#Saber Prototype x oc

[marblesphere]

Fate/Alternate Reality (Part 2)

(Part 1)

“Hah! I win again!” I grin smugly at the fallen boy. Once again, I won our sparring match for the nth time.

“I will beat you next time.” the blonde boy glared hatefully at me.

‘Ah… how I relish this victory and his glare.’

“You are still 100 years early to beat me, boy.”

“Shut up, this chibi fairy!”

“Hey! I am older than you!”

“With a stature like that, everyone will think you are 5 years old chibi!” this time, the boy grinned.

“Seems like I haven’t beaten you enough,” I growled. “Prepare to die.” My eyes glint.

“THIS VIOLENT CHIBI FAIRY!!!!!”

I am a fairy… a fairy born of this planet’s inner sea. But strangely, I don’t know what kind of purpose I have. I don’t even know I am a fairy until Merlin, my teacher picks me up. She told me about my heritage and adopted me as her disciple.

That’s how I found out that my master will soon adopt another disciple. He is one destined to be the King, to lead Britain out of the Dark Age. And currently, the future king is just a 10-year-old prick.

At that time, I didn’t like the idea of master dividing her attention to another kid, so I secretly challenged him to a sparring match. The boy with his blonde hair shines as it reflects the sunset, the owner of the gentlest pair of emerald eyes. In a split second, I thought he was the incarnation of a prince on white horse… just like the prince I read in a book. I think my heart just skips a beat when he looks at me.

The boy with shiny blonde hair, the son of King Uther Pendragon, named Arthur Pendragon is just a boy spending his time in the countryside, dreaming of being a knight. And as his soon-to-be senior, I have to teach him the harsh bitter truth that he will experience.

The winner of the match? Of course it’s me. it’s my first win of many more matches that we will have. His cousin, Kay, who will later be called as Sir Kay, is also joining us. My master, who found out my secret hobby (read. tormenting Arthur) laughs until her stomach hurts. She then officially adopted Arthur as her disciple… to prepare him for his future. ~”~

“Ouch!” Arthur knocks my wooden sword out of my hand. The strength he used is no joke, my hand is stinging with pain. His wooden sword is pointed to me.

“Hah! It’s my win again!” he grins his triumphant boyish grin.

“Tsk.” I pout, pushing his sword away.

“Hehehe! It’s my win again, violent fairy.” He mocked.

“Shut up!” I puff my cheeks as I listen to his taunt.

It has been 6 years since our initial meeting. Under the guidance of Merlin and Kay and of course me, Arthur has grown into a healthy teenager, but still a prick. He started winning our sparring match when he hit 14 years old, and now he completely dominated the sparring match.

‘…Ouch…’ I feel stinging pain across my body. ‘Ah… it’s bruised again…’ a fairy… that should have been graceful and elegant and dainty… where would you find a fairy like me, who is covered in bruises because of a swordfight every day.

“I am going to wash up.” My body reeks of sweat. I ignore the still-celebrating teen. How long he is going to rub it into my face? Arrogant prick…

“Arthur, here.” Merlin throws the boy something, which he catches it easily.

“This?”

“Bring it to Rein, would you? She forgot to bring it with her. We don’t want her to suffer from bruises now, do we?’ Merlin smiles, though Arthur knows this smile is a smile when she has something up her sleeves.

‘…tough luck…’ he thought as he wondered what kind of prank his master cooked for Rein. Somehow, he feels a little sorry for the said fairy. As much as they fight like cat and dog, the only time they can bond together is when they are avoiding their master pranks or console each other silently after the said pranks.

“You think he will realize it?” Kay asks Merlin as he sees Arthur trudge further to a waterfall near their house.

“You think he won’t start getting flustered after getting ambushed by that kind of scene?” Merlin smirks as she hums. You can see a devil's tail and horns on her.

“…I hope those two will quickly realize that they have been in love since forever.” Kay sighs.

“That’s the fun part, no?” Merlin cackles. “…really… what a group of troublesome children they are. Fall in love at the very first sight yet neither side realizes it.” she sighs indulgently.

“So, I thought of making one of them realize their feelings. It seems to be way more interesting this way.”

“…just do it moderately…” Kay sighs in resignation.

Arthur finally arrives at the usual waterfall where Rein should be. “Oi! Violent fairy, Merlin told me-!” the teen stopped dead in his tracks. He knew the fairy was bathing… heck, it’s not like they never bathed together. They used to have a water war… granted that the chibi violent fairy back then still had some clothing that covered her body…

“*gulp*” Arthur unknowingly swallows the lump in his throat. Why does he suddenly feel so hot and his throat so dry… like he hasn’t drunk water. He swore he did after he won their sparring match.

He can’t look away from her. The way her soft, dainty body curves around the right places. Even though her hip-down body is in the water, it still leaves little to no imagination. Until now… he has never thought that her body is much much smaller than he thought. Granted, he calls her chibi fairy, but it’s just to tick her off. But the girl in front of him looks so fragile... like she will break even if he only uses a fragment of his strength.

The droplets of water slide down her unblemished skin as they rejoin the water. Her soaked fluffy glossy silver hair and also her gem-like deep violet eyes sparkle under the sun. ‘A fairy…’ the creature in front of him is unmistakably a fairy… A creature of beauty and elegance…

“It hurts…” her pained voice snapped him back to reality. It’s then he noticed various bruises on her body. Did he really… use that much strength when sparring? He starts feeling guilty. Rein… never once complained about it, so he didn’t notice at all. So, all this time he used his almost full strength to defeat such a delicate creature…? And he even gloated about it…? What if he accidentally breaks her?!

“Ha! I haven’t used my full strength yet!” such is the taunt he often throws out after he wins the match, and now he just wants to crawl in a hole for such an embarrassing display.

“Who’s there?” Arthur fortunately managed to hide himself or else he would have a hard time explaining himself.

“You forgot to bring your ointment, so Merlin told me to bring it to you.” Arthur should thank himself that his voice is steady.

“Oh, okay, just put it there.” he heard Rein’s answer.

“Then, I will put it here.” Arthur puts down the small container and walks back to his house, leaving Rein confused.

“??? He didn’t mock me? What kind of prank he is going to pull now?” I knit my forehead. I expect him to actually throw the container at me or do something along that line.

I go back to his house just in time for lunch, Kay just finished plating the meal. “Oh, Rein, good timing. The lunch is ready, eat up.” Kay called.

“Yes.” I take my usual seat, which is beside Arthur. Again, I hear no mocking or any semblance of making fun from Arthur. Because he usually goes, ‘Hah! I bet you were crying.’ Or something along the line. But he is strangely quiet today.

“Huhuhuhu.” Merlin giggles quietly.

‘…Merlin is having fun…? Did she do something?’

“I didn’t do anything at all… at least not yet…” Merlin quickly defends herself.

‘…As if…’ Kay and I made a face at her.

“It’s true! I didn’t do anything yet.” She pouts, faking a hurt as if she was truly wounded by us. ~”~

Arthur lets out another groan for the umpteenth time. He has been tossing around to get some sleep. Unfortunately for him, sleep is eluding him. Every time he closes his eyes, he sees the same thing over and over again. The scene that involved a certain fairy.

Arthur groans as he messes his hair, trying hard to cool down his heated cheeks. he pours a glass of water from the pitcher to quench his thirst. He will really go crazy sooner or later if he is coped here. Thus, he chooses to take a walk.

“You can’t sleep? How rare.” I say as I feel someone stops beside me.

“What are you doing?”

“Watching stars. The sky is clear tonight. I can see a lot of stars. It’s a great view.” I lay down on the grass. “If you can’t sleep, you are welcome to star gazing. As long as you are not noisy.”

Arthur wordlessly plops on the space next to me. And just like that, the two of us are enjoying the stars… a rare moment where we are not bickering.

“So, what did Merlin do to you?”

“Ah?” Arthur is taken aback by the question.

“You were so quiet, while Merlin was giggling like she was enjoying something. So, she must have done something to you. You might feel better after you let it out.” I said.

“Merlin… didn’t do anything…?”

“You sure about that?” I frown. “Then, are you feeling sick?” I sit up and pull him to me, forehead against forehead.

“…you are warm… a fever?” I opened my eyes and saw how red his face was. “You definitely got a fever!” I gasped. “Let’s get Kay and-bwah!” Arthur pulled me back and now I crashed into him. My face crashed into his abdomen and my nose suffered the most damage.

“I don’t have a fever.” He growled.

“But your face…”

“It’s all because of you, stupid fairy!” with that he stood up and briskly went back to his house.

“…what did I do?” I blinked owlishly. ~”~

‘…Strange…’ I frown. ‘This is completely and absolutely weird.’ I narrow my eyes at a certain teen. Arthur hasn’t bothered me for a week straight. We don’t even have our daily sparring match. Instead, he opts to spar with Kay. What's more, he doesn’t talk to me at all.

Usually, I won’t be bothered so much… I mean, we had our fair share of fights where we didn’t talk to each other afterwards for a few days. Kay always drags us and makes us apologize to each other and then we will talk again.

But somehow… I don’t like this… I don’t like how he avoids me without explanation. We didn’t even have a fight yet he refused to talk to me. What’s wrong with him? And Kay refuses to meddle this time. I don’t hate Arthur… even if we bicker every day, even though I don’t like that he is a prick to me if he really hates me… then…

‘…Did I really do something despicable to him? Unknowingly…?’ I clenched my fists hard.

“Did you two get into a fight again?”

“Merlin!” I gasped, not noticing her presence.

“So, what happened?”

“…I don’t know…” I shake my head. “He just… stopped talking to me suddenly…”

“So, what did you guys talk about before he stopped talking to you?”

Then I explained what happened on that day. How he was so quiet and I thought Merlin pranked him. And also what we talked about when stargazing. The last time he talked to me.

Finish listening to this, Merlin is officially clutching her stomach. “He…help… my… my stomach…”

“Merlin, this is not funny…” I pout. “…forget it. I am the idiot for talking to you.”

“Hey hey hey. It’s not a nice thing to say about your teacher.�� Merlin pouts. “If it bothers you so much, why don’t you just apologize?”

“Apologize? Me?” I blink, pointing to myself.

“That’s right. You said it yourself. You are not sure if you have done something wrong to him. So, just apologize to him and ask what did you do wrong. I don’t think Arthur will keep ignoring you after that… rather… he can’t… the more he avoids you… the worse he will dream of you…”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing.” Merlin beams. “Anyway, just talk to him and he will definitely crumble down to your feet.”

“…why are you saying something so scary?” I sweatdropped at my inhuman master.

So, following my dear teacher’s advice, I decided to talk to Arthur. At the very least, I want to know what did I do wrong. I gingerly knock on the door, waiting for him to answer.

“What’s… Rein…?”

“Umm… I just want to say sorry.”

“What? Why?”

“I don’t know you are that uncomfortable having your forehead touched. I have been thinking about what made you avoid me and this is the only thing I could think of. So, I am sorry. If you are still uncomfortable, I will stay out of your sight… That’s all I want to say. Good night.” I finished my piece.

“Wait!” Arthur grabs my wrist.

“Yes?”

“You… don’t need to apologize.” He mumbles. “You didn’t do anything wrong.” He grumbled.

“So… why are you avoiding me?”

“It’s…” he averted his eyes.

“It’s?” I urged softly. The next thing I know is, I stand on my tiptoe, head awkwardly on his shoulder. “Arthur?”

“…let me stay like this for a moment… I want to make sure of something…”

“Oh… okay…” I don’t know what kind of thing he wants to make sure of, but I kind of feel guilty so, I let him do his thing.

Meanwhile, Arthur… who has been battling with his sleep because ever since that day, his dream is not as wholesome as he would like. He will wake up sweaty, hot and bothered and pent up. And it’s all starring a certain delicate fairy pinned underneath him, crying and writhing in pleasure.

Thus, he avoids her altogether. He thought it must be because he accidentally saw her naked once and after some time passed, he would return back to normal. Except it’s not. The longer he avoids her, the worse his dream becomes. And in his waking moment, every time he catches her figure, he has this impulse to want to hide her away from prying eyes.

The worst part of all of this is Merlin knows and relishes in his agony… truly, sometimes he wonders why she is his teacher again. Merlin explained that he was born with a dragon trait because he has the concept of a red dragon heart. And dragon is known to be very possessive of the things he likes and has a tendency to hide a treasure in his nest.

Arthur begins to put two and two together. “Do you remember what you thought when you first met her?”

“…I thought a fairy has come to human world… she was so pretty… ethereal and very otherworldly… And I want to hide her away so Kay wouldn’t see her…” he recounted his feelings at that time.

He still remembers how a fairy-like petite girl who is actually a real fairy suddenly appeared one day. She was breathtaking, and literally stole his breath away. Her shiny fluffy silver hair and gem-like violet eyes. He did think they were real gems.

“…But her first sentence ruins everything…”

“I challenge you to a duel of honour!”

“Ahahahaha!!” Merlin laughed at that.

It’s not like his possessiveness is gone after she ruined his first impression. It’s just he was so vexed being beaten by such a petite fairy that his competitive spirit was ignited. He wanted to be recognized as her equal… not some weakling, thus begins the day they bicker and fight with each other.

“…so I… have fallen for her at the first sight…?” Arthur slowly comes to realization.

“Yep, I swear you two are so slow. Even Kay caught on 5 years early.”

“That long ago?!” he gaped.

“You… really didn’t notice that you want to hog her attention all day long?” Merlin is amused at her disciple. “I remember seeing you trying to get her attention when she talked to Kay, or anybody of the opposite gender for that matter.”

“That…” Arthur blushed as he scratched his cheek. He might or might not have done it…

“Well, I guess you finally realize it now.” Merlin shrugged. “Seeing her naked must have made your feelings explode.” She cackles, revealing that it was her scheme.

“Merlin!”

“Well, good luck in making her realize her own feelings too. Rein has absolutely zero sense about herself.” Merlin wished her disciple good luck.

And that’s how the future King of Knights realizes he had long fallen in love with a fairy. A beautiful, ethereal, cute smol fairy who is actually strong enough in swordfight and a genius in magecraft. ~”~

“So, Rein, what kind of man you like?” Such is Merlin’s weird question in one morning.

“Ah?” I blink. “Why are you asking that?”

“Just curious. I mean, you are 16 years old now and are considered as an adult fairy. I wonder what kind of quality you seek in a partner.”

“Fairy reproduces differently from humans. If we died, another one would be born.” I said.

“No no no. it doesn’t work like that, my darling disciple. You know very well that fairy is capable of human-style reproduction. I just want to make sure my cute disciple won’t make a mistake picking up trash.” Merlin grins.

“It’s pointless to think about it now. I live a lot longer than a human and will age slowly after passing a certain age. I have a lot of time to think it slowly.” I sighed.

“Eh~ but I want to know. Come on, it’s just qualities you seek from your partner. Tell me~” she basically will pester me until I answer her question.

“Then… someone who is gentle with me?” I said after a consideration. “He won’t yell or scold me, pamper me to death, and will only look at me even after his death?”

“…the last one is really a requirement?” Kay sweatdropped.

“Unlike human, fairy really takes things seriously about their possession. Well… I know it’s rude to say your partner is a possession, but that’s how fairy sees things. Fairy hates it when other people covet their possessions. Or… if the fairy senses their partner has a change of heart… be prepared to accept the wrath of fairy. At best he will die, at worst he will die after being toyed by fairy.” I explained.

“…scary…”

“That’s why I don’t think I will have any partner,” I said. “Humans are different from fairy and fairies don’t need to actually mate to reproduce, thus most are indifferent in this regard. I do know few fairies that take humans as partners and well… some couldn’t accept fairies’ possessiveness and died a gruesome death. I have no wish to impose that on other people.”

“What if there is someone out there who can rival your possessiveness? If you two are madly in love (read. possessive of) with each other, then the problem will be solved.” Merlin smirks.

“Another mythical creature that can rival fairy in terms of possessiveness…” I sink into a thinking mode. “…probably a dragon.” I mused. “But dragon is no more.” Forgetting the fact, there is a human with dragon traits sitting with me, calmly calculating his next move. ~”~

Arthur is…being weird… That’s my current assessment even after we have made up with each other. He is…odd… like he has 180 degrees of complete change of his attitude to me…

For example, we usually have a morning routine of sparring matches, but he refused to do it again… granted I lost to him for the nth time and I am originally is more proficient in magecraft. I guess he doesn’t want to spar with a weakling. And I do half expect him to say something like, ‘You are still 100 years early to spar with me’ or ‘We will have a match after you train more’

Instead, he says, ‘…You are more proficient in magecraft, you should hone it to perfection. I will cover the swordfighting part. No worry, I will buy you enough time to cast a spell…’ and he pats my head. I repeat, he pats my head.

I… for some reason… actually enjoyed his head pat? Me? Of all people?

And he also doesn’t make fun of me anymore. instead of calling me ‘a chibi violent fairy’ he calls my name. Umm… it doesn’t feel bad hearing him calling my name. In fact, I quite like it.

But… is this some kind of new prank of his? Like he is getting all friendly and then suddenly, ‘I got you, chibi violent fairy!’ or something like that?

“Rein…”

“Yes?” and lately Arthur likes coming to my room. If I am to be honest, I like this version more than the previous one. At least, he is not being a prick to me.

“…can you help me comb my hair?”

Yup, Arthur request is simple like this. He said I comb a better hairstyle and frankly I agree. “Okay, come here.”

Arthur sits on the chair and I take a brush from the vanity table, gently threading his soft tresses before finally getting to work on combing it. “It’s done.”

“Thanks.” Arthur shot me a grin. A boyish grin that I am very familiar with and I think… my heart skips a beat again… I wonder why…

“Rein? Are you alright?” Arthur looks quite worried at my silence.

“Don’t worry. I am fine.” I said, assuring him.

“Really? Are you sure? You are not hiding something, aren’t you?”

“…”

“…why are you staring at me?” pinkish hue covered his cheeks.

“It’s…odd to see you openly worry about me.”

“Th-there’s nothing weird about worrying you. We have known each other for so long.”

“I know. But usually, you will act like a tsundere. For example, ‘I-It’s not like I worry about you. It’s just I prefer you are healthy so I won’t need to take care of you’ something like that.”

“…I am not doing that anymore!” he cried out.

“That so? I did enjoy your reaction back then, but I like this more.” I grin. “Yup, I like this version more.” I repeat with more confidence.

“…you are really… clueless, aren’t you?” Arthur traps a lock of my hair between his fingers and presses a kiss on it.

“Eh?” I blanked, literally, my mind blanked. I... my mind fails to comprehend the situation right now. The sight of that unusually gentle boy… no, he is a man now, he is kissing my hair, keeping his gaze on me.

I suddenly feel my ears and cheeks getting warm at top speed. “I guess if this is your reaction, I still have some hope. I will satisfy myself with this for now.” he tucks my hair behind my ears, flashing a mischievous grin that definitely spells trouble for me… and my heart. ~”~

Arthur pulls out the Sword of Selection, Caliburn and then obtained Excalibur and becomes the King of Britain. And he will lead Britain out of its Dark Age. Such is the prophecy that was told. But now, there is one more additional prophecy so that Britain will be everlasting.

“…marry Princess Guinevere and use her dowry, a round wooden table to establish a foundation of Knight of Round Table.”

This prophecy is splitting Camelot into two factions, those who agree and those who don’t agree. I… along with Merlin have been given position as Camelot court mages right after Arthur ascended as King.

