It was very odd to watch Morgan eat.
She ate normally, which was odd in its own way, as the veil should stop her from doing such. But her cutlery, and whatever food is on it, would just pass straight through it, as if it wasn't there.
I watched as she neatly ate her fourth main dish, not seeming embarrassed for eating so much.
If anything was an indicator that we were related, no matter how distant, it would be this.
As we were enjoying our meal, we were unfortunately interrupted by the sound of my phone going off.
Pulling it out of my pocket, I saw my mothers name displayed as the caller, causing me to give Morgan a dubious look. After all, I was fairly sure that her prank was the reason for this call.
Pressing the phone to my ear, I pressed the accept button. "Hello?" I greeted in a flat tone, trying to convey some of the annoyance of having my date interrupted.
Mom didn't seem to care, as she spoke quickly in an urgent tone. "Alistair, get home, Artoria is here, and she has given me some worrying news, so I need you to get home ASAP!"
"Copy," I replied quickly, with fake unease lacing my tone.
Pressing the end call button, I gave Morgan a blank look, while pocketing the phone.
"Well done, your prank has cost us dessert," I said blandly, before waving over a waitress.
Morgan gave a small sigh, as if saying 'what a pity', before placing her cutlery down, and wiping her face with a napkin.
As the waitress arrived, I placed 30,000 Yen in her hands, and gave her a soft smile. "Thank you for the extraordinary service, miss, keep the change, as my partner and I are in a rush," I said in as persuasive a tone as I could give, as I knew from experience that the people here didn't care for tips.
The woman's eyes bulged out at the amount of money, which was understandable, as 30,000 Yen was close to equivalent to 300 dollars on the dot, and the meal cost at most 180 dollars.
Smiling, I curled her hand around the money, before nodding to her, and standing up.
Morgan mirrored my actions, and stood up with me, before walking over to me, and locking our arms together.
"Yes, compliments to the chef, miss," Morgan spoke kindly to the waitress, before nudging me to move.
Acquiescing, we moved out of the store together, ending up on the sidewalk. Glancing aside to Morgan, I shot her a look. "Could you bring us to the safe house quickly? I'd rather get this over with quickly."
Morgan hummed, before slightly diverting my stride, causing us to move towards an alley.
"Don't sound so annoyed, Alistair, after all, I've enjoyed myself so far" she remarked coyly. "And regarding my sister interrupting our date…"
I couldn't see past her veil, but I was sure that she was smiling. "Please, consider this my… 'part two' to my prank on her," she said in a tone I could only describe as evil.
I gave her an unimpressed raise of my brow, causing her to give a small scoff, before leaning up closer to me, placing her head next to my ear.
"Allow me my fun, and I'll guarantee you that she'll demonstrate you the 'Mana Burst' skill, in each level. And should you offer something in return, you might even be able to gain a few extra benefits," she whispered into my ear, before shushing herself away from me.
I felt a slight shiver at her actions, but I fought down the reaction, and gazed at Morgan, who was looking at me, probably trying to see if she could coax a reaction from me.
"That sounds… acceptable," I entoned calmly, causing Morgan to give a dissatisfied huff.
"Good, then I'll bring us to the base," the second those words left her lips, I watched as a large shadow encompassed us.
I felt all my senses dull, and I had no idea where I was, causing me to tighten my grip on Morgan.
The uncomfortable feeling only lasted a second, before we emerged in a darkly lit room.
Blinking my eyes, I managed to adjust my vision to the nearby surroundings, allowing me to see a Morgan's workshop.
Silently, Morgan let go of my arm, and walked over to a closet. Opening it, I saw several naked homunculi standing inside the closet, each of them possessing a different appearance, but my eyes were drawn to a certain silver haired homunculus.
Morgan snapped her fingers, and the silver haired homunculus opened its blue eyes, before jumping out of the closet, and walked up in front of Morgan.
"You made a version of 'Vivian' so quickly?" I remarked in an impressed tone.
Morgan gave an appreciative hum, as she walked around the homunculus, looking it up from head to toe.
"Yes, I started on it yesterday, after your mother dragged you out of the house," she explained offhandedly, while poking and prodding at her creation.
After completing a full circle around her creation, she gave an approving hum. Clapping her hands together, shadows coiled themselves around the naked form of the homunculus, giving it similar clothes to the ones Morgan had used the day prior.
Morgan tapped her chin, before slightly ruffling the homunculus's clothing, before turning around and looking at me.
"Ruffle your clothes, look a smidge unkempt," she said smugly.
I gave her a deadpan look. "Is this necessary?" I said in a flat tone.
