Shifting Laeticia – Jeanne's host – back to her normal time flow wasn't difficult as she was still unconscious. She would more or less recall everything that happened while her consciousness was pushed back when Jeanne was in control.
Somewhat ironic that she would wake up in Jeanne's home.
I left a bag of gold next to her, and a letter with my name to threaten any Magi that happened upon her. I was sure that at a minimum my family name would be some kind of deterrent for the worst of circumstances. Better than nothing, atleast.
A small Bounded Field covered the house that would ward anyone off for the next day or so, but she'd be up in a couple hours at the latest. Food, water, and everything else she would need to make a track back to civilization and back to her home was also left with her.
Jeanne said that she would be in capable hands – i.e.guided by her faith. Well, who am I to doubt a literal Saintess?
I admit, I was curious about the girl who was apparently a good enough vessel to house Jeanne but…..I can't really look at the girl for who she was.
Any conversation I had, any interactions for that matter, I'd only see Jeanne.
That was fair to neither of us.
So, this was goodbye.
Not like she needed, nor probably wanted me around.
I still had one last errand to run in this world, one person I had been putting off seeing that deserved my undivided attention, atleast for a little while.
With a flip of my hand, I opened a portal to a very familiar, but foreign place.
As the Kaleidoscope of colors flowed around me, I stepped through into Zelretch's home, or rather, the Zelretch of this world.
"I was wondering when you would stop by." I looked at the man himself.
"'When' and not 'if'?" I raised an eyebrow.
He looked, midly amused by my statement. "Come now, do you think me a fool? Of course, you would come by." He closed a book he had in his hand, setting it on a table. There was a moment of silence as we stared at one another. And I noticed, in his gaze, it lacked that 'affection' that my Zelretch showed.
"Thanks for the help." Might as well start off with being polite. "I really do appreciate it."
He waved me off with a small smile. "It was an interesting few days. I enjoyed some new and refreshing data I was able to mull over and I didn't have to offer much but my own time."
"Then do I apologize for throwing more stuff in your lap now?"
"Well, that would be the polite thing to do." He said with a chuckle. "Yes, using my name when you aligned yourself with that Freelancer."
"To be fair, it's my name too."
"That is fair." He nodded. "But you're using that as an excuse for the circumstance." He lightly chided.
"Yeah…." I sighed. "And then my solution for the Yggdmillennia faction. But, I believe the pros severely out weight the cons here."
"Indeed." He gave a small smile. "Even without the little bonus you set up at the end, I truly wouldn't have minded everything else. I suppose I just want you to acknowledge the burden you placed on me, however small it was."
"You know, for not being my gramps, you're awfully gentle with your words."
Zelretch let out a small chuckle. "You are more than aware of my existence – our existence. I know of 'your gramps' just as he knows of me. While I don't have the same immediate…..affection, that does not mean I don't' share some of the sentiments. It's a strange feeling to be jealous of myself." He stroke his beard. "Now, lets talk about payment."
I groaned. "Just….take half and lets call it a day." I didn't even want to bother bartering. He was speaking of the resources that would be produced by the Yggdmillennia family. I had no doubts that Zelretch would find some use from them.
"How boring, but I guess you are reaching your end point after everything that's happened." He accepted easily enough. "I suggest a small vacation. Hawaii is wonderful this time of the year. And I'll take care of settling everything on the Mage Association's end. While you could no doubt 'throw around your weight' as you put it, I would rather not cause any larger issues to deal with later."
"I suppose it doesn't matter who does it, thank you. That being said, Hawaii….does sound wonderful actually." I actually gave that some thought. Sitting on the beach with my girls, just relaxing. "But I do have some important matters to attend to."
If this Zelretch wanted to smooth everything between the Yggdmillennia and the Mages Association, then I would let him. It would be cleaner than me coming and throwing my hat into the political arena.
"Right, your wayward lover whom you need to summon from the Throne." He nodded. "Scáthach, quite a woman you picked up there."
"That she is." I couldn't help but smile.
"Then I shall not keep you." He stood up. "I appreciated you coming by and I would not be troubled if you stopped by more often."
Well, I would be checking up on the Yggdmillennia family from time to time, so it wouldn't be something out of the way to do.
"Thank you, for everything." I expressed my genuine thanks.
"Oh pish pash." He harumphed. "We're practically family."
"Good point." I nodded. "Hug." I held out my arms.
"Pardon?"
"Hug time." I smiled at him.
He snorted with a small smile on his face. With a roll of his eyes, he opened his arms. "Get over here you brat."
***
I stepped back in to an almost identical spot, but this room was much more crowded than the one I had just left. Several eyes glanced my way, but otherwise everyone kept going on their business.
"So Chiron had me tied up, hanging from a tree." Achilles was waving his arms around with a laugh, a drink in his hand. "And he's like 'Achilles…..did you eat my last apple?'"
"Oh gods, I know exactly where this is going." Atalanta, who had a very distraught Assassin in her lap, face palmed.
Seriously, the murderous little psycho, was looking helpless as Atalanta gave her head pats. I think she was more confused than anything and had no idea how to react.
Zelretch, who had been enjoying the story ushered him on. "Oh boy, what'd he do?" Zelretch joined in with a laugh.
"Yer about to get your ass beat." Mordred snickered, standing to the side, listening intently.