Those who don’t agree with the prophecy factions are a group of people who believe that their king has given his heart to a fairy. Most probably stemmed from the testimonies of people who saw a silver-haired with violet gem-like eyes lady enter their king’s bedroom at dead night. And also, the rejection statement from the king about marrying noble daughters of Camelot.

“I have given my heart to a fairy, you see. I’d rather not suffer her wrath.”

They thought it’s a joke at first, until the testimonies of people who work in the castle prove it to be the truth.

The fairy they are gossiping about is in fact me. Why do I enter his bedroom dead at night? Obviously, because he is mine. Is there anything wrong with a fairy to seek out her beloved? Nope, there’s nothing wrong. So, there, you have it.

Due to the possessive nature of Arthur… whom I finally realized he was born with dragon traits, he refused the notion of me being exposed. So… I wear a hood and cast a disguise spell in the daytime.

Eh? You want to know when we affirmed our feelings? And who confesses to who? Well, I guess Arthur has been wooing me ever since that fateful day… I was just… realizing my own feelings shortly after he ascended as King. It’s truly a heaven-defying, earth-shattering revelation for me.

“Now that he has become a king. It probably won’t be long for him to take a wife.” Merlin said.

“Yeah, actually, there is already a list of noble daughters being put up as the candidate for his wife.” Kay nodded.

“Eh? Why?!” I gaped in shock.

Merlin and Kay look at me weirdly and then at each other, “Because… right?”

“Right.” Kay nodded.

“I don’t want that!” I blurted out.

“Why?” Merlin asked.

“Be-because…” I stuttered. ‘Why am I so against this? This is what naturally will happen, no? A king can’t be without a queen. And… I… shouldn’t meddle much in Arthur’s affair. He is a human… A fairy… will make his life complicated. But… I don’t like it. I want to stay with him. I like him.’

“Oh…” A small gasp escaped my lips. I finally understand… everything makes sense now… I… I am in love with Arthur. That’s why I am so against his marriage. The revelation is truly a heaven-defying and earth-shattering for me.

‘Why am I just realizing it now?!’

“Because?” Kay waited for my answer.

“Be…because he won’t give me headpats anymore…” I spouted a ridiculous excuse instead. It’s not completely false, I love his headpats. It became a thing that I expected daily. But…

‘…I will need to bury this feeling. After he found a wife… he won’t look at me like that anymore…’ ~”~

After the coronation is over, next is the ceremony of me and Merlin being given position as court mage. I am glad that all went well smoothly and I can keep my feelings in check.

“…Stupid Rein… why do you have to realize it now…” I scold myself. “It’s better if I stay oblivious forever. But now I have gone and done it.” I groan, pulling my knees to my chest.

“…why don’t you confess your love to him?” Lady of the Lake rolls her eyes.

“Eehh… I can’t do that. Fairy has a different fundamental value from humans. They don’t take well with our possessive nature.”

“…Are you an idiot?” Lady of the Lake looked at me with deadpan eyes and flicked my forehead hard. “You do know that he is born with a dragon heart. He possessed the nature of a dragon.” She sighs. “And let me tell you something about a dragon. They like to hide away the things they like.”

“…he is born with a dragon heart? Who? Arthur?” I tilt my head, it’s my first time hearing this.

Vivian, the name of Lady of the Lake, hand chops my head, literally. “This stupid fairy!” she hisses and gives me a noggie.

“I give… I give… I am sorry!” I cried for mercy. “But Merlin never told me those.” I defended myself. “…or maybe she had and I had forgotten it?” I mumble softly to myself.

“Haaa…” Vivian exhales a long, loud and tired sigh and I flinch at that, afraid of her wrath. “He is here now, so you can take your time confessing your undying love.” Vivian motions her head to the direction behind me.

“Ah? Wh-” she disappears before I could finish my words.

“Rein… I finally found you.” the familiar presence of Arthur’s mana floods my senses. “I was worried that you were not in your room.” He sighs and plops on the grass beside me.

Yep, I sneaked away from my room to the forest near the castle. This forest clearing is a place where I can meet with Vivian after all.

“Oh…” I draw my knees to my chest again, feeling a little awkward. ‘Now… how do I talk to him without accidentally spilling out everything?’

“Haaa…” this time it’s Arthur who lets out a long exasperated sigh, with his head down.

“…sorry…” I must have made him worried sick if he acted like that.

“…Did Merlin force you into that?” Arthur takes a peek at me.

“That?” I tilt my head. “Ah! You mean this dress?” I stand up so he can see better. The dress… is a spaghetti strapped short lacy white dress, which falls down to my mid-thigh. I also wear the provided accessories, like silk lace cuffs and also a ribbon lace on my right thigh.

Actually, it looks more like a negligee by human standards because no woman would dare to dress like this. But I guess, being a fairy, it doesn’t matter much to me. My wardrobe is full of Merlin’s choices anyway.

“…You shouldn’t wear anything Merlin wants…” he groans, closing his eyes.

“But I am cute, aren’t I?” I giggle, dipping my bare feet into the small lake. “Hehehe, the moon is pretty, it’s a shame for you to come without enjoying it.” I giggle.

Arthur finally opens his eyes and looks at the moon (read. me), “Isn’t it beautiful?”

“…yeah… very…” Arthur enters the lake and stands in front of me. “…you are so beautiful.” His hand gently tucks my hair behind my ears.

I feel heat creeping to my cheeks again and I quickly slap my palms on them, cooling them down. Arthur chuckles at my weird reaction. “Arthur…” his gentle eyes are hypnotizing.

‘No, I can’t….’

“I…”

‘Stop! I can’t say that!’

“I… love you…” just as my confession falls into my ears, Arthur stops smiling and his eyes open wide as if he is in disbelief.

“Ah…” I slap my mouth due to my blunder. “I… I am sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” I quickly added. “I know you are going to take a human wife and we won’t be able to spend time like we used to.” I blabbed. “I am sorry that I made you uncomfortable, I… I will give back the court mage title and disappear from your sight.” I turn around to escape from this predicament.

“No.” my back collides with his strong chest. “You can’t… you are not allowed to run away.” His arms tighten around my shoulders and stomach. “Stay…” I feel the weight of his head on my shoulder as he whispers to my ear.

“Ar…Arthur…” I squeaked.

“Hm? Let me enjoy this for a little longer.” His soft whisper, accompanied by his gentle kisses on my ear and neck… not to mention, his other hand is drawing pattern on my stomach… sometimes dipping lower and going upward again. My heart is thumping like crazy… he is driving me crazy.

“Your face is so red… so cute…” he chuckled as he continued his ministration. “You don’t know…*chu* how long I have been… *chu* waiting for this…” he finally turns me to face him.

“You are really… adorable…” another kiss on the forehead.

“You… you… are you sure you want to be mine?” I exclaimed, shattering the sweet atmosphere. As much as I enjoy it, I still need something to be clear.

“Rein…”

“I am a fairy… I have told you how possessive fairy is. It’s not a joke. Once you vow yourself to me, you won’t be able to escape from me. Even when you don’t want me anymore, I won’t let you go.” My chest heaves up and down.

“That… that should be my line, my silly dense fairy.” Arthur pulls me into his arms again. “I am born with dragon heart. You also know the nature of a dragon, don’t you?” he spoke softly. “I have wanted to hide you away from other people's prying eyes for a long long time ago. In a place only the two of us exist. So you can only look at me.” he lifts my chin up, making me stare at the bottomless hunger in his eyes.

“Since I know our feelings are mutual, I won’t hold back anymore. Even if you run away to fairy world or back to Avalon, I will still chase after you… Your place is only beside me… forever and ever…”

My heart thumps and my body shivers at his declaration. To humans, his declaration will invoke fear, but to me… there’s nothing sweeter than this confession. ‘Ah… I want… I really want him… I want Arthur…’

“I… want you…” I reach up to cup his face. “Give me… give yourself to me, Arthur…”

“Your wish is my command, my fairy…” And so, we sealed our fates with a kiss. ~”~

Anyway, the other agree to take Guinevere as queen faction doesn’t believe it at all. It’s not like they don’t believe the existence of mythical creatures, but they don’t believe that their king has a fairy lover. If he has one, they want her to show up. Having a fairy as queen is actually beneficial to Camelot, her existence itself will deter a lot of nations from conquering the kingdom.

But the fact their king never revealed the said fairy, only by hearing the testimonies of the palace workers, they believe their king is only stalling the marriage problem. So, with this prophecy being told, they pushed him to take her as his wife.

While I trust Arthur that he will stay committed and faithful to me. Sometimes, I mull over the fact that I am a just a fairy… who doesn’t even know her own purpose of being born. Technically, I am a failure of a fairy. I keep thinking if we affirmed our love before he ascended as king, would it be different?

No one can say for certain, but looking at the state of Camelot retainers, I will say they might force their daughters to be taken as wife to help the commoner me sorting the internal affairs. But when they do, their daughters will probably die a gruesome death. Fairy doesn’t take well seeing people covet her possessions.

For now, nobody knows I am a fairy except for a few close knights, but they do know about Merlin being a half succubus. I am sitting in this position comfortably partly because of Merlin’s influence.

“…should I… whisk him away to Avalon altogether? Then we don’t need to listen to this nonsense?” I seriously think about this, but Arthur will definitely reject my offer. He… takes his responsibility as king very seriously. Completely different from when he was just a carefree little boy and also when he is on the journey across Britain.

“Who do you want to whisk away without my knowing?” I jump at the sudden intrusion in my ear.

“Ar-Arthur!”

“You haven’t answered my question. Who are you going to whisk away without my knowing?” he smiles ever so gently. But this time it’s a scary gentle smile.

“…someone…” I avert my eyes.

“Hmm… my fairy is being naughty today. What to do, hm?” Arthur sits beside me, patting his lap while smiling at me, looking at me expectantly.

I sigh and crawl to his lap, resting my head on his broad chest. “Are you worried about the prophecy?” his hand comes up to pat my hair.

“…If I am to be honest, I fear for the princess’ life,” I said. “You know how fairy is.”

“You don’t need to worry about it. I will take care of it,” he murmurs, pressing a kiss on the crown of my head. “My fairy… just need to stay beside me.” a kiss on the forehead, corners of my eyes and finally my lips.

“As long as you are here, I won’t fall.” ~”~

“Kya! This is the rumoured fairy!” Princess Guinevere walks in a circle around me while gushing about my appearance. “No wonder King Arthur forbids you to show off your true appearance! You are so cute!”

The rumoured Princess Guinevere is… vastly different from what I had imagined. After our last secret rendezvous in the garden, Arthur went on a business trip so to speak and came back very happy like he accomplished his mission. I know he is happy because he is particularly clingy and needs more praise than usual. It’s times like this that I think Arthur is a Golden Retriever rather than a lion or dragon. I can practically see the imaginary wagging tail and ears and a sign with ‘praise me more’.

And few days later, Princess Guinevere is visiting Camelot. If I wasn’t in a special circumstance, Princess Guinevere might have perished on the very same day she visited Camelot. On that day, I couldn’t walk… let alone getting out of my bed…

‘Curse him and his A+ endurance.’ He did try his best to appease my mood for a whole day though. Princess Guinevere has no intention to marry Arthur, that’s what he told me. But she did make a deal with him. In exchange for the much-needed round table, he has to fulfil her requests.

One of the requests is, want to meet his rumoured secret fairy lover, a.k.a me. That’s why we are having a secret tea party in Merlin’s tower, just the two of us.

After her few rounds of gushing out loud, we are finally settling down for tea. I use magic to pour the prepared tea. “Ahem.” She cleared her throat. “As King Arthur has explained. I come here not with the intention of marrying him.” she started.

“If I am to be honest, King Arthur is not my type at all.” she dropped the bombshell while smiling.

“…” I blink.

“You don’t believe me?” she frowned.

“No, I do believe you. I can see through lies after all. it’s just a little unexpected.” I said.

“Unexpected?”

“Yes, he seems like possessing all the attributes that many women seek out from a male. Isn’t that why all the noble women in Camelot and some even from kingdom far away are vying for his attention?”

“…You sure are bragging out loud…” Guinevere is absolutely sure the fairy doesn’t know how terrifying he is.

“Bragging?” I tilt my head.

“…Fairy-chan…”

“Yes?”

“Even though he possessed a lot attributes that women find alluring… I still don’t like him. That guy is definitely a black belly type.”

“Black belly? He doesn’t have any black spot on his belly though?”

“…Too much information…” Princess Guinevere facepalmed. “What I mean is, he is the type that will scheme behind the scene to get what he wants.” Actually, as for why Princess Guinevere is so sure about this was because he visited her to make a deal. The deal for the round table she possessed and clearly, the fairy doesn’t know about it or the king didn’t tell her the whole plan.

“And I like black haired man better than blonde. That’s the most basic attribute I won’t give up.” Princess Guinevere said in excitement.

“Ah, Arthur has been disqualified since the beginning.”

“That’s right. Thus my second request is involving you, Fairy-chan.”

“Me?”

“I heard you are a genius at magecraft. So, I want you to create a disguising potion. One potent enough to stay permanent.”

“Can I know the reason?”

“I… want to elope with my escort knight.” She began. “But that damn prophecy destroyed everything!” she growls in frustration. “In the end, Camelot only need my dowry to establish the Knight of Round Table or whatever it is.” She sighs.

“So, when King Arthur came incognito and offered the deal. I accept it immediately. The deal is, by giving him the table, he will help me with my elopement plan… and also I have always want to meet a fairy, that’s why I came here.”

“Ah…” I let out a small ‘ah’, finally understanding everything. So, the reason Princess Guinevere came was to truly meet me. Now, I do feel a little guilty. Arthur must have known what my reaction would be, so he made sure I would be confined in bed for that day.

“I suppose I owe Princess Guinevere an apology,” I said.

“Why?” she blinks owlishly.

“Because I wasn’t told anything, I almost murdered you on the very day you arrived,” I say casually.

The cup she is holding falls to the floor, Princess Guinevere is staring at me with wide eyes and mouth agape.

“Oh, I will clean it up, don’t worry.” With a wave of my hand, the cup’s pieces gathered on its own, along with the tea. They easily make their way to the trashcan.

“W-why?” her voice trembles, her whole body is trembling.

“Because I thought you came to marry Arthur. I apologize for my almost-blunder. Fortunately, Arthur seemed to know what would happen so, I was confined in bed due to special circumstances.” I answer casually.

“Rest assured, I promise not to lay a hand on you under any circumstances. Unless you are aiming for him.” I smile as I put down my teacup.

“…fairy is… scary…” ~”~

So, the exchange is successful. We got the table and Guinevere eloped with her lover. While there is some dissatisfaction from marry the princess faction, the fact that KoRT is successfully established even without marrying her is used to pressure them. Now, Camelot is entering the era of peace.

But as always, peace doesn’t last long. King Leodegrance, Princess Guinevere’s father rallied neighbouring kingdom to invade Camelot, the reason being Camelot killed her daughter and stole the table. Princess Guinevere did pull an extreme stunt. She faked her death on her way back home. Of course she faked it after she had gone outside territory and she also gifted the table to us formally, but King Leodgrance didn’t believe it… and the war broke out. While Camelot managed to repel their invasion, again and again, it was an exhausting endeavour for humans.

I also sense Arthur’s fatigue is piling up day by day. And, this is the countdown of our doom. “Arthur… you are not thinking about weird things, aren’t you?”

“Thinking about a weird thing? Me? I don’t think so.”

“The speech you did in the morning… about making Camelot an eternal kingdom. That’s a dangerous thought, Arthur.” I narrow my eyes.

“It’s just a figure speech. There’s no need to worry about it.” he smiles… his smile looks so tired.

“…If you say so…”

“Come here, I want my fairy to recharge me.” he holds out his hands for a hug. ~”~

“Arthur, is there any need to conquer any neighbouring nations? Camelot is plenty vast as it is. I don’t think you need to expand more territory.” I frowned.

“You don’t understand anything, Rein. I need to nip trouble in the bud.”

“But there’s no trouble. You are so aggressive lately that even allied nations are afraid of you.”

“That is necessary for Camelot to survive. Camelot will be the strongest… and then… there will be no more…”

“There’s no need to shoulder the burden alone.” I bite my lips. “If there’s one thing I learned from humans is that they are capable of passing wishes to the future”

“There won’t be any future if I don’t protect present.”

“That’s not what I mean, listen Arthur…

“Rein.” He shushed my lips. “It’s okay. You don’t have anything to worry about.”

“I have! I worry about you!” I finally had enough. His mind is clearly distorted. Arthur… my Arthur isn’t like this.

“Arthur, if there’s one thing I learn from humans, to them nothing is eternal.”

“…how ironic. Then are you telling me my love for you is not eternal, I am a human too.”

“No, I don’t mean that. Because to human, there’s nothing eternal, that’s why they strive their best today to connect to tomorrow. To pass their wishes to future. It’s something that only humans are capable of… I really… really admire that.”

“You don’t have to worry about me. As long as Excalibur is here, I will bring victories to Camelot. The past, present and future too. I will protect them all.”

“No! You are…not Arthur… My Arthur isn’t like this! Give him back!”

“THEN LEAVE!” he raised his voice. It’s the first time he ever did it to me. “If your Arthur is not here then feel free to go. I don’t need a useless court mage. You don’t have the right to order me, your king. If you are not satisfied with this, you can leave like your master.” For a while, neither of us are speaking.

“…you… don’t want me anymore…?”

“That’s what I said. A court mage who didn’t participate in a war is just baggage. It’s better for you to go back to your fairy world.”

“…Oh…” I feel something shatter inside me. By the time I have come back to my senses, I am already outside Camelot and in the forest’s clearing where we swore our oath.

“Ha…hahahahaha!” tears stream down my face as I laugh. And just like that, I disappeared from his life. ~”~

Is it weird that my shattered heart can still and want to weep for him? For my beloved who severed our bonds by his own hands?

I guess it’s a yes, since I am still crying for him, amidst a mountain of corpses. The remnant of a big battle. The Battle of Camlann. The battle that brought downfall to his kingdom, his era.

“…I…am sorry…”

“…don’t talk… I will take you somewhere safe first.” The heavy stench of blood is making my skin crawl.

“I…always… want to… apologize…”

“I will listen to you later.” I heave his dying body up.

“Rein… my… beloved…fairy… I didn’t mean… to make you…cry…” his dull eyes are getting dimmer.

“If you die now, I will hate you forever.”

“…aahh… it’s what… I deserve…”

“You… dummy! Big idiot!”

“…sounds… about right…”

“Arthur!”

“Rein… I…love…you…always…not a…single day…without missing…you…”

“Don’t die… please don’t die… if you die… I will…”

It’s all my fault. I was a useless lover and even more of a useless court mage. I can’t save him or his heart. A fairy without a purpose like me… is nothing but a bearer of misfortune. ~”~

Arthur who put me on the bed, fusses around the medicine cabinet for something. “…I am not sick… I don’t need medicine.”

“Rein, you say you feel under weather. It’s a symptom of an early stage of sickness.”

“You worry too much.” I deadpanned.

“I can never not worry about you… nor I can stop worrying about you…”

“…Archer must have influenced you too much.” I let out a mushroom sigh. “…If you are so kind to me… I will go ahead and fall in love with you, you know.”

Arthur’s whole body freezes in shock and he looks at me with wide eyes and faint blush. “Just kidding!” I added the punch line.

“Ahahaha! I got you, didn’t I?” I laugh gleefully and jump down from the bed. “Let’s see if Archer will remember. Maybe I should pull the same prank? I wonder what’s his reaction will be?” I slide open the door, only to have a shadow towering upon me.

