped that the two would grow close to one another. However, that wasn't the case…
Lancelot was unsure of how to approach Galahad, in trying to be a father to him. In his eyes, Galahad was practically a grown man that knew where his beliefs and priorities lay, "Galahad has come into his own without me. As much as I should have attempted to ensure we get to know one another, I fear that perhaps he has resented me for fathering him as a bastard." It didn't help that the family he was raised into weren't entirely on good terms with his own, and likely had told the boy of how he was hardly the spitting image of what a noble knight was. It didn't help that his concept of fatherhood was skewed by the River Fae that had assisted in his raising, they were very much the 'go with the cosmic flow' sort and had imparted on him enjoyment as opposed to responsibility. It took years of serving with the King to learn that one.
Guinevere however, refused to see it that way, "I do not believe that." She tightened the last strap on… a little too tightly for Lancelot's liking. A clear showing that the Queen was not satisfied by his reasoning, "Once you return, with the evil Fae put down, and with the stabilization of the kingdom, we will work through this." She reached up to Lancelot's jaw to turn his attention towards her, "Your queen has spoken."
If there was one thing that Lancelot could say about Guinevere, it was her tenacity to see through whatever it was she wished to do. Yet, it was a quality that Lancelot admired in her. With the last of his armor now strapped on, Lancelot turned to face the queen as they wrapped their arms around one another lovingly, "Very well… I can see that you are quite adamant on this matter."
The queen smiled, "Good. Now, before you go, your queen has one more thing for you to fight for." Bringing his face down towards her, Guinevere placed a loving kiss on his lips which the Knight of the Lake returned it in kind. It was a conflicting kiss; one that held him questioning the love he had for Guinevere, a woman who had taken vows before the almighty, despite it all being a farce for their kingdom, he still held his loyalty to his king. A loyalty that he swore to uphold along with the secret affair she had with his Apostle friend.
And yet… he was unsure which he held closer to himself.
-Several Hours Later; Northern Wales-
As the company assigned to the raid rode through the hills and plains of the country, many held their tongues at the atmosphere that had been drawn up about them.
Dread. Fear. Nervousness. Yet they all knew that this raid was the final battle to eradicate evil from their great country of Britain.
Naruto continued to mull over Vivian's words if perhaps imprisoning Morgan was the better option or if executing her still was far safer for them all. On top of keeping an eye on Agravain to see if his enchantment would keep hold over his mind.
Lancelot questioned his own loyalty briefly before reaffirming himself before they leapt into the abyss.
Tristan questioned Arturia's slowly degrading humanity despite the best efforts of those closest to her.
Gawain and his siblings had resolved themselves to see this through, yet despite Morgan's evil, she was still their mother who at one point in time, was not truly evil in life.
As the company traversed the hills and plains, they transitioned into forests for some time, until they arrived at a pair of mountains that scraped the sky with a large, calm lake that presented itself to them. Naruto had taken the lead alongside Arturia and Agravain whom Naruto also presented in part of discovering the location of the lair, held a hand up for their company to halt at the tree line before they exited into the clearing, "Hold. We are here…"
Dismounting Dun Stallion, Naruto carefully crept up to the clearing before he stopped entirely, "…an immensely powerful Bounded Field surrounds this land. It feels dark, old and full of hate." Speaking aloud mostly to himself, knowing that the rest of their company heard him.
Arturia came up behind him as she wondered how Morgan was able to hide in such a place, "How is it that Morgan has concealed herself and her lair here?"
"The Black Arts, my king, and something else…" Naruto spoke as he took Marmyadose from his back to undo the Bounded Field, "…its power is both a great source that many other mages would kill to have, yet it has a terrible curse that accompanies said power." Naruto began to channel his mana through the staff to charge up his spell to tear down the veil before them,"Cé ná ulco sís nurtaina... I ettuluvas caninye!"(1)Naruto spoke in the language that Vivan and the Fae used as opposed to Morgan's Black Speech; Quenya. One of Vivian's final gifts to him as she bestowed the knowledge that came to him from the mark on his forehead; a pair of diamonds stacked atop one another that connected to each other, as two other diamonds sat within the sides of the middle of the formation. His Six Paths power briefly manifested as the symbol appeared within the Crimson Moon on his back,"Cánin i sá tanuvaxe!"(1)Naruto slammed his staff down into the ground, where the local leyline was situated in. The power gathered from the spell channeled through the leyline and shot straight out into the lake, where it made contact with what appeared to be glass, as it made large visible crack where a pale green light peeked through the gap.
Everyone, even Tristan's eyes were wide in astonishment by this, witnessing the scope of True High Thaumaturgy. As the cracks began to spread throughout the air and lake, Naruto stood no longer alit with his Six Paths power, yet Vivian's symbol remained on his forehead. He narrowed his eyes at the Bounded Field was now on its last legs; no doubt Morgan's Black Arts were keeping it up, yet Naruto refused to allow this to endure, "Now… you fall." Channeling mana through to his right arm, Naruto created a sword of golden lightning and threw it at the originating crack to finish it.
The Bounded Field shattered in its entirety to reveal to all, the full view of Morgan's domain in the Material World. Before them was a great castle that darkened the earth and sky, one that held a black color to it with such luster that it seemed to glow with a dark light, creating a contradicting aesthetic, yet that wasn't what bothered him. Surrounding it, was a pale green luminous glow, giving it a veil of shadow. The spectral castle was perhaps once radiant when it was built to reflect a shining royal palace much like Camelot's, only now it paled like a corpse decaying in the water, filled with a damned soul waiting to unleash its evil upon whatever victim it laid eyes on.
A castle of nothingness, a pale imitation of the now lost Shadow Fortress of Dun Scaith.
However, that was not the only thing that resided in Morgan's domain. Surrounding the castle appeared to be what once was a small town where humans once resided, with large walls and massive gate lay before them. Beneath it all, was dark abyssal water, giving it an appearance of a bottomless cavern that glittered in the moonlight.
It was called Zídushgoi in Black Speech, the Black Sorcery City in the common tongue.
Bedivere had his jaw slackened slightly in shock before he asked the question on everyone's mind, "How has Morgan concealed this fortress from everyone?"
"Morgan is a master of Magecraft most foul and Archmagus of these lands…" Naruto began, "…on top of having so much knowledge at her disposal combined with her Fae heritage and power, she's combined it all to bend the textures of the World around the fortress to hide it from all." It was a similar theory to that of creating a Reality Marble except instead of turning the vestiges of one's inner world into a bounded field and expanding it into the real world, the existing reality spaces within the textures of the world were folded around the castle like a rubber band ball. But very much like with a rubber band ball, if you broke enough of the outlying bands of enchantment, then the outer shell would shatter under its own tension.
Naruto could see that there were some figures within the buildings up top that appeared as pinpricks at this distance, however, he wasn't able to make out their appearance. Applying Reinforcement and Structure Analysis to his eyes, Naruto gazed out at the occupants, only to recoil, shocked by what he saw, "I knew Morgan was a master of Alchemy… but I never expected her to be capable of this…"
Arturia grew concerned over Naruto's words, "Naruto, what is it? What do you see that we cannot?"
"Morgan has cross-bred Goblins and Trolls from the Age of Gods with Humans to create these… monstrosities…" Naruto had heard about the theory of such creatures passed around in some texts from the Age of Gods, but he didn't believe that anyone in the Age of Fairies was capable of creating them. "Uruks and Olog's. Goblin and Troll-Men that Morgan has created as homunculi soldiers." The names weren't something he was familiar with all too well, yet at the same time, he knew what to call them from another gift of knowledge from Vivian. Shaking his head at his own foolishness for not expecting such a thing, Naruto should've given Morgan more credit with her work.
He recalled old words that Jiraiya had imparted to him, something that at first, he didn't pay much attention to, and even now, he had nearly forgotten it. But now? Now he remembered them clearly –
"If you don't respect what your enemy is capable of, then you're going to be in for one nasty surprise after another."
Naruto didn't respect Morgan and thought he could take on whatever she had.
'Who gives a sh*t!?'Kurama bellowed from within, shaking him back to his senses,'She's a co*ckroach that is long overdue for being squashed, now is no time for second guessing or hesitancy.'
Turning towards Arturia, Naruto whispered into her ear as her eyes widened in brief shock before closing them. Turning back towards their company, Arturia spoke aloud with her voice filled with charisma of inspiration as she always did before such battles, "Everyone, steel yourselves for what we are about to face will be unlike anything we have faced before, even as we assaulted Vortigern's stronghold. We know that our enemy will unleash all that she has to offer, so we must be swift and strong in our attack." Her knights stood at the ready as they readied their blades, bows and all their armaments, "Today…" she turned back to the fortress of shadow discarding all doubts in her mind, "…we purge our lands of evil!"
The knights did not say anything, for there was no reason to. They knew in their minds that they were making an ambush upon Morgan's fortress that stood before them, and the evil she spread was one that could not be allowed to persist any longer in the world.
The cloudy night above parted to reveal the cool light of the moon shining down on them all, Arturia unsheathed Excalibur as the sword became bright with its golden light, she stepped out into the clearing where the gates were before her. She raised her blade high above her head as she always had done to unleash the power of her blade, and let it loose with one last set of words to her men, "Give no quarter, for they shall give you none!"
-Some time Before; Morgan's Tower-
Having returned from Rome with a new pawn in play, Morgan returned to her domain to continue working on her litany of contingencies. Currently, she was in her workshop, engaged with a new autonomous Mystic Code; a weapon that would put all to shame once she finished it, "Oh, how the Atlas Academy would be green with envy at these."
The first Mystic Code was a set of armor, modeled after Arturia's armor that she had worn during the assault on Vortigern. The primary differences being that as opposed to the gleaming silver that Arturia wore, a pitch black colored the armor with a bright luster that gave it the appearance of violet. The helm was shaped like that of a hound's head that encapsulated the entirety of the head, and instead of lion fur adorning the coat, it was more akin to raven feathers.
The second was like that of a box with markings similar to that of a face, yet it held no presence unlike the first.
Bringing up a streak of long golden blonde hair, Morgan placed it onto to the armor as she channeled her Blackening Magic through it, into the armor as she spoke the wicked Black Speech,"Maausan avhe ukoul ro avhine ukiblaumn thrâk lat wiavh gazhumîl shal avime."(2)The words reverberated almost to where it sounds like Morgan's voice had doubled up. To most mortals, the Black Speech would rot their mouth and teeth to make it seem like they were on their last legs, yet this was not the case for Morgan. Her vast knowledge of Magecraft combined with her Fae heritage removed the adverse side effects that the Black Arts and Speech brought with them.
As the spell took hold, the armor emitted an eerie violet as the spell bound itself to the husk before dying down. Morgan took a few steps back to examine her work, knowing that it was at best, a time delayed spell that would activate upon certain conditions. Conditions which she could engineer somewhat, however, she also needed to ensure certain things were in place; if they failed, then this was all for naught.
She heard a pair of footsteps enter her workshop and turned to see one of her loyal Acolytes. He was garbed in a black cloak and hood that concealed most of his features save for the amber, slitted eyes and pale skin that was prominent. He wore dark gray armor, gauntlets and grieves that were spiked along the edges that ran down the center of them; underneath were dark red robes that appeared to be alive with Fae symbols, but more prominently the Black Speech. He carried a double-edged, longsword that was serrated around the mid-point through a loop on his belt. Gazing at the armor, the Acolyte wondered about the plan of the Dark Mistress, "My Mistress…" His voice carried both a sinister yet calm tone, he bent a knee down in respect to his teacher and leader, "…the other Acolytes are ready to move on your order. As for the Warchiefs, they are ready, Uruk and Olog." Turning towards the Mystic Codes, the nameless Acolyte voiced his concerns over their purpose, "If I may ask, my Mistress, you have said you wish to ensure the bloodline of Pendragon lives through time. But why create the elements for your sister's return from death?"
Morgan turned to the Acolyte and opened her mouth to speak, "My dear Hand, I inte—UGH!" She stopped mid-sentence as she gripped her head as she felt the sensation of the Bounded Field being attacked by magecraft empowered by, "Vivian!" She knew her opposite's power presence when used, yet she knew that her sister while had her blessings, she did not use her power. No sooner had she realized this did the ground they stood on be rocked by some vast tremor as if struck by a falling star, clots of dust falling from the ceiling as walls cracked and doorframes splintered. "No…" she grit out, eyes gaining the manic glint of a cornered rat, "…no no no no!NO!It's too soon, I'm not ready!"
Storming through her workshop out to the door leading to the balcony that overlooked her domain in the Material World, she gazed outside to see down into her fortress where, after sensing some of her Uruks were on guard duty, she immediately used a combination of Shared Perception and her own brand of Mental Domination to take control of the guard to look over the wall to see who it was that broke her Bounded Field.
However this ran into an issue when the first of her brainjacked creations took a long range arrow to the cranium less than a femtosecond after she had taken it over, a similar fate befell most of the unsuspecting wall dwellers until she lucked out in taking command of an Uruk with common sense to take cover behind the battlements.
The Uruk's eyes briefly glowed amber before he gazed outside with added Reinforcement by Morgan's sorcery, she looked out to see her own sister with Excalibur in hand about to strike at her doors, only to briefly see Naruto there with a new staff, the hopeful glow it exuded pain to her borrowed eyes, and then she saw him… Agravain… "Damn you, Vivian… Damn you, Agravain!" The Fae witch shouted in rage through the Uruk before Excalibur's golden light flooded her vision and blew the gates down in a single blow.
The explosion rocked the fortress as Morgan gripped the balcony's edge in anger, "But why?! How?!" Gone was the calm and collected weaver of webs, she had been caught on the back foot and was struggling to think straight with the hounds at her door. Turning towards the Acolyte, now identified as the Hand, who now stood beside the door, Morgan began to issue her orders, "Take the Corpse King with you, along with the other Acolytes through the gate, retreat to the Reverse Side and remain there until I order otherwise."
The Acolyte did not appear confused by her orders, although he did ponder one thing, "But what of you my Mistress? What will you do with your sister now at your doorstep?"
Making her way over to the center of her workshop, Morgan took out a golden dagger as she gave herself a cut across her palm, "If my sister has come to take my head, then she will not take it without a fight!" Dripping the blood down into the cauldron, she allowed it to settle in before she turned to eight doorways on the opposite side of the dark workshop. Channeling her Blackening towards the doors, she began her chant filled with a guttural tone,"Skaat foravh izub dyzårrzdaz, izub gûl. Zib jashat tak amirz brishzel kramp izish dam."(3)With the Black Speech empowering her magics, the words took effect as eight figures slowly stepped out from them. All were garbed in pitch black robes, yet their armor all gave them distinct differences with helms that concealed the entirety of their faces, almost giving them the appearance of being blind, yet one remained different from the rest as where what one would expect a face to sit, yet there was naught but a black void, and a kingly helm of a crown sat upon the emptiness of its visage.
Morgan gave them all each a look before she addressed them one by one, "Accolon, Golumar, Ogier, Lot, Catigern, Vortimer, Claudus…" Turning finally to the one that stood out from the rest, "Urien." All of these men were her lovers, her allies, her unwitting pawns that she ensnared with her power to enchant and corrupt.
They were the Burzgûl. Her Shadow Wraiths. Her deadliest servants to her will and whim.
"You know what must be done. Do it." Morgan voiced her command as the Burzgûl bent their knee in recognition of her authority.
"Yes, my Mistress."Their hollow and metallic voices rang through the room that would've instilled fear into their enemies, yet none stood around. They soon vanished into a dark violet mist as they travelled throughout the domain of darkness to repel the attack.
Morgan turned to the Acolyte as she gestured towards the suit of armor. The Acolyte bowed before he made his way to the Mystic Code and took hold of it before he made his way out towards his compatriots in their part of the domain. As for Morgan, she remained alone before she began to cuss a series of language that would make any language deities blush with flustered disbelief, that so many swears could be strung together in such short order, across so many languages. "-cking obtuse c*nt suckling at an Ultimate One's crystal encrusted scrotum!" She eventually finished, the room having visibly degraded from her output of mana before pulling at her disheveled looking platinum locks and tearing away her face veil in frustration.
She had not been prepared for this, so co*cksure in her own ability as the master manipulator that not only had she not taken the chance of Agravain defecting as a possibility but such an attack when she was only freshly returned from Rome… it did not look good for her. Her domain had its defenses that led from the surface all the way down to the Reverse Side of the World but against such a force with the element of surprise there was no guarantee that they would stop the attackers. She had a lifeline in case things should turn dire for her, but it was a Greater Ritual, and all Greater Rituals took time to enact without sacrifice, something she was aware she was in short supply of when a second Excalibur blast rocked the castle. Peering down into the cauldron, Morgan could see that the process had begun,"Asht ob za krank, vybvgrohmärgakhbrav ryvdräzkuz."(4)Morgan pulled out a bone from her robes as she dropped it into the cauldron, where a tremendous green fire erupted before displaying that Morgan was unaffected by the flame.
"Grish ob latobgur, grohmärgakhbrav dazbääzzürruzzübruv."(4)The cauldron began to boil as bubbles rose up and popped rapidly. She soon produced a small piece of dead skin; skin that once belonged to Arturia after she scoured the ruined fortress of Vortigern after the battle, having collected blood, hair and skin from her sister and the Dead Apostle,"Maushat ob za shin, zørgḧhvogbḧækbrav krÿnhrüzrup."(4)Dropping the skin into the cauldron, Morgan channeled her power into it through her hands, where black mist was produced, pouring into the cauldron,"Gâkh koh thrak lat brüüzmyrb, agh marr zna mÿzgmuz zambzurbruüzborz."(4)
Soon, the black cauldron began to emit a red glow as it rumbled before Morgan took a step back. Seeing that her plan was taking effect, a last minute one at that. Morgan did the math and knew that she would need an hour before the process was complete and gripped the golden serrated dagger in her hand to the point of bleeding when realizing she might not have that long before her defenses were breached. Much as she claimed to be beyond death, there was a singular mote of blackened humanity left in Morgan that was misshapen and alien amidst the black torrent of the world.
"I don't want to die." She whispered for none to hear, the 'last enemy that shall be destroyed's' cold breath on the back of her neck.
-Outside the Castle-
Seeing Excalibur's light once more inspired the soldiers that accompanied them with a breath of fresh air to fight once again having laid their swords down but only to put down rebellious lords and their soldiers. Now they fought against abominations of nature; creatures brought forth from dark magics with a role to only slaughter the innocent.
"Archers! Second Volley" Nock!" As Arturia led the charge through the destroyed gates, Tristan stayed in the rear commanding several archers to let loose another barrage of arrows that would rain down fire beyond the walls, down onto the abominable homunculi, "Draw! Loose!" The hail of arrows shot into the sky, accompanied by the streaming silvery-blue trails of energy that came from Failnaught.
As the barrage arced up into the sky, it came down to where it pierced the bodies of the various Uruks, ending their lives, while some survived as they hid behind their shields and buildings, although some Olog's managed to shrug off the arrow fire that hit them.
One in what appeared to be garbed in various furs and skins from different animals around the isle, though he had their skulls wrapped up onto his shoulders like trophies, along with a large pair of elk antlers that he wore on a leather hood, "Is that the best these Manswine have to offer?" The Olog's name was Ar-Benu the Beast, and he commanded the troops in the city here, underneath his Mistress and creator, "If that's the case, then this will be nothing but a few bugs to squash!" He bellowed in a deep voice. Ar-Benu knew that his creator's sibling was the King of Knights and that she had a plan for her. What that plan was, was something he didn't know. Nor did he really care; he just wanted to pop some heads off some humans after coming out of the spawning pits. His mind was already imbued with the knowledge he needed to function properly in the world, along with what his creator intended for them to do.
Now he raised his great flaming mace high into the air to rally his Uruks and Olog's to his, as he saw the King of Knights leading the charge with many of her knights beside and behind her. Ar-Benu gave a toothy grin as the two opposing groups clashed with one another, although he could clearly see some knights were better than others, as the more colorful ones were hacking through Uruk's quite easily, no doubt due to the blessed blades they were given. Ar-Benu saw the king and took his chance as he charged right up to her with her back turned away from him. As he swung his mace down to strike at the king, she quickly snapped her head towards the stomping that his feet produced, and rolled to the side to take a stance, "You will die tonight, abomination!"
The golden sword of Excalibur was poised to strike at him, though he felt he should at least say some words as a courtesy before beating her down into a pulp, "You've taken a few steps towards victory, but many more remain." Ar-Benu gestured around her, even though she kept her eyes narrowed at his form, never deterring from it, "And the next one is the toughest yet: getting through me!" He gave a toothy grin as he raised the flaming mace up into the air to quickly strike her down, although once again, the King of Knights twisted out of the way from the mace before she thrust her blade into his hide as the sword seared his flesh, giving it a great sting that irritated him before he quickly took her by the hand and shoved her off as the blade came with the king.
"Is that the best you have?" The Olog captain asked rhetorically through the pain of the wound that was now bleeding profusely and smoking as the King of Knights stood poised once more to attack. Yet, she did not move as she kept her gaze on him, no doubt trying to figure out a better what to take his head off, "I can handle a little sting like that, but what about—" Ar-Benu quickly felt a great pain on his right elbow before he was dragged around with great strength to see the so-called Dead Apostle that the king had in her court secretly, reducing his arm to mincemeat in less than a second.
Naruto had seen the great Olog make a bid to fight Arturia and felt it best to deal with the beast from behind him, as their real target was now likely in a panic to make a run for it. If Morgan did escape, then they would never find her again. Now as Naruto forced the Olog to come swinging around, only to be unable to move thanks to his vampiric strength, although he could feel the abomination still attempting to move while Naruto held it still, Arturia quickly came up behind to stab Excalibur through his back. The golden blade pierced his chest, protruding through to the other side as he now held his free arm where the sword wounded him. Taking Excalibur out from the Olog's back, Arturia ran up his back to face the creature as she would deliver the final blow with Naruto's aid. However, it seemed that the Olog still had some breath left in his lungs as he spoke, "I have failed the Dark Mistress, but her designs remain unaltered. She has plans for these lands. Plans for you tiny king and plans for you Bloodsucker." As blood dripped from his mouth, Ar-Benu gave a mocking laugh as Arturia made a horizontal slash across the Olog's head to silence him.
Scowling at the Olog's words, Naruto waved his hand to unleash a pillar of cobalt blue mana that reduced the Olog's corpse and a contingent of Fell troops to ash with little effort. Turning back towards the castle illuminated by shadow, Naruto could feel something deep beneath the surface, beginning to stir and sending a primordial shiver down his spine. Destroying the domain was all well and good, yet if they did not kill the master, then it could be rebuilt, moved, etc. Arturia came up beside him as she spoke amidst the melee, "We should move quickly before we lose Morgan. Or we may never find her again." Her words filled with simple logic, yet there was also a hint of some brutality in her tone.
A sign that her own disgust of her sister was seeping into her motivation. Naruto knew that these dark emotions would likely surface, but now that they were in this place, a cyclopean edifice to the profane and most inhuman, he would not be surprised if Arturia's actions ended up sliding beyond the edge of the moral compass and into savagery.'Enough, you have more important things to focus on.'Naruto berated himself.
Having been awake since they were half-way here, Kurama chimed in before he stayed silent to let Naruto concentrate on their task,'Don't worry about her. If anything, she'll bring whatever happens here up with you after you kill the whor*.'Knowing that his partner was right, the Apostle silently agreed before he spoke up.
"You're right, my King." Naruto turned back to see that despite the fact that they were clearly outnumbered, they held the element of surprise, Naruto couldn't help but notice that the Olog's had retreated from the time being, yet the Uruk's remained to combat their soldiers and the inner circle members, of whom were faring well. Perhaps Morgan just bred them to hold the numerical advantage over them as opposed to making them of fine combat quality? Or maybe these Uruk's were just grunts while their captains, like the Olog they recently killed?
Either way, Naruto knew that at least one of the Round Table knights would need to remain in command while the rest of them made their way inside to Morgan's inner sanctum, "Perhaps Bedivere and Galahad should remain outside in command of the garrison we brought with us, while the rest of us head inside to confront Morgan." He knew that Gawain and his siblings would need closure to this ordeal, just as Arturia did, "And we should stick together…" Holding the staff of Marmyadose out, he conjured up four crystalline spears that were now situated behind his back as per the staff's new ability to allow him to incorporate his own weapons into the staff to grant it new skills, as Naruto went out to inform the rest of the Round Table of their next phase of the raid.
High above them at the very apex of the castle did an oddity begin to emanate, a half-formed bell with a dodecahedral chime began to slowly ring out over the bleak castle. Set into the black marble beside it were several fluted pipes connected up to an unseen mechanism that came to life with dark purple light. All noticed, but none cared for the oddly disjointed and haunting music to waft through the air, not knowing of the insidious defense that it contained as they continued their siege. The magecraft of the Unseelie was about to make things an uphill battle for the forces of Camelot.
-Inside the Castle-
The Hand carried the Mystic Code, the Corpse King underneath his left arm as he quickly made his way to the other Acolyte's location in the castle. He had already contacted them through the connection they shared with one another, having established it upon becoming Morgan's followers through a Geis signed in their own blood, swearing fealty to the True Heir of Britain.
He relayed their tasks to them in preparation for their leaving the domain to enter the Reverse Side, where they would have more freedom in a place where their enemies could not enter without severe repercussion. His task as the Hand, was to manipulate people where he could as ordered by Morgan, yet he was also the leader of the Acolytes; the man who would command them whenever Morgan herself or even the Wraith of Urien was not present.
Arriving in a large, dark, circular room, where the other Acolytes stood at present with the gateway into the Reverse Side, a large ornate mirror decorated with ornate purple carvings of shadowed beings, and a shimmer within the mirror to represent the active way into the other side. He peered to three men, each having their own distinctive armor and identity with their title to go with, having forsaken their actual names for the Dark Mistress, "We will move forward with the plan; I will take the Corpse King and arrange for it to be stored until the time is right."
"And what of the Dark Mistress?" The one on the right inquired in a deep, yet commanding tone. He wore dark ornate armor overall, with a large demonic mace, formed out of human bones. He wore a helm that covered his head, save for exposure to his face with a scar running across his right cheek. His title was the Hammer.
"She will join us soon…" The Hand answered, "…but we will go through with her plan now, with the Bastard Child having taken us by surprise." Turning towards the Acolyte on the right, he gave the order, "Go and ensure that your task is fulfilled in east Europa. Certain mage families are seeking ways to use animals as viable sources of magical power. You need not stay for long, merely ensure that the idea itself remains."
The Acolyte's skin was deathly gray, and his lips were either rotting away or being stretched apart. His mouth resembled that of the Acolyte in the middle, though deformed to a greater degree. He was bald and held piercing blue eyes, with armor that was fused to his skin and did not grow with him, causing excruciating agony no doubt. He had a metal apparatus on his mouth, preventing it from closing, possibly contributing to its deformity along with four swords impaled in his back, the two on the end adorned with two banners made from some of the faces of his victims prior to becoming an Acolyte. And then there was the headdress that seemed to be implanted into his head.
This Acolyte was known as the Tower, for he stood taller than the rest of them, "I understand. This will set in motion certain things that cannot be undone." Yet, despite these almost reverberating words, it brought him joy, though his armor prevented him from showing it. It brought the Tower glee.
As for the final Acolyte, the one in the middle, he wore black robes primarily with some armor on his chest and arms, yet the helm he wore was reminiscent of those that the Shadow Wraiths wore, for it lacked the part that concealed his rotting mouth, "And of the Uruk's and Olog's, I will command those useful to retreat, leaving the weak swine to die." His voice reverberated while the gums and muscles stretched to the point of almost snapping, but they did not, "Better to cull the weak from the strong, to allow us to rebuild." He was known as the Mouth. Cruel and vicious, as his words would cut into people, even if they were naught of the physical injury, but one that would weaken and attack the mental condition of his foes, to instill fear and anger into them.
The Hand nodded in acceptance of the Mouth's reasoning. As he was about to speak, the Hand turned around to face the echoes of footsteps making their way towards them and despite being surprised, he did not show it by what he and the other Acolytes saw…
-Outside in the Ruined Town-
Bedivere and Galahad had remained outside with the rest of their garrison to provide safe passage out of Zídushgoi. As they slaughtered the remaining Uruk's, they began to set up a small perimeter from the castle's entrance to the ruined gate that Arturia blew down with Excalibur, yet despite this small victory, Bedivere was uneasy, "Something is wrong…"
Galahad came up beside his primary mentor, seeing how his body language showcased a dissatisfaction with some element of their surroundings, "Sir Bedivere, what do you mean exactly?" The young squire gestured around them briefly as he had yet to see anything that posed an immediate danger, "We have secured the main gate into the enemy's domain, and the King as well as the rest of the Round Table and… father…" The word did not roll off his tongue as much without a semblance of displeasure, "…have stormed the enemy's keep. Should we not take solace in the fact that victory is almost within our grasp?"
Bedivere could see in Galahad's eyes that despite all the training he had absorbed from his teachings, as well as the other Round Table members -at least those who had the time to spare to give advice- Galahad still had a ways to go before he was accustomed to such situations, "Galahad, while your words hold merit, we are still in enemy territory. One that belongs to a dark Fae with profane magics and sorcery at her disposal." He had heard the stories that surrounded Morgan of what she could do, and it set his mind ill at ease, "This is her domain. A heretical land tailored to her liking. The abominations we have just slain will without a doubt not be the last and are likely planning on mounting a counterattack to push us back, and they will not show mercy to us, as they—AGGH!"
A short and sharp whizzing was the only warning any of them received, concealed within the midsummer night's breeze.
Bedivere was cut off by an arrow piercing his right arm through the bicep, yet this arrow was glowing green, its matte black shaft alite with a mist that almost made it appear smoldering charcoal bereft of flame, "Yoohoo!" The wounded knight and squire turned to see down a street where an Uruk armed with what looked like a spent crossbow was perched atop a stairwell, aiming right at Bedivere. The first knight's assailant it seemed. He wore a rough, leather tunic along with scaled leather armor along his arms and legs with a hood draped over his head, yet when their eyes were able to catch a glimpse of his face they saw that he bore a Glasgow Smile.
"Let's see…" the Uruk sneered as he loaded another bolt into the crossbow, "…fourteen. That's how many bolts I think I can stick you with before you give up and drop dead. Think you can make it to fifteen?" The Uruk called in question to some unseen ally, quickly raising its crossbow to aim at Bedivere's left arm to disable him entirely, seemingly forgoing its own wicked bet, "The little Manswine's all yours, Akoth! I've got the white 'n' shiny one!" Bedivere broke the long shaft of the arrow jutting from his arm to allow him more mobility and not bleed out from the injury. Picking up his dropped sword with his left hand, Bedivere took cover behind Galahad and attempted to take the circular shield from his back and attach it to his right arm, gritting his teeth through the pain. It was a cold and numbing pain that grew outwards from the point of impact like a cold fire which seared the nerves into twitching oblivion, he could still roughly move it, but fine motor control in the limb was fading by the second.
Springing into action at seeing his mentor hit with such a debilitating injury, Galahad brought up his large cruciform shield to block the second magically enhanced bolt that detonated on contact, exploding into a small pulse of black flecked green energy. Planting his feet against the cobbled ground, the scion of Lancelot endured the strike without being pushed back and went to draw his sword when a sixth sense alerted him to the danger bearing down on him.
His golden eyes snapping skyward, the white-haired squire caught a glimpse of a large and rapidly descending figure jumping down at him from the smoldering debris of the smashed gate, warhammer primed to smash his skull in. Bracing both arms on the inside of the shield, he wrenched it upwards into the path of the oncoming storm of iron and intercepted the hammer with a clattorus bang. Four hundred pounds of Uruk slammed down onto the shield causing Galahad's knees to buckle under him, the aspiring knight still managing to shunt the brute away several feet before his back met the ground. The Uruk let out a grunt of annoyance that its initial attack had been thwarted and barreled forth at the now downed squire.
Seeing that he was now down on the ground like a dog, Galahad quickly reached for his dagger to strike at who he assumed was this Akoth, only for the large, pale Uruk to grab his offending arm and give an angered sneer to the prodigious squire, "I was downin' down a nice barrel of Ale, but then you Manswine gyts just had to make me spill it with your noise and killin'. Now I'm gonna kill you and sleep like a babe in a bed after that! And if Tûmhorn ain't done killin' yer shiny Manswine gyt friend by the time I'm done with you, I'll skin 'em alive!" Galahad let go of his dagger to grab it with his free hand, he needed to break free from Akoth's grip before he brought down the hammer atop his skull. The golden eyed young man thrust it into the roughly made armor of the Uruk's vambrace deep into the pale postmarked flesh beneath, drawing an angry shout of pain from Akoth who's iron grip on his wrist loosened a fraction.
Twisting his body enough to maneuver his left leg, Galahad gave an additional kick to the Uruk's face with Akoth finally letting go of him to pull the dagger sticking from his arm whilst his intended prey unsheathing his blade. It was nothing special like those of the Fae blades that Vivian had gifted some of the senior members and the king, nor was it a new Fae construct like Clarent that Sir Naruto had forged, but rather castle forged longsword that he had taken a liking too in training and sharpened to a razor's edge.
Rapping the pommel of his sword against his shield in challenge, Galahad launched himself forwards into combat with the great pale abomination. "Sir Bedivere, I'll handle this one, command the troops!" he shouted to his liege, performing a shield bash into the side of the recovering Akoth.
The Uruk did not take kindly to the rounded edge of the shield catching the side of his chin and withdrew a wicked-looking curved knife from his belt that was practically dripping with Fae script of some kind. "Lil' sh*t!" he cursed Galahad swinging his hammer again, succeeding in hooking his warhammer's head around the edge of the squire's shield before yanking back hard, the shield tipping forwards and leaving him exposed. Akoth's dagger was little more than a gleaming arc of silver under the light of the moon and would have split open Galahad's throat had the lad not the luck of the devil and the mind of a knight. Angling his sword upwards until it pointed straight upwards, the son of Lancelot waited until he could all but feel the cold silver of the Fae weapon kissing his neck before thrusting his own sword deep into the armpit of the Akoth. The Uruk let out a pained yelp when the castle forged steel pierced through the joint of his knife arm that went limp seconds later, "AAAAAGGGHHH—" Akoth scrambled in pain before Galahad's follow up shield bash had not caught him in the throat.
Continuing to push, Galahad slammed the Uruk into the wall of a building and continued to press the entirety of his weight through his shield against Akoth's throat, meeting those bloodshot amber eyes as they grew more panicked with each second the squire deprived him of oxygen. Dropping his hammer, Akoth used his one good arm to frantically claw at Galahad's face fruitlessly, his razor-sharp nails just out of reach of the one currently choking him. With no warning Galahad twisted the shield and pressed forwards against Akoth's neck until a wet crunch was heard, the tall Uruk's eyes widening before going empty while his body went limp. Letting up on the pressure, Galahad watched the Uruk once known as Akoth slide down the wall dead, his neck snapped and jutting at a sickeningly wrong angle. He lingered there for a moment before running back to the other troops, pocketing the Fae dagger that Akoth had dropped along the way. He was needed now; murderer's guilt could wait.
With the battle now returning to the town, a second wave of malbred creatures seemed to crawl from every shadow to face them, Bedivere could see that they were likely going to be surrounded. Thus, he issued his orders as senior a Knight of the court, "Soldiers, guard yourselves and regroup! Shields up!" The soldiers compiled as they held their own against the incoming horde of Uruks, yet Bedivere was not finished, "Archers regroup and switch weapons! Spears and shields!" Bedivere quickly rushed at Tûmhorn with his shield raised to protect him from incoming fire, yet Bedivere's approach had forced the crossbowman to run through his first quiver of bolts.
Bedivere quickly raised his sword to make a strike that would've bifurcated the Uruk diagonally from right shoulder to left hip, yet the Uruk swung his ironclad crossbow in return resulting in a blade lock, "You and me're gonna have so much fun!" Tûmhorn cackled psychotically. The weapons were placed into a deadlock, with both struggling to overpower the other, yet neither was gaining ground. Bedivere was the superior technical swordsman with far more experience than the crossbowman, but the arrow in his right arm had him wielding his sword with his off-hand, something the physically stronger took advantage of to push down on the gleaming silver blade.
" Rezhdar! " (5)
Suddenly a booming voice accompanied by a bone chilling scream came from the sky, and all the knights winced as their ears were assaulted by the foul sound, yet the Uruk captains simply smirked before Tûmhorn leaned into their deadlock, "Well, I guess the Mistress wasn't puttin' up with you filthy Pinkskins and sent the Shriekers to kill ya!" Bedivere could only wonder just what it was that Morgan had sent after them, with most of the Uruks now retreating, "And that's my cue to let 'em have your head." Breaking off the deadlock, Tûmhorn maneuvered Bedivere's sword away and gave a quick kick to the knight's chest plate before backpedaling to raise his crossbow having reloaded a spare cursed bolt on the fly.
Yet, Bedivere knew better as he quickly closed the gap and swung his sword horizontally, catching the front hook of the weapon sending its aim wide as its owner pulled the trigger, leaving Tûmhorn temporarily vulnerable.
However, a shadowed mist erupted between them with something locking around Bedivere's blade with a firm grip. The shadowy smoke soon cleared and receded into a singular pillar of opaque miasma that grew more humanoid with each passing second, Bedivere could quickly make out the details of his armor and gauntleted hands, his silver blade held fast in an armored left hand while the hooded figure brought his own bastard sword down on him,"Die, worthless knight."With the fell sword poised to strike, the first Knight of the round brought his shield high to protect his head when the blade slammed into the shield with full force, Bedivere gritted his teeth in the face of the terrible weight bearing down upon him pushing him to his limits. Quickly seeing that he needed to get out of this disadvantageous position, Bedivere let his weight shift with the shield rolling off to the side to break free from the Wraith's strength.
Maneuvering behind the shadowy interloper, Bedivere snapped around with his sword as he delivered a horizontal strike to its unguarded back, only for the sword to barely meet any resistance with shadowy wisps rising from the point of contact. Not a touch of flesh within the fell enemy, "What…?" despite the metallic echo his voice held, Bedivere recognized it, "Accolon… what evil has taken hold over you?"
Accolon was one of the men that had participated in the jousting competition years ago when Arturia pulled Caliburn from the stone. The man was a knight that was among the best, having both admiration from the common folk along with the noble status, Accolon was poised for candidacy for membership of their group when he had dropped off the map. He took part in the drawing of the sword, and just as all those before their king, they had failed to draw forth Caliburn. Yet upon witnessing Arturia do the impossible in drawing the sword from stone, Accolon had outright refused to join them, believing that a child was not fit to be a king, nor was Merlin's magics fair to those who he believed was far more fit to take the throne.
His father was one of the rebellious lords who had risen in opposition of the unity, yet he only did so due to political pressure from his close allies and was, in fact, a loyal man to the king. Yet despite these things, Accolon fled his father's service leaving him saddened. What became of him after this was unknown for some thought they saw him sailing west to Ireland. Others say south to Spain, others even say to the east where the Saxons once sailed from. Yet no word of his landfall had ever made it back to British shores.
Now the truth had been revealed. Morgan le Fay had ensnared him, transforming him into a servant of her twisted ambition.
"Reborn anew with strength and power…"Accolon's hollow, metallic voice struck a fearful chord within those present, yet they held their ground, despite the opposition,"…you cannot hold out against us!"Accolon quickly closed the distance between them dashing in a dark mist with sword raised to cleave Bedivere's head, but years of experience aided the latter as he raised his shield to guard himself. As the Wraith's blade struck the shield, the inhuman strength of the man once known as Accolon overpowered Bedivere sending his shield arm to the side of his head, breaking his guard and sending the pale haired knight skidding backwards.
The force of the blow shattered the Radial, Ulna and Humerus bones in Bedivere's right arm with a sickeningly visceral wet crunch, drawing a strangled gasp of pain from its owner as the cursed flesh became peppered with bone chips. It was plain for any soldier to see that Bedivere, brave and wise, was physically outmatched by his opponent by leaps and bounds, as the Wraith saw the opportunity for the killing blow, he twisted his sword into a stabbing grip to drive the blade into his victim's chest to squire the heart.
Though fate said otherwise, as Galahad had finished his fight with the Uruk captain, he ran straight to the back of the Wraith to save his mentor's life. With a thrust through the Wraith's back, causing Accolon to hiss, Galahad soon brought the full attention of Accolon to himself now,"Your fall is inevitable."The Wraith pivoted around to bring the sword down to the young squire's shoulder, yet his cruciform shield was still in his grip to defend himself.
The resounding clang left the Wraith stunned briefly before it quickly retaliated to strike at Galahad's other side, though it was met with the squire's sword, "You may find that our fall shall not be by your blades!" He stared into the masked helm of the Wraith once known as Accolon, only to see nothing of what once a man.
Bedivere saw Galahad now struggling against the Wraith, yet now perhaps despite the loss of his right arm's main strength, they could defeat the enemy before them. Only now was to hold out long enough to give the King time to end her twisted sister.
-Within the Black Castle-
The remaining members of the Round Table had been gathered by Naruto and led into the castle by Arturia, all of whom held their guard up, not knowing what Morgan had laid down to trap any intruders that managed to get this far.
Entering into what could only be assumed as an entrance hall, lacking a grand staircase that led the way above to the next floor, in its place was instead a doorway that led downwards where stone statues of hooded figures stood guard with their swords drawn yet their blades pointed down to the ground.
Despite their mundane appearance, the ornamentation did little to remove the unease the small company had, "We must stay together; do not allow yourselves to separate from our group…." Arturia said as Naruto stood alongside her with Marmyadose emanating a golden light just as Excalibur to push back the gloom, "…we have the element of surprise, but that can only take us so far, for now, we must make haste to find Morgan no matter what lies before us." Turning back to the descending path before them, Arturia led them on to their goal. "Sally forth, do not let yourselves fall to my sister's devilry that putrefies this place."
Lancelot and Gawain held their respective Fae swords up, letting their own light illuminate the way to ensure nothing would catch them off guard. The bluish reflected light of the moon glowed outwards from Arondight, whereas Galatine ignited with a brilliant flame covering the entirety of the blade, both lights speaking of the breath of Sol and Luna illuminating their path. Passing by the statues, Arturia was the first to head down followed by Naruto through a series of arches that separated the hallway off into sections composed of doorways that held no doors but monolithic slabs of obsidian instead.
Naruto snapped his fingers to wordlessly summon a simple mystery to increase the amount of light that they were working with, an orb of white light rising from a small magic circle that spun into existence. He watched as it floated ahead of them beating away the shadows of the hallway until it began to bob slowly once it grew near one of the obsidian monoliths. Eyes sharpening with analytical steel, Naruto held out his hand to halt Arturia's progress into the hallway and indicated for her to watch the light mystery that grew more erratic in its bobbing until it unceremoniously popped and disintegrated into motes of white mana that fell lethargically to the floor. "There is an enchantment upon this hallway, one of Unseelie design going by the music." Naruto said, drawing attention to the eerie music that seemed to resonate through the castle despite being no louder than a whisper.
"Unseelie? The Winter Court has allied with Morgan then." Arturia frowned. Taking a few steps deeper into the hall, she kept her eyes peeled on every shadow and kept her senses sharp to not let any waiting attack pass her notice. "Can you sense the nature of the enchantment, Naruto? Is it intrinsic to the castle itself or the music?" The King inquired, looking over her shoulder at her Arcane Knight.
Naruto's face was one of deep concentration, the other members of the Round Table had remained in the main entrance hall while Naruto puzzled out what the issue was. Approaching one of the pillars Naruto covered his fingers with a flicker of pale blue mana and began to run his fingers along its surface. "Hard to say, my king. Fae Magecraft has always been elusive in its eccentricities with particular attention to illusion and alteration, be that of the weather, space or even time... there's something else though, underneath it." The vampiric blonde's ominous words caused Arturia to turn and face him completely, her silent question apparent. "There's something here, something operating on a grand scale and calling something, I can't pin down what though. Can you feel it?"
Arturia shook her head in negative, all she could feel right now was the disquiet associated with that music reverberating through the walls with each passing second, "No, I don't like this at all."
Naruto gave her a bright and goofy smile in hopes of cheering her up, but it didn't reach his eyes, for in that moment a trap was sprung. All the obsidian monoliths glowed a dark purple as he felt a disgusting mana thrum through the corridor and before Naruto could voice his warning, the passage changed. The Knights behind them called out a warning in vain as the entrance to the hall was consumed by more of that odd obsidian that was several meters thick, sealing the lovers in the now boobytrapped hall. At the far end of the hallway between two more of those hooded statues became covered in swirling lines of Black Speech before projecting a beam of mana between them that widened to cover the entire end of the hallway, upon its surface was a large rotating sigil signaling a powerful Bounded Field had been erected.
"Spatial Quarantine!?" Naruto exclaimed, sprinting towards the sigil in a blur of movement, however, that all came to a screeching halt when the section of floor on which Naruto stood vanished in a flash of mosaic light. Looking down into what had once been the floor, the blonde saw instead a moderately sized opening surrounded by a mosaic-like pattern that he quickly recognized as Flash Air, although that thought was derailed quite suddenly when the feeling of 'calling' he had been sensing underneath the Unseelie enchantment intensified by several orders of magnitude. "Arturia-!" Naruto's startled yelp was cut off when a very physical force from deep in the seemingly bottomless pit locked around the Apostle and dragged him downwards.
"Naruto!" Arturia had turned suddenly to try and reach his hand to prevent this, yet as she soon made contact with the opening, the stone floor reappeared before her, "No!" Scrapping at the floor with her gauntleted hand, Arturia was helpless as Naruto was now separated from her. "NO!"
Lifting Excalibur overhead to bring it down onto the black marble point first with a manic expression in her emerald green eyes, "STRIKE AIR!" she screamed, the Barrier of the Wind King exploding downwards with a lethal force more extraordinary than any drill, burrowing deep into the earth beneath the black marble floor. When the gale of wind and dust had cleared enough to see again, Arturia felt her lower lip tremor as no bright thicket of golden spikes nor ruby red eyes greeted her from below. No, merely a fifty-foot deep hole that she had blasted into the foundations under the castle.
Was there no cheap trick that her feculent excuse for a relation would not stoop to make her feel miserable? Months of frustration born of her ineptitude with how she had handled her waning relationship with her beloved roared to the surface of her soul with a potency far beyond the Holy Sword clutched in her right hand. A shockwave of pure mana exploded from her form with a thundercrack, slamming into the vaulted ceiling to the corridor and sending uncountable spiderweb cracks out from her feet. The golden and blue-tinged magical energy crawled along the walls as she began to walk forwards, each step cratering the ground beneath her the closer she grew to the purple and green magical sigil that blocked her path forwards. A sensible part of her waking mind told her that Naruto would be perfectly fine and would make his way back to her side, that his disappearance was temporary, but that was drowned out by the Dragon lineage roaring in the halls of her mind, "No quarter, Sister! Until I can make this land perfect enough for Naruto and I to be together, then there is no hell I will not rain down upon you Morgan!"
Arturia roared, Excalibur swinging up in a vertical arc through the heart of the slowly rotating sigil bifurcating it with only token resistance, the array attempted to repair the Bounded Field, but cracks continued to splinter outwards from her slice until the bounded field shattered. Gritting her teeth, Arturia summoned her helmet with a thought before donning it and setting off into the bowels of the castle.
The Red Dragon was going to war.
-The Entrance Hall-
With their separation of both the King and Arcane Knight from their company, Gawain swore that they had been divided so easily, "Stay together! Do not let the domain lead us astray!"
Tristan now held his bow up, pointed to their back where the main door had been covered over by that oily black obsidian the moment they were separated from the missing two members of the group, "Perhaps we should've sent in scouts to trip the traps beforehand." he pondered aloud.
Lancelot stood next to the Knight of the Lamentation eyeing the shadows with Arondight at the ready, though he did not fully agree with Tristan's words, "And have those poor souls fall to whatever horrid traps she has within the walls? We take point because we are the only ones with the power to finish this before Morgan regains her foothold." During the initial planning of the raid, Naruto had gone to Vivian hoping to find more information on Morgan's domain, yet all he was able to return with was that they would only encounter very dark and powerful creatures here, along with some knowledge of the mechanics of Fae Magecraft. Yet despite this slight advantage, it wasn't enough to create a foolproof plan as they had strived for in the past.
Agravain, his mind bewitched in loyalty to the King, was not one to allow these situations to upset him, "Do not let this deter you from our goal. Ending evil here and now is what is important. We will find the King and our Arcane Knight in time." The Knight of Black Iron leveled his sword, his enchanted chains at the ready to set upon his mother and turn her vaunted Fae heritage to their advantage.
The three of them had their back to one another, while the Orkney siblings had done the same. Gareth nodded as Gaheris brought his shield up with the former loading Ira Lupus, "Sir Lancelot is right…" Gareth spoke up in defense of the knight she admired most, "…Mot—Morgan…" she quickly corrected herself, "…was never a woman to talk much."
"It would make little sense for her to even speak of her domain among the masses…" Gaheris replied as he recalled how little stood out in his memories of the woman who birthed them into the world, "…I doubt she would do so and risk her schemes along with—" Gaheris was cut off as the stone that was set beneath their feet rose up without warning and shot the siblings up into a new opening that appeared in the roof, isolating the company even further.
"Gawain, Gareth, Geheris!" Lancelot shouted in alarm, rushing into action the moment the pillar of black marble had begun to move, he hefted Arondight delivering a slash that cut the pillar clean in two in the hopes that he could halt the assent. Sadly, by the time that the great slab of black marble had crashed back down to the floor all that was left was the closing of another Flash Air gate having spirited the trio off to parts unknown. For a moment the Knight of the Lake considered the possibility that they could have been smashed to pulp by the ceiling, but a reassuring hand on the shoulder from Tristan kept his mind from becoming distraught.
"Calm yourself, my friend. Had the siblings perished then their entrails would now paint the ceiling and as sad an image as that is, be glad that it has not come to pass." Tristan impressed upon the white and blue armored knight, pointing out that the ceiling bore no red smears or remnants of the absent knights, "They have likely been spirited away to some other place in the castle, perhaps to the source of the dreadful music." Tristan's nose wrinkled at having to call that eerie droning anything close to music.
Agravain scoffed at the notion that Gawain could be felled so easily, "Knowing that Sun-loving gorilla, he would simply have collided with the ceiling and stuck there without so much as a scratch." He knew that even without his power gained from the Sun that Gawain was perhaps the sturdiest member of the Round Table after the King and Naruto, even Lancelot had been forced to wait until nightfall to be able to win a spar against him, any other time would result in a stalemate.
With the Orkney siblings now separated, the rest of the dwindling cohort were left alone in the entrance hall as the atmosphere became tense with Tristan now seeing the strategy, "Morgan is separating us, one at a time or in groups. She will send more abominations to deter us from reaching our goal."
Nodding in agreement, Lancelot removed his helm to allow him a greater field of vision in the purposefully dark antechamber, his now shoulder-length curtain of deep purple hair framing his face as he focused on the obsidian construct that had sealed off the path forwards. "Best we push on then before our enemy gets more blatant in her assaults," Lancelot commented, assuming command of their little group, approaching the obsidian and allowing Arondight to become flush with mana once again. Glowing brightly, the Knight of the Lake plunged the gold and white greatsword into the heart of the malefic glass with great force, letting out a roar as he wrenched the blade upwards and the black glassy surface shattered into thick chunks that clattered to the floor around them.
"Subtlety is out of the window then." Tristan trilled in mock amusem*nt, a single eye opening to survey what lay beyond the now cleared doorway, seeing that as opposed to the hallway of arches that they had seen the King and Arcane Knight vanish into they instead faced an ascending staircase illuminated by flickering green torches. "How in the blazes?"
"Flash Air…" Agravain answered the redhead's unsaid question in a clipped voice that was the epitome of businesslike, "…or the Fae equivalent, it lets the user displace and duplicate space, Morgan tends to use it to string together labyrinths for her amusem*nt." He explained in a detached and almost bored voice, Naruto's enchantment had reassigned the parts of his mind associated with loyalty away from Morgan and towards Arturia, so he was all too willing to spill the beans on most of Morgan's pastimes and eccentricities.
It didn't change the fact that he was a borderline insufferable asshole with all the charisma of a brick wall.
Lancelot spat in distaste, raising Arondight as a light source, leading the trio beyond the threshold and up the stairs. "Charming woman, your mother, any clue what else she has locked up in here? Perhaps a litany of children that she passes the time torturing or maybe instruments of torture, is that where you picked up the habit?" Lancelot replied coolly. He and Agravain had never been on the best of terms, and the revelation of his true colors before Naruto's borderline enslavement of him had only gone a step further to condemn the Black Iron of having a blacker heart.
"Tch, keep focused on the mission, du Lac, if I have more important information then I will tell you when it becomes important, I have already told the King all I know." Agravain hissed through gritted teeth, the dislike was entirely mutual.
-Naruto-
"sh*t! sh*t! sh*t!" Naruto found himself flashing back to one of the many hideouts of a snake faced Sannin as he tumbled down the seemingly frictionless shaft that the Flash Air gate had dragged him. He berated himself for falling for something as simple as Flash Air, but more importantly, his adrenaline-soaked brain and tactile mind assessed the situation. The most detrimental thing he was able to perceive was, oxymoronically, his lack of perception, the walls of the shaft having been sanctified with some form of Magecraft that dampened his five senses and somehow prevented his arcane senses from looking beyond his immediate position. He could not sense Arturia, nor any of the other Knights, nor did he know quite how long or far he had been falling as every dozen or so feet a new Flash Air gate opened sending him to another equally black hole.
Falling down the shaft, Naruto attempted to try and halt his fall with Marmyadose by holding it up above his head to catch the wall, but it did little more cut into the stone on one side of the cavern as he continued to fall, feeling some force pulling him down deliberately, deeper into the domain than he liked, "f*cking hell!" Seeing no other option before him, Naruto oriented himself until he was falling in a straight pencil drop before sending a mental prompt to the four crystalline spears floating behind him. They responded instantly to their master's thoughts and arranged themselves beneath his feet into a cross that dug into the walls of the never ending pitfall, grinding his downward momentum to ever lower speeds when he noticed that an end to the fall was fast approaching.
Bracing himself for impact, Naruto thrust the spears further into the walls bringing him to an abrupt halt at the mouth of this apparent pathway to hell. Peering down into the massive barren area splayed out before him, the blonde rationalized that it must have been at one point some great underground lake that had since been drained, perhaps twenty-five kilometers across and two miles from his current position to the ground. Owing to the fact that he would have smashed into that ground at several times terminal velocity had he not arrested his momentum, Naruto winced, "That would've hurt like hell." The blonde muttered a short aria to initiate a basic wind mystery to increase the effect of wind resistance acting upon him before letting himself drop between the spears into the cavern below. Gliding down the two miles to ground gracefully as the spears emerged from the hole in the cavern's ceiling and returned to their sentinel post at his back, Naruto's feet touched the ground lightly.
'As much as I'd make a comment about that, we've got worse things to worry about right now.'Kurama chided his partner. Indeed, he had not simply fallen down here but instead beenpulledby something and whatever it was powerful andold. Yet, despite how dark it felt, it didn't feel like Morgan's doing. The trap of Flash Air sure, but the force that kept pulling him down into the depths of this place? No… that was something else entirely…'It feels like we're being watched, but from where though…?'Tightening his grip on Marmyadose, Naruto found himself silently nodding in agreement with the fox.
Peering around the massive room with his reinforced vampiric eyes, he saw that the cavernous space was not as natural as he had first assumed, Naruto saw massive circular stone pillars of a design he had never seen before. Each one was formed of three ovaloid shapes intersecting with one another in a triangular fashion and pierced a perfect circle, their outer surface was fluted with geometric insets that ran the length of the pillars. Stranger still was the veins of light that ran through each and every one of them in patterns of shimmering greens and silvers that illuminated the otherwise dark hole. They proliferated throughout the entirety of the cavern with many being broken but a few reaching the entire two miles to the ceiling, "These pillars don't match the architecture of Morgan's castle. What is this place?" He had never heard of anything else other than perhaps leftovers from the Roman occupation of Britain that had come to an end nearly a century ago. "But nothing on this scale," Naruto affirmed, cautious of this discovery.
Kurama nodded in silent affirmation of Naruto's thoughts, something about this place was rankling inside his mind, it held a damning freedom to it that was just alien compared to the rest of the world above.'Wait…'Kurama said, stopping Naruto in his tracks as the fox extended his senses to the limits of this strange cavern of other space,'How well do you think you can call on my power?'The fox's words drew a mental pause from the apostle who did not know what to think of such an arbitrary and random question.
"Kurama, what are you talking about?" Naruto asked, receiving no reply beyond the distinct impression that the Tailed Beast was deep in concentration about something, so after checking his surroundings for any hidden foes or other traps, he allowed his mind to be dragged into Kurama's space in his mindscape. Feeling the familiar tug at the back of his consciousness heralding his arrival, the blonde was once again happy that his work to construct a Reality Marble had done away with the sewer of a mind he had been stuck with before, eyes opening to look at Kurama in his usual meadow of grass before the still under construction castle.
Atypical from his usual position sprawled out half asleep in the warmth generated by the bands of light that served as a sun in the sky of his mindscape, Kurama was instead sat up on his haunches legs crossed in Lotus style. Nine long russet orange tails curled up behind him like a halo of for or a bestial Kan'on with his two humanlike hands clasped in the Snake Hand Seal. "Kurama?" he asked before finally realizing that something was off.
Chakra, blinding and fathomless chakra practically wafted off of the Tailed Beast in a vapor of golden light into the sky far above them in ways that he had not seen in nearly a century. In the ground around the Nine Tails, sprouted numerous plants of great diversity and virility, the meadow came alive with a veritable tide of Lavenders, gilded Chrysanthemums, platinum Lily's and many thousands of wildflowers that Naruto could not name. With a rumbling of the earth did great trees burst from the soil developing to full growth in a matter of seconds and standing as tall as any grove from around the walls of Konoha, great Oaks, and Maples made up the majority of the new first. At the same time, the bamboo forest he had mentally cultivated before grew to scrape the imaginary sky while veins of silver birches ran through the new heartland like a cardiovascular system.
The blonde looked around in shock mixed with fond remembrance for there was only one time when he had witnessed this kind of reaction from plant life even if mental. "Your chakra… it's been unleashed! Unrestricted!" Naruto exclaimed with shocked joy, Kurama opening a single giant red eye and giving his partner a vulpine grin.
"Exactly! Wherever this cavern is, no Counter Force is acting on it to limit how my power flows into you and around your body, at least no Alaya or so little of it that it is's been reduced to being a non-factor."Kurama explained, slouching back into his usual sitting position close to Naruto.
The Uzumaki pondered what the cause of this could be, although he, like Kurama, was jubilant that at least for the time being a fair percentage of Kurama's power had been returned to him by coming to this place.
Allowing himself to fade back to consciousness, Naruto began to trek through the cavern while continuing his mental conversation with Kurama. "This can't be anywhere on the surface texture of the World, or else Alaya's presence would be known, but Flash Air can't displace space at a distance beyond a few kilometers under ideal conditions, so geographically we must still be in Britain."
He briefly considered that they were perhaps standing on the Reverse Side before casting such an idea aside going by the fact that there were still some trace elements of Alaya present, even if extremely weak. This location must have been some kind of interstice where the physical characteristics of the surface texture above them, joined with the magical and conceptual attributes of lower textures. Crossing the distance to one of the pillars, Naruto realized that he misjudged just how massive the pillars were as just one was perhaps ten feet in diameter, yet upon closer inspection, the architecture felt… dark… foul… perverted. The pillars had their veinlike trails of light had been tampered with seeing some jagged chisel marks with what appeared to be inscriptions of… Black Speech? This cavern had to be tens of thousands of years old, so who the hell built it?
He set his features in a contemplative frown as he tried to understand the mechanics of the inscriptions, the Black Speech was the most challenging part of decoding as its intricacies were designed to befuddle all but the one that had written it. However, after ten minutes of study he was able to pick out a few of the outlying matrices and hazard an educated guess at what would fit into the gaps between, "To beckon Divinity and flow the planet's might into it." Naruto concluded eventually, still feeling like he was missing something important here.
Kurama took this moment to voice his own theory,'Maybe it was a trap for you? Take your Divinity off the board to weaken the siege?'
Naruto shook his head, "No, one thing that I can say for sure is that we caught Morgan off guard with this attack, she wouldn't have had the time to set this up without YEARS of prior knowledge." Taking a step back from the pillar, he traced the veins of Mana all the way to the ceiling above and the pinprick of darkness that was the hole he had been dragged in through. "If the castle's defenses are automated, then it's more likely that this Magecraft latched onto me because of my Divinity. I was dragged down here by accident, not by design."
But even as Naruto felt some relief that he had begun to understand what had brought him here, a plethora of ever more confusing questions took their place in his mind. The flow of Mana through this place seemed to go nowhere beyond the length of the pillars that still lacked an origin. Was Morgan pumping up more potent Mana from down here to power her monstrosity of a fortress? If so then what was the need to beckon Divinity, the only vestiges of the Gods of Britain had faded before Naruto had even arrived in this world with them either shifting to higher dimensions or disseminating back into the thoughts and beliefs that had given them form.
"This makes no sense…" Naruto spoke aloud to himself. Shaking his head at this discovery knowing that he didn't have the time to dawdle at this, he made his way through the massive cavern for several minutes until he saw a deep red light reflected off the walls, coupled with what sounded like chanting, "…that doesn't sound good." His tone was one of worry and rightfully so as the closer he drew to the chanting.
Turning the corner, Naruto's eyes widened in slight shock, yet also astonishment with what he was seeing.