Morgan gave a low chuckle. "It would explain why the two of you were in this house, so hurry on, and get a move on."
I raised a hand and massaged my brows, before sighing.
She had a point… but Mom was definitely going to pick up on it, and come to the conclusion Morgan wanted…
It sucks that her reasoning is so good…
Reluctantly, I pulled part of my shirt out from my trousers, and opened a button or two on my shirt, while ruffling the fabric.
Morgan looked at me with a head tilt, before reaching out with a hand, and touseling my hair a bit.
"There, you look like you just came out of bed," she teased, causing me to click my tongue.
"I'm leaving," I stated in a flat tone, before turning around.
Just as I had finished the movement, I felt Morgan wrap her arms around my stomach, hugging me from behind, and pressing her body against my back. "Don't sound so down," she huffed, sounding minutely dissatisfied.
"I enjoyed our time, just let me indulge a bit in my favorite pastime, and we'll talk a bit later once she leaves," Morgan said in a soft tone.
Sighing, I closed my eyes for a moment, before slightly turning my head around to look at her.
"Fine, but no more 'pranks', or whatever you call them, on your sister during our time alone," I remarked with a hint of amusement.
Morgan gave a dissatisfied huff, before letting go of me. "Fine, just get a move on," she said while turning her head to look away.
Smiling to myself, I waked over to the door, and Vivian automatically followed behind me.
Opening the door, I quickly made my way through the house, followed by Vivian, until we got out of the house.
Swiftly we walked to the neighboring house, before opening the door.
The two of us took off our shoes, before entering the house, Vivian smoothly linking our arms.
She quickly schooled her expression to look margealy peeved, as if slightly annoyed.
Reaching the living room, I slowly opened the door, revealing Mom, Irisviel and Artoria sitting around a table, seemingly talking to one another.
Whatever they were doing promptly stopped, as the three locked their gaze onto us.
Both Irisviel and Artoria widened their eyes at us, while Mom pursed her lips, seemingly connecting the dots between my and Vivian's disheveled state, and probably cursing herself for interrupting what she was imagining that the two of us were doing.
"Good afternoon," I said in a neutral tone, before stepping into the room together with Vivian.
Vivian slid her arm out from my own, and gave a flat smile, with no warmth, while giving a small wave. "Hello, my name is Vivian," she said in a forced cheerful tone.
The name caused Artoria to give Vivian another onceover upon hearing her name, as if wanting to confirm the fact that she wasn't the Vivian she knew.
Which she kinda was… if you wanted to be technical about it.
"Al said that there was something important, and I know about the two of you, so let us dispense with the formalities, and get to the meat of the issue," she remarked in a slightly strained tone.
I gave a nod, to signify that I agreed with her, before wrapping an arm around Vivian's waist, and gently guiding her to the table.
Mom looked like she had bit a lemon, probably finding Vivians' clear annoyance with the situation as her fault, and not liking that her 'reputation', if it can be called that, might have taken a hit.
"Yes dear, sorry for interrupting your… date," Mom said with an undertone of apology, before glancing to the side at Artoria with a meaningful look.
The astute former king understood the underlying message, and spoke up. "Pardon for interrupting your date, Lad—" she cut herself off, before slightly shaking her head. "Vivian, but my Master and I received a direct threat from Caster not too long ago, which implied that the Pendragon's would be targeted," she explained in a calm tone.
At the news, both me and Vivian tightened our expressions.
"Why didn't you start with that," I complained, while pointedly looking at Mother, while idly tucking in my shirt, trying to look more presentable.
"Yeah," Vivian said while mirroring my actions, and ironing out her dress. "That would have been nice information to know," she said ideally, before fiddling with her hair. "We wouldn't want to lose another one, do we," she muttered under her breath.
The comment wasn't muttered in a low enough voice, as Artoria reacted confusedly to the information, causing her to furrow her brows.
I, too, mirrored my ancestors' action, not quite getting at what Morgan was trying to do.
"Pardon me, Vivian, but what did you mean by that comment?" Artoria probed with a hint of worry.
Vivian seemed to stiffen, and gave a slight grimace, before looking over to my Mother, and then back to Saber.
"Um, from my knowledge, Al's father was assassinated not too long after his birth… um, I'm not sure who did it…" she shifted her gaze to Mom, who wore a carefully neutral face.
I didn't know much about my father, as Mom didn't mention him much, other than he was killed and that he was a 'true magus', AKA an asshole, so I found myself a bit invested in the question.
Mom slowly turned her gaze to look at Vivian, and then looked at me before sighing.