“What if… what if I want you to fall in love with me?” our gazes meet and he looks so serious.

“…pfft…” I giggle.

“R…Rein…”

“You are so funny. Don’t take my joke seriously.” I stand on my tip-toe to pat his head. “Even if you are a servant now, you do have a wife when you are alive.”

“I-I don’t…”

“You can’t make your true love cry. It’s not good. Not good at all.” I shake my head in disappointment as if scolding a child.

‘…Make Ayaka happy, you big idiot…’

His attraction to Ayaka is clear as day. I have no intention of getting on both their ways. For I am... nothing but a bearer of misfortune. A fairy that doesn’t have a purpose, a fairy that will forever wander on Earth. Our fates… had been severed that night…

The first thing we do is to recover my friends’ memories. Apparently, the scene of me being carried by Arthur is a hot topic now. Hakunon is practically pestering me to spill all the beans.

“He carried me because I felt sick. That’s all. No need to exaggerate anything.” I said flatly.

“But why?! He doesn’t even know you… Huh…? That’s… not right… How can he not…know…” Hakunon becomes confused.

“That’s because I am his master and he is my servant.”

“Master… servant…I…Master…Archer…Ah!”

“Have you remembered?”

“Rein-chan! This!” I shushed her.

“Calm down, right now, only you, Saber (Male) and I remembered. We need to act without the dungeon master knowing.”

“I understand, I will get Nameless back in a jiffy.”

“Yes. In your case, just flash your panties to him and he will remember.”

“Rein-chan!!!!” I laugh at her shriek.

But really, the next day, Nameless remembered. “Wow, so the panties flashing did wor-”

“Rein-chan!!!”

“Panties flashing…?” Saber is stunned.

“No! I didn’t do it! I just did it normally!”

“Did it normally? Like?” we tilt our head.

“That’s… Why are we talking about this?! It’s fine as long as Nameless remember!” flustered Hakunon cried out. Teasing her sure is fun.

In the next few days, we recovered our allies’ memories. Archer is pretty easy, I just called him Super Maid-san and he would snap on his own. And as we expected, the bosses of this dungeon are Souichirou-sensei and Caster.

“Stay still.” I smiled at Caster with glinting eyes. I will need to undo her spell like the others.

“No… no… Don’t come near me! Help me! Souichirou-samaaaa!!!!”

“Again… I just undid the spell…” Excellion is joining me in my ‘woe is me’ corner. We are back at our home base operation for now.

“That’s right. I am just a talking book. Not scary at all.”

“R-Rein-chan, as an apology, here, I will give you this.” Caster handed me something.

“This is?”

“A charm. I heard from Saber (Male) and Archer that you are so gullible so, they want me to make a tracker charm for you.”

“…I am not going to follow a stranger just because they give me candy…” I sweatdropped.

“It also doubled as a good luck charm.”

Caster’s good luck charm = luck = free foods. “Okay, I forgive you.” I nod, slipping the charm into my pocket. ~”~

“Rein, can I sit here?”

“Go ahead.” I smile back to Ayaka. Right now, I am chilling on the rooftop.

“What are you doing here?”

“Hmm… just thinking about a lot of things. “How about you, Ayaka?”

“Oh, I… I actually want to talk to you.”

“Talk to me?” I pointed to myself.

“Yes. It’s about Saber and I…”

“Oh! You two are going to be official now? Congratulation! Now, let’s share the news with others! Ah, let’s have Archer cook too.”

“No, not that!” she grabs my hand.

“No?” I tilt my head.

“No. Saber and I are not in that kind of relationship. Never have and never will.”

“…Even if he is my servant, I won’t restrict him not to have a relationship, you know.”

“As I said, you got it all wrong.” Ayaka sighs.

“Really?” I blink.

“Yes. Positively, absolutely. I don’t have that kind of love for him. It’s true that Saber is my saviour, but he is strictly some kind of brother figure to me.”

“That so?” I sit back down. “That’s too bad. He really likes you though.”

“…I guess everyone is right about saying how blind you are…”

“How mean.” I pout. “I still can see clearly. Too clear in fact… about myself…”

“…no no. I am absolutely sure you are blind.” She waved her hand. “Saber… already has someone he loved for a long long time ago…”

“Ah?” I blinked. “Well, he is a servant now. None of that matters. Go for the kill, Ayaka. I will support you. In fact… I can use a spell to make him horny for you right away.

“I don’t need it!” Ayaka cried out. “Mou… listen to me first!”

“…yes…” I sit quietly and prettily in seiza.

“Ahem.” She clears her throat. “So, Saber told me about someone precious to him when he was my servant. He never said her name, but he did tell me she is a fairy.”

“…fairy…?” my heart thumps loudly. “Like, the small creature with bug’s wing?”

“…not that… well… normal human’s concept of fairy is like that…”

“…I am just kidding.” I giggle. “So… Saber had a relationship with a fairy?”

“Yep.”

“Woah… that’s amazing. I wonder what kind of fairy she is…” I mused.

“I heard she is so beautiful… like a beauty that can ruin a nation.”

“…???”

“Because she is so beautiful, Saber hides her true appearance. And also, she is good at swordsmanship and a magecraft genius. Saber said she beat him a lot in their early training.” Ayaka excitedly chatters away about what the fairy looks like.

“…he is exaggerating…” I sigh. “She is just a failure of a fairy.”

“Rein…?”

“A fairy is born with a purpose, yet she doesn’t have one. She doesn’t even know what she is until someone tells her her true heritage… she can’t follow her king’s order and become a useless court mage… and most importantly… though she vows she loves him deeply, she still fails to save his heart…”

“Rein, you…”

“To sum it up, she is just a failure. She is nothing like what she had been described. She must put him under a spell or something.” I laugh. “But I suppose… the fairy owes you her thanks.”

“Eh?”

“Thank you, for saving his heart… for she had failed to…”

“You are…”

“The fairy told me to thank you like that. I met her in a dream. However, I was quite confused when a girl who claimed to be a fairy suddenly appeared in my dream. Well, this talk is over now. I think I am going to sleep… hm?”

Why… why suddenly I see a hand wrap around my mid-section. “Thanks, Ayaka. I will take it from here.”

“Ah, okay.”

“Bwah!” I let out a very unladylike voice as my view suddenly distorted and finally realised that I was being hauled like a potato sack. “A…Saber?”

The said servant either doesn’t hear me or just plain ignores me. I am starting to sweat a bucket. “I…I am sorry if you are offended by my description of your lover. I will apologize, so… let me down?”

“…”

I am sweating even more profusely, ‘He is angry… He is definitely angry… Angry Arthur is not good…’

“Ah, Archer hel-”

“Good luck, Saber.” Archer who just standing there praying for my servant's luck instead of mine.

“You traitor!!!” my screech echoes in the hallway.

Saber dumps me on something soft… ‘A bed?’

*Click* and I definitely hear the ominous sound of the door being locked. My eyes dart back and forth to secure another escape route. ‘The window!’

“The window is locked too.” a calm voice whispered to my ears, making me jump.

“!!!!” In a next moment, I am pinned in between the mattress and Arthur.

“Um… um… I am sorry.” With swimming eyes, I mutter an apology. “I am sorry for bad-mouthing your lover. Umm… I will apologize to her too later. So-!!!” I blink rapidly as I feel something soft touch my forehead.

“Ar…!!!!” this time it’s on the corner of my eyes and then my cheeks. “You…” my breath hitches when I stare back at him. His gaze is way too intense for me. I can see a lot of emotion swirling inside, and he is holding them back at bay, like a dam waiting to burst.

I avert my eyes, “…you shouldn’t do this…” a rejection with a soft voice. To be honest, it feels weak.

“Rein… it’s not your fault…”

“…”

“It’s not your fault. You are not a failure. You are not useless. My death is not because of you… so don’t blame yourself. It was never your fault…” he looks so sad. “It’s all mine. I made you cry, I got angry at you for worrying about me, you can hate me, but please… don’t ever blame yourself…” he looks like he is almost crying.

‘Ah… he is crying…’ Even though I know I shouldn’t do this, my hands still reach out to cup his cheeks, wiping his tears away, “…don’t cry… I am not worth your tears.”

“You are worth it. You are worthy of my everything.” His hand covers mine. “I am the one who is not worthy of you. You gave me your heart, yet I shattered it. I am sorry… I always want to apologize to you… I always regret that day… not a day passed without regretting it… without missing you…”

“…I know… I forgive you…”

“I am sorry… I am sorry…” he mutters the apology repeatedly, like a kid begging for forgiveness. For now, I will let him do it until he is satisfied.

“…I will try to tell the fairy about this… really… you shouldn’t just pin your master down even if I look like her…” I sigh. Arthur has finally calmed down after his small mental breakdown.

“…” Arthur looks at me in disbelief. “…you really… still want to stick to your lie?” he sighs. “…I did expect this though…” I heard him mumbling softly.

“Ah? What do you mean?”

“You know, Rein…” I was once again pinned underneath him.

‘Huh? What? Why? How?’

“When you lie, your mouth twitches.” His eyes are glinting with mischief. In response, I slap my hands to my mouth.

“Ah, it’s not that actually.”

“You lied?!” I glare at him.

Merlin had told me everything.”

“Tsk… Merlin, you traitor…” I grumble.

“But you do have a bad habit when you lie. I am not going to tell you what though.”

“Tell me!”

“No.”

“Tell me?” I pull a puppy dog's eyes on him.

With a smile, he answers with the most gentle tone, “No.”

“Arthur! You meanie!” instead of continuing this game, Arthur smiles at me, a bright smile, his boyish grin.

“You finally called my name.” he leans in and peppers kisses on my face again.

“S…stop…”

“No. I have been *chu* waiting for *chu* so long… hey, call me more *chu*.”

“Sa…S-”

“Wrong.” As a punishment, my lips are blocked and bruised to his liking. My body reacts much more honestly than my brain. I carve for his kiss. Years and years of longing and yearning are so tangible, to the point the two of us can taste it. The way he nibbles and sucks my lips, the way he stuck out his tongue, slipping the hot appendage to my cavern. The way all of him floods my senses to the point of overdrive. My body shudders delightfully, finally finding the place it belongs to rightfully. He is intoxicating.

A streak of broken saliva, teary eyes and the puff of breaths that are escaping from our lips are the leftover evidence of the said kiss.

“Arthur… you… meanie…” My whole body is hot. I don’t know how much I have missed this until now.

“Yup, so call my name again.” he laughs lightly, obviously enjoying my predicament. And his expression turns to ‘that’ expression which is bad for me and my heart. The mischievous face that says, be prepared, I am going to tease you a lot until you cry begging for me.

“I remember you are weak around here.” his hand slides to my back, rubbing that one particular weak spot, on the lower back… right above my rear.

“!!!!” I let out a soundless scream, squirming and wriggling my body away from him.

“Nuh-uh, nope, you are not getting away from me.”

“huff…huff…” my face is flushing, my teary eyes are glaring at him while being bundled with a blanket and I puff my cheeks.

“Rein… I am sorry… I got carried away… come here, please…” he coaxes gently.

“…fshaaa!” I bare my teeth instead. Unaware that I was being seen as a cat throwing a tantrum.

“…” Arthur’s body is trembling, trying hard to stifle his laughter. ‘…She really doesn’t have any awareness of how adorable she is.’

“…hiss…” Arthur suddenly lets out a pained hiss.

Worry and panic overtake my body. ‘He is hurt? When? Did I hurt him?’

“Where are you hurt?!” I throw the blanket off and crawl to him. I stretch his hands up, check his face and grope his body to see where it’s hurting.

‘He is trembling so much… does it really hurt? Where is the wound?’ I knit my forehead.

“Arthur, where are you hurt…” I pouted when I finally realized I had been played. He is not trembling because of pain, because he is holding his laughter. He is looking sideways while using his palm to clamp his mouth shut.

“…” I get my blanket back, burrito myself and try to crawl back to the corner, ignoring this man. Keyword ‘try’

“Where is my fairy going again?” Arthur pulls me to his lap and I glare at him with an unamused face. “You are not allowed to disappear again… No more… I don’t want to… through that anymore…” he nestles me into the crook of his neck.

“…It’s your fault…”

“Yeah, I know. I am sorry.” His fingers trap my hair between them, playing with it… my black hair which turns back to silver.

“You broke your promise.”

“I am sorry about it too.”

“…you said… you don’t want me anymore…”

“…I am… sorry.” He brought my hand to his mouth, pressing kisses on the fingertips. “It’s a lie… I can’t not want you…”

“But… I failed to save you and… your heart…”

“You did not…” a light feather kiss upon the crown of my head. “Rein… you can’t save people who don’t want to be saved. I… was in that state for some time… but the first Holy Grail War made me doubt my choice and Ayaka gave me the final push.” He smiled bitterly.

“It’s ironic… you had plainly told me at that time, yet I was too blind to see it. It takes me to almost destroy the whole world to realize that the answer is always in front of me.” his digits mindlessly play with my hair.

“This time… I will finish this with my own hands. These rotten intertwined fates… with this sacred sword, I shall sever it. That’s why… please, always stay by my side, my beloved fairy.” Tucking a small lock of my hair, he leans down to grace my forehead with a soft light kiss.

“…when you make a deal with fairy, you should be prepared to give something precious to you.” I smile cheekily.

“What should I give to my fairy so she shall agree?” he smiles fondly.

“I want… this.” I lift myself up a little and plant my lips on his. “Okay, now the deal is made. You have my word. I shall stay by your side.” I grin.

“…” stunned Arthur lets out a soft chuckle after a moment of silence. “But…”

“Hm?”

“I hope you know that… a kiss is not enough to satisfy this man who has been deprived of his lover for so long.”

“…”

‘I have a real bad feeling about this…’ I am starting to sweat a bucket again, trying stealthily to escape from his arms…

“Erm… I… I have something to tell the others…” I said timidly. If there’s one thing I know… is that I won’t be able to escape…

“Hmmm~” he sang. “That can wait.” His strong limbs tighten around me, fingers hovering dangerously close to my weak spot. Now, I have only one option left…

“…be gentle with me?” I squeak out softly.

His smile drops and his eyes turn a shade darker. “Yeah, I promise…”

‘Liar! That’s not the voice of someone who will hold up his promise!!!!’

So, the dragon finally captures the fairy and spoils her a lot for the rest of the night… and they live happily ever after… ~”~

“…mmmn… still sleepy…” I mumble as I feel gentle touches across my face. “…Why are you so energetic in the morning…?”

“I actually feel a lot refreshed and better than ever.” Arthur smiles.

“Even though you were… doing rigorous exercise yesterday?”

“Yes, since I am a servant now, I got a lot of mana from you too, which is good for a servant.”

“…No, you were like this too when you were alive.” I stare him dead in the eyes, remembering the countless morning after the deed, the man was more vigorous and full of vitality than ever. Isn’t this weird? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? How come common sense doesn’t work for him?

I get a small poke on my forehead. “You are thinking weird things again.” Arthur laughs lightly.

“I am not.” I pout, Arthur just looks at me with mirth and amusement.

“Okay, let’s have a bath together.” ~”~

“Good morning…” I trudge downstairs while yawning.

“Good morning, Re…in-chan?!” Hakunon is gasping

“Huh? Why is your hair silver?” Rin is shocked

“I guess you two finally talk about it.” Archer sighs.

“I am sure they did more than talking.” Lancer whistles.

“Agreed. Saber (Male) must have done something else.” Proto Lancer agreed with his older self.

“I thought it would take forever for you two.” Saber (Female) smiled.

“Yeah, we talked it out and resolved everything.” Arthur is smiling happily.

“So, what’s the deal?” Nameless smirks.

“Actually…” it’s as if everything becomes a slow motion. The faces of my friends morph into horror.

“Oh…” I am falling. Something is pulling me down…

Arthur reaches out his hand to me, trying desperately to grasp my hand. “Don’t worr-”

“REINNNNNN!!!!!!” ~”~

I think I lost consciousness due to the sudden kidnapping. Because the moment I woke up… my still bleary eyes saw my friends and their servants, weapons drawn ready to fight with… a monster, a black reddish beast-like dragon with seven heads, wearing ten crowns symbolizing the sins and greed of humanity and a woman…

‘I thought Manaka is a little…ah, astral projection doesn’t need to follow the original shape…’

“Ah… ah…” The woman’s eyes clearly have become heart eyes and of course her target is… “You finally come to me, Saber.”

‘…haaa…’

“Manaka! Give back Rein to me.”

“That I can’t do. Even if it’s your wish, Saber.” Manaka spoke softly. “That’s because… that’s because she stole what’s mine!” she snarled.

‘I didn’t steal anything of hers though?’

“Saber is my prince! I will be the one who will grant his wish! Even if nobody understood him, I do! That’s because I love him!”

“…Listen, Manaka… My wish… has been entrusted to the future. I always thought if I can’t protect my ‘present’ the future will be lost. That’s why I wished… just before my demise, I wished for it strongly… my ideal world.” Arthur said.

“But I was wrong. What I did was not in vain. To humans… nothing is eternal… that’s why they entrusted their wishes to future generations. I was too blind to see that. In turn, I hurt someone important to me. Someone who is always staying beside me, supporting me, even going as far as punishing herself for my fault. She tried to save me and Ayaka’s words finally got through me. I have been released from that wish. I don’t have anything to wish for as a king. Just… as a man, I do have a small wish… to be reunited with my fairy…”

“I won’t allow it!” Manaka’s face is distorted with rage. “I will make Saber’s wish come true. And then… and then you will finally look at me…”

“That fairy…” murderous intent suddenly directed to me. “As long as that fairy doesn’t exist… that failure of a fairy… Beast!”

“Manaka!/Onee-chan!”

“Devour that fairy!”

Just as I feel the entity known as ‘Beast 666’ draws closer and closer and almost touches me, a magic circle appears beneath it, trapping and sending it a shockwave as a gift.

“You!”

“Manaka… there’s one thing you need to know about her. My fairy is strong.”

“I have been listening… you… really ran your mouth as you pleased…” I look at Manaka disdainfully.

“What I said is truth. You are a failure of a fairy! You were born without a purpose, let alone know what you are. You are not fit to be by Saber’s side!” she glared at me with unconcealed hatred.

“That’s right. What you said is true. I didn’t know for what purpose I was born, nor did I know my own heritage until Merlin told me.” I don’t deny the truth. “And some part deep in my mind is still uneasy about this. Fairies are born with a purpose… and if they fail to achieve it at the end of their lives, a new fairy will be born. But… what about a fairy without a purpose? Are they doomed to wander the planet for eternity? Or is this some kind of punishment? That kind of thought keeps gnawing at me.”

“Even if Arthur said I was not to blame, part of me still thought maybe everything would turn out differently if I had known my purpose,” I said. “But… I finally realized the reason for my existence.”

“Hmph! You think you can just make out a random purpose and call it a day?” Manaka snorted.

“No. it’s not a random purpose. I am a fairy… a fairy born in the planet’s inner sea… from Avalon itself. I am a Fairy of Paradise… my purpose is to defeat you and fix that stupid knight’s mistake!”

“…” The shocked and flabbergasted expressions of everyone are priceless. I should have captured the moments. Ah… I think I heard something being stabbed.

“WHAT?!”

“Stu-stu-stu-stupid, you say?! How dare you to call Saber stupid?!” Manaka shrieked.

“What’s wrong with calling a stupid person stupid? Arthur is stupid.” I blink. Ah, there it is, I hear the sound of something being stabbed.