A massive chamber with many figures all garbed in black robes and hoods, each one holding a gnarled staff whittled from some oily looking black wood that practically stank of twisted emotions and suffering. Enhancer-type Mystic Codes he realized. They all encircled what appeared to be a large pit of fire, stone and… magma? Their robes seemed to be sewn with some circuit-esque pattern that held an almost imperceptible light, likely some form of minor mystic code to protect them from the hazardous environment. As the chanting's volume and speed picked up, an armored Mage-Uruk, likely a Necromancer specialist, in black robes stepped out among them as he began speaking amongst the chanting of the Magi, "Great progenitor! We call you to the shallows of the World! Your domain is under assault by infidels and retches!"
At the edges of Naruto's senses, he could feel it, a stirring that he had been feeling ever since the shadow fortress had been shown off to the world, a half-remembered memory from lifetimes prior. A charge in the air of some great storm slowly approaching that would soon break upon him with its unspeakable power that sent shivers down his spine. 'This feeling… it's like Kaguya all over again!'
As he began shouting, Naruto took notice of what appeared to be a pulley system hauling a massive body, wrapped up in bindings each one lovingly detailed with cursive Black Speech and other schools of Magecraft's symbols of power. Runes of the Norse, Glyphs of the Egyptian school of Magecraft, Alchemical syntax and many more he could not place at this distance. Hoisting the mummified figure up into the air, four Olog's working the cranks to drag the colossal body in front of the ramshackle alter before pulling a lever letting the body drop into the fiery pit. The Magi channeled indigo mana down into the pit, where the flames turned darker with the ritual.
Getting a better look at the corpse, he saw part of it was exposed with some unruly hair showcasing itself, and judging by the size and frame of it, it was… the corpse of Escanor!
The lead Magus began to channel his own Mana into the pit as he continued shouting with the ritual, "Forgotten giant of the time before man, we offer you the body of your kin, one blessed in life with the Numeral of the Burning One, come back from the Sea of Imaginary Numbers where you have slept!" The chanting grew louder, and pulses of the oncoming Divinity grew in intensity as the corpse of the proud giant was dragged beneath the surface of the magma.
Naruto was shocked at this declaration. Morgan intended to revive a faded god as a power source! "Son of a bitch…" Gritting his teeth at the revelation, Naruto could see that this plan had been in the works for some time, "…I need to stop this now." He needed to act fast to prevent this profane, yet profound earthen apotheosis from reaching its completion lest a God falls into the hands of their enemy. Going by the chain of Mana connecting all the hooded Magi and coursing into the leader of their little coven before traveling into the pool, it seemed that the leader was the bottleneck in the ritual. Taking him out of the picture should disrupt it just enough for whatever was being called to fall back into slumber.
Ergo, kill the leader, let the lackeys scatter.
Willing the four pale green spears away while extracting Carnnewan from the storage compartment within the main 'blade' of Marmyadose, Naruto crouched low before using a trigger image to activate his first Mystic Code's power. The shadow of the pillar that the blonde hid behind grew darker and deeper until the path was opened and he slipped into the realm of shadows without a sound. 'Swimming' from shadow to shadow was achieved less through physical movement and more willing yourself to move to the desired location amidst tides of nothingness. The long shadows cast by the pillars made ample swimming lanes to not be spotted, and the 'surface' of the black sea opened out above him in great swaths.
The sea of shadows was a remarkably tricky place to navigate the deeper that you delved into its depths, the only reference point were the openings on the surface where shadows touched surfaces, entry and exit only being afforded through shadows that were large and dark enough for Naruto's body to fit through. Straying outside of these shadow lanes made Naruto's own shadow appear on the surface world above so he continued to pass from one lane to the other the closer he drew to the congregation. Passing out of the last long shadow of the pillars, Naruto shifted between the shadows of the Magi who were all so wrapped up in their chanting and making sure to pass their Mana to the chief amongst them that they never noticed their own shadows briefly growing darker as he drew closer to the stage.
Waiting until there was no margin for error, Naruto lunged up from the chief magus shadow like a great white breaching the surface of the water, burying Carnwennan so deeply into his back that the tip of the blade poked from the front of his chest. The nameless Mage-Uruk let out a startled gasp as the Apostle severed his Aorta and Pulmonary vein in one deft thrust, arms falling to his sides limply. Cries of shock and anger rippled outwards from the coven seeing their leader so mercilessly cut down from behind, the blonde pulling his knife from his back and letting the Magus crumple to the ground without so much as a gurgle of protest from his blood-soaked lips.
Planting Marmyadose into the stage Naruto turned to face the cohort of Morgan's followers ready for a fight, but instead of anger or fear in their eyes, Naruto saw a manic glee take hold on their shadowed faces. Before he could give voice to either a proclamation of death or a demand to surrender the group all called out in a single voice,"For our Mistress, we give our lives to give rise to the great progenitor!"Each and every one of the forty or so followers withdrew a long and thin dagger from their robes before unceremoniously drawing them over their own throats. Fountains of blood rushed out from the open throats of several dozen Magi in squalls of sanguine viscera, painting the floor as they crumpled to the ground like their deceased leader, sickening smiles on their faces.
For a moment an eerie silence fell over the cavern before the ground started to shake, the spilt blood beginning to glow before morphing into motes of red Mana that sank into the magma and turned its fire a horrid shade of red.
"Dammit!" Naruto shouted before jumping backwards off of the stage when a crack formed down its center, 'Greater Rituals can be expedited by ritualistic sacrifice!'he remembered as the fire exploded upwards in a pillar of flame that scraped the ceiling of the massive chamber.
'Naruto, it's started, whatever it is, it's rising.'While his partner had been dealing with the Magi leader, the Tailed Beast had been trying to sense what it was they were about to deal with only to be met with a mental apparition of a tremendous earthen fire rising to the surface like an oncoming volcanic eruption. Calling forth the crystalline spears after returning Carnwennan to its compartment, Naruto turned towards the open pit and gazed down into fire to make out that there were three thick troughs dug into the ground around the pit in a helical pattern. Within them bubbled a viscous black liquid that practically writhed with a miasma of negative emotions given physical form.
A deep chime of infrasound prickled the hairs at the nape of Naruto's neck seconds later, all around him the pillars that spanned the expanse of the hall began to shift in color from silvery green to brilliant red. The ground around them turned putrid and boggy as cracks of this malefic power ran down from the ceiling towards the noxious gunk that surrounded the thermal gateway. "She wasn't drawing power up to her castle, Morgan was sending the Primordial Curse down into here!" Naruto realized too late, the pillar of flame shifting from blood red to umbral black edged by brilliant red. "Kurama!"
'I know! I'm thinking!'Kurama barked in response, seeing the dire nature of the situation playing out before them.
His thoughts were cut short by his partner, directing his eyes to the blackened mana pillar. Taking a few steps closer to it, Naruto could make out a massive creature rising up from the magma, yet it was shrouded in fire entirely, with a large body that could've likely have brought down the walls of Camelot with a single blow. As it continued rising, it stretched forth a hand to grip the top of the metaphorical surface as it showcased its might without even attacking, just by its appearance alone. It had a large tail like that of a dragon's and armor to protect its hide, a thick Divine aura mixing disgustingly with the muck of the primordial curse. A craven idle of stone and flame approaching the shape of a man yet twisted by hate and malice, almost like a demon, it was without a doubt a God and vibrated the earth with every step it took beyond its emergence.
"Before civilization came to the isles of Britain, in the fires of ancient man did a deity take shape"
Naruto quoted from a text even Merlin had considered ancient. Then he soon saw the head of the being; a massive, inhuman head with a pair of horns like a demon curving out from the rear before turning to the front.
"Before the Allfather pierced the hide of Ymir, before great Lugh struck down Balor, on the Isle of Britain, one stood, and man named it… Gogmagog!"His eyes widened in shock at the revelation.
It was Gogmagog. The fiery giant that Brutus of Troy had fought tooth and nail with the blessings of the Fae and Apollo to strike down to allow humans to settle in Britain and push back against the darkness of the land. The fiery giant turned its attention directly to Naruto as it conjured flaming wings where it soon gave a loud, blazing hiss before it spoke with a voice that boomed with power,"Kayân bugan!"(6)Gogmagog stepped out of the pillar of fire fully to stand in at a terrifying one hundred and fifty meters, he conjured up a flaming whip that he pulled back before shooting it straight at the arcane warrior who had dodged the whip's flames, though his ears took one hell of a hit from the shockwave. It was like a crack of thunder and a flash of lightning that came from his peripheral vision.
The muddy bog that had become the floor of the cavern was instantaneously rendered solid by the mere presence of Britain's flaming Divinity, its form clad head to toe in a scorching heat haze that warped the air around it. Naruto was immediately aware of the sweat that had begun to bead at his brow from this thing's presence alone, and he was once more witness to the tremendous power of a God's authority.
Gogmagog's hateful flaming eyes tracked Naruto as a man would a fly that he was intent to squash, a glitter of something behind the fire was Naruto's only warning. Jumping backwards, Naruto's advanced senses were able to watch in morbid fascination as the area on which he had been standing was consumed in a conflagration of black fire that made no sound, the air around it exploding at its presence and unleashing a shockwave that he miraculously managed to avoid.
Setting off into a sprint between the pillars he did not need to see Gogmagog to know that the God was now in pursuit, the ground rumbling under each footfall, "Some of that thinking would be nice about now!" Naruto shouted at Kurama, dodging out of the way of another black fire projectile that consumed the bottom of a pillar. Kurama's negative emotion sensing was giving him a heads up every time the flaming giant's gaze locked on to him, giving him just enough time to dodge the eye-based explosion attack Gogmagog was using. "f*ck it! While you ponder the greater mysteries of life, I'm going to fight back!"
Crossing his fingers in a familiar hand sign, three more Naruto's appeared in puffs of smoke before spitting off in separate directions. Gogmagog gave a guttural roar of angered confusion at seeing the blonde Divinity apparently split into four parts, extending its flaming wings and beating them twice to send waves of superheated air to swat away the annoyances. Naruto and the clones responded by taking refuge behind four respective pillars standing at the cardinal directions around Gogmagog and springing up them at blistering speeds.'I have a plan, but we haven't done it in 100 years, so I don't know how it's going to affect your current body, remember how we had a time limit the first time? Don't exactly want it to time out on us with an angry god bearing down on us.'Kurama said, sensing his partner forming Memory Partitions and accelerating his thoughts.
Naruto's eyes widened slightly but did not take them away from the fiery Gogmagog, a Rasengan swirling into existence in his right hand before taking on a deep blue hew when he added in water natured Mana with the Chakra. "How long do you need to get it running?" he asked, the Rasengan expanding in size to that of a basketball before a familiar bell-like screech began to permeate the air as four white shuriken blades of energy expanded from the ever larger growing attack.
'Thirty seconds! Hold him off till then and don't get co*cky, Counter Force or no, a God is a hard opponent to fight!'Kurama replied, assuming the Lotus position in Naruto's Mindscape and beginning to gather his Chakra. Naruto smiled in fond remembrance of days gone past as he continued to let his attack grow in size and power while Gogmagog dealt with his clones below.
The ancient god of the Britons moved with speed unfitting of its size, using its stony arms to block the deluge of spells and mysteries that Naruto's clone had been pelting it with, most of them had little effect on his body, but one clone had been able to land a lucky lance of lightning into his eye, so it made sure not to take the blonde lightly.
One clone's Marmyadose opened its blade and began to radiate a blinding light of Hope that drew Gogmagog's attention, unleashing a beam of destructive energy much like Excalibur with a swing that caught the giant in the chest, drawing a shriek of pain from the beast as well as partially dissipating its fiery armor. Understanding that the clones posed more threat then it had initially anticipated was the impetus for the festering ball of fire to change tact, its flaming whip condensing in on itself to form a demonic looking spear that it swung laterally at the three clones. The first clone on one of the pillars was caught dead on by the conflagration and popped without so much as a word, the second attempted to dodge but was caught up in the rubble of the pillars being launched at it at relativistic speed. The last clone had proved agile enough to avoid the spear but was quickly incinerated when Gogmagog's black fire exploded into existence on his form.
Letting out a raptus below, Gogmagog thumped his stony chest in victory over the clones as the fire like armor began to reform over him, but he turned to look heavenward upon seeing the buildup of magical power. Naruto hovered several hundred feet above him with a truly massive Rasenshuriken held aloft over his head, its bell-like wail drawing out the sound of the giant ever-present conflagration.
Recognizing the power of the technique and not exactly wanting to be hit by it, Gogmagog prepared a counter of his own. Chanting in eldritch Black Speech that reverberated off the grand cavern's walls, the flaming spear collapsed in on itself to a single ball of fire resting in the god's right hand before beginning to grow in both size and candescence. In a matter of seconds, Gogmagog held what appeared to be a small sun some eighty feet in diameter with a visible heart of black fire.
Shockwaves began to form in the air between Naruto and Gogmagog from the two extreme air temperatures clashing like the advent of a storm, the beginnings of a hurricane taking form around them. Naruto grit his teeth before raising Marmyadose above his head and into the bottom of the hybrid of Jutsu and Magecraft, "Go back to the shadows! There is no force on this Earth that I will not slay to see her smile again!Sing, Marmyadose!"The staff glowed with brilliant golden light that shrouded Naruto and forced Gogmagog to squint, traveling upwards into the Rasenshuriken and doubling its size, the symbol of the Avalon Fae bursting to life as a golden sigil deep within its Nucleus. Around each hemisphere of the Rasenshuriken formed six additional smaller Rasenshuriken made of golden mana, 'Water Style: Planetary Archmagus Rasenshuriken'.
"Eat it!" Naruto cried, swinging the staff down and sending the country destroying attack at Gogmagog with godspeed.
Gogmagog did not take this lying down and launched his own black sun in response, the manifestation of its authority over fire turning pillars to glass as it rocketed passed. As the two attacks collided there was no explosion or thunderclap of sound, sound itself fell away from the world as the two forces of nature ground against one another each hoping to consume the other before finally, the Rasenshuriken won out by a hair's breadth. Upon detonation, the hybrid attack expanded into a spiraling vortex of unfathomable water currents and steam that quickly quenched what was left of the black sun before catching Gogmagog full in the face.
Sound crashed back into the world as hundreds of billions of nano-thin blades of water crashed into the giant's upper body grinding away at it painfully. Even amidst the deafening cacophony of the chamber now full of thick steam, the god's cry of pain rang true, screeching in agony as it attempted to endure the attack that sat in the petaton range.
Eventually, his clawed feet came loose, and the smoldering giant was launched across the steam-filled chamber and into the wall at massively hypersonic speeds, tons of dust and debris brink kicked up by its arrival there. Gods, however, are not beings that one can simply put down with a single attack.
A roar of righteous fury emerged from the hole in the wall as the debris was reduced to molten slag by the sudden step up in heat, Gogmagog bursting from the wall accompanied by a mushroom cloud of flame. Clearing up, the ancient God of the Britain was in a poor state but still very much alive, its fiery armor had been dreaded down to black vapor that attempted to reignite as its draconic tail beat angrily against the molten floor. Gogmagog's left arm was mangled with numerous cracks marring its oily stone surface, fire moving to heal the damage slowly. Its head though had borne the brunt of the Rasenshuriken's bite with a horn being sheared off and the left orbit of its eye lacerated with deep fissures from which magma-like ichor flowed. Fists shaking for a few seconds, two weapons formed in each hand as the flaming wings intensified their fire, the return of the whip in its left hand and a thick claymore made of magma and black fire in its right.
But Gogmagog was not the only one to step up his game.
Out of the fog stepped a great golden figure as tall as the ancient god made of flaming golden power and marked with black markings from head to toe, a swirling spiral on its stomach and Avalon's brand across its chest. Nine long tails and a snarling vulpine head met the fiery gaze of Gogmagog and within its eyes glowed the light of the Crimson Moon. "Well, that was certainly smoother than last time, how does it feel to be out in the open for the first time in a century?" Naruto asked with a grin, his form swathed in golden Chakra deep in Kurama's energy-based head.
"Like taking my first breath in an aeon, liberating!"Kurama replied happily as it continued to stare down Gogmagog, "I feel like I'm stronger than our battle with Brunestud so long ago, let's tear this slag heap limb from limb!"The fox's battle lust had not dulled from another hundred years of peaceful cooperation with his partner if anything it had grown the new heights."Look at me now Shukaku you little sh*t! I am, without a doubt, the strongest Tailed Beast on this planet!"
Gogmagog watched the fox wearily before its flaming eyes zeroed in on the energy fox's new red orbs,"Bruuuuuunnnnneeeeeessssstttttuuuuuuddddddd."it ground out, voice sounding like tectonic plates grinding against one another."Urush rogurrun nan! Pûr'muk ungur nash!"(7)His voice boomed once more with evil intent, as the giant and fox stared down one another. Eventually, the God cracked its whip in challenge before falling into what might have been called a stance.
"I don't know what the hell you just said, but if you think you're going to kill us, you'll have to try harder than that."Kurama taunted the giant as the two soon charged at one another. It seemed that finally after a whole century or so, Naruto would finally be able to battle with nothing held back against a god. And just like before, he had someone he loved he was willing to fight for.
Musings of a Wizard Marshall
By K.Z.S.
f*ck the Fae II: Non-Euclidean Boogaloo
Now, some of you reading this may be wondering, 'Kischer you handsome grandpa you, did we not already f*ck the Fae?' to which I would reply that who are you and how did you get in to reading my memoirs... unless this has been put on sale on some kind of multiversal craigslist. Not the first time that has happened. But I digress, the reason for my return to talking about the knife eared tricksters is due to a recent event involving a particular heartless doctor having an altercation with one in the common era that has Policies up in arms, and anything that makes Policies pull their hair out is enough to rekindle my muse.
'The Fae' in actuality is not a specific term as opposed to a branching term used to describe a litany of species that fall under their banner. Fairies, pixies, gnomes, some wood and water nymphs, as well as true High Fae which have their own seemingly endless list of variations that would take far too long to describe and detail.
During the Age of Fae and far further back they could be found all over Europe, Asia, the Orient, Australia, Africa and even in North America… not south though considering not one but TWO Ultimate Ones living there scared them enough to leave the continent be.
When speaking of the Fae's organizational structure, they tend to form up into 'courts' in specialized textures located close to the surface of the planet and in turn ply their trade as tricksters, illusionists and occasionally making items that surpass even the Gods in terms of power. The British Isles had three such courts with scattered courts of Fae affiliated with each of the big three.
The Avalon Fae hold court in the lost Avalon and are venerated for their geniality and beingness relative to their Gaelic brethren, they would still get you drunk and strap you to a tree covered in honey, but they would let you down... eventually... probably. They are led by King Oberon and Queen Titania with their court being regarded as the 'strongest' and most tolerant of humans.
The Gaelic Fae are split into two courts, Seelie (Summer) and Unseelie (Winter), the former being loveable tricksters who enjoy squirrelling children and other people off to their timeless land in Tir na Nog to play forever.
The latter are the kind to set your house of fire with you inside and bewitch your senses to not see, hear, smell or feel it. Cackling and sh*tting themselves as you burn. The only thing that prevented truly massive clashes was the prior mediation by the now faded gods of the Tuatha de Danan, needless to say when they faded that the two courts were a bit more liberal in their messing with humans after they left. It was not until Avalon united that they considered stopping for fear of Titania and Oberon's might.
But it is said, that on the Isle of Mann, on the night of Samhain and if the conditions are just right that one lucky enough may be able to gaze in upon the meeting between Titania and Oberon of Avalon, Queen Mab of the Seelie and King Arawn of the Unseelie. Who is to say what those meetings consist of today? How they must have argued upon the fall of the gleaming silver city and maybe, just maybe, what if their Lynchpin returned?
Done, and damn, this took a while as I was running into a few issues of how the fights would go down and be broken up into who vs who. Originally this chapter was double the length, but my beta pointed out that the back half of the chapter was suffering from a few inconsistencies, so I decided to break it in two as to not deprive you guys of a chapter while I worked on it. I do hope that everyone enjoyed the Tolkien elements in this chapter as a means to also expand on what was in the TYPE-MOON Arthurian Legend, and I do hope that we get the English Lostbelt soon to see what's going on in it as it may prove useful in some manner.
Anyways, here's a list of the translations of the non-English lines of the chapter though the first line is not Black Speech, but Quenya instead –
(1) No evil can hide here... I command you to go away! I order you to reveal yourself!
(2) May the soul of thine sibling endow you with life in time.
(3) Come forth my lovers, my wraiths. Stamp out those who would do me harm.
(4) Bone of the father, unwillingly given. Blood of thyself, willingly sacrificed. Flesh of the sibling, forcibly taken. Let time bring you forth, and take form thine puppet.
(5) Retreat!
(6) I am woken!
(7) I am the flame imperishable! Your escape is death!
I hope that this chapter was enjoyable to everyone, as I tried to get it out before Halloween, but sad to say nothing ever goes as planned.
Most likely my next chapter update after the second part to this chapter, will either be the Marvel story, or my Bleach story. With my Marvel story, it seems to be getting a lot of unnecessary dislikes due to the angle I am choosing to start from. Anyways, the first arc of the Bleach story though has been finished and looking more promising with that fanbase being more positively receptive with what the story will likely grow into.
The next chapter will cover the rest of the Siege as well as Mordred and Ywain's suppression of the Rebellion which should bring an end to this Arc (Glory) of the story.
The next Arc of the Camelot act is Fall followed by its aftermath, Ashes, and likely going to be the most emotional chapters that I've ever written.
So, please continue to read, review, favorite and follow this story as well the others on my profile, and be sure to let me know what you guys liked and/or disliked about the new chapter.
Until next time ;) !
Chapter 12: Chapter 11: The Glory of Camelot Part V
Chapter Text
Chapter 11 – The Glory of Camelot Part V
-Castle of Lord Cerdic; Mordred-
Ever since she was given this assignment, Mordred had been both ecstatic and stoic about her role as joint-leader in this with Ywain. This was a mission to prove herself worthy to join the king's inner circle and court as an esteemed Knight of the Round Table.
Both Mordred and Ywain were chosen at the recommendation of her 'mom', Naruto, to either bring in or eliminate Lord Cerdic and his rebellious forces by order of the King of Knights to help quell the kingdom's slowly growing dissent with the king.
'How stupid were these lords and men?' It was all Mordred could ask herself, for how could they question their king's rule that saved their people from tyranny and death. That kept them from enslavement to foreigners that would destroy their history and culture. That protected them against the evils of the world, which threatened to infest and destroy them from within. Mordred was NOT one for politics, in fact, on one of the rare instances when Naruto had attempted to explain to Mordred the different levels of nobility, she had got lost in a daydream about riding Periwinkle into the sunset. But a singular fact rang clear through it all that Mordred, as straightforward as a charging bull, could understand; if the people were happy and had no complaints, then there was no need for rebellion. Therefore, as she dug the heels of her sabatons into the flank of the horse she was riding, the ponytailed blonde was certain that this false rebellion would crumble under the weight of the King's justice, and she would be his instrument.
They were led to a path inside the castle by one of Naruto's spies to hopefully keep the bloodshed to a minimum, not that she was averse to the notion of cracking a few skulls. She and Ywain agreed to split up their troops to cover more ground, Ywain would take the upper levels and battlements to give their greater forces access through the gates, while Mordred herself would find Lord Cerdic. She stole through the castle with greater subterfuge than any ordinary knight would be capable of, slipping past encampments of men at arms and occasional servants that flitted this way and that. Within her horned silver helm, Mordred's ears twitched, hearing the distant sounds of combat above her, it would seem that Ywain had started his own assault in earnest, giving her time and distraction enough to find the rebellious nobles. Accosting a manservant in a storehouse confirmed the information that their informants had gathered, Cerdic was holed up at the top of the castle's central keep, likely getting ready to lead his troops in an attempt at resistance. 'Too little, too late,' Mordred thought with a mix of annoyance and amusem*nt, bringing the pommel of her sword down against the back of the manservant's neck and sending him into blissful unconsciousness.
Kicking open the door to the storehouse with a deft kick, Mordred stepped out into the central courtyard while surveying the some three score of enemy combatants running this way and that in an attempt to hold back Ywain's assault. Concealed green orbs alighted on a few corpses that littered the battlements with conspicuously matte black throwing knives protruding from necks and eyes. She clicked her teeth in annoyance, it seemed that her fellow aspiring knight wanted to make quick work of the defenders, "Tryin' to show off huh, beansprout?" she asked rhetorically, drawing the attention of a mail-clad man at arms who quickly raised the alarm at her presence. "Oh? You lot think screaming, and hollering is going to save you from the King's justice?" Mordred proclaimed loudly, her voice reverberating from within her horned helm, "Maybe! But that won't save your traitor of a lord from me!" Magical energy pulsed outwards from her body, sparking erratically in bolts of brilliant bloody red lightning that arced against the castle walls.
Launching herself forwards, Mordred left a sonic boom in her wake bound for the iron-bound door to the main keep, the defenders desperately scrambled to pull the massive metallic doors shut. Mordred grinned like a loon, rearing her gauntleted fist back with a mass of crimson lightning and driving it into the heavy metal door, it gave no resistance and crumpled under the force of her assault like paper-mache, turning those behind the entryway into a pink mist. Those still alive were left dazed and confused, their wide, frightened eyes watching the horned demon crackling with aberrant lightning stalking forwards through the fog of cruor and viscera. None could withstand Mordred as she ascended the steps with speed that none so heavily armored should possess. She ignored those that ran from her path and reduced any that raised a feeble defense against her to chum, she would end this quickly, and if they were smart, they would know to stay out of her way. Halfway up the ascent, she was accosted by a brute of a man wielding a heavy war hammer that he brought down on her head with a resonant clang. What was visible of his face through his mail cap contorted into terror when the shorter knight's hand locked around his throat and jerked him to the side as if he weighed nothing, sending him toppling over the edge of the balustrade to fall six stories hitting the floor with a sickening splat.
Now, as Mordred was finishing up with a section of the keep, she cut down the door to the keep's balcony, where Lord Cerdic himself was in, she found the man strapped in armor with his back against the wall and sword pointed at her, "Tell me, why did you choose to betray our king?" Mordred asked, wanting to know his answer.
Lord Cerdic levelled a putrid glare at Mordred with his sword still pointed at her armored form that filled him with dread, "The king is far too perfect to be human." Cerdic said as he spat at Mordred's feet. Something she didn't take too kindly to, "Nothing so perfect to rule over us can be human, no different from the tyrant Vortigern. I refuse to allow something inhuman to rule over us!" He proclaimed in anger, a false bravado to try and save face.
But it was these words that seemed to set something off inside of Mordred. The way he insulted the King of Knights was some banal statement on how he insisted that one needed to be flawed to be a leader, and they couldn't be perfect. Perfection was a debate for another day, but Mordred knew that the king no doubt had problems of his own, and King Arthur was wise to keep them hidden from potential enemies. In her mind, if the king was perfect to the views of the people, then the king's ideals and dreams too were nothing to scoff or spit at.
For if the king wished to build a peaceful nation in which would be the foundation of a utopia of joy, then who was this man to stop it, "You're a fool…" Raising her blade high above her head as the shadow of the sword covered Cerdic, "…where's the dissatisfaction in serving the perfect king?" Mordred cleaved Cerdic in half as blood sprayed across her armor, depicting an almost demon-like being presiding over death, "There is none, and you should be honored by that fact." She looked down at what had once been a man, the waters of life running out over the floor in an ever-growing puddle, guts and bone visible by the torchlight behind her. She spoke no more words and instead walked to the edge of the balcony and looked out over the moonlight bathed castle grounds and forests beyond it. It was quite a sight to see.
Five minutes later, one of Mordred's soldiers entered the room as he removed his helmet to speak clearly to one of their leader's, "Sir, we've taken the castle and secured the remaining soldiers within. Ywain holds the upper floors and battlements with several of Lord Cerdic's retainers who have surrendered to us."
Wiping the blood off her blade with the traitor's flag, Mordred turned to the soldier and gave a nod in acknowledgement before finally speaking, "Lord Cerdic…" She said, gesturing to the bifurcated body behind her, which was already attracting flies, "…wasn't one to give up, and I was forced to put him down." Sheathing the blade, Mordred left the room to meet up with Ywain to share their reports before heading back to the capital city, where Sir Kay held the place together as the Lord Regent.
It was time to head back home, where she'd wait until mom and the king and company would return with news that the bitch, Morgan, was dead.
"What an adventure, mom…" Mordred whispered to herself, "…nothing like what you did before but something to talk about one day."
-Gawain, Gareth & Gaheris-
Having been forcibly split away from the company, Gawain had been leading his siblings through Morgan's wretched castle for some time now, only to run into almost nothing, save for the occasional Uruk or Fell Magus to put down, yet at the same time, he grew uneasy.
For all of their preparations to ensure they were able to combat Morgan, they still lacked a tremendous amount of information about what lay in store for them; despite what info Naruto had obtained, it meant very little in the end. It was quite the contradiction, truly; Gawain knew that Naruto bore no ill will upon them, having showcased his dedication to their aunt and their cause with the founding of Camelot, yet at the same time… he had always been a little disquieted by the as per status as a Dead Apostle. A creature that by all rights killed the living for their blood to continue their eternal existence, partaking in dark actions for pleasure and being an affront to that which was righteous and humane. Perhaps it was his own lingering dislike of their mother for having disowned and cast them out to be taken in by Sir Ector, had Naruto simply not yet shown his true colors as a tra—
"Brother, are you alright?" He felt Gareth's hand upon his shoulder with a concerned look on her face, "You looked as if you were elsewhere, as if you had taken leave of your senses." That was strange. Typically, Gawain was aware of how he appeared to and was perceived by others, yet perhaps this place was affecting his mind from what his sister had said.
The music of the Unseelie that had begun as they entered the castle started to ebb and flow through the halls, as Gawain attempted to drown the sickening tone out from his eardrums with his own thoughts, yet it seemed for naught as the music was still heard. Enchanted tunes were something of a weakness for him, his Numeral of the Saint blessing was weakest at this time. For no sun shined down upon the domain to protect his ears and thoughts from the song of the Winter Court of Fae.
"Yes, I'm…." He reigned in his composure after a few moments, the fog of dark thoughts banished from his mind to focus on finding the rest of the company, "…I'm fine. Let's continue. Keep your minds clear, Gareth, Gaheris. This place is playing tricks on us."
Ushering on through the halls, they soon heard a loud scraping, a noise that all three recognized as the unmistakable sound of a whetstone being drawn across a sharp blade. Holding their weapons up, they ventured beyond an ajar oaken door with caution until they found the source, "It can't be…." Gawain said in shock from the sight.
The Green Knight sat stiffly upon the edge of the oily fountain with his mismatched eyes wriggling with anticipation, "Of course it is. I am here…" the Green Knight tossed the whetstone aside as he stood, his large, bearded axe slowly drawing across the stone flags producing sparks in the process. Casting a disinterested look to Gawain's siblings, he raised his axe pointedly at Gawain before speaking again, "…we still have a battle to conclude." He gestured with his mossy beard to his left, where an open passageway waited on the other side of the courtyard. "Leave us, I care not for if you strike down my creator; as a matter of fact, I have grown most infuriated with her as of late. All I care about is collecting on my promise, Knight of the Sun." Gawain's title was spat with venomous contempt that made Gareth and Gaheris wince.
"Brother! You cannot do this alone!" Gaheris stepped forward in protest of the Green Knight's challenge. Years ago, the undead abomination had proven to be a brutal enemy to deal with, taking the three of them together to defeat him. Even though he was outnumbered, the monster had taken all that they had offered and more before finally expiring. It was a sight that Gaheris would never forget, and every fibre of his being screamed at him to stand with their brother again, for the aura of the Green Knight far outstripped the stumbling beast they had once felled.
Gareth readied Ira Lupus as she loaded a Mystic Code into the firing chamber of the lance, ready to charge, "Go ahead, both you." The two younger siblings looked at their older brother as if he were well and truly crazy, "Find the King…." Gawain said, "…end this nightmare."
Staring down at the Green Knight, Gawain intensified the shroud of flames around Galatine in preparation of this duel, "Now." His final tone left no room for argument.
"No, brother!" Gareth shouted in protest, "We have the numerical advantage right now! We have more experience and skills together!" The siblings' sister was confident that they could defeat the Green Knight once more, but only if they stood together.
However, Gawain saw something that they seemed to ignore when they saw the Green Knight before them, "How is it that you are capable of speech now?" On that night when they battled, he was nothing more than an undead pawn of Morgan's, used by Vortigern to stop their advance into his fortress. Now he was speaking clearly like any man like himself, something he thought impossible.
Their opponent merely shrugged before gesturing to his belt briefly as he hoisted his axe on his shoulder, "'Tis simply a belt of magical enchantment to grant me the gifts or normal man. Speech is but one. And there are others, but I will say no more." The Green Knight brought the axe down to the ground where he had cut down into the stone floor in anticipation, "Let us speak no more with words, but with steel." Hefting the axe in both arms now, the air became palpable with bloodlust as it seemed that his patience was wearing thin, now that Gawain had arrived.
Gaheris was not comfortable with that bit of news as he turned to his elder brother with urging reason in his tone, "This is all the more reason for us to fight together, brother!" Gesturing to the Green Knight, he continued on to hopefully slay the abomination together, "We can put this fell creature down all the faster and continue our search for the king!"
"The two of you will only get in my way." Gawain stated bluntly, shocking his siblings at his words, all the while the Green Knight merely chuckled at the declaration, "If he has gained more intelligence, and more skill, then I can deal with him on my own. More weapons will only make this more complicated than it needs to be." In truth, Gawain was wanting to battle the Green Knight to ensure he did not make another mistake in finally putting him down.
Yes, he knew that his siblings' aid could help, yet at the same time, they would hinder him in allowing him to use Galatine's power under the full Moon to ensure that he could fight all out against this undead knight. He would apologize to his siblings once they were home so as to not strain their relationship, but here and now, he had an enemy to put down.
With Gareth looking towards Gaheris, they shared a silent conversation before nodding as they made haste past the abominable knight to find their king.
All that was left was the old nemesi, each with their own reasons for fighting. The ghoulish spectre of a fallen man sustained by nothing more than his intense desire to see his unfinished duty through. The other clad in silver and teal was far more of an enigma to understand. Years ago, when he and the Green Knight had first crossed blades in that village besotted by the undead, Gawain had claimed victory through the combined efforts of he and his siblings, at that moment, an ideal had been fostered within Hardy Gawain as radiant as the Sun he was blessed under. The perfect knight, serving the ideal king perfectly, he would be chivalrous, defend the weak, hold the strong to account for their power and make people feel safe in his presence, anything less was simply not good enough. Yet looking upon the Green Knight, wheezing his way back into life like a bad memory given form, Gawain felt… self-conscious. Before him stood the physical embodiment of his imperfection, proof that he had yet to reach his ideal of the perfect knight. If the Green Knight could yet draw breath, then what other mistakes could he make? Grow arrogant in his power? Abandon the ways of chivalry for personal grudges, even, dare he think it, fail the King?
Teal eyes met the mismatched green of his opponent, slipping into a robust stance with Galatine's flaming form poised to strike. "...shall we?"
Thin, rotting lips split to reveal a crumbling grin, and large dirty hands tightened around the shaft of an axe, "Face me! Knight of the Sun!" Green knight exploded into motion, kicking off of the fountain that shattered under his heavy greaves and raising his glowing green axe high over his head.
"Burn away…" Gawain surged forth to meet him swinging Galatine's flaming length to collide with the great bearded axe of his nemesis, a shockwave radiating from the point of impact as flame and malignant growth clashed, "…burn away so I can achieve my ideal!" Morgan's son roared as they descended into battle.
-Lancelot, Tristan & Agravain-
Attempting to find Arturia had unfortunately proven a fruitless endeavor. The passageways had changed on them numerous times, forcibly diverting them into another part of the castle until they came to another staircase leading them directly up to where they could feel a light draft fluttering their long hair, "It appears that we are nearing an open roof on the castle." Lancelot observed as he led Tristan and Agravain up the stairs towards a large door.
Not knowing what lay ahead, Tristan moved up ahead before he kicked the door down with Failnaught at the ready to turn whatever threat into a pincushion. Seeing nothing on the other side that currently threatened them, Tristan moved out as Lancelot and Agravain came from the rear, where they took in their surroundings.
The trio found themselves in a large roof courtyard where several other doors lay in the perimeter that hopefully led elsewhere, with a battlement wall up on the left side giving a great view over the castle and its grounds; Tristan made his way towards them, "I shall take to the battlements to give us cover in the event the enemy decides to ambush us." Lancelot nodded in agreement; this location was a prime spot for ambushing them.
Stowing Failnaught, Tristan made his way over to the wall and climbed up to get a good foothold as the other knights moved slowly through the courtyard with vigilance. Giving the battlements a once over, Tristan saw that several figures darted across the rooftops setting up fortifications and ballista's to potentially counter their siege, perhaps too late given the destruction of the main gate. Yet at the same time, Tristan was able to see beyond the battlements down into the town where their forces were preoccupied with the Uruks, yet the shadow of the central tower fell over this rooftop rendering the figures invisible to those down below, "A one way view it would seem." Certainly, a tactical advantage if one ever saw it as.
Yet beyond the howl of wind and battle, within the ringing of steel and horrid music of the Unseelie, Tristan's trained air picked up a singular sound growing in intensity that did not belong. Looking heavenward, Tristan witnessed a large gout of fire that grew to the size of a horse before being launched down into the courtyard, "Move!" Lancelot and Agravain both dived out of the way, though each one ended up being caught up in the resulting explosion, getting flung in separate directions. Lancelot was lucky enough to be tossed aside relatively unscathed, save for a slightly singed cape. As for Agravain, the Knight of Black Iron was not so fortunate. The shockwave sent him into a nearby wall with enough force to send him through it before the opening collapsed in on itself, separating Agravain from the others.
Then there was Tristan up on the battlements; a second ball of fire came for him, and he acted accordingly to evade its flame, yet the resulting shrapnel sliced the strap at his front, Failnaught clattered to the ground a few feet away. Scrambling for the bow, Tristan attempted to regain his primary weapon, but a figure clad in mist appeared before him with a sword pointed at him in challenge, "Your bow is useless, Knight of Lamentation." Not wanting to be caught on the back foot, Tristan drew his guardless longsword to parry the initial thrust of the wraith; while swordsmanship was not his forte Tristan had made sure to hone the skill to the point where he could survive without his bow. He sidestepped the follow-up slash and returned one of his own when he felt a second presence land behind him like the current wraith, Tristan adjusted himself to see that, unlike the first, it held no weapon, yet that did little to ease his worries, "You are forsaken." The second one said.
Despite their new, twisted forms concealing their prior nature as humans now turned wraiths, Tristan recognized their armor, "Golumar… Lot… why go to Morgan?" His golden eyes opened in unconcealed disbelief, "Why lower yourselves, men such as yourselves, to serve someone as foul as her?" Tristan recognized them from his younger years in his father's court.
Their hollow, metallic voices alternated between one another as they explained, "The Dark Mistress holds beauty and power…."
"…bliss is but one of such gifts she holds…."
"…she is the rightful heir of these lands…."
"…and not a bastard child."
Golumar raised his blade as he shot a burst of black fire at Tristan, forcing him to evade the attack which struck Lot. Tristan had hoped to have his enemy strike his own ally, which worked to his hope; however, that did not seem to be the case. As Lot had been hit by the blast, his 'body' evaporated into a cloud of smoke that seemed to swirl around briefly before it dispersed into a flock of crows that took on a demonic appearance, each had four eyes that were filled the same form of shadow, "Zídushgoi will not fall to a handful of cowards!"
Tristan's eyes widened as he saw that he would need to keep moving in order to avoid being killed by this new threat. His vision darted around in haste to find the optimal route until he saw a slope leading up to the roof, where it was cluttered by several towers. "You call us cowards for attacking your Mistress' domain…." If he managed to make it, then Tristan could at the very least split their focus up and make surprise attacks as he made a loop around the courtyard to try and reclaim Failnaught to grant him the edge in battle once more, "…yet she skulks in the shadow like a leper clinging to the safety of others out of fear from us." Tristan taunted as he quickly pivoted around to make a mad dash for the rooftops to regain some slight advantage. Swiftly twirling his sword, Tristan struck each of the crows as they shrieked before dispersing from the flock as Golumar disappeared in a mist up to the rooftops.
Sprinting up the path, Tristan held his blade at the ready as he knew well enough that the Wraith-crows would come for him. Keeping his eyes fully aware of what was around him, he now stood with his back against a wall where a few of the towers kept his position hidden for a brief time before a crow came diving at him from the air. Their shriek filled the air with terror, yet Tristan held his mental fortitude up against the being; swinging the blade, the redhead batted the crows away before he began to make his way around the roof to reclaim his bow.
As he continued to swipe away at incoming crows, Golumar reappeared before him within a few feet with his sword positioned to take his head off in one fell swoop. Years of training came back to Tristan as he quickly ducked under the blade that made a beeline for his neck, whereupon rolling over, Tristan attempted to stab the wraith, only for his sword to pass through his opponent. "Damn…" seeing that his sword would be useless against his opponents, much less Golumar, Tristan made haste as he continued on with his strategy.
While Tristan was facing down his opponents, Lancelot was now dealing with his own enemies. After recovering from the attack, Lancelot held Arondight at the ready as two more wraiths jumped down into the courtyard, one armed with a warhammer and the other lacking visible armament. He could make out their armor and distinct features of their coat of arms, yet one of them stood out as he pointed Arondight at the warhammer wielding wraith, "Claudus? You were my father's friend!" In slight shock and anger at this apparent betrayal, the Frankish knight said, "And you, Ogier…." Pointing his blade at the unarmed one, "…you were a man whose name was of legend. One of honor! And the both of you throw it away! For Morgan? For Evil?!" Lancelot shouted in rage, donning his helmet once again.
Claudus charged at Lancelot with his war hammer poised to deliver a blow to his helm, "You cannot win. The armies of the Dark Mistress, like her power, grow continuously. She is the true heir of these lands, and you will bow to her." Claudus brought the hammer down to strike, only for him to meet Arondight instead and be parried to the side. They traded blows with neither landing a solid hit on the other, though the height tail of bluish light that followed Arondight's tip seemed to force the wraith to recoil.
Lancelot kept his eyes on Ogier as the shadows that held his form began to distort and form something else about him, "Our Mistress has vested interest in your Fae blessings, once this attack is repelled, you shall likely join our number…." Lancelot's eyes widened at this corruptive fate lined up for him, yet at the same time, the form of Ogier began to take the shape of a Drake, like a wyvern, formed from shadow and fire, "…but should you choose to resist, I shall see you dead before the sun rises!" Rearing its head back, Lancelot ran adjacent from the drake's position in an arc as the wraith-drake let loose the same fire that had separated them in the first place and the stream of fire that followed set the courtyard ablaze. Lancelot could feel the heat as he dove behind a pillar supporting a balcony overlooking the courtyard as the fire continued to spew.
Knowing full well that he was outnumbered, Lancelot came out from the side of the pillar before leaping at the man-shaped wraith, striking Claudus' hammer with Arondight, locking their weapons and pushing against the semi-corporeal foe. "Blast you confounded foe, to fall so low for something as vapid as cursed troops and hollow prestige!? Look at yourself man!" he bellowed, sparks flying from their weapon lock. Claudus grunted in response, having trouble overpowering Lancelot's raw martial prowess. Lancelot stepped forwards while twisting Arondight in his grip and slashed it lengthwise along the wraith's breastplate, drawing a sharp wince of pain from the hooded figure. Wanting to keep the heat on, Lancelot went for a thrust when his eyes picked out an orange reflection upon Arondight's surface. Danger senses blaring at him to pull back Lancelot pirouetted away from his now-abandoned attack not a second too soon, the area he would have been standing was engulfed in drake fire.
The drake that had once been Ogier brought its head around to continue to blast its dragon breath in pursuit of the dodging Lancelot, extending its malformed wings, it leapt to the aid of Caudus, who still gripped where Arondight had cut into his chest. Skidding to a halt once the drake's assault had petered out, Lancelot's helmet obscured eyes caught a glimpse of something black and slippery dripping from Claudus, blood, disgusting and oily blood. 'So, Fae weapons can harm them?' Lancelot asked mentally before throwing himself back into the fray. Prodigious strength sent a blade of air pressure at the pair, which battered them backwards, several more following it to keep them pressured as he formulated plans of attack.
As the bell tolled on, Lancelot had kept his eyes on his opponents, yet it did not prevent his mind from being affected by the Unseelie magics that began to make him hallucinate slightly. His vision blurred momentarily before he refocused himself to battle the wraiths, only instead for but the briefest of moments, he saw Guinevere… lying dead in a pool of her own blood beneath them…
It was something out of his nightmares; the love of his life's lifeless eyes staring at him, but all of a sudden, she sat up from her position with a twisted smile that made Lancelot reel back in shock and terror at the sight, "Your love has condemned me. Why? Why did you let me die?"
In that moment, fear permeated Lancelot's being before he quickly steeled himself to avoid an oncoming blow from Claudus' Warhammer that would have shattered his femur. Steely resolve soon promptly turned to rage, which he used to drive his way to fight on against the odds. Lancelot's ever-growing growls of anger played accompaniment to the symphony of steel that crashed against the phantasmal discord of the fell knights.
For Agravain, who had been separated from the other two, now alone, he knew only to put one foot in front of the other to keep going. Hefting himself off the floor, Agravain tried to get a look outside through the bits of rubble that weren't completely obstructing his view, only to see just a shadowed dragonkin of some kind, "Dammit…." There was nothing he could do but carry on.
Stepping back from the rubble, Agravain gazed down the hallway as he tried to focus ahead of him to see beyond his initial view, "Where are you…?" Marching onwards, Agravain drew his sword before he heard a voice in his head.
"Come."
A single command was all it took to draw his attention to the source. Realizing that it was Morgan's own, Agravain allowed the enchanted iron chains to drop slightly from his free hand, emitting a crimson red glow to illuminate the path before him.
-Arturia-
"Morgan… I curse your name."
Arturia had been on her own ever since she was separated from Naruto and the rest of their company, leaving her marooned amidst an emotional storm of hatred for her sister and concern for her lover, as well as the rest of her knights.
They had been aware that a castle would be well defended but given no time to prepare, the defenders would not be able to prepare it for a siege, much less a surprise one at that. Though it seemed that the castle itself had been constructed in some way to rearrange its insides to delay ingress into the inner sanctum where the master of the castle likely lay in wait.
Sprinting down the halls, Arturia was more than prepared to tackle whatever it was that came her way, using Avalon to heal her instantaneously should any attacks make their marks on her, while she had the Invisible Air conceal her blade's length, although it was perhaps redundant since there had so far been few foes here lasting long enough to parry the initial strike. So far, she had run into no less than seventeen squads of those malformed abominations or the occasional Dark Magus that she had cut down without a second thought, their meagre Mysteries crumpling under Strike Air like wet tissue.
The enclosed halls reverberated to the song of rendered bone and shredded flesh under that never-ceasing Unseelie accompaniment. One thing she was able to define was that the music was the conduit of an insidious Magecraft that confounded the senses and slowly drained away at her stamina, every action taking more effort than it should have.
"Cut them down!" she roared, swinging the wind sheathed Excalibur at the next unfortunate defender sent against her, the titanic form of an Olog taking the hit to its wrought-iron buckler and letting out a squeal of pain when it offered no resistance to the concealed blade. Arturia pulled the sword free with a grunt of exertion before aiming to stab the wispy length deep into the large creature's throat but was forestalled by the Olog's meaty fist clamping down on her gauntleted sword arm. The Holy Sword's movement arrested for the time being, the Olog attempted to bring down a rough-looking messer sword on Arturia's shoulder with hopes of cutting off the limb. Hope quickly shifted to despair to the servant of Morgan when his prey sidestepped the messer's downward arc, letting it uselessly collide with the black marble floor, Arturia's left gauntleted hand balled into a fist that roared upwards into the Olog's jaw with a sickening crunch and sending eight hundred pounds of muscle into the ceiling. Even as its teeth were sent skittering across the floor, Arturia was not idle, a pulse of Mana cancelling out the Barrier of the Wind King to unveil the glowing Invictus of Excalibur. With little more than a deft flick of her wrist, Arturia unleashed a torrent of golden power from the sword that tore through the Olog's centerline, bisecting it from stem to stern.
All of this occurred within the space of a single second.
Grimacing, Arturia flexed her fingers several times, her green eyes zoning in on the remnants of her golden Mana even as the Olog's sectioned corpse clattered into the ground, the Mana seemed to be pulled into the obsidian pillars that lined the hall. Its wondrous glow being sucked away into the black mirrored surface as if someone had pulled the plug on a bath. 'So these pillars work with the music to suck away the vitality and mana of attackers?' she hypothesized, returning to her sprint down the halls, 'Perhaps it is good that we left Bedivere and Galahad to guard the entrance, any without sufficient mana or vitality would be sucked dry by these pillars and exhausted by the music.' Arturia turned the corner, a pragmatic part of her mind marveling at the ingenuity of the defensive ward, sadly she was far too angry right now to give voice to it.
Thus, she dug deep into her Dragon Core to try and compensate for what was being taken and pressed on, "I need to find Naruto first and foremost before we proceed." Naruto was their guide through the moonlit machinations that this foul place operated under; without him, they were at a distinct disadvantage combatting any magical opposition they were facing. Though in actuality, the thought of being pulled away from the man she loved when she had yet to make things right between them was shining through more so.
She soon arrived at a great circular hall that reached far above at least five stories. In the center of the hall, a set of stairs led up to a square platform with a claw holding a dark, almost translucent orb that shifted between pitch black and dark, flaming red. At the other end was another flight of stairs leading further up into the castle; however, its doors were sealed to prevent further passage. Though that did little to stop her from attempting to blow the doors down with her sword, "You will not stop me, sister." As Arturia made her way over to the door, she soon heard a soft yet dark voice in the room that echoed, almost like a whisper that was no longer there, sending a brief chill down her spine.
"I see you."
This voice did not belong to Morgan. She did not recognize it at all.
Turning around completely to face the center of the room, Arturia turned her attention to the only thing that could have emanated that voice: the orb. Taking it slowly, the king made her way up the stairs to the sphere as she focused her gaze upon it. It seemed as if it were enchanted by something, but by what she could not say. Naruto or Merlin one would likely know the truth of the matter, yet neither were here. Peering into the orb, Arturia slowly reached out to it to see what it was precisely, however before she touched and was just a hair's breadth away from grasping it, a loud piercing shriek assaulted her ears, and she turned to try and discover the source.
From all corners of the room, shadows began to shift and lengthen, drawing towards a singular point midway between Arturia and the sealed door. With time they appeared to gain mass and undulated as fabric blustered by some unseen wind, a blob of the vapors ooze rising from it before slowly taking the shape of something approaching a man. Like many of the other wraiths that the other knights had encountered that evening, it was clothed in a loose-fitting black hooded robe that covered all save for greaves, pauldrons and vambraces, yet this one differed. A head taller than his compatriots, upon his head was a crowned Corinthian helmet made of tarnished silver that somehow held a dull green hue in the half-light of the room. Most perturbing of all was that opposed to a face in the hem's opening was a yawning chasm of blackness that appeared to bend light around its black maw. In his right hand was a large, spiked mace that radiated power. The spectre offered the King of Knights no words or bravado, opting instead to simply meet her steely gaze with its own staring void.
Arturia brought Excalibur up at the ready for whatever this new foe had in store, though she soon found herself with support, "My king!" It was Gareth's voice. Not daring to take her eyes off her opponent, Arturia used her peripherals to see that it was Gareth and Gaheris that came up beside her with their weapons ready to fight alongside her, "A new enemy?"
Nodding at Gareth's question, Arturia tightened her grip on Excalibur. "Yes. He has not stated his name nor his intent, but we can assume he is an enemy."
At Arturia's words, two more shadowed whisps formed themselves in identical armour save for alternating pauldrons, bearing sigils that drew sharp inhalations from the Orkney siblings recognizing to whom they swore loyalty to: Vortigern. A dragon gazing down with a breath of fire burning the land. The wraith with the kingly helm finally spoke up, directing his voice at Arturia, "Join us, sister." Gesturing to the other apparitions beside him. His hollow, metallic voice rang with familiarity to the King and Knights.
Arturia's eyes widened in shock before anger took its place as she channeled more Mana into Excalibur, "How dare you make such an offer to me!" To ask her to join them was an insult of the highest order, suggesting she would do better to serve her disgusting sister. She knew who this man was now, but the anger burned clean through the surprise.
However, it was the sibling's response that outshone their aunt's, disbelief coiling with despair, "F-Father…." Gareth's hold on her lance loosened as she shivered in fear of what fate clearly befell their father. They knew their father, King Urien, was a man that had become one of Morgan's various lovers and the father of all three of them, but they were soon cast out of his hold and given to Sir Ector, who took them in graciously without protest. Not long after this, they tried to contact their father, only to be met with no response. Many had believed him dead after the Fae's lurid muse had shifted to another unlucky sap, yet now the truth of their father's fate stood before them.
The other two wraiths that were mirror twins of sorts, brought out their weapons, strange flails of sorts and pointed their free hands at the siblings, "Your brother is taken by the undead corpse with the axe."
Their voices, while not recognizable, swapped between one another as they continued speaking, "But the two of you will do just as fine."
"Your deaths will suffice as payment for our father's death."
"Pure souls do shine so brightly when burned."
Father…? Gawain had been involved in… Wait. Their sigils were that of Vortigern's rule in the north, "Catigern, and Vortimer." Gaheris breathed out.
The sons of Vortigern. Both men were not present during the besieging of their father's fortress, most likely further north on one of the isles of Scotland. No doubt they became enraged upon hearing the news of their father's death and sought revenge, but no one would give them aid of any sort, having sworn their allegiance to Arturia instead who was far more kind and fair to them and the people, freeing them of Vortigern's tyranny.
Now it was apparent that Morgan had approached them with the offer of power to succeed in their endeavor.
For Arturia, she was greatly insulted by Urien's words to join them. As if she should do so for whatever reason, most likely calling her a bastard. "I am not of darkness, and I am not your sister!" She proclaimed, pointing her golden blade at the wraiths in a declaration of battle. Without even glancing at her niece and nephew, Arturia spoke to them as she kept her eyes on their enemies, "Gareth, Gaheris, I know who our enemies are, but they are no longer men. You have no need to hesitate or hold back against them." Arturia spoke with vigor and command, the wind began to gradually pick up around her, "Give them no quarter, for they shall show you none!"
Letting the King's words fill them with motivation for what was to come, the siblings steeled themselves as they readied their weapons to begin battle, their own opponents, the sons of Vortigern began to twirl their flails, both armed with deadly blades that were curved strangely, while their father raised his mace to swing down on Arturia, "The weapon you stole, belongs to us." Urien said as he brought up his free hand and suddenly made a pulling gesture at Arturia where a green mist brought her closer to the wraith, "Zídushgoi is ours." Arturia used the momentum to bring Excalibur up to block the incoming mace as she felt the weapons clash and repel one another as they soon settled into a stance before Urien swung his mace once more at Arturia, who promptly dodged the attack, "Soon, you and your retinue will be ours." Arturia knew what Urien was implying by his emphasis on that singular word.
"I would rather die!" Arturia shouted with fury, a far cry from her usually composed manner of speech, "I would rather die than see any of my men bend the knee to the likes of her!" Digging into the power of the Red Dragon within her, Arturia delivered an overhead slash to Urien's helm, only for him to divert it off to his shoulder with his mace, a great shower of sparks rising from the tarnished silver armour but otherwise deflecting it with little effort.
"Forget the past. Forget their faces." The wraith taunted Arturia as the battle began in earnest, the struggle of siblings between the Orkney Siblings and the Sons of Vortigern providing ample company.
-The Lower Depths-
"Sing, Marmydose!" A broad wave of brilliant golden light sliced through the air with a din of battle, meeting the flaming sword of the primordial deity in a thunderclap. Kurama bounded forwards with speed unbefitting of his size and was a streak of light that smashed into Gogmagog in a storm of power. Skidding backwards, the flaming giant let out a pained inhuman scream before smashing both of its fists down into the energy construct of the giant fox, meeting a pair of clawed golden hands that emerged from the mass as the fox took shape once more. As the two giants clashed against one another, it became a struggle for one to overpower the other. One empowered by the power vested in nature and the Fae, while the other held the darkness of Britain as its old god of the ancient days. All the while, the unbelievable heat that the beast was giving off from in front of him and the slew of magma below pushed aggressively against Naruto housed safely in Kurama's form.
Neither was gaining sufficient ground until Gogmagog stretched its fiery maw to try and breathe black fire into Kurama's face, "sh*t!" Naruto said, urging Kurama backwards, the fox's hands locking around a nearby pillar to swing free, only for Gogmagog's grip to lock around one of his nine tails. Seeing that he needed to break the hold, Kurama used his other tails as they curved around with the tails slamming into his opponent, who was forced to drop his prior weapons due to the sudden and unexpected attack, only now did he choose to use something else to continue his assault.
"Ghâsh, ghâshizik, ghâshizik!"(1) Gogmagog had conjured up a flaming war axe in an attempt to behind Kurama, only to instead lop off some of his tails, cleaving nearly half of their length off. The Tailed Beast had to quickly shake the residual black flames off his incorporeal body or risk them spreading further up to burn through the protective shroud of chakra. Naruto clapped his hands together in a praying motion, and eight large Rasenshuriken spun into existence at the end of each tail before flicking them at the titanic flame. Gogmagog saw the incoming projectiles and attempted to defend against the assault by guarding with its smoldering wings. Eight globes of screaming energy slammed home and began to expand into a quasar of trillions upon countless trillions of microscopic blades that positively mangled Gogmagog's wings.
The air around Naruto thumped and sparked from the rapped, sudden and consecutive changes in heat and air pressure sounding more akin to a demonic drum beat to a meteorological phenomenon. "I am the light of dawn that illuminates all that man shall achieve! I am the warmth, I am the wind, I am the glow that burns away the darkness!" Naruto began, Kurama's lost energy tail regrowing in a matter of seconds, light was drawn out of the ivory hull of Mamyadose in Naruto's hand and drawn downwards into Kurama's hands which began to be shrouded in that same light. Gogmagog, now free of the assault of the Rasenshuriken barrage and looking considerably worse for wear, attempted to fly at the tailed beast only to fall into the magma pit, tattered wings no longer able to carry it. Kurama's hands joined before drawing away with a pillar of lights between them. A javelin of the purest light was levelled at the prone deity, "Make clear the way for a nation! Κεραουνός!" Kurama launched the spear of divine light at Gogmagog, who was not fast enough to dodge and took the hit head-on. A quarter of the cavern was subsumed into an auric dome of light that atomized anything within its circumference.
Naruto dug Kurama's tails into one of the few vestiges of non-molten ground to weather the onslaught of displayed air that buffeted the fox's long ears, a storm equivalent to an F5 tornado smashing against him for a solid minute before the light abated. Yet no satisfaction could be found in Naruto's cross slitted red eyes because he could sense that light yet clung to the ancient deity. The remnants of a flaming axe were soon tossed through the cloud of smoke and dust, followed by a battered, spurting but still very much ready and angry Gogmagog.
"How the hell did Brutus put this bastard down?!" Naruto exclaimed as he began to try to find a way to finish this battle. Once again, the two clashed, resulting in a shockwave that shook the cavern, debris starting to rain down upon them. Luckily there was a larger area for them to battle, prompting the duo to lead the fiery giant away to a better position. Having to dodge that whip of his was proving a deadly game as he had a feeling Gogmagog was likely trying to corner them in some form or another before charging in. Only now, it seemed the strategy was discarded upon seeing that a contest of strength was likely going to end in a stalemate.
"Should you really be asking yourself that right now?" Kurama said as he dodged another crack of the whip that blistered the ground as it became scorched from the heat, "However he did it before, we need to worry about the here and now!" Suffice to say, the fox was beginning to feel the heat getting to him. Energy body or no, too much punishment, and he would dissipate back into Naruto's body.
They were prepared to battle some monstrosity creations of Morgan, or creatures of the darkness, not a god, which last time that happened was back in their world against Kaguya. The difference being Kaguya wasn't fully unleashing her power and lacked proper combat experience with Black Zetsu directing her around to make things easier. Gogmagog was no doubt already battle-hardened and able to use his power in more brutal ways. Conjuring up flaming weapons that could pack the power to crack open a mountain with a single blow if the whip was of any indication. The war axe was another thing to showcase that its power was not something to joke around with. On top of his arms that delivered blows that could endure the slew of Naruto's attacks, Gogmagog was more akin to a force of nature than a creature.
Naruto had to agree with his partner. They needed to figure out how to deal with the giant now and stop trying to recall how he was defeated prior by Brutus. The only solution they could do was throw it back into the magma and seal this place up by destroying the lower caverns leading down here.
"Focus!" Kurama yelled as he dodged another swing of a freshly conjured axe meant to chop him in half from the waist.
Forming the cross-hand sign, several dozen shadow clones popped into life and began to fly around the old deity like a swarm of glowing golden hornets, launching scores of mysteries and Jutsu at Gogmagog, harassing him and keeping him off-kilter. One clone shot heavenward and launched a slash of golden light from Marmyadose into the ceiling, displacing a football pitch sized lump of granite that broke down into dozens of giant boulders. "O Wind! Guide the Rain," he intoned with a wave of the staff, the boulders ceasing to adhere to wind resistance and the difference in energy being added to their downward kinetic energy, smashing down upon Gogmagog. Knocked off balance by the sudden heavenly rain, the fiery god could do little to defend from the two pairs of clones that speed blitzed its ankles, green crystalline spears arranging themselves at their sides to cut at the heels of Gogmagog and send it tumbling onto its back. The rest joined together in an aria and formed a colossal tidal wave of water that was dumped on their opponent in the hopes of quenching his imperishable fire.