"Yes, he was assassinated not five days after Alistair was born, as to the culprit," she gave a slight pause, before revealing the name. "Kiritsugu Emiya," she intoned neutually.
What?
I discreetly gazed at Vivian in the corner of my eyes, who was unabashedly gazing at Artoria.
I followed her gaze, and saw the shocked eyes of Saber, which seemed just a hint more empty then they were a moment ago.
{How did you know something I didn't, and where did you find this information?} I quickly sent Morgan a message, as she had clearly known this, as she steered the conversation to mention this information.
Morgan's reply was swift, clearly expecting the question. {I was pursuing the manors archives, and stumbled upon your Mother's hit on her husband, within the most secure archives in a corner of the dungeon.}
{Excuse me?} I replied reflexively.
Morgan didn't hesitate to build on her statement. {Your mother framed her husband, then got the then not so famous Kiritsugu Emiya to kill her husband. Naturally she used a fake identity, but the fact remains, she killed him.}
I felt my thoughts swim a bit at the knowledge I had just been dropped on me, but I chose to fix my attention back on the conversation at hand, and grill Morgan for the details later.
Vivian gave a low hum at the information. "That is… troubling…" she mused, before shaking her head. "Sorry for dampening down the mood, I didn't mean to dredge up bad memories," Vivian said in an apologetic tone.
My mother shot her a sympathetic smile. "No need to worry, dear, it's fine," she remarked gently.
I gave a light cough, before looking over at Artoria and Irisviel. "I thank you for coming over, but do you have any suggestions for how to… stay safe?" I said the latter part hesitantly, while idly glancing over at my mother.
Artoria didn't seem to have an answer ready, and merely shook her head. "I do not have any concrete suggestions, other than staying in groups, going into hiding or outright killing Caster," she explained regretfully.
Irisviel seemed to glance between Artoria and me for a second, before pressing her finger tips together. "Um, I'm fairly sure we should be able to lend a hand or two, given that it is partly our fault that Caster is targeting you all, since you are a part of Saber's family," she explained shyly.
Artoria gave Irisviel a thankful glance at her declaration.
Vivian clapped her hands together, and gave Irisviel a kind smile. "I've read that when Master's summon their Servant, even with a catalyst, that the Grail chooses the one most compatible. And I'm sure that in this case, even without a catalyst, that Artoria would have been summoned," Vivian said kindly, only for Artoria to give a subtle flinch at the comparison.
"From my understanding, the Servant mirrors their Master, or vice versa," Vivian continued, and I could see Artoria's lips pursing into a flat line.
I gave Vivian a subtle glance, before fixing my gaze at the pensive Artoria.
"On the topic of lending a helping hand…" I mused, subtly glancing at Mother. "Mom and I spoke briefly on the topic of Berserker… and we might be amenable to a… mutually beneficial exchange."
Artoria looked confused, but Mom caught on quickly. "Yes," Mom chimed in, while glancing a bit hesitantly at both Irisviel and Vivian. "But, the thing is… what we are offering is a part of our family secret, so we'd need to talk to Artoria in private."
Artoria glanced at Irisviel, who gave Artoria a small smile and nod. Removing her gaze from her friend, Saber gave Mom a nod.
"It would be foolish for me not to even hear you out," she explained calmly.
Mom straightened up, and looked incredibly satisfied. Smiling, I gave a grateful nod to the homunculus. "Thank you for the trust, Irisviel," I remarked in a thankful tone.
Standing up, Mother's chair made a scraping sound from the abrupt action, which she ignored while giving me and Artoria a large smile.
"Come along, we'll go to the dojo," she said while looking at Artoria, before glancing at Irisviel and Vivian, gaining a sheepish look. "Sorry for leaving you hanging, but please, get to know one another, and have a bit of fun while we discuss," Mom said with an apologetic undertone.
Vivian nodded, her head, before glancing towards Irisviel. "Don't worry, I'm sure we'll have lots to talk about," she said in a similar tone as a gossiping school girl.
Irisviel's brow seemed to shoot up at the tone Vivian used, before gaining an interested look, and shooting the girl a sly smile. "I'd love to chat with you, Vivian."
Both Artoria and I glanced at our respective female companion with minor concern, before the two of us stood up.
Mom gave a small wave to the two women. "Behave you two, and we'll be back before you know it," Mom remarked cheerily, before turning on her heel, and gestured for the two of us to follow her.
The three of us walked out of the room in silence, with Mom in the front, me in the middle and Artoria in the back, we swiftly made our way to the east wing of the traditional house, revealing a dojo.
As we entered, Artoira closed the door behind us, and gave Mother and I an interested look.