“Saber is not stupid!”

“Well, if he is not stupid then he won’t make this stupid mistake, no?” I said. Ah, this time I hear the same stabbing sounds twice.

“…Master, I don’t think Saber (Male) will hold another ‘stupid’ word coming out of your mouth.” Archer sigh.

“Ah.” I look at now dying Saber with only 1 hp.

“You!” Manaka turns to me with a renewed hateful glare. “I will never forgive you!”

Well… to be exact my purpose is to help him with his Beast hunting mission, but… if he doesn’t wish for it… then he wouldn’t meet Manaka and then Manaka wouldn’t go blind because of love and make Beast and we wouldn’t be in this kind of situation…

To sum it up…”Yup, Arthur is stupid.”

Finishing blow to Arthur, now his hp is 0,1.

“Saber! Hold yourself together!” (Archer)

Manaka… the omnipotent child who was connected to Root since her birth, due to that, every magecraft that is known to humanity is in her grasp, and she herself is stronger than regular servants… with her magic circuits’ quality is immeasurable and unprecedented and a talent that surpassed magi in the Age of Gods era. But… that is only if she is still alive.

Now, Manaka is only an astral projection of her real body’s strong lingering attachment… while she looks like a separate entity from Beast, that’s actually not true. She and the Beast have combined into one. The only way for her to survive until now.

A single woman who astride a red beast… This beast, whose entire body was full of numerous blasphemous names, had seven heads and ten horns. The beast and woman, while two, are as one, and it is impossible to think of them separately. Beast of 666 or known as Beast VI/G, the Evil of Humanity which manifests in civilizations which have reached the height of their prosperity and are now past their transitional period.

“Excellion.”

“Yes, Master.” Excellion flies to me and the moment I touch it, it shines brighter and brighter… turning back into a familiar-looking large sword that has the appearance of a staff.

“Thank you for coming back to me, Marmyadose.” I smile at it. The only thing that always accompanies me in my journey…

Beast VI/G breaks out of the entrapment. “Everyone, I need help. Buy me some time.”

“Heh! Don’t blame me if I kill it first.” Proto Archer grins and they start attacking the Beast.

“Rein…”

“Sorry to make you worry, Arthur. I am fine. Let’s talk a lot more after all of this is settled.”

“…yeah… we will…” Arthur smiles as he cups my face. “Then, I am going.”

“Yes.” Arthur joins the battlefield.

“Now…” a magic circle appears beneath my feet. First… I will need to connect to the planet itself. The gems on Marmyadose shine as golden lines appear on my feet, arms and neck.

The temperature surrounding me drops rapidly, a thin layer of frost covers my whole body and the place I am standing on is frozen. ‘Still not enough…’

I concentrated more and the mana condensed even faster, the ground beneath me, the water molecules in the air froze within 10 meter radius. ‘A little bit more…’ my breaths come out as white puff and my feet have been frozen.

“Maximum output: Niflheim!” A large-scale magic circle appears right above Beast VI/G. The servants quickly retreat to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. Thousands of icicles rain down on it, freezing whatever they touch.

Obviously, Manaka doesn’t just sit and take them all. She retaliates back, the seven heads each spit out scarlet-coloured flame, burning the icicles.

Archer, Nameless and Proto Archer fire their arrows to the heads. “This is annoying!” Proto Archer clicked his tongue and drew his twin swords from his back, combining them into a bow.

“As a special service, I shall show you my Noble Phantasm.” With an arrogant laugh, he fires his bow to Beast. “Behold! The inferno of destruction fills the heavens! Come forth! The surge of Utnapishtim! This is what it means to destroy the World! Beast of 666, suffer the curse that the insolence of challenging the King of Heroes has brought upon ye!”

The arrow fired at Beast acts as a tracer round, as his true trump card is deployed high in satellite orbits beyond the sky…

“Everyone, take cover!” Proto Lancer and Arthur shouted at the same time. I quickly conjure a forcefield for each person, protecting us from Proto Archer’s Noble Phantasm. Utnapishtim… the true form of it is a giant tsunami that deluges the myth of Noah.

A spear falls toward Beast and disappears in the sky and in an instant a giant Magic circle appears, cleaving the space itself to summon the Surge of Utnapishtim. The tsunami quickly drowns Beast… along with us…

A red circle appears on the spot where Beast is, the circle shines brighter and then explodes, evaporating the water. Beast lets out a deafening howl. Most of its body is already being frozen or torn by the tsunami.

“Not yet… this time… for sure… I shall grant Saber’s wish…” Beast… murmured. “I won’t let anything obstruct me! Especially you, Fairy of Paradise! You better not think you can kill me easily.”

“I know. I never thought that was enough to kill you. That was just a distraction.” I replied. The dimmed line markings shine once more. “Loading… Rhongomyniad: Spirit Vein Closing Armament. Round Table Holy Lance, 12 units anchored in parallel. Anti-Calamnity Grand Ritual, open. O’ Sacred Lance, grant this pitiful creature a salvation.”

Twelve giant magic circles appear, circling Beast. Rhongomyniad shoots out from the twelve magic circles and explodes into a pillar of light as Beast screams out loud in agony.

“Did we get it?” Lancer trained his eyes on the light.

“Oi oi, are you serious?” A bead of sweat rolls down Proto Lancer’s head. Not only Proto Lancer, but everyone is clearly shocked at this scene. After the pillar of light dissipated. Beast… is still standing… even if it’s already half destroyed.

Manaka laughs in madness and glee with her half-destroyed body. “It’s my win!”

“That’s incorrect. Rhongomyniad is also a distraction. The one who will finish you is… the knight who swore to hunt Beast down and annihilate it before going back to Avalon…” I speak softly.

“EX…”

“Eh?” Manaka turns her body.

“…CALIBUR!!!!!”

“Ah…” the beam of light swallowed Beast. “Saber… I…”

“…love you…” her last words echo before vanishing completely. Beast of 666 has been completely annihilated… along with the corrupted Holy Grail.

“…Manaka… I hope next time you will be reborn as a normal girl… away from magecraft and magus…”

“Oh…” I fall onto my knees… my legs have lost all of their strength.

“Rein!” Arthur rushed to me. “Are you alright? Are you hurt?”

“Don’t worry. I just cut off the connection with the planet… just a little tired that’s all.” I smile, assuring the knight.

“We won, right?” Ayaka is still in daze.

“Yes, we won.” Proto Lancer said.

“Onee-chan won’t be coming back again…will she?”

“Don’t worry. She could revive because of Beast. But now, Beast is no more. She won’t be coming back for the third time.” I smile at her.

“…I guess…so…” Ayaka murmurs. “Really, I still couldn’t believe that it’s all over now.” she continued. “But… I do pity her a little. She… I always thought of her being a superwoman, but I was wrong. She was lonely… and I never noticed it… As I thought…I… still like her… even though she is like that. She is my one and only sister after all.”

“That’s also fine.” I smile.

“And Saber… here…” Ayaka gave something to him.

“This is…” Arthur’s eyes widened at the item given to him.

“It’s Avalon. Excalibur’s scabbard… well, it’s originally yours to begin with. Now… it can finally back to its owner.”

“Thank you, Ayaka.”

“You are welcome.” Ayaka smiles. “Oh…” Ayaka, Proto Lancer and Proto Archer shine.

“Ah, it’s time for us to go back.” Proto Lancer said.

“It was quite a venture. Fortunately, it’s not boring. Nothing is more troublesome than a bored king.” Proto Archer smirked. “On that note, Ayaka-san. Become my wi-”

“I refuse.” Ayaka rejected him firmly.

“Bahahaha! You got rejected!” Lancer laughs. “This is how you woo a girl.” Our blue Lancer approaches Ayaka. “You, become my woman.”

“I refuse.”

“That’s the same thing that he did…” Arthur commented.

“But… I am a bit sad, we get along so well… yet we can’t meet each other anymore.” Ayaka said.

“Even though we are far apart, we are still friends.” I grin.

“That’s right… See you again, Rein, Saber (Male), everyone.” Ayaka smiles.

“See you again.” with a last smile Ayaka vanishes along with Proto Lancer and Proto Archer.

Golden light also starts enveloping us. “Looks like our time is up too.”

“Rein-chan!” Hakunon tackles me into a hug. “Really… thank you for everything…” she cried.

“Will you be alright?” I asked.

“…” Hakunon tilts her head and then a big smile appears. “Yes, I will be fine now. These memories… I am sure I will remember it even my real body wakes up. Thank you, Rein… I am glad that I met you.”

“Me too. I am glad that I meet you, Hakunon.”

“Yes.”

“Well, I hope you will get a break for a while,” Archer smirks at his counterpart.

“I hope so too.” Nameless agreed. Then Hakunon and Nameless vanish.

“Well, it’s one hella adventure.” Lancer grinned.

“Haaa… if only you can fix your manner.” Rin sighs.

“Rein.” Arthur ruffled my hair. “I am glad you grew up well.”

“But of course. Because you raised me.” I giggled.

“…Just for a short 7 days though…” he smiled.

“Saber…”

“Shiro…”

“Be well…” They smile at each other.

“Rider, take care of yourself.”

“Yes, Master Sakura.”

“Berserker!”

“!!!!!” Heracles lifts Illya up for one last time.

“Souichirou-sama, I…”

“Caster… thank you for your hard work…”

“Yes… thank you to you too, Souichirou-sama…”

“Arthur, you finally finished your mission. You can now finally rest in Avalon.”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Arthur said.

To be honest, I want him to stay longer with me. But… I can’t. This is for the best. He has worked enough. It’s his time to rest. Arthur must have realized it too. The two of us now live in a different world.

“Be well.” So, I give him my biggest smile, wishing all the happiness there is for him. I blink owlishly at the next moment. I couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.

“It’s a deposit.” Arthur sticks his tongue out mischievously. “So you will keep thinking of me.”

“!” A pinkish tint appears on my cheek.

“I will definitely…” I couldn’t hear the rest of his words because we were sent back to our world.

“…stupid Arthur…” my lips are still warm from the kiss. “…I love you…” ~”~

2 years later

I have graduated from high school and am now in college. Rin goes to the Clock Tower, Shirou and Sakura go to the college in Fuyuki. Illya is in the middle school. By the way, they live together in Shiro’s house with Taiga-sensei.

With my mission finished… I should be able to go back to Avalon… Yet… Avalon seems to be adamant not to let me in. Maybe it got angry when I called Arthur stupid? …That can’t be right, no?

“Rein, watcha doing?” my teacher, Merlin is communicating to me using Excellion… Marmyados turns to Excellion for easier-to-handle purpose. I can’t bring a staff out every time I go outside.

And now that Merlin meddles in, all my wardrobe is getting a makeover. To be fair, Merlin’s choices of clothing is very cute and fashionable and always have the newest update.

“…doing homework…” Yes, I am currently in the living room, doing my college homework on coffee table.

“Boo… that’s so boring.”

“Then, Merlin you go watch some drama or better yet play those ikemen games you are into.”

“I have finished all the events so, I am bored.”

“…”

“Well, I guess I will give you some privacy for a while.” She giggles with a mischievous tone. A tone she often uses when she is up to something bad.

“What are you planning?”

“Me? I don’t plan anything at all. I am just being a nice teacher by giving you privacy.” She giggled. “But I will ask for the detail later though. See ya!” she ran away before I could ask for more.

“…Let’s not try to think what Merlin had planned… I will just have a headache.” I gave up after contemplating for a while.

A few minutes later, my phone rings, indicating an incoming call. “Hello, Rin?”

“The homestay guy is on the way to your house.”

“Home… oh, the foreign exchange student. Understood, he is on his way here? Should I pick him up?”

“There’s no need. He will get there eventually.”

“Eeeeh… will he really be alright? Japanese is not exactly the easiest language to learn.”

“No problem. He had that down on pat.”

“So, Rin. You haven’t exactly told me who this person is. All I get from you is his gender. Are you sure he is safe to be around?”

“Well… he is…”

“Hmmm… Rin who always nags me for being cautious suddenly sent some unknown guy to my house for homestay. Suspicious…”

“Sh-shut up! You will thank me later for this anyway.”

“Hahaha…” I laughed dryly. “Well… if he passed your security check, he must be a good guy.”

“Then, this is it. I have to do my homework. Call me later. If you have a holiday, come to Clock Tower.”

“Okay, good luck, Rin.” Then she hangs up.

“Foreign exchange student… well… I guess it’s okay. The house has been pretty quiet. A little noise should make the atmosphere better. He will use… Archer’s room. I guess I will have to clean it up right now.”

*Ding Dong*

“Huh? He is already here? So fast!” I quickly open the door. “Welco…me…”

“Ah, this is Mutsuki residence, isn’t it?” the same appearance with the same voice and the same politeness.

“…Ar…thur…?”

“Yes, I am Arthur Pendragon, a foreign homestay student. Nice to meet you.”

“…oh…”

‘Silly me, what do I expect? He is just this world Arthur. There’s no way he is him. Even if he is, this person… doesn’t have any memories of me.’

“Welcome, my name is Mutsuki R-”

“Rein. I know your name, Mutsuki Rein.”

“Oh, Rin must have told you about me. Why don’t we talk in the living room?” I smile.

“I am back, Rein.”

“You… what did you say…?”

“I am back, Rein. I am sorry I have made you wait for so long.”

“Ar…thur…?” I mumble his name. “Are you really Arthur? My Arthur?”

“That’s right. I am your Arthur.” He draws me in. “I am back, Rein. I am really here now. I am not going anywhere anymore.”

“Really?” My voice trembles, tears pooling in the corner of my eyes, threatening to flow down.

“That’s right. I promised you after all, I will definitely come back.”

“Arthur… I miss you… I really really miss you so much.”

“Me too. I really miss you too. From now on, we will be together.”

The tearful reunion lasts a lot longer. Arthur told me that he told Avalon that he would pick me up first… so… Avalon decided to grant his wish as a reward for all of his hard work.

So, the whole reason Avalon doesn’t allow me to go back…

“So I can finally realize my longstanding wish… to live with you forever.”

“Let’s stay together… even after we go back to Avalon.”

“Yeah, let’s be together… forever and ever… my fairy…” ~”~

“Hmmm? Arthur?” I woke up groggily. “Arthur?” I blink when I hear no response or warmth from the said person beside me. I become alert instantly. ‘Was it all a dream?’ I throw the comforter off and get out of bed, only to collapse on the floor.

“…my legs…” Then, memories of a few hours ago are starting to play back. “Oh…” I finally remembered why my legs were rendered useless. Not the first time happening…

“Rein, I heard a loud sound, are you alright?” Arthur pokes his head to the room. “Rein! Are you alright?” with ease, he lifts me up, sits me on the bed and fusses over me.

“Arthur…”

“Yes?”

“You went overboard,” I say with a flat tone and a dead stare at him.

Arthur blushes and scratches his cheek sheepishly. “Sorry… does it still hurt?”

“My legs… have no strength.” I pout. My other body parts are not as sore as I imagined…

“I will give you a leg massage later.”

“Okay… where were you? I thought it was all my imagination…” Arthur seems to catch my worry.

“I am very real. Here.” he puts my hand on his chest, listening to his steady heartbeats.

“You were nowhere when I woke up. I…”

“I am sorry, Rein. I was making dinner for us. I didn’t mean to worry you.”

“…okay… I forgive you…” I nod. “And…”

“??”

“Carry me, I want to have a bath,” I mumbled.

“Let me finish dinner and we will bath together.” Arthur kisses my cheek and goes back to the kitchen downstairs.

The bath… actually ends without any further disruption and we have supper after that. ~”~

Omake

“Rein-chan, spill the details.” Few days of peace and Merlin is back bothering me.

“Nothing to share,” I answered.

“Eh? You are lying. What kind of position Arthur made you do?”

“*cough**cough*”

See, even Arthur is choking on nothing now. “…Merlin… I don’t think I need to disclose our privacy.” Flustered Arthur who finally calm enough to speak told his master.

“But I am bored here!!!” we can already imagine her flailing her limbs.

“Why don’t you do something worthwhile then?” Arthur suggested.

“Like?”

“Helping people.”

“…Yup, I will watch my drama and play my games. Oh, I think I will also do a streaming video. I think it’s trending to have an anime character as your avatar and interact with your fans.” She babbled. “I will go make one and join into streamer community. Bye.” Just like that, she is gone.

“At least she leaves us alone now,” I said.

“Yeah.” Arthur agreed. “So…” Arthur looks at me.

“Hm?”

“Which position you enjoy the most?”

“…” I blink owlishly and then smile as I suddenly have an idea. “If you want to know…” I crawl to his lap, straddling him perfectly, squishing my chest against his, “Shall we try and see which one I like?”

“A tempting idea…” Arthur murmurs, his eyes are trained on my lips.

“Just kidding.” I stick out my tongue. “I still haven’t finished my homework…hmm?” I can’t seem to get up from his lap.

…I look at Arthur who is beaming gently… at me. “I have homework.”

“I will help you do it later.” Arthur attacks my neck, nibbling and sucking it. “Since my fairy wants it. I will have to grant everything she wishes for.”

…Somehow, I managed to finish my homework late at night… ~”~

[sacchi-ko]

The GNW-20510/C Gundam Azrael is a Prototype, Custom GN Drive Tau-equipped Mobile Suit. Appearing to be a general purpose Mobile Suit at first glance, the Azrael is in fact equipped with a state-of-the-art hacking suite intended for precision cyber warfare against a squadron of enemies. Its primary color, Lime Green, is the personal preference of the pilot. Its armaments include the same GN Beam Rifle used by the GNX-609T GN-X III, primarily used in Long Barrel formation, as its primary weapon. The Azrael also utilizes a Tieren-use Carbon Blade and GN Beam Sabers for close combat. Additionally, it has two GN Micro Missile launcher units mounted on its back torso, a folding GN Combat Knife on the rear skirt armor, and built-in GN Vulcans in its forearms. It also uses a GN Shield similarly to the GNW-20000 Arche Gundam, and is capable of utilizing Trans-Am like the GNX-Y901TW Susanowo. Finally, its head contains the majority of the hardware it utilizes in hacking and information processing, making it the primary weak spot of the Gundam. Finally, the upper torso is equipped with a special A-Type Sensor. Its purpose is primarily decorative, but it also assists in the Gundam's hacking by identifying priority targets. However, its exposed location also marks it as a potential weak point for the Gundam. It also possesses a state of the art cockpit ejection system, designed above all else to prioritize the safety of the pilot. Uniquely, the Azrael's GN Drive Tau generates green particles, much like the original GN Drives, though the reason why is unknown.

This one is designed exclusively for one of my OCs, one First Lieutenant Miyuki Aria! It's probably one of my better builds, ehehe...At least, I think it is.

[lizzylunawizardessfanfics]

WH/FGO Crossover

Here’s a list of what I believe the boys servants would be for each class along with a bonus character’s team.