The blonde's eyes scanned across the field of fire to visually confirm what his sage's senses whispered into his waking mind; the torrent of water had instantly turned to stream upon drenching the molten ground and its progenitor, obscuring it from view. Clicking his teeth in annoyance at feeling the ancient god rear up once again, Kurama bounded into the steam with a small Tailed Beast Bomb between his jaws. Gogmagog hoved into view, his fires dimmed but still very much alive, and with a burst of speed and movement that its bestial appearance belayed, it kneeled low and swept at Kurama with a blistering strike from the axe. Senses linked, Kurama was given just enough forewarning to thrust his tails into the ground and pole vault over the axe swing, Rasengan swirling into life in the Tailed Beast's hand before being driven into Gogmagog's chest. The attack drilled into their foe viciously, sending him skidding backwards across the slagged floor and leaving a nasty looking crater in its chest.
"Gaur!"(2) Kurama quickly grabbed the axe and began to play a game of tug of war with Gogmagog for the weapon, only for the giant to conjure up the claymore and deliver a vertical blow to wrench the axe free only for Kurama to sidestep it before it could strike his body. Seeing that he would need both hands to hold the weapons, Kurama quickly grabbed the claymore with his regenerated tails in an attempt to keep Gogmagog under some measure of control, "Think of something, now while we have a chance!"
Kurama dared not let go or risk the giant making another swing at him with the weapons, even though the flames were beginning to get to him.
"Shad nag!"(3) the giant bellowed as it stared the duo down with the fire in its eyes to see them dead at his feet.
Naruto had quickly glanced around them to see that the pillars were still active, "Wait, the pillars… we have to destroy the pillars!" The mana of the domain was being sent down to empower Gogmagog the whole time; if they could destroy them, then they would have a much easier time.
Taking in a deep breath, Naruto dug into the Six Paths power to empower himself all the while he felt a great sense of malice and evil begin to rapidly close in on him, only for Vivian's blessings and gifts to repel the corruption as the Fae's symbol appeared upon Naruto's forehead with a bright shine, "Ok, this plan is probably crazy, but it's the only shot we'll get!" Naruto formed five Shadow Clones, one for each remaining pillar that was empowering the giant, and the other in an attempt to try and distract Gogmagog as it quickly maneuvered over to the magma pit to make itself bait, "Here goes nothing…." Recalling the same attack, he used against Vortigern years ago to weaken him, Naruto began the chant to build up the mana and power to form the Archmagus Rasenshuriken to throw at Gogmagog. Seeing that its back was somewhat exposed, Naruto could see where the wings of the giant could manifest and thought of it as a nice spot to strike, "…take this you bastard and fall!"
'Archmagus Rasenshuriken.'
The bladed orb was thrown with the added bonus of Six Paths and Fae power to enhance it right at the back of Gogamagog; the attack exploded with an incredible ferocity that forced the giant to bellow in pain as his grip on the weapons released to turn and face the Shadow Clone, "Shâ'vadyash mozob!"(4). the latest in a long line of his premier attack landed squarely in between Gogmagog's shoulder blades, stripping off what was left of the creature's wings. It seemed that despite the added bonuses, Gogmagog's Mystery was far greater than the Albion's and just enough to blunt the technique before it could leave a mortal injury, yet the signs of attrition had left their marks on the fiery giant. There was not a single limb that did not feature a grievous wound spewing molten ichor, part of its skull had been blown clean off and revealed its skull was full of naught but frightful purplish fire.
With Gogmagog's attention directed back at the Shadow Clone and opening him up to a back grapple to keep him from moving too much, the other four used their own Marmyadose as they drove the blade into the pillars to try and overload them with his own power.
As they began to do their work, the cavern became lit with golden light that started to spark as red and gold mana clashed with one another, in a battle of wills taking place to prove who was dominant over the other. The blackened pillars soon cracked with gold overtaking red as their mana became unstable with the giant no longer receiving power from them; soon, the pillar's very foundation shook before the crumbled away, followed by a blinding light exploded outwards that shocked Gogmagog as he managed to wretch free from Kurama's grip and gripped the hole in his head as he wailed in pain. Slowly as the 'fuel' for the deity's fire was taken from the god, the purple and red hugh pulled away from the fire within Gogmagog's cavernous skull.
Stepping away from the now stunned and weakened Gogmagog, Naruto formed a new Shadow Clone, this time of the Tailed Beast Mode avatar, "Now! Tackle him into the pit while he's distracted!" The Shadow Clone Beast charged right at Gogmagog and wrapped his arms around the giant, keeping its momentum going to throw them over to the edge of the original pit to the sea of Imaginary numbers. The clone used its tails to hold down the rampaging god's flailing limbs while it used its hands to slowly pry open its black fanged mouth. Kurama's muzzle opened, and Gogmagog's eye widened when motes of red and blue chakra began to coalesce into a dense dark purple orb that grew in size to a ludicrous degree. Trying anything it could to avert its imminent demise, the Gogmagog released a roar of fire that broke against the massive Tailed Beast Bomb like a tidal wave against the coast. It was, however, all for naught. The origin of the Rasengan was a mystery quite old enough to weather anything the god had left and began to glow with white and crimson energy as it reached maturity. "DISAPPEAR!" Kurama raged, the bomb exploding into a beam of immutable destruction that swallowed the head of the old deity and deep into the Sea of Imaginary Numbers below.
As the Bomb had swelled within the clone's mouth, Naruto quickly compelled Kurama's avatar to fire its own Tailed Beast Bomb's off at several points where the rock formations intent on crushing whatever was left of Gogmagog's body under a mountain. As the bombs struck their target, the rock formations began to fall down into the raging duo as the Kurama double, its job done, popped before Gogmagog's now visibly headless body was assaulted by a massive set of debris falling down atop him. Naruto let go of the mental tethers and felt Kurama's battle avatar dissipate back into chakra, leaving him floating in the air still clad in his cloak, he grimaced when a long-lost feeling of fatigue washed over him, "What the—!" Shaking his head as he began to feel the onset of fatigue incoming, Naruto turned back to the depths as the place started to seal Gogmagog's corpse back into the Earth where it belonged, however atop the impromptu funeral pyre floated a singular sooty spectre with horns atop its head no taller than a man. Naruto met its gaze for a time, it glared up balefully at him with flaming eyes, but it was impotent in its actions, a lingering ghost as its corpse fell back into the sea, yet Gogmagog's residual thoughts had one final set of words as it glared its flame-filled eyes at Naruto dangerously before it faded away…
"GHÂSH-ISHI UMBRUK ONGIZASH!"(5)
Narrowing his eyes down on the pit, Naruto couldn't help but wonder not if, but when he would be forced to fight something as strong if not stronger than the giant once again.
"Hey! Enough of those thoughts." Kurama chided his partner, "Besides, we need to find a way out of this place and fast. The others will need us up top, and we need to find your lover anyways; no doubt Morgan has some plan for her." Seeing how they just defeated a powerful being, which the fox honestly felt pretty damned good after being unable to battle for so long, they still had to deal with Morgan herself and whatever else lay in their path to the end of this mission.
"Right, time to get out of here." Despite his partner's words, Gogmagog's lingering eulogy, Naruto couldn't help but worry about the others. Having been a domain of darkness, and holding such a beast beneath it with the ruins of old that emanated evil, and on top of that were Vivan's words to him about the evil that once walked in these lands before the White Titan attacked… "If that was the Beast that Vivian spoke of, then it shouldn't have fallen so easily."
Either way, Naruto picked himself up and quickly began to search for a way out of this place, now beginning to think that Zídushgoi's Fae music was starting to do something else to those that were hearing it, something that he hadn't thought of prior. But as of this moment, reuniting with Arturia was something he needed to focus on regardless of what got in his way, "I need to find her now more than ever."
Thinking it over with the thought of escaping, Naruto initially was going to follow the caverns the opposite from whence he began, yet his desire to get the job done quickly instead took over and gave him the simple idea, "Quickest way to the finish line, is a straight line." Calling upon a rarely used aspect of his Six Paths Mode, Naruto conjured up the Truth Seeker Orb and shaped it into a pointed cone directed up above him, and he flew with all his might with haste through the cavern ceiling.
While impractical in making noise, it would yield him the desired result in escaping as soon as possible.
-Gawain-
A loud clang chimed across the courtyard as Gawain clashed once more against the Green Knight's axe with his own Galatine, "You seem to be lacking in power. A shame you did not invade us when the sun was high." The undead knight taunted Gawain, who struggled to overpower his opponent. He received no answer, Gawain instead taking a hand from Galatine to wrap his fingers around the Green Knight's hair and, with a brutal quickness, brought their foreheads together. Acrid blood spewed from the Green Knight's cranium as a shockwave expanded outwards from the point of collision, the courtyard shook from its force, and the man who had once been Bertilak took a single step backwards. Gawain capitalised with a yell, engulfing Galatine in flame before leaping into the air and bringing the Holy Sword down on the undead knight; an explosion of flame erupted from the wound burning the Green Knight, who gnashed his teeth at the pain. A horizontal cut quickly followed, but the axe of his enemy was engulfed in verdant green magic, rising to clash against the blonde's sword. Golden flame and dark green mana warred against one another until they were repealed from one another with a rush of wind.
Gawain narrowed his eyes, the two had been locked in combat for quite some time, and the Knight of the Sun found himself on the losing side, even now vines and roots, thorned and dripping, burst free from Green Knight's body to knit scolded flesh together. Gawain, meanwhile, was not so lucky. His silver plates bore numerous scrapes, cracks and dents from his opponent's prodigious strength and vicious pace, his right teal eye was swollen, and he could feel at least two loose teeth-rattling at the back of his mouth. While their strength was on an even footing and Galatine's fire seemed naturally opposed to the other Knight's botanical ability, Gawain lacked his foe's regeneration, and the battle of attrition was showing its marks. However, he had been waiting for the opportune moment to ensure he could pull off the unleashing of Galatine to burn him away. The only problem was that due to the disadvantage of his blessing not being active at this time, coupled with how the Unseelie music was seemingly affecting him in some way, he was having trouble.
He had to push, dig deep into everything he had so that the beast would not have a chance to regenerate. The Green Knight could do little when Gawain sprinted at full tilt towards the equally robust enemy and delivered a chariot tackle to his waist, arms locking around his midsection to lift him off his feet and then kept running. The blonde crashed his enemy through the courtyard wall and kept running, smashing his impromptu passenger through every single hard surface he came across wall after wall, room after room, all crumbled in the face of the rampaging bull that was the Knight of the Sun. After the first dozen impacts, the Green Knight, now with vile ichor dribbling from his mangled lips into his decrepit beard, regained enough sense to attack his opponent. Attempting to raise his axe only to find Gawain's strong left arm pinning his in place, the Green Knight instead began to viciously punch and elbow Gawain in the face and neck, grunting in pain every time his duelling partner smashed him through another thick black marble wall, half a dozen jagged shafts of the stone now jutting from his back.
Blowing through one last particularly thick wall, Gawain found that they had emerged out into another courtyard like the one they had initially started in. Stamping the floor to arrest his momentum, he pivoted on his heel to convert his rampage's wake into inertia and hip tossed the Green Knight into the nearest pillar, thirty feet away on the other side of the courtyard. Gawain let out a grunt of pain when he felt the bite of the Green Knight's axe, thrown at him while the foe was spinning towards the pillar, breached the left side of his cuirass. Gritting his teeth and doing his best to ignore the pain, the teal eyed Knight of the Sun let the flame burn anew along his blade, "Galatine!" Gawain shouted with all his might, unleashing a wide wave of holy light shrouded in fire that struck the Green Knight and turned the entire far wall of the courtyard into a conflagration.
He watched the fire like a hawk for a few moments to see if his quarry was yet to burst outwards, he hardly thought the fight would be over so quickly with such a banal ending, and thus he waited. "Damn... undead… wretch…" he said between pants, exhaustion was something he was not overly familiar with, but willpower like the morning star kept him from complaining about it. Keeping his eyes squarely on the fire, he ventured his off hand downward and gripped at the axe jutting from his armour. He ripped it free with a wince and tossed it towards the fire, rivulets of blood cascading from the slashed metal. He distantly hoped that the blade was not cursed, but the hit would definitely leave a scar he would carry for all his days; the majority of his thought, however, dwelled on a particular Apostle.
All this time, his thought had been on how Naruto was unable to properly obtain information about their enemy here. All under the pretence of 'Vivian didn't know any more than what I thought of'. It sounded to him like the type of excuse that one would use to justify their lack of action, or perhaps they had other motives…
Wait, why was he thinking of such a thing at this time and place? He stopped, bloodshot eyes narrowing in suspicion, these thoughts were not his own. They may have had root in long-forgotten prejudice, but they were being exacerbated and blown to proportions that did make sense to feel for one who had fought by his side for near ten years.
"Those Fae… have awful taste in music, don't you agree?" Gawain's eyes instantly refocused on the flames, a dark figure shambling out of them like an unquiet spectre, his eyes widened when a hand emerged from the blaze and locked around the handle of the discarded axe. There was no flesh or bone to behold being licked by just flames, just a mass of writing, undulating and vivid green plant matter shaped into the approximation of an appendage. Gnarled wooden fingers locked around the shaft, and the enemy hefted it onto his shoulder as he stepped from the fire to reveal himself. "All it does is make you feel bad, makes you think of old memories in a bad light, fatigues you and makes you angry, like a drink that makes you thirstier," said the Green Knight, no longer in the shape of a man. From head to toe, his entire body was bereft of any vestiges of clothing, revealing that he was nothing more than writing plantlife in a humanoid structure with the exception of the belt locked around his, its, Green Knight's head was now a rough trapezoid with moss running down its back, while the only things recognisable as facial features were the two lopsided thistle leaves that glowed in cavernous eye sockets.
Gawain was aghast at his mother's creation and watched as its feet began to set down roots into the marble floor with each step forwards. Could this beast even recall its own name, or look in the mirror or recognise any aspect of itself from what it once was? 'What a horrid fate, to be so twisted in body and soul for misguided self-gratification.' Gawain thought, leaving himself to stand with a renewed understanding of his reason to fight.
Yes, it was true that in the beginning, he did not trust Naruto as wholeheartedly as the king did, but he had proven willing to give up his own happiness for the sake of others, "With or without the sun, you will fall abomination!" Charging up Galatine, Gawain unleashed the flames of the sword in a hazy blaze that shot directly at the Green Knight, who clad itself in a thick magical aura to protect its visage from the flames. It wasn't actually an attack meant to incinerate him, not like before in their first battle, but a distraction.
The art of deception, as Naruto referred to it as. He had imparted it to Arturia as means to improve herself in combat against powerful foes in which other members of the inner circle saw the merits of it, despite how at times it could more than likely clash with the chivalric code, yet here and now? Gawain needed to fell this creature of Morgan. "SET YOUR HEART ABLAZE!"
Rushing directly at the Green Knight, Gawain used his left fist to deliver a punch to the mass of Green Knight's torso, smashing through the magical aura with a flame covered fist that caused the botanical being to spit out a thick black sap. Seeing that his opponent was stunned by his guard break, Gawain used it as an opportunity to end this battle; keeping the pressure on as he closed in, Gawain brought Galatine up into a stabbing motion to impale his head, though the Green Knight stepped back in an attempt to avoid the thrust, while simultaneously swinging his axe horizontally to try and sever Gawain's head.
Being forced back away from his enemy, Gawain began to pant as he felt his wound radiate a sickly pain that encroached deeper into his chest, "I will admit, that almost had me, almost…." The Green Knight taunted Gawain as the dent in his biomass began to reshape back towards its initial condition; a thorny protrusion emerged from its 'mouth', and it licked its lips of what one would assume to be blood. Gawain glanced down to his sword as he could feel the power of the sun within it begin to dwindle slightly, with its energy being drained, most likely as a defence of sorts against the music that sang through the halls. He was thankful for the Fae's gift to him, but he needed to end this monstrosity. The Green Knight charged Gawain with his axe behind himself, preparing for an overarching strike to crush the knight with a single blow.
'Oh my King, my sweet and perfect King, I will see this beast fall even if I have to shred my humanity to do it. If I am to become a beast of burden, then I will do it for you.'
As the undead brought his axe down faster than what one could see, Gawain was forced to roll off to the side as the axe smashed the floor open and tossed the knight away where he struggled to reorient himself against his opponent, who continued to taunt him, "Is this truly all you have? I'm disappointed in you; you who the prospect of battling again was my only joy. Pathetic." The Green Knight spat at Gawain's form as the Knight of the Sun narrowed his eyes in anger at how he was unable to best his enemy.
Struggling to get up, Gawain dug the tip of his sword into the ground as a crutch until he once more stood tall, breathing deeply, tightening the grip on Galatine as he knew that he needed something to give him the advantage. Using his free hand, he reached up to the catches at his shoulder and ripped them loose, letting both sides of his ruined cuirass clatter to the ground revealing his black undershirt and grievous wound. His enemy watched as the hand also locked around the grey fur collar of his tattered teal cloak and pulled it loose, tossing it behind him. Without the sun, his blessing of power was robbed of him, and yet, Galatine held the potential to do so much more, but such power required a sacrifice. Digging into the power of the sword's hilt, Gawain could feel how the heat of his own blade began to affect him. The Sun's power within travelled up through his arms as he gritted his teeth to fight off the pain. Smoke began to rise from his gauntleted hands and crack from unfathomable heat burning outwards like an unchecked kiln.
The Green Knight chortled in amused curiosity, "Oh? Is your own sword turning on you? That your weakness could no longer be tolerated?" It chuckled at the apparent misunderstanding that was not cleared up.
The power of the Sun soon travelled up into his body as the pain became almost unbearable, yet at the same time, it empowered him to where he felt as if he was once more under the light of the Sun of truth. Steam rose from the gouge in his chest as the axe wound was cauterised shut from Gawain's alarmingly rising body heat. As the pain began to subside or rather became more bearable, Gawain's posture straightened up as he readied Galatine with the Green Knight narrowing its leaf eyes, its amused aura of prior fell before donning one of seriousness.
Before it could properly mount any sort of attack, the Green Knight found itself now with a wound on his right shoulder, where Galatine was embedded in by a thrust from the newly empowered Gawain who drew back the blade before he quickly swung once more to go for the throat, a trail of renewed light following in its wake. The Green Knight saw that its position was not in the best way and needed to end things quickly before his opponent did him in. Leaping away from Gawain, the Green Knight brought the axe to his side as he dashed forward in the hopes of catching Gawain off guard in an equal display of speed and power. Soon a wide blast of black flecked green light surged forth, annihilating the ground underneath it as it progressed towards the now visibly glowing foe.
However, the Knight of the Sun knew that his opponent would likely make one last-ditch to try and kill him. Jumping over the tidal wave of corruptive power born of the axe, Gawain manoeuvred himself off to the side of the now overextended Green Knight, able to swing Galatine up above him to where he severed the Green Knight's arms off from its main body before pivoting around to bring Galatine to the undead's neck, "As I said before: you will fall."
The Green Knight gave a murderous glare before its end came, "Whatever the cost may be, my axe will end your life, Gawain!" It boldly declared as its axe pulsated with a bright red as tendrils attempted to reconnect its arms, almost signifying that another curse would be placed upon him, yet Gawain ignored such a thing, "I don't care if you're the Dark Mistress' eldest son, even if she had a use for you, I would kill you regardless!"
Igniting Galatine with fire, Gawain buried the greatsword's entire length into the wriggling mass of plant matter, skewering the glyph and rune encrusted belt. The Green Knight let out a hiss of pain before it attempted to wrap its vines and tendrils around Gawain's exposed body, thorns biting into muscle and reeds squeezing his throat. However, the Knight of the Sun did not move, remaining adamant in the face of the monster that was intent on ringing the life from him. Light and flame bloomed brighter from within the Holy Sword, growing in incandescence and heat with each passing second; Green Knight screamed in pained confusion, not understanding how Gawain's fire burned brighter. They were as far from the midday sun as was possible, yet even now, it felt as if the morning star was blazing to life within its chest. "You bastard, how are you doing this!?" The Green Knight demanded, its herbaceous existence slowly charring as Gawain's body was shrouded in ever-growing heat. His black shirt ignited and burned away to reveal his chiselled chest and muscles straining to retain their hold on the burning Green. "You- You would burn your very soul!?"
Under his feet, a giant golden magical circle expanded beneath Gawain, expanding under the large courtyard they stood in, in its centre rotated the spokes of a sun appointed with six rays. "I am Gawain, Knight of the Sun!" Gawain said, eyes glowing teal quasars, "Proud Knight of the Round Table, Retainer to the King of Knights! Prouder son of my foster father, Ector! Proudest brother to my siblings Gareth and Gaheris!" The spokes rotated faster, and a dome of fire emerged from both Galatine, a star born in the heart of the planet searing the dark magics that bound the creature together. An onerous flaming glow shrouded Gawain that flowed into the burgeoning star, setting his very soul ablaze to fuel the flame, the ground beneath his feet melting to glowing slag as the light and star grew to blinding proportions. "I felled the Giant, Escanor! Faced down the tyrant Vortigern! If it be for those who know fear, then I will burn my soul as glorious cinder to see them warm and safe!"
Solar winds whipped around the pair ripping into the Green Knight and burning away its tendrils faster than they could grow anew, the flaming orb of dawn with them as its core rose slightly, dragging the both of them up to hover into the air. "Hear me, Green Knight! For the sake of my perfect knightship, then let me become tarnished, let me rage! I shall transform it into a glorious glow for those who seek peace, those who find comfort in the shadows, and those who would live in the light!" Gawain cried out with the voice echoing amidst the cosmic fire of a newly born celestial body. "Let this long night be over, Excalibur Galatine!"
The spokes beneath them ceased moving, the sun enveloping them thickened and expanded until it filled the entire courtyard, it hung there for but an instant, radiant as its sister sword before, with a seemingly unending and ear-splitting boom, it exploded. Around the castle, all present paused in their fights, turning to see the entire top ten floors of the castle's western wing simply cease to exist, consumed by a fireball that blinded all those fell creatures who covered their eyes in pain. The conflagration did not live for long before it collapsed in on itself, turning into a pillar of fire that raced towards the starlit sky. For decades onwards, mothers would tell their children that the night was briefly replaced by the day and how even those lost amid sleep felt safer. The flame pillar persisted for half a minute before fading into the night sky, and both sides, fell and righteous alike, looked to the plume of smoke pouring from the slagged rooftop. They waited with bated breath, a feeling of tension falling over them as a shadow became visible through the fog of war.
It shambled forwards towards the edge of the roof, the residual fires and melted stone playing across their form like some ugly beast, an arm was raised by the shadow, and all gasped at the sight of an axe hefted into the air.
Only for it to be tossed off the edge of the building into the grounds below. Those of Morgan's retinue quickly recognised the axe of the Green Knight, a being the majority of them feared, so it was cries of confusion and fear that left their throats when from the through of soot stepped not a demonic Bandrui but rather a man. Battered, burned, bleeding but very much alive, Gawain looked out upon the troops, their eyes locked on his near demi-god figure, slowly he raised Galatine, the gauntleted hand holding it scorched and blackened, above his head with the remnants of the now-deceased Green Knight's belt hanging from it. "Advance!" Gawain said, a round of cheers and battle cries joining his in choir as the Unseelie's music set back in, yet now the forces of Camelot fought their opponents, shaken by the loss of a critical general, with renewed vigor.
Closing his eyes at the sight, Gawain turned away from the throng of battle and dragged his heavy legs back across the newly created roof back towards the central keep; this was not over. He needed to carry onto his sibling's location and aid them. As he took a single step forward, he stopped abruptly as Gawain felt the fatigue of his body began to slowly catch up to his prior condition, only this time an added side effect by pulling the fire of Galatine within him; he began to cough hoarsely before a trickle of blood came from the edge of his mouth. Gawain tried to fight off the pain before he was forced to take a knee to rest, "It was worth burning a part of myself away for victory." He breathed heavily before he began to slowly get back up to find his siblings and the King, "Regardless of what may come, even if I must sacrifice my very soul…." Gawain gazed down at his sword as he continued on, "…I will purge the evil of this land, regardless of what the cost may be."
-The Battlements & East Courtyard-
Even as the West side of the castle was reduced to a glassed heath, for Tristan and Lancelot, their own battles were fraught with perils; for Tristan, he was forced to deal with swordplay against Golumar while avoiding the Lot's wraith ravens that would dive to strike at his head whilst avoiding their attacks on the rooftop that encircled the structure they were currently in. At the same time, Lancelot was locked in a deadly battle against Claudus and Ogier, who had taken the form of a fell drake that had set over half of the courtyard on fire.
Tristan was now slowly losing ground against Golumar's sword as he was forced to one knee while forestalling the thicker blade from cleaving him in two.
Sensing that the knight was up to something, the raven swarm sped up to strike against him, that is until the area was soon filled with smoke and Golumar slammed his sword down, only to hit nothing but the stone floor of the battlement.
Having hidden himself away for a brief moment with the aid of the dust and smoke kicked up from Gawain's firestorm, Tristan was attempting to catch his breath while having to keep an eye on his surroundings. Despite the night sky and the Unseelie music filling the air with sound to help mask him from the view of regular enemies, it seemed that neither factored into the wraiths from finding him. Peering up to the bells where the music was originating from, a thought had occurred to him.
When Merlin had enchanted his bow, Failnaught, the bow became capable of using sound as a weapon for him to use in unorthodox ways and with how his enemies were numerous, then this was something he could use to end the fight. Needing to get back his bow, Tristan peered around the corner of the roof to see that nothing was coming in his direction, serving to only make him worry that they would come from "…behind." As the words left his mouth, he pivoted to swing his sword upwards to strike at a wraith-raven that barreled down to his head. Hitting the raven, Tristan made a mad dash for the other side to retrieve his bow only to face the incoming sword of Golumar, who brought it down upon Tristan's skull, surprised when the knight blocked the blow with his sword even as his legs buckled down from the power behind it.
Since he was overpowered by his enemy, Tristan allowed the incoming second strike to hit his sword, this time he manoeuvred his sword off to the side to where Golumar's blade was impaled into the ground deeply, forcing the wraith to destroy part of the roof to release the hold it had on his sword.
"Perhaps you shouldn't swing with so much hate in your blade like a beast." Tristan taunted Golumar slightly as the wraith hissed at him as he continued to dash for Failnaught. Glancing off to the side, Tristan could see that Lancelot was engaged in a long battle against the Fell Drake and Claudus; if he still persisted, then he would provide aid from above to hasten the end.
Leaping from the rooftop, Tristan found himself back where he once was on the battlements, however, this time with his bow in hand and nocked his guardless sword as an arrow to set up his play. Pulling back the bowstrings with his makeshift arrow, Tristan channelled mana into the strings to the point where they glowed and let loose the sword with amplified magical energy towards the bell as it rang high striking true, unsettling the music and bringing the clattorus cacophony to an end. The bell still swung and chimed but with the silver length of his sword sticking from it, bereft of any of the menace and draining effect from before.
With his plan set up, Tristan stood his ground as the wraiths came for him, with Golumar once more poised to strike him, whereas Lot had reformed himself into his more humanoid form. Both rushing at Tristan with the intent to take his head off, Tristan plucked his strings to key up the strikes to his opponents, "You will die a pitiful death, Knight of Lamentation." Lot proclaimed as he and Golumar inched closer to Tristan.
"Perhaps…" Tristan said as he opened his eyes in full before he spoke once more, "…but it will not be here, nor by your hand." Plucking the strings of Failnaught, a stream of mana lanced upwards to connect with his sword embedded in the bell, the music that had been distorted by Tristan's sword became his choir, and waves formed bright blue beams that created a score of vacuum paths that struck the wraiths from every angle, shredding them; their forms had been forced back into their misty shape and retreated high into the sky before disappearing from sight.
Meanwhile, Lancelot was now tangling with the fell drake that was Ogier while Claudus merely kept on the drake's backside to rush him off guard should the chance arise, but Lancelot was keen to see the strategy, yet he considered the drake to be the more grave target and keeping it between himself and Claudus. Keeping Arondight handy to switch at a moment's notice to attack or defend, Lancelot could see that the drake was getting ready to lunge at him; Lancelot took a step back right as the drake lunged its jaws to snap him in half, only for him to quickly sidestep the attack and bring Arondight down to severe the head, only for his sword to get caught in the oily black scales.
The drake let out a pained snarl and moved its head out of the way of a follow-up coup-de-grace before reeling back to unleash the shadowfire on him once more, that is until a slew of magical arrows pelted the side of its head from above at the battlements. Turning to face its attacker, the drake saw Tristan with Failnaught in hand, having defeated his fellow wraiths and now coming to support Lancelot. Hissing at the redheaded knight, Ogier turned his attention onto Tristan, who plucked the strings on his bow that rained down arrows that lodged themselves into the drake's hide.
As for Lancelot, he was caught up in his battle against Claudus where the war hammer struck the ground, sending debris of stone into the air, prompting the Knight of the Lake to take several steps back to give himself some breathing room between himself and his opponent, "Divided or together, you will die here!" Claudus proclaimed as he came in swiftly to deliver another blow, "Your fate is to die or join us, Knight of the Lake!" However, Lancelot decided to meet the wraith head on this time instead.
"You do not control the fates of either my comrades or I, wraith!" Lancelot shouted, bringing Arondight up to strike at the warhammer; as the Fae sword and cursed weapon clashed, they made a resounding clang, and blue light and blackened, pale green fought one another for dominance until Lancelot decided to do something he usually would not do in combat. He delivered a heavy knee to the groin of Claudus, staggering him from the unexpected attack, yet Lancelot did not stop there; with the advantage now pressed, Lancelot continued with his unorthodox attacks where he brought down Arondoight's pommel to bludgeon Claudus' cowed head that staggered him once more.
As Claudus attempted to regain his footing to retaliate, he found the blade of Arondight alit with blue light swinging at him in a horizontal strike and brought his war hammer up to guard against the strike; the power of the Fae sword sent him flying off into the roof of the courtyard.
With Tristan having gained the attention of Ogier, he began to move quickly to stay out of the biting range of the drake, though that did little to stop it from lunging at him every chance it got. Eventually, Tristan ran out of room up top before the drake made its way up the walls to the battlements and began to give chase. Jumping down into the courtyard, Tristan continued to evade the drake snapping at him all the while he made the occasional magical arrow that nicked its hide.
As luck would have it, Lancelot's latest attack on his opponent sent him staggering into his way, giving Tristan an obstacle to vault over and kick over to his pursuer, who was building up to unleash the shadowfire upon him, "The odds seem to be in our favour." Once in the air, Tristan plucked the strings of Failnaught, an arrow was shot and lodged into the feet of Claudus, who was unable to move as the blaze consumed him with a piercing shriek that forced the knights to ignore the pain that shot through their bodies from the sound.
Lancelot saw that Claudus was now free from Tristan's arrow and quickly moved to avoid the blaze that continued, in some vain attempt to douse the fire. Seeing the opportunity to end this battle and try to meet back up with Agravain, Lancelot had forgone any sense of safety as he rushed headlong into the flames that left Tristan gobsmacked at the move temporarily, yet he quickly took hold of his instincts to aid his ally.
Knowing how the drake was acute with eyesight, he readied Failnaught and plucked the strings loosing magical arrows and struck true into the eyes of his target, blinding the drake who reeled back in pain and attempted to recover from the attack, but it was too late. Lancelot's armor had been scorched from the pristine white of old into black like that of a dark knight, an unknown warrior whose rage was his drive to kill his opponent.
Swinging Arondight down onto the open maw, the drake's skull was sliced open as mist began to pour from the wound, signifying that it could not bleed in this form, just as it was a wraith before. The drake started to lash out in retaliation, yet he bit nothing as Lancelot quickly maneuvered out of the way and climbed up the left side where its wing was down and allowed him to bring about the final blow. Arondight shined brightly as Lancelot prepared to use its Overload ability to utterly destroy the drake where he drove the Fae blade down into the neckline as it shrieked in pain before its body began to destabilize and turn to mist. Soon, the drake was ceased to move, and Lancelot dropped down from the air as he continued on towards Claudus, who had taken a knee down where his form began to slowly lose the mist that made up his form, yet Tristan saw a dim, pale and green light flew into the sky where Ogier once was.
He did not think much of it, merely a sign of their brief victory over their enemy before he turned to see Claudus' face plate peer up to Lancelot whose armor was now a scorched black; lost was its bright splendor and in its place, appeared to be nought more than a black knight, "Your nature is that of a raging, bestial warrior, Knight of the Lake." Claudus mocked Lancelot as he struggled to maintain his form in front of his enemy, "May it curse you in life and in death." Those words seemed to set Lancelot off, tired of the wraith's comments and swung Arondight across the neckline to behead Claudus and end his cursed life as his body dissipated as the others.
And with that, the wraith followed his shadow brothers back to the tower as Lancelot began to calm himself. He knew that he was a better man than that, so why did he… "I am not a raging beast of a warrior…." He was the Knight of the Lake. A Knight of the Round Table; the most esteemed group of knights in Europa dedicated to preserving peace in the lands and building a better future for all. And he was loyal to his king and queen… very much faithful to the former, yet also… hopelessly in love with the latter. He had taken a silent vow to ensure that he would preserve the affair that Naruto and Arturia had, yet he now held an affair with the queen…
"Lancelot, are you alright?" Tristan's voice cut through his thoughts as he closed his eyes before opening them to look at his friend, who looked no worse for wear.
"I'm alright…" Looking around the courtyard, Lancelot spotted an opening made by Ogier after trying to blast him with shadowfire, "This was where Agravain was sent into. Let us hope we can catch up with him."
-The Great Hall-
With Arturia, she had been fighting tooth and nail alongside her niece and younger nephew against their father and the sons of Vortigern, their first cousins. The entire room had been rocked by a trembling boom earlier, but that did not stop the combat for long. Urien's mace was large enough to bash a man to a pulp with a single swing, yet as it clashed against Excalibur, it would not dent the Holy Sword's steel, instead becoming increasingly more potent as the battle went on, which made her wonder just what the mace was if it could survive such prolonged struggle with a Divine Construct. Arturia could feel the hate and malice the mace held as she dodged yet another strike to herself while Urien taunted her, "You will become like me. Enslaved to ideals not your own."
"And I say this to you, disgusting creature! I will never yield to my sister!" Arturia yelled as she delivered a horizontal strike to Urien, who met the blade of Excalibur with his mace with a terrific clang that shook her ears, yet she remained steadfast in her duel. Urien pushed Excalibur away from him as he swung his mace in an attempt to deliver a blow to her ribs, yet Arturia's instincts told her to put distance between herself and her opponent; already a step ahead of the wraith, Arturia leapt back into the air away from Urien as the mace crackled with dark energy meant to deal more damage to her than initially expected.
The sheer power that the mace held was something that worried her if it was able to stay in one piece after being struck by a blade as mighty as Excalibur, a testament to how much Morgan had invested into seeing her downfall. Alas, her brief thoughts were interrupted as Urien suddenly appeared before her with his mace raised high, ready to crush her with a single blow, "You fight and fight…." Urien said, bringing the mace down into the ground as Arturia rolled out of the way, only to be sent back away when the shockwave of the striking mace made contact with the floor, "…resist with all your strength…." Arturia quickly recovered before she blocked a dashing attack once more with Excalibur.
"…but why?"
"How is it your cursed mace can withstand Excalibur's blows?" Arturia hoped that Urien was foolish enough to reveal the secrets of his weapon. The apparent abilities he now had as Morgan's slave had given him many advantages over any opponent, including herself. It was thanks to the training she had received from Ector, Merlin and Naruto to ensure she would stay ahead of her opponent in some form or another, and the fighting instincts within her had grown sharp enough to give her a clear view of what would occur in crucial moments.
Yet Naruto had also imparted her the knowledge to try and goad overconfident opponents to expose whatever strength or weakness to use to her advantage. If she could glean even a bit of the mace's power, she could deduce a way to overcome it or use it against him. It was why she held back so much in order to ensure she did not reveal her full hand to her enemy, much less her sister, who no doubt was watching on.
"Accursed by the hand of the Dark Mistress to dethrone you." It seemed that fate had smiled on Arturia. The wraith voiced its overconfidence as she struggled to overcome her enemy, "The power within it grants me the strength of souls taken; souls whose purpose now serves well."
Arturia's eyes narrowed in disgust at Urien's words. They had taken the souls of the innocent to empower the mace, or did Urien give his soul up as well as the other wraiths that were the Sons of Vortigern. Who else was a victim of this corrupt magecraft? "Then this power will be your downfall." Arturia used a quick Mana Burst to throw Urien off-kilter before she drove Excalibur into a stabbing attack directly at the centre of his chest, believing that something would've been needed to hold his form.
As she drove the tip of the golden blade into Urien, it seemed that her suspicion was proven somewhat correct as Urien quickly moved his free hand to try and divert the bladed edge away from his chest, only for him to lose his hand as the severed gauntleted limb dissipated into mist as Urien dash away from Excalibur. It would seem that only divine constructs could truly deal any actual damage to the wraiths.
Not wanting to invoke the full power of Excalibur, Arturia charged the blade up with Mana as the golden light began to grow in light that would've blinded those who could not handle such splendor , and yet… the darkness grew as Urien held the mace in front of him as it seemed to almost swallow light itself. Arturia was prepared to unleash a golden slash of Mana against Urien, though it appeared he was intent on not allowing her to do so. The wraith raised his free hand as the power from the mace channelled to the limb as a quick blast of dark Mana shot towards Arturia at high speeds to deal a grievous blow.
Arturia had quickly bent backwards as the dark miasma passed in front of her face, delivering a cold sensation that washed over her before the blast impacted the wall that obliterated it, a perfectly hollowed out hole standing where it once was. At the bottom of her peripherals, she saw Urien had closed the gap between them once more with his mace raised high to smash her. Her fighting instincts rose from within as she backflipped and spun to her right side to avoid the mace that struck the floor in a blow that would've shattered her armour. As Arturia landed back with Excalibur at the ready, she couldn't help but be worried for her niece and nephew, quickly glancing off to the side to see how they fared.
The siblings were holding their own against the sons of Vortigern; despite having no Fae weaponry, Gareth's lance helped them counter the strange, sickled flails the wraiths wielded. While Gaheris had no specialized weapon, his halberd and sword were of high quality.
Gaheris held his halberd up as Catigern threw his weapon towards his face, only to be met by the pole of the halberd as the sickled chain wrapped around the shaft where it locked into a holding position, "You came seeking the Dark Mistress, but instead you have found death." Vortimer taunted him as he gripped the chain to pull Gaheris towards him. Pulling him closer and closer to the wraith, Gaheris dug his heels in to resist the shade, yet it did very little to impede his enemy's progress. Holding the halberd with both hands, he grit his teeth as he peered off to the side to see Gareth having to dodge Vortimer's own sickled flail slashing at her sides and head, bobbing and weaving to avoid the fell blade.
For Gareth, the young she-wolf was now forced to engage Vortimer up close and personal to deny him the usage of his own weapon, "You seek to deny me the chance to strike?" She could feel the air around her beginning to affect her, almost as if it were trying to poison her to make her weak and helpless before her opponent. Vortimer pressed her advantage over Gareth as she held Ira Lupus up to keep the blade from reaching her head, all the while thinking on her next move as quickly as she could before peering down to her belt where the mana capsules were held, and it came to her.
Shield bashing Vortimer to get a break in the action, Gareth glared at her opponent before she gripped one of the capsules and roared in defiance, "I deny your existence, wraith!" Gareth recalled Naruto's warning to her about the state of the capsules in that the Mana stored within them were supposed to be used to create the concussive force when loaded into her lance. Still, when thrown and broken outside of it, it would make a dangerous blue fire that would consume the nearest victim, and since these wraiths seemed to only be hurt by mana-infused weapons such as their king's Excalibur, then it made sense for her man capsules to harm them as well.
Blocking Vortimer's blade away to the side to allow her to maneuver to his side, Gareth quickly put a few steps in between her and the dreaded wraith before she threw the capsule at it. What occurred next would've sent chills down her spine, and yet she steeled herself regardless as a knight of her stature should do so. The Mana quickly turned to flames as it consumed Vortimer, who let loose a loud shriek of pain upon the combustion that consumed him, flailing about to try and ease its pain before he collapsed on the ground motionless, now seemingly defeated. Gareth took the opportunity to turn to her brother as he struggled against Catigern as he had taken hold of the wraith's sickled flail by the chain and was losing.
Loading up Ira Lupus, Gareth knew that with both the Sons of Vortigern about to be defeated, they could aid their king to strike down the being that once was their father. Dashing with all her might, despite the wear upon her legs from tangling with Vortimer, Gareth soon came up behind Gaheris and leapt up to kick off his shoulder. Gaheris instinctively pulled his halberd towards him with his strength to force Catigern to take a few steps forward as Gareth held her lance above her head, having lost her helm prior with her Yatagarasu feathers showing in full as she brought the Ira Lupus down onto Vortimer with the shockwave showing itself in full, the ground beneath them buckled under the pressure and cracked with the wraith now having lost part of its form and Gareth flung back to the ground before Gaheris turned quickly to help his sister up.
Off to the side, Arturia and Urien were still clashing and deftly avoiding one another's blows despite the turn of events in the knight's favour, yet that did little to cut the tension in the air. As two of the Orkney Siblings regained their bearings and shields, they turned to see that the Sons of Vortigern were slowly vanishing into the air, "They're losing their forms, Gaheris. We've turned the tide in our favor."
"Now, we can aid the king." Gaheris agreed as they quickly took the local battle between Arturia and Urien. However, they failed to notice that while their efforts defeated the Sons of Vortigern, its effects were ignored in favor of rushing to defeat their next enemy as they saw Urien's mace raised into the air.
While the siblings faced off against their wraith enemies, Arturia herself parried Urien's mace with an echoing clang while she kept her eyes keenly on the mace and its wielder's hands at all times to predict his next attack. As such, she noticed a minute detail on the mace: it was beginning to gain dents from the blows she made upon it by Excalibur. Her instincts told her that though the mace was enchanted and empowered to withstand impacts from Excalibur, it could only do so for so long with those enchantments growing duller by the moment.
Arturia quickly glanced to see Gareth and Gaheris seemingly about to turn the tide when she saw the mana flames but brought her full attention upon Urien once more.
'A slight defect within its forging that was overlooked?' Arturia wondered before she decided to counterattack Urien. Taking a step backwards, Urien dashed forwards towards her once more as he had done so before, Arturia sidestepped the wraith as his mace came down where she swung Excalibur upwards to sever Urien's off forearm as a shrill cry emanated from the cloaked creature that would have once would have shaken her. Yet, Arturia steeled her emotions in the face of such a terrible foe, knowing full well that it would cost her dearly should she have recoiled or shown an ounce of fear within her sister's domain.
Seeing that she held the advantage for whatever brief amount of time, Arturia pressed the attack as she unleashed the Invisible Air and a series of wind slashes that cut through Urien that staggered him, forcing him to backpedal from the king with a haphazardly swing of his mace. Now needing to actually cut him with her blade, Arturia dashed forwards with Excalibur's golden light now set loose to burn away at the wraith's form. As Gareth's mana capsules produced flames, upon vertically striking Urien's cloaked form, golden flames sparked and ignited, damaging Urien, causing him to let out a vicious hiss as opposed to a shriek.
The wraith finally swung rapidly at Arturia as she quickly twisted out of the way from oncoming attack, and the flames dissipated, the mace glowed the pale green once more, removing the effects of her attack before he raised the mace high above his helm as a pair of ghostly trails gathered towards it. Arturia tracked the trail's origins back to the Sons of Vortigern's forms that had now dissipated and entered what remained to the mace, "Your names will be forgotten! Your deeds will be forgotten!" Urien loudly stated as he held the mace with both, now reformed, hands and flipped it downwards before striking the inverted heavy weapon into the ground head first.
Arturia's instincts screamed at her to go on the defensive at full power for what would come next, yet she needed to protect her niece and nephew, both of whom were coming to her aid, "Gareth, Gaheris, behind me now!" Summoning Invisible Air to create a shield as Avalon was her source of healing, she could not afford to discard her immunity to the effects Morgan's domain had upon its victims, Arturia spun Excalibur above her head as Invisible Air formed around them as best it could briefly before Urien released the power built up in the mace head in an explosion. The resulting strike created a shockwave of energy that swept throughout the hall as it shook with a great force that would have nearly brought it down upon them all, yet the enchantments of the inner sanctum held it together by its master's power.
The Invisible Air shielded the knights from the power of the wraith, yet for all of Arturia's strength and skill, the siblings were not as strong and were flung against the wall through the force that took the air from their lungs, with only Arturia remained standing and Urien having regained his previous posture, ready to taunt and terrorize the king, "Shackles and bindings await you." Pointing his mace at Arturia who's eyes sharpened dangerously, "You have not found your sibling, yet instead have found your enslavement. The apostle too shall learn to bend the knee and serve her faithfully, willingly or not." Arturia's eyes widened at the words of the wraith taunting her. Rage filled her very being at the thought of such things as Urien came for her once more to strike a blow.
Reapplying Invisible Air, she parried a quick strike from the mace of Urien where she pointed it directly at the wraith to fire off, "Neither one of us shall fall to darkness as you did! Strike Air!" The domain of the wind king went off, sending a typhoon of tunnelling air at the wraith of Urien who was sent flying back before driving the spiked mace into the ground to halt himself, "I will not allow evil to continue in our lands, I will end it here and now!" The King of Knights shouted as she used her Dragon Core that began to manifest with Mana becoming visible in the air, the music having halted some time ago she could unleash her power. The aura of the Red Dragon emerged from behind Arturia as she used a burst of Mana to charge at Urien, with Excalibur surging forwards in attack. Driving the blade through the wraith, it emitted a far greater shriek that made Arturia lose sight of where they were going.
The powerful force soon brought them through the crippled hall's walls, separating Arturia from her fellow knights, with the wall collapsing behind them. Despite the pain in her ears, Arturia twisted Excalibur in the wraith's chest as he began to dissipate, "You cannot defeat us! You cannot purify my soul, for nothing remains of it! We are… eternal…!" The light of Excalibur attempted to destroy the wraith, but Arturia was too late to do so entirely before Urien disappeared entirely to escape the blessings that attempted to purify his existence.
Seeing her enemy flee before she could finish the job, Arturia cursed herself for not pushing through the pain to destroy Urien entirely, "Dammit! You are the dust, and to the dust, you shall return." Getting up to try and see where she was, Arturia brought Excalibur up as she soon found herself in a large room with various trinkets and furniture that all were of strange design, both foreign to her, yet others she could not even fathom their purpose. As she looked around the room, she began to silently berate herself for her actions, "I should not have given into my anger, now I have probably lost the chance to end an enemy before me." Breathing deeply, she continued on through the room, "Remove my emotions in battle, or I will be susceptible to being injured or defeated." Her desperate desire to find Naruto drove her to act somewhat irrationally, and she despised not being able to control herself, despite her strength she found in love. Soon, Arturia came to a large, strange mirror that was reflecting the light in a strange way, almost like it was a faint rainbow of sorts that glittered in the room.
"How strange…" For a moment, Arturia thought she saw someone coming towards her from the mirror. Slowly inching towards the mirror, Arturia's eyes began to focus on the figure in the mirror, almost reaching out to her, "Who are you?" As she and the figure came closer together, Arturia's eyes widened in horror at who she saw within it before she opened her mouth to let out a scream that held no air within.
-Naruto-
With Gogmagog now vanquished and many of Morgan's dark servants having taken their own lives, Naruto quickly made his way back to the surface using his Truth Seeker Orb assisted tunnel, flying upwards with blistering speed. The higher he travelled and closer he got to the surface, the more he could feel the weight of the Counter Force, but with his power free-flowing, Naruto felt confident that he could shrug it off. Perhaps in future, Six Paths Sage Mode would have a time limit, but it was not something he was unused to; after all, both Sage Mode and his initial use of Tailed Beast Mode had also had time limits; it was something he would work around with time. For what seemed like hours, Naruto had blasted through many layers of rock, only to be met with more of it, until finally, he felt the air of the castle once more. Flipping in the air, Naruto fell down to the floor with Marmyadose in hand and Carnwennan installed with the crystalline spears summoned to his back, now finding himself surrounded by several dark magi, with their own staves pointed at Naruto, "I do not have time for your sh*t!" Spinning the spears around his body, Naruto used his superior speed to slice through the dark magi to turn them into pieces of blood and gore before he dashed down the hallway to find Arturia. He dropped the chakra cloak as he ran, extending his senses to flag anything that came his way.
Now, having cut down more Uruk's and Olog's that were all slowly dwindling in numbers before retreating, Naruto was able to make his way through the castle quickly and managed to find a balcony to begin climbing up to try and regroup with the rest of their company. He was awfully surprised to find that the entire east wing of the castle had apparently been fraggorblasted but kept his mind focused on the matter at hand.
Having decided to use a bit of Senjutsu to home in on Arturia herself, Naruto made haste with all his strength to rejoin her, knowing that the rest of the knights were able to take care of themselves, yet the words of the ritualistic magi nagged at his mind lick a persistent tick.
What did Morgan have planned for Arturia? For himself?
That was what worried him the most. Eventually, Naruto was able to catch up to where he sensed Arturia in. As soon as he broke through the walls with a Rasengan, he heard the shattering of a mirror, "Arturia!" Quickly making his way through the room, tossing aside furniture and relics that were valuable in a sense, Naruto focused solely on getting to Arturia, who stood before a shattered mirror with Excalibur thrusted into its heart.
"Arturia, talk to me!" Naruto exclaimed as he came up behind her to see her eyes wide in shock. Looking back to the mirror, Naruto couldn't help but get a familiar feeling off of it but discarded the thought as Arturia turned her head to see her love, "Are you alright?"
Turning to see Naruto beside her, Arturia had nearly snapped her neck to see if it was indeed him and not some illusion of her sisters. Grasping his hand, she knew instinctively that this was Naruto. Arturia let go of a tad of her composure and brought his head down to her level for a brief but deep kiss before speaking, "I'm alright." Taking a quick look back to the shattered mirror, she said in a calmer tone, "We must regroup with the others and aid Gareth & Gaheris. They were most likely injured by Urien's previous attack, and I don't know how they fare."
Sensing that there was more to Arturia's strange demeanor, Naruto nodded his head in agreement, seeing that this was neither the time nor place to ask questions, "Let's move on then, Arturia." Saying her name so carelessly without addressing her as his king was something he usually didn't do, but right now, it was simply the two of them.
It was time to end this.
-Outside-
For Bedivere and Galahad, their battle against Accolon, the last wraith, was now in a stalemate. Having nearly lost the usage of his right arm, Bedivere was forced to use his left hand for the sword while relying on sluggish protection from the shield in his right that was beyond repair. For Galahad, he was now sword locked against the wraith using a steel longsword, struggling to attack without his enchanted shield, the only actual means of damaging it, "Sir Bedivere, my shield!" Galahad called for his mentor to take it to attack it, Bedivere quickly caught on to his squire's idea and dropped his own sword to take Galahad's only available weapon.
However, Accolon held no desire to be outmaneuvered, "I think not." The pressure that the wraith placed on Galahad's sword came to a threshold as it began to crack. Knowing full well what would happen next, Galahad ducked and tucked under before rolling out of the way just as his sword snapped in half before Accolon swung down in an attempt to strike him, yet luck favored his back for his shield kept his rearguard safe. Drawing the shield, his mentor Bedivere had rearmed with his sword before taking a stance alongside Galahad.
Bedivere had given orders to their men to deal with the dwindling Uruk's with their archers having taken up to the higher levels of the ruined town to fire on the dark creatures and the rest of their soldiers to form a perimeter to plug up any holes in their defenses. Now the enemy numbers dwindled by the minute with their soldiers outnumbering the Uruk's, and yet Bedivere still felt a great sense of unease, "Your forces are defeated…." He began, "…flee back to whatever darkness you came from and never return." Not expecting Accolon to react much of anything, and yet he did not expect what would occur next.
Accolon quickly dashed across the battlefield towards the centre away from them and stabbed his sword into the ground, followed by raising his arms that now emitted a pale, green mist that was the same as the veil that concealed the domain. At first, Galahad had no idea what it was that the wraith had done, that is until he heard the shearing sound of a spear hurtling towards him. Lifting his shield up to defend himself and Bedivere, the spear exploded on contact forcing the knight and squire to skid back several paces until they dug their heels into the ground to stop. Lowering his shield, Galahad's eyes widened as he saw who had thrown the spear: Akoth. The Uruk captain that he had killed not too long ago.
Taking a look at his body, or instead, his corpse would have been the more accurate label, the coagulated blood that had seeped from his wounds displayed their disgusting nature even further.
"Necromancy…" Bedivere uttered as he narrowed his eyes to see many of the dead Uruk's and the few Olog's, now rising from the ground after having their life taken and now given back by the dark powers of Accolon, "…men! Prepare for reinforcements, the enemy is now rising from their graves to attack us!" Brandishing his sword once more, Bedivere stood resolute against the now overwhelming odds, "Archers, prioritize their own archers and spearmen! Paladins, take care of the big ones, then help the regulars deal with the malformed ones." As Bedivere gave the orders, their soldiers moved accordingly to adapt to the changing conditions of the battlefield.
"The dead will have their due." Accolon spoke as he laid his arms down before picking up his sword once more from the ground.
Bedivere and Galahad stood their ground preparing to counter this new development, and yet, both knew that they likely would die unless Morgan was captured swiftly. As the dead became the undead, Accolon spoke in the metallic voice with finality, "You have a choice. Serve the true heir willingly, or I raise you as my puppet!"
-Agravain-
The crimson light that illuminated the dark hallways from the enchanted chains guided Agravain through the fortress after having been separated from Lancelot and Tristan, save for the cataclysmic blast which had shaken the castle some time ago, the corridor was eerily quiet, and he was forced on his own to find the Dark Fae that was his mother.
Ironic.
He had been sent in by Morgan to spy on the King of Knights, and yet having become the secretary of the court and Camelot itself, Agravain could not bring himself to… what was it again? Carry out something, yet the memory evaded his waking mind, "After this, I am leaving my duties for but a single day to collect my wits." Furrowing his brows in frustration at trying to grasp the memory correctly, Agravain pushed forward down what had apparently been a long singular hallway that took a turn every now and then. It had him on edge. There were no wraiths, no traps, no Uruk, Olog or dark magi lying in wait, simply silence.
And it unnerved him.
Time passed by as Agravain continued on until he rounded a corner where a faint light emanated from an ajar doorway where he heard his mother's voice, "…can't die. I can't die here; I still have to take the throne!" Coming up to the doorway, Agravain peered into it to see Morgan in the centre of her workshop, pacing about where what appeared to be an empty cauldron that had spewed something into the air to scorch the ceiling with ash.
Sensing that she was unprepared for him, Agravain sheathed his sword before he gripped his iron chains in both hands to take her alive. Stepping out from the corner and into the room, Agravain made himself known as he dangled the chains from his hand and slowly approached Morgan, "Mother."
As Agravain slowly made his way towards Morgan, she turned to him with an expression of fear that was unlike her, "So, you truly have betrayed me… after all I've done for…." Anger soon twisted her veiled face before she spoke again, "Was my sister truly born into this world, just to spite me?! To take and be given all of which was mine?!" She sneered loudly at the Knight of Black Iron.
His steps were stilled by the outburst, but not by Morgan's uncanny expressions of fear and anger, but rather her words. Something within Agravain seemed to spark within the deep recesses of his mind, "Your sister…? The king is…!" He shook his head confusedly, making his way inward despite the looming shadow rising behind him. Agravain paid it no mind and launched himself at his mother, Cold Iron chain spinning above his head, "It's over!"
Morgan's hand extended out, and in a blink of red hewed black mana appeared a spear tipped obsidian scepter that she raised in token defense; sadly, the chain wrapped around its shaft, and Agravain yanked it from her hands with minimal effort before his Sabaton clad boot drove itself into her jaw. The mother of the Orkney siblings was sent backwards across her now empty cauldron, her veiled crown falling from her head and shattering against the floor. She attempted to get up, getting caught on the fetters of her dress which tore in her desperate attempt to stand. A half conjured mystery was dispelled by a red glowing black chain that latched onto the witches right hand. She attempted to spew some token curse or banter but was cut off when Agravain tossed the other end of the chain against the far wall and snapped his fingers. Morgan was drawn back across the room, smashing numerous magical trinkets along the way before slamming against the wall pitifully.
Agravain cracked his neck, having expected his mother to put up more of a fight, but it seemed that their assault combined with whatever her latest ritual had been performed at her hands had left Morgan drained. His black eyes scanned the room until they locked onto a strange object. It was the approximation of a mandala with fae script running along its circumference and rendered in finely cut green glass, placed before the throne. Agravain didn't know what it was, but its meaning was obvious, an obstacle in the way of the throne. Unsheathing his sword, he smashed it to pieces with one clean hit with the flat of his sword, causing it to shatter into myriad particles of glowing green mana. The greasy-haired secretary of the crown felt no joy from the action nor any satisfaction when he approached his mother, whose turquoise eyes met his with a defiant sneer.
-Bedivere and Galahad-
An emphatic clank reverberated through Galahad's shield as the undead Akoth rammed it with his own spiked shield, pushing the squire several feet before he dug the cross shield into a loose cobble and unsheathed his Fae knife as an offensive weapon to defend himself, "I should've come more prepared." Galahad muttered to himself as he repelled the undead Uruk before he was forced to dodge an arrow heading for his head upon hearing the whistling streak coming for him.
A second sword would've proven handy at the moment. Out of the corner of his eye, Galahad saw Bedivere trying to contend with Accolon with, but a single arm and sword, and yet his eyes widened when he saw Bedivere thrown to the ground and the wraith's sword raised and poised to stab him through the heart, "No!" Galahad abandoned his opponent in an instant as he swung the shield at the undead Akoth, whose lower jaw was now missing after receiving a blow from the squire's shield.
Charging at full speed towards the wraith, Galahad hefted his shield to deliver a blow to the ghost, only to stop when an odd event transpired. Without prompting, Accolon reeled back as if he were in pain, letting loose a scream, clutching his head as he dropped the sword in the process. Slinging his shield onto his back, Galahad helped Bedivere up by his left arm while his right flopped useless and floppy at his side with blood dripping profusely from the nasty looking wounds, worsened throughout the battle with the wraith.
One by one, the undead Uruk and Olog's crumpled back down to the ground like puppets with cut strings, light beginning to emanate from within the wraith's wispy core. As the light grew brighter and brighter, the knight and his squire put some distance between themselves and their enemy, whose armour rumbled, followed by an explosion that sent those still standing flat on their backs.
Picking themselves up from the shockwave, Galahad was the first to speak up about their current predicament, "Is it over?" Looking to Bedivere, Galahad continued on, "Is Morgan truly…?"
"Dead?" Bedivere replied, gritting his teeth as he tied a strap around his shoulder to stymie the corruption's spread, "I don't know. All I do know…" He let go of Galahad to clutch his wounded arm, "…is that right now we have a reprieve."
Bedivere's words were heard by their men as, one by one, they slowly came around to the idea that they had just won a glorious battle against evil. Galahad hoped as much, but when Bedivere turned to him once more, he realized that there was at least one more trauma to face the pair tonight.
"Galahad, might I beg a favor?"
Upon leaving behind the storage room, Naruto and Arturia were able to regroup with a burned Gawain and his frantic siblings, shouldering his muscular body between them despite his claim that he was fine. They were able to continue on from the grand hall to where they found Tristan and Lancelot heading into a room where the clanking of chains was heard with someone struggling.
To the group's surprise and hidden relief, they found Agravain unharmed and miraculously had managed to bind Morgan with the same chains he made meant for Arturia, now they secured Morgan kneeling as she struggled to break from the chains, only for them to tighten up as their crimson glow brightened up, "So, my sibling and her oh so, noble knights have come to kill me in my own home, and many of which are my own flesh and blood." Morgan spat out with vitriol, insulting their pride as knights and familial relations, "What now? Stand trial for crimes I haven't committed? Become the court jester?" The Fae joked snidely before she grew a disgusted sneer, "Or will you have me sent away to the badlands of Orkney when you no longer have any use for me? After failing tests I did not know you even set for me? Like what father did when you were born?"
Arturia did not respond to the obvious provocation, she could not comment on the relationship between their biological father as she had never known him, by the time Arturia had turned three, Uther was already in a grave at the hands of Vortigern, the only father she had ever known was Ector. Whatever bad blood there was between Morgan and their father, Arturia would likely never know, nor did she particularly care for the reasoning. The last near-decade had been nothing short of a tidal wave of misery orchestrated by the spitting Fae before her, and frankly, things needed to come to an end.
Gazing into her sister's sinister and angry eyes, Arturia could see within her that there was pain, jealousy, loneliness, bitterness, all of such things that no doubt drove Morgan onto this path. Yet at the same time, Arturia saw hatred, malice, evil like Vortigern and all his fury to see them dead at his feet, "No, you do not deserve any of such things. I will not be swayed from this course of action, and you will plague Britain with your evil no longer." Arturia said monotonously as she nodded to Agravain, the Knight of Black Iron wordlessly stalking forwards and pushing Morgan's shoulders down into a prayerful kneel.
Morgan's eyes seemed to widen, as if something within her snapped almost, "You say I am evil, yet you are the one who has brought our lands, our home to such a state."
An incredulous expression came across Arturia's features, "You mean to say that I am who is the one that is evil?" A small rage started to boil up within her.
"You who would destroy the Magic and Mystery that is left in this age!" Morgan practically screamed at Arturia, "You would deny the beauty of the world and its balance of light and darkness!" She struggled against the iron chains and her son's strong hands, nearly leaping up from her position with Agravain having to further restrain her, "YOU would destroy the Fae and the wonders they would bring to humanity. Their joy and madness! Their beauty and horror! The majesty of the Phantasmals that captivates us all!" Using whatever secret strength Morgan had, she looked up to glare at Arturia as she continued to spit at her sister's feet, "YOU who was meant to be the lynchpin to this age, would see it all destroyed?! Oh great, Avalon Le Fae!? Prophesied choosing one of Gaia to save Britain in its darkest hour!?"