"Two seconds, I need to set up a few bounded fields for privacy," I explained calmly, while giving Artoria a look, as if asking for her agreement to set up the field.
Noticing the meaning behind my gaze, Artoria nodded.
Consent given, I silently erected a few fields for privacy, before nodding at Mom to start.
Seeing my que, Mom gave a low cough, before taking a step closer to Artoria. "My son and I have been talking back and forth on the topic of Berserker, or rather who we all believe to be Accolon," she stated calmly, earning a small nod from Artoria.
"Realistically speaking, he should be able to steal your weapon, somehow, meaning that if you fight him, you'll be on the back foot, even more than you currently are."
Mothers words caused the calm Artoria to grimace, before sighing. "You speak the truth, Rosalind. I myself would have been felled at his blade, hadn't the Lady of the Lake intervened in a timely manner," she remarked tiredly, as if finding the memory rather unpleasant.
Mom nodded at her words, before gaining a serious look. "What we," she pointed at me and herself, "are about to reveal, must not leave this room, as any news of this would get the two of us hunted out of jealousy by most of the Moonlit world," she explained in a serious tone.
Saber stayed quiet for a moment, before giving a slow nod. "I swear on my name, Rosalind, that I will not speak of anything I see or hear in this room, regardless of what I learn," she said solemnly.
Mom seemed to appraise her words, before giving a gentle smile. "Alistair," she said my name without looking at me. "Show it," she said calmly.
At this, Artoria looked at me with a hint of confusion.
Sighing, I extended my hand.
Slowly, particles of light formed in my outstretched hand, slowly morphing into the shape of a lance.
I was not a fan of this plan, not one bit. Morgan and I both would rather have my lance stay as a hidden trump card, but after informing Mother of our 'guess' of who Berserker was, she insisted that we help her.
All in all, it was our fault for throwing the limelight on a possible candidate that was too dangerous for Artoria, which caused Mom to get protective of her.
And truth be told, I didn't have a good enough excuse on the spot to disagree, without making it sound like I was not agreeing due to conflicting interests.
Artoria's eyes snapped open in recognition at what was happening, tentatively taking a step closer, while looking in disbelief at what was happening in front of her.
With a burst of light, Rhongomyniad's hilt gently fell into my hand, allowing me to curl my fingers around it, before gently extending it towards Artoria.
"Neet party trick, isn't it?" I remarked while wiggling my eyebrows, not that Artoria was in any state of mind to appreciate my comment, as her eyes were glued onto the lance.
Seeing her dazed state, I gently shook the spear, as if prompting her to pick it up. "Come on, it won't bite," I remarked dryly. Burn people, maybe, but it didn't bite people.
Artoria gingerly reached out her hand, and grasped the hilt, allowing me to let it go.
Now holding the spear, Artoria gave a slight frown, before taking a few steps backwards, and swinging it in an arc. The action made her frown more, and she swiftly entered into a stance and performed a thrust, followed by a step forwards accompanied by a slash.
She started skillfully wielding the spear, and I naturally flooded my eyes with Od, and marked those movements to memory.
As this went on for a full two minutes, she lowered the lance with a content smile, before turning to look at me. "I'm happy to see that Rhongomyniad has found a new wielder," she remarked gratefully.
Raising the lance, she trailed a finger down its… cone? I don't know what to call it, but she trailed a finger down its length with a wistful smile. "Sorry for ignoring the two of you," she said while pulling her gaze away from my spear.
"I'm rather curious about what your agreement intailes."
Mom took a step closer to Artoria, and gestured at the lance. "What we offer is for you to lend the lance, for when you face off against Berserker," she explained calmly.
"For this to work, you'll need to drag along Alistair from time to time, as he's the only one who can summon the spear," Mom's words seemed to draw some reaction from Artoria, who gazed down at the spear.
"I should be able to do the same," she said while tightening her grip on the hilt, causing her frown to deepen.
"It… it's not accepting me…" she remarked with confusion.
Seeing this, I quickly spoke up. "I assume this is due to the fact that it can probably only be bonded to one person at a time, and as you saw, it is bonded to me," I explained quickly.
Artoria raised her head to look at me with a strange expression, before nodding. "I see…" she remarked calmly.
Coughing slightly, I glanced up at Mom, before looking back to Artoria. "In return, we'd like it if you could show us each stage of Mana Burst, as in from E rank to A rank," I said quickly, and I noticed Mom's look of realization, and shot me a thumbs up for my (read Morgan's) forethought.
Artoria gave a swift nod at my first term. "There is a bit more, as Mom would like to see Excalibur, ideally hold it if I'm not mistaken, and she'd love to spar a bit with you regularly," I layed down the terms, and Saber nodded her head.