Elias

Saber: Arthur Pendragon (Prototype)

Archer: Nikola Tesla 

Lancer: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne 

Rider: Alexander

Caster: Thomas Edison

Assassin: Henry Jekyll & Hyde

Berserker: Frankenstein

Luca

Saber: Diarmuid Ua Duibhne (Saber)

Archer: Tawara Tōta

Lancer: Cu Chulainn (Prototype)

Rider: Achilles

Caster: Nero Claudius (Caster)

Assassin: Cleopatra

Berserker: Eric Bloodaxe

Yukiya

Saber: Beni-enma

Archer: Ishtar 

Lancer: Parvati

Rider: Astolfo

Caster: Medea (Lily)

Assassin: Fūma Kotarō

Berserker: Atalanta (Alter)

Klaus

Saber: Artoria Pendragon

Archer: James Moriarty 

Lancer: Scáthach

Rider: Georgios

Caster: Nitocris

Assassin: Hassan of the Serenity

Berserker: Vlad III

Randy

Saber: Altera

Archer:  Chloe von Einzbern

Lancer: Jaguar Man

Rider: Red Hare

Caster: Charles Babbage

Assassin: Charles-Henri Sanson

Berserker: Chacha

Azusa

Saber: Lanling Wang

Archer:  Aśvatthāmā

Lancer: Artoria Pendragon (Lancer Alter) 

Rider: Medb

Caster: Xuanzang Sanzang

Assassin: Shuten Dōji

Berserker: Ibaraki Dōji

Vincent

Saber: Fergus

Archer: Arash 

Lancer: Fionn mac Cumhaill

Rider: Francis Drake

Caster: Cu Chulainn (Caster)

Assassin: Mata Hari

Berserker: Darius III

Leon

Saber: Artoria Pendragon (Lily)

Archer: Euryale 

Lancer: Jeanne d'Arc (Alter Santa Lily)

Rider: Marie Antoinette

Caster: Irisviel (Dress of Heaven)

Assassin: Jing Ke

Berserker: Paul Bunyan

Cerim

Saber: Miyamoto Musashi

Archer: David

Lancer: Leonidas 1

Rider: Boudica 

Caster: Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova

Assassin: Semiramis

Berserker: Kiyohime

Guy

Saber: Rama

Archer: Kid Gil

Lancer: Ereshkigal

Rider: Iskandar

Caster: Hans Christian Andersen

Assassin: Mysterious Heroine X

Berserker: Asterios

Glenn

Saber: Nero Claudius (Bride)

Archer: Emiya

Lancer: Hōzōin Inshun

Rider: Ozymandias

Caster: Gilles de Rais

Assassin: Li Shuwen

Berserker: Heracles

Leslie

Saber: Gilles de Rais (Saber)

Archer: Orion 

Lancer: Cu Chulainn

Rider: Mordred (Rider)

Caster: Illyasviel von Einzbern

Assassin: Sasaki Kojirō

Berserker: Sakata Kintoki

Sigurd

Saber: Nero Claudius 

Archer: Jeanne d'Arc (Archer)

Lancer: Karna

Rider: Sakamoto Ryōma

Caster: Circe

Assassin: Yu Miaoyi

Berserker: Minamoto no Raikō

Zeus

Saber: Gawain

Archer: Gilgamesh 

Lancer: Romulus 

Rider: Anne Bonny & Mary Read

Caster: Gilgamesh (caster)

Assassin: Hassan of the Hundred Faces

Berserker: Spartacus

Hiro

Saber: Okita Sōji

Archer: Robin Hood

Lancer:  Ibaraki-Douji (Lancer)

Rider: Martha

Caster: Mephistopheles

Assassin: Okada Izō

Berserker: Lancelot

Alfonse

Saber: Mordred

Archer: Arjuna

Lancer: Artoria Pendragon (Lancer)

Rider: Shima Yi (Reines)

Caster: Paracelsus von Hohenheim

Assassin: Hassan of the Cursed Arm

Berserker: Nightingale 

Caesar

Saber: Julius Caesar 

Archer: Trisan 

Lancer: Bradamant

Rider: Edward Teach

Caster:Sieg

Assassin: Wu Zetian

Berserker: Caligula

Lucious

Saber: Lancelot (Saber)

Archer: Asagami Fujino

Lancer: Li Shuwen (Lancer)

Rider: Marie Antoinette

Caster: William Shakespeare

Assassin: Stheno

Berserker: Mysterious Heroine X (Alter)

Hugo

Saber: Siegfried

Archer: Helena Blavatsky (Archer) 

Lancer: Valkyrie

Rider: Quetzalcoatl

Caster: Asclepius

Assassin: Emiya (Assassin)

Berserker: Penthesilea

Hisoka

Saber: Suzuka Gozen

Archer: Chiron

Lancer:  Musashibō Benkei

Rider: Ushiwakamaru

Caster: Tamamo no Mae

Assassin: Yan Qing

Berserker: Mori Nagayoshi

Rembrandt

Saber: Sigurd 

Archer: Atalanta

Lancer: Elisabeth Bathory 

Rider: Ivan the Terrible

Caster: Avicebron

Assassin: "The Old Man of the Mountain"

Berserker: Lu Bu Fengxian

Nox

Saber: Medb (Saber)

Archer: Oda Nobunaga 

Lancer: Hecktor 

Rider: Artoria Pendragon (Rider Alter)

Caster: Medea

Assassin: Scáthach (Assassin)

Berserker: Hijikata Toshizō

Rex  

Saber: Chevalier d'Eon

Archer: Billy the Kid

Lancer: Brynhildr

Rider: Ishtar (Rider)

Caster: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Assassin: Phantom of the Opera

Berserker: Beowulf

Gray

Saber: Frankenstein (Saber)

Archer: William Tell

Lancer: Nezha

Rider: Sakata Kintoki (Rider)

Caster: Nursery Rhyme

Assassin: Gray

Berserker: Tamamo Cat

Lizzy Luna (Only reason why she has more is cuz I did her’s the other day along with my other ocs but there wasn’t enough alter egos n avengers to pick from for the guys) 

Saber: Bedivere

Archer: David

Lancer: Enkidu

Rider: Medusa

Caster: Merlin

Assassin: Jack the Ripper

Berserker: Cú Chulainn (Alter)

Alter Ego: Passionlip

Avenger: Medusa (Gorgon)

[yeonchi]

Kisekae Insights #25: The last of Hiroki’s prototypes

Originally, I wasn’t planning on making an instalment of Kisekae Insights this month because I was planning on building a new PC, but then I suddenly got depressed because of stuff and that had to be put on hold, so I decided to write a couple more instalments. At the same time, I’m planning on ending the second run of Kisekae Insights after the next instalment to make way for the Doctor Who Series 13 reviews and also to focus on the last leg of my personal project. 9 instalments in 6 months isn’t bad compared to 16 in the first run, but that’s probably because a few instalments were filler and I have a job now so I don’t have as much time to work on new content. It will take me some time to prepare content for the third run (when I eventually get around to it), but I promise that we’ll go straight into the big stuff, namely My Little Pony, Gokaiger, Decade and Soulbound. I said back in #17 that I would hopefully cover it this year, but obviously things have changed.

Most of Hiroki’s prototypes that I’ve covered up to this point are OCs of animes that have had a significant influence on my personal project; this is not necessarily the case for the remaining ones, particularly because a couple of them are totally original characters. Let’s dive right in and cover the last of Hiroki’s prototypes.

Please note that there is a content warning for family/domestic violence and suicide.

Richard Yang: The First Prototype

Remember back in #6 when I said that Kyōko Izumi is the “Genesis Prototype”? Richard is the “first prototype” because chronologically, he is the first of Hiroki’s prototypes.

Bodyguards and Assassins (十月圍城), not to be mistaken for the namesake movie, is a series I created (or rather, conceptualised because I never really wrote out the series fully) in 2010 as a late-night drama on my totally real TV network after all the simulcasts of TVB dramas were done for the evening (we’ve really come far over the years). Richard Yang wasn’t written as Hiroki’s prototype until 2013 because I didn’t have that plot point back then.

In the drama, Richard is basically an explorer who has adventures. His style name is Samlin because at one point, he became sworn siblings with several other people who either resembled or were characters from Fifi and the Flowertots or Angelina Ballerina, one of them being Ms Mimi, who is like the elder sister or something. His timeline probably got cancelled out by the time he came onto Doctor Who.

Four series of Bodyguards and Assassins were made between 2010 and 2013. The second series involved Richard meeting his old primary school friends or something, the third series involved characters from K-On and the fourth series involved Richard meeting (a reincarnated version) of Yuri Nakamura from Angel Beats, who would go on to become his girlfriend. Richard began being featured on Doctor Who in 2012 with the Kikuchi Arc in Series 4 (he doesn’t do much in it though), but his origin wouldn’t be covered until the year after for the 50th Anniversary.

Speaking of Angel Beats, the series’ main characters, Kanade Tachibana and Yuzuru Otonashi, were also the Doctor’s companions for a few episodes at the end of Series 1 and 2 and the entirety of Series 3 and 4, making numerous reappearances over the years. Aside from Yuri, other characters from Angel Beats were also featured, but not given much focus.

In 2001, Hiroki was with his parents at Madame Tussaud’s in Hong Kong (the actual one, not the other one that we usually use to refer to Melbourne). While his father was trying to take a photo of his wife and son with the wax figures of The Beatles, Hiroki was too busy playing with George Harrison’s hair (I don’t exactly know which one is which so I might be wrong, like that matters anyway), causing him to be distracted. His mother slapped him, causing him to cry and regenerate into Richard. While Hiroki’s real body materialised later, he managed to swap places with Richard so that no one would get suspicious.

Following his birth, the 4-year-old Richard ended up living at an orphanage before he fell back in time to 1998 and ended up in Nagoya with no memories of his past. He was discovered by a local orphanage, but after no one adopted him for a period of three years, he was adopted by one of the female workers.

An unexpected invasion from the Oda Army in 2004 caused Richard to be separated from his adoptive mother. He was found by the Tongmenghui, who decided to take him in, considering his situation. Taking on the name Richard Yang, he became the leader of the Tongmenghui and led children in a rebellion against their parents. This would be known as the Dinghai-Wuzi Revolution of 2007.

Following the end of the Revolution, Richard started studying Geography and Teaching at Tokyo University, eventually becoming a professor there by 2012. He also began working as a casual relief teacher at Camembert Academy and as a tutor in the Chipping Cheddar area, where he eventually decided to settle down with Yuri.

When the Superhero Project was being developed in 2017, Richard moved to Auckland and became the commander of the Superhero Project for UNIT NZ, tasked with looking after the Shinkengers and Go-Busters. After the Superhero Project was decommissioned in 2019 (Soulbound Series 3), Richard was recalled from UNIT NZ and sent to Minato-Sugaru Island to help investigate a minus energy phenomenon, going undercover as a teacher at Canterlot High School. He returned to his normal UNIT duties the year after, during which the Superhero Project was recommissioned.

Zhuge Qiao: Successor of the Guardians’ legacy

(Morina created on Chibi Maker by gen8)

Like with Richard, Zhuge Qiao is another character who was just introduced out of the blue and given an origin story later, the main difference being that Zhuge Qiao’s introduction and origin story was entirely contained within the main Doctor Who series instead of being introduced in a totally unrelated series. She did get a spinoff series though.

Shugo Chara, the series which Zhuge Qiao was created for, was featured in the project in 2012 and 2013. Aside from Zhuge Qiao, the Doctor, Parker, Hiroki and Akari received (multiple) Guardian Characters, but they were relegated to the dollhouse (or Hakushi’s mini-TARDIS) soon after their debut and written out some time after (with the exception of four who were travelling in Hakushi’s mini-TARDIS). The reason why Heart’s Eggs exist is because of a morphic field in the city that caused people to develop them in their hearts. The morphic field would later evolve to the point where visitors to the city could develop Heart’s Eggs and hatch Guardian Characters reflecting their personalities if their emotions were strong enough. However, Heart’s Eggs developed in this manner would disappear from the visitors’ hearts within days of leaving the city and even if a Guardian Character were to hatch from it, they wouldn’t last very long without the companionship of other Guardian Characters.

In 2005, Hiroki went to Honnōji in Kyoto to evade his former lovers, Kimia and Tiffany, who had joined forces and formed the Kurayami Alliance in an effort to assassinate him. He was then forced to commit suicide, resulting in him regenerating into a female prototype, who would come to be known as Zhuge Qiao. Before you ask, yes, she is named after the Three Kingdoms figure of the same name, just as Parker was named after Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Qiao was brought back to UNIT HQ, where she said a brief farewell to Hiroki before heading off to travel the world on her own, eventually going on to fight in the Parallax War as well. In the final days of the Parallax War, she was attacked by a group of X-Egg influenced humans in Handan on Popei Island and was saved by Amu Hinamori, who she became good friends with. After the Parallax War ended, she would go on to gain a Guardian Character named Morina and establish Torchwood North, an organisation for Guardians to continue their duties even after graduating from Seiyo Academy. Although her Character Change has not been shown in the stories I’ve written, Zhuge Qiao can Character Transform into Beautiful Dream, wielding the Marigold Saber Sword.

During her time in Torchwood North, Zhuge Qiao assisted the Guardians in protecting humanity, though she did slip away from Popei Island to help wherever she was needed. She also planned on making a system that would allow the Guardians to transform at will, but it was unfinished when the Daleks invaded Handan (during the events surrounding the Battle of Koshi Castle as covered in #15) and Amu and the Guardians sacrificed themselves to repel the fleet, resulting in them and their Guardian Characters being transported to the Road of Stars. Taking the remaining four Guardian Characters into consideration (because they had been travelling with Hakushi in his mini-TARDIS), Zhuge Qiao perfected her system into a belt named the Shugo Belt (similar to the Den-O Belt) and became Kamen Rider Shugo, an original Rider replacing Kamen Riders Den-O (because who needs the Den-Liner when we have the TARDIS) and Kiva (because I didn’t want to find a way around the Fangire requirement).

Sword Form – Morina (Zhuge Qiao’s Guardian Character) Analogous to Den-O Sword Form and Kiva Kiva Form, Shugo Sword Form utilises the Marigold Saber Sword (similar to the Momotarosword) as a carryover from Beautiful Dream. This form’s finisher is the Extreme Slash.

Brush Form – Miki (Amu Hinamori’s Guardian Character) Analogous to Den-O Rod Form and Kiva Garulu Form, Shugo Brush Form utilises the Canvas Brush Revolver as a giant brush to attack with brush strokes or blobs of ink (similar to Amu as Amulet Spade or Ma Dai’s moveset in Dynasty Warriors 7 and 8). This form’s finisher is the Solid Attack followed by the Open Heart Kick.

Sonic Form – Hakushi (The Doctor’s Guardian Character) Analogous to Den-O Ax Form and Kiva Dogga Form, Shugo Sonic Form utilises the Sonic Hammer (similar to the Dogga Hammer) for powerful short-range attacks. The Sonic Hammer also incorporates technology used in sonic screwdrivers to disrupt enemies at a medium range. This form’s finisher is the Dynamic Smash.

Gun Form – Mubo (Parker’s Guardian Character) Analogous to Den-O Gun Form and Kiva Basshaa Form, Shugo Gun Form utilises the Magnum Revolver (similar to the Ryuvolver) for powerful attacks at any range, however this form’s marksmanship may not be the best at times as Mubo represents Parker’s recklessness.

Climax Form Analogous to Den-O Climax Form and Kiva DoGaBaKi Form, Shugo Climax Form is activated with the K-Chara phone attached on the Shugo Belt. This final form combines the powers of all four Guardian Characters and though it is technically able to use all four aforementioned weapons, Shugo mainly uses the Marigold Saber Sword out of preference. This form’s finishers are the same as that of Den-O Climax Form, namely the Boisterous Kick/Punch/Shout/Slash.

Decade’s Final Form Ride card for Shugo summons the Guardian Sword (similar to the Evil-Crushing Hundred-Beast Sword from Gaoranger), allowing him to perform the Decade Guardian Slash together with Shugo. I had thought about using or modifying it and giving Shugo an “actual” final form stronger than Climax Form, but I decided not to.

Hayato Kisaichi: The Forgotten Prototype

There have been two special cases where one of Hiroki’s incarnations have gone on to become their own prototypes. One of them was Momoka Mizutani, Hiroki’s only female incarnation influenced by Walpurgisnacht, and the other is Hayato Kisaichi, aka the Ice King, an initially forgotten incarnation similar to the War Doctor. I should point out that due to the nature of his regeneration, this incarnation did not use up a pocket of regeneration energy; you’ll find out why soon.

Hayato’s design is modelled off a genderbent version of Elsa from Frozen. He was introduced in the opening two-parter of Series 9, which was released in August 2014, the same time as the BBC Series 8. After that, he was shelved until the 5115 Specials in November of that year.

(Genderbent Elsa art, the basis for Hayato Kisaichi/the Ice King. Art by juhaihai and Awen Ng)

After Zhuge Qiao was found and taken back to UNIT HQ, Hiroki’s next incarnation manifested naked where he fell before he stood up and metamorphosed his residual regeneration energy into ice, allowing him to become the Ice King and build Nijō Castle out of ice. He then built a machine and sent a signal for assistance, which was answered by the Nestene Consciousness, the Ice Warriors and the Weeping Angels.

Though they were not summoned by the signal, the Doctor, Hiroki and his companions from 2014 also came to 2005 in an effort to secure the foundations of Nijō Castle before it falls apart in fifteen years due to it being made out of regeneration energy. During their adventure, they joined forces with the Ice King and helped him and his army fight off the Kurayami Alliance at nearby Yamazaki, but Tiffany and Kimia manage to slip past them and head for Nijō Castle, leading to them having to head back.

Back at Nijō Castle, the Ice King ambushes the Kurayami Alliance with the Weeping Angels, who can move outside of their quantum lock due to them being under the Ice King’s control. Despite this, however, the Kurayami Alliance manage to set Nijō Castle on fire and the Ice King is killed by Kimia after a battle with Tiffany. The Ice King’s ice powers change back into regeneration energy, allowing the past Hiroki to regenerate into his next incarnation without using another regeneration in the process.

The Ice King remanifested himself as a prototype under Nijō Castle, where he laid in hibernation for the next nine years along with his army. Hiroki would begin reawakening the Ice King later during “the Day of Retribution”, but he never got to unleash him or his army. However, Hiroki did summon the Ice King and his army in Heaven when he and the Doctor confront God for rapturing millions of people. They later joined the big battle in Yokohama alongside the angels.

After the battle ended and Girl Power was defeated thanks to the intervention of Jesus Christ, the Ice King was left in the care of UNIT. He was given the name Hayato Kisaichi and offered a job in the canteen at UNIT HQ, allowing him to find a new purpose in life. Later in 2018, Hayato joined UNIT NZ and became Blue Buster. Despite no longer being the Ice King, I like to think that Hayato maintained some level of it (even if only a little). I didn’t put the Go-Busters’ weaknesses into consideration when writing Gokaiger, but I suppose that Hayato could have a tendency to overheat and go out of control, like in the Sentai.

In 2019, Hayato joined the Arima Group on invitation from its CEO, Teppei Arima, and became the development director of its subsidiary, Arima Property Development, helping develop regional towns and bringing more people to them (oh my god, he’s a developer, he works in real estate now lol). For a time, he also became the temporary host of Ultraman Dyna. The year after, he was called back to rejoin the Go-Busters.

I also like to think that Hayato befriended his teammate, Yui Ichii of the Data Processing Club, but I never showed any relationship between them because given his origin, I wanted him to stand out and be more independent instead of being reliant on intimate relationships.

(more genderbent Elsa art from an unknown artist – if anyone knows the source please feel free to contact me)

Terry Mizukoshi: The Parallel Prototype

Unlike every other prototype introduced in my personal project, Terry is unique in that he was spawned from a parallel universe counterpart of Hiroki, which was shown during his debut in 2012’s Series 4. When circumstances led him to the Doctor’s universe, he became a part of the Zhuge family like everyone else.