Keeping her anger in check, Arturia could only glare back at Morgan, "So you would usurp me, cause me such pain and inflict death by creating those abominations of nature for this age's continued existence?" Unsheathing her blade, Arturia took up position next to her sister, preparing for what was to come, "You who I once thought could be redeemed, spat on such a possibility to be my enemy? Whom you were obligated to love unconditionally?" Shaking her head at her sister's words, Arturia dared not think she could come to such an understanding. In her mind, Vortigern in his tyranny was very much the same as Morgan.
Both of whom held a sinister way of thinking it was for the better.
"I am glad that father could not see you what you have become." Arturia spoke softly, "But I am not proud that your own children see you as you are now."
Morgan turned ever so slightly to see Gawain as impassive as ever, having closed his eyes to her. Not even regarding her as king. Gaheris looked away, daring not to make contact; all the while, Gareth, sweet little Gareth, held unshed tears before shutting them to turn away. "You are many things, Arturia Pendragon, but a charlatan is not one of them, do not speak of the scum of this earth that was Uther Pendragon when you do not know of the horrors he condemned the both of us to."
Arturia's words seemed to bring something within Morgan, "You know… father had such high hopes for me… to end the Fae." She spoke as if recalling a vague memory. "He wished for me to use our family's dark powers to end the fae and make humanity independent through conquest… but I refuted his desire…."
"…I do not believe that," Arturia said, not willing to believe that her father was such the type of man. "I cannot believe that our father was a man who supported genocide."
To Naruto, who had only heard Ulthur spoken of in glowing terms, this was a surprise, being an honorable man could hold such an ideal. From all of what he learned about Britain to adapt to his new home, he learned about how the British Isles' inhabitants were so intertwined with one another: Man and Fae. Nature and Society. A beautiful balance between the two opposing forces and concepts. And yet, Morgan could be lying to save her own skin in some small way, though her tone and mannerisms did not support that. But the genuinely righteous fury behind those turquoise eyes spoke of only truth.
Did Merlin know this and say nothing of it to him? If so, then why not tell him?
"Oh, but he did…" Morgan nodded, gritting her teeth as forgotten emotions welled up from a place she had long since cast away, "…he did…." Her voice was low as can be, yet still able to carry to their ears. "And when I would not follow his will, he had you. And you. Have. Succeeded." Looking down from her captors to the floor, Morgan seemingly resigned herself to what was to come but still had words to part within her breath, "…I should have taken you with me to show you the truth of things…."
To Arturia, a small part of her wondered just if the Fae's words held any veracity, and if so, would their bond have been different. To reach and try to rekindle it. Yet for all of her sister's actions: stealing Caliburn, turning their people into mindless monsters, creating an abominable army, corrupting those who held great honour… taunting to take away the man she loved… such fleeting thoughts she discarded from her mind to focus once more on acting on what she came here to carry out and resumed her kingly atmosphere. The time for talking and what-ifs was over, all that was left was action.
Raising Excalibur up, Agravain took Morgan by her hair and forced her to look down into the ground before she spoke one last time to her sister, "Morgan. We were siblings once, I had hoped one day that we would no longer be enemies, but what you did to me, to us and the world as a whole, is not something so easily forgiven. I hereby sentence you to death by my sword. Find solace and redemption in the next life." Despite the disdain that Arturia had for Morgan, they were still sisters in the end, and it was all she could say in respect to their shared lineage from their father.
"For those who bear the title of Avalon Le Fae, there is no solace, only despair..."
Those were Morgan's final words before Excalibur freed her head from her shoulders, it rolled down the nearby steps into the sunken floor of her workshop. Not even turning to see the corpse any longer, Arturia sheathed Excalibur into her scabbard as she made her way out of the workshop before stopping at the doorstep, "We should leave with haste. Take anything of value, then let this place fall into the reverse side. It has no place in this world any longer." And with that, Arturia left the others who soon followed suit while Agravain undid his chains on the corpse that had once been Morgan.
Naruto looked around the workshop before he shook his head. No use in taking anything from this place, seeing as it appeared that Morgan had disposed of much of her tomes, scrolls, parchments, etc., to prevent anyone from learning her secrets, intent on taking them to the grave. Though a part of him couldn't help but wonder if things had been different.
As Naruto followed, Tristan spared one last glance at Morgan's corpse before following the rest of their company, but his thoughts were different from the rest of their company. Why did Arturia show no remorse for killing her own sister and not even sparing to look at her corpse?
Upon regrouping with their soldiers along with Galahad and Bedivere, they began to leave Zídushgoi, where it soon vanished in a pillar of veil shadow before only the lake that it laid below was all but left. Though Agravain had insisted that they at least afford Morgan the mercy of a funeral pyre, compassion that Arturia had agreed to without a second thought. She was not so wrapped in her grudge as to leave her sister's body to rot. Naruto had spotted Bedivere looking a little sheepish and green around the gills with his right side obscured by his cloak, "Bedivere, is your arm alright?" As he came closer to his friend, the wind picked up slightly, causing Bedivere's white cloak to flutter slightly and reveal something that brought Naruto up short, or rather the lack of something.
Bedivere scrunched his nose up in pain as he brought his left hand to an empty right sleeve, right arm gone from the shoulder down, "I wish that I could say I was as free from harm as the majority of us, but it seems I drew the short straw." The discomfort was painful but bearable, a needed sacrifice in the face of an uncertain future. "One of those fell archers caught me in the arm with a cursed shaft, it went into necrosis shortly after, so I was forced to ask young Galahad to… alleviate my burden," Bedivere said, giving a weak smile to his red-eyed friend while Galahad still held a bloodied sword in shaking hands.
Naruto looked Bedivere in the eye as the man gave a short chuckle before he continued speaking, "I knew that when the arrow pierced my flesh, that my arm would soon no longer be of service. By the time the battle was done, the rot had nearly hit my shoulder. Had I waited for you to come to our side, then I likely would not be standing here."
However, it was here where Galahad spoke, "Sir Naruto…."
"Yes, Galahad?" Naruto asked the young man melancholically as Bedivere gladly braced his left arm around Naruto's taller shoulders for support.
"Did I do the right thing?" Galahad asked, his voice conflicted and golden eyes shifting between Naruto's ruby's and Bedivere's greens, "I am Sir Bedivere's squire, yet I was the one that has delivered him the most critical blow of tonight."
Naruto sighed in exhaustion and a mix of other emotions; above all was empathy itself, he began to walk with Bedivere and Galahad towards the caravan of mounted knights where Arturia looked his way. "You're going to have to figure that one out on your own, Galahad, but what matters is that when your lord needed you, you were there," he said softly. The sky to the east was begging to brighten, the night of horror had finally come to an end.
Upon returning to the capital with news that Morgan le Fay, the Dark Fae Witch of Britain, was now dead, and her evil cast out by the king and court. To add to that, Mordred and Ywain succeeded in putting down the would-be rebellious Lord Cerdic before he could even rise up. There was much to rejoice about in Britain's gleaming silver capital.
However, for those that assaulted Morgan's domain, some of them harbored unknown emotions and thoughts within…
For Naruto, he started to wonder how much of what Morgan said was true about Uther, his desire to see the Fae driven from Britain and humans as the dominant beings. And what of her own views with the current age.
For Lancelot, seeing his son Galahad act like a good man, he wondered if there was any real need, much less hope of bonding with his son, and just how much longer could he conceal his affair with the queen, or even the romance of his friend, the Apostle and the king.
For Tristan, he wondered just how much longer he could continue to serve a king whose humanity degraded with each passing day.
For Gawain, he believed that his victory over the Green Knight and the execution of his mother was no doubt a turn of the tide for them all, and nothing should stand in their way of justice.
As for Mordred and Ywain, the two young soldiers were soon knighted and brought into the fold as full-fledged members of the Round Table, becoming privy to the king's secret, which shocked the two of them, Mordred more so than Ywain.
A feast was soon thrown in celebration of the victories in the grand hall where Naruto helped prepare the food for everyone to toast to Camelot being victorious once again over evil.
Eventually, the feast settled down, and the people retired to their rooms for the night to continue their daily lives, though Naruto went with Arturia to her room for a bit as they simply sat on her bed holding one another, "Naruto…." Arturia spoke softly as her golden hair was out of the bun, leaning her head onto her lover's shoulder.
"Yes, Arturia? Are you alright?" He asked in concern, "You seemed kind of scared back at Zídushgoi." Whatever it was that she saw in that place had shaken her. He kissed her head to try and help comfort whatever worry she had.
"…regardless of what happens in the future for us all…." Arturia began in a soothing tone whilst turning to face him, "…I love you, with all my heart." She gave him a passionate kiss that lasted for a while before they parted, "I love you and everything we've done, what we've built, and I will do everything to protect it, but most of all you."
Naruto sensed that her words were genuine, yet they were perplexing. Arturia always held these things in her heart, yet proclaiming these aloud to him was odd, "I know. I know you would, but now, we can focus on fixing the small things, before we can just… settle down and be happy together." Speaking of which, something came back to Naruto with his last few words and Mordred's new position, "Oh, I just reminded myself that I need to do something." Getting up from the bed to head to his workshop for a quick pickup, Naruto turned back to Arturia, who seemed slightly confused by his actions to clarify for her, "I'll be back soon, so don't worry about me. I'm sure you might want to get comfy for uhm… later…." He said in a knowing tone, which Arturia briefly chuckled as she nodded her head in acceptance.
Stopping by his workshop, Naruto picked up a large box and headed off to Mordred's room, where she was currently getting out of her armour. Quietly knocking on the door, Naruto spoke up as he inched the door open just enough so his voice could reach Mordred's ears and not bring attention to their little secret, "Mordred, it's Naruto, are you decent?"
"Huh, wha? Oh, yeah, I'm okay, mom." He Heard Mordred's voice from her closet, "Was there something you needed?"
Opening the door quickly to step inside before closing it behind him, Naruto set the box down onto the nearby chest of drawers as he waited for Mordred to get ready, "I felt that since you made it to the Round Table, that this required a nice gift for you to… have…." As Naruto turned to the closet just in time to see his little girl step out the door, his expression changed to one of incredulity, to which Mordred seemed perplexed by his expression.
"Something wrong, mom?"
Naruto's mouth was soon rendered agape upon laying eyes upon what his Little Mo had taken to wearing under her armour, mainly for how scandalous it appeared and moreover how hard it triggered his paternal instincts.
Mordred's entire top half was all but bare to the world save for a red and gold piece of fabric that slightly squashed her perky B-cups against her lithe chest like a decorative Sarashi. In addition, Mordred had taken to wearing a red and gold collar-like Gorget made from well-treated leather and cord with the fluted 'tag' resting against her clavicle. The hodgepodge and almost Amazonian getup continued along her arms that were wrapped in a pair of disconnected red sleeves with black straps under the biceps and paired with hardened red leather tassets she wore around her waist, doing absolutely nothing to stop the display of fully exposed midriff exposing itself stubbornly. In contrast, the hanging leather strap detail from her armour persisted between her legs. To top off, this tomboy-delinquent swordswoman look was the black leather stockings affixed to her athletic thighs by red straps and tucked into red ankle boots.
"Mom?" Mordred tilted her head in confusion as she made her way over to Naruto, whose eyes grew shadowed by his hair.
Suffice to say, Naruto was not pleased with his daughter's choice in fashion, "Mordred… what… the hell… are you wearing…?" He was slowly raising his voice up a few notches with every word, yet he still held his lungs so as to not draw attention to the room.
Mordred looked down to give herself a look once over, but honestly, she couldn't find anything wrong with what she was wearing, "What I've been wearing all this time, I don't ge—" She was cut off as soon as Naruto clamped his right hand around her forehead and started to give a slight painful squeeze that began to rise up in pressure, "Ow! Ow! Mom! What's this for, ya know!?"
Turns out she inherited that old verbal tic he and his mother were known for, though he was internally happy that she had never gone through his 'believe it' phase. Right now, though, Naruto was more concerned for when he would later introduce Mordred to Arturia in the hopes of establishing themselves as a family of sorts for the future, "Because, there is no way in hell, that my little girl, is going to walk around in public, looking like some skan* in a whor*house of Londinium! Now we're going to get you into some proper clothes!"
He essentially dragged Mordred by her forehead back into the closet, where he spent quite a bit longer than anticipated to get Mo into some proper clothes, much like Arturia's royal blues.
When all was said and done, Mordred's new ensemble was far more dignified than the leather fatigues she had called casual wear before, starting off first and foremost with a pair of black buccaneers pants tucked into light brown knee-high boots with pronounced guards that extended over the knee caps themselves.
The red leather sarashi had been tossed in favor of a layered upper body garment that began with a long-sleeved red dress coat that split into two segments that rested either side of her knees; the coat's shoulders bore the same puffed look as Arturia's favored blue battle dress and the cuffs were furnished in silken black ruffles. Over this was a sleeveless black Brigandine made of folded tanned leather and golden inlays across the bottom edge, the five red leather straps of Mordred's prior ensemble had endured poking from the back of the shirt-like armour to cover her pant clad behind. Last came a dull burgundy waistcoat closed over her chest by golden threads and a red ascot cravat poking from around her neck and proudly displaying its black lined splendor for all to see.
"There, now you don't look like you're gonna freeze to death on a cold day." Naruto proclaimed proudly as he crossed his arms, confident in the choice of clothes he picked out for his daughter.
As for Mordred, she herself was getting used to the bunched-up clothing, "It feels like I'm chafing under all this stuff."
As for Naruto, he simply ignored the comment and made a brief rebuttal, "You'll thank me in the future when you can finally come out, sweetheart." Turning back to the box, Naruto made his way over to it to open it up to reveal the contents, "When I first made this sword, I knew that it'd be meant for great things one day, just wasn't sure in whose hands though, but I hoped that maybe, it'd be your hands that would hold it."
It was Clarent. After achieving such a position in the court, Naruto felt that Mordred deserved to have a blade that would signify her status as a Knight of the Round Table. Given how he forged it to act similarly to Excalibur did and Mordred inheriting much of his and Arturia's massive reservoir of power to draw upon, coupled with the White Dragon's heart and blood flowing through her veins, Clarent was but a perfect fit for their first and possibly only born child.
Mordred's eyes gleamed in both fascination and awe. Being given a sword made by Naruto was an honour unlike any other, "This is for me?" She asked in disbelief.
Naruto nodded his head, "It is, and I know you'll use it to do both good and great things."
Reaching out to grasp the sword, Mordred wrapped her fingers around the grip to get a feel for it, seeing that it indeed was a perfect fit for her. She could feel a resonance of sorts with the blade, feeling the shared connection they had through Albion's blood flowing in her veins and the core of the greatsword to give it powers, "Thank you, mom. I…" She gently placed Clarent back into the cushioned box, "…I don't know what to say, but…." Turning back to Naruto, she wrapped her arms around him to envelope him in a firm hug that caught him off guard, "…thank you, mom."
Naruto returned the hug in earnest, "You're welcome, my Little Mo."
With Mordred's ascension to the Round Table, the first step towards making a family was done. Next step, well, hopefully getting Mordred and Arturia close enough to ensure the revelation didn't get him punched in the face or kicked down below… most likely the former than the latter….
After returning back to Arturia and an overdue, passionate lovemaking session, Naruto had fallen asleep in Arturia's arms once as before during their first time where she stroked his hair, leaving Arturia back to her thoughts on what she saw in Zídushgoi.
-Flashback-
As Arturia saw the figure approach her from within the mirror, it became clear that it was… "Me…?"
It was a dark mirror of herself, one who had clearly given into her Draconic blood and power. No longer was her battle dress blue and gold but pitch black instead. Her armour had been dyed jet black, almost as if a purple luster gleamed off of it with dragon-like spines on her gauntlets, while her boots were now like heels spiked to impale any who she stepped on. The armour covered her neckline and even extended up to her neckline and above to her cheeks.
Instead of the golden light that Excalibur had always given off, in its stead was a void of blackness that had blood-red form an intricate pattern instead, creating the sense of dread and fear that came with this disgusting image.
But this was not what truly frightened her but instead what came next.
"I am your future if you continue embracing what you have been feeling." Her dark self spoke with a cold, near-emotionless tone that brought a bone-chilling shiver to Arturia, "Keep that anger. Keep using that power of yours, the heart that beats, the blood that flows in our veins." She placed her hand up against the other side of the glass to match Arturia's hand, "The people will rejoice and fear us, for we are what they desire; nothing but a tyrant to order them about for their lives, and none to dare go against us. He will try in vain to save us but fail to cleanse us of our torment. Our love for him will drive you to commit atrocities in his preservation. This is the future that awaits you, Arturia."
-Now-
Breathing shakingly for a minute, Arturia had destroyed the mirror of that hallucination of that dark self. It was then that Arturia realised that she had a darkness within herself, one that she had no idea she was capable of.
There were times where Arturia had thought of using brutal tactics to win the day, but it was all thanks to Naruto's out of the box thinking that allowed them to preserve their honour and integrity while ensuring they saved as many lives as they could. Yes, she knew it was impossible to protect everyone, but she would be damned if she did not make every attempt to do so. Not fulfilling her ideals, she would only become a hypocrite of the highest order.
No, she would never give into the darkness. She would fight it tooth and nail. She utterly rejected the notion of using darkness to preserve what she valued. She would protect Naruto from whatever laid ahead, no matter what. It was his love that continued to push her forward to create the perfect kingdom that could one day be governed in a way that would allow them to live as a proper couple one day, no matter how long it took.
"This I swear to you, my love," Arturia said softly as she gave a peck on his head before she fell asleep.
Unbeknownst to them, several dozen miles from the capital, a feminine figure crept from a shadow to look upon the distant sight of Camelot before it spoke in a cheery tone, "Well, that's certainly a loving sight… a shame that I have to ruin it all." The figure chuckled before disappearing, the sound of high heels and a swirl of red hair all that remained on the breeze.
NEXT: THE FALL OF CAMELOT
Journal of Narbareck VII, 1st seat of the Burial Agency, Holy Church
Date: [REDACTED]
That little toe rag Merem came by this morning with quite the sickening look of satisfaction on his face, he told me that his latest endeavour, graverobbing being a more apt term, in England to gain information on members of the DAA had proved fruitful. I was beyond incensed when he had that crowned rat of his deposit an antique document onto my desk and have him bluntly tell me that it pertained to #7 before leaving. I am well aware that the two have bad blood over their shared siering from Crimson Moon, but that does not give Merem, ally or no, permission to flaunt every protocol the Holy Church has to deliver his so-called treasures for me to catalogue when I have better things to do. Anyway, minor rant over, here are the details of what the crowned rat brought me about one Naruto Uzumaki, though I could not tell you how it pertains to him.
Recovered from archaeological site #221/4b9ws
Stratford-Upon-Avon, England
Object in question: Vellum scroll discovered underneath the foundations of temporary residence constructed in Avon, likely an intermediary dwelling while the family of the owners was being moved, given the lack of magecraft discovered attached the box it was found in it is a veritable miracle that it remains as legible as it is today, though there are some areas where the writing has been worn away.
To my dearest Hamnet
How have you been, darling son of mine? Clutching at the ephemeral dream we call life and dashing off into the lanes of mystery, I hope. Forgive me for being unable to attend you and your sister's recent tenth birthday, the deadlines to set these actors straight is something that is taxing in time, money and sense, and it was with great sadness that by the time our troop wrapped for the evening's practice did the last stagecoach refuse to take me home to see your smiling faces once again. Far be it from me to dictate a list of pedestrian reasoning for my absence to the children whose birthdays I missed but perhaps as recompense, a tale of my exploits, one not even your mother knows off lest she thinks me touched in the head?
It began one fleeting evening approaching the forests of wales to play host to a merchant who had heard of our troop and wished to be wowed by theatre, I was a younger man then and infinitely more precocious than the man London has taken to call the bard, so when the evening rains lashed and heavens flashed cerulean sky fire I, after fortifying myself with a keg of ale, decided to give that merchant from [TEXT WORN AWAY] and I'm not even sure how the donkey got there! Honour preserved, I waded through the muck and Pete of Gaia's bosom over bogs and felled trees to make my way back to my troop, though an hour into my trek and either I had lost the path or the path had lost me. After soiling the outside of my doublet with apocryphal ooze, I did not wish my fear to do the same to my pantaloons, so I decided to wait out the rest of the storm in [TEXT WORN AWAY]
Alas, when I awoke, it was once again still dark out, but the night had cleared away the thundering clouds to unveil that great lunar disk and tapestry of celestial splendour painted across the sky, but what court my eye were the innumerable sprites flitting to the through amidst the trees, they glowed like pale embers yet fluttered as quite living things, moths I soon realised! Each beat of their wings was accompanied by a harmonic prayer to deities unseen, and soon enough, from my huddled perch did I witness the procession to which they were entering. Two men walked through the trees, queer in appearance yet with air that robbed the very air from my lungs to see their unearthly beauty. The first, tall and young, had hair blonder than any dutchman and eyes, sad, old eyes, set into a serene face walked with purpose, nature itself moving to accommodate him, but his companion was far more of a shock to the soul. Royal blue and ruffled white raiment, a bob of feathered silver hair and an amused kingly face, the other bore a pair of giant technicolour moth's wings that beat silently behind him as the men strode, a fine film of glowing dust evaporating into the air around them. He was also, as much as I question my sanity, partially see-through, like a heat haze in the cool midsummer's eve. They walked and laughed, reminisced of times long lost and of a fallen white city which they remembered with melancholy before they passed beyond my sight, and I lost what sense I had left the kingly fae sis commune that the other man's love was all but a Titeness of whom he would not have minded as his own, the blonde laughed good-naturedly, their forms echoing away between crooked trees.
You know, I feel inclined to put this maddened wonderment to paper, perhaps a play of the Fae king and his desired Titanic wife, wished for amid a Midsummer night's dream to a playwright a long way from home. Sleep well, my dearest children, for one day, all the world shall know these plays.
-Your Father, W.S. 1595
I hope everyone was able to enjoy the new chapter.
Please be sure to tell me what y oh liked and/or disliked about the new chapter as usual.
Here are the Black Speech translations –
(1) Burn, you will burn, you will burn!
(2) Die!
(3) You are nothing!
(4) You will not walk away from this!
(5) Your world will end in fire!
Chapter 14: Chapter 12: The Fall of Camelot Part I
Chapter Text
Chapter 12 – The Fall of Camelot Part I
-Late Autumn 479 AD-
The sun had risen on a new day in Camelot, with its people preparing for their day's as they had since the city's construction. Men were readying themselves to till the fields, women assembling meals and clothes, children jumping from their straw beds to play with their friends and pets, while those with scholarly disposition squirrelled away in the Grand Library. However, as the morning guardsmen were relieving those who stood on the night's watch, there were some making ready for what would be an exceptional event.
"So, why do I have to wear this… ridiculous outfit again?" Naruto asked.
Arturia was finishing adjusting his quilted jerkin for said event with a playful frown, "Because, Naruto, it will help shift people's outlook on the color red, and you cut a fine figure in it."
Arturia had insisted on helping Naruto choose an outfit for this event, for it was something that required a certain level of aristocratic grace to attend, "It shows my eyes off too much." He lamented the loss of his hood in favor of a shoulder cape and breeches; having some potential vampiric traits shown off in public never did well for one's health. Especially when the people were believers in the Hebrew God.
Finishing up with the last few adjustments, Arturia took a step back to see her lover look as handsome as he always had, shoulder cape bearing the sigil of the Royal Standard in red on blue cloth. "And your eyes are as beautiful as rubies, Naruto." Nodding in satisfaction, she stepped forward before bringing Naruto down to her lips for a brief moment and shared a soft kiss with him, "Don't fret over something as trivial as your eyes. You need to take that hood off every once in a while, my love." Arturia said, Naruto smiling back at her, he couldn't help but get lost in her beauty.
She was his goddess. And he, her loyal Apostle.
Naruto brought up her hair ribbon that she always had done up when in public before the common folk and the nobles, those who were not aware that she was a woman, and spun Arturia around to tie her bun up, "You're right. This is Tristan's wedding we're heading off to." Chuckling briefly before he spoke again, "Wearing some nice clothes for weddings and parties is a habit I could get used to."
Ever since the death of Morgan, the darkness of Britain had seemingly begun to recede back to the Reverse Side. Phantasmals of the dark aspect retreated to places far from civilization, with the remnants of Morgan's power now merely wisps of what once was the Dark Fae. The light that Arturia represented and thus Vivian shined brightly to the corners of the land, bringing joy and happiness to many.
For the Knights of the Round Table, that joy had increased by a factor of two; Mordred and Ywain had become best friends since joining, both complementing one another in their personalities and actions. The infectious banter of Mordred's crass humor and Ywain's laid-back demeanor had proved contagious to the hall of Ehangwen.
Ywain was a mediator when arguments rose up to potentially sour relationships; even when he would venture into the city on his own time, he would help keep the peace with his words. When court matters came up, he merely took a step back to allow others more suited to deal with them, becoming laid back with such tiresome times.
As for Mordred, she was fiercely outspoken in her defense of Arturia whenever she came under the slander of others, be they noble or foreigner unknowing of her way of ruling. At times she would spar with other knights to let off their frustrations and steam, her armor was more than sturdy enough to withstand direct blows, despite using practice swords. Although they found it quite strange that she would never remove her helm. Naruto recalled a silly conversation he had with his daughter.
"Little Mo, why don't you take your helm off outside of battle?"
"Well, it's because I want to show my true worth as a knight like the others… I'm third rate at best, mom… and stop calling me little! Please?"
So simple, yet admirable, but also concerning with how Mordred perceived herself when it came to others looking at her as a knight. Third rate? How she came to that conclusion was beyond him. 'She just inherited the same stubbornness you had when you were younger.' Kurama pointed out to him at the time.
The Apostle would let it slide for now. But he would sit down with Arturia and finally have them all talk it out like a proper family… soon. Right now, the political climate was still relatively in flux overseas with how Tiberius was currently at a pause in his 'reclamation' of Europe for the time being, which they found pretty odd. Perhaps he had run into some unexpected obstacles? Who could honestly say without being there in person? Naruto's spy network had been forced to get distance between them and Tiberius' overzealous praetorian guard, it seemed that the Senate had left a lasting distaste for tricks and spies in the upstart Emperor's mouth.
Finishing up the bun, Arturia turned around as she reached up to pull Naruto down to her lips again, and they shared a quick kiss before she began to drag him over to the bed, where they sat down to continue their session, passion sinking its hooks into both of them.
"You know…" Naruto said quickly between every other kiss, "…you really should've gone… for your regular… royal blues…" Arturia had decided on wearing her armor with her blue cloak draped around her shoulders for the wedding.
The kissing came to a natural stop as they rested their foreheads against each other, "I know you want me to show more of myself to people…" Arturia said as she planted another kiss on his cheek, "…but there's still so much work to be done. You know it. I know it. It is simply something that needs to be done before we can live in happiness."
Naruto sighed softly while he internally groaned. In private, the two of them had been quite affectionate with one another as of late, having made love every now and then like they used to, if anything, Arturia had a spring in her tantric step. There were times where she decided how things would go, and he was happy to oblige and let Arturia take the reins… who would've thought she could be the dominant one when the mood struck her?
In public, however, she remained committed to keeping up the stoic face of justice and righteousness. It was something they had spats over with Naruto wanting to show her more gentle and affectionate side to the court and the people. Arturia had grown paranoid in dismantling Morgan's old network of spies and creatures, wanting to dispose of all that was left of her dark sister. History may not look kindly on Morgan le Fey, but it would certainly remember her for all of what she had done to Britain and its people.
"Alright then." Naruto replied, "But once everything's settled down, and there's not a single thing to worry over, we…" Wrapping his arms around Arturia, Naruto brought her close to him, despite the armor being uncomfortable, "…and by we, I really mean you…" Arturia gave a light chuckle at that, "…will need to wind down, relax, and just be yourself." Getting Arturia to shed the king persona she had built up over the years was just the first thing that needed to be done before he could properly introduce her and Mordred as parent and child.
Truthfully, he needed to get Mo's perception of mother and father corrected. Endearing as it was, and letting it slide all these years, being called mother, mom and mama was weird. Not that he didn't love her for her eccentricities, but she needed to learn what a stable parental environment felt like.
A knock on the door accompanied by the voice of Lancelot came through, "My king, it would be best if we weren't late for Sir Tristan's wedding."
Sighing at how the two of them were getting rather heated in the moment, Arturia spoke up, "We will be ready soon, Sir Lancelot, thank you."
Lancelot knew well enough about their affair and continued to keep it hidden from the others. He had been a great friend to them over the years, and as such, neither decided to inquire as to who it was that had captured his own heart. Whoever she was, they were sure that Lancelot would introduce her when he felt it best.
Getting up to leave for the ceremony, Naruto and Arturia strode through the halls down to the castle gates to where they met the rest of their entourage, some of whom had done well over the years. Bedivere had maintained his position as a member of the Round Table despite the loss of his right arm. Instead, he had come into his own as a general, one of Camelot's best and brightest. The troops under his command, mostly made up of veterans from their assault on Morgan's domain, had nothing but the brightest compliments about the Knight of Loyalty.
As for Galahad, he, alongside Pellinore, had ridden out to the countryside to hunt down what was the source of plague and death to several villagers within the last month: the Questing Beast. A creature that held the body of some cat-like creature, not all that different from Periwinkle's own, yet its limbs were like that of a horse, but that was not what made it so monstrous in its appearance. It held the head of a snake with a great maw, one which would swallow a man whole, and from that maw came the power to birth malformed hounds to chase down and bring back the victims it had claimed. It had been a long hunt and a fair adventure, but eventually, the two had driven the beast off the edge of a cliff, taking its curse of pestilence with it.
Everyone, with the exception of Arturia and Mordred, had forgone their armor and instead wore clothes fit for nobles and esteemed knights. Arturia wore her armor to maintain her kingly appearance, Mordred on the other hand, was given the duty of leading the ceremonial guard for the wedding, "Ready to kiss being a bachelor goodbye, Sir Tristan?" Mordred asked in a teasing manner, attempting to maintain her identity as a man, voice pitched two octaves lower than her usual cadence.
Tristan simply shrugged with a small smile, "I suppose I am, and what of you, Sir Mordred?" He spoke as he turned to face Mordred, "When will a woman see what is beneath your heavy helm and armor?" The Knight of Lamentation jested in turnabout to Mordred.
Mordred gave a dry chuckle at that, "I doubt any woman would want someone like me." Speaking softly to herself. Sure, women were beautiful, and all, but Mordred wasn't the type to be into women. Men? Not really that either, she was content with her lot in the romantic sense.
Ywain merely slapped Mordred's shoulder in response, "You give yourself far too little credit, Sir Mordred," he said, coming up behind her as she slightly jolted at the action, "Take the time go out and have fun at a tavern. Maybe you'll find a woman to warm your bed then?" Ywain thumped the back of his knuckles against Mordred's helm in a teasing manner. "If your pecker is as rigid as your helmet's horns, I'm sure many a whor* will go to bed satisfied."
"Yeah, right." Mordred's irritated eye twitching was somehow audible even within the heavy armor.
Percival cleared his throat loudly to get everyone's attention, "Perhaps it's best if we were not late to our friend's wedding ceremony?" The silver-haired knight said in a chastising yet friendly tone.
As the entourage of the Round Table and the court assembled by horseback with Tristan in the front leading them on as the groom, Arturia and Guinevere were behind in a horse-drawn carriage with Naruto and Lancelot at their sides respectively, each sharing a look with the one whom they held an affair with, despite one couple being ignorant of the other.
The rest of the court filed behind them as they continued through the city to the cathedral, where all manner of exquisite decorations of flowers, banners and colors marked the occasion. The entourage dismounted their steeds and carriage to make their way into the chapel, where Tristan took up his position to the left of the priest, with the King and Co. having sat on Tristan's side, and many nobles on the side of the bride.
And the bride herself? Her name was Iseult of the White Hands. She was not the Iseult that Tristan had fallen for prior under his lord, but rather she hailed from distant Brittany instead. The two had met six months ago when Leodegrance had introduced her highborn family to the court, where the two of them had surprisingly become smitten with one another. Love soon bloomed openly with Tristan popping the question to the lovely lady; her answer was evident by the ceremony about to commence.
Everyone's attention was drawn to the entrance as the vocals of the child choir troupe began their harmonious chant to welcome the bride-to-be to the groom. While she was a head shorter than her husband to be, Iseult of Brittany was no less striking to behold than her crimson-haired fiancé, bearing a heart-shaped face with pronounced cheekbones and vibrant cyan colored eyes, setting off her well-bronzed skin born of the sunlit afternoons of the Frankish dukedom from which she hailed. Her full lips were painted with matte gold and fixed in a delicate smile that glowed with the same excited passion that danced in her gem cut eyes. Her figure was well developed but not voluptuous to the point that someone would call it vulgar, low C-cups and a trim waist wrapped in a pearlescent white wedding gown with long sleeves that extended down into white gloves. Iseult wore a golden tasseled fillet from which hung a short white veil that covered three sides of her head, her long glossy auburn hair falling in thick braids down her back and woven with a net of yellow rose blooms, and around her shoulders trailing to the floor where it dragged behind her as she walked was a light purple cloak with red lining.
Many of those present were floored by her enchanting beauty, with some word being that a fairy had a hand in the making of her dress, as well as the queen from many years prior.
The bride made her way, escorted by her father as per tradition, to the altar where Tristan and the priest waited for her. When the Latin Bible's gilded pages were cracked open, Naruto did his best not to tone out completely on his friend's behalf, but what could he say? For him weddings had never been the most exciting spectacles.
Vows were exchanged. Kisses made. Cheers erupted. Smiles gleamed. Truly a joyous day for those in attendance. Yet on some level, Arturia wished things were different for her and Naruto.
As the ceremony was coming to a close, Arturia decided that this would be as good a time as any to ensure something long overdue was done this day. As everyone conversed and made small talk, Arturia made her way to the front of the church to where everyone could see. Naruto saw that she wanted to make a speech and, as such, made a few knocks on the wall to gather attention with the intended effect desired.
"My fellow knights and countrymen." Arturia began with a gentle and proud tone, "Today is a momentous day. Sir Tristan and Lady Iseult have wed and found happiness in one another, something I hope many of those I know may one day find…." Even though those words were perhaps hollow to everyone, only a few had picked up on the desire they held for her, "…however, there is something long overdue for one of our number, and I can no longer put this off. Galahad…" She spoke louder than before as the young squire's eyes widened at the attention being directed towards him, "…please come forth, and kneel."
Arturia had unsheathed Excalibur, holding with one hand in front of her with no ill intent. Lancelot saw the posture and knew what was about to happen. His son made his way before the king and knelt before her, "Galahad, wilt thou on this day, pledge fealty to the Isles of Britain and act as one of her knights?"
She was going to bring him into the Round Table. It was fitting for the young man as he had trained well under Bedivere as squire to the Knight-General.
Galahad paused for a brief moment before he responded, "Yes, your majesty."
The cleaning silver blade rested gently on Galahad's left shoulder, "Do you submit to the responsibilities of this office and swear to be the shield and sword of our great nation?"
"Yes, your highness." Galahad nodded resolutely; his calm voice heard throughout the vaulted hall of the cathedral.
Arturia lifted the flat of the blade to rest on the youth's right shoulder, "And do you vow to never waver in this duty to act forevermore as a Paragon of Justice and Righteousness?"
"Yes, your highness."
Returning Excalibur to Galahad's left shoulder, Arturia then finished the knighting ceremony, "Then I, Arthur Pendragon, King of these British Isles, do hereby dub thee Sir Galahad of Camelot. Let this be known to all who look upon you."
The entirety of the church soon erupted in a cry of rejoicing at the sight of another fine man joining the ranks of the Round Table and the inner circle. For Lancelot, he wiped away unshed tears at the image of his son joining their fellowship and knowing one day that he would surpass him in many ways as both a knight and as a man. For Guinevere, her clapping was joyous in that the prospect of repairing the splintered bond between father and son, and hopefully the potential for some in the current generation to step down in the court and let those who inherit the wills of what is, allowing those who came before, enjoy their lives as they wished.
-The Tower of Magi-
The rhythmic clang of a jewel-tipped hammer striking steel reverberated through the tower as Naruto was making some repairs and additions to the favored tool of their latest member to the Round Table, "You say you feel different now, Galahad?" Picking up a chisel from the side of his forge, Naruto continued his work as he went to work on the center of the shield, "Different how?"
Not long after the wedding and the members of the court had gone about to their own duties and hobbies, Naruto asked Galahad to lend him his shield to enchant it in an effort to help the newly knighted young man in future quests and missions for the kingdom, "I'm not quite sure how to describe it, and yet… I feel something different within me." Galahad had found Naruto's insight and open nature to be a source of comfort at times. Despite being an Apostle, his century's worth of experience had been useful to help those that were in need of it.
Naruto listened to the young knight's words as he continued his work of inscribing the script of the Fae into it to give it its enchantments. He had already finished the setting of the jewels within flaming designs he had worked into the shield to help hold magical energy, "If the king decided to bring you into the Round Table, then she did so because you earned it." Glancing up to Galahad as he took a brief pause to continue his work, "She's not one for nepotism, Galahad. If she believes you were worthy, then you are worthy."
A part of Galahad took solace in his words before an old memory came to the forefront of his mind, "I suppose that eases me somewhat." Galahad looked off to the side to an array of books strewn out across several desks, detailing various things such as different phantasmal species, enchantments, languages, etc. "However, the hunt for the Questing Beast has left me…." He gave a sniff in annoyance, trying to find the right words for it, "…it's left me disturbed by it a bit."
Naruto stopped his chiseling to look up at Galahad. It wasn't often that he felt that way. Even in Morgan's domain, Galahad kept his bravery at the forefront, lest the soldiers around him falter in their step to attack, "Disturbed how?"
Recalling the final moments of the chase he and Pellinore gave the creature, Galahad filled the vampire in, "As Pellinore and I drove the beast out of the village and towards the cliffside where the ocean sat, I speared it through its serpentine neck." The sight of how it gazed at him before it fled was what got to him, "Its eyes were then filled with both rage… and obsession… then it leapt over the cliff to the waters below. We pursued it to find the body but found nothing instead. No blood, nothing." The white-haired knight lent against an anvil running a hand through his snowy locks, "The intensity of that look, the abject hate and obsession, I can't help but think that this isn't over. And if it isn't, then what of our other victories? What scars have we carved that ache at the sight of our happiness?"
Galahad saw that Naruto was in deep thought, as he had stopped his forging, looking down at the shield for a while before he looked up to Galahad, "In my experience, old wounds tend to stay open in these lands." The double meaning was not lost on Galahad as his intuition caught on his words.
Naruto resumed his work once again as he continued the chiseling while Galahad came round to his position to take a closer look at his job, never having seen him forge and enchant in person, "What have you done to the shield?"
Continuing on with his work, Naruto began to explain what all exactly he had done to Galahad's shield, "Well, when you brought that shield to me, it wasn't in the best of conditions." Seeing that part of it had been melted by the Questing Beast's venom was undoubtedly something that needed to be repaired, but he also noted other things needed to be done. "I've added a stabilizing ring to the interior of the shield to make handling it easier, using wood from the Round Table to give it flex." He glanced around before smirking at Galahad, "Don't tell Agravain that the table's an inch shorter, though." The two of them gave a chuckle at the image of an annoyed Agravain noticing how the table got shorter out of nowhere; the stickler for details would be driven insane by such a mundane difference. "Anyways, I also added in some jewels to hold Mana in them to power the Numerology High Thaumaturgy within." Naruto motioned to the top and bottom of the shield as he had finished the final wording, setting aside the chisel with the other forging instruments.
Galahad saw that Naruto had made Fae inscriptions into the center, "What does it say?"
"A sinome massë callo rimbë." Naruto spoke in Quenya. Galahad, of course, could not understand the language of the Fae that Naruto was gifted with by Vivian. Seeing the confused look on his face, Naruto translated for him to understand, "A place where heroes gather." Channeling some mana into the hammer, Naruto gestured for Galahad to take a few steps back before he raised the hammer to strike the shield once more to complete his work on it. As the hammer hit the shield, a bright light shined before their eyes as the shield's enchantments activated and seeped into the tool. Setting his hammer aside, Naruto hefted the shield with one hand and handed it to Galahad, who noticed an immediate difference, "It's lighter than before." Testing the weight of the shield, Galahad moved out to an open space where he swung the shield several times before setting it down, "Much lighter."
Setting the shield on his back, Galahad turned back to Naruto, who smiled at his work, "Thought of a name for it yet?" Naruto asked.
"I think…" Galahad began as he looked out the window that overlooked the city. Making his way to the vista, the young knight contemplated the name of his weapon of choice before it came to him, "Lord Camelot." He proclaimed to one of his mentors as he turned towards him, "I name this shield Lord Camelot, in honor of our kingdom as it's the ideal amidst ideals, worthy of lordship."
Naruto nodded in appreciation of the name and Galahad's outlook of things, "A fine name if any for a great shield like that." Another one of his creations made well for his friend. His thoughts soon drifted to another one of his projects, the long-term technique of his reality marble, and he was now on the precipice of completing it. The blonde Apostle wiped his dirty hands with a cloth as he joined Galahad at the window, basking in the warm glow of autumn's waning glory.
-Arturia-
They say that at times age can show itself in a number of ways. Be it through vigor and spirit, or lack of it. For Arturia, she held both in high regard with how those she knew expressed them. She often displayed the traits and experiences of a woman in her thirties, but seldom were there times when she showed that she was still a little girl in her heart.
At the moment, she had forgone her armor and hair bun, clad only in her royal blues and hair hanging freely down to her shoulders while hugging the wheezing form of her lion, Periwinkle. Over the last few weeks, the lion's health had begun to wane, with the elderly lion showing his age. His once glossy golden mane was now a lank and matted mess, numerous streaks of grey tarnishing the usually mighty visage. No longer was he able to run freely as he used to, nor did the feline have the energy to play, now he merely laid down, hardly moving if only to greet his master/mother that was Arturia, and in secret, Mordred when she was able to.
She heard the door open and close to see that it was Naruto that had come to see her, "Arturia? Are you alright?" He sat down beside her as Periwinkle adjusted himself to see it was merely his mother's lover arriving, giving a weak chuff in greeting, "You weren't in your room, so I assumed you came here."
Nodding her head, she rubbed it up against the lion's mane, Arturia had a forlorn look marring her usual cherubic face, "I knew that lions did not live as long as we did, yet I had hoped it would one day be when…." A fleeting dream had come and gone across her mind before she discarded it from all thought, "…never mind." Naruto gave her a concerned look before she tried to placate him, "It's nothing, a question for another time."
Death was something Arturia had grown accustomed to, it came with ruling, the affirmation that death sometimes could not be avoided, yet when someone close to her died, she could not bear the thought of it becoming a reality. Ector's death had hit her hard, but she had endured the grief and risen back up to continue on with life and make his passing worth something in the end. However, for Periwinkle, it felt different; she had practically raised the lion from when it was still a cub, and it imprinted on her to see the King as its own mother. Now, as his life began to slip away, she contemplated trying to find a way to extend his life. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Naruto's face locked in reserved but prominent worry, slightly elongated canine teeth biting his lips softly, a sign of his care for her. 'Should I ask Naruto to bite him?' she tentatively questioned, but she squashed that idea almost immediately with a pang of bittersweet remembrance, despite being a Dead Apostle capable of turning others, immortalizing them, Naruto had displayed derision to the very concept of sharing his bloody curse. In his eyes, it was a violation of life and would only do so if there was no other way to save someone close to him, and even then… it would haunt him to the end of his eternal days.
This train of thought persisted in her mind in the quiet seconds that stretched out in this cozy little room, the only sound reaching them being the labored breaths of the old lion, the flickering of tallow candles and distant morning birds. Why did such a thought plague her? Why did she care so much for this mighty beast who leaned into her touch? Would she feel the same thing for Llamrei when it came time for her steed to be sent on to the knacker's yard? An unpleasant thought for sure but not one that filled her with such childish dread and grief. 'Childish,' Arturia reflected. What was Periwinkle? He was a remnant of her childhood, of days when things were so much more straightforward, and it seemed only one glowing righteous path lay before her towards kingship. Now, like a beaten path forked by brambles, that childhood was fading, and Periwinkle with it.
Arturia was roused from her thoughts when Periwinkle rose and moved about to position himself in between the two lovers, where he placed his paws on them. Ever so slowly, the elderly lion moved closer to them and breathed in their scents before nuzzling up to Arturia as he once did when he was younger to display his affection for her. Arturia dipped her head down to rest it atop Periwinkle's own, shedding tears, not of a woman, but of the little girl who had gripped her companion for comfort as fever wrapped its boiling tendrils into a wavering heart. A rumbling purr vibrated through her as Periwinkle's breathing levelled out, slow but unlabored breaths tickling her neck. In, out, in, out. Naruto could hear it, the calmness of blood slowing through a weakening heart, moving inexorably towards the final sleep for the big cat.
He placed his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her loss, "I'm sorry, Arturia."
Arturia said nothing as she looked into Periwinkle's own golden eyes, which gave a look of sorts to Arturia.
'Don't be sad.'
The big cat may have well said it aloud for the word to hear. They continued on like this until the last breaths of the lion were gone, and his large eyes brushed closed, leaving not a king and mage alone in mourning of such a fine companion, but a young girl and her protector, mourning the passing of innocence's vanguard.
"I-It's alright…." Arturia spoke, stuttering briefly, "…he died as he lived." She turned to Naruto, who's eyes were glistening, before her own tears slid slowly down her cheeks and smiled at him, "He made me happy."
It was all she could say before she planted a kiss on the mane of the once proud and mighty lion. Mustering her courage, Arturia spoke, "Naruto. Promise me this…" She turned towards him as she felt Naruto's arms encircle her from behind tightly, "…promise me that you will find a way for us. For us to be proper parents. To be a mother and father. To bring children into the world that is our own." Her voice cracked as what little composure she had crumbled, tears pouring down her cheeks.
Naruto knew that in some way, they did become parents years ago, even through improper means. Mordred was their daughter and hopefully the first of several children they could perhaps one day have. Morgan had found a way to bring life from a bloodline of the living dead; what was to say that he couldn't either. Perhaps he should've scoured her domain further before it vanished to the Reverse Side for the process to make it happen, but now? Now he would do so from scratch.
And so, he made a promise to the one whom he loved, and himself, "I promise." No matter how long it took, he would keep to it.
-Several Days Later-
After Periwinkle had passed, Arturia wanted him buried, and so Naruto perhaps thought it best if he were buried in the Forest Sauvage that Ector, now Kay, had come to own. To the average observer, nothing much had seemingly changed in Arturia, but Naruto could tell that some small part of her had gone with the lion. What part it was, he couldn't say, all that he knew that Arturia delved back into the matters of the kingdom.
With Samhain approaching, things had settled back into normalcy as another meeting of the Round Table was in session. Currently, Naruto was looking over several reports from his spies while the others were giving their accounts to Arturia.
"The troops are well-staffed and trained…" began Bedivere, "…their quarters have been expanded, and they receive hot food to warm their stomachs." Having become a general of Camelot, ensuring that the troops under his command became a new responsibility, on top of being the King's attendant whenever Naruto or Merlin were not around.
Agravain spoke next, even magically defanged, his role as being the administrator of Camelot was something not taken lightly. "The treasury is well kept, and coffers replenished with the past projects you wanted to be finished have finally been done, my king." He rolled his eyes at the next set of reports he had, "Though some of the nobles don't like how the old rebels you spared tried to make an uprising against you. Luckily the damage was kept to a minimum, in part due to our spies and actions taken by Sirs Mordred and Ywain."
The rest of the knights went around the table until it was Naruto's turn to report. Only he said nothing as he kept looking at the papers in front of him, "Naruto?" Arturia said to grab his attention, "Your report?"
Shaking his head to gather his thoughts, Naruto looked at Arturia first before glancing around the hall to his fellow knights and magecraft teacher, "Up until several weeks ago, the upstart Tiberius had seemingly hit a snag in his conquest to reclaim the lands of the old empire. He seemed to be focusing on routing spies and digging in for winter." He began, "Now though, for reasons my spies seem clueless of, he's moving west to push into the lands of the Francs and our allies across the channel." Setting his reports down, he looked to Arturia in full, "We'll need to be ready to act at a moment's notice to stop him from going any further. Military action will be the only thing he will listen to." Diplomacy was great and all, but when your words fell on deaf ears, violence was the one and only solution to resolve the problems.
The knight began to murmur amongst themselves, it was Lancelot who spoke next to voice his worries, "The Francs are a proud and strong people…" The purple-haired knight observed, clasping his hand together in front of his face, worrying over his homeland's safety, "…but they are not prepared to fend off a full Roman offensive. The legions of old are known for dashing lesser empires against the rocks."
"Do you truly think Tiberius would be so foolish as to attack the Francs?" Percival asked, seeing his fellow knight rather upset at the news. "They are the most numerous armed forces in western Europa and allied to Britain. To declare open war on them would—"
"To do so would see Camelot's righteous boot on his throat." Mordred cut in, "And that would be a dumbass thing for him to do." She was wholly confident in Britain's strength to push back whatever came their way. And why wouldn't she be? She herself wielded a blade that was, in her slightly biased opinion, one of the most powerful in the land. Their King wielded the ultimate offence and defense. Two of their greatest knights held Holy Swords of their own, and they had the blessings of the Fae on their side.
What did Rome have? A crumbling empire attempting to recapture its bygone glory days. Gods that no longer existed and did not hear their prayers. A stupid emperor who saw nothing but blood and conquest as the way forward. "My King, our armies are the greatest on the planet, our weapons the finest and our leader the greatest king, call us to arms, and anyone with two brain cells knows they face the greatest armed force in this world." Mordred thumped her gauntleted hand against her breastplate to emphasize her point, drawing nods of agreement from Bedivere to Ywain.
Arturia got up from her chair and strode across the hall to the map of Europa that hung from the far wall, showing their borders and the borders of their neighboring allies among potential enemies and neutral powers. It had been initially meant to be enchanted to mark the movements in real-time, but not only would such a thing have been a massive undertaking, but it would have drawn cries of bloody murder from the local Europa based Magi. Staring at the map, Arturia thought on their next course of action before she made her proclamation, "Should a single Roman troop be spotted crossing into King Ban's lands…." Turning towards her knights, she continued on with steely resolve, "…then it will be considered an act of war against our allies, and thus Britain itself. And we will respond in kind." Making her way back to her chair, the knights agreed with Arturia's stance. If there was no need to go to war, then they wouldn't. War was something that, while they would have no problem waging it in defense of Britain and the kingdom of Camelot, it was something they did not desire since the peaceful times had settled in with them, even more so with the death of Morgan le Fey.
They were about to wrap up for the day when a strange event occurred. A giant white silk moth had flown in from the open skylight where the occupants' sans Merlin and Naruto looked on in interest and some concern, but the Flower Magus quickly placed his staff up in placation. "Hold on now, I believe we have a good-natured messenger addressing us." The knights relaxed into their seats but kept vigilant eyes of the giant white moth, one larger than any of them had ever seen.
The moth fluttered for a minute before landing in the middle of the table, looking directly at Arturia. "Greetings, good King Arturia," The moth spoke in a warm yet reserved tone, its large black eyes and fluffy antennae twitching, "…my name is Blanca, and I bring an invitation to you and your court to join the Lady Vivian, as well as the Court of Avalon's rulers, the Fairy King Oberon and his Queen Titania in the Samhain celebration tonight." It invited jovially before continuing on, "Avalon venerates you, oh King of Knights, in thanks to the slaying of the King of Mors, Vortigern the Usurper, and the fall of the Dark Fairy Witch, Morgan le Fey."
The occupants quickly exchanged questioning looks with the King and the two resident Magi, this did not seem normal. It was true that Vivian had invited Arturia and a select few to come to her to receive gifts, and even seek her out for counsel, but never did the Fae ever reach out to them in such a way, preferring instead to watch from the Inner Sea. To receive something such as this was a high honor to those who held the favor of the Faeries and thus was granted certain privileges that many would be envious to have.
Naruto was quick to ask the moth a little more on the details of the celebration, "You mean, the Court of Avalon will host this celebration? And even Vivian herself? Who else will be there?" It wasn't often that the Fae would make contact with Humans other than for amusem*nt. Truthfully, Naruto wanted to help keep the balance between Humans and Faeries as the symbiosis they made was something beautiful in his eyes. Both could learn so many things from one another, and hopefully, Naruto wanted to try and bridge things by asking Fae who would be willing to live in Camelot.
Despite the cityscape being not of true nature, Naruto hoped their presence would help keep flora and fauna in high spirits and bring happiness to those around them and vice versa.
Blanca beat his wings and turned to Naruto to address his questions, "Indeed. Lady Vivian, along with King Oberon and Queen Titania, are holding the celebration in their domain. Lady Aurora and her handmaiden Coral of the Wind Clan will be in attendance, along with Lord Boggart, and the Bride-maker Habetrot will also be of important note in attendance. Other Clan leaders sadly could not attend. But that is all I know." The oversized silk moth's antennae furrowed in apparent annoyance, "My King, Oberon, is one for theatrics, and thus wishes to keep the details in the dark... I apologize in advance if this has come ill-timed."
Some of these names Naruto wasn't aware of, though Merlin certainly was, as he chuckled when Habetrot was mentioned, "My King, I think that it would be a good thing for you to accept the invitation." Merlin said.
Naruto nodded in agreement, his curiosity was also peaked by the mentioning of Wind Clan, and he wondered who some of the other Fae that was mentioned were, "It'd be quite rude if we did refuse it, your majesty."
Seeing that both her teacher and lover were in agreement with this, Arturia nodded her head, "Very well then, Blanca. Please inform your King and Queen that we have accepted the invitation and will join them this evening." A surprised smile graced her pink lips; the idea of enjoying something as prestigious as this would make a fine palate cleanser for the seriousness of today's meeting.
Blanca gave a dainty nod before he flew back through the skylight, back to the wilderness to the Fae's domain, his fluffy wings carrying him at speeds no bird of prey could match. With the sun beginning to wane into the evening, the court decided to make haste and ready themselves for the celebration with the Fae, however, Merlin held Arturia back to speak with in private. As the Mage of Flowers closed the door, he quickly brought the subject up before Arturia could question him, "Before you ask, my king, it is about the slow drought that has begun in the west of Britain."
"A drought? But the time for droughts has long passed." Arturia co*cked her head in confusion, "Speak sense, Merlin. Your theatrics for flowers are amusing right up to the point where it makes metaphors missable."
Merlin grimaced at the slight before it gave way to a sad smile. "Truthfully, I had hoped this would not happen, but in my walkabouts, my own fears have begun to come true. The decline of Britain's Mystery has begun…" He explained, "…for so long as the advancement of Mankind as a whole progresses, and learns the secrets of the world, so will the Magic and Mystery slowly fade over time, leaving the wonders laid barren and stripped of what makes them what they are."
Arturia's eyes widened at the news. If this continued, then… "Does this mean the magic will fade entirely?"
Merin shook his head, "No, not entirely, but the power of mystery will fade quite substantially." Petting Fou on his shoulder, he continued on, "Magecraft will remain but in less a potent state. Mages will be forced to lesser means of achieving their goals, through more brutal methods at times. The Church will make false proclamations in the name of preserving what little is left of their own foundation." Sighing at how things could go, Merlin said nothing of the worst possible case. "The Age of Gods is long over, but this winter of magecraft has been idling in autumn for two centuries now, it cannot be halted forever."
As for Arturia, in her eyes, this would only lead to the degradation of all of what they had built and accomplished thus far, "Then tell me, how can I stop this from continuing on? How can I preserve Britain's Magic and Mystery?"
Merlin made his way towards the door, only stopping before cryptically saying, "It is doubtful anything made by the hand of man could preserve this Age and prevent the degradation." Those were his last words before heading off to make ready for the celebration with the Fae, leaving Arturia alone in the hall.
The King of Knights gazed back at the map of Europa before turning towards the windows that showed the outside of the palace and clenched her fist in resolve, "My country, Britain, I shall not see you wither before my eyes. I will find that to which I seek, one way or another."
With the invitation accepted, the court of Camelot had gone off by horseback, following Blanca, who had waited for them patiently to lead the way into the Fae domain, leaving a trail of glowing floating dust in her wake. And while the knights and even Merlin had all chosen to go by horseback, the King and Queen instead had gone by robust carriage, with even the recent newlyweds of Tristan and Iseult carried in one as well. A thoughtful idea from Arturia, not wanting the two of them to spend part of their honeymoon on separate horses. The only one who hadn't come with was the ever-stoic Agravain, who's opinions on the matter had been as severe as his hairline.
"I know that an invitation from the Fae is a high honor and something to take joy in, I myself cannot find it within me to enjoy such a festivity in the presence of such beings. Besides, someone must also remain in the palace to help continue managing the city and estates of Camelot."
Arturia found it disappointing that the Knight of Black Iron had chosen not to come and continue working, but she found his work ethic highly commendable.
Though Naruto knew well enough, he was more of a stick in the mud, coupled with the enchantment he had placed on him months prior after discovering his treasonous nature had made him more effective as an administrator.
Either way, Naruto was glad that tonight wouldn't have anyone with dour moods to ruin the occasion. There had been FAR too much misery as of late, an evening of fun was a godsend.
As their entourage continued through the forest led by Blanca, they soon found the forest around them beginning to brim with light and life, from small animals flitting through the underbrush to glowing moths and butterflies dancing above. A light began to shine before them as the sun dipped down before the moon started to rise, "We will soon arrive in the domain of Oberon and Titania, your majesty." Blanca informed everyone present as the silver light surrounding them grew brighter and brighter until it finally faded to reveal many strange and beautiful flowers and creatures that gave off vibrant colors and lights.
For Guinevere and Iseult, this was their first time experiencing the domain of the Fae, alongside Ywain and Mordred, both of whom were wide-eyed, just as the Queen and Lady of the White Hands were, only they held their mouths closed, lest they show their own surprise and embarrassment of such a spectacle the proved typical for the far more seasoned knights around them. Fou, who had been sitting on Merlin's shoulder much of their journey, had piped up and ran off deeper into the forest, though the half-incubus said nothing, merely chuckling at how close to home he was in this enchanted land.
They were all soon welcomed by an overly bombastic voice ahead of them, drawing their attention, "Come one! Come all, and welcome to our humble home of the Court of Avalon, young and weary travelers in search of adventure and celebration!" Fifty feet in front of them was a large and impossibly intricate archway, grown from the land and wound intricately with glowing veins of living crystal and flower that trapped the light of the moon. Standing at the head of the gate were three figures, three faeries, one of which was Lady Vivian as Naruto and a few others recognized immediately in the middle. The other two as Naruto understood by their appearance and welcoming of them, were Oberon and Titania.
The King of the Fae lived up to his reputation less as an imposing figure but instead an archetypal 'Fairy Tale King'. His face was rounded with soft princely features lilting his wide to a goofy grin that exposed perfect teeth. Oberon's eyes were forget-me-not blue with deep black pupils filled with reserved excitement, and his hair was a thick bob of silvery locks accented by a circlet of golden stars. He wore a white peplos-Esque garment with a ruffled collar, puffy shoulders and frilly cuffs over which he wore a fancy periwinkle blue sleeveless jerkin with gold buttons worn open to the hem of his peplos; white tight clad legs poked out of the bottom tucked into blue heeled shoes with white bows. He wore an equally periwinkle blue cloak with a white-furred edge fastened by a golden broach at his clavicle. A passing firefly cast light upon the inside of the cape and revealed a paler blue inner lining bearing Oberon's sigil of a crowned white thistle. All of this, however, paled in comparison to the Fae King's most noticeable feature, the pair of huge glittering moth's wings that jutted from his back.
Titania, on the other hand, was a far departure from Oberon's comparatively human aesthetic with elven facial features and pointed ears, her skin was an alabaster white with an undertone of blue that gave Naruto pause, old memories of a crazed goddess rousing in his mind, indeed, this woman did have Divinity, potent Divinity that burbled against his senses like a fresh stream. But in comparison to the specter of memory, the Queen of the Avalon Fae exuded a regal warmth while interacting with the partygoers. She wore a fluttering white chiton with a pink cinch inset with large rubies and a floor-length silken mantle that shifted colors the longer one looked at it. The look was completed with thigh-length raven-colored hair arranged in a herringbone pattern ending with a top knot encircled by a platinum tiara that was woven from crystalline twigs.
Titania swatted Oberon on the shoulder lightly, "Oh, dear husband of mine, you really must cut down on the theatrics at times." Turning back towards their guests, she formally introduced herself, "Welcome, everyone, I apologize for my husband, Oberon's antics. He does not know when it is best to hold back such things. I am Titania, and you have met Lady Vivian, who arrived shortly before yourselves." With a wave of her hand, the brush and plants shifted aside to reveal a large gathering of various faeries and phantasmals drinking, eating, dancing and doing all manner of things. Music of exotic and alien beauty wafted through the air, practically visible to the naked eye, scents of sweet wines, rich foods and narcotic mist punched against their senses like a freight train.
Arturia looked nearly gobsmacked at seeing so many Fae in one place, she looked to Vivian with the Lady of the Lake, seeing her astonishment and addressed it, "They all came to celebrate their lynchpin and chosen, young one."
Naruto had dismounted Dun Stallion before uttering a single genuine show of amazement, "Wow…"
The guests from Camelot disembarked from their steeds, where several Seelie fae that appeared very much like Druids were taking care of their horses in what would've been seen as a corral of sorts that made it feel quite cozy, judging by how they all were resting easily and their armor removed off to the side as some small, humanoid fae were actually polishing the armor, despite how there was a celebration going on.
Naruto stood off to the side as he watched them work before speaking up, "I know this might be a strange question, but why are you guys working even though there's a party going on?" Pointing behind himself. One of the Fae turned to face him, allowing Naruto to get a better look at him to see how he resembled one of the dwarves that inhabited Scandinavia before Surtr burned the Norse textures during Ragnarök.