"Well, that early hit really upset my stomach, and being upside down didn't help." Achilles could barely hold it together. "I opened my mouth to say something cheeky, and it just all sprayed out on his face."
They both erupted in laughter.
Kairi looked amused, but at the same time he looked like he was trying to make himself as small as possible, and not to touch anything.
Assassin's Master happily sat nearby, enjoying the 'peace' if her expression was anything to go by.
"You get everything settled?" Gramps finally addressed me.
"I did." I gave a curt nod. "If you're feeling up to it, how about you help me with my 'wish'?"
"Shit, you finally using the Grail? What're you even wishing for?" Mordred spoke up.
"I'm curious too." Atalanta was the one who agreed.
"Meh." Achilled shrugged. "Don't really care."
"You'll see after I'm done." I said with a grin.
"Boo." Mordred huffed. "Whatever, I hope it's something good. If you're wishing for the Root or some other stupid shit, I'm going to kick your ass and take it back."
"My Magic already opens a Path to the Root if I were so inclined." I shook my head. "No, I'm wishing for something more important."
"Well, get to it then, stop making us wait." Mordred replied, as impatient as ever.
"Well, let's not keep them waiting." Zelretch put a hand on my shoulder. "Besides, Raikou has been 'guarding' it since you left."
He began leading me to another room where he deposited the Grail, away from the little festivities.
Raikou perked up, already knowing I had returned. "Master, you're back." She looked happy, yet at the same time she had that strange look on her face.
I shot a quick glance at Zelretch. "What are your thoughts on 'that'?" I asked him quietly.
"Deal with 'that' after you make your 'wish'. It would give us a better idea of what we're looking at and what we have at our disposal." He replied.
I nodded, accepting his words. He was smart enough to know my concerns easily enough. Raikou's Mad Enhancement wasn't an easy problem to fix. But I had a couple ideas, and I'm sure Zelretch had some of his own.
I walked up and gave Raikou a quick hug. "You didn't have to guard the Grail."
"I'm you're Servant." She preened a little under the physical affection. "This is what you desired, so I will make sure no one steals it."
"So, what's the plan?" I asked him staring at the Spell Circles that covered the ground.
"It's as you would expect, we're going to perform a summoning, but we're hijacking the Wish component to facilitate the summons as opposed to the normal summoning function." Zelretch explained.
"Hmm, we completely bypass the 'true wish' that it's supposed to grant by doing this. Can probably do something with it later after it takes some time to recharge." I rubbed my chin. Despite my description of the Grail being a huge mana battery, you can't just shove mana into it and recharge it that way. The mechanisms are intricate, and using the systems strains them severely. It was one of the main reasons that the Grail War was supposed to be 60 years apart. Half of it was the collection of Magical Energy, the other half was so it didn't burn itself out by being used too soon.
"Indeed. And I took the liberty of carving the summoning circles, a little something I had bouncing around my head. It's different than the normal one – obviously, but it should trigger the correct sequences for what we're trying to accomplish."
"Yeah, it's not so much a normal summon as trying to pull as much of her from the Throne as possible." It was almost like four different circles all intersecting at a single point.
"Well, all it needs is a catalyst and to simply make a wish." Zelretch gestured for me to go forward.
I rubbed my ring, mentally looking at the Spear that laid inside.
"Something wrong, Wilhelm?"
"I..." I bit my lip, remembering what was said to me by Him. "I'm nervous." I said quietly. "I can't stop having this thought in my head – what if she isn't happy to see me?"
"Oh Wilhelm." Zelretch pat me on the shoulder. "We both know that's complete bullshit."
I blinked at his very blunt dismissal.
"We haven't spoken about what happened, but something clearly did." He started again. "Something that shook you enough to give you doubts. But whatever it is, remember what you told me her last words were to you? For whatever happened, did that change the last moments you spent together?"
"I know it's probably irrational." I sighed, slumping my shoulders. "Doesn't make this pit in my stomach go away. But you're right, there's no use dwelling on it. If I gave in to these thoughts, I'd regret it for the rest of my life." I didn't want to let those depressing feelings take hold. I wasn't special for having doubts, everyone did, it was a facet of life.
I flicked my hand to the side, Gae Bolg appearing in my grasp. I walked forward, stabbing it into the center of the summoning circle.
The Grail glowed, as I approached, as if ushering me to continue. A wish that instead of actualizing the Wishcraft matrix to shape the massive amounts of magical energy, it looped around into the Summon systems, but still supported the features inherent to the Wishcraft mechanisms.
A wish, without using the wish.
"I wish….." I held my hand up towards the summoning circles. "I wish for my Scáthach back."
The accumulated Magical Energy gathered and erupted at the focal point, blinding everyone in the room. The sheer force made me brace myself as I felt Time and Space shudder to facilitate my desire, my Wish. Through the blown up dust, and the shimmering glow of power, I squinted my eyes to see a new figure standing in the middle of the circles.
Red eyes met mine.
I took a hesitant step forward, hand shakily reaching out as I touched her arm. The look she gave me was one of recognition.
I didn't utter a word as I pulled myself into her chest and refused to let go. Even when I felt the dampness flow down my cheeks.
I felt her arms wrap around me, her head pressed against mine. A faint whisper only for my ears, a gentleness to it that only made me react stronger. "You silly boy."
***
Feeling a little bit better so I got a chapter done today. Guess whose back?
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