In a parallel universe named Destination One, Hiroki was being forcefully wed to Hideko Kimihara (a girl with Asperger syndrome that he didn’t love) thanks to the machinations of his high school friends and the Kikuchi Clan from the Doctor’s universe (Girl Power from the Doctor’s universe were pulling some strings behind the scenes as well). When the Fifth Doctor, the Eleventh Doctor (from another universe), Doctor Whooves, the Pony Doctor and their companions intervene, a battle ensues and the Kikuchi Clan lead the Doctor and his allies into Popei Castle, which is a trap that scatters everyone to different places where they confront different enemies.

While the Hiroki from Destination One doesn’t confront an enemy per se, he does see two of his crushes (one of them being Akari) with their boyfriends, causing him to regenerate as his heart breaks. Terry was the resulting prototype while the Destination One Hiroki just manifested somewhere else (namely in front of the Fifth Doctor when he came back with Hiroki and the others from 2014). After the battle ended, Terry was taken to Destination Two, where he took the place of a Hiroki who was being forcefully wed to another girl (not Hideko). The Hiroki of Destination Two would take the place of Destination One Hiroki before presumably making his way back to his own universe. As for Destination Three Hiroki, he got married to the Akari of his universe with no dramas. Gee, it’s almost as if I put in characters that ended up doing nothing at all in the story.

After a while, Terry left his wife to find his own happiness. Upon seeing the stars in his universe going out, he stole a dimension cannon (presumably from the Torchwood there) and transported to the Doctor’s universe to warn him of what was going on, but he forgot about it. Instead, he joined the Doctor in preventing the Daleks from invading Equestria, which resulted in even more chaos as the Cybermen and Sontarans were also involved. During this adventure, he met Saki Mizukoshi and her friends, who had ended up in Equestria through the use of an enchanted rock in Shimoda, Shizuoka. Following the adventure, Terry decided to stay with Saki, having found his one true love. He also decided to change his last name to Mizukoshi for “naturalisation purposes” (as if that isn’t creepy at all).

When Saki and her family moved to Hachijō-jima, Terry stayed in Tokyo to complete his schooling while occasionally visiting his girlfriend on the island. He also began working at a ramen restaurant in an effort to support both Saki and himself in the years to come. By 2019, Terry and Saki got married while the latter was studying for her doctor’s degree. In fact, at the time of writing this instalment, Saki would still be studying right now. I can’t imagine it would be easy given the coronavirus pandemic (not that medical school would be easy for anyone in the first place).

Marco Wong: The Dual-Wielding Prince

When I was writing Block 6 of the 50th Anniversary Series in 2013, I had to find a way to use up all of Hiroki’s regenerations so that I could get that out of the way (in preparation for the Next Gen Series). Marco is one of the prototypes that was created as a result. I’ll explain the circumstances behind his regeneration later.

The Doctor had visited the Magical Kingdom of Parris Island (named after the military base of the same name in South Carolina) and somehow ended up in an arranged marriage to the queen’s daughter, Pixel Maritan. After discovering the existence of Marco’s prototype, he was whisked off to Parris Island in order to take the Doctor’s place, leading him to become the prince of Parris Island. Soon after, Marco and Maritan joined the Doctor as they took part in the Battle of Koshi Castle and teamed up with the Fourth Doctor to investigate Momoka Mizutani and find Hiroki.

In the four years after that, Marco trained himself to be an elite swordsman, specialising in a dual-wielding technique that could equal the likes of the legendary Musashi Miyamoto. At the same time, he also became the commander of Parris Island’s military before stepping down and joining the Gokaigers when he was selected to become GokaiBlue. Although he spends a lot of time with the Gokaigers, I like to think he maintains contact with Maritan now and again even though I haven’t emphasised their relationship.

Yamato/Daichi/Nagi Kurosawa: The Spun-off Prototypes

I was going to put images of them in but I won’t bother because they’re so insignificant. In Block 6, I introduced Yamato, Daichi and Nagi Kurosawa with the intent of spinning them off into the anime Say I Love You, but like I said, I forgot about them because they were insignificant. I kind of regret this decision now, but that was because at the time, I had intended on ending my personal project after the 50th Anniversary Series. Some time after, I decided to commission the Next Gen Series and it all just went from there.

In Block 6 of the 50th Anniversary Series, all the Doctors, their companions and some others (including Hiroki and Parker) were gathered at Roald Dahl Plass in Cardiff to help UNIT and Torchwood investigate numerous anomalies, but they were suddenly scattered to different places. Hiroki and Akari confronted the ghosts of Hiroki’s past, future and present (in that order) before suddenly ending up at the former’s house, where his parents forcibly separate the couple, throwing Akari out the back door and locking Hiroki in a secret room that they found in his bedroom.

Hiroki regenerates into Yamato Kurosawa before he blows up the kitchen and takes his archetype self outside to be reunited with Akari. Yamato heads to Yokohama and manages to teleport himself away somewhere (probably interfering in other peoples’ stories) before ending up in Cardiff again.

Parker decides to head to the Voidstation, a building that links every universe in the Void to each other. Hiroki and Akari decide to head there as well and with the power of their Guardian Characters, they rescue Parker and bring him back to Earth. Because of the power overdrive, Hiroki regenerated three times and spawned three prototypes, namely Daichi, Nagi and Marco Wong (see above). After returning to Earth, Yamato was sent away to live with Daichi and Nagi and they were never seen again.

Well, not quite. Yamato did return in Soulbound Series 3 for a tribute to Say I Love You. Becoming the temporary host of Astra, Yamato helped Hikaru Tomokaze fight Doragory, one of Yapool’s Terrible-Monsters, while also training him on Ultraman Leo’s Space Martial Arts in an effort to help Hikaru rely less on his weapons and beams (because Ultramen didn’t have flashy, collectible-centric items and weapons back in the day). At the end of the episode, Yamato gives Astra’s Spark Doll to Hikaru before leaving (for his own universe) with his wife, Mei and son, Ken.

With this, all of Hiroki’s prototypes have been covered. While Hiroki’s prototypes act as the representatives of the different series incorporated in my personal project (before being homogenised as Power Rangers or Kamen Riders), they also have distinct characteristics of their own even though they’re essentially self-inserts and extensions to other self-inserts.

[marblesphere]

Fate/Alternate Reality (Part 1)

My version of what happened in the Fifth Holy Grail War in Fuyuki and the aftermath. This is sorta self insert fanfic, feel free to change the mc's name.

!!Warning!! Tooth rotting fluff, angst, suggestive theme, violence.

Happy Reading

Part 2

“…a little more… just a little more… I got it!” my small hand makes contact with a thick book in my late father’s study. It’s a book that contains a lot of pretty circles. I just love seeing those pretty things.

And so, today too, I am going to draw the pretty circle and play with it. “Today’s picture is…” I flip open the book to see which one caught my attention today. “…this! I am going to draw this!”

Humming a song, I draw the pretty circle on the floor. ‘Better finish this before Yume-san comes…’

Yume-san, is my guardian… at least until I am 18 years old. Papa and Mama are not here anymore… so… their assets will be inherited by me when I grow up. For now, my school fee will be directly paid each month by Yume-san and I will get my weekly allowance. Yume-san always plays with me if she has spare time… but…

‘I am a little lonely…’

“It’s done!” I cheer as I look at the finished drawing. “So pretty!!!” I gush as I run around the circle. “Let’s see what kind of pretty circle is this…” I look at the book again.

“…servant summoning circle…?” I tilt my head at the words. “…what is a servant?” a light bulb appears in my head. “At a time like this… here it is, dictionary!!”

“Servant… servant…” I search for the word in the dictionary. “Servant… a person who is employed in another person’s house, doing jobs such as cooking and cleaning.”

“Cooking and cleaning…” I gasp in realization. “It’s maid-san!”

“Amazing! This pretty circle calls out a maid-san.” My eyes sparkled. “If…if maid-san lives with me… then, I won’t be lonely anymore.” my small brain made that conclusion. “Yosh! Let’s call the maid-san.”

“I wonder what kind of maid-san will appear. I hope she is super pretty… she will become a super maid-san.”

Let the silver and steel be the essence

Let stone and the archduke of contracts be the foundation

Let rise a wall against the wind that shall fall

Let the four cardinal gates close

Come out from the crown

Rotate the three-branched road reaching the Kingdom

Fill. Fill. Fill. Fill. Fill

Repeat five times

But when each is filled, destroy it

Let it be declared now

Your flesh shall serve under me, and my fate shall be with your swords

Submit to the beckoning of Holy Grail

Answer, if you would submit to this will and this truth

An oath shall be sworn here

I shall attain all virtues of the Heaven

I shall have dominion over all evils of Hell

From the Seventh Heaven, attended to by three great words of power

Come forth from the ring of restraint,

O Guardian of the Scales

A small whirlwind suddenly picks up around the pretty circle as it starts to shine. “Eh?”

It shines brighter and brighter until I can’t see anything. And when the wind dies down… someone is standing in the midst of the pretty circle. “Super…maid-san…?”

“Who summoned a needless servant like…me…” super maid-san bends down his tall body to look at me. “A… kid…?”

“I am Rein. Mutsuki Rein. Nice to meet you, Super Maid-san.” ~”~

Brown coloured big doe eyes and long wavy black hair with brown tips. ‘This… no matter how I see this… is not my own appearance.’

The assimilation is getting faster recently. ‘Well, if worse comes to worse…’

“Rein-chan?”

“Nothing.” I shake my head.

“It’s finally time.”

“Don’t be so nervous, Hakuno.” I giggle at her.

“How can I not be nervous? This Holy Grail War and mine are so much different.”

“The difference is only on how it was conducted,” I reply.

“But…”

“Don’t worry. Don’t worry. I will win this war and we will get our wishes granted.” I smile.

“Okay…”

“Come forth from the ring of restraint, O Guardian of the Scales.” The summoning circle shines bright and then fades away.

“Oh, Ar… who are you?” I ask the servant in front of me.

“That should be my question. Are you my mas…”

The servant in front of me is a man, in his late twenties with his tanned skin and slicked back white hair. Wearing red mystic code. This servant is…

“Archer…” my mouth moves on its own and I quickly clamp it shut. ‘As I thought, it’s not my Archer, it’s her Archer.’

“You are… How?!” he grabs my shoulders and I hiss at the sudden pain. “I apologize, Master.”

“Rein. My name is Mutsuki Rein. Your master in this Holy Grail War.”

“I am Archer…”

“I know.” I nod. “Let me take you to your room.” ~”~

“This is Holy Grail…?” I gape, looking at the big floating chalice that keeps pouring out black mud.

“Tsk. So it’s a corrupted grail after all. Fall back, Master. I’ll destroy that thing.” Archer summons Kanshou and Bakuya.

“But!” I open my mouth to protest.

“This is not the time to make a wish! The black mud will destroy everything it touches!” Archer growls as he engages in a fight with black mud. “Rin! Take care of my idiot master!”

“Eh? Ha?!” Rin is perplexed by the sudden command.

‘Then, what about my wish…’ I clench my fist.

“Rein, there’s no time standing here. We’re going to the bank before the mud reaches us.” Rin urged.

“…” my mind is conflicted. ‘Is there really no way for this grail to grant my wish?’

“Hurry up!” Rin snapped, unaware of the mud that had slithered right behind her.

“Rin!” I pushed her out of the way. ‘No! If that touches me, the two of us will die!’ my mind quickly turns as I use magic to push another soul out of my body.

*Stab*

A piercing pain shot through my body. The mud tentacle pierces through my chest. “Not…Yet…” I coughed up blood. Using my last strength, I transfer my command seals to her, Kishinami Hakuno-san. ‘I hope… at least she got her wish granted.’ I closed my eyes, welcoming the darkness. ~”~

“REIN!!” Rin yelled in horror as she saw Rein suddenly split into two and one of them was stabbed by the mud.

Her shout is heard by Archer. The servant quickly turns back to check his master and Rin, only to be shocked by the phenomenal sight. “No…way…” He muttered. Archer is running back to his master’s supposed safe zone, but in his mind only one thought running through, ‘Why is she here?’

She, Kishinami Hakuno. His previous master in another Holy Grail war. She is supposed to be an NPC made according to the data of the real Kishinami Hakuno. An irregular that had already been deleted by Moon Cell. So, how can she appear here? With a body no less…

‘No, that’s not a body.’

That’s just a materialized spirit much like a Heroic Spirit does. But why and how could she possess his current master? Is it because his current master is somehow her ancestor or predecessor or they are linked in a way or another, considering how much they look alike?

“Master.” Archer landed on the ground. “What…” His eyes widened.

“Re-Rein… What…how come…. Which one is Rein?” Rin panicked, looking at the two fainted females.

On the ground, instead of two look-alike females, one of the girls looks completely different. Instead of long wavy brown hair like his previous master, her long hair is as black as night. Not only that, even her face has changed into a completely different person. There’s nothing alike with his previous master, even her faint lingering magic also changed. Another thing that captures his attention is the command spells that are carved in his previous master’s hand.

“Hnnn….” Hakuno groaned before opening her eyes. “Re-Rein-chan!” She quickly scrambled to her feet.

“Hakuno…” Archer breathed out.

Hakuno turns her head, finding Archer staring at her. She can clearly see a lot of emotions reflected in his eyes. “Archer…” Her voice is barely above a whisper. How much she yearns to see her beloved again.

“Archer! Behind you!!” Rin’s warning snapped them out of their daze.

Archer quickly slashes the approaching mud.

“I know you have a lot of questions, but ask them later. We must deal with that first.” Hakuno also regained her composure.

“I know. Let’s go” Archer too, composed himself again. ‘Right. First, we need to destroy that thing. Everything else will come later.’

“Rin, can you heal Rein-chan?” Hakuno turned to the confused Rin.

“Mou… I don’t know what’s happening anymore. You better explain clearly later.” Rin said as she pulled out her gems.

But fighting a corrupted grail is no small task, the mud is unending as it keeps overflowing from the grail. “Archer, use your Noble Phantasm,” Hakuno said.

“If I were to use that, you’d disappear,” Archer argued. Using Noble Phantasm required a lot of mana supply from the master. He finally meets her again, there’s no way he’ll let her slip out again.

“Don’t worry. I won’t disappear. I promise.” Hakuno smiled. Yes, Rein has supplied part of her mana to herself every day. That’s why she can materialise her body.

“But-”

Suddenly magic circle appears beneath Rein’s body. “Wh-what’s going on now?!” Rin shielded her eyes from the gust formed around the magic circle. A book flies out from rubbles near them, floating right above the also float-standing Rein. The book opens by itself and the pages are turning with incredible speed.

“System activated.” A mechanical voice came out from the book.

“W-wha?!”

“Magic circuits scan complete.”

“Magic circuits condition all green.”

“Magic circuits connection complete.”

“Synchro percentage 100%.”

“Link complete.”

“Excellion Palladias, activate,” Rein said softly.

“Ignition.” Mana gathers around her, enveloping her in half sphere of light and suddenly bursts out, creating a pillar of light. As the light dissipates bit by bit. The fatal injury on her stomach is completely healed. Even the clothes have been mended. When her eyes opened, they were not the brown doe eyes like they used to see, instead her eyes were vivid purple, like a gemstone . ~”~

‘I can feel the mana is welling up inside me. A familiar and nostalgic sensation.’ I can feel how my magic circuits work and the flow of the mana even more clear than usual. It’s as if my body had woken up from a deep sleep. I softly land on the ground. The Grimoire is floating on my right hand.

The black mud is starting to attack again as it senses a new threat. I hold out my left hand, creating a magic circle which deflects the incoming attack.

“Niflheim.” Icicles formed around me and shot toward the mud, freezing it. But it only affects a small part. ‘I need more time to cast powerful spell.’

I narrow my eyes. Another bigger magic circle appears on the ground few steps ahead of me. “Servant summoning.”

“Summoning.” The mechanical voice of the book repeats. The magic circle glows brighter and brighter, creating a small whirlwind.

“Come, my servant.” Another pillar of light shoots up to the sky, and now standing in front of me is a familiar red figure… and another hooded servant. ‘??? …how come two of them came out when it’s supposed to be only one.’ I blinked my eyes rapidly.

“Which master summoned a needless servant like me.” The red figure spoke in a familiar manner and voice. “…That’s what I want to say. But this is the first time I have been summoned while facing a corrupted grail.” He leered. The hooded figure beside him is also staring at the Grail.

“You know Archer, you really should change your first words to Master. For example, ‘Defender of Justice is here!’ or ‘I will fight for your sake’.”

“What kind of creepy lines are that?! And just for your information, I am not some kind of defender of justice.” Archer turns his head to look at me.

“Are you my…master…?” Archer trailed off.

“You are… Saber?” I focused my attention on the hooded figure.

“Yes. I am Saber.” The hooded figure answered.

“Oi! Don’t ignore me!” Archer raised his voice.

“Oi oi oi. What kind of joke is this?” Archer (Nameless) frowned.

“T-there are two Archers…” Rin gaped.

“…the explanation will take a lot of time. I will explain it later. Besides, your first word is supposed to be ‘You’ve grown up’ or ‘Nice to see you again’… Well, I guess the nature of the summoning makes it impossible to retain any memories from previous war…” I sighed in disappointment.

“Hm… that face… no, I do somehow remember the memories of my previous summon…” Archer murmured. “You are…”

“Eh? You remember?! Why?!” It’s my turn to be surprised.

“Umm… Rein-chan, I think it’s better to focus on the Grail first…” Hakunon raises her hand.

“Ah, that’s right,” I said flatly.

“Don’t answer like you just remember it!” Archer (Nameless) exclaimed.

“Haa… I can’t believe my luck.” Archer sighed at his unfortunate situation.

“Aren’t you being a little mean to me?” I pout. “Well, whatever.” I sigh. “Archer, Saber, buy me some time. I will freeze the whole grail.”

“Roger, Master.” They replied.

The temperature around me drops drastically, a white puff of breath becomes visible and frost begins to form as more mana condenses. And then I shoot the condensed mana to the Grail, freezing it. Part of the frozen mud breaks off, revealing the core.

“Destroy it!”

My two servants are quick in their actions. The moment the core shatters, the mud slowly recedes and vanishes, leaving no trace at all. The only evidence of it was the destroyed properties around us.

“Good…work…” I suddenly feel all my strength leaves me and my consciousness is fading. ‘Still…need…to…explain.’  ~”~

“Good…work…” Rein swayed and collapsed as she finished her words, which fortunately was caught by the good reflex of the hooded knight.

“…Master, you can’t just faint like this. You still need to explain to us.” Archer sighed and picked up the fallen grimoire.

“Let’s go to Rein-chan’s house first. I’ll explain what I know.” Hakuno spoke up.

“Then I am going too. I have a lot of questions, especially about you and those two Archers.” Rin huffed. ~”~

The guests are seated on the sofas in the living room while Hakuno is taking a look at the storage, given her and Rein’s last conversation was, ‘Storage room, effigy for you.’

In the living room, Rin is looking back and forth at the two Archers. Somehow, the atmosphere is quite awkward.

“It feels weird seeing another me.” Archer sighed.

“Agreed. We always got to draw short sticks.” Archer (Nameless) nodded.

“You said it. I have a lot of questions to ask, but my master is still asleep. Yare yare… even though she understood the situation the most, at least I think so. But I never thought I would be summoned again, by the same master no less.” Archer said.

“You-”

“Sorry for the wait.” Hakuno came back to the living room.

“Master, are you alright?” Archer (Nameless) asked.