"Beh, it's just part of our nature in the Earth Clan." The dwarven Fae waved off before he went back with the others to polish the armor and clean the carriages, "I'm surprised one of the Moon's kids wouldn't know that." He commented offhandedly.
Kurama picked up on the Dwarf's banal dismissal with sarcasm, 'Yeah, not exactly something we'd know just because you got a species change.' He wasn't wrong on that count. Despite having become a Dead Apostle and now considered to be akin to a Lesser Fae, Naruto's knowledge of Fae society and structure was bare bones at best. Understanding he had gleaned from Vivian's gift of wisdom was that they all had different names, roles and purposes within the world to help make it function. Humans naturally lived off the land, and Faeries were, in a sense, the land itself. Still, they were also nourished by being in a human's presence despite how they could satisfy themselves with whatever they wanted.
A symbiotic relationship between Human and Fairy.
Naruto felt Arturia's hand on his shoulder, drawing his attention away from the dwarven Fae and back to the celebration at hand, "Naruto, you're missing out on the fun right now."
Smiling at the show of affection, Naruto returned her question with a smile, "I know, I'm sorry." Gesturing back to the Fae behind him, "My own curiosity got the better of me for a few minutes."
"Curious and curiouser, aren't you?"
Oberon's voice tinkled behind them as an accompaniment to his bright smile, "Quite the pair you two make, as a king and retainer. I've seen married couples with less chemistry." Commenting with a bit of quirkiness, subtly seeing just how close they were. Before the pair had even had the chance to give voice to their concern, Oberon moved to soothe their worries. "Not to worry you two…" He said much more softly as he inched closer to their faces before whispering, "…the Lady of the Lake did not say anything directly but subtly implied about you two to my wife and me. No one else knows." He winked at the pair that blushed with embarrassment in response, that is until he returned back to his initial image of a Fairy King, "But enough of that, you two should enjoy tonight's festivities with smiles and joy in you!" Spreading his arms out with a little flash of lights and fireflies setting off in a bombastic fashion. "So says Oberon, King of the Fae!"
The pair shared a silent sideways look, a common thought shared between them in muted conversation when they saw how Oberon acted.
'Now there's two of Merlin….'
He was just as quirky and eccentric as their teacher was. At least from what they saw, Oberon had Titania to keep him in check when it came to weird things being done. Oberon began to lead them through the party, talking animatedly about any number of topics that sprung to mind. In fact, it was all a little overwhelming, with Arturia looking a modicum haggard by the Fae King's endless quixotic optimism.
As if sensing the plight of her chosen, Vivian approached them with a calm and serene atmosphere about her, "Oberon, I do hope thou hasn't decided upon making trouble for my chosen." There was playfulness in her voice, indicating that she wasn't being stern on the fairy king.
Turning to see the Lady of the Lake, Oberon playfully waved his hands in protest, "Oh dear me? I would never!" He then placed a hand on his chin in thought, "Unless, of course, it would simply make their story all the better, then, by all means, I would double my efforts to make jests and jokes at them." Snapping his fingers in a eureka moment.
The other three rolled their eyes before the voice of the dwarven Fae cropped up, "Can you folks just let us do our work in peace? We're far away from the party for a reason." It seemed Oberon's tour had led them back to the corral.
"Terribly sorry about that, Onfam." Oberon apologized, "We'll leave you to your peace and quiet."
"f*cking finally, your Majesty."
Arturia's mouth fell open at the blatant disrespect shown between subject and monarch, a face that grew more incredulous when Oberon snapped his fingers as he turned on his heel, a butterfly carrying a freshly picked grape into her mouth. Naruto tried valiantly to prevent himself from bursting out laughing at the look of steaming rage that was paired with a moan of delight at the sweet fruit. It was a battle that Naruto eventually conceded a respectable loss to, "Pffft, tonight's gonna be fun." The vampiric blonde linked his arm around Arturia's before moving to follow the two high Fae for what would turn out to be a night to remember.
For the other members of the Round Table, all met different Fae from across the land. Each had something unique about their nature, their quirks, their personalities, and even their perceptions.
Off on a table, Gareth was currently staring at a pipe being offered to her by a caterpillar fae, that looked all too cheerful to her, but considering that it merely communicated in chirps, she could only guess that it was offering her a gift. "Oh, uh, thank you, Mr Caterpillar."
Looking at the pipe, she guessed there was some sort of relaxing herb in it, with a winged fae drifting towards her with a lit reed in hand for her, "Her you go, sir knight. Try it, it's relaxing!"
Taking the reed, Gareth inched it closer to the pipe, "You made it, Ainsel!" She nearly stumbled at the high-pitched voice that went off next to her before steadying. Turning to the origin of those words, Gareth looked to see that it was a fae riding atop some sort of floating wagon that kept her at head level. To say the Fae was little was an understatement, she could not have been any taller than a large toddler yet stood upright with inquisitive, bright pinkish-red eyes. Her small face gave the feeling of looking into the face of a rambunctious kitten with pointed ears and long straight coral pink hair that curled up at her back, twin bangs ran past her ears and up into a twin-tailed pink cap marked with gold lines with two large brown buttons at the forehead. For attire, she wore an adorable pink hooded jacket with a gold zipper and a pair of baggy white pants tucked into darling brown and black boots. Slung around her waist was a large - for her anyway, in reality, it was about the size of a small messenger satchel- stuffed with rolls of thread and various textiles tools. The Fae's cheerful expression dipped down as Gareth turned to see her, "Awww… you're not Ainsel…." Which quickly rose back up as she introduced herself, "Sorry about that, I'm Habetrot! It's nice to meet you, little cutie knight!"
Seeing Habetrot's tiny handheld out for her to take, Gareth gently clasped it with her thumb, index and middle fingers to give back proper manners, "And it's nice to meet you too, Habetrot. I'm Sir Gareth."
The winged Fae that was with them had risen her head after Habetrot's introduction, "Habetrot? The Fae who makes bridal dresses for women of Britain?"
Habetrot nodded in response, "That's me. Making bridal dresses is something I like doing, it's my role."
"With Morgan gone, perhaps humans and faeries can be happier together, and they will need you to make dresses for future brides." The Fae chirped.
"Yeah, I suppose so…" Habetrot said gloomily.
Gareth scratched the back of her head, hearing that bit of optimism, yet her mother's darkness still somewhat lingered in her mind. And while she herself was glad that Morgan would no longer trouble them, she did see how Habetrot's expression had become sullen and sad, "What's wrong, Habetrot?
"…oh, it's nothing…" Habetrot had seemed to space out, off in her own little world after hearing Morgan was gone, and yet she couldn't help but notice how solitary tear seemed to break, but was quickly wiped away, "…just remembering a happier time with friends who're no longer here to enjoy things…"
Gareth winced, that seemed to bring the mood down quite a bit. Seeing that this was a party, and everyone wanted to be happy, Gareth decided on trying out that pipe herb she was given, "So, what is this stuff, Habetrot?"
Snapping back to how she was before, Habetrot eyed the pipe before smirking a bit, "Oh, that stuff… he he he… go ahead, try it out."
Taking the light to the pipe, Gareth lit it up, and while she had never smoked anything before, she sort of understood the basics of simply taking a puff and exhaling it. Habetrot's feline smile turned positively devious, though still bright-eyed, "Pack your bags."
"Gareth, there you are…" Gaheris said as he came up behind his sister, "…I was looking for you after the Round Table split off and…" He stopped momentarily after he saw Gareth let out a puff of iridescent smoke after pulling the pipe away, "…Gareth, what are you doing?" For some reason that he couldn't describe, Gaheris had a chill run down his spine.
"Because you're going on a trip!" Habetrot tittered atop her little airship.
After coughing for a bit, Gareth slowly turned to face her brother, and she looked… off. Very off, "Oh, hey, big bro! How're you doing at this partaaay!" Gareth's usually green eyes were now fastly spinning quasars of kaleidoscopic color with a silly lackadaisical grin plastered on her face. Whatever it was the Fae had given her, it was certainly potent, Habetrot and the other Fae were snickering at the reaction the human had. Gaheris was about to speak up again, that is until Gareth looked up and pointed to the sky, "Don't you see the amazing colours and stars shooting by! Or what about the wacky cats and dogs chasing each other in the sea above us?!"
She was very high.
"Oh Lord give me strength…"
"I wanna chase and cuddle with them!"
The Fae then burst out laughing as Gareth followed suit. The next thing he knew, he was having to chase his sister down, trying to tickle and cuddle with imaginary pets.
"I'm an eagle, Awooga, Awooga!"
CRASH
"Nonono Gareth, that's a bonfire!"
"Weeeeeeeeeee! All your bonfires will belong to Gareth the eagle!"
Over at what had been set up as an outdoor bar suspended atop a large bank of mushrooms made of quartz, Galahad, along with Kay and Palamedes, had decided to hit it up to see a dwarven fae was running it, "Might I slake your thirst good sirs? Here, try this new batch of ale. I made it after seeing how some humans did it." The Dwarf shoved a large tankard over to them, each filled to the brim with some golden-brown ale that fizzed at the top.
Taking a brief whiff of the drink, the knights gave it a sip before their eyes widened in astonishment, "This is…" Palamedes muttered…
"Yes?" The Dwarf asked.
"This is…" Galahad repeated.
"Yes?" The anticipation was showing.
"This is the greatest ale ever!" Kay yelled as he raised his tankard in cheering for the Fae's accomplishment. Galahad ideally rolled his eyes, only Kay could chug 300 plus proof alcohol and go back for more.
The Dwarf merely crossed his arms, "Well, thanks, good sir knights! It's nice to know that humans like it so much. I added something special to the ale to make it taste better than regular human-made ale. Name's Mike, by the way." Mike saw that the three knights were now chugging their tankards down before slamming them in enjoyment.
"Can we get another round?" Palamedes asked.
Mike had already taken the tankards and started refilling them up, "Sure, no problem, though I'm not sure if maybe it's a good idea to let you three have so much."
Handing them back to the knights there were about to guzzle them down, that is until a baritone voice came from Galahad's open side, "Oh don't worry, Mike. Humans can handle ale as much as we can. Let them drink their fill tonight." Compared to many of his human-Esque kinsmen, this Fae was more accurate to call an anthropomorphic lion of equal height to Naruto, with a white pelt and mane and expressive golden eyes. His tall and broad body was dressed in the attire of a human nobleman, a blue and gold coat with oversized black lapels and a matching waistcoat and pants; his long white tail swayed behind him from a special hole in the back of the waistband. Forgoing shoes, his white hind paws were perfectly maintained with manicured black claws.
The knights were certainly not expecting a Fae to dress as such, but they didn't let that bother them. Galahad saw fit to thank the Fae, "Thank you, uhm… Sir fae. I'm Sir Galahad along with Sir's Palamedes and Kay…" Gesturing to them respectively, "…I'm sorry, but I don't know your name."
The lion fae merely waved it off, "Oh, it's quite alright. I don't expect many humans to know all of our names since we don't know yours." The Fae cleared his throat before getting up to properly introduce himself, "My name is Boggart, milady. And I am pleased to make your acquaintance."
Galahad closed his eyes and nodded on, "It's an honor to—wait, how did you address me?" He just recalled that bit about 'mi lady.'
Palamedes merely whistled off to the side, eyeing the various ales that Mike had at the bar that suddenly became more interesting, while Kay was had snorted and placed a hand over his mouth to try and hold his ale down at the remark.
"I did call you a lady, isn't that the proper wording for a human such as yourself?" Boggart asked in ignorance, or perhaps innocence?
Galahad had essentially just frozen at his words, not sure how to even respond to that. Mike, however, leant over to Boggart and addressed what was going on, "Well, you see Boggart, Galahad is a young man. Not a woman."
It was at this point that Boggart's eyes widened briefly before looking back to Galahad for several minutes, inspecting him as one would a question, and then turned back to Mike with one of his own, "Are you certain of that?"
Kay just burst out laughing, unable to contain it for any longer, all the while Boggart scratched his chin, wondering if he was actually right or wrong as Galahad started banging his head against the bar softly.
From his position across the dance floor amidst a quiet seating area, Lancelot looked over to see how his son was now apparently hitting his head deliberately against the bar and furrowed his brows in confusion, "Did something happen to him, I wonder?"
Guinevere, who he had been dancing with as a knight chaperone and escort, so to speak, smiled at what she had a feeling was going on, "Oh, I'm certain he's fine. I've heard that fairies often make jests and jokes to make the mood all the more entertaining. Is that not true?" Knowing how Lancelot had been raised by a Fae in his homeland, she thought he would be able to confirm it.
"It is true…" Lancelot replied, "…though not all the time were the jests in the best of taste." He shuddered slightly at one memory. Oh, how he wished Nimue had not led a girl over to where he had been changing clothes that one time. Lord knows he was too innocent in those days to react in such a situation.
Not long after rejoining the festivities, Naruto and Arturia had both paired off with their hosts and began speaking with Vivian and Oberon respectively.
As Naruto and Vivian made their way off to a nearby moonlit lake, Arturia and Oberon were instead off by the stage where the music was played.
Despite how quirky he may have been upon his first introduction to her, Arturia noted that Oberon did have a serious side to him, much like how Merlin often slipped into when addressing matters of dire nature, "So, now that the King of Mors and the Dark Mistress is dead, what are your plans for the future?" Oberon asked in curiosity.
"To be honest, I was hoping to simply ensure that Britain is safe and secure enough that I can one day step down from the throne." Arturia responded, "However, with my lack of an heir, I doubt being able to retire will be within the immediate future." Arturia brooded somberly, remembering her last words to Naruto after Periwinkle had passed on.
Oberon casually waved her brooding aside, "Oh, I'm certain one day it will happen. Just keep the faith, and your story shall reach its zenith." He glanced over to the river while smiling, knowing well enough how things could potentially play out with those two, though he had to admit, "Though I must admit, you're quite different from your father, Uther."
Arturia's eyes widened at that, "You knew my father?" It wasn't often that he was ever spoken of in general conversation, she herself only knew he was a man that was both noble and honorable until her uncle Vortigern made a coup against his older brother. Or at least that was what Ector had told her growing up, Morgan's passing words had painted a somewhat darker picture of her progenitor.
Oberon nodded as he closed his eyes, recognizing that the image of Uther painted by Ector's anecdotes was not without white lies, "Yes. On the outside and in the eyes of the public, as well to his knights, not unlike Ector who raised you, Uther was a man that cared for the people and welfare of its inhabitants, at least as far as he was concerned with humans that is."
Arturia caught Oberon's tone, "You mean to say that he was… untrue in that image?"
Shaking his head, Oberon continued on, "I will say that he did care about humanity with all his heart, but as you humans say, the road to hell is paved with good intent. He believed that Britain was a land that belonged to Man and Man alone. And that we Fae should simply disappear entirely, wanting us to either go back to the Reverse Side or should we choose to remain, be hunted down and destroyed." The silver-haired monarch crossed his arms in business-esque professionality, bearing hard truths that did not need flowery cadence.
"Behind closed doors, the man had abused his wife and their firstborn, your sister, for his own ends in trying to eradicate Britain of the Fae." Oberon continued on, "Your uncle, Vortigern, born of the land as much of their mother, was a man who thought differently, seeing how we Fae and Men could live together and saw the beauty this land held. He attempted to force Uther from his plans, but his demands fell on deaf ears as Uther turned his attention to harnessing the Primeval Curse…." Oberon shuddered in fear at the thought of the effluvial miasma, "…and thus Vortigern chose to seek out Albion and use her blood to try and steer Britain's fate on the course he perceived was correct. But like many who go down the path of doing what they believe is right, they become what they oppose. The blood of the great dragon corrupted what little humanity was left in him, becoming the Dark Will of Britain, the Usurper, the King of Mors as you knew him."
Dipping her head in shame at how she had defended the glowing mental image of her birth father, Arturia realized that her sister had revealed the truth, now confirmed by one who stood nothing to gain by telling her these facts. And then there was her uncle and sister, both obviously opposed to Uther, but each had different approaches to a goal, not truly evil, yet their paths went down the same road of darkness in the end. "How can you trust me when my kin have proved to be so vile?"
Oberon placed a gentle hand on her shoulder to see he offered a serene smile, "Worry not, young Arturia, the sins of the father do not pass on to their children. Otherwise, none of us would have likely trusted a sire of the Crimson Moon; yet look at what wondrous friends to the Fae you have become."
"Just who exactly was the Crimson Moon? Brunestud, I mean." Arturia asked in growing curiosity. She knew the name from Naruto that it was he who sired him, but he never spoke in depth about the Moon King who had attacked him a century prior, cursing her love to forever walk the Earth as he was with no purpose until they met, who robbed him of the mortality that made him human. What kind of being was the red-eyed progenitor of the night kin? Deep down, she could feel that Naruto, the most compassionate man she knew, deeply hated and even feared the one that had turned him.
Oberon blinked, his posture turning uneasy, "To know Brunestud was to know that one was doomed beyond all measure." The fairy king stated in what one would describe as a eulogy, "He who had the power to remake the world at his fingertips beyond what gods could accomplish, that was what it was to stare into his sad eyes as if you fell into a sea of blood and despair. That was the very being that was Brunestud of the Crimson Moon, the Ultimate One of the Moon." Oberon had never fully encountered Brunestud, but before the Kaleidoscope's victory in sending him away, all he heard from his kin that had visited the Forested Capital was how utterly terrifying it was to be in his presence, even to the Dead Apostles and True Ancestors that he had encountered all had said the same thing. "You can't comprehend the terror of wandering into a glen of what had once been a texture only to find that the moon king had converted it into a snow globe for his own amusem*nt. He was something beyond sense, a realm above the minds of mortals."
Brunestud was practically death itself, and the world was his playground to do as he saw fit.
The image of such a being entered Arturia's thoughts, and she couldn't even fathom the sheer power it took to do such things. Vortigern, Morgan and the gods of old all paled in comparison to such a creature that toyed with humanity for whatever reason he desired. Even so, there was something within Oberon's words that resounded to her, "Is there such a power that exists today? That could reshape the world for the good of a nation, its land and its people?"
Oberon regarded her determined emerald eyes, his seriousness evaporating as he switched over to a personality that one would refer to as a 'Storyteller', "In the realm of sense? No, but of mystery? Perhaps. For you see, I have a tale that may interest and entertain you, Arturia." Clearing his throat as he launched into a bombastic tale. "Some decades ago, when I was younger and was not a married man, just a good fellow named Robin, I travelled to a faraway land to the east and met a Djinn that resided in a lamp, the poor thing wished to have a breath of fresh air, and so I gave it to him all the while making small talk." Between his hands, a globe of sparkling dust swirled into being, an image of a younger Oberon walking across a desert and encountering a lamp taking form in its depths. "He mentioned once that he met THE Joseph of Arimathea, and it was there that I learned about the Holy Grail, the Cup of Christ that caught his blood that the Holy Spear Longinus spouted from the body of Yahweh's progeny on the cross." Oberon said, "Such a cup held power that could reshape the world should the finder desire it, but only if they sought it out and were true of heart could achieve such a thing."
"The Holy Grail..." It was just what Arturia needed to ensure that the Age of Faeries could continue, and Britain was safeguarded. "Thank you, Oberon." Arturia replied with some renewed confidence, "You've given me the answer to a question that has been plaguing me as of late."
The Fae King nodded back animatedly with a smile, "I'm more than happy to help you out, Arturia." Oberon dismissed his orb before he pulled out a glass bottle of golden wine that had a red bow tied around its neck, pushing it into Arturia's hands, "And as I feel that I must give my honored guest something tonight, here, a bottle of Faerie wine. Brewed to give it a taste unlike any other in the world, and a little something else in it to make some situations more enjoyable." He said, winking at Arturia, all the while smirking at her as he wiggled his eyebrows.
Arturia wasn't quite sure what that something was, and yet she— "Did you hear that?" Arturia's head whipped around, ears twitching at something only a trained ear could have perceived.
"No, what?" Oberon answered, floating a few feet up to look over the throng of dancing people to see just what had dragged Arturia from her focus.
"Did you hear, Sir Gawain is participating alongside Sir Percival for the dessert preparations." a spritely pixie chirped from atop another's shoulder.
"Oh, I wonder what he'll make?"
Overhearing that from some nearby Fae, Arturia grew pale and made her way across the party as fast as she could to stop Gawain from making his only dish: Mashed potatoes.
"Sorry, but I need to stop that from happening!" Arturia called over her shoulder to the perplexed Oberon as she ran off in search of her oldest nephew with wine in hand; all the while Oberon laughed merrily before Titania, vein twitching in her temple, arrived and slapped his shoulder.
"Did you just give the young king what I believe it to be?" The remnant of the Titaness Rhea asked her husband, having thoroughly schooled him before the party in keeping his pranks to a minimum, "I should have left you and Puck locked in a wicker cage to keep you from sowing too much mischief."
"Oh, I would never give her something bad unless it made her story more entertaining." Oberon joked all the while Titania turned to watch Naruto speaking with Vivian and turned back to her husband, "But it's not something that will be without shared enjoyment." Well, he saved himself from another slap, at least.
For Naruto, he found himself walking alongside the moonlit lake with Vivian, "I've noticed how the world seems to be rejecting me less and less, thanks to your gift." Looking down at his hands as he clenched them briefly before letting go, a brief flash of golden power effortlessly thrummed to the surface before fading, "It's like my old power has been coming back to me slowly, but surely." He turned to Vivian then, "Thank you. It's helped me more times than I can count."
"Think nothing of it, brother…." Vivian said, "…for you have done naught but help us all."
There were times where it felt as if nothing was holding him back, which prompted a particular question to leave Naruto's lips, "Though I gotta ask how it's possible." He knew Vivian was an incredible Fae, but he wasn't sure she held the power to allow the select chosen to reject the Counter Force entirely.
At this, Vivian's angelic face turned sullen, "I suppose thou deserves to know how I can allow those with my gift to reject the world. Like all High Fae, I was born of this planet to fulfil a role, my role is grandiose. Though I carry the name Vivian, I am a sapient terminal for Gaia to interact and speak with those who live in this world."
"…what…?" Naruto stopped dead in his tracks, expressive red eyes locking onto his companion. Vivian, was merely a terminal for Gaia to act through? The celestial body that had left him diminished for over a century? It had to be a lie, but Vivian's body held no lies, nothing but the truth and regret, "You know, it would've been nice to know this beforehand." His usually laid back and paradoxically energetic words carried an undercurrent of annoyance and bitterness.
Vivian sighed in slight shame at her words, "I did not wish for thee, brother mine, to hold a manner of resentment against my progenitor for holding… chaining you as it did."
Naruto digested her words and genuine regret that wafted against his senses from the Lady of the Lake, turning to look over water where the corpse of his true defiler lay reflected in its surface. Pinching the bridge of his nose in thought, Kurama remained silent to let his partner form his own conclusions on Vivian's lie of admission. Eventually, he slapped his own cheeks lightly to bring himself from his fugue. "It's not that. I don't despise or hate you." Naruto shrugged as he continued, not wanting to have Vivian take his aggravation as genuine malice, "I just wish you told me sooner about your status, that's all."
Vivian had the decency to dip her head in apology, eyes closed in refined remorse, speaking quietly. "I feared thy ire, brother of mine, trembled at the thought that if thou knew the veracity of mine existence that thou wouldest look upon me with hate and disgust. I am not Gaia, but we are connected; her love and fear of thee burns like old coals. Brunestud's siring was not foolproof, and in that systemic dissonance, a fear from Gaia and Alaya festered for a century… until recently."
"Until recently? What changed to make the Counter Force no longer see me as a threat?" Naruto asked slowly, but realization dawned on him after looking at Vivian's mark on her forehead. "Your mark completed the integration, didn't it?"
Beaming at his deduction, Vivian nodded. "Indeed, the systems of Gaia are hideously complicated, but I am able to confer certain privileges to those I deem worthy. Thy status as a Dead Apostle hath been underscored within the system known as the Counter Force, thou are an agent of the Planet. Henceforth, thou might bring the totality of thy power to bear with little repercussion from Gaia and only direct opposition from Alaya's dogs should thy actions prove damning for humanity as a whole, and I believe myself a fair enough judge of character to say such a thing is unlikely from thee, no?"
The apostle smiled in relief, feeling as if a great weight he never knew he carried was lifted from his shoulders. He and his 'sister' slipped back into a relaxed conversation, and he would've inquired more about Vivian's nature and status among the Fae, that is until Kurama chimed in, 'Pay attention across the lake, you've got some beady-eyed company.'
Turning to the other side of the lake, Naruto focused his eyes across to see a pair of beings watching them with ambivalent distaste, "Is that, is that a lycanthrope and a man-eating fae?"
The former appeared to be a werewolf with a long mane running down its back, garbed in what one could assume battle gear, and the latter looked like a twisted fae of the Unseelie, yet its head was split apart in half from the bottom up, designating it as its mouth, and eyes black as the night.
Vivian turned to see their onlookers and narrowed her eyes, "Indeed. A member of the Fang Clan and one of the Unseelie fae who was invited as almsgiving. 'Tis not surprising after thy defeat of Morgan."
Giving her a sideways glance, Naruto needed to know more, "What exactly has been going on in the Fae realm since Morgan's death? I thought the Unseelie had been beaten back to Tir Na Nog on your end?"
"The Unseelie court and some rogue elements of the Fang Clan hath gone into hiding, the former has had several come forward begging clemency while the latter..." Vivian explained, "…their leader, Lord Woodwose, may claim innocence in the courts, but he hath supported Morgan for many a moon since their days of youth." Naruto remained silent as she continued on, "The strength of Woodwose is akin to that of the founding Fae of the clans. A Sub Bell, comparable to the Crimson Moon's True Ancestors." She turned to regard Naruto before she finished, "One must not underestimate such a foe."
For Vivian to give him a warning like this meant that this Woodwose was not someone to take lightly. Though having power comparable to a True Ancestor? Naruto wasn't sure how powerful that kind of being was, "What can you tell me about hi—"
"Ahhh! Get away from my student, you demoness!"
Merlin made his presence known with all the subtlety of a volcanic eruption, scattering their conversation like a potter's vessel. The Flower Magus had quickly appeared behind Naruto and covered his ears before yanking him away. Fou had returned to his shoulder, but did not look amused, either annoyed or bored by Merlin's ways by now, "I hope you're not filling his head with wicked words about me, are you?" He gave Vivian the stink eye who merely rolled her eyes in response.
"Merlin, will there ever come a time when thou dost not jest nor cause trouble for others?"
"Who knows?" Merlin shrugged as he teased Vivian, knowing full well how their first meeting went that night. She certainly was a woman who did not let go of things, "Will you ever not cause me trouble whenever I go on my walkabouts?"
"Precisely when thou no longer beds young maidens at first sight," Vivian said, raising an accusatory finger in response, like an adult chastising a child.
"Now I resent that statement." Merlin pointed his own finger at her in childish mirroring, "Although I suppose I could hold my urges back if you stop talking in such an old-fashioned way."
Vivian raised a brow at that remark, "Oh, thou means to refrain from such deviant acts, should I speak as the people do today?" Vivian saw a move that Merlin clearly overlooked as she continued on and crossed her arms, "And here I thought you were a man of culture and knowledge. Very well then, I shall speak more plainly for you to understand me then. Something my chosen here can do that you cannot." She wasn't going to let Merlin get the last word in as he froze in shocked dissatisfaction before he tried to rebuke yet found no words. Vivian snorted in unladylike amusem*nt before leaving the two to rejoin the celebration.
Ceasing his sputtering and hanging his head, Merlin could only rub his temples before smiling, "Well, I suppose I deserved that for trying to sleep with her… mmm, what a woman she is." Oh, how even when it came to Fae, Merlin was a sucker for certain women.
"Pervy Mage, was there something you needed to tell me?" Naruto asked.
Merlin had nearly forgotten that Naruto was still here, the chance to f*ck with Vivian had been too good to pass up on, but now that he was here, he at least had some news for him, "Ah, right." Dusting himself off after his little charade, Merlin pulled out a velum letter with a wax seal from within his robes and handed it to Naruto, "An invitation to join the Mage's Association, I was able to secure you a spot at the new branch that's being constructed over Albion's corpse."
Naruto's eyes widened a modicum at that. He wasn't sure if this new branch of the Association would accept him or cut him open like the Wandering Sea would have, although this was a new branch, with most likely different views than the other branches, "Wow, thanks, Pervy Mage."
"Oh, think nothing of it…." Merlin said as he stood with a confident look, "…I was able to make some smooth talk with a few of the prominent families, though the Barthomeloi were a little stingy about…." Waving that last bit off as he continued, "…anyways, after that, they agreed to extend an invitation."
Naruto had heard of the Barthomeloi family, a family that had hunted down Dead Apostles and other various bloodsuckers almost obsessively. They were aristocrats of a greater intensity than the Ancestors he was a part of, meaning they believed their family was better than others regardless of how much more talented they were and looked down upon them. How Merlin managed to talk things out with them was something he could only guess, but not sure if he could even get a word in before they attacked him on sight, "Huh, I'll need to head over there when I have some free time."
"The invitation doesn't have a time limit, so do it at your leisure. Though do be prepared to be assaulted by some of the other families with marriage proposals." Merlin said with a teasing smile and eyes closed.
Naruto blushed at that, "Yeah, uh, no. I'm gonna say no to that all the way."
Eventually, as the party continued on, more Fae had arrived to take part in the festivities, and with it, a need for new delicacies that they wished to taste from the human society, and as such, it was called for several people to step up and try their hand at some dishes.
For the most part, regular food materials meant to be used in making dinner had already been used up by this time, in which now the partygoers had one thing on their mind: Desert.
Naruto, Gawain and Percival had stepped up to be the ones to make dessert for the night. While Naruto knew that Gawain's skills as a cook were… not there, he had only recently in the last few weeks learned that Percival was a cook as well, though he never really saw much of the dishes the guardian knight prepared, seeing as how he would cook for Arturia, and Mordred, in private. The three of them had gone to the nearby kitchen set up with some Fang Clan fae, not affiliated with the Winter Court, who had been delving into the business of trying to open up a restaurant in human society.
Turns out despite how they may have some animalistic instincts, they were pretty friendly and civilized.
The two burly knights and apostle had gone straight to work on making a dessert that they hoped many would enjoy. Of course, Arturia was one of the judges, seeing as she would never turn down Naruto's cooking. Mordred had also sat down, removing a piece of her helmet's faceplate that would allow her to eat and drink at her leisure, yet it didn't give away her birthmarks, much less any resemblance she held to her parents.
Along with them were two Fae from the Fang and Wind clans: Doga and Harobalomia. The former resembled those of his clan brethren, while the latter was what one described as Elven, like those from the Norse texture in Scandinavia of old.
The four of them would be the judges to see which dessert would be made en masse for the rest of the party.
The first to step out was Gawain. Raising the large bowl in hand, he carried it over to the judge's table, Gawain set it down with a proud expression, with the judges looking on it, and while Arturia fought to keep a smile on her face, twitching at the sight of what it was, Mordred swallowed a lump down her throat.
She knew how Gawain would just make nothing but mashed potatoes… the tasteless horror that it was, until Naruto pulled him aside and finally got it in his head to add cheese and herbs to give it something. The food was still an affront to dead gods 90% of the time, but at least he was trying.
For their fellow fae judges, they were intrigued by it, "So, whaddya have here?" Doga asked.
Gawain was all too happy to explain, "This dessert is rice pudding, something I had been thinking about for some time now." Scooping the desert into each of their bowls, Gawain continued as he explained, "All I simply did was take some cooked rice and poured milk and sugar on it before mixing it all together." The Knight of the Sun looked on in eagerness as the judges started to take their first bites.
For Arturia and Mordred, both had to fight it down to their stomachs as they shed slight tears at the bland taste of it. Guess Naruto's advice didn't stick for long.
Internally, they were screaming, 'Naruto/Mother! Please finish your cooking!'
They were hesitant to give Gawain any answer, seeing the eager look on his face. Doga and Harobalmia, on the other hand…
"What is the name of the Great Mother is this?!"
"How is this even dessert?!"
Well, they were obviously more vocal.
Gawain looked all to hurt by their words as he reeled back in comedic shock, "Bu… bu…"
"All finished, I hope everyone is—" Percival had left the kitchen with his own dish, which was much larger than Gawain's own only to see the current situation, "…wait, did something happen with Sir Gawain?" Seeing one of his fellow knights in such a strange state was quite perplexing.
"His dessert sucked, and the Fae called it sh*t." Mordred said, blunt as ever.
Arturia had to take a long swig of her drink before talking again to get rid of that abominable taste, "Yes, as Sir Mordred said, Gawain's dish was… well…" Seeing the look on her nephew's face, she didn't want to crush him any further than he had been already, "…what did you bring Sir Percival?"
A metaphorical rain cloud formed over Gawain's head at the abrupt sandbagging of his efforts, had his creation had any more carbs in it, Arturia was sure it would have gained sentience and attempted to comfort its creator. Upon conceiving of such an image, she immediately tossed it into the part of her mind she reserved for bad memories where it would hopefully stay until the heat death of the universe.
"Oh, I played with some of the materials while I was at it, and it sort of just came to me over time." Sitting the dish on the table, Percival took a large spoon and began to set the much more appetizing appearing dessert before them, "I'm not sure what to call it, but I used it making meringue, cream and strawberries." Even though it was put together in a makeshift way, Percival had put a lot of effort into it. Which was showcased even further by just how much he made. More so than usual, enough to overload a plate or bowl for most people.
The judges, having shoved Gawain's dish out of the way, eagerly dug in, though once they did, well, they started to feel tingly.
Mordred had to set her fork down before trying to steady herself a bit, as did Arturia, though for Doga, he wound up passing out, "W-Woah... this stuffff izzz reeEEEEAAAAlly good…" Snoring soon occurred as Doga slept in the desert.
Doga slumped face-first into the dish while Harobalmia held his hands up to stare at them, "I think I'm getting a… tingly sensation in my fingers. Is this normal?"
"Percival…" Arturia began to inquire, "…did you put alcohol in the dessert by any chance?"
Placing a hand under his chin in thought, Percival had to recall what exactly he added into it to help give it flavor, "Ah, yes, I did. I thought it would help with adding in flavor along with the strawberries."
Ah, so that explained it.
Percival's dessert was given an okay, while Gawain's was rejected. Who still had not gotten over the shock of his results.
Seeing how Naruto had yet to finish his dessert, Mordred decided to try and hold off filling up on Percival's tastier one. Taking her fork and scooping up another piece, Mordred inched it closer and closer to her mouth, that is until she heard Naruto's voice, "And I have arrived in the nick of time." Setting her fork down, the judges, save for the passed out Doga, saw that Naruto had a strange dessert made, "I hope you all enjoy it."
Mordred's mouth was now wide and with a bit of drool starting to fall, though Arturia was no less composed. Doga was still out cold, while Harobalima was very eager to try it, "What have you made?"
Taking a knife to cut the dessert up, Naruto sat them one at a time onto their plates as he explained, "This is a dessert from my homeland…"
'And so, I have been saved!' Arturia exclaimed internally.
"…I decided to make a few of them for tonight, and I hope everyone will enjoy it." Naruto said, "These are cake rolls that I made by creating a soft pillowy cake to contain the fluffy whipped cream, and fresh strawberries creates such a beautiful harmony in your mouth." Mordred eagerly dug into the cake, "It's mildly sweet and a little tart, but both texture and flavor should be spot on!" Arturia soon got halfway done with her roll, "Usually whipped cream is normally achieved by whipping cream. But in this recipe, I use gelatin to stabilize the cake."
Harobalima had taken his own bit, and at this point, the elven Fae stood up as his chair flung back down, "WE HAVE OUR DESSERT FOR THE NIGHT!"
The Fae around them cheered in joy at a new thing they would enjoy for the night.
For Tristan and his wife, Iseult, they were now making light conversation with Lancelot and Guinevere, the latter secret couple had decided on such a thing to give the king and their apostle friend more time together and were sitting with Bedivere, who had chosen to help Gaheris chase down his sister, who now was passed out from exhaustion and getting the fae pipeweed out of her system.
"I'm amazed by how many fairies still reside in Britain…" Iseult had commented, her English heavily accented, "…very few remain on the continent." She frowned at how rare such a thing was in the current age, "It's a shame that nothing like that occurs anywhere else anymore."
"Not all Fae are like the ones we've come to associate with." Tristan stated, knowing full well how the Winter Court could be, having seen what they could do when given the wrong things in Morgan's domain, "But it is strange how many are leaving Europa's mainland." He always heard how various phantasmals would roam the continent freely without much fear from humanity, only with the recent times they've slowly reseeded from the countryside and gone back to the Reverse Side as Merlin had once mentioned.
A voice that could almost be described as heavenly interjected abruptly, "Many fairies and phantasmals see that mankind is growing faster with each year." The six humans turned to see the speaker, and she was undoubtedly beautiful, accompanied by another who walked beside her. "And so, they believe that perhaps there isn't a place for them in the world anymore." The Fae then proceeded to introduce herself as well as the one that followed her like a handmaiden, "Oh, forgive me for not introducing myself and my companion. My name is Aurora, leader of the Wind Clan, and this is Coral, my assistant. I'm sorry for eavesdropping, but I thought it best to give some insight."
Aurora was a majestic beauty, the likes of which many could be forgiven for thinking she was the most beautiful woman in the world. Tall with a voluptuous body and angle length blonde hair arranged into various strands and braids that ran down her front and back, she had an angelic face with expertly perfected features that needed no makeup to illuminate their beauty. Golden eyes that were the sun shining through dark honey and knife-shaped ears that were perfectly proportioned, her entire creamy body was seemingly backlit by her dully glowing butterfly wings that beat behind her slowly, each one as big as Galahad was tall. She wore a white fishtail evening gown that pooled at her feet with four sashes dangling from the rose bloom collar that exposed the valley of her cleavage.
Compared to her borderline goddess of a mistress, Coral fell short of that standard of utter perfection but was still inhumanly beautiful. She appeared to be in her late teens or early twenties with an attentive look worn on her faery features, wide-spaced pink eyes and clear lip gloss set off her waist-length coral pink hair and equally coral pink butterfly wings. She had a petite figure and wore a simple but pretty white summer dress with detached sleeves and black mary janes, a black ring around each middle finger, and an all-enclosing neck ornament that completed the look.
At first, Guinevere had been caught off guard by Aurora's beauty and blushed slightly before schooling her features and introduced herself and those with her, "F-Forgive me for not introducing myself sooner. I am Guienvere, Queen of Camelot. My companions are Sirs Lancelot, Bedivere, Gaheris, Gareth and Tristan, alongside his wife, Iseult. It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Aurora, Miss Coral."
Coral waved her hands in an attempt to assuage the forced decorum, "Just Coral, if you please, your majesty. I may be Lady Aurora's assistant, but I am not of the aristocracy." It seemed that Coral did not value herself as much as she did Aurora, but perhaps that was simply part of the nature of some Fae.
Seeing that there was an open seat next to the queen, Aurora sat next to her where they all began making small talk, though Coral saw how several Fae were dancing to the music and a nice slow tune was coming up and looked to see that Bedivere was on his own from what she saw. Deciding to help make the night more enjoyable to everyone, even to a knight on his own, Coral approached him, "Sir Bedivere, would you care to have a dance with me?"
Holding her hand out for the Knight of Loyalty to take, Bedivere nodded as he didn't want to possibly insult the young Fae, "Of course, Coral, I would be more than happy to." Gently grasping her hand, Bedivere led Coral out to the dance floor, where despite the awkwardness of being one-armed, Coral instead took the lead as the two danced with the others in sync with the music.
Back with those whom they left, their conversation soon took a turn, "I had heard that the young King of Knights had taken a sire of Brunestud as a retainer, is that true?"
Iseult was unaware of Naruto's status as an apostle, much less who Brunestud was, and as such, Guinevere felt it best to move through this subject as quickly as possible without giving away too much, "Yes, although he isn't like others of his supposed kin."
Aurora pondered her words as she came to a surprisingly quick conclusion, "Oh, so he does not…?"
"Not at all, milady," Lancelot replied. The partaking of drinking blood was something his friend was quite disgusted with when he asked him years ago as to why he did not.
The Wind Clan leader smiled at that, "How intriguing. I felt a form of divinity from him as well, as potent if not more than Queen Titania." Having felt something akin to the weapons that the Fae had forged within Naruto himself, she made no effort to obfuscate the fact that she was attracted to it, "Hmm, I'm reaching that age where a husband wouldn't go amiss, perhaps I should ask him if he would be my consort." Aurora said with a lilting smile. One perfect existence with another.
Both secret lovers knew better and decided that it was best to nip this one in the bud now, rather than risk any potential discovery, "I think that perhaps someone else has beaten you to that, in a way, milady." Guinevere said.
Tristan examined his queen and wondered just what exactly she meant by that. He had never really seen Naruto grow that close to another woman, other than the king, of course.
Aurora's cheery demeanor became blanked, caught off-guard by the words. Or perhaps disappointed? A fraction of a second later, her smile returned, brighter than before, "I suppose we shall see." She giggled before excusing herself from their company and running her fingers through Guinevere's hair as she left.
Back at the bar, Mike the fairy bartender was currently making another refill of the fairy ale for Kay and Boggart, both of whom had gotten into a drinking contest to see who could hold their liquor best before one of them puked their guts up or passed out. As of the last tankard, Kay was in the lead by one round but showing signs of strong inebriation, his shoulders swaying and eyes drooped.
Palamedes kept score while Galahad had instead just quietly scooted over to be alone after being told by Boggart that he looked more like a girl than a boy.
"Alright you two, I'm cuttin' you off after these last drinks." Mike said, thumping tankards down before the knight and Fae, "Anymore, and you two will get alcohol poisoning. By the by, I'm surprised your livers ain't punched d'ere ways out ya guts in protest."
Before either could guzzle down the ale, Kay opened his mouth in slurred speech, "Now lishen here… you dwarf, midget… or… or whatever you are. Therz not a dwink… that I can't handle… in the whole f*ckin' country…" Arturia's foster brother punctuated each slurred syllable by jutting the tankard at Mike, spilling its foamy head onto the oaken bar.
"And for you… infor… infor… whatever…" Boggart supplied, hiccups wracking his form, "…I can drink this… this uh… hairless man-thing… under the…"
Both of them abandoned the attempts at rebuking Mike in favor of sloppily toasting their tankards together and necking the nectar, large purposeful gulps belaying their intoxicated states. The pair of impromptu drinking buddies slammed their empty drinks back down, sending them rolling onto the floor with a clatter. They turned in unison to look at one another in pleased competition and began to chuckle at their pointless victory. That is until they both took a deep breath and let the oxygen hit their brains, slowly but surely toppling backwards off their stools and passing out on the ground. Mike and Palamedes just looked down to see the two now snoring away, "Well, I'm just glad that they didn't suffer heart attacks."
Palamedes looked askance at Mike, wondering just what the ingredients in the ale were to put both Kay and Boggart down was. Perhaps he could convince Mike to come to Camelot to slake the thirst of the populace? The Seventh Seat was about to ask the dwarf when the sound of loud rhythmic clapping rose from a distant table, joined by the unmistakable tenor of song ringing out in concert with the Fae surrounding it. Palamedes craned his neck to try and catch a glimpse of the cause of the commotion, becoming bewildered when he spotted the forms of Mordred, Ywain and a tiny Fae doing what could only be called tap dancing as they sang. "What on earth?" Palamedes wondered, drawing Mike's attention to the distant table.
"Ah, Puck's up to his usual tricks, I see," Mike mused, hopping up onto the bar to wipe away the spilt foam, "That's King Oberon's court jester, annoying little sh*te, but he's good at parties."
The fairy was a curious little thing to behold and likely of the same species as Habertrot, given that he could be no taller than three feet in height, save for the swirl inscribed horns that jutted from either temple and the literal jewels he had instead of eyes. His skin was a light blue with a receded hairline despite his apparent youth and a jester's hat perched lopsidedly on the back of his white-haired head. His grin was fanged but good-natured, a look that anyone who knew Naruto would know as the leer of a prankster. His upper body was wrapped in leafy vines forming into a basic shawl while he wore furred trousers tucked into tiny brown boots with curled toes.
" We're Knights of the Round Table! '' The loud singing of a trio troupe consisting of Mordred, Ywain and Puck jauntily continued, arms around one another's shoulders with Puck tap dancing atop Moredred's helmet.
The two knights were now partially tipsy, having taken a bit of a dip into the fae ale with them now singing some song that they clearly were coming up with on the spot as Mordred took the first line in the lead, " We dance whene'er we're able. We do routines and chorus scenes with footwork impeccable. We dine well here in Camelot. We eat ham and jam and Spam a lot. "
Ywain followed up as he kept the tune, kicking their heels in time with the clapping of their crowd, " We're Knights of the Round Table. Our shows are for-mid-able, but many times we're given rhymes that are quite un-sing-able. We're opera mad in Camelot. We sing from the diaphragm a lot. "
And lost but not least, Puck finished it up, " In war we're tough and able, quite indefatigable. Between our quests, we sequin vests and impersonate Clark Gable. It's a busy life in Camelot!" Puck lept up to perch atop the tip of Mordred's horns, voice dropping to a baritone warble, "I. have. To. Push. The. Pram. A. Lot! "
Even though they weren't really part of the musical group playing overall on the stage, many laughed, cheered and clapped the trio on as they raised their tankards to drink their fill.
Palamedes shook his head, sitting back at the barstool and wondering who this Clark Gable was? "Upon second thought, let's not go to Camelot, 'tis a silly place."
As the celebrations began to die down, with many guests now taking it easy for the night, Naruto sought out Oberon, who was happy to share a drink with him, giving him the perfect opportunity to fill in some blanks in his knowledge.
"So…" Naruto began as he took a swig from a goblet of mead, "…what's the issue with the clans I've heard of. I know about the Summer, Winter and Avalon courts, but clans are something new to me."
Oberon lent against a thorny looking cane, answering Naruto with clear words, "The Summer and Winter Courts of the Seelie and Unseelie are pretty basic to understand." He began explaining, "The former are mostly nice, save for the odd prank or two every now and then, and the latter are wicked little sh*ts that enjoy burning people's homes down or eating humans, until the now late Morgan emerged they tended to keep to Erin." Oberon explained, using the antiquated name for Ireland.
"And then there's my court in Avalon where the founding Sub-Bells originated from and propagated the rest of fairy-kind in Britain, and thus they began spreading around the world." Bringing up parchment and quill, for whatever reason, he had those on hand Naruto couldn't fathom and then began to illustrate the clans on it. "Once when Avalon was but a single land for fae, we were few in number, many millennia before the White Titan brought down the Olympians and other ancient civilizations, we held one on the surface as well when the sea hadn't engulfed so much of these lands; Menel."
Heaven. That's what the translation was from Quenya.
Naruto's eyes widened at that. He had no idea that the Fae had created a civilization on the surface texture of the World, "What happened to it?"
Oberon's expression grew grim at that question as his eyes hardened and peered down, "I know that you may think that it was the White Titan who had done so, but this was several centuries before its descent from the stars. No, rather a great evil had arisen from a place in our lands. We fought it to the end." The Fae King's words had begun in their usual cheery cadence, however, as he continued to speak, they got quieter so as to not draw the attention of any eavesdroppers.
For Naruto, he was reminded of his talk with Vivian before they assaulted Morgan's domain, "The Beast?"
"SHH!" Oberon quickly placed a hand over Naruto's mouth as he shushed him before looking around them to see if any had overheard them. He frog-marched Naruto into an empty grotto lit by fireflies. Seeing how they were in the clear, Oberon quietly continued on, "…yes… we do not speak its name, nor try to remember our great war against it. Much of the land sank into the sea in those days, and we were forced to flee back to the Reverse Side to recuperate. But the actions we took and what it forced us to do were not without scars, a static karma of malignancy standing as a testament to what we did to keep hold of our lives. A corrupting darkness that continues to plague us all and the evil it creates from within."
Once again, this Beast as Vivian and Oberon called it, was mentioned with ties to an age long ago, "What the hell was so evil as to create a curse so potent?" Naruto asked, wanting to know more to piece together the puzzle that had been boggling his mind ever since he was first introduced to these things, "What about Gogmagog? Was it the Beast from that age?"
Oberon seemingly nodded before speaking once again, "We… abandoned our purpose and turned against our stewardship of the world, using humans as livestock to empower our war with the Beast, every act of self-indulgent excess fattened our power, but that karma could not be expunged, instead clinging to the land." He then waved off another question, "But no, Gogmagog was not the Beast. He was an ancient god of these lands, and when the curse took root in the land, he changed to reflect it. You see, Naruto, the Primeval Curse was something that affected God, Fae and Man. Depending on their heritage and place within the World, it would have affected them to such a grave degree, while others there was naught but a change of their power only. Morgan resisted it all due to her place as one of the Great Mothers and having the blood of Man and Fae running through her veins. Vortigern's soul became rotted and decrepit, painting over his ego with a directive of destruction, and once he devoured the blood of Albion, he became the King of Mors. Other, quite possibly lesser humans would be so corrupted by it, that they would give in to their deepest, darkest desires, twisting them from the inside out."
"And the Mors are?" Naruto inquired further.
"Mors are the Fae who have lost all-purpose and memory of who they were. Their name. Their place in the World. Everything. All they have become is a plague upon us Fae." The Fae King remembered the first time he had encountered a fae slowly turning into a Mors. The poor girl was once part of the Wing clan and had forgotten her name, a kind fae who enjoyed playing with children and had been discarded before she was succumbing to the curse of Mors, "They eat and destroy what is around them. The beauty of nature and the land are twisted and brought to death's door by their presence. Truly, a fate worse than death itself."
"Vortigern's power allowed him to corrupt many Fae into Mors…" Oberon continued, "…and thus we were forced to combat them however we could, to keep the darkness at bay, just as you and the young King of yours overthrew and slew him, ending the threat of future Mors hordes. The Winter Court are Fae who have not become Mors, but the darkness left over from the war had turned them towards their vile interests. By acting in ways which the curse directs means they do not risk succumbing to a loss of purpose, never becoming Mors."
Many things were starting to make sense to Naruto now, the dark and hidden truth of what was plaguing Britain was coming undone. Seeing how the conversation was taking a rather depressing turn, Naruto changed the subject back to the other thing he asked Oberon about, "You said that the clans were formed several millennia ago, right?"
Oberon's cheery demeanor returned once more, glow returning to his eyes and happy to answer, "That they did!" Getting back to the parchment he had pulled out before, Oberon listed them all –
Wind
Earth
Fang
Wing
Mirror
King
"After our war against the Beast ended, we Fae had divided ourselves into six clans, all of which were led by the founders and those of the original bloodline of the Sub-Bells." Oberon began explaining, "The Wind Clan are a peaceful and rational clan with excellent forms that almost make them seem divine, and they are led by Lady Aurora, who is actually here now. They are Fae who took on the appearances of the elves that resided in Alfheim eons ago in Scandinavia, save for the butterfly wings."
Naruto peaked out from the grotto to see several Fae who certainly fit that bill, until Oberon pointed Aurora out to him. She was undeniably beautiful in her own way, yet Naruto felt that there was something else about her. As if aware that she was being observed, she turned to face him and gave a wave before blowing a kiss his way. Not wanting to be rude, he merely gave a polite wave in return before forgetting that second bit and returned to Oberon, "You were saying about the rest?"
"The Earth Clan are Fae who had taken on the appearances of dwarves from Svartalfheim. Another group from Scandinavia. They built many of the places we reside in and even the ancient kingdom we once had. They are led by Lord Spriggan, who isn't here and is rather quite a… what is that you call one such as he?" Oberon tapped a finger to his chin in brief thought before he snapped his fingers in realization, "A scumbag!" He quickly put a hand to his chin in thought once again, "Or at least, that's an accurate descriptor for him."
The blonde got the distinct impression that Oberon would rather have used a ruder term for him. Still, given this Spriggan's status as leader of one of the clans, it was likely an act of kingly decorum to use a less rude name, "Well, I'll be sure to be careful around this one if and when I meet him."
"Hopefully you won't," The fae king said; Blanca, fluttered in bringing him a cake roll snagged from a nearby table and began to munch on it every now and then as he continued on, "Words are his greatest tool to deceive and get what he wants in the end. Anyways, the Fang clan are a clan composed of animalistic Fae that have a humanoid shape, almost like were-creatures in a way, but can be far more civilized at times or just as violent. And…"
"Woodwose leads them." Naruto finished Oberon's explanation, remembering Vivian's explanation from earlier that evening.
"That they do, but they've also been the Fae's greatest warriors and soldiers against the darkness, though some have sided with that which is dark within us all, they would never admit to it." Abhorrence crept into his voice, seeing a once proud and noble clan fall from grace. Morgan's past with their leader Woodwose no doubt had an effect on that. Yet the lord of the clan was all but immune for the most part to many of the things they could try to accuse him of, but unless they were caught red-handed in the act, then they were untouchable.
Seeing how Naruto was still attentive, Oberon moved onto the next one down the list, "The Mirror clan are the most populous of us Fae, and resemble men far more closely than others, more so than rest. Many often have farseeing abilities, though not quite so refined as their leader, Lady Ainsel. Her visions reach the far future, one of which foretold your King's rise." Oberon elaborated, before crossing his arms with a pleased smile, "She also has a habit of telling my court jester of future events to make his pranks more amusing."
So, there were Fae who had clairvoyance that was commonplace, and their leader's matched Merlin's own? "Is there any chance I can get in contact with Ainsel?" If she had something that was important, something vital that could lead to the benefit of Camelot and anything concerning himself and those around him, then he could certainly use it.
Oberon quickly shot that avenue down, "I'm afraid that Lady Ainsel's in a deep sleep right now." The dejected look on Naruto's face made Oberon feel a little bad for such an abrupt refusal, "It is simply the way her visions work. One doesn't achieve such a level of foresight without something to take away from our daily lives." Ainsel's visions required her to go into a deep sleep and meditate upon the energies of the World, to see what currently was, and what could, and most likely would be. In Oberon's opinion, "It's truly both a blessing and vexing of a gift. To see the future to potentially change the course of beautiful stories, and yet possibly hold them to a predestined course that resulted in tragedy."
To Oberon, stories of individuals and groups of people had the right to determine their own course, rather than someone else saying what would happen, with the end result possibly occurring regardless of what they would do to stop it from occurring. Self-fulfilling prophecies were oftentimes the source of many tragedies, and despite having some stories crafted that were amazing, the fairy king couldn't help but find so many of them sad in the end.
'I suppose it was too much to hope for knowing the end of things.' Naruto said internally to himself.
'Don't bother worrying so much. What happens, happens and we'll figure out whatever may come.' Kurama said.
"And the final clan?" Naruto asked, getting things back on track.
"Ah, yes, the King Clan…" Oberon said as he rolled his eyes at the name of it, "…they are led by Mab and are the source of much of the friction between Men and Fae, even though she herself is part of the Summer Court."
Naruto arched an eyebrow at that, "Wait, how can she be…" Thinking about it, Naruto quickly put the thought down, "…never mind. Fae can really be fickle at times. Continue, please?"
Oberon nodded his head, knowing how strange their kind could be at times, "Mab was a rather ambitious fae queen, having forcibly taken a human boy as her lover, and she once tried to overtake the other clans and found a new court, but the human betrayed and sabotaged this plan, and this allowed a young, and very talented mage girl named Tonelico to convince her to stop."
Now that was interesting, "I've never heard of someone named Tonelico before now."
"I'm not surprised by that." Oberon said, "Tonelico was a young human girl who was friendly and kind to many Fae. Her talent for magecraft surpassed all others at the time, and her relationship with nature itself was astounding." The Fae King kicked back and looked to the colourful sky, reminiscing about another, happier time, "There were times where Tonelico would come out and walk among the forests of Britain, and commune with the World, or so I've heard. I've never met her before, but…" His expression seemed to become saddened by his following words, "…she vanished one day many years ago. I'm not sure what happened to her, but Vivian would not say as they were quite close. I doubt that the fair lady would say anything, even if her chosen had asked her what occurred."
"It sounds like Vivian was fond of Tonelico, keeping her silence is anything to go by."
"I imagine she was…" The Fae King's presence changed once more to playful mischievousness, "Though I have to admit, I'm rather jealous that your Titaness of a wife over there is quite lax with how you do things. I mean, even I get a good scolding and a smack on the head when I try to be my best self!" Naruto said nothing at that, despite knowing how no one was listening in on their conversation, "And yet, I can tell even from a distance, she loves you dearly." Oberon's voice had soothed up, knowing full well that he meant what he said.
Naruto merely gave a small smile in response, "…yeah, she really does…" So much so that she drove herself time and time again into matters of running the country to make things so precise, so perfect that she wouldn't have to be bothered with it anymore to be with him more so than they were now.
As the music began to settle into something more casual, Bedivere and Coral had finished their dance and bowed before one another in kindness, "Thank you, Coral. It was a lovely dance."
Coral smiled in response at the Knight of Loyalty's words, "The thanks are mine to give, Sir Bedivere, I had often wished to be a partner with a knight such as yourself in a dance like this." The young Fae said as she floated before him, "Seeing the world of Men was something I wanted to do, but my duties as Lady Aurora's assistant comes before much of what I wished for."
Bedivere knew that train of thought all too well, "I understand such things well enough. Day in and day out, I serve my King in the stead of one of her generals and assistant in certain matters." The knight and Fae continued to converse more with one another on their lives and wishes, though Bedivere saw out of the corner of his eye how Naruto seemed to become a little bit exasperated, but also uncomfortable with Oberon's animated questions, he felt it best that he should give his friend a hand. "Once again, Coral, I enjoyed the evening with you, though I do believe a friend of mine needs some assistance in getting away from the…" He tried to find the right words to describe Oberon, "…eccentrics of King Oberon."
Coral looked off to the side to where she saw Oberon pushing his index finger repeatedly through a hole made by his fingers, sighing at how the Fae King was, "I understand. King Oberon can have all the tact of a brick at times. Even if he is not aware of it." With their night together having come to an end for the moment, they bid farewell before parting ways with Coral returning to her mistress and Bedivere helping his friend get away from Oberon.
Whatever it was they were talking about, Naruto was struggling to get a word in edgeways as Oberon continued on, "…and dare I say, that this was the hand that caused the whole mess that resulted in Titania forgiving and wedding me."
"Mhmm…" Naruto merely nodded, having gotten a little bored with Oberon's story on how he basically decided to be a dick, before Titania gave him a nice slap to his senses. Discovering that the Queen of the Fae was, in fact, a remnant of the Titaness Rhea explained the Divinity he sensed from her at the very least.
Bedivere had quickly made his way to where the two were situated and was able to break the ice to help his friend out, "Excuse me, King Oberon." The fae king turned to see the knight before him, "The lady Coral has told me of your prowess as a storyteller, perhaps you could regale me with this tale of yours?" Bedivere peered over to Naruto along with a subtle nod, gesturing nonchalantly with his one arm behind him to where Arturia was.
Getting the message, Naruto saw his chance, "Well, this has been… a pretty informative night, Oberon. But I think I hear someone calling my name somewhere around here." Clapping Bedivere on the shoulder for rescuing him from an Oberon shaped bullet, Naruto quickly excused himself and made his way over to Arturia, who appeared as if she was looking for him, "My king," Naruto said, maintaining the decorum as King and retainer, Arturia faced him with a bright smile, "…were you looking for me?"
"I was actually." She held up the bottle of golden fae wine that Oberon had given her to Naruto, "…I was hoping that perhaps we..." Arturia briefly glanced to her sides with a pronounced blush before continuing, "…that we could have a drink in private somewhere?"
Ah, so that's what she wanted to do now. With the festivities dying down somewhat with some of the guests now enjoying Samhain's aura, Naruto decided to go through with it, "Wait here a moment." Making his way over to the bar where Kay, Mordred and Ywain had fallen into drunken unconsciousness atop of Boggart —he'd have to give his Little Mo a stern talking to about drinking too much when they got back home— and took two goblets with him. Off to the side, he noticed that Lancelot and Guinevere weren't around anymore, which he chalked up to the party being too much for the Queen, but he had more important matters to attend to. Though he didn't know it yet, Aurora had seen them all go their own ways and sipped a rich red wine with a beautiful smile and prying eyes.
-Naruto & Arturia-
"Oberon gave you faerie wine?"
"He said that he felt obligated for being his guest tonight."
After the two secret lovers had gained distance from the party, Naruto had set up a small bounded field over a moonlit lake to give them some privacy from prying eyes, even from potential familiars. After pouring a bit of the wine out, the lovers were about to imbibe their first drink when Naruto had asked Arturia where she got the wine from.
Taking a small sip before speaking again, Naruto hummed in appreciation of the quality of the wine. It was cool, crisp, sweet and fruity without any hint of dryness. Whatever enchantment had been placed on it, it was already doing its work, "This is pretty good."
Arturia took a sip of her own and had to agree, "Indeed. It's something worth keeping for later occasions."
Taking a few more sips, Naruto looked off to the sky to see that the moon was full of an orange gleam, perhaps a shine dimmer than the fireflies that floated about the freshwater grove they had seated themselves in. He looked at the light reflected in Arturia's eyes, and a beautiful thought occurred to him. The male blonde set his crystalline goblet down on a nearby rock so as to not spill it before addressing his beloved, "Arturia…" Grabbing her attention as he walked out onto the water, "…will you dance with me tonight?" He turned to face her with an outstretched hand to take.
Arturia saw the crimson eyes of her lover almost reflecting the light that illuminated around, for she saw majesty and love where most would have been filled with fear and ignorance at the sight of one such as he as he was now. "I would like nothing better." Setting aside her own goblet next to Naruto's, Arturia removed her King's cloak and dissipated her armor into a mist of mana before walking out to gently take Naruto's hand.
Despite their height difference, the two were content as they positioned themselves accordingly, with Naruto wrapping his left arm around Arturia's waist. Their right hands gently grasped as Arturia set her left hand on Naruto's opposing shoulder, "Shall I take the lead, Arturia?" he asked, both stepping out onto the water itself, which rippled subtly underfoot.