"I can do that, but doing the spars regularly might be difficult, but I'll get Irisviel to agree to it," she stated with certainty.
"Good," I remarked with a smile.
Mentally, I imagined Rhongomyniad vanish back into myself, causing the lance to flash out of existence from Artoria's hand.
Mom stepped towards Saber, and extended a hand. "Shall we shake on it?"
Artoria didn't hesitate, and grasped Mother's hand, and gave her a small smile. "Thank you, I appreciate it," she remarked in a professional tone, but it came across as heartfelt.
Letting go, Mom's smile grew. "No problem…" her words trailed off, as her gaze became expectaint. "Can I see it now?"
Mom suddenly sounded like an excited child, something Artoria seemed to pick up, and seemingly found amusing, if the smile on her face was anything to go by.
Artoria raised a hand, which seemed to grip thin air, before a sligh gale emitted from her hand.
A gentle light, less intense than Rhongomyniad, but somehow more majestic started to glow from her hand.
Slowly a golden pommel formed, followed by a deep blue hilt and golden hand guard. The light intensified as the blade potion slowly emerged, revealing Fey runes across the stem of the blade, before slowly showing the rest of the blade.
I felt my gaze transfixed on the blade, as if something deep inside myself was forcing me to do so.
I had never really cared too much about Excalibur's looks, as compared to Excalibur Prototype, it was a let down in terms of appearance. But this feeling… it just felt so majestic, if I was a more weak willed person, I might have shed a tear or two at the warm, comforting feeling.
It took a bit of mental exertion, but I managed to look away from it, which allowed me to see Artoria's gentle smile, while looking down at her blade, one which Mother emulated perfectly.
Slowly, Arotira moved it towards Mother, who hesitantly raised her hands, and received the blade gracefully, while looking at it in a daze.
"It's… beautiful," she murmured.
Wrenching her gaze away from the sword, she gained a slightly sheepish look, tinged with a blush, while looking at Artoria. "Can I give it a few swings?" She asked bashfully, as if finding it embarrassing to ask.
Artoria took a few steps back, and gave Mom an encouraging look. "Please, be my guest," she replied softly.
I was a bit taken aback at her tone, but Mom didn't seem to notice, as she eagerly got into a stance.
Mother swiftly lunged forwards, and gave a large slash, followed by a jab, moving the blade back in a position to defend against an imaginary opponent, before smoothly entering into another attack.
Artoria watched patiently, before suddenly interjecting. "Lower the blade's tip by another inch, and bring your legs a quarter of an inch closer together, as your posture is suboptimal."
Mom didn't speak back, and smoothly changed her stance, seamlessly incorporating the advice.
Performing another strike, I couldn't say if it was any better than the last one, but Artoria gave a hum of approval, while nodding her head.
This continued for a few more minutes, where Mom would perform a few moves, only for Artoria to comment on them, causing her to fix her style, before repeatedly trying something new.
Mom seemed to feel content for the moment, and lowered the sword, and looked at Artoria. "Thank you for the impromptu lesson," she said, before walking over to her 'teacher', and handing her the sword back.
"Think nothing of it," Artoria deflected with a smile. "It has been a while since I've properly trained someone else, so it was a bit nostalgic for me as well," she said while gracefully retrieving the sword.
Smiling, Mom gave me a glance, followed by a wink, before looking at Artoria.
"As nice as that was, I'm interested in witnessing the 'Mana Burst' skill."
—
110 Hours, 32 Minutes And 42 Seconds Until Zero
—
Alistair Pendragon
Strength: C-
Endurance: D
Agility: C
Mana: A
Luck: N/A (Not quantifiable for a non-servant)
Noble Phantasm: A+++ (Rhongomyniad)
Magic resistance: (C) A
Magecraft: B+
Protection of the Ends of the World: E
Dragon's Reactor Core: A
Mana Burst: (A) C- (Any more would be too much for his body)
-----
A/N
Welcome back, my reader Overlords, please add this to your library and give me some comments, stones and Reviews, as it would be much appreciated.
Late, I know, but I was stuck on how to write this chapter, AKA this is the fourth version, and I've written a total of 14K words, most of which were thrown into the trash, where they belonged. So I'm sorry for being late, but it's best not to rush, lest I write something too stupid.
Now, give me your thoughts on the chapter, and tell me what you'd like to see!
Btw, I have made a Discord server for the fic, come on and chat with me!
https://discord.gg/8UkprnrG
Now I'm tired, so have a nice day, and send me some stones or some shit, I need motivation, or some shit like that.