“I am fine.” She smiled.

“Your body…” Rin pursed her lips.

“Ah, Rein prepared an effigy for me. From now on, this will be my body.” Hakuno said.

“I see… Then, can you start explaining about this situation?” Rin flicks her hair.

“By the way, that Saber over there. Are you going to stay anonymous?” Archer told him.

“Ah. My apology.” Saber took off his hood, causing gasps of surprise from the others.

“Sa-Saber?” Rin pointed at him.

“Yes. I am Saber.” Saber nodded.

“No. That’s not what I mean. You… aren’t you a girl?” Rin gaped.

“Girl? I am sure I was born and raised as a man.”  Saber blinked.

“But you are…” King Arthur. The last word stuck in her throat.

“Did you mistake me for someone else?” Saber asked.

“Saber, is your true name, by chance King Arthur?” Archer looked at him.

“Yes. That’s true. My True Name is Arthur Pendragon, the King of Britain.” Saber affirmed.

“The King Arthur I know is a girl.” Archer’ knitted his brows.

“I see… so, this world’s Arthur is a girl,” Saber muttered.

“This world…?” They repeated the word.

“Yes. The girl Saber you know and I share the same past and legend with me, but we are different people. You can say I am King Arthur from a different world.” Saber said.

“It’s getting more and more complicated.” Rin sighed.

“Agreed, but we can sum up the most important point is she and he are different people. That much is certain.” Archer sighed.

“Then, don’t tell me you and her also came from a different world.” Rin raises her brow, looking at another Archer (Nameless) and Hakuno

“You could say it like that.” Archer nodded.

“The question is, how did you two come here? Saber might have to do with the summon system Master used. But you two…” Archer looked at them.

“If it’s about that, I’ll explain.” Hakuno finally spoke up.

“My name is Kishinami Hakuno and I was a winner of a Holy Grail War in my world. My contracted servant at that time is Archer. Our war was done inside virtual reality. We enter cyberspace and participate in the war.”

“The cyberspace we entered was not on Earth. It was in Moon.” Archer supplied.

“Moon?” The others blinked.

“Yeah... in the Moon, there is a massive collection of photonic crystals that comprises a giant supercomputer of sorts. We call it Moon Cell. The Moon Cell is the Holy Grail.” Archer (Nameless) explained.

“Wait a minute. Then it’s different from the grail we destroyed just now.” Rin knitted her brows.

“Yes. Actually, rather than getting Moon Cell itself, we gained the right to use Moon Cell after we won the war. And the war itself is different. In our world, each participant will enter the arena and have one on one battle, the last one standing will be the winner of the war.” Hakuno said.

“Then how can it grant a wish?” Rin frowned.

“Those two are still wish-granting devices but, since Moon Cell and the Holy Grail are fundamentally different, so the way of using them is also different. There’s no need to think too hard. In the first place, we also don’t really know the true nature of the Holy Grail.” Archer said.

“True…nature?” Saber mutters softly as he tries to remember something. Something that seems to be missing from his memories.

“What’s wrong, Saber?” Archer asked the dazed Saber.

“No… nothing. I was just thinking too much.” Saber shook his head.

“But unlike the life and death battle royal here. Your war is quite tame.” Archer said.

“I wonder about that. The losers of the war will be deleted from cyberspace and their real body will be eliminated as well.” Archer (Nameless) sneered.

“Haaa…. I take that back. No matter where it is, the nature of the Holy Grail War is still like that… Ruthless.” Archer sighed.

“I’ll continue my story. As the winner of the war, I was granted the right to use the Moon Cell. But at the same time, the Moon Cell recognized me as invalid data.” Hakuno took a deep breath.

“Invalid data? Bug?” Archer narrowed his eyes.

“The reason being, I was just an NPC which somehow gained awareness.”

“NPC? You mean, you aren’t….” Rin looked at her wide-eyed.

“Yes. I am not a human. I was an NPC made according to the data of the real Kishinami Hakuno, who is in hibernation due to brain disease. But strangely enough, in the preliminary round, Moon Cell approved me to join the war. My wish at that time was to learn about myself since I didn’t remember everything. But in the end, I was deleted due to being invalid data, since it took time to delete me due to the contradiction caused by the frozen body in the real world. I have time to enter my wish, to know the truth about me and send the information of my other half to Rin.” Hakuno said.

“Me?” Rin pointed to herself.

“The Rin in my world.” Hakuno smiled. “And I thought that would be the end of me. But the next moment I woke up, I was in some kind of dark place. I kept calling for someone but no one answered me, until one day I heard a reply.”

“I see, the one who replied to you is…”

“Yes. It was Rein-chan. The moment Rein-chan replied to my call, an exit appeared in that dark place. I thought I would get out of that place only to find I was inside Rein-chan’s body.” Hakuno finished.

“I understand how you were linked to Rein’s body. But how do you explain about her appearance? She looked exactly like you.” Rin said.

“This is only my hypothesis, it might be part of me still connected to the Moon Cell and at that time I wished I had a body, that might be the cause of how her appearance changed to be like mine. Rather, that’s the only plausible explanation.” Hakuno gripped her hands tightly. “And as for Archer being summoned here… must be because of me too.”

“This is really unbelievable…” Rin put her hand on her forehead.

“Haa… I also couldn’t believe this. At first, I thought she was related to you or something. But her personality is 180 degrees the opposite of you. But… she looked like she had a personality change after separating from you…” Archer (Nameless) frowned.

“Personality change? I thought she was still the same as 10 years ago.” Archer blinked.

“No, she’s definitely different. When she still looked like Hakuno, she was really handful, so haughty, arrogant, selfish, easily throwing tantrums and egoist.” Archer (Nameless) described.

“You sure you are talking about the same Master? How come I feel like you are talking about Rin instead.” Archer sweatdropped.

“Hey, how rude! I am a Tohsaka. A Tohsaka is always elegant.” Rin snapped. “I am not rude or selfish. Well, I don’t really know her well before the war but… she was very contradictory…” Rin said.

“Contradictory?” they tilt their heads.

“…It was like she was suddenly hot and cold to her servant,” Rin said. “…No, not only to her servant, she sometimes is contradictory in everything…”

“I bet the cold part was Rein.” Archer lets out a wry smile. “But handful is an exact word how to describe her, and I am afraid she’ll be getting more handful to handle.” Archer sighed.

“Rein-chan originally is a gentle girl. The reason her personality changed is because of me.” Hakuno bit her lip.

“You?” Archer knitted his brows.

“Yes. Think about it. You were possessed by another soul, and because of that, your original appearance changed and then that soul’s feeling influenced your own. Rein’s change is because she was trying to protect herself and draw boundaries between her and me.” Hakuno said.

“But that doesn’t mean she has to change her personality…. I see… it was my fault, huh…” Archer mocked himself.

“I see. I have a grasp of it.” Archer nodded.

“What do you mean? I don’t understand at all.” Rin frowned.

“Because I didn’t see her as Mutsuki Rein,” Archer said.

“Haaaa?”

“My actions thus far were treating her like my previous master, Hakuno. Given their similar appearance, I unconsciously treated her as such and if she did something different than what Hakuno should have done, I would feel uncomfortable. She might have seen through it from the start and she was trying to instil that she was in fact not Hakuno. It doesn’t help that sometimes Hakuno’s feeling spills out, thus the hot and cold treatment to me. How pathetic, I couldn’t even face my master properly….” He sighed forlornly.

“This is Rein we are talking about. If you apologize to her, she’ll definitely forgive you. Though there might be a consequence, she’s just unpredictable like that.” Archer sweatdropped at the last sentence.

“I see… Okay, I understood most of the situation already. It’s already late too. It’s time for me to go home.” Rin stood up and stretched her hands up.

“You are going home now?!” Hakuno blinked.

“Of course. I’ll come back tomorrow. I need time to process this information.” She sighed.

“But, it’s already late and it’s dangerous.” Hakuno frowned.

“She’s right, Rin. It’s better for you to stay here. Besides, we might need your help in case something happens.” Archer agreed.

“…You are a slave driver, you know what?” Rin stares at him with a deadpanned look. “...Fine. I’ll stay for the night.” Rin gives in in the end.

“I’ll arrange the guest room.” Archer stood up.

“You knew her house well.” Rin blinked at Archer's natural host-like movement.

“Didn’t I tell you I was summoned by her 10 years ago?” Archer said.

“You did say that…Wait… 10 years ago… the fourth Holy Grail War…” Rin stared at him wide-eyed.

“Yeah… But she didn’t participate in it. I was summoned here accidentally, at that time the war had begun and she herself refused to enter the war.” Archer explained.

“Hmm… Then why did she suddenly enter the war this time?” Rin blinked, she didn’t understand. It might be because she now has a wish to be granted.

“She might be, probably, no, certainly entered this war to grant her wish.” Archer turned his head to Hakuno. The said female nods her head confirming the suspicion.

“Haa? She entered a war for another people's wish?!” Rin’s jaw dropped. “Unbelievable. She risked her life to grant another person's wish.” Rin’s head is throbbing now due to the very unpredictable fact she was revealed to.

“She’s unprecedented. That’s our master.” Archer said as he had given all hope concerning his master.

“Pfftt….” Saber is trying his best to hold his laugh. That’s indeed true. He has met a lot of people and there was someone that fits into this ‘unpredictable’ category in his era. Someone he holds dear.

“By the way, I just remember this,” Rin said suddenly causing everyone's attention to focus on her.

“The war should have ended because we had destroyed the grail. So why are you all still here?” Rin blinked.

“Usually, we are sent back to the Thrones of Heroes.” Archer put his hand on his chin. “Might it be because the summoning was done differently?” Archer blinked.

“Rein might know something. Let’s ask her tomorrow.” Rin finally said. In any case, she needs time to process this and she is very tired too. Thus, they bid each other good night and rest in their respective rooms. ~”~

Corpses…

I can see corpses lying everywhere…

The staunch and heavy smell of blood invades my nose…

It’s as if I am standing in that place… even if I know this is just a dream…

The place that was the remnant of a battle…

In the midst of the unmoving corpses…

One person falls to his knees after being pierced with a sword to his stomach…

He won’t last any longer…

And then I see a blurry-faced girl crying…

‘Why… are you crying…?’

‘…Why… am I feeling so sad…?’

A familiar ceiling greets me when I open my eyes. It takes me a while to recognize it. “My…room…” I sat up on my bed and rubbed my eyes. “Yesterday…” Bit by bit yesterday’s memories come back to me. “I see… I summoned Archer.” I blinked. On my nightstand, a familiar book is placed there. “Excellion.” I muttered.

“Good morning, Master.” The book greeted.

“Ah, now that I think about it, you can speak.” I blinked.

“Yes, Master.” It replied.

“Then, good morning Excellion.” I smiled.

“Good morning, Master.” It greeted again.

“Please take care of me, Excellion.” I smiled.

“Likewise, Master.”

I take a quick shower after chatting for a while with Excellion. “Master, are you awake?” a question was heard accompanied by a knock on the door.

“Yes. I am awake.” I tie my hair in a low ponytail and open the door. Coming to my view is a handsome young man with familiar blonde hair and green eyes.

“Good morning, Master.” He smiled.

I blink owlishly at him, “Saber… since when did you become a man?” I asked.

“Yes?” Saber seemed to blank for a moment before he understood my question. “Master, I am the Saber you summoned yesterday.” He smiled.

“The Saber I summoned yesterday?”  I tilted my head.

“Yes.”

“But you really look like the Saber I know. It’s like her gender has swapped.” I said.

“Yes. You can say I am a King Arthur from another world. We are not the same person.” He explained simply.

“Oohh, I see… Hm? How come you know I was talking about the girl King Arthur?” I tilt my head.

“Everyone had the same reaction yesterday when I took off my hood. So, they talked about her a little bit.” He chuckled.

“Ah, no wonder...” I nodded convinced.

“Let’s go downstairs, Master. Breakfast is ready.” Saber smiled.

“Just call me Rein. Even though I summoned you, I’d like us to have a friendship than a master-servant relationship. I feel more comfortable this way.” I said.

“Of course, Rein.” He smiled.

“Nice to meet you, Saber.” I extended my hand to him.

“Nice to meet you too, Rein.” He shook my hand. ~”~

“Good morning.” I come down to the living room with Saber.

“Good morning.” Archer greeted back.

“Rein-chan! Are you alright now?!” Hakuno grabs my shoulders and checks for any leftover injury.

“I am fine. As you can see, I don’t have a scratch at all. How about you?” I smiled.

“I am alright. The effigy is quite comfortable. It’s good you are alright.” Hakuno smiled in relief.

“Rein.” Archer (Nameless) called suddenly.

“Yes?” I answered. ‘Come to think of it. This is the first time he called me by my name. Usually, it’s either ‘You’ or ‘Master’. Oh, there’s ‘Stupid Master’ too… Somehow, it’s irritating.’ I narrow my eyes.

“I am sorry. I failed as a servant.” He bowed 90 degrees.

“…Did you eat something wrong?” I blinked.

“I am sorry for not facing you properly.” He said.

“Ahh, that…. So, you realized it.” I sighed.

“Yeah… Even though I just realized it yesterday.” He said still bowing.

“Hmmmm….” I hummed and slowly walked to him. The said servant seemed like wouldn’t lift his head until I finished venting my anger. ‘Actually… there were times I got really angry…’ I raised my hand and chopped his head.

“We are even now,” I said.

“Eh?” The spectators are dumbfounded.

“Oww… What kind of head do you have? Why does my hand hurt so much?” I nurse my now poor reddening hand. “Why are you looking at me like that?” I looked at them oddly. Only Archer continues serving the breakfast without even batting an eye.

“…No, I know I am the one saying this but is that okay just like that?” Archer (Nameless) finally lifts his head.

“You let me chop your head for free so it’s even now. If you are still unsatisfied you can start crossdressing to amuse me.” I sat down at the dining table. “…I have a maid uniform that will fit perfectly for you.” I smile brilliantly. “I will go take it now.”

“No no, I am fine with this.” Archer (Nameless) said, grabbing the scurf of my neck.

“Didn’t I tell you she’s unprecedented? Common sense won’t work on her.” Archer said.

“Archer, why are you talking like I don’t have common sense.” I pout as I sit down on the dining table.

“Because you have none.” Archer rolled his eyes.

“So mean. I definitely have one. Boo! Boo!” I waved my utensils in protest.

“Only one then. And don’t wave the utensils. Today breakfast is Omurice.” He put the plate on the table.

“Desert?” I asked excitedly, not caring the dumbfounded look from others.

“Custard Pudding.”

“Yatta! It’s my favourite. Thank you, Archer.” I grinned. “Bon appetit… It’s so delicious! As expected from Archer. Hm? Why is everyone standing over there? Let’s eat the breakfast.” I look at them.

“Ah… yes…”

Archer only looks at them with ‘See, I told you, my master has no common sense’ expression. ~”~

“Hmmm…” I knitted my forehead.

“What’s wrong? It’s not to your liking?” Archer asked.

“That’s not it. I was just thinking how to call you two.” I said looking at the two archers.

“Why don’t you use a name derived from their True Name?” Saber suggested.

“That’s-"

“KYAAAA!!!!!”

“It’s Rin’s voice.” I blinked.

“Ah.” The four of them looked like they had just remembered about her.

Arriving on the second floor, we are just in time seeing something blue fly out from the door, crashing to the wall.

“Bwahhh!!”

“Pervert!” Blushing Rin glared from the doorstep, looking down at the so-called ‘pervert’.

“His scream seems familiar,” I muttered.

“Damn woman! Are you trying to kill me?” The pervert stood up and yelled back.

“Ah, Lancer.”

“Ha?” Lancer turned to us.

“I think that kick just now has messed up my brain. Two Archers and Saber becomes a man…” Lancer closed his eyes and started murmuring incoherent words while deep in thought.

“For now…. Let’s go downstairs and have breakfast first.” I scratched my cheek. ~”~

“Aahh… I am stuffed.” Lancer plopped down on the sofa.

“Lancer, mind your manner.” Rin frowned.

“…That sums it up.” Hakuno finished her explanation.

“I think I understood most of it. But I have one question.” Lancer said. “How do we call them? Faker 1 and Faker 2?” Lancer sneered.

“We were discussing about it just now, I was thinking about using names deriving from their True Names, but…” Saber trailed off.

“I am a Nameless Heroic Spirit. I don’t have a name.” Archer (Nameless) said.

“Archer’s True Name will cause a lot of complicated things, so I decide just to give him a name,” I said.

“Didn’t they have the same names? I mean their manner and looks are the same. They must be the same person.” Rin said.

“No.” We answered in unison.

“Eh?”

“No matter how similar they are, they aren’t the same person, though they are the same existence.” I shook my head.

“Same existence yet different person….” Rin muttered.

“Just call me Nameless, he will continue using Archer,” Nameless said.

“Eeeh… that’s pretty boring. I have a lot of names for Archer, for example, Shiya, Barcher (Baka Archer), Archie…nah, sounds funny, then Emishi… this actually sounds good…” I mumbled.

‘But it lacks an impact.’

“Ah! I know! Super Maid-san!” I remembered the nickname I gave to him.

“Objection!” Archer raised his hand in protest.

“Hahaha! This is priceless.” Lancer burst out laughing. “I love the last one.”

“Just like he said. He will stick with Nameless, I will stick with Archer. I tolerate no objection.”

“You are no fun.” I pout.

“Hahahaha! You are the best.” Lancer is laughing until his tears come out.

“Now, it’s our turn to ask. Lancer, how did you appear here? Who summoned you?” Archer asked.

“That’s what I want to know too. I am sure I was killed and sent back to the Throne of Heroes. But the next thing I know I was already in her room.” Lancer said.

“Rin, don’t tell me you summoned him while you were sleepwalking?” Archer asked.

“There’s no way I could do that. I don’t even have that kind of habit. Besides, there are no command seals at all.” Rin snapped back.

“There’s the strange part. My body and mind acknowledge her as my master, even without command seals. It’s like an instinct.” Lancer said.

“Geeeee…”

“Why are you guys looking at me like that?” Lancer frowned.

“That…” I grinned.

“Must be…” Saber continued.

“Love.” Hakuno finished.

“You like her.” We said in unison.

“There’s no way I/he like(s) her/me.” The people of interest slam their hands on the table and pointed at each other.

“You two are in perfect sync.” I giggle.

“Oi, you bastards,” Lancer yelled.

“Let’s get back to the topic.” Archer clapped his hands to get us back on the track. “We still don’t know how servants materialize even after the Grail is destroyed.”

“Hmmm…”

“Rein, do you know something about this?” Saber asked.

“To be honest… I am not completely sure about this. But the Grail we destroyed yesterday… that might be a fake Grail.”

“!” they turned to me.

“No… rather than a fake, it’s more like a small part of the Grail,” I murmured.

“What do you mean by that? How can you know?” Rin asked.

“Just… it’s just my hunch…” I scratched my cheek.

“Just a hunch?! We thought you have some kind of solid evidence here.” Rin stretches my cheeks.

“Sowwy…”

“But Master’s hunch might not be completely false. That theory is plausible. So, whoever has the Grail right now might tamper with it and the result is the summoning of servants.” Archer said.

“Speaking of summoning… Rein, you used a different kind of summoning ritual.” Archer said.

“Ah, that’s right… actually, I am not completely sure about it too.” I smiled sheepishly.

“You really…” Rin stretches my cheeks again.

“Sowwy…” I cried out. “But Excellion might know.”

“Excellion? Your grimoire?” Nameless asked.