"I would like to this time if that's okay," Arturia said.
Nodding his head, the two drew closer and began to move their feet in unheard rhythm and sound, letting the beat of Arturia's heart guide them, and with closed eyes, they danced under the moonlight for their enjoyment. As they continued on with their steps, Naruto began to feel a tingle in his fingers. At first, he discarded the feeling as butterflies in his stomach or something he perhaps ate, but again… the wine… "Wait, Arturia, are you…?" His words were cut off when she put her forehead on his chest, "Are you… alright?" Things seemed to slow down somewhat, with his body beginning to feel… hot? The sound of his own heart began to thump loudly in his ears, refined senses sharpening to a monomolecular razor's edge. Yet, at the same time, it was as if someone had dropped a thick blanket over his waking mind.
Arturia looked up to him with rosy cheeks along with a dopey smile. A giggle escaped her throat as she opened her eyes to reveal that they were somewhat glazed over, "I'm just fine, Naruto~" Another laugh escaped her lips before, with no warning, she leapt up to plant a kiss on his lips. Naruto's eyes widened before he could taste the strong wine on her breath, "I just wanted to kiss you~ that's all~…"
Naruto was starting to slowly feel rather heated, with the wine now taking a more significant effect as time went by. He had now accurately guessed that Oberon made the wine easier to affect him… and… and… his lover was beautiful.
Soon, Naruto's proper sense of self was slipping further and further away as Arturia stopped their dance to lead him back onto land, "And, I… I wanted to do something… a… a little more~." Naruto felt himself being pulled by Arturia's hand passionately until they finally made it back to the land, she quickly spun him around and pushed him down to the ground with her following, "I… I… I want to show you, how much I love you~… my sky silver lover~…" She pointed her finger to Naruto before poking his cheeks one after another and smashed her lips into his own.
Naruto merely gave in and let Arturia's aggressiveness go through as he undid her hair bun gently, letting her golden hair down before they stopped for a breath. Saliva was left stringing between their lips as they gazed at their half-glazed eyes as if time stood still. The moment was broken as Arturia pushed Naruto's arms down before she assaulted his lips once more, with him not resisting.
If he was honest with the parts of his mind that still functioned properly… it was good to feel her passion in the open once again.
-Oberon & Titania-
"I swear, sometimes you're incorrigible, Oberon."
"All I did was give them a gentle nudge into more pleasurable directions, my dear."
After finishing his tale to the Knight of Loyalty, Titania had managed to corner him away from the other guests and all but demanded to know what it was that he had given the King of Knights. As it turns out, Oberon had given the wine an enchantment that meant for anyone to drink from it to become aroused and lose much of their faculties. And that was on top of how it stimulated the parts of their minds and bodies that made them filled with joy. This, of course, was not mentioning how it brought out certain aspects of those who drank the wine to further stimulate their arousal. In layman's terms, he'd roofied them.
Crossing her arms, Titania breathed in deeply before she sighed to rub her temples, "I suppose I can't fault you for wanting those two to enjoy one another's company." The fae queen directed her attention back to her husband, "But why would you do so? I doubt the Apostle is impotent in the bedroom, and a life of ruling must leave the King gagging for it."
Oberon tutted in a teasing manner, "That is true, and yet, you know full well that those two can never truly enjoy one another as they do, as one would think." Seeing how his wife was still unsure of what he meant, he explained a little further, "Truly, the circ*mstances surrounding their lives are not fortunate. One who is showered with praise and meant to be an ideal of all that is good and pure, yet the other is forced into the shadows to be seen by the masses as a monster. Both are forced to keep up with a charade that prevents them from truly loving one another." Titania held her tongue surprisingly as this was usually the time she'd retort, leaving Oberon open to continue, "Even when and if they have the time to themselves, I can't help but feel sad that moments such as that are few and far between. The image of a king and retainer must always take precedence before two who love each other dearly. This would no doubt make their moments quite troublesome at times. And as such, I took it upon myself to help them in that regard." Oberon said as his tone held no regrets and was full of happiness.
Well, for once, her husband had made a good, if idiotically executed, point, even if he was his usual self when doing so, "Very well then, I suppose I should go ensure that they won't be disturbed." Titania then proceeded to chastise Oberon next, "Though if they happen to be caught by someone, I will make it so that you regret it, this is not the first time I've nearly cut your co*ck off."
If her words hadn't gotten to her husband before, they certainly did now. Anyone unfortunate discovering their affair would undo all the progress they've made up until now, "Well, I'm certain that no one will intentionally seek them out, for the sake of my manhood at the very least."
Rolling her eyes at Oberon, Titania made her way throughout the area, looking for anyone who had last seen them and which direction until it was Aurora who pointed her the way. Thanking the leader of the Wind Clan for her wee bit of help, Titania made her way out to the secret lovers before she ran into a bounded field.
Curious. Perhaps something Naruto had thrown up? Then again, if the two decided to do something intimate, it was best if no one intruded on them, accidental or intentional.
"I suppose this is the best one can hope for." Turning away from the field, Titania placed a hand on the nearby tree to 'feel' the emotions of those that were in her domain, willing her authority into being; anyone that came this way would feel the sudden urge to return to the party. Before returning herself, she shook her head at her mind playing tricks on her, as beyond the field, she could undoubtedly feel love, happiness, joy, excitement. That is until she felt the same emotions from somewhere else.
Odd.
Three and a half hours later, the two lovers had collapsed back down to the ground as the moonlight illuminated their bodies by the sheen of sweat that covered them. After their dance was finished, with Arturia displaying her newfound aggression, despite it being brought on by an enchanted wine, they were still able to retain a partial grasp on their faculties to speak, "That was… I didn't know… that you could get that way… Arturia~" Naruto said in steady, haggard breaths, now having his own words become as loopy as Arturia's own.
Whom now laid her head down next to his own, cupping his chin before bringing him close for another kiss that lasted for a minute before they parted lips, "Neither did I~."
Laying back on her cloak, Naruto gently pulled over his own robes to give them some decency, all the while wishing these happy days would continue. For now, at least, Samhain was one hell of a festival.
-Spring 480 AD-
Months had passed since the celebration, with Mordred all too ecstatic for what the King was going to announce, "I wonder if mom knows what's about to happen?" Naruto had given her a bit of a talk concerning alcohol, among other things, with labels and all with how to address him in both the public eye and privately when they were able to spend time with each other. And as much as she cared for Naruto and his lessons, he would forever be her mother, calling him papa at this stage felt just wrong.
Over the last few months, she had grown closer to Ywain and Galahad, having developed a subtle rivalry of sorts with the boys. It was nothing as petty as to try and stay above them at every turn when they trained their minds and bodies, rather merely friendly competition to help one another.
Speaking of her skills, she found herself able to use Clarent almost flawlessly. Whenever she channeled her mana through the blade, lightning would spark momentarily, connecting with her on a level that she had never had with a weapon before. Maybe she should ask her mother about the details? 'Nah, screw that, I don't want to be spoon-fed power, I gotta achieve this on my own!'
As Mordred made her way to the Tower where her mother worked, she was surprised to catch Merlin exiting the doorway with haste and Fou on his shoulder, who didn't seem entertained. As Merlin turned towards her way to leave, Mordred could see the forlorn look upon his visage, almost as if he found something that he was too terrified of to speak, "What's up with you, Pervy Mage?"
She had adopted mom's nickname of Merlin, though it seemed that he didn't make his usual bombastic reaction to that name, instead maintaining his unsettled demeanor, "I… I have received a vision that I must act on."
Merlin's hesitance at the beginning to knock her off-kilter, she shook her head and waved off his concern as if it were about something as banal as the weather, "Well, I guess we'll see you in a couple of months then, eh?" Clapping a hand on Merlin's free shoulder, Mordred continued on knowing full well about his walkabouts and what he did on them from her mother, "I'll make sure to ask some of the local brothels to keep an eye and send a message to pick you up when you head back this way."
Mordred expected Merlin to chuckle in humor or make some wisecrack, yet that did not happen. Peculiarly, the Flower Magus shook his head in melancholy, "To be honest… I'm not sure if I will ever return from this new journey of mine." Merlin peered through Mordred's helm and into her eyes, seeing those same eyes that he saw in the little girl that would be King many years ago, "For what it's worth, tell Naruto… I'm sorry…" Mordred would've asked just what it was that Merlin meant by that, that if he did not dissipate into flowers that flew through the nearby open window.
Unsure of what she just saw, Mordred felt a chill run down her spine before shaking her head, "It's probably nothing, yeah." Just another one of Pervy Mage's eccentrics taken a little too far. She'd pass the word onto her mother and the King, of course, even still, Mordred couldn't help but worry for whatever it was that had worried the ever-unflappable Merlin.
Overlooking the capital city, Merlin stood on the edge of the cliff, lamenting how beautiful this story had turned out. "Perhaps… things were always meant to meet such an end…" When he first told Arturia what would lie at the end of her life when she pulled Caliburn, it seemed as if that vision would become distorted with the arrival of that blonde Apostle. A glimpse of hope laid before him, and he sought to take it to ensure such a tragedy would be stopped. Yet, the World designed it otherwise, "I hope it will be a far more peaceful end than parent and child standing atop that blood-soaked hill of death and despair. Perhaps you will change their fates in the end, Naruto." Those would be the last words he would speak of Camelot before leaving the gleaming silver city for the last time.
-Palace Courtyard-
Back at the palace, Mordred had missed Naruto when one of the guardsmen informed her that the King had given the order for the rest of the Round Table to assemble in the palace's central courtyard, meant for major announcements to the palace staff as a whole. Falling into step between Ywain and Gareth, Mordred spotted Naruto back in his hooded robe speaking with Arturia in his capacity as a court mage in hushed tones. All around the courtyard and surrounding balconies, dozens of other figures stood watching over the events in interest with a hubbub of quiet conversation, wondering what had called for such a meeting. Whatever it was, the entirety of the court had been summoned, even those who were strong candidates for election to the Round Table should injury or age sink its fangs into the current retinue.
None of them were terrible knights, but they lacked any real potential to reach the current generation's level. That did not mean they lacked the heart of true knights and squires, veterans of Arturia's service would recognize the presence of Pelleas, who several years before the King liberated from the occupation of Vortigern, in his eyes shining the ambition to repay the indelible debt that the forces of Camelot had engraved into his heart. Mordred had interacted with him once or twice, and why she could appreciate his will to throw himself into training, the disparity in power between their current Round and the new recruits was heaven and earth.
Curiosity getting the better of her, Mordred focused on her hearing to cut through the distant chatter and overhear the last bit of a conversation between Naruto and the King, "…are you sure about this, my king?"
The King nodded in affirmation of whatever it was he had inquired, "Yes, with this power, we can protect and preserve the Britain that we've built."
"What was it that you gathered us all here for, my king?" Gawain asked the monarch, "Your summons was rather unexpected, to say the least."
Silence fell over the courtyard as all the assembled knights stood to attention, Arturia decided that it was best to begin her explanation, "Months ago, my court mage informed me of a disquieting truth. Britain's Magic and Mystery is in decline." She spoke at the top of her voice so that all could hear her voice. The knights and soldiers had various reactions, all begging to quietly murmur amongst themselves about this revelation. While the King was a paragon of the arcane, the majority of them were disconnected from the goings-on of the moonlit world, magecraft was the business of Magi with the mundane populace content with their own development, "Both are tied deeply to our land and to our future. If they continue to degrade at this rate, then our land will begin to suffer from the lack of the World's lifeblood within it. Our country and its people will become lesser for it; the people's own joy will be lost, and the beauty that we have built and preserved will fall." Her words seemed to reach everyone, now realizing just what it meant to lose Mystery. "But there is one thing, one sacred and holy item that will enable us to avert this ignominious end. The power within the Holy Grail, the Cup of Christ himself, will be used for the sake of Britain. It will ensure that we, Camelot, Britain and its people will endure and prosper for generations to come. But the Grail rests in a land far from here, a shrine at the World's end; thus, I must ask if there are any who would volunteer to take this quest?"
After a minute, several of the knights and paladins stepped forward and vocalized their desire to go on this quest, some of the veteran knights faces glowed with loyal diligence but remained silent, knowing well enough how their King was when it came to picking their brethren.
"I will go on this quest, my king!"
"No, choose me!"
"I will venture to the Holy Land for the Cup of Christ!"
Seeing that the excitement and apprehension was whipping the crowd into a frenzy, Arturia raised her hand to halt before anyone became more aggressive with their desire to go on this quest, "Enough!" The clearing became silent once more before she continued, "I know many of you wish to undertake this quest, but this is not for the faint of heart. You who step out into the wilderness would become my sword, and as we have always done, it is the sword that shall judge you my subjects, to see who is worthy."
Making her way past the assembled Knights of the Round Table, Arturia stepped to the side where a black steel longsword rested, its tip plunged into a slab of marble alchemically fused to the floor of the courtyard...
Gently gliding her fingers along the hilt, Arturia became lost in memory briefly before she returned to the present moment. "Merlin enchanted this sword, the Sword of Elaine, to determine who shall lead two more knights on an expedition into the Holy Land, to find and recover the Holy Grail." The sword, while not as extravagant as Caliburn's gold and blue grace, nor powerful like the Divine constructs forged by the Fae or even enchanted by Naruto or Merlin to be far more proficient in combat, it held an air of purity to it, "Only one who is pure and untarnished in their resolve and belief may be able to pull this sword. Whomsoever draws it, shall lead the quest for the Holy Grail. Only they may be able to obtain the Cup of Christ and return it safely to Britain."
Her declaration seemed to further halt any sort of vocal demand to be picked for the quest. It was as if the golden glow of the King of Knights stood before them as a Holy Dragon, ready to smite them for being unable to draw out the pure blade; Tristan eyed Arturia, wondering just how much she was willing to go for the ideal leader of such a thing. Surely any of them could recover the Grail and return home safely with it?
Naruto flexed his fingers in restrained annoyance, for while he had initially volunteered to retrieve it when Arturia had suggested the quest to him in private, Arturia had forbidden him before the assembly gathered. She hid it well, but deep down, she was afraid of losing him to the hands of some overzealous marauder beyond the borders of Britain, so long as he remained within the same land as her, then she could protect him.
Gawain would have volunteered, yet he knew that deep down, his pursuit of the perfect knighthood was incomplete and thus was not worthy enough to draw the sword.
Lancelot wouldn't touch it either, knowing well enough that despite his loyalty, he had given into vice, though none knew of that.
Bedivere looked out to see that no one had stepped forward, out of doubt, lack of confidence or something else, he looked to his former squire, Galahad. If there was anyone as pure as the King asked, then it was him. Taking a few steps to position himself behind the young knight, Bedivere spoke up in support of his candidacy, "My king, I believe that Sir Galahad is worthy of drawing the sword." All eyes soon turned to the white-haired knight as his own gold eyes widened in surprise, looking back to his former teacher in confusion, "Have faith in yourself." He comforted the young man.
"Do you accept this, Sir Galahad?"
Galahad turned to Arturia's question noting how at ease she seemed, telling him with no words that there was no shame in rejecting such a task. There were times where Galahad held doubt, feeling unworthy of his position and accomplishments, much less proud for having helped remove his mentor's arm, even if he held no true part in it. A lump formed in his throat before swallowing it and made his way over to the sword, "I accept, my king." Slowly reaching to grasp the sword's hilt, Galahad could feel that the sword had been jammed deeply into the rock, no give in the marble's grip on the blade. And yet, this sword had been enchanted to determine if he was worthy. Naruto's words sparked once more in his mind; if he was believed to be worthy, then it was because he had earned it. Closing his eyes as a bead of sweat dripped down his forehead, Galahad quickly pulled on the hilt and found that it slid out with such ease as if drawn from a sheath.
Opening his eyes, Galahad was surprised by the result before a roar of applause came up, "Sir Galahad, you have proven your worth as the one to lead this quest." Arturia proclaimed with a gentle aura about her, "You may choose who may join you on this quest; two of your fellow knights from the Round Table as well as whoever you design worthy to aid you."
Thinking it over, Galahad knew well enough that the Holy Land was far from Britain, having gone to the southwest beyond Greece, beyond the ruins of the once-mighty Persian Empire, to where the Pharoah's of old would have gone to take slaves from those of the Hebrew faith. Where Moses led his people to freedom. Where David defeated Goliath. Where the Son of God himself was born from the Virgin Mary. This would no doubt be the longest, most audacious quest of his life, and he needed those who would have his back with great experience, those who would enjoy such a quest and keep the morale up. Thinking over the ones who could fulfil these roles, Galahad had come to his conclusion. Turning to the Round Table crowd, Galahad asked the question, "Sir's Percival, Guardian Knight of the Spear, and Sir Bors, Veteran of a Hundred Battles, will you two come with me to recover the Holy Grail?"
The taller white-haired knight nodded without a second thought, looking to his bald senior for if he were willing to go through with this, despite his age. Both men smiled before stepping forward to Galahad, "We accept your choice, Sir Galahad." Percival answered for the both of them, "There are some people that I know who would accompany us without hesitation."
"As would I…" Bors said, "…I know a man who had travelled deep into the Holy Land, and he would aid us in this quest."
Nodding in affirmation, the three Round Table knights turned to Arturia for her blessing, so to speak, "Sirs Galahad, Percival and Bors. May your company travel with hopes and prayers of Britain." An eruption of applause echoed throughout the clearing as the court cheered on the chosen knights as they quickly departed to make their preparations to traverse Europa into the Holy Land.
-Days Later; the Battlements-
Days had passed since the quest for the Grail had been announced, with Arturia and Naruto standing off away from any prying eyes and ears atop Camelot's battlements, wanting a private moment for themselves together, "Why didn't you let me go with them, or even on my own for the Grail, Arturia?" Naruto said as he looked to Arturia for an answer. Traversing the Holy Land and the current Europa that was in a state of being assaulted by Tiberius' reclamation movement would be something he could do far more quickly than a company of esteemed knights. And yet Arturia forbade him from doing so.
Staring out to the plains that lay before them, Arturia knew that her beloved could do it, and that any threat that fell before him would be disposed of quickly. However, there was always a 'what if' that dwelled in her head, a potential hazard that could overcome his apostle status. She knew well enough that there were some vampires who Naruto had hated, and they in turn. This was not even considering the Holy Church if any of their people came across him in the Holy Land. They would undoubtedly try to put him in a coffin regardless of his nature and allegiance to her, "Because your place is at my side…" Deciding to try and not insult his skill and battle prowess, Arturia chose her words carefully to show that she still cared and valued him, "…and with the Grail in hand, we will stand for the world to see." It wasn't straightforward, instead left to being ambiguous was something she hoped would placate him.
It seemed to assuage some doubt, but not as much as she would have liked. Naruto stared out to the plains just as she did without saying a word. Although she could see that the answer did not fully satisfy him.
'One day… we can leave this place to others and live our lives together… and the Grail will make it possible.'
This was the only thought that was on her mind. To perfect Camelot, to ensure they could live in peace and have the family she so desired with him.
Back at the palace, Tristan was overlooking the main gates from a nearby balcony where Percival and Bors had gathered the people they spoke of with horses and wagons all set to head out, with only Galahad the last to leave the grounds yet. To the red-haired knight, he continued to ponder about his King. She was righteous and just, she fought for peace and security, protecting the people as her first and foremost objective, wanting to create a utopia that would last generations. There was nothing wrong with her ideal at all, and he did believe in them still. However, Tristan wondered if she could see how her desire for perfection was taking its toll on those around her, her very heart and mind. Of course, he could see at times Arturia did have joy, but they were few and far between, with her public happiness a mask to hide her desperation to chase her ideal.
Now Tristan wondered how she would— "Sir Tristan, are you alright?"
His thoughts were interrupted when Bedivere approached him, "I am alright, Sir Bedivere, my thoughts are on the king's choices of late, that's all."
Clapping his friend on the back, Bedivere tried to ease up whatever it was that held Tristan up in tension, "Don't worry, they'll return. And with it, Britain's preserved prosperity." Bedivere never doubted his King in how she always strived towards peace and justice.
Tristan hummed in response, "I have no doubt about their chances of success, Bedivere." Not turning towards his friend's confused expression, Tristan continued on, "Rather instead, it is how our king will react to their return that concerns me."
"You believe she would dismiss it?"
"Not at all, rather… it is something else that concerns me about her." He had wondered for some time now if he could still serve Arturia. If she continued down this path to pushing others away, or cradling them like infants, or even dismissing their thoughts and hearts, Tristan was not sure if he could continue serving the King, for depending on her words and reaction to the recovery of the Grail, would spell if he would remain as a member of the Round Table if she did not correct her current ways. "Is it truly the dawn of a spring, for Autumn's ebb still sings in my ear…"
-Galahad-
For the young knight leading his first quest, Galahad felt unease yet was paradoxically ecstatic. In just a short time, he had risen from the position of a mere squire to becoming a member of the King's inner circle and privy to the dealings of the court, coupled with the eventual leading of soldiers under his command. Looking down at the Sword of Elaine and Lord Camelot that rested against the wall, Galahad felt a sense of pride within him surge before calming down, "I hope I can fulfil everyone's desire for this."
Turning back to packing his things up for the long journey ahead of him, he heard a knock on the door, thinking it was perhaps Naruto coming to ask him how he was doing, "You may enter." Expecting to face one of his mentors, he was surprised to see that it was his father instead, "Sir Lancelot…." Despite being his father, he never addressed him as such, merely forgoing it for his name instead. The rift that was between them was difficult to resolve.
"Galahad..." Lancelot spoke to try and severe the awkward air, "…I know that we have never been close but. I wanted to come in person to see you off." Guinevere had spoken how he needed to take the first step with Galahad, to try and repair their brokenness as father and son. Perhaps now would be the best time to take that first step to hopefully make it so.
Galahad snorted flippantly, "Now you choose to see me off personally?" Of all the times. "I have been here for quite some time now, and now you try to know me? I was able to accept and go beyond that you were a womanizer before finally straightening your life up under the King, and I know you had no knowledge of me until I arrived. So why now?" To him, Lancelot wasn't quite as great a man as everyone seemed to think so. Yes, he was noble, he was a kind man who went above and beyond for his friends, yet when it came to trying to be a father, he fell short of all expectations.
Lancelot couldn't fault his son for talking to him this way. Some would perhaps call him spineless, but they were not fathers with pasts such as his, "I know that we haven't had the best relationship, and I have never been a true father to you." He looked down in brief shame before gazing at his son, "But I have always felt proud of you and your accomplishments." Galahad's expression had slightly changed from dismissal to subtle surprise from his words, "When you became a member of our Round Table, I was so proud of you. And the day when you drew the sword to lead the quest for the Grail… it was the proudest day of my life to see my son go beyond what I could have done." He bent low in respect and apology, dropping to one knee as a knight would their superior, "Surpass me, Galahad. Let them sing songs of you in the far-flung future; let the name Galahad ring in the annals of history long after I have turned to dust."
Speaking his piece, Lancelot could see that his son was further surprised by his words, no doubt not believing it at first until he thought of his words and the conviction they held. Perhaps in some way, he had reached him? Galahad turned around to gather his weapons and spoke just before the son of Du Lac turned around to leave, "A knight must always be loyal to his King. He must serve the people and find the just in his cause. A knight must show the World that they are righteous." He slowly made his way past Lancelot to the doorway only to stop once more, "I will show the world that the just laws and ways of Camelot are something the world should follow in our stead, rather than allow its splendor to dim, I will make it shine in the eyes of those beyond our borders." Turning back to face his father, Galahad continued on with resolve in his voice, "Regardless as to whether or not I succeed, I will take these virtues and ideals to the ends of the Earth and back for all to see." And with that, Galahad left to join his company, leaving a father proud of his son, and with the hope by his response that perhaps they could reconnect as proper parent and child.
Upon meeting with his company, he could see that Percival and Bors had gathered several soldiers with them alongside some people whom he knew personally through them. Among those present was Claudin, the son of Claudus, who had come to Britain many months ago to escape his father and who had the hope of redeeming his family name. Dindrane, Percival's younger sister who wouldn't allow her brother to go, at least not without her, to make sure he was in good health, knowing how he would forgo his own safety for the safety of others like the older brother he was. And finally, Durnure and Lionel were also there, Pellinore and Bors sons respectively, who were eager to prove their worth as potential candidates for the Round Table.
As they fixed their wagons, mounted their steeds to leave the city gates, the caravan was given a great cheer by the people as they passed by, giving waves and smiles while receiving blessings and hopes for their success; Arturia looked on from the apex of the gates, stoic and perfect as she believed it so to maintain the perfect ideal. Naruto watched on from afar from the balcony in his tower, knowing that they would succeed if but with likely some injury of sorts, and yet when he saw Arturia, his heart ached at the sight of the love of his life continuing with this tiresome image.
"Maybe when they bring it back, she'll go back to how she was before when we started seeing each other." Speaking quietly aloud to no one but himself.
-Scotland, the Ruins of Castle Dún Scáith-
Far to the north on the Isle of Skye, a cold mistral wafted up from the slate grey sea over the ruined towers of Dún Scáith the once-great Castle of the warrior woman Scáthach had grown into disrepair, with the fortress growing decrepit since the disappearance of its former mistress nearly half a millennia ago. Deep beneath the cracked rock and dusty masonry in a hall long since abandoned, a new woman called the place home. Down in the deeper levels of the castle, several Unseelie Fae were gathered in a large hall to listen to her words. Lit by dark green willow wisps that floated in the air around them in a masterful showing of simple magecraft, the blue-skinned and sharp-toothed fair folk kept their beady black eyes locked on the end of the hall.
Sat resplendent in a throne was a young woman with long wavy plumb red-colored hair that faded to a gradient of grey towards its ends, a pale shade that mirrored her pale skin and eyes. She had pointed ears that poked out from the fringe of hair and cute facial features that were sweet to the point of being sickening, playing well with her moderate bust and trim waist. She wore an elaborate plumb red dress with white detailing running down its front and a black bow tied around her neck, detached sleeves that left her shoulders bare and ended in segmented cuffs that her red painted fingertips poked through the drum on the throne's arm wrists; the dress's bustle was undercut by a fluttering linen petticoat that exposed her thighs. The young woman was a hair over five foot six in height, but that was radically altered by her choice in footwear, thigh-high plumb red and boots with five-inch heels and platformed instep, dozens of laces lining their front from ankle to thigh. Perched atop her head was a pointed obsidian tiara made up of three spiked pillars interspersed with black diamonds.
Her name: Baobhan Sith. Adopted daughter of Morgan le Fey.
"I know a lot of you are here for your own reasons, personal or something else," Her sweet voice echoed off the tall rafters filled with barely restrained emotion, seething for vengeance long overdue, "…but regardless, we all had someone in common. My mother, Morgan."
Sith templed her fingers in thoughts of her impotence at preventing the death of her mother. On the night of Arturia's assault, she wasn't at her mother's domain due to being asked to stay in the Reverse Side to oversee the expansion of Morgan's land on that side of the dimensional barrier. It was such a confusing thing, really; taken in by the Dark Great Mother of the Fae, named her daughter after being saved from the edge of death and told that she could not come with her to the Human World? Whatever the reasons her mother had, she had arrived too late to do anything to prevent her death. Only to see the city vanish back to the Reverse Side after traversing Europa to find a new place to set a second domain up. Her mother's Black Captains, who were present among those in the hall, were given their orders to retreat to the Reverse Side, where they informed her of what was occurring.
"She fought for us, killed for us, and was prepared to take the Isles of Britain back for us Fae, and dethrone the humans who would take away our birthplace." She looked out to see that some of those that Morgan associated closely with were present in the front.
Of those assembled, two stood out as lacking any human features beyond simple walking upright, and both were striking in their own way. The first was a lycanthrope standing near nine feet in height with a severe canine face set into a perpetually snarling grimace, the fur of his muzzle and face was a greyish black while his eyes and a long wild mane of hair was snow white. He wore a dark grey tailcoat with gold detailing on the epaulettes and lapels over a matching waistcoat and pants, and as with most of the more bestial Fae, he chose not to wear any shoes in favor of leaving his clawed feet on display. A long bushy white tail swayed behind him menacingly, and each of his hands were long-fingered and ended in black talons that seemed vicious enough to rend steel with the lightest of scratches.
Lord Woodwose, one of Morgan's closest allies since her days of yore. He rose to the rank of leader of the Fang Clan in an effort to help her, but by the time he had done so, Morgan had been killed. When word had reached him, Woodwose slaughtered the messenger out of anger and hate at those who had done so to take one of the few beings that he considered a friend. But he was not the only one who had heeded her call to assemble on this cold spring evening beneath Dún Scáith.
Lent up against one of the many pillars was a man standing just under six feet with an average build, the first noticeable thing about him was his elongated elven ears that marked him as a member of the fairy folk. The man had a long face with narrow blue eyes and long blonde hair gathered in a top knot at the back of his head before draping down past his shoulders in a blonde wave, two pronounced wrinkles underscored his eyes, giving the man a middle-aged look but his thin-lipped wide mouth was set in a smug smirk. He wore a simple brown robe draped to just above his knees with red and gold gilded cuffs over a light brown sleeveless quilted doublet with a collar that matched his cuffs. In addition, he wore slightly baggy black trousers tucked into soft black boots, and the Fae wore a pair of white linen gloves. For accessories, the man wore a red scarf around his neck and anchored to his ensemble by a small silver pauldron on his left shoulder, and a guardless shortsword was strapped to the back of his waistline.
Lord Spriggan had come.
He and Morgan, while not the closest, were associates, with Spriggan being one of those who would feed her information from both the Fae and the Humans. It was only due to Morgan that he was able to take the position as head of the Earth Clan.
The other of the two monstrous beings was a humanoid of similar height to Woodwose, though this one was in many ways more horrifying than the upstanding wolfman. Eyes were immediately drawn to his head, a cross between a man's lower jaw and a stag's head with flaring nostrils and large bloody red eyes. Large deer's antlers poked out from either side of his head, covered in bloody felt that had been scraped off like a beast in rutting season, the tips sharpened into wicked points. His muscular body rippled with inhuman muscle, arms possessing additional joints where a human would have none to compensate for their size and hands that were stained in blood. He forewent any clothing on his upper body save for a tattered black cloak that covered him from shoulder to knee, leaving his chest visible, covered as it was in swirling Celtic tattoos. Each forearm was tightly banded in rune encrusted bronze vambraces while his legs were covered in a thick pelt of some long-dead phantasmal. Strapped to his back was an oversized quiver containing several oily black spears, their heads specially barbed to make them a nightmare to pull out as well as black chains attached to his belt where an old horn sat dinged and stained with the blood of countless hunts.
Gwyn ap Nudd, Tuathen demigod, the descendant of Cerrnunos and the former leader of the Wild Hunt before the King of Knights overtook his position with the power of Rhongomyniad to strike down the King of Mors. Morgan had given him aid whenever he had inquired about her for it, and she asked for nothing in return but to maintain his position to ensure that humanity could not overtake the Fae.
"We all know that it was the so-called King of Knights…." Sith spoke the title with sarcasm, "…had killed Morgan. Her own sister, flesh and blood. Someone that she shouldn't have raised a hand to and cleaved her head from her shoulders!" She slammed a clenched fist down onto the throne, leaving cracks on the seat and displaying strength that her lithe form would not suggest. "Arturia Pendragon was one of the Avalon le Fae! A being meant to save us and save Britain! Only to instead turn against us and her own sister, another who bore the title!" Woodwose let a dangerously low growl at that, "So what should we do? Well, I don't know about you all, but I'm in the mood for some revenge against those responsible for my mother's death." She gestured out to everyone present, "I may not be my mother, but I want you to know that we will kill the ones who killed Morgan le Fey. They'll all suffer for what they did to her, to us, and to the Fae they supposedly stand for." The Unseelie all cheered in dark agreement, as Gwyn nodded slowly for the upcoming storm that they would unleash. "We are the stewards of this planet, not them, let us remind them why they should be afraid of what goes bump in the night."
Woodwose stepped up before Sith to ask her a question, "Baobhan Sith, you are your mother's daughter, yet if we vow to give Morgan justice, then shouldn't we have rules to ensure that we…." Gesturing around him to everyone present, "…are not considered to be the animals in the end. Justice should be equal and just, not unmeasured and overzealous, no?"
Sith nodded at the lycanthrope fae's words, "Yes, hear me and obey." Holding her hand up, Sith then began to raise each finger up for each rule she presented, "Firstly, no children will be harmed. We all know it's because of them that we can continue to grow and exist here. Children who don't pass on to whatever afterlife they believe in becoming one of us, Seelie or Unseelie."
"Secondly, there will be no collateral damage." Some of the Unseelie hissed at Sith's restraint, but they were silenced quickly by Woodwose's roar of order sending the shivering with, "If that upsets you then grow a thicker skin, but our targets are the ones responsible for mother's death, this Arturia and her inner circle were the ones who did the deed. So they, and those close to them will pay for it in death and despair. Only them, no more, no less." One of the Unseelie Fae was about to protest, that is until they felt the tip of Gwyn's spears pointed at his throat to silence him with a deadly glare.
"Thirdly, have some restraint, we can't have a bloodbath on our hands, else we are no different from the butchers we hunt." On that they seemed to agree. Spriggan did see that despite some of the earlier protests, the Unseelie didn't disagree with this proclamation.
Raising her pinky, Sith set her final rule, "And lastly, if you do have to kill someone, make sure to clean up after yourself. Even if you have to torture them and all that bloody business before killing them, make sure they're compensated, we are part of this World, a just force meeting out justice. Let them fear our wrath but love our compassion. After all, we do still need humans to feed off their presence in the land. The same goes for their children, like I said before." Another thing that perplexed some of those gathered was just how less cruel Sith seemed compared to the image that Morgan had created among those in the isles.
The Black Captains glanced at one another with one thought in mind: She was too weak in their eyes. Yet because the Dark Mistress had made the vampiric Fae her daughter, they were obliged to follow her. Her prowess with magecraft could not be denied. Why Morgan kept Sith away from the darkness despite having used the Black Arts to bring her back from the brink of death was beyond them.
Nevertheless, they agreed with Sith in wanting to make it so that their leader, the Dark Great Mother would have justice. Vengeance against the bastard child.
"Before we enact anything…." Gwyn grunted over the rabble, "…we must remove the Dead Apostle from the false King's side. With him at her beck and call, it will be difficult regardless of what we do." Many of the Unseelie hissed at the mention of Naruto, with several calling him a traitor. A being brought into the night, the darkness, should have served Morgan, not the light she was opposed to. "Remove him from the field, and we will have our vengeance. Camelot's inner circle would fall like a house of cards in a stiff breeze."
"And we'll get our pound of flesh from each, and every one of those small fry knights before all is said and done." Sith proclaimed, "Arturia Pendragon will pay for turning her back on us all, on mother. And anyone else she holds dear will suffer for it, like we've suffered!"
The hall erupted into dark cheer once more, with Spriggan pulling something out of his sleeve: a small bottle with a butterfly familiar within it. "I believe I have something that will help us start things up." Holding the bottle high for everyone to see.
"What is it?" Woodwose inquired, unsure as to what it was.
Tossing the bottle up to Sith, Spriggan gave an ambiguous shrug, "It was something I had traded for from someone at the Court of Avalon. They witnessed something that would bring chaos to the perfect order that they seem so fervent in protecting." Gesturing for Baobhan to open the bottle, she held her hand out for the butterfly to land onto her palm before it released a cloud of fine dust that held what it had witnessed. Everyone present had gasped at what they saw, that is until Sith gave a dark smile, "As it turns out, a certain knight was rather unchivalrous with his queen." Spriggan chuckled at the sight, "What a disastrous affair this will make of things."
As the dark cabal began to make their preparations for their revenge, back in the Reverse Side, two fae women were confined to a large prison-like chamber in the Black Captain's domain that retreated back to the Reverse Side, along with Morgan's domain that seperated itself from the two fortresses.
The first woman had fit the criteria for what many would call an amazon, six foot three with a voluptuous body that was interwoven with thick and powerful muscle. She had cyan colored eyes with flecks of orange and long thick pale blonde hair that tumbled chaotically down her front and back. Inset into the top of her head as if fused to her very skull was a strange headband with four antennae-like spikes, the same mix of cyan and orange as her eyes. She was garbed in tattered grey and brown rags that just hid her modesty and did nothing to obscure her thick muscled thighs, toned abdomen and prodigious bust, her feet were caked in mud and filth leading up to wide black iron shackles with trailing chains.
She looked across the room over to a large table where she saw the only other occupant in the room that had yet to awaken, "Can you hear me?" The Fae asked the smaller one, hoping that her voice echoing would help stir them awake. It seemed to have an effect as she mumbled briefly in an attempt to wake up, only to turn on her side to face the chained Fae.
In sharp juxtaposition to the towering amazon of a woman, the girl was a young woman who looked to be in her mid-teens easily under five feet in height, her petite body wholly obscured by a floor-length tattered black cloak. She had straight pearlescent white hair with twin ellipsoid bangs framing either side of her adolescent face that was stoic save for her expressive golden-brown eyes and twin short black horns that poked from between the white tresses of silk.
Getting up from the stone table, the petite Fae tried to sit up and walk, only for her feet to give way and collapsing back to the ground, "Ugh…."
"Are you alright?" The amazon woman asked in concern. The petite Fae looked back to the amazon with some skepticism, thinking that maybe she was someone else, "I don't know about you, but… but I'm also a prisoner here."
The petite Fae attempted to sit up since her legs were relatively weak with some success to lay on her back against the table, "Prisoner?"
The amazon nodded, "Yes, I was waiting for a woman named Morgause who had helped me many years ago, but she never returned." She wasn't sure if maybe the same thing happened to her fellow prisoner who had gone through the same thing, having been out of it when she was brought it, but it wouldn't hurt to know, "Did the Black Hand bring you here?"
The petite Fae looked down as she scrunched her nose in disgust, "…I want to kill them for bringing me here…."
The amazon narrowed her eyes at that knowledge but took solace in it as well, "Then we both have been made prisoners by that disgusting man."
"What's your name?"
The amazon looked at the petite Fae, seeing that she was slowly regaining her strength to speak appropriately, "My name is Barghest, and what of you? Do you have a name?"
The petite Fae shook her head in response, "I haven't got a name..."
This would be the beginning of a partnership between two Fae determined to seek what they wished for…
Correspondence between Cardinal Noi Seonator Granfatima and Pope John Paul II
Your eminence
I understand the questioning you have made to me of the need for the Burial Agency when the regular Executors that make up the various Sacrament Assembly's do an apt job in dealing with the banal dead and hieratic magi who break away from their heathen association but believe me when I tell you that even today the power of the Dead Apostle Ancestors is not something to be understated. The eldest of their number has persisted for the better part of five millennia and of their collective of 28 even the weakest had the power to wipe a city from the face of the Earth with very little effort. But should my words not persuade you then I offer evidence of infringements into our interests produced by the so-called 'Benign Ancestor.'
As you may have read in the scriptures of the Opus Dei upon your ascension to the papal office but during our blessed crusades into the Holy Land the presence of Dead Apostle activity was at an all-time high with scores of Holy Paladins and Executors consumed on mass by notable Apostles such as Nrvnqsr Chaos and [REDACTED] but most curious of all is the case of Naruto Uzumaki. For reasons that are held in strong academic conjecture by our historians, Uzumaki was sighted in the Holy Land in 1191 AD whereupon he murdered not a single soul, instead looking for an artifact which we believe may have ties to the Grail of our lord. What perplexes us is that he was accompanied by the White Princess of the True Ancestors and in turn was attacked by [REDACTED] believed to have been dispatched by Trhvmn Ortenrosse, the first of the dead. While Merem Solomon has proved infuriating to get out the particulars of the engagement the collateral damage is well recorded as the map of an area equating to 112 square kilometers of the Judaean mountain range had to be redrawn to varying degrees from the battle.
That is the power of three Ancestor level opponents, and if my sources are correct the totality of their power outstrips anything the Church currently wields beyond the Burial Agency. I hope that this convinced you of the necessity of our organization and wish you to be in high spirits come next fiscal meeting.
May the lord protect you and let his word flow through you
Your humble servant.
Cardinal Noi Seonator Granfatima
Chapter 15: Chapter 13: The Fall of Camelot Part II
Chapter Text
Chapter 13 – The Fall of Camelot Part II
-Autumn 483 AD; the Tower of Magi-
"Not in Cornwall, either." Sitting down in his chair, looking up at a map on the wall enchanted by Naruto to help him find things, he waved a hand over to mark Cornwall's location where many others bore the same red X signifying failure.
It had been over sixteen months since Galahad had ventured off with Percival, Bors and their company, and the country was stable as ever. Britain remained a beacon of hope and a shining example of civility, just laws set by its King and reasonable taxation. The stability was thanks in no small part to Agravain's management skills for all things analytical and mundane, something Naruto was silently thankful for. He could only handle so much number crunching and fund allocation by himself and simply didn't have enough time to micromanage an entire nation.
Despite this, the people were still endeared to Arturia, their Once and Future King as they had called her. Even though some of the nobles and even the rare occasion commoners had grown restless with the peaceful status quo, she was the one whose words would soothe them, becoming the centerpiece of the tranquility of their country.
"I guess now all I have to do is ask the fairies if they've seen Merlin." Naruto pulled out a sheaf of parchment and began to write down a request to the budding association in Londinium if they could spare some measure of help, albeit indirectly, in finding the flower magus who had gone missing right around the same time that the Grail Hunt company had left to journey through the Holy Land. They were all, by this point, used to Merlin's penchant for wandering and tolerated his occasional consumption of dreams as was his half incubus nature, content in the knowledge that he would make his way back to them eventually. Despite how things appeared to the outside of Camelot's peace, on the inside with those who governed and managed it, a tiny sliver of turmoil was beginning to fester and spread.
The longest Merlin had ever been gone for was half a year, and that had been with good knowledge of where he had been headed and common messages from the eccentric man with cryptic updates of his progress and exploits. Not once in the first six months did Merlin send any news, nor had tales of his exploits filtered back to the capital, just an uneasy silence as if he had dropped off the face of the earth. After that, the Round Table had been forced to conclude that the King's teacher and premiere Court Magus was missing. Since then, Arturia had tasked Naruto with finding their old teacher, hoping he could help them stabilize the moonlit world once the Grail had been returned to their hands. Cornwall, Bath, York, Essex, Colchester, and even going as far north as the ruins of Orkney and Vortigern's old crumbling fortress to find him had proven fruitless in Naruto's endeavors. The remnants of Naruto's spy network in Europa not tasked with monitoring Tiberius' forces squatting on the border of King Ban's lands had turned up nothing of note. Oh, there were always rumors of court magi from the Rhine to the Bosphorus, but none turned out to be the illusive white-haired man.
Templing his fingers, Naruto looked up at the rafters of his office and lost himself deep in thought, idly watching as motes of dust were picked out in sunbeams shining in through the windows. They lingered there, floating on steady air currents that made them bob and weave in patterns known only to them, an unfathomable dance choreographed by an unseen hand. Yes, there was something else at play here. His spy network had been suffering peculiar disappearances in the last year, failures to check-in that resulted from vanishings not unlike Merlin's, as if they had been spirited away by some unseen force. Were the two incidents connected? Possible, but Naruto's gut told him that it was not the case, but that did not change the fact that his teacher was still missing.
"Why didn't he leave a message of something behind to tell us where he went?" Naruto spoke aloud to himself, his voice echoing off the high ceiling.
'Who knows?' Kurama chimed in, 'Maybe he saw something that we couldn't know about until he returns? All I can say is that until then, it is for you to keep filling in for him at court.'
Finishing up with his writing, Naruto folded the parchment up and sealed it in an envelope and gave it his personal seal, the Uzumaki swirl surrounded by the four arrows of the Fae, 'Maybe, but who can say how much longer that will be?' Making his way over to the nearby window, Naruto tied the letter off to a messenger bird, using a simple mystery to give it the mental image of where he needed it delivered before it flew off to its destination.
He had sent a clone off to the realm where Oberon and Titania had sent word through Blanca that he needed to be informed of something stirring in the Fae's realm, something they did not exactly trust committing to parchment. That was an aspect of duplicitousness and espionage that he tolerated with chagrin; the roundabout method of communication was a necessity he understood but did not like. Jumping through hoops just to hear something important was at best an inconvenience and at worst detrimental to long-standing plans. He could feel the weight of his responsibilities to his love and their kingdom like a lead weight pressing down on his shoulders.
Another thing that had been placed on his shoulders was the connection between the realms of Men and Fae.
Having taken over much of Merlin's court mage duties since vanishing, Naruto had fashioned himself a new staff that resembled Marmyadose before he altered it for battle, now having the same type of mana rich crystal at the top of the stave, allowing him to empower his own magecraft, having named it Chastiefol. In a flurry of clothing, he was soon garbed in white and blue, pulling the hood up that hid the top of his face and made all those without the touch of the moonlit world see him as the errant meddler from Emrys.
Making his way out to Arturia, who had gone outside the castle's barrier, Naruto wanted to see how she was doing today, considering it was the anniversary of Ector's passing. The younger blonde had thrown herself into her work as of late, not really taking the time to properly unwind and step back away from governance as Ector would've wanted her to one day. Along the way, guardsmen who patrolled the palace would nod their heads in good day while quickly standing to attention, and while Naruto returned their polite gestures, his mind continued wrestling with what could've befallen Merlin, with Kurama cutting to the heart of the possibility he did not want to contemplate.
'It's entirely possible that he might no longer be with us. He wasn't exactly short on enemies.' It wouldn't have surprised the beast that someone whom Merlin had dealings with had set out to extract their pound of flesh after the hooded hermit either duped them or slept with one of their daughters, wife, etc.
Though going about that task was challenging to say the least. Naruto shook his head to dismiss such a prospect, 'No, I highly doubt that. Merlin always had a way to cheat death, and Fou would've returned here if he somehow kicked the bucket.' Merlin was slippery in ways that defied belief and sense even for the Moonlit World, it would take something both powerful and insidious to catch him flat-footed, and even then, 'If you managed to kill a perpetual thorn in your side, you'd tell everyone you could to let them know you had achieved a great victory. There's more than one nobleman on them that would happily have proudly bragged about mounting Merlin's skull on a pike.' He added, the absence of death rumours was a deeply foreboding omen. To be a Magus was to walk with death, and to those that didn't want you dead, be even more afraid.
And with Merlin's absence came more of the responsibilities he held when dealing with the Mage's Association as they continued excavating the remains of Albion. Naruto understood well enough just how much value was in the mountain-sized corpse of the phantasmal, the mineral deposits of precious gems, flora and fauna that simply came into existence in its presence would be enough to fill an Empire's coffers for ten thousand years, and that was just the mundane applications.
At last count, the budding Spirit Tomb had transitioned into an interstice between the physical world and the reverse side, a mix of textures twisting and coiling in the depths of its guts that had once been thought lost could be glimpsed if one dug deep enough. However, the blonde couldn't help but feel bad for the beast's body desecrated.
Naruto would've preferred to head to Londinium in person to discuss things with the families in charge of preserving Albion, but Arturia had strongly implied that she wanted him to remain in the capital to keep up with the court duties that were thrust upon him. However, Naruto believed that there was another reason entirely for how she felt that perhaps he too would vanish like Merlin did, and she was afraid of that prospect. A fear that, while maybe a little silly, recent times had shown Naruto that sometimes those farfetched fears were well-founded.
Ector had passed away due to disease.
Periwinkle had succumbed to old age.
Even as her dark and distant family were no longer here, put to the sword at Arturia's hand but gone all the same. Time was the harbinger of many of the world's ills, the vanguard of the last enemy that shall be destroyed. And with each passing day, things inexorably marched towards the inevitability of age and change.
Kay was starting to get older, seemingly following the same path that Ector had done so with being Lord Regent in times when Arturia was away from the capital. Would she have to stand over her brother's grave one day, when he was but dust and she an unchanging figure, forever the eighteen-year-old young woman? Why was time so fickle to rob her of her family?
And despite how the Orkney siblings were family, Arturia was never as close to them as she would have liked.
In the end, for Arturia, all she had left was Naruto himself.
He was hoping that he could change that by introducing the bundle of joy that was Mordred to her, but work and fate went hand in hand and prevented it at every opportune moment that would've allowed it.
Sighing as he continued on through the palace, Naruto soon passed through the doorway leading out into town and extended his senses to find Arturia out further away, at the graveyard as he'd expected, "She must be talking to Ector." Naruto said to himself as he made his way to his lover.
-Camelot's Graveyard-
Standing before the gravesite of Sir Ector of the Forest Savauge, Arturia held a bouquet of flowers of various colors in her hand; she hadn't been there for his final day, so she made it her mission to treat the anniversary with the reverence it deserved.
"Hello, Ector… dad…." Setting the flowers down on the tomb, Arturia's throat became parched, her emotions flushed through her form like a bitter treacle as they always did when revisiting these memories, "…can you see me from your place in Heaven? A-Are you proud?" The tomb had been constructed by a master mason, white marble with a relief of the late lord sleeping in repose upon a stone bed, sword clasped between his hands. For a man whose face appeared to be carved from granite in life, the marble features seemed softer than she remembered. It was still far more rigid than the emaciated figure she had gazed upon after pulling back his shroud, broken by disease yet still able to lay as if sleeping restfully.
Taking a deep breath, she shuddered slightly, Arturia tried to recompose herself, "Proud of all that I've achieved? That Britain, our homeland, is stable and safe from all of those who tried to poison and destroy it." Dipping her head down subtly, she continued as if he were in front of her, "You taught me how to be a just king, and just I have become. I've set down just laws, and just people stand beside me. But if everything in this world is perfect, then why is the Moonlit World that I've been charged with safekeeping and its caretaking withering away, just as you did?" Ever since Oberon had told her about the Holy Grail and its power, she could feel the air in Britain begin to change around her. The seasons seemed less vivid, lacking that which filled them with life and color, the birds sang fewer songs on the wind, the faeries came out less to play with children at times, and the dogs were hardly chasing the toys their owners would take out to play with them, the cats did not curl up on the open windows to enjoy the breeze. For a moment, she allowed herself a sweet fantasy that the marble relief of Ector would open a disgruntled eye and cuff her around the ear for worrying over something so childish, to take pride in herself for good work; God, how she missed those days.
"I don't think for a second," Her love's voice came with no warning, merging seamlessly with the rustle of leaves between the graves, "that Ector would view you with anything but pride for all of what you've done." Not turning to see Naruto come up behind her, he placed his hands on her shoulders in comfort to massage away what troubled her, "And you continue to make him proud to this day." He knew that Ector loved Arturia like his own and raised her to be a good leader and a good person that many would admire and endear.
Arturia said nothing in response at first, though her shoulders slackened in the comfort of his presence, yet a stiffness remained, "Camelot stands tall like a beacon of perfection for the world to see." Looking into the sky, she continued to air her thoughts, "As King, it is my duty to uphold it so that others may one day share it. Perfection: it is something I must uphold, no matter the weight of it all, I shall bear it." Arturia gently moved her lovers' hands from her shoulders as she looked out away from the gravesites, back to the city that they built, "If I do not, then it will slip and crumble before me, and there will be naught a chance to rebuild it."
Naruto stepped in front of Arturia to try and comfort her. Yet, it seemed that perhaps now was not the time for her green eyes darting this way and that for potential threats, unwanted eyes that might catch a taboo moment of sincerity and hold it against them. Even though she and Naruto continued to remain intimate in private, behind closed doors and in bed, showering one another with love and affection, Arturia continued to don the stoic façade in the eyes of the public. Over time, she had gotten better at it, presenting the King while showing the woman only to him. She could be hard as iron to those who derided her, and those who had the gall to do it to her face were in for an unpleasant day.
One had openly mocked Arturia for her age, stating a child king like her would be unable to project strength and dominance over the people, and she would run behind her advisors for help. Even though Naruto was about to tell him to apologize and piss off for insulting their King, Arturia had thrown his words back in his face, with old men stuck in their ways, unable to see the way forward would only run the country into the ground, albeit in an indirectly and sarcastically polite manner.
After the noble had been laughed out of the court after begrudgingly apologizing to the King, Arturia quickly left to vent her frustrations with Naruto there to listen. It was an outlet valve she just naturally developed, and nowadays, Arturia wouldn't bat an eye to any insult or remark slung her way, merely scoffing at their words.
But this wasn't what bothered Naruto at the moment, "What's on your mind, Arturia?" Despite how the lack of privacy was concerning, there was not a soul in sight or earshot of their conversation, "I know that lately you've been uncomfortable at times, and I'm worried for you." He wanted to understand why her behavior had been as such of late, "A king shouldn't feel unsafe in her own lands, tell me what's wrong."
Arturia's nostrils flared, "There's nothing-" she barked before catching Naruto's gaze, concern and empathy in their ruby depths. She averted her eyes as if scolded by the tenderness, Arturia took a moment to tamp down on the small flash of guilt at her ire. Seeing how all Naruto wanted to do was help, Arturia decided to air her concerns, "It's Galahad and the Grail." Turning back to the blonde apostle, she stared into his ruby-slitted eyes, still seeing just how human he was despite his status of the living dead, "More and more, I think of them each day. With its power, we would not have to worry about the decline of Britain's mystery, and Camelot would be perfected. And then we can..." The sound of church bells ringing off in the city's church resounded through the air as Arturia turned towards it, almost longing for its meaning, "then we could have time for ourselves and share the love we have for one another with the world."
As the bells continued to ring, all Arturia could do was reminisce on the weddings that they had held in recent times, even back to her false marriage with Guinevere. But honestly, what she desired more than just a perfect country and kingdom, was a life with Naruto. Just the two of them in the country in a cottage with a family of little girls and boys playing with pets, tending to chores, growing, learning. They had earned a happy ending, and the time was coming due for her to deliver it.
If only she could, she would walk down that aisle and trade her vows with him. To share the loving kiss to seal their matrimony.
Naruto could see that she wanted to break off the persona she had built up as the King and become the girl that was robbed from her. But with no heir present to take over one day, to give Arturia the chance to be a true parent, what Morgan robbed them of the opportunity, leaving it all to him for the most part of raising Mordred when she was in the city and could get away from the dark fae witch. Once this business with Tiberius was cleaned up and Merlin found, he'd make their family talk happen, and they would figure things out from there. Or rather, that is what Naruto would have done had he not just received the clone's memories of what Oberon had just told him.
His face darkened as he absorbed the information, something that Arturia noted, "What is it?"
"Oberon informed me about several people vanishing from their homes, up in the border nearing Scotland." Naruto informed her, "He and Titania suspect the involvement of faeries when they sent their own people to look into it, but beyond that, nothing has emerged from their own investigation."
Resisting the urge to curse at another incident that prevented her from truly pursuing her desires, Arturia could only ask the question on her mind with this news, "Is it truly urgent enough that we need to act on it now?" Arturia did not want to downplay these disappearances, as the last time such a thing occurred, Vortigern had turned scores of villagers into horrendous ghouls that took the lives of her soldiers before they had the chance to help strike down her usurper of an uncle. Now though, she didn't want to think of who could be behind this; she wanted to have a brief reprieve from the weight of Britain, a reprieve for the both of them.
Shaking his head at the question, Naruto felt it best that it would be handled differently, "No, I can take another member of the round table up to investigate it later, once I have more information. Only a couple of houses have been found vacant compared to last time." The more pressing matter lay across the channel in mainland Europa, "Tiberius is sitting at the border King Ban's like a fat toad, and there's no telling when he'll cross it and challenge us by doing so." Despite how much of a fight that the neighboring lands and lords put up, the Roman legionnaires had swatted them aside, now having set camp on their doorstep, so to speak. If Ban and Brittany fell, then Rome would turn north across the channel to the last bastion of freedom that was Camelot and Britain.
Arturia looked downtrodden by the news, her shoulders visibly sagged as she made her way back to the palace to make ready for whatever came their way, yet she could not hold her tongue as she all but whispered a question to Naruto, "It never ends, does it?" Passing by her lover, Naruto wanted to reach out and comfort Arturia, yet she was already out of his reach.
Slow to act, slow to think.
All Naruto could do was follow her step behind as her loyal retainer and arcane knight, and by night, hopefully, comfort her worries of the burden she held so heavily, despite how much he and others had done to lift it from her shoulders. So much to do, so little time and time marched on even for those it did not touch.
-The Training Grounds-
"Put your backs into it, men!" The boisterous voice that belonged to Mordred was heard over the din of soldiers training in the field, "Come on, you lot may be older than me, but age doesn't matter when you have the skills and tenacity to reach victory!" Seeing that war was possibly on their doorstep, Mordred decided to oversee the conditioning of some of their older veterans from the unification days to make sure they still had the edge to win. No matter the quality of a weapon left idle for too long, it would develop rust, the veterans were no different, so the horned knight saw fit to put them to the grindstone. She had some of the newer and younger recruits brought alongside the older soldiers and placed into mixed groups to help one another since she couldn't be everywhere to give any advice or motivation to everyone, even if her charismatic voice loudly carried across the field.
"Perhaps you should join us, Sir Mordred?" One of the older veterans asked in good humor.
A younger recruit jokingly shoved the veteran as he came up behind them, "As if a prestigious knight such as Sir Mordred needed to train with us rank and filers."
"He's right," Another of the soldiers said, "Sir Mordred was chosen by the King! A knight of the round, I doubt any of us could come close to such strength and caliber!"
"Who knows, maybe with the King apparently impotent in bed," One of the newer recruits spoke up as he looked off to the palace, "perhaps Arthur will make Sir Mordred the new king?"
Now that was something Mordred openly scoffed at, "No, I'm not suited to be a king. I'm not perfect like King Arthur is and all of what he's done to safeguard our country and lands." Not only that, but she would also have no patience when it came to dealing with the nobles who sneered at the progress that the King made sure occurred so the people could become better than what they were. Some of them were content with leaving the commoners in the dark ages before Camelot's founding.
The veterans among them didn't seem to fully agree with Mordred's words, "Perhaps, perhaps not. But Sir Mordred, many of, if not all of those in the army here would follow your lead into battle. Your charisma and strength match the King's own, and that is not something the other Round Table knights possess, not even Sir Gawain himself."
Even though they could not see Mordred's face and knew not her gender, they had come to see the horned knight as one they could follow through with her actions. Her loyalty to the people and the King was highly commendable, as the troops she led before all saw how she took on much of the rebel forces to ensure that her men would not take the brunt of their attack, despite how she needed not do so. Mordred led from the front, she would break an enemy rush and do what it took to win, but she was down to earth enough to understand the plight of the common folk, still choosing to room in the barracks from time to time even though she had quarters in the main keep.
Beneath her helm, Mordred sighed appreciatively at the positive praise she was given before twirling her gauntleted finger up above in the air, "Those of you in plate and mail, ten laps around the training field. Can't have you getting exhausted after a light warmup." She proclaimed loudly so that everyone could hear. "Move your assess!"
All of the soldiers present quickly stood at attention as they gave a salute to Mordred, "Yes, Sir Mordred!"
As they all began to run laps in the training field with the cacophony of noise so much moving metal entailed, Mordred made her way over to the nearby tree before leaping into the air to land on the tallest branch that allowed her to gaze out to part of the capital, "Heh, everyone's happy today, like always." Mordred mused before she spotted the King and her mom off in the distance. It was strange to see them out and about in the city, but judging from the direction they came from, the only thing she knew from there was the city graveyard. It took her a minute before realizing that today was the anniversary of Ector's passing. The knight who had raised and trained the King from birth.
It was a shame that Ector had succumbed to disease before Mordred could ever become a knight; she would've enjoyed meeting and talking with such a man to raise the King, wondering if he was anything like Kay.
Her musings of Ector were cut short as the King and mom returned to the palace, and upon closer inspection of their visages, all Mordred saw was sadness, "Why do they look so miserable?" It baffled Mordred to no end. Here in Britain, in their capital of Camelot, the people were happy, joyous and smiling at the peace and strength that protected them. The army admired their King and generals, with even the nobles who were gracious enough to give their support were eager to keep the peaceful status quo. Yet King Arthur and mother looked as if they could not share it. Were their responsibilities to the kingdom preventing them from enjoying it all? Their duties as King and court mage often took much of their time away from anything personal, yet was there nothing to help ease their burden?
"Mother, what can I do to help you and the king?" As she contemplated the possibilities, the young knight said to herself, "Even if I couldn't be king, there must be something I can do."
-Elsewhere-
In another time and place, all was quiet in a void of nothingness. No birds. No trees. No wind. Nothing. It was here that nothing resided beneath the world, in between the Top and Reverse Sides, where things from above could come down below, yet as something came down, it halted in the void before it could go any further.
A pitch-black miasma surrounded the figure that slowly took form into an amorphous humanoid shape as it stretched its limbs to reach out to where it was with but a single thought as it held no voice, "Where am I…? Who am I…?" The head had taken form as it would have gazed down its form had it held eyes, yet a strange form of vision allowed it to 'see', "Why… why can't I remember anything? What is my name?"
As if some force sensed the shade's pleas, a searing light enveloped it, changing its scenery from the void into what felt like a phantom memory, "This place…."
The shade found itself now gazing at two occupants within a castle room, a breathtakingly beautiful woman reading a book to a little girl. A mother and daughter bonding through a small moment as they sat within a cozy chair with blankets and cushions settled on it to comfort those who sat in it.
The girl was a pretty little thing in her preteens with long blonde hair that glinted in the morning light like spun gold, trailing down her back in twin tails, her pretty face was familiar, but something was odd about it, a pair of blue eyes shone out from her face which was set in an excited childish grin. She wore a white and black sleeveless tunic with a high collar with a pair of fabric tacets hanging from either hip; shaped like kite shields, they were black plains with downward pointing white arrows. The tacets hung over a cut off white skirt which was quilted and embroidered with delicate black buttons at the corner of each quilt and a series of amber tassels hanging from just under its hem. Her legs were clad in simple black tights tucked into soft light brown boots, while her hands were covered in grey leather gloves with gauntlets that stopped a third up her forearms; three glistening black buttons adorning each one sparkled as the girl swung her arms with childlike glee.
The girl's mother was breathtaking. She had features identical to her daughter save for several key differences, for one was that her hair was platinum blonde and her ears tapered to a point amidst the floor-length straight white hair that hung in a high ponytail using a black bow. She wore a simple but expensive long-sleeved white gown that exposed a tantalizing portion of her prodigious cleavage in a plunging V-neck. The exposed skin of her pale chest was littered with flowing red and black tattoos of fae script that ran up her sternum towards her neck before encircling it like a choker, two more branches of this script trailed over the top half of each breast before disappearing into the folds of the sheer garment, so shear that when she moved you could make out that the tattoos traced her entire body.
The girl cuddled up to her mother to try and read the book she held in her hand, "Mother, can you read me another story. One about the dwarves and elves across the sea?" She asked with inquisitive innocence. The shade looked at her face and felt that she should know her, yet the scene before it could not make the connection between them.
The woman responded with a gentle, soothing voice, "Alright, Tonelico. Perhaps afterwards, we will tend to the garden after it's been so long since we last did it ourselves." The mother situated herself as the girl now known as Tonelico cuddled up in her mother's lap with the scenery now sparking recognition within the shade.
"This is a memory. My memory." As realization comes to the shade, "My name was Tonelico. And my mother… her name was Igraine." Warmth seemed to surge within the shade that now remembered its name, seeing what it once cherished in life.
The wife of Uther Pendragon, the former King of Britain before his brother, Vortigern, usurped and killed him.
Yet this beautiful moment was destroyed as an armored knight thrust the door open as he stomped into the room, "The time has come for the child's training." His demanding tone left no room for argument, yet this did not stop Igraine from trying to protest.
Setting the book down on the nearby dresser, Igraine picked her daughter up and shielded her from the knight while holding her hand. Tonelico tried to hide behind her mother as she gripped her gown for dear life, "Please, she doesn't get to have peaceful moments like this often!" Igraine exclaimed as she tried to protect her daughter, "She's too young to go through with something like this! She will never recover from the pain she's put through!"
The knight ignored her protest as he stomped across the room and delivered a backhanded slap across Igraine's pale cheek, bruising it to mar her beauty as an insult with his words, "Fae whor*. You would dare object to the King's command? He who took you in and gave you your life?" As Igraine fell to the floor away from her daughter, Tonelico rushed to her side to try and heal her mother with the little knowledge of magecraft she had, but the knight denied her the chance as she gripped her by the arm and began dragging her against her will, "The child will be put through the training. Now."
"Mother!" Tonelico tried to hit the knight in the leg to force him to let go, yet it did nothing to deter him.
"Stay silent, child!" The knight jerked her around as he carried her by the arm to her training, "Be lucky that we were not ordered to do more to her than bruise her! For one touched by the vile Fae should be locked in a cell!"
"Give me back my daughter!" Another knight came in as Igraine rose up to pursue them and struck her across the face once more, drawing blood, leaving the shade of Tenlico to witness the memory fade away.
"My mother loved me. And my father…?"
As the first memory faded away, the shade of Tonelico soon found itself in another memory, one of which occurred not long after being ripped away from her mother to be taken to a large, oval chamber that was darkened by the stone floor and walls, with very little light entering from the windows, as lamps kept the room alit for the occupants.
Tonelico held a small, iron sword in her hand, however, her body was riddled with light bruises and scratches as sweat dripped from her forehead, as fatigue began to catch up with her. Dropping the small sword as she could no longer bear holding it up, Tonelico fell to the floor on her knees and hands, attempting to catch her breath for what she had endured, only for a deep, harsh voice to not give in, "Get up, we're not done yet, girl."
The source of the voice came from the other occupant of the room, Uther Pendragon. The man was tall, twice the height of the little girl currently looking up at his grim visage, though he was undeniably a handsome man. A heart-shaped face with fair skin and feathered blonde hair that fell in front of his forehead in a prominent fringe, he had large emerald, green eyes and high cheekbones paralleling his pointed chin. Indeed, one could look at this man and call him attractive, they would point out the crinkles around the eyes and the edges of his mouth that showed he smiled a lot, but they would be hard-pressed to feel anything so innocent if they looked at the scowling face now. This was not helped by his ensemble, matte silver armor bearing the sigil of a crowned golden dragon dominated his upper body, the cuirass' close fighting and connected to a fur-lined gorgot. Similar greaves, cestus and vambraces poked out from a navy-blue surcoat. A crowned dragon helmet hung from one side of his waist while a sheathed Bastard sword hung from the other.
"My father."
"Pour your magics into the sword once more, girl." He ordered, "You're not done yet, not until I say you're done."
Tonelico looked up to the man she called father in pain, "I don't want to do this anymore, father." Clenching and unclenching her hands as she felt the pain surge through her hands that travelled through the rest of her body during her 'training', "The Blackening magics, they hurt me so much. So much so that it makes me feel cold and empty, like my heart can't bear it!" Unshed tears began to build as she held them back out of fear of Uther striking her for showing such a thing in front of him. Not only did it hurt her physically, but the blackening also began to slowly change her body itself; the gorgeous blonde hair she had, the tips of it began to turn white from the strain, as did her skin turn pale at times, almost making her appear to be like that of a ghostly entity.
Uther scoffed at her words, "How pathetic are you to say such things." Heel turning to look out to the large window that allowed the sunlight in, Uther turned to her as he pointed outside to the land that was Britain to make his statement, "Tell me, girl. What do you see from this window?"
Tonelico slowly stood up on her feet, albeit shakingly as if she were to fall at the slightest acceleration in her speed, "I… I see a forest?" To her, all she saw was a forest where her friends resided, friends that she wished could do more for her, and she for them.
Uther rolled his eyes at her response, "How stupid can you be?" Turning back to face the window, the King began to explain what he saw instead, "What lies outside is Britain. A part of the moonlit world that has survived after the gods left the world centuries ago. But it is plagued by those who have taken their place." He craned his neck around to give her a sideways gaze that made him seem more imposing, "Faeries." Tonelico's eyes widened at her father's words by calling the faeries a plague. Turning back to the view of the land, Uther continued on, "The gods may be gone, but they left us, Men, in charge of the caretaking of Britain and its Mystery. We must drive the Fae out of these lands, and if they do not go back to where they came from, we shall hunt them down to exterminate them all."
Tonelico's eyes widened in horror at the proclamation her father had just made, "No…." Shaking her head slowly in shock, "No! No! I don't want to kill the faeries. Many of them are my friends!" Her voice ached at the idea of even putting the sword to the faeries she met in the early days of her childhood.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk." Uther tutted slowly as he turned back to Tonelico with disappointment in his eyes, "You," He began, pointing directly at Tonelico, "have no idea what you truly are." Striding towards Tonelico, Uther gripped her shoulders harshly as she tried to squirm out of his grip, "You are born from a human, and one chosen by the Fae. You will inherit the primaeval curse that is my own, that seeps and permeates through these lands, born from the bloodshed of the fae millennia before the emergence of the gods. You are the Avalon le Fae! A faerie born from the World to save it!" Uther raised his voice with each word as his grip on Tonelico increased, causing her pain from the King's dark passion in his words.
"I don't want that!" Tonelico exclaimed in protest, "I don't want to save the world or kill the faeries!" The unshed tears that she held back now came as she poured her heart out to her father, thinking somehow her words could convince him to stop this pain, "I just want to learn about the World and keep the peace between men and nature! I want to keep it beautiful like outside! Keep it from being destroyed and deny the twilight of the end!" In a sane world, such a heartfelt plea would make a father realize the horror he was forcing upon his child, but Tonelico was a fool to believe her words could dissuade Uther. Or that the World was sane.
Rage became apparent in Uther's visage as he grit his teeth at his daughter's words, "I don't need that from you, girl!" Uther shook Tonelico in anger, hoping to force her to understand something, "I need you to become a goddess of death and war against the Fae for Men! I NEED YOU TO BECOME A MORRIGAN OF THE FAE, YOU STUPID GIRL!" Letting her go, Uther delivered an open palm slap to her cheek with his cestus that sent her sprawling to the ground as blood dripped from the side of her mouth.
As the memory faded away, the shade of Tonelico now realized who she was, "Tonelico was my birth name. But the name I took on later in life, is Morgan le Fey." Transient as her current existence was, the revelation hit the shade like a ball of iron to the gut. With the force of a typhoon, the wave of memories rolled over her as Morgan remembered her childhood as Tonelico. A simple girl who loved her mother, Igraine, and who loved her unconditionally in turn, taught her about the World and the stories of old before man came to Britain. In her childhood, she met the faeries that lived in the forests that dominated Britain, seeing just how innocent and joyful they were, as children no different from herself.
"I had forgotten what it was like to be happy." To the shade, it was a deeply odd experience, such brightness anathema to her fell existence yet undeniably warm, the happiness that she had shared with her mother and fae friends had faded while she had merely clung to horrid memories she had from Uther's treatment over the next eight years.
And humans, stupid, arrogant, stuck up and above all, CRUEL humans like her father, the hatred still burned deep. But something was amiss, a missing context.
"Why did I not leave that man's imprisonment?"
At the question, Morgan's shade found itself dragged back into the memories; gone was the little girl, in her place a young woman with tears in her eyes, fleeing from Uther's castle under cover of night.
Tonelico had changed through the years, now at the burgeoning age of seventeen, her once pretty visage had bloomed into that of a beautiful young woman that, while still on the short side, had filled out in all the right areas. A pair of bangs now framed her face while her much longer hair was gathered in a pair of twin tails that trailed to the top of her thighs. Her appeal had shifted drastically as she had aged, a white swing coat with black buttons and red lining falling to the top of her thigh. She still wore black tights, but they were now paired with dark blue low heeled ankle boots that crunched through the British underbrush unimpeded as she ran. Slung around her shoulders was a dark blue cloak with red lining and gold accents, fastened at her neck by a black bow with a silver broach at its center; a matching beret sat atop her head.
A short sword with a golden guard and pommel was strapped to the small of her back in a forest green sheath with golden patterns, held there by a thin but durable waist belt. Clutched tightly in her black-gloved hands was a wooden staff longer than she was tall, its rough-hewn length twisting at the head into a gnarled fork of three, three twisted spinels burred into each of the forks like rose blooms yet to open. Under the light of the moon, the differences in her appearance were all the more apparent, where once her hair had been unbroken gold, several prominent streaks had withered to platinum blonde or white.
Tears fell from her eyes, having become red and puffy as she dashed through the forest in emotional distress at what she had come to realize from long trained knowledge, a far cry from the innocence of her tortured childhood, "I don't want this! I don't want to be used as a weapon against the faeries!" The dread of coming to this conclusion had left her scarred, frightened of what she could become if she continued to stay with her father. Her mother, Igraine, was separated from her, leaving her alone to endure the harsh 'training' that continued to eat away at what she valued. The existential crisis Tonelico had had had driven her to run at the first chance she could.
Run as far away as possible… and end it… the words from her father of late reverberated and returned to Morgan's memory, "Pain is weakness, leaving the body. After all, you must have no weakness, girl."
That stung at the shade of Morgan something fierce. For all her hatred for Uther, for all of what she put up with, not killing him for revenge, holding back to be the better person, Morgan had done the same thing to Mordred and, in some respects, Agravain as well. Uther had attempted to mold her into a weapon against the Fae. She had twisted Mordred and Agravain into weapons to be used against her sister.
Disgust.
She was quite familiar with the feeling, but rarely was it directed at herself. Her actions were her own, but the fact that they bore even a passing resemblance to Uther's made her sick to the pit of her non-existent stomach.
Death often at times provided clarity to those who had endured it. And now, Morgan received the clarity she needed after all these years. Clarity to question, why was she was, what was the chain of events that had turned her from a bright-eyed little girl into a monster? The thought stopped her dead; a monster? Why did she think of herself as a monster? No, no, NO! She was Morgan, the zenith of Fae, strength incarnate with righteous purpose… someone who couldn't even remember the source of her own anger.
"Why am I the way I am?"
As the memory continued, Morgan saw herself as Tonelico once more, now standing at the edge of a cliffside overlooking a deep lake, "I can't do it, I can't bear it any longer." Her voice quivered and choked as her tears continued on from before. Forgoing her staff as she dropped it to the side, Tonelico turned around and held her arms out to the side as she leaned back off the cliff, "It's better this way if I die now." And yet, the desire to do so, waned now that she was here. Standing upon the edge of the cliff, the gravity of the situation had hit her, all the while she contemplated the question: would her fear take over to prevent her own death? It was so easy to hurl oneself from a cliff, to take their own life, yet for an inkling, for but a brief moment, she wondered if perhaps there was a way out even as she took her steps to dive over the edge.
Tonelico shook her head as she spoke softly to herself, "No, there is no way for me to escape this."
Letting her weight and height of the fall do their work, Tonelico decided to drown herself to prevent Uther from finishing his work in molding her into the weapon he so desired. If he succeeded, she couldn't live with what she would do, and thus to end the oncoming and present despair, she would take her own life, robbing Uther of his desire and freeing herself to join the faeries as one of their own, as their power ran through her body.
Closing her eyes as the wind brushed by, Tonelico prepared herself to enter the fields of Avalon with the cold water taking her life, she was unprepared for it to gently catch her as a pair of arms had formed to prevent the deed, "No… no! No! No! Let me die! Let me die before I kill them all!" Tonelico struggled to break from the gentle grasp, yet it was for naught as the water ebbed and flowed around her to encompass her body; the water had become warm and caring as if her own mother had come to catch her fall.
"Fret not, dear child."
The soothing voice emanated from the water as Tonelico's struggle slowly ceased, looking around for its source, "W-Who are you?"
Soon, the figure of the Great Mother emerged from the water as in her transient state of flowing water, "I am Vivian, the Lady of the Lake, dear child of mine." Tonelico's eyes widened in shock as she could only stare at the greatest faeries in Britain in surprise by how she spoke and held her closely like Igraine did when comforting her, "Thou hath nothing to fear from thee, Tonelico. Thou art safe within my embrace."
Seeing that she had been robbed of her chance to end her own life, Tonelico tried to dissuade the Lady of the Lake from offering succor, "Please, let me die before I kill you all."
Vivian could only frown in sadness at her words. Instead of agreeing to her request, the Great Mother lent down to plant a kiss on her forehead that seemed to calm Tonelico down before she explained, holding her close gently, giving her peace of mind and body to listen to her words. "Decisions made in haste art oftentimes regretted, young one" Brushing away the tears from her face, Vivian consoled Tonelico as if she were her own, "Do not give thyself to horrid despair when there is still hope within thee."
"This… isn't right. This didn't happen, IT DIDN'T" the shade raged in confusion, "...did it?" She was sure her first meeting with Vivian had not come until…she didn't know. How much of her life before had she forgotten? Why, why, why, why?
"But why," Tonelico asked, "why was I born?" She desperately wanted to know why she was born, for she rejected Uther's reasoning and motivation to mold her into a weapon. Tonelico could only ask the Great Mother why she was born.
"Thou's own mother, the Lady Igraine, blessed with Divine Fae Patterns by the lost, angelic Rain Clan of the forests, for her love of us." Vivian explained, "For Igraine would one day bear, Avalon le Fae, one who is chosen by thy self and the Fae as our protector and savior. Our lynchpin to the World. For the Magic and Mystery of this age, for peace and tranquility between Man and Nature." Vivian moved them out of the lake towards the shore as she sat Tonelico by the shore, with Vivian's watery avatar following suit to continue comforting the young woman. "Fret not, for what thou's future holds. For we both live and hold separate sides of the same thing, dear child. A Great Mother am I, as are thee, Tonelico. Take solace and comfort that we are part of something beautiful in the World. For you are loved."
For Tonelico, it was something she feared, something she fretted for much of her life hearing that Vivian was right about what Uther proclaimed her to be. And yet, slowly, she began to feel comfortable in her words. Tonelico was another side to Vivian, a Great Mother faerie that all adored and cared for, with the World itself at her side and granting her the blessings of the Fae. Yet the fear still remained within her, "I'm afraid. Afraid that I'll turn away from the light you care for." With her words, Vivian all but embraced her as a mother to a child, comforting the young Tonelico in a time she needed love. "I do not want to hate all men… but I hate one for sure, and I hate that I feel hate, it's burning me from the inside out."
The memory faded away as Morgan's surroundings changed from the void into a haze of a landscape, "Vivian and I are the Great Mothers of Faeries of Britain." Morgan recalled, "She is the light, while I… I am the darkness of these lands." But what drove her to the darkness? Why would she have turned away from Vivian's love and embrace for the cold emptiness of the primaeval curse?
A new memory manifested with Tonelico standing before Uther, who had aged after she had last seen him with the color from his hair fading to grey, wrinkles having become more prominent, and his skin turning pale. Sitting on his throne, Uther looked upon Tonelico with disappointment as he drank from a goblet filled with dark wine, "After all the work I placed into you. Over ten years of training and conditioning, you're a failure of a weapon to me." Wiping away the streaks of wine from his chin, Uther set his goblet down carelessly as it fell to the floor, not even bothered by it as he stared at Tonelico, who had grown defiant in recent years, "I'm sending you to Urien in Orkney. Maybe you'll prove useful by birthing some brats there."
Tonelico, older, colder, narrowed her eyes at Uther with disgust at his proclamation, "And you are a vapid cur of man." She spat in insult at her father, "You call yourself a King and treat your bloodline like trash when they cannot fulfil what you wish? You are pathetic and not a true King of these lands." Her words caused Uther to snap as he rose from his throne to stomp toward Tonelico before raising his hand to strike her. Where once the girl would have winced and looked away, now she returned a defiant glare back at him, yet her eyes shifted uncontrollably from her pale blue to a slitted amber, signifying the blackening taking hold. There was an air of challenge in those amber orbs, the promise that if he followed through, he would regret it, and with great satisfaction, she watched him return to his throne to stew in his own impotence.
After saying her goodbyes to Igraine, Tonelico was sent off to Orkney, travelling day and night on roads that had at first been built and maintained by the old Roman empire. Still, since their fall, the roads leading north to Orkney had fallen into disrepair, and dirt hobble roads laid to show the path north. Of all of those from Uther's retinue, the only one who accompanied her was a stretcher bearer who carried a wagon of her things that provided Tonelico with some measure of entertainment with books and tomes of knowledge of the World. He was a stout, but a strong-looking man dressed in ill-fitting and cheap but well-maintained armor, his hands worn from years of stretcher bearing.
Not understanding why he had chosen to accompany her to Orkney, Tonelico looked over to him from her horse-drawn carriage, "Sir, I may not know your name, and I apologize for not asking sooner, but why did you choose to accompany me?" Much of Uther's retinue were loyal to him, even if they were unaware of the kind of man that he was.
The stretcher-bearer looked over to Tonelico as he continued on with his duty before answering, "I came because I had grown disenchanted with Uther," The man spoke with distaste for the man who called himself King, "with the way he has treated his own wife and daughter. A man such as that is nothing more than a tyrant in my eyes." A frown marred his features as he continued, "None of those who knew of his treatment towards you and the Lady Igraine dared oppose Uther and became complacent in the treatment. Now I have nothing but loathing and disgust for my fellow Men." Looking over to the other one who accompanied them, his eyes seemed to soften at the homunculus that Tonelico had made as a companion to help hold her as a caretaker, "But I do not feel hate your creations."
Her creation lumbered forward, a marriage of flesh and clay, sinewy fibers blended with ether light to give his promethean body a mountainous height and strength, his bald head and blank face taking in the World passively as it carried her travel pack of several tons with no more effort than a feather. The homunculus looked over to the stretcher-bearer before speaking, "I. do not feel." He said in an almost monotone manner, like a child deciphering the words to use, "Hate for you. But I will. Protect my. creator."
The homunculus was a gentle giant that bore no ill will to Tonelico, but he had been forced to be restrained as he had thrashed several of Uther's knights when she was forced to undergo the 'training' once more. He would have killed many of the men, that is until Tonelico told him that he should not kill so needlessly but to show restraint and deal no harm to those who were blind and ignorant.
Upon arriving in the desolate Orkney, its landscape left much to be desired with rocky cliffs and barren stretches of land littered with the occasional standing stones erected by druids from long ago. Since they arrived in the dead of winter, the grass that littered the grounds in patches was half-dead, as the little flora that existed were for Urien and those who served him. The almost ever-present fog that covered the islands was joined by the sounds of the rough northern sea as it battered the coastline, slowly rejuvenating the depressing weather that loomed over Orkney. It was not without its plusses, though. Mystery still clung heavily to these isles. Even as the ship had come into port, Tonelico had caught a glimpse of selkies and lesser Fae flitting between the waves and the craggy shoreline.
It was here that, upon being handed off to Urien, Tonelico had been given the one boon from Vivian, a vast library of magical knowledge stretching back to the Age of Gods. The library itself was extensive as Uther's grand hall in his fortress, all of which had been warped through Spatial Displacement to condense such a large hall into the less than stellar fortification that Urien had in Orkney. Candles floated about with cobalt blue flames alight in a controlled manner to prevent them from going out or spiralling out of control that would burn the place to the ground. Sitting by the fireplace that would never go out, Tonelico sat down as she read through a hefty tome concerning the nature of Transference and the potential capabilities it held with other foundations, "If I could use this in conjunction with Transformation and Transmutation, I could apply it to my staff, so I won't be caught short again." The bastard Uther had confiscated her shortsword shortly before leaving in some vein symbolism of 'de-fanging' her.
Not too long into her lodging on Orkney, her first and oldest friend, Habetrot, had come in secret asking for Tonelico's help to stop a war brewing between the Fae and Men of Britain when the Fairy Queen Mab had kidnapped a young nobleman's boy to be her husband. For Tonelico, it was the perfect excuse that Uther would have needed to wage war against the Fae, leading to slaughter on both sides with no clear victor. Using her prestige with Transformation, she disguised herself as one of Mab's fae soldiers as Habetrot was able to bring her to the one last entryway into the Land of Faeries in Orkney, where life barely clung in nature. Through this, she was able to sneak into Mab's beachhead in Scotland and help the young man break free before returning him to his home safely and averted violence from Men, leaving the Fae left to contend with.
However, she would not be alone, as returning from Mab's domain would be dangerous as one of the dove familiars she left behind to observe the situation had become volatile. With the young human being spirited away by the Fae for forced marriage and consequently rescued with no culprit, Mab gave the order to bring him back with violence this time around. Tonelico had requested that Vivian herself would be able to aid her with this task, but she did not come alone. Seeing how the situation could spiral out of control, Woodwose, the rising leader of the Fang Clan and saw cause to aid Tonelico to keep the peace in the realm of the faeries. Despite how his clan was proud and eager to fight, Woodwose saw the violence as something foolish, "Violence without proper purpose is pointless." His words showed that he had grown into the role as leader, and with Tonelico's support, he sealed his place as the chief of the Fan Clan.
With Tonelico's support, she convinced Mab to stand down and averted war, yet that did not mean that the fae queen liked her after that point. Mab made a veiled threat in the form of a promise should Tonelico act against her once more, she would ensure consequences would be enacted, which earned her a counter from Vivian that she would dare not touch her other half, lest she face dire consequences.
Suffice to say, afterwards, Tonelico desired to have a weapon should she have been in need of it.
The doors to the library opened up as a lanky man with thin arms, wearing worn-out robes, passed down from a predecessor most likely, carrying a white grimoire with a leather-bound cover, "I found the text you were looking for, mi lady." Making his way over to Tonelico through the library, the shade of Morgan reflected on taking this man in who was once a scribe for her uncle, but he was cast out by the man when he warned Vortigern of delving too deeply into the history of Britain and its mysteries. Whatever it was that her uncle wanted the scribe to find, it was enough for him to grow suspicious of his lord's actions and was cast out as the brother of Uther saw the scribe as an irritation.
The scribe had wandered about in the northern territories of England and Scotland until Tonelico crossed paths with him while on a walkabout in a forest in Scottish lands and offered him a place to reside where he may find a better suit of his skills and knowledge. The scribe was eager to serve her, not out of fear but out of loyalty; hearing who she was, he wished to help her maintain the delicate balance between Man and Nature.
"Thank you, I've been looking for the Water of Conveyance for some time now," Tonelico said as she took the grimoire from the scribe and eagerly began to pour through the contents of the lost liquid. The Water of Conveyance was something that had been water itself made by Fae of the lost Rain Clan to imbue those who drank it with the history of the Fae dating from millennia ago, in the hopes that she could find a way to cleanse the isles of the primaeval curse and darkness that permeated throughout the land. Yet it also would arm her with the knowledge to craft a magecraft that would enable her free travel and communication across Britain: The Infinity Mirror. A magecraft of her own idea by taking her Transference to its peak to emulating True Magic like that of the Kaleidoscope to use any reflective surface as part of its usage.
"Ah yes. The Infinity Mirror and the Water Mirror. Among my masterworks, these enabled me to traverse the lands within an instant, but they could not function well within the walls of my stronghold. Its blackened stones, thus I was forced to keep it outside the fortress." It was why she could not escape from her sister's final assault. She had ordered the Black Captains to head to another part of the city, within their hidden fort to ensure they could escape from the knights while her wraiths kept them at bay. "Odd, I cannot remember the scribe's name, despite how I had taken him in. Strange to think I had grown so close to a human. As I grew, I learned to loathe man. Fearing that which they did not understand. Yet this man did not fear the unknown but reveled in the discovery of the unknown."
The scribe nodded his head in acceptance of Tonelico's thanks as he made his way over to another part of the library, the historical section, if she recalled correctly and began to delve into the books to satiate his own curiosity and desire for knowledge. However, it would not be long before the door to her library was darkened by the handsome form of Urien, giving her an entranced smile before offering her a hand that she took with a throaty giggle. Ah, yes, the evening's entertainment.
For Tonelico, it wasn't enough at times to see her faerie friends, develop her magecraft or accumulate knowledge; she found herself dabbling in the act of sex as many men had become enchanted by her beauty.
"I began to sleep with men as a reprieve from my repressed pain." Morgan's shade admitted to none but herself, "And from that, I gave birth to four children. Three I tossed aside while molding one to be my assassin."
The memory changed again; years passed like a fast-running stream. The library doors opened up once more to reveal a tall man with high class but gaunt features, dressed in reddish finery like a Frankish noble, culminating in a black hooded mantle he wore regardless of the climate, indoors or out, "Mi lady, Tonelico. I've come to you with news your ears must hear." The nobleman stated aloud as he quickly came in.
Tonelico, older, her bust significantly filled out, recognized him as a travelling nobleman that was a friend of her mother Igraine, and would often come and go to tell stories of mainland Europa, "What is it? Has something happened to mother?" It had only been so many years of dealing with nobleman that she did not split his skull on reflex.
The nobleman rose up as his expression was filled with sorrow, "Your mother has passed away. I'm so sorry." His words had frozen Tonelico in her place as her visage was assaulted by emotion-filled with sadness and anger.
All of her love for her mother, the one light she had while under Uther's brutal treatment, had been snuffed out like a candle. For what had appeared to be an eternity, the memories that warmed Tonelico came flooding like damn bursting of emotion as she cried from the pain she now felt. The only question she had now was what happened that took her mother to the grave. "W-What… What h-happened…?" Wiping away the tears with her sleeves, Tonelico looked up to the nobleman who laid a hand on her shoulder to try and help comfort her, "Tell me, how did my mother die?"
Had Uther finally snapped from sanity and killed her? Sentenced her to be burned to death? Hung from the neck? Or some other form of torture before ending it all.
The nobleman's response was one she did not foresee, "She died giving childbirth, Tonelico. A baby girl."
Once more, time appeared still as Tonelico absorbed his words, "What…?"
Seeing how Tonelico was all but caught off guard by what he had just told her, the nobleman would give her clarity upon what happened, "Uther wanted another child once he had sent you away, but the Lady Igraine protested that the King would never obtain what he wished for; another Avalon le Fae. As you were the one he wanted but would never break to his will." The nobleman continued on as Tonelico's tears no longer fell, merely listening to his words, "Not wishing to put what your mother said to the test, he instead sent out his retinue in search of one who could overcome this, and they brought back the Mage of Flowers, Merlin himself." Tonelico's eyes widened at the mention of his name.
Merlin was known across the isles as the greatest mage, a man whose wisdom surpassed any other, matching that of Vivian's own. Yet Tonelico could not fathom why someone such as he, who was as bright as the summer and spring, would help the cruel and vindictive Uther, "Why would he of all people help Uther?"
The nobleman shook his head, "I know not why, but I heard from some of those who knew of what Uther desired to have the child imbued with the blood of the Red Dragon, Y Ddraig Goch, but beyond that, nothing more."
All of the sadness that swelled within Tonelico from hearing of her mother's death was replaced with dismay, appalled at how once more she was discarded like a tool, no longer usable, "I couldn't bear the thought of having been treated and betrayed in such a way." Morgan remembered in brief disgust at how it seemed that despite her mother's attempt to protect her, even shield her from being used once more as a tool, Uther circumvented Igraine's warning that apparently another Avalon le Fae would never be born save her. Having been born as the one fated to maintain the equilibrium between Man and Nature, in becoming the lynchpin to the Age of Faeries' Magic and Mystery, this alone gave Morgan the desire to do good in the World and change it for the better. If Uther would one day pass on without naming someone regent, she could step up to take on the burden of ruling Britain and forge a new civilization for the inhabitants of the lands, Man and Fae, into something brighter.
But bitterness and anger rose up to replace the pride and joy she had for knowing such a thing, in that Uther had stolen it all away and given it to some newborn. Someone who would likely be told that all of that would belong to them without having to earn it. Without enduring the training and trials to give those who believed in you the faith to lead. A child that thought everything would belong to them.
Yet this was forgotten in Tonelico's mind as she remembered all of the cruelty that she once endured under Uther, now her newborn sister would one day be forced to endure the same, but this time without the love and warmth of their mother to help keep her alive through it all. Her sister would be told all of the same that she was told, how she would bring the destruction of the Fae at hand, that would conquer in the name of Men in that Britain belonged to them alone.
Unless she acted now to stop it.
"I need to get her away from that bastard," Tonelico said as she made her way out of the library, "I will not let that bastard, Uther, ruin another life!" Making powerful, quick strides through the halls, Tonelico headed to the docks beyond Urien's estate grounds to charter a boat to the main isle.
"Mi lady!" The nobleman began to protest as he followed her outside along with the scribe, "You mustn't leave with haste! Uther will have the child under guard!"
The scribe could only agree with the nobleman, "He is right, mi lady!" The scribe quickened his pace to try to reason with Tonelico, "You don't need to sully your hands with blood to reclaim your sister!"
"And let my sister be corrupted into genocide?!" Tonelico turned back to the nobleman and scribe with anger evident, not bothering to hide her emotion, "No! I refuse to allow anyone to get in my way from rescuing my sister!" A small but brief burst of power emanated from Tonelico, one that at first was but a bright blue miasma, slowly turned black. Leaving the nobleman and scribe behind as they were shocked by Tonelico's display with her emotions that she had never done before.
By this time, Tonelico had reached the outlying land not too far from the estate where the stretcher bearer and Tonelico's homunculus were returning with a cart of rare materials she requested for in her magecraft practice and theories. To see the one in which they served willingly rushing to the docks enraged with vestigial energy following her was perplexing, to say the least.
"Why would she. March off with such. Rage?" The homunculus asked.
All the stretcher-bearer could do was shake his head, unsure of it all, "I cannot say for certain."
Morgan continued to watch on her memories all the while wonder the ultimate question, "Why can't I… or couldn't I remember any of this?" It made no sense to her! Her memory was but perfect! It was how she had accumulated so much knowledge and power coupled with the Water of Conveyance to enable her to come close to the True Magicians, beyond what any magi could accomplish save for the former. Memories from small but brief periods of time where she was happy. Surrounded by friends, those she had come to care for, Fae and Men.
The guilt began to rise within her, "I tried to set out and bring my sister to Orkney, where I could hopefully keep that bastard from making Arturia into the king." In the end, she herself forced her sister down the path of kingship, "I drove her to it anyway." Down to reducing her emotions to being frivolous; an obstacle in her path to leading Britain and Man through a future that would degrade the last vestiges of Britain's Mystery, driving the Fae into seclusion. Yet in a way, her sister was now holding what was left of the Age of Fairies.
How ironic…
Tonelico's feet carried her through the barren fields to the docks that she hoped she could take to the mainland until she heard the piercing scream of what sounded like a little girl's come from a nearby cove. The shade of Morgan had ceased all thoughts as her memory came back to this moment. This one moment had changed her course, "I remember this… Oh sweet Gaia, NO! I do not want to see this again!" She screeched, begging her younger self to somehow turn back towards the docks. "No… please stop…" Her pleading fell on deaf ears with her younger self was headed inexorably towards the visceral sounds of blades slicing through flesh, followed by wails of agonizing pain.
"Don't go in there! You'll never leave the same!" The shade impotently pleaded to the memory, old wounds opening with caustic emotional pus. "You'll emerge as…" it took considerable effort to force out the last two words, "a monster…"
Conjuring her gnarled wooden staff, Tonelico approached the cove and its ominous opening jaggedly slashed into the rock. It was a dark chasm, like the yawning maw of some malignant beast waiting to swallow the young woman. Drawn on by the sounds, Tonelico entered the cave, what she saw brought about another bout of emotions to her heart and mind once more, adding to her already profound turmoil.
A few men, if she was to judge by their garb where the ones that she planned on asking to take her across the sea, were armed with various tools, sharpened and bloody freshened by their victim: a young red-headed faerie garbed in a frilly white dress, now with bloody stumps where her arms and legs once were. Laying next to the fairy was the corpse of a hound where blood flowed freely from its neck, but upon a brief but closer inspection, the faerie's mouth held that same blood that trailed messily to the dog. All the while, men seemed content with their handiwork, smirking at the slowly dying faerie with barbs and remarks to make on the sight.
"Another one of these things tried to eat my hound, think it'll die if we leave it?"
"Maybe, but it's a vampire. They never die unless you stake their heart and slice the head off."
"I thought it was some fae of sorts that just ate animals?"
"Either way, I don't see it moving much, won't be long now before it's done for."
"I say we take the head off, just to be sure!"
As the men looked to the one calling for the Fae's beheading and agreeing for the best, they readied their tools to move to carry out the deed, yet it was Tonelico's words that halted them in their tracks, "…how dare you…."
The men looked behind them as Tonelico looked at them all with widened eyes in rage, head tilted ever so slightly like a monarch looking down in disdain at their subjects, "How dare you touch one of the Fae like this!" Wrath filled Tonelico's voice as her staff changed in blackened fire, spreading and erupting from her grasp as it consumed the wood as the gems glowed, displaying the change of red to blue, spreading down around the staff in an intricate pattern as the trip turned into an elongated spear.
The blackened energy swirled around Tonelico as her eyes shifted from her sky blue to slitted amber as she thrust her staff at the men, frightened of the young mage girl now slowly walking toward them, with the intent to take their lives clear as day. The nobleman and scribe, drawn by the growing light show and feeling of dread, sprinted towards the cave mouth, the stretcher bearer and hom*onculus bringing up the rear.
"Mi lady! Are you alright?!" The nobleman asked as he led the scribe, stretcher bearer and homunculus down to the cove entryway. They made their way to the opening of the cove to ensure Tonelico's safety after what they heard, whereupon taking a step into the threshold, red & blue, mixed in black miasma blasted towards them like a geyser of water shooting out into them as the blackening left their mark upon the men.
The nobleman raised his hands up in defense as his palms became blackened by the dark power as it affected the others in different ways. The scribe's mouth had dyed grey as it spread across his throat, turning the once interior of his pink mouth, now grey like a rotting corpse. The homunculus, utterly unprepared for the dark power, did not even guard against the power as it left him scarred, tearing away his lips and scarring his body. The stretcher-bearer was caught behind the others and the least affected on the outside, save for his arms as he held them in defense, yet the power sliced at his arms, allowing the miasma to seep into them, giving him power greater than he had before.
The homunculus and scribe now we're on the ground with the latter clutching his throat trying to breathe, all the while the homunculus starred down upon his body, leaving the stretcher-bearer to try and help the scribe in any way he could, all the while the nobleman clenched his fists at the pain that afflicted him, "Mi lady, Tonelico! Are you—agh!" The pain in his hands would not die, but he would not forsake his friend's firstborn.
The blackened miasma emanating from Tonelico grew more potent, the nobleman saw that her skin and hair had all been dyed pale; her hair now white, and skin having lost much of its original healthy complexion and her staff now completely changed into a trident-like spear laying off to the side. Her clothing had changed once more as the acrid aura formed her blackened robes that did little to hide her womanly charm and figure where red fae script was exposed on her skin, all the while cradling the redheaded child. Tonelico waved her right hand over the redhead as the dark power swirled around where her limbs would have been, now forming new ones to replace them all the while, the child's complexion gained a hint of grey.
The men who once stood around them were turned into charred skeletons, frozen instances of pathetic resistance trying to shield themselves from Tonelico's burst of power, as red markings travelled across their bones like remnant blood vessels still tracing musculature that was now ash.
The nobleman continued to approach Tonelico in her new form despite the stabbing needles of pain that lanced through his body and mind being in her presence, "Mi lady, what happened?"
Tonelico soothed the redhead and gently held her like Igraine had done in her youth, "These men found and tried to kill this young fae." She spat the word men as if it were a bitter pill. Bending down as she placed her forehead against the petite Fae's own, a flash of dark blue light travelled from the Fae to Tonelico, showing her the memory of what transpired before her arrival.
"It killed one of my hounds! Kill it!"
"No, please! I had to feed; I had no choice!"
"Abomination!"
"What's wrong with drinking blood!"
"It's a vampire, kill it!"
Tonelico's teeth ground against one another in loathing, disgust visible across her visage, "They would dare attack and kill her simply for trying to live?" As Tonelico cradled the Fae, she turned to the nobleman who swayed on his feet, being in Tonelico's presence proving decidedly corruptive to him, but as his body and mind twisted away from man, the young woman's face brightened with something new: clarity, "All that Men know is cruelty to the beauty of the world and nature, destroying it out of ignorance and impatience. They would rather see the world become a bore, with no mystery and majesty filling it with life and meaning!" Rage filled her voice as she shouted the darkened view to the heavens, "I'm done crying for the likes of men. All my tears have been boiled away, and now I've become just as that bastard wanted, but for my own path; a Morrigan for the Fae!"
The nobleman collapsed against the wall of the cove, the corruptive influence of the caustic magical energy darkening his vision. Now, all that stood before him was, "Morgan le Fey?" He questioned, a crooning voice as he returned to his native tongue.
Looking down on the redheaded Fae, Tonelico bent her neck down enough to give a kiss on her forehead before keeping her eyes on her sleeping form, "Yes, that will do as a title for me now."
As the memory faded away, Morgan remembered her dark ascension, "This was where I swore to drive out those who threatened Britain's Mystery and the Age of Faeries. To uproot everything my father built and give up on humanity. A goddess of war and death for the Fae, not against them." It was here that she adopted Baobhan Sith, the young Fae whom she saved and restored, naming her the oldest of her children and first daughter before she gave birth to the others. "I took in Baobhan Sith due to her nature as a vampiric fae, being ostracized by much of the Seelie and Men for mistaking her as a Dead Apostle." Perhaps in some way, her caring for Sith spawned her desire for the blonde Apostle that served her sister.
Not long after this event, Morgan's reprieve that she found in sex became little more than a cheap thrill as she gave birth to four children, discarding three of them while keeping only the fourth as a tool.
As for the men who had been tainted by her power, they continued to serve her, but with proper titles.
The stretcher-bearer went on to become her Hammer.
The homunculus became her Tower.
The scribe became her Mouth.
And the nobleman became her Black Hand.
"They served me well since that day," Morgan recalled their pledge to her dark ideals.
They served her loyally, devoted to helping her carry out her plans regardless of how heinous they appeared, even proving their worth from time to time when she needed something taken care of.
"And yet, when I look back on all I have done." The training and conditioning of Agravain, the torturing of Mordred, turning villagers into Ghouls, seducing Urien into becoming her first Bûrzgul after sending off her other children and Ector taking them in, "I was no better than that bastard, Uther." She had pushed away Habetrot, her best friend, upon founding her domain of Zídushgoi, no longer seeing her as someone useful in her endeavors. Woodwose became swept up in her ideals, seeing it as his and the Fang Clan's destiny to push Man out of Britain, creating the stories of demonic dogs, werewolves and Lycans spreading fear across the isles, slaughtering those who would dare fight against her.
Time passed, it could have been a minute, it could have been millennia, there was no way to tell with no reference points in this blackened no-space. When awareness returned to the shade, it took her a few moments to process just where she was. Where else but the place of her death. The lake where her domain once resided in northern Wales. Looking down at what would be her hands, she could see that she still lacked any physical form.
"I lost sight of those that I loved. One who I should have loved unconditionally." Recalling Arturia's final words to her about love, Morgan's 'mouth' twisted sourly, "…and yet I spat on her very existence as an insult to me and to Britain itself."
Her mind tried to make sense of why she had lost so much of her memories, however, it became clear as quick as a flash of lightning. "The Primordial Curse had tainted my mind, not just merely my body. As I delved deeper into the dark arts, my past became enshrouded in darkness, vanishing from my memory almost entirely." It seemed that death had graced her with clarity in a form she would not have achieved even with the Water of Conveyance granting her so much knowledge of the past, it would not have given back what she had no idea she lost.
But without a body, her clarity persisted, so unlike before when she was shackled to mortal flesh, her memories came to her like a spring brook as opposed to a mud-thick bog.
-Flashback-
The memory flashed through her mind as she intently studied the Black Speech text she discovered deep within the Earth where Gogmagog continued to sleep, lost from that which once ruled these lands with a darker power. Sitting in her chair, Morgan sipped away at the fine wine she had brought from the realm of Men, the only thing she had maintained some semblance of fondness for. She heard the doors leading into her workshop open to see that the Mouth had news for her, "Speak, Mouth. You know better than to interrupt my leisure."
The Mouth kneeled before Morgan as she continued reading without giving her servant her full attention, "My Mistress, your uncle Vortigern has made a coup d'état against Uther and taken the man's head. Now he sits on your father's throne and invites foreign Men into Britain. Chaos permeates the isles."
Morgan halted in her studies and put down her goblet to process the Mouth's news. In all the years' Morgan had built-up hatred for Uther, to hear his death felt so… hollow, empty even. She had hoped that glee would be what filled her, yet now it was nothing in the slightest, like someone informing her it had started to rain. "How did Vortigern kill Uther?" Morgan inquired of the Mouth, "I know that he does not have enough men to take Uther's position without sufficient sacrifice."
The Mouth nodded, "I agree with you, Mistress. But Vortigern mustered his entire host to break Uther's fortress, but it was not through them that he achieved victory, but he obtained the power and blood of the White Dragon, Albion."
Now it made sense. Uther's men, foolish as they were, outnumbered Vortigern's own three to one, and in no way could he have achieved a traditional victory over the man. But instead, he achieved something unprecedented, using the power of the supreme phantasmal, the dragon, against him. But not just any dragon, but that which rivalled Y Ddraig Goch. Dragons among dragons who could level continents if they unleashed their full might. In the years to come, it would seem that possibly, the Red and White Dragons would clash once more as they did a century ago.
With civil war now on the horizon, the dragons would clash again, in the form of men and those who supported them. There were those who supported Vortigern out of loyalty or fear. And those who would support her sister, Arturia.
Morgan knew well enough that no sane man would declare for her despite her status as Uther's heir. She needed duplicity, forces, and above all, power to show all that she was the rightful heir, "I need to pay Vivian a visit." Closing the book as she sat up from her chair, Morgan left her fortress and made her way to an intricate scrying pool with a mirror suspended above it that held a reflection of her domain.
The Mouth, following behind her, seemed confused underneath his helm, "The Infinity Mirror, my Mistress? Do you intend to present yourself as Uther's heir?"
Channeling her power into the mirror, the reflection warped like a water drop into a calm lake, empowering the Infinity Mirror to take Morgan to her desired destination, "No, I have no intention of announcing myself in such a way. I will instead present my power as that which is right, and what belongs to me above all others who presume to believe they know what is." Looking over her shoulder to catch the Mouth out of her peripheral vision, Morgan continued on, "I will need the Holy Sword of the Planet to ensure that the people know that I am their true Queen and no usurper or bastard child will become their king."
Making her intent clear, Morgan stepped through the mirror out into the other side, where a geyser of water spouted up into the air, showing that Morgan now stood in Vivian's domain. All the Fae, small and animalistic, halted what they were doing before turning their attention towards Morgan, where she narrowed her eyes at the attention, delivering a loud shout, "Vivian! I have come for the Holy Sword of the Planet!" Morgan channeled her power into her voice which boomed over the small domain like a crack of thunder, the surrounding Fae cowered in fear, retreating from the dark presence Morgan created; fear permeated their very beings.
With the darkness that encroached on Vivian's well-lit domain, the Lady of the Lake appeared herself, emerging from the illuminated forest. Seeing her other half having turned away from the light that she once feared of doing, now embracing, Vivian could see the dark influence having taken hold of the maiden, "So you really have fallen, Tonelico—"
"Morgan…" She interrupted as if she held a greater authority over Vivian, "…is my name now, Vivian." Brushing past the pleasantries, Morgan moved on to the reason concerning her appearance in Vivian's domain, "I have come for the Holy Sword of the Planet to stake my claim to Britain's throne and embrace my purpose as the Avalon le Fae."
All Vivian could do was look at her with pity. Pity of all things that she had no desire for as she responded to her claim, "I cannot give thee the Holy Sword in good will." Shaking her head in a continued show of refusal to Morgan, Vivian could see just how much she had changed, "For thou hast strayed from the true path of Avalon le Fae, in the influence of what once wrought corruption and dominance upon the world." The primaeval curse had now taken hold of Morgan in Vivian's eyes. Its blackening had altered her beauty into seductive, vindictive allure, one that would ensnare many into her will, corrupted by darkness. If Morgan were to receive Excalibur, no longer would it spread its light unto others in its emotions of warmth and inspiration, but one of despair and terror.
"Thou's hatred has consumed you," Vivian continued on, "hatred for thyself and thy fellow Man, even now you do not see your mind is being twisted. Fae flee before thy presence." She gestured around to show Morgan that the once life filled meadow was now empty, "and those who serve thee are corrupted by evil. Lost souls no longer see the light of the world. Thou art fell." Vivian stood resolute as anger marred Morgan's beautiful features, "Thou cannot be trusted to lead Britain, and thus, I cannot trust thou to carry the Holy Sword and claim the throne. You are no longer Tonelico, she is gone. Any that speak of the kind girl, I shall not tell them of thy dark rebirth."
Morgan scoffed at Vivian's remarks of her change in nature, "Oh please, dispense with these excuses. You expect my bastard sister to take the throne? She will bring all that is beautiful in Britain to ruin. No, in fact, once she's finished with our homeland, she would destroy the beauty of the age we live in!" All her sister would do was advance Man to unveil the Mystery of the world, leading to the eradication of magic and its foundation within the Age of Faeries. And then there was the matter of Merlin's involvement with her birth, "She is no Avalon le Fae! She is corrupted by the heart and blood of Y Ddraig Goch! No amount of meddling within her birth by the Flower Mage will change that, as I was born pure, unlike her." Seeing that Vivian would no longer support her claim, Morgan proclaimed her future to the Great Mother, "I will sit upon the throne of Britain, fulfil my duty as the Avalon le Fae and drive out those who would dare sully our lands and realms, as per my birthright. And if Arturia Pendragon should rise to stake her claim, I will see to it that she and all of those who follow her fall to misery as the rest of Uther's decrepit ilk!"
As Morgan laid out her plans, Vivian's face fell at just how far she had fallen from the young girl she once was. As Morgan exerted her presence over her domain, Vivian looked on forlornly as the one meant to be her other half; the one meant to connect the world's inhabitants with itself. She had caused this. In her moment of pity in persuading the young girl to not take her own life, she had opened the path for this fell thing to be born. Now the young girl was gone, a maddened woman in her place with her sights set on another innocent to continue the cycle of abuse. Now, all that she could do was aid Arturia in shielding the girl from direct harm, "Then thou art truly lost in darkness. The corruption it left twists you to its destructive ends, let none construe blue-eyed Tonelico for this amber-eyed wench before me." Closing her eyes in resignation, Vivian opened them as she held her arms out as she drew upon her authority to force Morgan to retreat. Conjuring her power up, Vivian cast the light of her domain as it drowned out Morgan's darkness, receding back to the Dark Mistress of Britain as she shielded her eyes briefly before narrowing them at Vivian, "I bar you from my domain and never shall you take the Holy Sword!"
"And I will see to it that my sister suffers!" Having lost her ground, Morgan retreated through the water to her domain as Vivian looked sadly upon where she once stood, reminiscing and wondering how it all came to this.
-End Flashback-
"I swore then on to haunt my sister. But Vivian defeated every attempt I made to do her harm directly, but that did not stop me from using other methods." Morgan recalled.
Disowning Gawain and his younger siblings, casting them out from Orkney, where Ector took them in shortly afterwards. Poisoning his wife to make it so that Arturia would never have the full love that a mother could give. Sabotaging her training to become the King of Knights at every opportunity. Sowing discord and chaos around the land to make it so it would take years to repair all of the damage. Secretly and eventually directly handing Vortigern the knowledge to use the darkness he wielded and the Mors spreading to prevent the Fae from interfering and protecting Arturia.
All of it was done to ensure that her sister would never take the throne, yet for all her effort then, not once did it stop Arturia in the face of adversity. Instead, continuing to marshal through the trials and training, weathering the chaos beyond her homestead.
Then came the day of Merlin enchanting Caliburn to be drawn by Arturia to show that she was the rightful ruler. Morgan had looked on garbed in a disguise from a distance to see just how full of it her sister was, believing that she was nothing more than a brat with delusions of grandeur. That changed when the blonde Apostle arrived, Naruto.
Wearing foreign clothes fit more for practicality than frivolity, he did not appear to be one that would yearn for the light. And yet when he approached Caliburn, it called to him, surprising the Dark Mistress. That is until he stopped himself from pulling the sword, contemplating as his expression took it in full, only to place it back down to walk away.
At the time, Morgan could only think how foolish he was to discard the opportunity he had. How he had become enraptured by Arturia's will and naivete, serving her loyally and loving her as more than just one to follow.
The more she witnessed the two's bond, the more she yearned to trounce it. Jealousy and spite had risen within, and as her negative emotions grew, her memories of Tonelico faded. But she could not help but take inventory in this moment, why did she yet persist beyond death? Why did she not return to Akasha as any soul would or pass on to become one with nature?
As a shade, Morgan realized the truth of herself, "Vivian once said as I was her other half, a Great Mother. She is the light, and I the darkness of the world. So long as she continues to exist, so will I. I will never truly die, only to become this walking shade." Peering around herself, Morgan floated to the edge of the lake where her domain once resided in, now little more than inert black stone at the bottom of a deep lake, and gazed into the water to see the reflection of the faceless shade she was now, "Little more than a sapient Mors… I may one day regain my form, but I am but a nameless shade as of now. Cursed to suffer impotence alone. For all my hate, anger, and spite for my little sister, I had become what I despised from the beginning. And now I..."
In the beginning, her path was clear, preventing Arturia from falling into Uther's machinations and suffering as she had done, but time had hardened her to the plights of men, and from the hatred it had birthed, she had lost her way. In her pursuit of ruining Arturia, she presented the perfect adversary to guarantee that Arturia would rise to become King, the path was different, but the result was the same. Even if that bastard of a man wasn't in her sister's life, he still shaped her into the tool to drive Man forward in knowledge and civilization with the deterioration of the Age of Faeries having begun, despite having become the new lynchpin to the age, as the second Avalon le Fae. She had forgone the very thing she left for the docks to save her from, wishing to take her away from all the pain and heartache it would bring. Now the shackles of perfection chained Arturia to the role of King, slowly withering away at her heart for a utopia meant for bastard Men.
She still hated most of mankind, hated their idiocy and cruelty, but she had forgotten that some of them were capable of goodness, and all of this had started out as an attempt to save Arturia, she had ended up damning her.
Morgan stared into the sky where the full moon shone with life, "Yet, while I do not regret the path I took that led to my death. I regret that I lost my way." If only for a bit, she imagined herself sitting on a balcony gently stroking her little sister's hair, yearning for even a fantasy of what could have been, "Now, it is as if the grip Uther held over me, and the corruption of the land. As if something's influence has now been cleared from my sight and mind." Even if the fantasy image was something she would never be able to obtain, she still yearned for the desire to do better, Uther had gotten his Inhuman King of the humans, because of her actions. And that rankled her, ruining so many people for her own desire but only to find out it had facilitated the thing she had been trying to prevent in the first place. "I have to make amends, somehow."
Even if it cost her time to reform, Morgan's form vanished into the air to find it.
-Kent-
While one soul returned from the brink in nothingness, another would find himself approaching it.
Sighing at how his day off was being spent, Tristan could only lament in exasperation, "I had hoped to spend my day free from my duties peacefully with you, Iseult." Peering over to his wife, Tristan could see that she smiled softly at his words, "But then again, given who we are." Having married the daughter of the Duke of Britany made him a political bridge between Britain and France with their allies across the channel, "…I suppose to makes sense for us to attend a royal engagement like this."
"I know you wanted to spend the day together, Tristan," Iseult began as she clasped his left hand with her right, "yet sometimes events such as these are a fun change of pace. To break away from work and express ourselves freely." Iseult was invited by friends of her family to attend, and Tristan was obliged to accompany his wife to help uphold Britain's friendship and alliances across the channel. "For someone known for his sadness, try to live a little!"
With a slight smile gracing his features, Tristan hummed, "I can't deny that, Iseult." The Knight of Lamentation's right hand gently squeezed Iseult's own gloved one, feeling the smooth material glide against his skin, feeling the flower patterns sewn into the gloves as their colors blended seamlessly with the white base. "Your choice of gloves tonight are beautiful, like a garden growing from your fingertips to spread beauty wherever you go.
Iseult blushed at her husband's compliment, "Thank you, Tristan. You have a way with words many men would not. And I'm glad that you're my husband." Their carriage continued on down the road, and they soon passed through a large portcullis into the estate, moving the carriage curtains to see what lay outside. many visitors and guests in the courtyard lit by torches, all gathered in groups conversing amongst themselves with servants providing drinks as well as appetizing food to satiate any hunger they would have until the dinner of the party was served. "It may not be on par with the faery party," Iseult said as their carriage came to a stop before a servant opened it to let them disembark for the night, "but the Duke of Kent knows how to be a gracious host." Taking the first steps outside, Tristan turned as he held his hand for Iseult to take as per his gentlemanly duty and status as her husband to be her escort.
"We are now joined by Sir Tristan of Camelot," The announcer at the front of the courtyard began, "and his wife, Lady Iseult of the White Hands, joins us tonight!" Many of those in attendance clapped as small cheers came through, as were the nobles who were gracious and glad about one of the inner court of Camelot to attend but did not wish to besmirch their image of calm and collected people.
It was nothing Tristan was unaccustomed to, nor Iseult herself, though their announcement came with the Duke of Kent himself making his way towards them with haste to greet them with an outstretched hand to the couple, "I am glad that one of King Arthur's most trusted knights and friends came out this way to attend this gathering." Shaking hands with the Knight of Lamentation, the Duke of Kent then gently took Iseult's hand and planted a small kiss on it, "and I am glad to see that his beautiful wife is in attendance with him." Iseult giggled before she and Tristan dipped their heads in respect to the duke as he turned around to address the crowd as he raised his arms in splendor, "Now that the guests of honor have arrived, let us celebrate!"
After the Duke of Kent's decree signaled the soiree to begin, Tristan and Iseult conversed with the various nobles and menfolk before splitting them into different groups, with Iseult speaking animatedly with the duke's wife. In contrast, others had approached the redhead with almost the same questions and statements that others had asked him before, "To have risen among the ranks as one of King Arthur's most trusted knights, you inspire others to rise so high, Sir Tristan."
One of the nobles had said while others jostled to catch Tristan's attention, eager to bring up the next question, "What's your view on the country's state, Sir Tristan?" He began, "I know that the king had issued various donations to orphanages across Britain, though he also wished to have schools built so that the commoners may learn to better themselves."
Another noble next to Tristan did his best not to scoff at the idea, "If you ask me," He said as he swirled his drink around in his goblet, "the king seems to think educating the rabble is a good idea, despite evidence to the contrary."
Tristan disagreed with this viewpoint, "It is a good idea, sir." Tristan began as he sipped his own wine, "King Arthur believes that if Britain is to better itself, it must start with the people who live on our lands. The people we freed from the looming threat that the usurper Vortigern were kept under the boot heel of his tyranny and did not know much beyond simple farming to try and make ends meet for their families." The atmosphere and mood of the people that we're forced to endure his boot heel on their throats had shown that they were unknowledgeable about a great many things that those in the south had, and even those of the south needed proper guidance hence the need for schools. "Take the Taxes, for example. The taxes are set at a reasonable rate for the general populace, and in an ideal world, they would be collected at that rate, but all it takes is an unscrupulous tax collector telling a farmer that the King raised the tax and then pocketed the difference. This issue becomes less likely if the farmers can read the King's decrees and recognize when they are being exploited."
"I think perhaps, Sir Tristan, we may disagree upon that." The noble said as he looked down at his wine before downing the rest of it while marching away.
"I think I struck a nerve." Tristan mused, drawing chuckles from the other nobles, some laughs more uneasy than the others.
The other noblemen speaking with Tristan could only shake their heads, "Give the man some time to come around to the king's decree."
As their conversation went off into a different subject altogether, Tristan took this as his cue to leave, not wanting to be drawn into something he himself held no interest in discussing. One can only hear old men complaining about gout so many times before the subject gets suicide-inducing. Rather than go through repeats of the same old, boring conversations, Tristan instead walked among the attendees to listen to what they conversed about, be it gossip that he could find some small measure of entertainment in, or other topics that he wouldn't mind getting into. All the while, his gaze went back to his wife, Iseult. Tristan had no regrets about marrying her, as she was a joy to be around, even when compared to so many other women he had met over the years. Yet, his thoughts of late had drifted back to Iseult of Ireland, with whom he had the affair in his youth, "Even still, you hold a place within my heart, even if you share it with the one, I have married and come to love in turn."
Shaking his head at this conflicting love, Tristan discarded these melancholic thoughts as he listened to the guests, though he picked up one conversation that he thought was quite embarrassing, to say the least, "Tell me, have you seen the Knight of Sky Silver before?" A few noblewomen were apparently gossiping about his fellow friend.
"Fairly recently at Sir Tristan's wedding to Lady Iseult, why do you ask?"
"Oh, I wish I could have some time alone with him. He's such a handsome man," The woman then lowered her tone down enough so that none else save for those in their small circle could hear her next words, though Tristan always had an ear for distant sound, "though I wonder if he is any good in bed. He must be better than my bore of a husband. Certainly, one as young as him would have the vigor to last more than five minutes when his blood's up." She smirked at the prospect of having a wild night with the whiskered blonde, the other women giggled and laughed at her words, all the while they made their own comments known to their circle.
"Oh, I would approach him with every intent to woo and have him take me to bed. As the tavern wenches say, I'd shag the absolute sh*t out of him."
"The unspeakable things I would let him do to me."
"The unspeakable things I would do to him." The noblewomen laughed raucously at the idea, yet they did nothing to deny what they said.
Tristan had to cover his mouth lest he give himself away to their interesting conversation about Naruto as he kept walking. At the very least, he'd have something for a funny conversation with the blonde about his admirers, married or not. Continuing his slow trek through the crowd, he came by the servants' quarters as they carried out wine and food from for the guests. However, Tristan had come to a slow walk as he overheard a conversation amongst some of them, "Gotta say, I didn't think 'd ever get to meet one of King Arthur's knights, never mind one who helped defeat the usurper, it's an honor to have him 'ere and serve 'im an' his wife. They're friendly and far more kind than most nobles here tonight, honestly thought most court folk were up their own ass."
Tristan grinned. It felt so good to hear the subjects' words of the realm. Their view of their exploits, though embellished, was a look into how the general public felt for their leadership instead of duplicitous lords who were skilled at lying through their teeth. But it was nice that the people saw them as kind, as most of the time, the people saw nobles as arrogant, and they weren't wrong at times.
"It's true, the Duke might be nice, but he seems to think the sun shines from his asscrack." Another servant responded, "But that business with Arthur and the Queen, why hasn't the King and Queen brought an heir into the world?"
Tristan tensed in the shadows.
"Strange, No? We've all been caught short on the job, but it's been years since the wedding." Another chimed in as he brought in a platter that needed to be cleaned, "Think the king's impotent, or the queen barren?"
The people… were worried for their King. He could hear it in their voices, the undercurrents of worry. The King was one loved by many, and they wanted to see the King happy.
"t'would be a tragedy fr' either, but I don't think it's the King's fault." As he set down a platter filled with wine goblets, a servant said, "More likely, the queen is barren. His majesty is far too perfect to be the cause of the lack of an heir, it is a blemish that the perfect leader cannot suffer from." The other servants within the gossip had nodded in agreement as Tristan quickly walked away before he could say anything to rebuke that fact but would garner suspicion that could not occur. Making his way over to a balcony where he could have time alone with none to bother him, Tristan set his glass down on the wall as he looked out over to a lake that held a pristine view, leaving him alone with his thoughts.
"If only this day and age were not superstitious of women leading their nations," Tristan muttered quietly to himself. Women who led their countries were oft seen as a sign of bad luck, with dark times ahead of their rule that led to nothing but tragedy and despair. It was utter nonsense, as gender had no meaning on one's rule, if Arturia were to hear such gossip, then…
…what would she have said in response? How would she react to what the common people say about those who were close to her? To those of her inner circle of the court? Would she have responded with rage as she spit out words to render the gossip naught but an insult? Or merely scoff and pass it off as nothing to be concerned over, letting bygones be bygones?
The latter was perhaps the choice that was more dangerous despite being merciful in comparison to a rage-filled rebuke, it also spoke of someone who could not understand the pain that words such as these would cause their hearts to ache in pain for her sake; the sake of her image that held the splendor all wished to see and have part of. As if she could not feel those same emotions herself. She needed to be reminded of how she affected those around her, and if Arturia could not, then Tristan did not want to think about what heartache she unintentionally unleashed on all of them.
Tristan felt no shame in serving Arturia, much less a perfect king, yet he felt sad that she should understand the heartaches that others would go through for her, "Can she not understand what she puts others through?" The Knight of Lamentation quietly murmurs to himself. Alone with these thoughts, Tristan sighed at how things were.
"What's a fine man like yourself doing all alone in a soiree like this?" A feminine, sweet voice came over his ears as Tristan turned to see the source: The young woman wore a strangely simple outfit compared to the feted and plucked ostentatious ensembles of the present aristocracy that did not take away from how pretty it was. She wore a short plumb red dress that ended with a pleated pale pink petticoat at mid-thigh. The dress was sleeveless save for ruffled detached shoulder sleeves and cuffs, leaving the young woman's breathtakingly pale skin on full display, her plumb red hair cascading down her back like a sordid veil. A brown leather cinch was wrapped around her waist, giving the appearance of freshly melted chocolate dribbling down into the plumb red ruffles and onto the thigh-high suede boots of the same color and gilded edges. Her thin, delicate neck was adorned in a silky black choker, while atop her head was a large, pointed and wide-brimmed pink hat that cast her impishly beautiful face in the half-light.
Her eyes lit up in realization once she took in his appearance, leaving Tristan to guess that she had only heard of his description based on her following words, "Oh my, you're Sir Tristan! One of King Arthur's greatest knights of the Round!" She exclaimed excitedly as he quickly shook his hand that he didn't have much time to bring up for a cordial greeting, "It's an honor to me you, sir knight!"
Upon letting go of his hand, Tristan nonchalantly gestured that she did not need to get so worked up positively over meeting him, "It is quite alright, mi lady."
Before he had a chance to inquire her name in kind, the young woman continued as if she hadn't even bothered to stop, "So you came all alone? I thought your wife would've been here, considering word had spread that you were a married man yourself." Glancing behind her, Tristan could only wonder if she could really make out anyone at such an angle that didn't offer much to view, though he supposed she perhaps had some unnatural talent, in ways akin to some in the Round Table.
Although there was something strange in her question, "My wife, Iseult of the White Hands, accompanied me here to Kent. In fact, she was currently off speaking with the duke's wife last I saw her." The duke had announced that the two of them were the guests of honor before the ensemble of guests, though perhaps she had arrived afterwards? Some guests weren't unheard of to be 'fashionably late' to events such as these if just for some strange social status quirk.
"Ever had anyone before her?" The young woman inquired.
Tristan hummed as his thoughts drifted once more to Iseult of Ireland, "There was once such a woman. And by coincidence or fate, her name was Iseult as well. We once had something, but our situations forced us apart." Having been meant to wed another lord of the land, their love was not meant to last, "Still though, I do not regret marrying my Iseult. She is an extraordinary woman compared to many in this land."
The young woman nodded in acceptance at Tristan's response before turning out to the lake herself as she twirled her finger along with stone, yet her nail did not break, "Tell me," She began, "what would you define as the difference between sadness and despair?"
That was an interesting yet odd question… although he didn't find anything strange with it, to begin with, Tristan thought a bit before he was able to answer her question, "I suppose that despair is where hope is lacking when none can find it, even if it is blind to one's eyes for but a moment. But sadness is the remembrance of good times before what brought it forth." Good answers if one were to hear them. Tristan wondered whether perhaps the young woman had a similar viewpoint on emotions.
Her response wasn't what he expected: "I would say that despair isn't complete. Not until all hope's been snuffed." Stating in a haughty yet amused tone, all the while dragging her nail across the stone wall once more to display her nails would not chip or break upon contact, "When there's no chance of prevailing against what brought it down upon them all."
Her vocally made viewpoint made Tristan open his eyes as he grew suspicious of what she was saying, but he was cut off as she soon turned to walk away from all the while, she gently stroked a few small strands of his hair, "Well, I suppose now I should be going. People to see, places to be, though I'm glad to see someone else has hair like mine. It's not seen very often." Tristan watched as the young woman disappeared into the crowd and decided not to pursue her, sensing something off about her only to find that she had vanished entirely.
Tristan quickly peered around himself to ensure that the woman hadn't given him the slip but was broken from his actions once he heard his wife behind him, "Dear, are you alright?" Iseult laid a hand on his shoulder to bring him to her full attention, seeing that her expression was perplexed, "You seem worried about something."
Tristan didn't want to spoil their time together, so he chose to instead make a little white lie, "It's nothing, darling." With his worry most likely misplaced, Tristan accompanied his wife for the rest of the soiree.
Looking down from a high balcony above the large manor, Baobhan Sith held the few strands from Tristan's crimson hair; she twirled it between her fingers, idly admiring its color before conjuring up a doll in her spare hand with a sparkle of glittering red dust. The doll was unremarkable in every way, with no face or adornments or even stitch marks where it had been sewn together, "My my, what sanguine tresses you have." Baobhan brought the hair strands down to the doll's head and squeezed it tightly as she channeled mana into it until it slipped inside the doll's head like a horse's plume. She felt the innards of the doll wriggle and convulse beneath the felt as they took the shape of her desires, "I always enjoyed playing with dolls." The doll struggled as life was forcibly enchanted into it, seeking to escape her iron-clad group as if in fear of what it knew it was becoming, a Fetch Doll. A particularly nasty form of witchcraft that, in millennia, the mystics of the Caribbean would reinvent as a voodoo doll. Eventually, the squealing lump of felt and flesh became inert, its form a miniaturized mockery of the Knight of Lamentation with a comically over-pronounced frown stitched into its face.
"The sad thing about dolls is they never really kept me entertained for long." Baobhan pulled something small from the hem of her corset, a nail, sickly with crimson miasma that emanated from a heart-shaped gem, though it was the drops of dark red liquid that continued to drip from its tip that glinted ominously in the moonlight. Fetch, the crystallization of the omen of death that one feels upon seeing their doppelganger. Upon gaining access to the flesh or hair of a potential victim and embedding it into a specially prepared doll, it would take on the form and flesh of the target and, linked to their corporeal form, any damage infecting the doll would slowly but surely pass to the victim. It was a far more refined form of life link magecraft which could be traced or detected but came with the potential risk of rotting the caster's soul. "I wondered why, not that it matters," She stabbed the doll right in the chest as she looked down to confirm it had the desired effect.
Tristan was with his wife conversing politely with some human nobles looking totally unflapped, which made it entertaining for Baohbahn when she saw Tristan wince. Nearly dropping his goblet of wine, the Knight of Lamentation gripped his chest, right where Baobhan had pushed the needle into the doll, cursing him. The pain, which had been tailored to feel like heartburn, had quickly subsided as his wife looked at him in worry before Tristan found his footing, "You'll live just long enough," The vampiric fae looked down in scorn at Tristan with a small smirk, "long enough to see everyone involved in mother's murder fall into despair." The pain seemed to subside as Tristan straightened himself out, with the husband trying to keep the wife from worrying, "The slow death, drawn-out as your strength slowly leaves you. What greater despair to a besotted knight than to have your vaunted ability stripped from you and watch as none of your allies live long enough to save you."
Looking off to the side and feeling the wind rustle her long red hair, Baobhan took off her hat and leapt from the balcony into the nearby forest to make her way back north to her temporary residence to regroup with Woodwose and the others. Yet, barely an hour later, she halted as a gem within her pocket glowed brightly. Fishing it from her pocket before drawing her nail across its surface in an intricate glyph, the sharp-toothed princess was greeted by a miniaturized hologram of a ghastly face and half helm. The Mouth had come to report to her. Suppressing the urge to click her tongue in distaste, the girl schooled her features into the impartial face of a ruler to receive what she knew to be an essential report. Because it dealt with removing the biggest thorn in their side and the greatest obstacle in bringing down the self-proclaimed King.
Making her way over to a nearby rock, Baobhan set a small ornate box atop it and opened it as tiny reflective shards levitated up to form a large mirror before placing the gem into its center. A shimmer of light and the image of the Mouth in all his hideousness took shape, "Was your mission a success?" The crimson-clad fae asked the corrupted man.
"Indeed." His guttural voice said, "Woodwose's information was correct, it lay in the outskirts of Salisbury guarded by a family of Druids."
Knowing well enough how her mother's captains operated without restraint, Baobhan arched a brow as she brought up a second question, "Was there any resistance?"
"Oh yes, an exquisite amount," The Mouth stated in dark sadism, "The Tower nearly tore the head off of one of the guardian's sons." The black captain set his jaw, the coming words tasting sour to him, "But he gave up the location before he could do so. It was sadly bloodless."
Baobhan narrowed her eyes at their actions to acquire what they needed, "Don't make this a habit, Mouth. I may not be mother," She glared at the corrupted man to get her point across, "but that doesn't mean I won't punish you for going against my orders and using excessive force. Don't kill needlessly, and if you have to, clean up your mess. I will cut your tongue from your black mouth if you do it again." Her tone filled with finality, Baobhan closed the box as the mirror shards receded back within it.
Breathing deeply to ease her slight agitation, Baobhan Sith stroked the box as a memory of the past came to her.
"Look, mother, I made this like your own magical mirror!"
"It's certainly exquisite, although it could always be better. Shall we work to link it to the Water Mirror network?"
"Your Master Magecraft! Of course, Mother! I'd love to!"
The fae's face creased with regret at the memory, for all her skill with magecraft, she had been unable to link the mirror up to her mother's network. Morgan had been a good teacher, but she would not hold her hand concerning projects and tasks.
Faced with the fact that she could not duplicate the Infinity Mirror or connect to the Water Mirror network, Sith decided on making something smaller for convenience, leading to the creation of the network of Communication Mirrors that one could use anywhere at any time. It made her so happy to see her mother compliment her design; god, she wished she could show her mother just how far she had come.
"I will make them pay for what they did to you, mother." Righteous anger swelled within her, "All of them…." Baobhan Sith continued on towards her destination in the name of twisted justice and revenge.
-Several Days Later-
Back within Camelot, in a training ground procured for the Round Table's members, Naruto had taken Mordred out to spar some with her Clarent, to test her new blade's capabilities with her own Dragon Core. "Come on, Little Mo, I know you can do better than this and I can take it." Naruto joked as he parried a vertical strike Mordred intended to deliver to his right shoulder blade, forcing his daughter back several feet with Clarent in hand. Naruto twirled Marmydose from one hand to the other before taking hold of its central hilt and swinging the 'blade' with a whiplike motion sending a blade of compressed air at Mordred. He was happy to see that despite her heavy armor and concealing helmet, she could dodge the wind blade and retake a combat stance with the greatsword.
"But won't I hurt you, mom?" Mordred asked her mom in hesitation, unsure if it was alright for her to step up her game. Ever since she was given Clarent, Mordred had practiced many a day and night with the sword to better grasp her skill with the enchanted blade that Naruto had forged. The crimson sword had been a perfect fit that she could feel the energy within her Dragon Core link with that of the blade's own, her power rose to play the 'music' of the sword's construction. She experimented with various unorthodox techniques that most of the other knights would have never used, such as throwing her sword, and to her surprise, Clarent returned to her hand whenever the thought called for it.
Naruto waved off her concern, "No need to worry, stretch your legs, I can take it." Stepping back into a stance, Naruto gestured for Mordred to continue, "Come at me again, Mordred, and this time like you mean it." A bright smile graced his features, knowing that his daughter never backed down from a challenge, unspoken or not. He wanted her to come at him with her synergized power between herself and Clarent, knowing the potential power that his wonderful girl could bring to bear, on top of using the unorthodox.
Seeing that her mother wanted her to keep going, Mordred obliged the challenge as she focused on her intended target, wanting to break through Naruto's guard, "If you say so, mother." Knowing full well that her standard attacks wouldn't help her achieve her goal, Mordred decided to do so another way. Opting to use one of her more unique fighting skills, mainly in how her sword always seemed to come back to her, Mordred twisted her grip on the blade into a reverse grip and threw Clarent at Naruto like a javelin with additional power behind it, aimed directly at his right shoulder. The flash of silver and red shattered the sound barrier as it streaked towards Naruto, crackles of red lightning trailing its path.
Raising an eyebrow in surprise, Naruto swung the adamantine shaft of Marmyadoe to meet the silver rocket, intending to knock it off course. What he was not prepared for was the secondary explosion of magical energy that had been built up across its flight. Intentional or not, the tracer of magical energy from Mordred's fingertips to the flying Clarent had interfaced with the greatsword and treated it as a dynamo, transferring kinetic energy into magical power. A blast of crimson magical energy radiated from the sword where it met Marmydose's shaft sending Naruto skidding backwards thirty feet. Thinking quickly, Naruto allowed the last of the momentum to push his upper body backwards, transferring the inertia to his legs and kicking Clarent into the air before executing a backflip in one fluid motion. "Nice try," the grin never left Naruto's face as he shifted from the spinning form of Clarent, "but you should know better than to—" Suddenly, Mordred leapt high into the air, her body shrouded in the same crackling red mana that loosed her like a cannonball up and forwards.
A thought was all it took to recall Clarent to her hand, and, using the downward momentum, Mordred rode the lightning down towards Naruto with a roar. A pulse from her Dragon Core and the aura of crimson grew stronger before forming a close shroud over the descending Clarent.
Subconscious and spontaneous creation and utilization of her innate powers and the tools she had to hand, amazing. What a testament to how much she had progressed since she became a knight, 'Nice job, Little Mo.' Thinking merely to himself with pride as a parent. Answering the attack in kind, Naruto drew the training sword from his hip, its length instantly covered in a turquoise circuit pattern signifying reinforcement and crossed it in front of Mamrydose.
Mordred continued to channel her mana into Clarent as the blade resonated with her being, spinning in what would have appeared to be but a blur to most eyes, shielded by crimson lightning that she created from within and Clarent empowering her attack. As she came down upon her mother, Mordred brought Clarent to full force down onto the reinforced sword, with the lightning vibrating Clarent to such a high degree, she cut through the blade with ease and cut deeply into Naruto's left shoulder, "Oh crap! Mother!"
Blood sprayed across her helmet as Clarent drove through Naruto's body before she quickly pulled the blade out and tossed it aside alongside removing her helm. She tried to help him however she could, even if there was nothing to do, panicking all the while, "Mother! How can I—"
"Mordred!" Naruto exclaimed quickly as he held back the pain rising from his throat. Even though he knew that the odds of Mordred landing a fatal blow on him were low, he did prepare himself in the event she did cut through him, "It's alright, I'm alright. Look." Naruto gestured to his wound to showcase the Curse of Restoration in action. Most of the time, when Dead Apostles were injured or dealt wounds like these, he had never been damaged to the point of being rendered down to the bone, but he was sure that Brunestud's hickey could deal with the damage.
Mordred stepped back to give Naruto some room as he stood up to showcase how the blood flowed back into his body, collar bone snapping back together as musculature grew over it with the skin melding together as his robes repaired, "Woah…." Mordred had heard from her mother how vampires could regenerate near instantaneously or instead turn back time to the point where their wounds were no issue for them at all, but to see it in person was a whole different thing entirely.
"See, Mordred. I'm just fine." Naruto said as the restoration finished up and dusted himself off, "by the by, I'm glad we didn't have an impromptu test of if I could survive decapitation. I have to say, I didn't expect you to use lightning to sharpen Clarent." Naruto complimented her, looking down at the now sliced practice sword he had been using. Bending down to pick up the two pieces, Naruto saw just how deadly Clarent could be when wielded by someone as powerful as Mordred, "You've got a good head on your shoulders. You're getting better at tapping into your Dragon Core every day." He added, a parent glad to see their child grow and progress.
Mordred rubbed the back of her head as she shrugged her shoulders, "I didn't really know I could do that, honestly." Looking back at Clarent on the ground, Mordred made her way over to the sword as she picked it up before looking back at her mother, "It just kind of… happened, sort of." At first, Mordred wasn't sure if she could really pull it off, but she wanted to try and imitate the king, "I remembered what you said about how the king could use Excalibur, so I just tried to use it like she could."
Naruto chuckled slightly as he pulled her into a light hug before smiling at his little girl, he knew that feeling, yet at the same time, he knew she tried to model herself after Arturia subconsciously, being more like her 'father'. Speaking of Arturia, 'Tonight, I'll finally introduce them to each other and explain everything.'
"Think after all this time, things will go smoothly?" Kurama, clearly drowsy from a nap, knew well enough how revelations of this scale could be met with varied results. Keeping a secret like this for several years and then dropping it in someone's lap without any real warning was bound to have repercussions. "Considering how things have been between you two, I'm not so certain she'll—"
His partner's words were cut off as he felt a powerful, no, divine presence approaching the capital. Expanding his magical senses, Naruto homed in on the approaching divine magical power entering the city and felt it akin to Excalibur or Avalon.
"Mother, what is that… thing I'm feeling?" Evidently, Naruto wasn't the only one to feel the divine presence, he turned to see Mordred had done the same, looking in the direction of the gates. It seemed that Mordred had inherited his attunement for such things. Turning towards his daughter, Naruto was about to explain what it was more than likely, that is, until the carynx horn system from the guard outposts sounded off, one by one as they joined in sounding off. A high-pitched blast that dipped three times.
Knights returning.
Galahad's company had returned from their quest for the grail.
"They're back with the grail." Mordred looked to her mother with some confusion, "It's the Holy Grail that you're feeling Mordred; Galahad and his company made it back." Naruto said, looking up to the keep to see that Agravain had the balcony door to his office open, giving him an idea, "I'm going to go on ahead and inform the king, don't be late, Little Mo."
Abandoning decorum, Naruto leapt off from the private field up to the castle walls as Mordred smirked at her fellow knight and friends returning home, "Guess that shield basher pulled it off, after all this time." Sheathing Clarent, Mordred slipped her helm on once more before rushing to Ehangwen to greet her comrades after their long journey.
Leaping across the roof and walls of the palace, Naruto made his way up to Agravain's office, where he saw the Knight of Black Iron quietly doing paperwork as the sun shined through to help illuminate his office, "Why exactly did you think it was a good idea to jump through my balcony, Naruto?" Agravain did not turn to look at Naruto, simply dipping his quill in its ink well and continuing to balance the books.
Ignoring Agravain's lack of addressing him with proper decorum, not that it had ever truly bothered him, Naruto got straight to business, "Galahad's returned, call a court meeting. I'm fairly certain that the king will want to hear what they have to say."
Sighing at Naruto's words, Agravain set his quill down as he got up from his desk, "Very well then, I will have the servants prepare Ehangwen post haste."
"Good to hear," Naruto said as he turned to leap back outside, "I'll find the king and we'll be there soon."
The apostle dropped from the balcony before Agravain grumbled to himself, "Couldn't he have at least used the door like the rest of us?"
As for Naruto, he alighted in the keep's courtyard before heading straight for Arturia's room, passing by several guardsmen who gave slight bows and salutes to him which were returned until he arrived to see Arturia having donned her kingly regalia, "All set for the news, Arturia?" As per usual, once they were within their shared room, all sense of decorum and titles fell away, "You can sense it too?"
Naruto watched as she donned her cloak and crown, "I sensed it the moment it hit the outlying bounded field." Adjusting her cloak, Arturia turned to Naruto with a magnanimous smile she always wore when she was truly happy about something. Something that had gone from rare occurrence to miracle in the last few years as she reigned over Britain, "With the Grail, Britain can be saved indefinitely." Making her way over to Naruto, Arturia tipped up to plant a kiss on his cheek, "…perhaps now we can start our lives anew." With the grail maintaining Britain, she could gradually step back from ruling and start living for herself for once.
Naruto clasped her hand tenderly as he kissed its top before turning towards the door to open it for Arturia, "Ready to make history?" he asked rhetorically, "Then let's be on our way."
Briskly making their way through the myriad of corridors bound for Ehangwen, Naruto and Arturia crossed over through an open section of the palace's walkway that overlooked the main gate of Camelot, allowing them to see the grail company arrive. Bedivere, Lancelot, Gawain and Kay all had the same idea as they stood to watch the distant caravan approach. Reinforcing his eyes, Naruto looked out to see that Galahad, Percival and Bors had all made it from their journey, as well as their close companions, but the company was a few men lighter than when it set out. "It looks like several of the soldiers and squires that went on the journey didn't make it." Taking a closer look at their armor as they drew closer, he could make out cracks, burns and dents in even the thickest plate. Curiosity bloomed in Naruto's mind, what had happened in the last year to deal such damage to the Greatest of Camelot's cohort? And why did they look so melancholic, their smiles half as bright as they should be for returning heroes.
Kay gave a saddened sigh when Arturia and Naruto joined the Knights, "Damn, and here I was hoping that everyone made it there and back again."
"I wonder what they encountered in the Holy Land?" Gawain pondered as Lancelot hummed in agreement; though he was more focused on his son leading the company through the main gate, many people began to cheer and praise the knights and soldiers.
"Whatever may have happened," Arturia said as she donned the stoic mask once again before in public, "their sacrifice will be honored."
The others nodded in agreement with Arturia; to die in the king's service was an honor worthy of praise.
As the grail's company made their way through the main streets towards the palace, the company was revealed to have brought in another covered wagon pulled by a horse with Durnure and Lionel at the reins. Pellinore would be glad to see that their son returned from the quest.
Arturia turned to continue on towards Ehangwen as Naruto soon followed behind, "Once the company has had their rest, I'd like for us all to convene to see what happened on their quest." The other knights nodded in acknowledgement as they came behind, all eager to hear the news of Galahad's success.
-Ehangwen-
Having been told by Naruto ahead of time, Agravain had the hall prepared with the intent of welcoming their grail quest members back in warmth and comfort with fresh décor and furniture, a welcome balm after so long away from home.
As the round table members took up their seats, Naruto took the seat that Merlin once sat in near Arturia as per his inherited duties. In contrast, Mordred's chair was now situated close to him with Bedivere between them. The doors soon opened, and the grail company made their way into the hall with Galahad, Percival and Bors front and center while the rest of their company had been allowed to rest in their quarters. Of the three, Percival was carrying a large wooden box on his back lashed by rope. It was eyed by everyone, all piquing their curiosity. They had all changed in the last year, with the tallest knight markedly different.
As the quest had progressed, so too had the armor requirements of the Round Table, with the tallest of their number sporting a noticeable number of additions to his gear before their departure for the Holy Land. The underside of his cuirass had been outfitted with two additional steel plates on either side of his chest, Percival had taken to wearing a white steel gorget around his neck rising up from the top of the chest armor. After many years of struggle and toil, the black belt that Percival had worn had finally given up the ghost, in its place was an armored belt fastened to his front by a chevron-shaped piece of steel plate. Small blue charms hung either side of the chevron between much more extensive and well-armored tassets, a white cloth similar to the one worn by Arturia and Mordred hung from the front of his to hang at his ankles. Most noticeable of all the additions were to Percival's left shoulder, to which the white-haired knight had bolted a large kite shield with a white and yellow shoulder cape hanging beneath.
"Sirs Galahad, Percival and Bors," Arturia began, "welcome home. I am glad that you all have returned home safely."
"Thank you, my King," Galahad replied. "Forgive me that I could not return all of us to Camelot's protection."
"Nonsense, the fact that you grieve for losses under your command underscores your gallantry. Raise your head, Sir Galahad. Make them as proud as we are all of you now."
Arturia said, eyeing the box and feeling the divine aura slipping from its cracks, "I trust that you bring news of your success?" If the grail here and now, then she could finally step back slowly from her duties. However, her knight's expressions soon dimmed, leaving a pit slowly forming in her stomach.
An uneasy silence came from the trio, with Galahad finally meeting the King's gaze, "We… do not have the Holy Grail, my king."
Naruto's brows' shot up to join his hairline at the young knight's words. How could they not have found the grail after all this time, and what kind of powerful divine aura could he have sensed from such a distance? The rest of the round table's expression grew incredulous as they murmured amongst themselves. He glanced over to Arturia as her body stiffened slightly before relaxing, a sign that she was just as perplexed as he was and unsure of how to respond to the news.
"If it is not the Grail you carry, then answer," Arturia commanded, "what is it that you carry back instead?"
Percival stepped forward as he undid the bindings that held the box on his back, "Forgive us, my king. We did find the cup of Christ himself, but we chose to leave it where it lay."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...WHAT THE f*ck!?" Mordred exploded.
The silence broken, the hall's occupants erupted into a roar against their choice, yet the trio stood firm in their silence. Agravain was the first to raise an accusatory finger at them, "Do you mean to say that you chose to be disloyal to the king in your quest? You found the Grail and CHOSE to not return it? That is willingly disobeying your king! That is TREASON!"
Lancelot did not take that accusation towards his son well, "How dare you accuse them of disloyalty!"
Mordred shook her head and looked straight at Galahad, "I guess pure-hearted means dumb as mule sh*t! What the f*ck is wrong with you three!?"
"Sir Mordred, enough!" Bedivere scolded the armored knight, though even he was dubious as to the trio's motives.
"Enough? Enough!? The King charged them to do one thing, ONE THING, and they f*cked it up!" Mordred raged, drawing a nod of agreement from Agravain.
Naruto did not appreciate his daughter making such a condescending and scathing comment towards one of their friends, sending a scolding look her way. Mordred was about to ask why he did that until Bedivere spoke up, "Peace, please, everyone!" The Knight of Loyalty exclaimed, "We mustn't jump to conclusions so quickly without knowing more."
Gawain agreed with Bedviere's point, "Sir Bors, answer the King's question, what was it that the company brought back from the Holy Land? If it is not the grail, then what is it?" If it was within the box, the divine aura that they could now feel seeping through its edges could be explained.
"Piss off Mashed Potato boy!" Mordred barked at Gawain, looking ready to get up and give the trio a piece of her mind, the gauntleted fingers of her hand digging into the wood of the Round Table.
"Look, can we all calm down? We're all friends and fellow knights here." Kay was attempting to quell the disruption and hostility that had begun since the near start of the meeting.
Kay himself wasn't getting very far, even with the eventual help of Palamedes and Pellinore. Naruto was quietly chastising Mordred, who looked down in slight shame, but she still thought what they did was foolish. Lancelot and Agravain were still at each other's throats, with the Orkney siblings trying to keep the two from pulling their swords out on one another. Arturia, stoic as she appeared, all the while, her knuckles were whitening at this display, hidden by her gauntlets. As for Tristan, the Knight of Lamentation stayed silent as he watched her closely as his eyes barely opened to analyze her.
Shifting his eyes from one person to another, Tristan silently observed the actions of each and every member of the Round Table and their King. 'Sir Bedivere, ever the mediator, the normal man amidst giants. Sir Lancelot and Sir Agravain are loyal to a fault but draw their swords in dedication to that which they hold pride in. Percival, Bors and Galahad, innocent but ashamed of their choices in the eyes of the King.'
He swept the room, taking in every detail of their faces and body language, 'Sir Mordred, full of anger, but born of wishing to rid the king of her burdens and those that would bring her unhappiness. Sir Kay loves Arturia more as his sister than as the King and, as such, is lenient to insurrection, while Sir Gawain and his siblings pursue their ideals regardless of how it hurts for fear of hurting the King. Each and every one of these men and women would throw themselves on their own swords rather than see the king agonize.'
Finally, he stared at Naruto, looking back and forth between stoic Arturia and raging Mordred, his face twisted in hesitation and empathy. 'And Naruto, he loves the King more than any other, is in pain… and the King?' He thought, looking at Arturia, her eyes focused on the Grail trio alone as the hall's din grew to a cacophony. 'She only has eyes for her means to save Britain… is she aware of how everyone in this room is tearing themselves apart to see her happy? Does she understand the feeling her martyrs' path set a light in her subjects and comrades?'
"ENOUGH OF THIS!"
Ehangwen became silent as Arturia's voice commanded them to halt their arguments, "Cease this foolishness and recompose yourselves, my knights." As Arturia commanded them, everyone receded back to their seats in silence as Arturia eyed them all to see that while her words had the desired effect, she could see that the lack of answers was what grated on everyone present, "Now then, Sir Percival, what is that you have brought back, shrouded in a divine aura, and what happened to you all in the Holy Land?" Both questions would hopefully quell the unrest in the hall.
Setting the box down before himself, Percival lifted the top as he drew out not a chalice but a weapon.
The weapon was undoubtedly a spear, but one that deviated strongly from your average Roman Pilam. To begin, it was long, longer than Percival was tall with a lacquered black shaft ringed with silver rings at the halfway point and a bulbous counterweight shaped like an instance burner just above its silvered bottom. The spearhead was beautiful, brushed silver and expanded upward in three sections, the first was the silver 'Gae' shaped blade hewed in black before flowing into a wide Chevron that stood beneath the tall, wide diamond-shaped edge. A gold depression was in the blade's center with a leaf-shaped section cut from its heart. Even resting, its holy and almost divine aura made those looking upon it take notice, but there was something off about it, some subconscious inkling that while what twinkled in the light was the gulf between man and God, its current state was not as it had always been.
A spear that now radiated divine power, not unlike Rhongomyniad. While it may not have rivalled Arturia's holy lance, it was nothing to scoff at nor dismiss.
"In order to find the passage to where the Holy Grail rested," Percival began, "we sought out a nun who knew the way, and," Percival seemed to hesitate slightly before he responded, as if he was unable to honestly believe his following words, "as it turns out, her name was Agresiza. And to my surprise, she was my sister, a sister that I had no knowledge of." This drew many surprised looks from the hall's occupants as they all believed that the Knight of the Dove only had one sister who resided here in the homeland. "She was a nun in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where she gifted me this: the Holy Spear of Longinus to help guide us to the Grail." Surprised murmurs arose from the hall as Naruto stared at the spear with reinforced enhanced eyes.
'Touched by the same blood as the Grail.' Naruto mused internally. The holy spear of Longinus belonged to Lucius Longinus, the Roman soldier who pierced the side of the son of the Hebrew God, dousing the weapon in his blood and granting it his holy blessing and power as the Roman soldier confirmed his death on the cross as he was crucified. The spear eventually fell through the annals of history over the last four hundred and was never seen again. It made sense that someone from the Church would have found it, and even more so if the spear could lead anyone seeking the other holy relics of Christ himself, be it the cross he died on, the nails that held him in place, or even the cup he drank from at the last supper.
"If they had that weapon guiding them the whole way, they found the cup.' Kurama mused, 'So what made them decide against bringing it back?"
'I guess we'll hear soon.'
As they continued on with their fascinating story, Naruto couldn't help but yearn to see the sights and wonders they did; heading to the Sea of Galilee, where the Ship of Solomon resided where Galahad had found the Sword of David, in which was now adorned on his person opposite of the Sword of Elaine. Galahad had renamed it the Sword of Strange Hangings due to the tags hanging from the hilt, making it his own now.
Despite the ship possessing no sails or oars to take them through the waves, the Longinus drew them down a river and into a canyon through the desert, almost as if a miracle itself had deigned them worthy of taking the journey until they came to a temple. "Once we arrived at the temple, complications arose." Percival finished.
Bors took a step forward as he chose to continue the tale, "Once we stepped onto the land, we continued our trek, but the air and sound around us shifted as if we were being followed by someone… or something…."
Galahad looked to Naruto as he felt it best to get to the heart of the problem they would soon face, "Above the canyon, it revealed itself that our stalker was the Questing Beast."
Naruto closed his eyes as he recalled Galahad's first encounter with the creature as it was driven off the edge of cliffs, with nobody in sight of the shoreline below them.
It had indeed survived, "What happened, Sir Galahad?"
-The Past; The Holy Land-
Blood splattered across his chest plate as Galahad drew the Sword of Strange Hangings from his hip, bracing Lord Camelot with his entire body weight as the Questing Beast swooped in to snatch one of the squires in one of its jaws, the full force of its bite splintering the writing body like glass, before flinging it around like a ragdoll. He was caught once again at just how repulsive the thing was to behold. It was the size of a bull elephant with the upper body of a leopard mashed together with the legs of a horse and the sinewy flanged tail of some prehistoric creature. A long, heavily armored neck stretched the length of its body again before ending in the hooded maw of a cobra, vermillion orange eyes glowed with maddened glee; from its dislocated jaw flailed innumerable beasts of the hunt shaped from glistening scarlet flesh. Hounds, lions, horses, hawks and even skinless hunters clutching bone spears quivered in rhythmless rapture, their cavalcade of pointed 'teeth' and weighty mass crushing a proud man of Britain into pulp.
"Regroup!" Galahad shouted as another of its fleshy extensions struck out like a viper to attack him, "We cannot let the beast scatter us!" Twisting to the side, Galahad deflected the strike with his shield before bringing his sword down onto the tough hide of the Questing Beast. While having accumulated great mystery within it over the many centuries, the blade was unable to cut cleanly through the neck as it lashed back to free itself from a near beheading.
As he recalled, Galahad and Pellinore had wounded it last by firing arrows into the underbelly when it was exposed to them, but now it seemed that the creature would not enable them a chance to make the same attack once more. Its movements were blindingly fast despite its great size, but it always made sure to keep its stomach low to the ground.
Percival was wrestling a fleshy beast, a mountain lion's head, as its jaws clamped down onto the Longinus, preventing his fellow knight from unleashing its power to counter; Bors rallied those who could fight back as they tried to do battle with the other head, the rest of their company was now dragging the wounded away to save those they could.
Eventually, Percival lost the contest of strength as the Questing Beast flung him away into Bors, the two slammed into one another, knocking them back with the soldiers trying to fire arrows at the main head to blind it, yet it was for naught. The Questing Beast opened its multiple jaws as it breathed fire on the men as they scattered, dragging Percival and Bors in every direction they could flee to avoid the flames leaving Galahad the only one able to combat the beast.
As the beast came closer to Galahad, its eyes bore down upon him like a hawk watching its prey make a futile attempt to escape. The two enemies began to circle one another, with Galahad taking a defensive stance to make a counterattack. The young knight could see that the earlier wound he inflicted had healed itself all the while the arrows shot were being pushed out of its body, yet what the young knight did not expect was what occurred next, "You have evaded my hunt for the better part of six months." The beast's mass of mouths spoke with a sloshy cadence, flesh being twisted to make noises it never should have. Galahad's eyes went wide in shock, and his mouth became slightly agape, but he did his best to keep his composure under the intense stress the Questing Beast was putting them under, "But that did not stop me from tracking your trail." A hawk's bony beak chittered within the maw, "You, who were the first in millennia to wound me." The flayed man took over, "And I have no other desire but to hunt you down and bite your beating heart out."
Galahad could see that the beast's pride was insulted when he nearly killed it in their first encounter, yet if all it wanted was him, "You would kill others, just to reach me, you depraved animal?!" All this slaughter and bloodshed for something so petty sickened Galahad to no end.
"Yes, I would wade through a thousand of your kind if that is what it would take to kill you." Galahad seethed in anger as he continued to glare at the beast, but he soon noticed that Percival had gotten his bearings with the Longinus in hand, ready to strike, but a surprise attack from the rear would not work well. No, rather, they would need something else instead. Something bold and audacious. Something that Naruto had imparted to him in the past in preparation for combat.
'Sometimes, if a surprise attack doesn't work, let them come to you head-on, and that's when you strike.'
Composing himself, giving away nothing of his quickly formed plan, Galahad shifted his feet to position himself and the beast precisely where he needed it, "One, only one more shall die today."
"Very well, now, how do you choose to die?" The Questing Beast's mass of visceral matter began to collapse into its Snakehead, revealing a seemingly bottomless gullet. Dark purple power started to build in its depths, growing denser and more potent until its snake neck began to bulge grotesquely, and the ground beneath its feet cratered from the sudden increase of weight. A staggering amount of mana was building up, ready to be unleashed upon them in one titanic wave that would doubtless kill the entire company and likely reduce canyon as the whole to slag. It seemed the Questing Beast wanted to take no chances that even the dust of its prey would remain.
Sheathing his blade, Galahad took Lord Camelot in both hands as he shouted, "Everyone, behind me!" He did not flinch at the prospect of his own oblivion. Instead, he held an ideal in his heart, a dream. The men who stood behind him, he would make sure they were once more safe within Camelot's walls.
"That which heals all wounds, that which removes all grudges," orbs of blue light projected forwards from the shield in a ring before begging to rotate at ever-increasing speed until a band of light had been formed. "Come forth our glorious homeland! Manifest and defend us from all evils of the world!" The band expanded, forming into a translucent blue shield bearing the Round Table's sigil picked out in white.
"Come forth, Lord Camelot!"
With an unearthly shriek, the Questing Beast released its stored mana in a beam of abject destruction, the ground underneath it shattering from the force. The magical energy was as caustic as the beast itself, sand was turned to glass, and the bodies of their fallen comrades were set aflame, the dark fire eating away their bodies in fractions of a second. The beam slammed against the blue shield with a rapturous KRAKAKAKOOM, splintering into dozens of smaller but no less powerful energy beams that streaked off as sunbeams.
The ground split between them, and a stray mass of the energy careened into a rocky mountain top and pummeled it to dust with no resistance. At the same time, high above the battlefield, the scant cloud cover in the arid land evaporated into a harsh clear sky. Though the land seemed dark, the dark light of the Questing Beast and bright blue marble of Lord Camelot was the only glimmer for miles around.
For all the tempest, for all the fury, Galahad's shield did. Not. Break.
Galahad poured every ounce of his will into the shield, and before everyone's eyes, walls of light appeared between them and the flames, guarding them against the destruction that threatened to overwhelm them in an instant. It was as if the Gates of Heaven had come down to open before Galahad, ascending him to the glorious afterlife they all yearned for, "Percival, use the Longinus, down its gullet!" Galahad shouted as he gritted his teeth to hold up their defense under the pressure.
"I understand." Percival, not needing to be told twice, held the spear before him as he recalled the chant that his long sister told him to use in their defense should they need it, "O' Holy Spear, come forth," The Church that found and preserved the spear had placed two seals upon the holy weapon to ensure that it would not be misused by those who sought it for their own ends, "…come forth with a precious miracle. Countdown to strike down evil!" The Longinus became immersed in golden light as the seals came undone before Percival lifted the spear over his shoulder like a javelin.
Leaping up into the air for extra leverage, the dazzling golden light in his hand continued to grow until it was as if the guardian knight was holding a length of pure sunlight, the aura of Holy energy bolstering the protection of the white walls. "Longinus! Now fall, beast!" Percival thrust the Longinus forwards as the holy energy it had been building up, passed through their shield and collided with the beam of purple light, it offered no resistance to the spear's path. It flew down the beam's path like greased lightning, a spark of brilliant gold amidst the dark purple, right into the Questing Beast's yawning jaws.
Flying right into the beast's belly. Its heart was obliterated in its entirety before the totality of the holy energy exploded outwards in a tower of light, the beast was torn apart in a single flash of brilliance. As the Longinus' power faded, Percival took a knee whilst holding onto it to keep himself from falling down in exhaustion.
Galahad brought down the walls of his shield, no longer needing them, peeking over his shield to see the only part of a skull remained of the enemy, and not a single sign of life in its empty orbits and the glimmering silver spear stuck in the ground, "It's over, at long last." At last, this old wound could be put to rest. All that was left was the short walk into the temple where their prize lay waiting.
-The Present-
"The Questing Beast was no more after that," Galahad said as he finished up part of their tale to the rest of the Round Table and their king. Naruto wished he could've been there to see the young man rise to the occasion and become the hero they all knew he was capable of becoming.
"I see," Arturia spoke amidst the hall's enraptured silence, "…please, continue on, Sir Galahad." Nodding at Arturia's words, the now dubbed Knight of Heaven by those who had accompanied had witnessed his actions to defend them continued with their story.
-The Past; Temple of the Holy Grail-
With the Questing Beast having finally been disposed of, the company took the time to get their bearings, rest and recuperate briefly as Galahad had given Claudin the lead to look after their company once they entered the temple with Dindraine tending to the wounded. At the same time, Durnure and Lionel tried to salvage whatever scraps of their fallen allies remained for burial.
As Galahad led Percival and Bors up the steps to the temple, they took in the design to see that it had not differed much from many of the old cities built during the time of Christ himself, there was very little Roman influence in the structure. Once they arrived at the entryway, they strolled through the hall, gazing upon the various wall art that had been chiseled and painted into the temple, telling a range of stories of the Abrahamic religions: A man and woman eating an apple, a great wooden ship sailing the ocean, a young man in a lion's den, a young boy facing down a giant, yet they were few and varied in comparison to the man garbed in white speaking to thirteen others and continued on to the crucifixion of three men on a hill. Many of these surrounding the man, told the story of the Son of God.
As they continued on, they finally reached the sanctum where the Grail was held, or rather they had hoped it did, "Why are there so many chalices?" Percival gazed in slight awe at all of the various cupware that sat on a natural shelf, encompassing the entirety of the sanctum that they were in. Each and every one of them was adorned with jewels, fine crafted gold or silver, all of them appearing fit for a king.
Galahad looked around in slight confusion before he looked down to the altar. Stepping closer to it slowly, Galahad saw that there were several skeletons, all garbed in armor, be it from the ancient Romans, the current Byzantine empire, the waning Empire, and other various civilizations that no doubt had heard of the Grail to try and claim it for themselves, "Others had come before us it seems, yet they failed, why?"
Bors approached the altar and noticed a water-filled basin as he dipped his head down to inspect the skeletons closer, seeing that they too had chalices, "They drank from the basin but died?" Turning to the others, Bors could only wonder, "Why?"
Galahad looked at the array of cups and thought deeply about what they were seeing: remains that each had a cup, no doubt having drank from the basin, yet they died. A wide array of choices to decide which among was the Holy Grail, "It's a test!"
Percival and Bors looked to Galahad in slight confusion before he elaborated, "It's a test to see who can discern the true grail from the false ones," to which he turned to the collection of false grails, "to see who is wise and worthy to claim it." Making his way to the shelf, Galahad looked to each of the false grails, wondering if they were the true cup of Christ, gauging, wondering if the choice he made would allow him to leave with it, or if it would take his life. After nearly exhausting the selection, he finally came upon one that stood out from all the others.
It was a simple worn and battered clay cup, "Perhaps," Galahad spoke softly to himself, "the nature of the Grail is the nature of the man. Glory in an unassuming form." Gently grasping the cup as if it would have shattered with a mere touch, Galahad took it over to the basin to scoop the water into the chalice. Gazing into his reflection cast by the cup, he looked to his compatriots for affirmation, believing that they had a thought on his choice. Seeing that neither of them seemed opposed to it, Galahad drank from the cup to see if he was worthy.
Setting the cup down on the altar, Galahad waited to see if it would take his life, but instead, he began to feel rejuvenated, as if all of the battles, the pain, all of the bloodshed he had endured were washed away. Erased from his being. Looking at Percival and Bors, Galahad smiled, "We found it." The two knights smiled as they looked at one another as they began a minor celebration. Galahad would have joined them, but that was cut shortly before his head clenched in slight pain.
Soon, Galahad was assaulted with visions of what was to come from the Grail's power.
A great city consumed in a sea of fire.
A priest standing before a dark hole opened in a temple.
A massive, misshapen corpse underneath a flood of mud.
Twin girls engaged in a battle to the death in front of an entity shrouded in darkness.
A cloak of darkness falling over a foreign land as its inhabitants tried to flee.
Seven heads emerging from fire…
Visions of battles and darkness over its power came forth, but others came forth to his mind; their great flag of Camelot raised high in the sky above lands unknown to him and above those they had seen. Europa under the heel of kings and queens of Britain, led by a benevolent hand as the people cried in joy with the flags of foreign countries burned with their leaders crying in pain.
A world under a single banner, with no freedom.
Too much freedom? Or no freedom at all?
Further and further, the Grail dragged his mind, through myriad possibilities that threatened to drive the young knight mad. He saw man leaving the earth for the first time, and then they were away, far from Earth, walking amidst a giant city of gold, even the most minor building the size of Camelot's main keep.
And in the blink of an eye, he saw it was built atop the corpses of trillions.
Endless possibilities spiraling out from this singular moment. From a single question… could man be trusted with infinite power?
Galahad collapsed as the other knights came to his side, concerned about his sudden turn, "Galahad, are you alright?!"
"What happened to you?!"
As they helped the younger man to his feet, Galahad's eyes were wide in shock at the visions he was assaulted with. All this power, so much so that it could change the world in so many ways. Conflict would emerge for many people's chance to obtain it, battle that would spawn from those who yearned for greater meaning from it. Competition between friends, family, siblings and a great many others.
In the right hands, the Holy Grail would be capable of doing great things. Terrible things, but great things all the same. "The grail, it's too much to bear…."
Percival seemed perplexed by Galahad's words, "What do you mean?"
Gazing at the clay cup, the young knight wondered aloud what he meant, "An object such as this in the right hands could create a nation to endure for all time, no matter the cost." Lifting his eyes up to stare into his fellow knights, Galahad continued, "This is a power too great for a single man, or even a nation so great as ours." Their nation of Camelot was led by the perfect king, with their nation so close to perfection that what he feared most of all, "What I fear is that even with the good that we ourselves, and our king would do with the power of the grail, I fear of what would come after from our successors." His gaze pierced his fellow knights, "Can such power be trusted to the future generations? Can we hope they do right by it and not cross the line that makes us honorable?"
And then there were the other visions he witnessed, "What is to say darkness won't come forth, out of conflict over the Grail? Those who would misuse it for their own selfish ends?" Shaking his head, Galahad couldn't help but feel that the visions were not certainties but possibilities instead of what could come to pass should he make the wrong choice here and now, "Sirs Percival, Bors, do you agree with me?"
Both men looked at one another and could only wonder what it was that Galahad saw when he drank from the cup. Perhaps it had driven him mad or cursed him like those who came before. Yet there was doubt of these possibilities; Galahad was among the most levelheaded of the Round Table, one who would learn what he could from all of those around him to better himself and help others do so as well. It was simply in his nature. He was chosen as the one worthy of leading them on this quest for the Cup of Christ, and not once has he led them wrong in these past ten months, nor was his judgment impaired by anything.
"Regardless of what I feel, I trust your choice."
"Perhaps the grail is something Britain doesn't need right now."
Both nodded in agreement as Percival voiced it, "Whatever decision you make, Galahad, we trust in you to make the right one."
Seeing that his fellow knights were seemingly in agreement with him, Galahad held the cup up before them he spoke, addressing the Grail, "By the Holy Grail, hear me o' Cup of Christ and grant me my desire." As Galahad held the cup up before him, a golden light radiated from the chalice, displaying the omnipotent power it held within, "Your power is too much for one man to decide, so come to us in the future, for whence we need, neigh, the world shall need your power to save it. To preserve it. Go forth for when we shall have need of your blessing and power. Not a second before." The Holy Grail's golden shine grew brighter as the knights shielded their eyes as the gold turned to white before vanishing, along with the Cup of Christ entirely.
Looking down at the altar as the water waded slightly from the sudden action, Galahad spoke softly to himself, "I hope the choice was right in the end…."
-The Present-
As Galahad finished his story, the majority of the hall exploded into argument over whether or not they had made the right decision with the Grail's fate. One side argued that they made a decision meant only for the king, in that her authority would be able to judge whether or not the Grail was of use to them. Others said otherwise that it was wise to prevent such an object from being brought to civilization, where the uncertain future lay, wanting more than what was. Those neutral tried to mediate the arguments made to calm those down, especially between Agravain and Lancelot, both of whom had nearly come to blows previously before Arturia put her foot down.
Speaking of herself, Arturia sighed as she spoke up to address those who had returned home, "Sirs Galahad," The hall soon quelled with its arguments with her words, "Percival and Bors, I trust that in your choice for the grail's fate, and should a future come that when Britain has need of it, I will set out to find it myself." While Arturia had hoped her words would allow cooler heads to prevail, instead, the opposite occurred.
The hall erupted into an argument once more.
"The king shouldn't have to set out to find something that was meant to be brought back in the present!"
"If the grail was too powerful for our nation, then it was for the better!"
"Can we not seek a compromise?"
As the Round Table argued once more, Naruto scooted closer to Arturia as he could not understand why she was determined on this course of action, instead of waiting for the Holy Grail to come to them, if and when the time came, "Are you sure about this? There are better ways to achieve the same result."
Arturia's stoicism held up in the face of his shadowed concern, peering over to see her lover, "I will do whatever it takes to make our nation perfect. For all of us."
As Naruto grew concerned for Arturia's determination, while the Round Table continued with their arguments, Tristan remained silent through it all, watching, gauging Arturia's reaction to the outcome of Galahad's quest for the Holy Grail. For all of the anger, the confusion, and emotions that the rest of his fellow knights, even the one closest to her, Arturia, could not see it. She was oblivious to their hearts, unable to understand what they wished for her to do, or how to act.
This was the last straw.
BANG!
The entirety of the hall soon ceased at the sound of Tristan bringing a fist down onto the table. Opening his eyes in full, to stare directly at Arturia as she could almost feel the steel within them, "Are you blind? Do you not see what this besotted quest has done to those around you? Do you understand the people in which you are so dedicated to save, my king?" No one spoke, not even Arturia herself, as his voice was sharper than any sword, "How long has it been since you walked among the people in your city? Those that through chivalry that you have been charged with to protect? How can you not see the hearts that those in this very hall, worn so proudly on their sleeves? And with nothing more than a blink, you declare that you shall put them through it again at your own peril, not seeing that there is nothing we want more than to see you safe."
As no one interrupted Tristan, he took one last look around the room at each of the knights, seeing their expressions ranging from concern to confusion, before finally settling on Arturia herself. Her stoicism remained, yet he could see that she too held a tinge of confusion through the cracks in her mask, "I can't do this anymore." Rising from his seat, Tristan turned away from Arturia as he continued to speak, "You are someone that I have to come to love, my king, and all that you stand for," Glancing back towards Arturia, he saw that she, too had risen from her seat, perhaps instinctually hoping that she could say something to dissuade him from his next course of action, "…but until you understand what it is that you fight for; whom you fight for… I cannot serve you any longer."
With those words, Tristan made his way to the door, shocking everyone speechless with his thoughts finally aired. Once he reached the doorway, Bedivere was the one to bring himself out of it, "Tristan! Why?! Why are you leaving us?! The King?! All of what you helped build here in Camelot?!" If there was one thing the Knight of Loyalty wished to know, it was the core of his reasoning and questions that he had for so long.
Halting momentarily to open the door, Tristan stayed still before turning to Bedivere briefly as he gave his answer, "Because the king does not understand the hearts and feelings of those around her."
Tristan said no more as he left Ehangwen as Bedivere almost leapt from his seat to pursue Tristan, "Wait, Sir Tristan!" He had hoped that perhaps he could convince his longtime friend from heading down this path.
As for Arturia, she was reeling from Tristan's words and actions, the room seemed to spin before her. Turning up to Naruto, who was just as shocked as the others in the court, she could only ask, "What did I do wrong?"
Naruto said nothing. Rendered dumb by their friend's words.
The gears of causality began to turn once more, putting them all on track for an unavoidable conclusion.
-The Reverse Side of the World; Compound of the Black Captains-
Within the phantasmal land of the Fae, a foreboding structure could be seen. It was here that the cabal of those who once served or even associated with Morgan le Fey gathered for their plans to plot Camelot's downfall, or above them in the ruins of Dún Scáith. Yet here is where two special Fae resided.
One of which was the petite, white-haired Fae that was once trying to gain its strength to walk after having been brought to the compound by the Black Captains after Morgan handed her off to them before her sudden downfall at her sister's hands. In a last-ditch effort to create something of use against her sister, Morgan ran out of time to fully implant the necessary knowledge, giving her only a meagre amount, to begin with. When the Black Hand informed her that she was a dragon-based homunculus created for their usage, she rejected them. Not simply out of feeling disgust for the cursed men, but because they could not conceive a name for her, arguing she was merely a weapon to strike at their enemies and the innocent. The culmination of these reasons compelled her to escape from the compound, only to be caught and bound by a collar to keep her leashed by the Black Hand; and, in turn, would begin a process to 'break' her as part of a routine in the dungeons beneath them on a near-daily basis. As luck would have it, her dragon's body and mind were resilient beyond belief.
Her status, however, left much to be desired, primarily with her inability to remove the collar. While it wasn't her strength preventing her from removing it, the enchantment placed upon the lock prevented her from breaking it. Tracing her fingers along the metallic collar, the Fae contemplated trying to remove it once again, but the accompanying pain that came with it was unbearable, lashed directly to her central nervous system and dragon core, the pain was excruciating. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the door open to reveal the Tower dragging a nearly unconscious Barghest bound by chains, "Why you continue to remain in that human form is beyond me," The Tower continued to drag her on towards the white-haired Fae's cell, "it's a pointless form when the Black Dog is truly fearsome." The misshapen Black Captain mused, glancing down towards the larger woman fading in and out of consciousness.
Glaring up at the Tower, Barghest tried to rebuke his words as she panted, her nose broken and crooked, "I refuse… to let go of something…." She coughed harshly, "…that I wanted, more than anything… from someone who wanted to help me!" She yelled with as much volume as her broken ribs would allow.
The Tower chuckled darkly as he stepped before the cell door, "You fail to even realize, much less accept, that our master and your savior are one in the same." Opening the cell door, the corrupted homunculi threw Barghest in as she slid across the cold floor next to the more diminutive Fae.
The Tower soon left for whatever else needed his attention, allowing the petite Fae to look down at her fellow cellmate. Seeing how she had difficulty breathing with a broken nose, she quickly took it between her fingers before snapping the broken nose back into place. The result was evident as Barghest promptly rose up in pain, gripping her nose with it being set back in place, arm whipping out in reflex.
Throwing a punch that would have reduced any it struck to paste, the petite Fae held up a hand that caught the fist with minimal effort, shocking Barghest out of her brief anger before yanking her hand away from her fellow cellmate, "I am sorry, I thought the Tower returned for more."
The petite Fae waved the apology off, "It's alright." Glancing down at her hands, the Fae silently re-evaluated her own strength, as Barghest's strength was certainly a cut above what the Black Captains were capable of. She wondered if there was something else in play that enabled them to keep them confined other than collars keeping them from breaking the chains to freedom.
"What is your name?"
The Fae's thoughts were interrupted by Barghest's question of her identity. At first, she would've identified herself as a newborn, slowly trying to recall the name she had been given when she first manifested, but she wasn't a traditionally born fae. Merely a dragon hybrid homunculi.
"I have no name. No name was given to me when I was born." It was something that she had pondered, wondering if perhaps there was a name for her, yet at times when she slept, she had dreams… "I know that we don't dream, not like men do, yet mine feel as if they were real. Like memories of old."
"Memories? What do you see in them?" Her curiosity won out as she took up a seat opposite her cellmate, wondering if there was more to her than what was on the surface, more than the great strength displayed in blocking her reactionary move.
Gazing down, the Fae tried to recall the memories that would enter the forefront of her mind when she dreamed, those that were filled with the sky, a dark space, and… "I saw times before I awakened, to see the world from above in the blue skies with great wings of white. A fluffy giant watching over me as I rested, gently like a guardian. Even a great white titan that descended from the sky, falling before a golden light shining through the flames." She paused briefly, thinking of other memories that had come to her dreaming state, "Then, as I continued to live on the lands above, I remembered battles against a dragon of a crimson shade of red beneath a mountain that shook the isles until a vile man came. Lashing me with chains beneath his fortress," The Fae's tone began to turn to quiet anger with these words, "where he took my flesh and blood to make his own, becoming twisted by the darkness in becoming a black thing that tried to take my form, hideous as it was. But the last thing I remember," Looking up to Barghest, the Fae's voice once filled with the anger now settled down, "…was a hooded, blonde knight freeing me from my chains." She chuckled slightly at his image, "His voice was soothing, gently telling me that I was free with a sunny smile, as the morning sky emerged from a blackened storm. As I flew, I came down to a great river and floated upon it until…." Closing her eyes, the Fae tried to recall anything else, yet… "…nothing. After that, the memories cease. And no name has come to me." Her last words held a tone of yearning along with dissatisfaction.
Barghest was enthralled with her tale, regaling her with not just old memories but of some times and places that existed well before man had set foot in the British Isles. The White Titan's downfall at the Holy Sword of the Planet's wielder, the great dragons of Albion and Y Ddraig Goch, battling one another time and time again. Even the ancient god that once sheltered the Phantasmals and Men alike of the isles that no longer resided above them, but now down with them somewhere else more peaceful than this decrepit fortress. However, she saw that the memories also made her question what her name was.
If she could not discover it, or discover her purpose, then the dark fate of becoming a Mors would soon befall her. A fate that all Fae considered worse than actual death. Barghest needed to do something to help remedy that. "I know that we don't know each other very much, but if you were to accept it, I could help you with your desire to have a name and purpose."
The petite Fae looked up to Barghest in surprise that someone she didn't know would be so willing to help her. And yet, if the taller fae woman was true to her word, then she would be one step closer to finding out for herself, who she was and what she desired, "I would accept any name from you."
"Then your name will be," Barghest opened up as she thought on the name fit for her, contemplating her memories from what she was told, and what she had seen and heard while roaming the plains of the British Isles, "…Melusine. After a changeling water sprite that I once heard of when I was not in my human form."
The Fae smiled at the declaration, "Thank you. I like the name you've given me." Soon a new thought had come to her, "And your name is Barghest. You told me once while I was still trying to wake up fully, not long ago." Arching a brow in questioning, the newly named Melusine wished to know, "What is your purpose, Barghest?"
Not expecting Melusine to ask such a thing, but she supposed it was only natural for her status as an unorthodox fae, Barghest thought that perhaps it was to help her understand her purpose. "I was once a large black dog phantasmal that wandered from place to place above us, but after observing how Man's world was, I wanted to be free to serve someone both unquestionably strong and fair, to serve as their right arm. Like knights of Men would do for their honorable lords. It's why I sought a way to take a human form, one that could help me with what I wanted." She smiled, reminiscing on the times she saw knights of old, wanting to perform the same deeds they had done.
Melusine tilted her head slightly, wondering about what it was that she desired. What her purpose would be, "I think," Listening to what Barghest wanted, what she said about knights, and the image of the blonde that freed her being what she would remember the most. The memory brought her joy in the freedom he gave her, "…that I want to meet the one that freed me. To see and converse with him if perhaps he is someone that can help me find my purpose, or even if he can help me discern my memories. Surely, he would help with the kindness he had shown me before." Smiling at the prospect, Melusine bounced lightly in her seat, wanting to break free from this cell and meet the man.
Barghest could understand in wanting to meet one who had helped her before, even the woman Morgause, who was in truth Morgan le Fey, prior to whatever it was that brought her to allow foul men such as the Black Captains to serve her. To continue keeping her in the darkness, surrounded by evil. And if Melusine wished to meet this knight who freed her, then she would help her, and perhaps if the Founding Sub-Bells allowed it, she could find someone to serve as she desired, "Then I will help you find them, Melusine." Holding her hand out, Barghest decided to show her dedication to helping Melusine with her goal, "Let's make a pact with one another to help free each other and fulfil our desires and purpose."
At first, Melusine wasn't sure what to make of the declaration, given how the two Fae barely knew a thing about one another, and yet Barghest's words, the strength she exuded in her words, spoke that she meant every word of what she said. Melusine found a friend in confinement, reaching out to grasp her hand, "Let's do it together, Barghest."
"Right as you say, Melusine."
And with that, a pact had been formed between the two lights in the darkness.
Archival Notice: This object herein is part of a letter used to preface one of Astaire's students with regards to the history of Britain and the Mage's Association; the item itself has been copied and sent to Lord [REDACTED] to give the affirmation whether or not it will be disseminated into the greater Mages Association library or remain solely the property of the Archaeology department.
- Signed, Lord [REDACTED]'s undersecretary, Darnic Prestone Yggdmillennia, January 1st, 1993
October 15th, 1985
Miss Aozaki,
Further to your interest with regards to a certain someone's presence and standing within the Association, I was able to do some digging and discover some fascinating questions and a pattern. We know for a fact that the original 13 lords formed the Clock Tower in the year 500AD atop the corpse of the Spiritual Tomb of Albion. However, many sources and document fragments indicate the presence of the so-called founding families in the decades preceding. Which begs the question, why even in the Moonlit World, our record-keeping was so poor during the Dark Ages to not catalogue this stretch of history in detail. I was able to speak with Brand Meluastea several weeks ago, where he revealed to me a particular manuscript dated from the times of Camelot where it described the dimensions and details of developments within the now-defunct city. It's a lot of chaff regarding tax legislation and about ten years of backed up litigation, but amidst it, there is a description of Camelot's Grand Library.
The description and brief index of just the mundane books stored there point to it being a wellspring of information about the age of Fae and Camelot's reign, but its existence begs the question, if there was such a collection of knowledge centralized in the city then why was it not disseminated by looters and lore poachers when the city fell? It is from this that I present a hypothesis: An event occurred within the city of Camelot either preceding or concurrent with the Battle of Camlann that resulted in the destruction of Camelot's library and its texts, resulting in the snuffing and loss of the information and records of that era similar to the losses of the Baghdad House of Wisdom or the Great Library of Alexandria. Whatever the cause of this event is hard to place but I speculate [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED]
Somewhere in this blank space in history, I believe, is where the object of your interest enters the stage. The only way to truly discover the veracity of my theory would be to ask [REDACTED] himself.
Your friend, Lev Uvall
Archival Addendum:
Decision on if the document shall be disseminated: REJECTED
Reason: "The last time an aspiring member of my department sought to better the world by telling people of their history, you motherf*$&!)s had him murdered."