“That’s right. Let me go and get it.” I ran back to my room and took the magical tome with me. “So, Excellion, how did I summon them?”

“It was FATE system. The FATE system allows a master to summon a servant per agreement of purpose between master and servant.” Excellion said.

“The book talked….” Lancer is looking intently at Excellion.

“But I didn’t agree or anything.” Archer denied.

“No, you agreed.” I smiled.

“What do you mean?” Archer blinked.

“10 years ago, you promised me, you’ll come if I call out to you.” I smiled.

“That counts too?!” Archer sweatdropped.

“Then, does that mean Saber also agrees to your purpose?” Rin blinked, fascinated by the summoning system.

“No, I think my case is a bit different. At that time, I think I was chasing for something.” Saber knitted his forehead, seemingly trying to remember.

“Chasing something?” Hakuno blinked.

“Yes…. Though I can’t seem to remember what I was chasing. It’s strange.” Saber says, looking very troubled that he is missing a part of important memories.

“Calm down.” I stretch his cheeks. “There’s no need to force yourself to remember. Take it slow, you will be able to remember in due time.”

“…” Saber’s eyes widen a bit. “That’s right. I shouldn’t be so hasty. My apology, Rein.”

“Hehe.” I grin. “Whether Saber comes here by accident or not, he is now my servant, right, Excellion?”

“Yes. Without a doubt.” the mechanical voice answered.

“By the way, does the summon system mess up the memories?” I shift my attention back to Excellion.

“This is the first time the FATE summoning system was used. It might be a side effect. I’ll keep a record for further use.” Excellion said.

“But how do we maintain our form? The command spell serves as a link between master and servant. It is used to supply mana from master to servant.” Lancer-san said.

“If we assume we can supply mana automatically to servants without command spell. I should have collapsed by now, considering the fact that I have two servants. But I don’t feel a thing. My mana is not flowing out at all.” I said.

“Ah, you are right! There is no mana leaking out!” Rin gasped.

“I also don’t feel my mana reducing at all.” Hakuno nodded in agreement.

“Then, there’s only one explanation.” Archer (Nameless) smirked.

“We, servants, can recover our own mana,” Archer said.

“That might be the only explanation left.” Rin sighs, massaging her head.

“Hmm… Saber, give me your hand.” I said.

“Yes.”

I grab his hand and pour mana into him. Trying to test if mana transfer is still possible or not. “…I can receive your mana…” He said in awe.

‘I know servant was summoned to be compatible with the master. But who would have thought that we are this compatible, even more so that he is an accidental summon.’ Our mana basically easily mingles with each other with zero resistance.

“So, the mana transfer is still possible,” I conclude. “Then next, Lancer, hand.”

“O-ou.” He obediently holds his hand out to me.

“You are really a dog.” Archer mocked.

“Don’t call me a dog!” Lancer snapped back.

The moment I pour mana to him, a burning sensation appears on our palms. The two of us quickly draw our hands back. “Are you okay?” Saber panicked. “Let me see.” He meticulously inspects the injury.

“Just a small burn. Nothing big.” I smiled.

“Here, press it to your palm.” Archer is back with a cold compress.

“Thank you.” Saber is pressing the cold compress on my palm.

“It looks like aside from our own master, we can’t receive mana from another person,” Archer said.

“Rein-chan, why are you getting hurt again? You should treasure yourself more.” Hakuno reprimanded me.

“I am fine. This is nothing.” I calmed her down.

“How can it be nothing? Yesterday too, you were stabbed-Mmmph.” I jumped across the table and clasped her mouth.

“Hooo… What does she mean, Master…” Archer glared at me. I can feel my back sweating buckets.

“Nothing. I am very healthy as you can see.” I quickly answered. ‘No no no, he mustn’t know, or else I’ll have to endure his nagging.’

“Mmmphhh!! Mmmmphh!!”

“No, but yesterday I saw it clearly too, you were stabbed-”

“Nameless, looks like the head chop was not enough. Maybe I should have you tried the maid uniform.” I smiled at him.

“No, sorry.”

“Master.” I was suddenly grabbed by my back collar. In the end, I have to endure Archer’s nagging for 2 hours in seiza.

“But but but…”

“No buts, how many times I told you ‘don’t be reckless’ why can’t you listen to me!?”

“I agree with Archer. That was a reckless move, Rein.” Saber too frowned.

“Then, Saber. will you ignore people in trouble?” I pouted.

“Of course I’ll help them.”

“See, I was right then. Hakuno was in a pinch, and I helped her. That wasn’t wrong.” I said, appealing to him.

“That’s…certainly true….” Saber hung his head.

“Didn’t I tell you common sense won’t work on her?” Archer sighed. “Besides, it’s already reckless enough you entered the war for another people’s wish.” Archer frowned.

“That, actually I have my own wish too, that’s why I participated in the war.” I scratched my cheek.

“Your wish?” Archer blinked.

“Yes. My wish can only be granted by participating in the war. Since I also wished to help Hakuno, so it was counted as killing two birds with one stone.” I said.

“…What kind of wish you have? Don’t tell me…”

“No, it’s not that. I’ve accepted that from a long time ago. You should be clearer than anyone else. This time I only wish to meet you again. To show you I have grown up healthily. That’s why I was disappointed when Nameless was summoned.” I pursed my lips.

“You…really…” Archer smiled, “ARE STUPID!!” Archer gave me a hard noggie.

“It hurts…hurts… my head…” I hit his arms. “I give…I give… I am sorry!!!” ~”~

I feel like my head is emitting smoke from the friction. “Are you okay?” Rin sweatdropped.

“I…I am fine….” I was lying down on the floor, still recovering from the punishment.

“But you are amazing too, you could tell he was not the same person.” Rin praised.

“What are you talking about? It’s so obvious, anyone can tell.” I blink, sitting upright. “Hakuno knew it too, right?” I asked the girl.

“Well, more or less?” She made a (strained) smile (and averted her eyes). ‘To be honest, I was not completely sure at the start… Let’s not say anything…’

“No, I think it’s only you.” Rin sweatdropped.

“Oi, you guys. I found something while you were playing.” Lancer said.

“What did you find?” Rin asked her servant.

“I can’t dematerialize,” Lancer stated.

“That’s it?” Rin looks at him with a deadpan stare.

“What do you mean that’s it? It’s strange.” Lancer retorted.

“There are already a lot of strange things happened, so much that I think ‘can’t dematerialize’ is possibly the most common strange thing that could happen.” Rin sighed.

“If that’s the case, let’s go shopping.” I clapped my hands, happy to find another topic to escape from punishment.

“Shopping?” They blinked.

“Yes. Since they can’t dematerialize, then you’ll need casual attire to wander around the town. They can’t possibly step outside using their servants’ attire. They’ll cause commotion.” I said.

“That’s true.” Hakuno nodded.

“We’ll need to fill your wardrobe too,” I said.

“Eh? Mine? You don’t need to.” Hakuno waved her hands.

“What are you talking about? Of course I need to, you have your own room now.” I blinked.

“I am staying here?” Hakuno asked dumbly.

“Did you hit your head? Why are you talking nonsense right now? Of course you are staying here. Where else will you be staying? Or maybe should I put you and Nameless in the same room?” I giggled.

“No no no no no, there’s no need to do that. I’ll have my own room.” She said flustered.

“But didn’t you two stay together in the previous war, in the same room no less,” I smirked.

“Th(That)-w(was) bec-(because)-“

“Anyway, tell me your preference.” I laughed.

“Aren’t we…going to shop together…?” She blinked.

“Yes. We are. but you and Nameless are on the grocery team.” I smiled.

“Eh? EEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHH??!! Rein-chan, that is, but I-”

“How do we explain about those two?” Rin asked.

“They are twins. Problem solved.” I shrugged my shoulders.

“Ah, that actually will work…” Rin deadpanned.

“Listen well, Nameless, you have to escort Hakuno well, okay. Remember. It’s escort, not S-court.” I said emphasizing the words.

“Wait wait wait! What do you think I am?!” Nameless exclaims.

“Someone who has no experience with women,” I answer like it’s the most obvious thing to say.

“Who says I didn’t have any experience?!” He countered.

“That so? So, tell me how you treat your dates.” I baited.

“I… wait, why are we talking about this now?” Nameless changed the subject.

“Tsk. He escaped.” I pouted.

“You did it on purpose.” Rin sweatdrops, while Lancer is already on the floor laughing.

“You were playing right on her palm.” Archer laments in pity. ~”~

“Hmmm….”

“Do I look weird?” Saber smiles wryly.

“No. It’s the opposite. You look good in everything you wear, so I have a hard time deciding.” I murmur.

“Customer, please try this next.” The saleswoman excitedly brought another outfit for him.

“No, I think it’s enough.” Saber declines politely.

“It’s fine, just try it on,” I said.

“…I understand.” He took the clothes and went back to the changing room.

“Excuse me, Nee-san.” I smile looking at her excited face. “I will buy all the clothes he tried on.”

“Oh my, dear customer. That’s great. He looks perfect in all of those clothing.” The saleswoman nods her head furiously.

“I feel this one is more comfortable.” Saber comes out wearing a casual clothing.

“There’s no need to change, just wear that.” I smile.

“Yes. Thank you very much for your patronage.” The saleswoman nee-san smiled.

“You sure bought a lot,” Archer commented as he looked at our bags.

“Archer, did you finish yours?” I asked.

“Yeah.” Archer nods, showing us his few shopping bags.

“Not enough.” I frown.

“They are already more than enough.” Archer rolls his eyes. “Remember, you bought me some 10 years ago.”

“It’s not enough at all. Saber, please watch our bags, I’m going to help Archer choose his wardrobe.” I said.

“Understood.” He replied.

“Wait, for now, I don’t want to go to that store.” Archer sighed.

“Why?” I blinked.

“That.” Archer motions with his chin. The two of us follow his line of sight and we are greeted by the bickering Lancer and Rin. They seem not to notice the onlookers.

“They are like an old married couple.” I laughed.

“Agreed.” My servants sweatdrop. ~”~

We spend our time scouring Fuyuki for something strange to get any lead of this strange phenomenon or maybe evidence of my theory. Instead of leads, all we found is, our friends/former rivals disappear one another. It was Illya at first. Shiro notified us and we contacted other masters, including Souichirou-sensei. All of us agreed to search for the missing Illya.

“How was it?” we have our routine meeting in Shiro’s house.

“Nothing. I found nothing. Not even a trace.” Rider said.

“This is absolutely abnormal.” Caster said. “My magecraft couldn’t even track her.” She frowned. And if Caster says this is abnormal, then this definitely is. Caster, her True Name is Medea… nobody in modern times can beat her in a battle of magecraft. If there’s one, it will be servants from the age of gods… or the holder of True Magic.

“Not even the lingering traces of her mana?” I asked.

“Yes, it’s as if she has never existed at all. That’s why I said it’s absolutely abnormal.” Caster says, frustrated that she is beaten by whoever the mastermind is.

“We scoured through the city, but found nothing.” Archer (Nameless) quipped. “Her castle was left as it was, untouched. There was no sign of moving. Actually, it seemed as if they were still living there recently.”

“Then we can rule out she went outside Fuyuki theory.” Lancer narrows his eyes.

“Illya’s… maids…” I mumbled.

“Them too… I thought we might find them, but they were not there. Maybe they tried to search for missing Illya and vanished or…” Archer (Nameless) says.

“Or the two maids also vanished along with her at the same time…” Saber (Male) finished the hypothesis.

“There’s no other Einzbern coming here. So, Illya’s disappearance hasn’t been informed.” Archer concluded.

“…” gloomy silence fills the air.

“Caster, can you make protective charms for the kids?” Souichirou-sensei opens his mouth.

“Souichirou-sama…”

“Also, a tracking charm and one that can show the location of charm holders.”

“I see. If anything were to happen to us, the rest would be alerted quickly and rush to the site. Not a bad plan.” Archer said.

“Rather. This is the only option we have now.” Archer (Nameless) said.

“Understood, Souichirou-sama.”

“And it’s best we stay together before the charms are completed.” Souichirou-sensei is very decisive about this. But right now, this is the best option for us.

So, we are going to have a big sleepover party at Shiro’s house today.

“Okay, we have a lot of spare rooms here. Feel free to choose whichever you like.” Shiro nodded.

In the end, the girls choose to sleep together, including Caster, Rider and Saber (Female). The rest of the night… of course it’s full of girls talk… for example…

“Caster, which part of Souichirou-sensei do you like?” it started as a genuine question and genuine curiosity from me.

“E-eh?!” Caster squeaks in a high-pitched voice. A rare sight coming from her. “Which part do I like about So-So-Souichirou-sama?!” her voice even cracked at the end.

“Yup.” I nod, the rest of the girls who hear my question are also staring at Caster, waiting for her answer.

“Th…that’s…” she takes her soda and finishes it in one go. “...Of course it’s his everything!” now she is talking like a drunk. We have no alcohol here as we are minors, besides, can servants get drunk?

Then, Caster rants about how wonderful Souichirou-sensei is. From his looks, down to his personality and to his habits that sensei might or might not noticed himself. But… it doesn’t matter if they are servants or not. Girls in love will always be supported. Like now, everyone is talking about which outfit is suitable for Caster for her dates later.

Then we shift to Hakunon and Archer (Nameless) relationship. Poor girl is red from head to toe due to the teasing from the girls.

“So, how far have you gone with him?” Rin smirked.

“Umm… that…” her eyes are swimming as she is thinking how to answer Rin’s question.

“Um… senpai, what kind of romantic thing he had ever done to you.”

“Hmm… I can help you by providing information on how to please a male.”

“Hakunon said they have gone all the way.” I know what I am doing and I am telling them because it’s more interesting that way.

Six pairs of eyes are instantly on me. “Let me think, it was when she was pent up due to the lack of physical touch and she made the first move.”

“Hoo… not bad for a little girl,” Caster commented.

“Yes, very daring. Master Sakura can learn confidence from her.” Rider nods.

“Hakuno/Senpai, tell us more!”

“E…eeehhhh???!!!”

And then, to get her revenge, Hakunon, who escaped from interrogation hell, asked me this, “Which one you like more, Saber or Archer?”

“Ah?” I blink, tilting my head.

“You can’t escape by playing dumb, Rein-chan.” Hakunon is smiling, I think even her hair is moving on their own.

“Hmm… like… I like them both.” I answer and now they are looking at me. “Archer is like a brother to me. I was an orphan. I summoned a servant because I thought servant was a housekeeper. I thought I would have a friend to chat with… living alone is quite lonely. And when I did, Archer appeared.” I mused, remembering the past event.

“And I felt less lonely at that time. Archer basically did all the household chores and even fed me. He listened to my babbling too. Those days were the happiest.” I smiled.

“Oh… sorry… I didn’t mean…” Now Hakunon is feeling guilty.

“It’s fine. It’s not a big secret anyway.” I laugh it off. “Come to think of it, I never talked this to you. But I am glad I do now.” I giggled.

“Rein-chan…” Hakunon sniffled as she rushed to hug me.

“There there…” I pat her head.

“So, what about Saber?” Rin quirks her brow.

“Saber… hmm… he is like… a friend who is looking after his friend’s sister? Something like that?” I muse, giggling at my own thought.

“Then, if you were to choose as romantic interest… who would you go after?” Caster casually throws in her question.

“…” I blink rapidly while processing her question. “Hmmm… probably Saber?” it comes out as a question rather than a statement.

“Why?”

“I mean… I can’t seem to see Archer as a romantic interest… it makes… my skin crawl in a bad way. He is like the best brother ever existed to me. I can’t change that perception anymore.” I answered truthfully.

“Indeed, I can sense Master has zero interest in Servant Archer as a romantic interest.” Excellion

“So it leaves Saber as the only potential…” Saber (Female) stated.

“Yup.” I nod.

“So, what’s your opinion of him?” Sakura asked.

“Saber… Saber is… someone looks like a prince straight out of fairy tale?” a smile broke on my lips.

“Ah… he does give that feeling.” The women nod their heads, absolutely convinced that seems like the case.

Lastly, we shift to Saber (Female) and Shiro’s relationship… hmm… this is quite a pickle… because Shiro is in not triangle love or square love… he is in the pandemonium of love.

“Shiro likes this shirt better!” Rin argued.

“No. I know Shiro likes this long-sleeved one better.” Saber (Female) interjected.

“Se-Senpai like this one better!” Sakura is also joining in.

“So, actually… I am curious, how does Shiro transfer his mana?” my question earned me a look of gaping and jaw-dropping from the 3 heroines.

“I mean, Shiro can’t supply her mana effectively using the command spell, so… ah, do they-” I stopped when I saw them glaring at me.

“So, what’s Shiro’s favourite food?” I quickly changed the subject before I got murdered by the heroines.

Thus, the nth round of argument between 3 heroines who know Shiro the best continued. ‘Let’s slip away.’ I use this chance to sneak out.

“…you are evil…” but not before being told that by Rider and Caster.

“Teehee!” ~”~

I sit on the veranda, enjoying snacks I found in the refrigerator and a bottle of tea. The night breeze is really nice.

“Nicely done, Master.” Excellion state, it’s as if it is giving me a thumbs up.

“Hehehe, this is called the misdirection technique.”

“I will store this information.”

“I will teach you a lot of things, Excellion.”

“I will gladly learn everything.”

“Rein?”

“Hm? Oh, Saber.” I look at the newcomer.

“What are you doing here?” Saber (Male) asked.

“Escaping from pandemonium of love.” I laugh.

“…???”

“It’s girls talk’s secret.” I laugh at his confused face. “Come and sit here, I have a snack.” I pat the space next to me and he obliges. I share my snack with him, humming a random tune.

“Rein…”

“Yes?” I look at him.

“…no… it’s nothing… are you living well?”

“???” I stare at him for a few seconds. “Yes, I am living very well. Even though it’s not always peaceful.” I say, vaguely referring to Holy Grail War and the current strange phenomena.

“…Is that so… then, I am glad…”

“Why do you suddenly ask?”

“Oh… I heard few tidbits from Archer…”

“Ah…” I know now he is worried about me living all alone. “Don’t worry. I live very well. I eat well, sleep well and play well… ah, I study quite well too.” I added the last one after a beat.

“That’s good… I am happy that you are doing very well…” I feel a gentle palm on top of my head, stroking my hair.

‘It feels good.’ I think I almost purr like a cat and secretly nuzzling to his palm. A giddy and happy smile never leaves my face.

‘I think I will have Saber pat my head every day. This is a must-do routine.’ ~”~

The second one to vanish is Caster and Souichirou-sensei. They were out for an errand. And with Souichirou-sensei as a bodyguard… nothing should happen. But it still did, the gravity of the situation finally sank in. Whether they are alive or not now is also debatable. The charms did tell us the last location of Caster and her master. It’s right outside of the supermarket they frequented.

“…” The routine meeting is filled with nothing but silence. We found Caster’s message on that place.

“The enemy has Holy G-”

We can deduce the rest. The enemy has Holy Grail, which means, I was correct about the fake Grail. Sadly, she did not have enough time to tell us how many and who are the enemy.

“We will act in pairs… two masters and their servants…” Archer said. “When we are ambushed, one master will retreat as soon as possible to tell us about the enemy. Of course, I would prefer if all of the engaged masters to retreat with information.”

And so… even though we have acted in pairs… in the end… we are still being spirited away. Starting from Shiro-Saber and Sakura-Rider team, followed by Rin-Lancer and Hakuno-Nameless team and finally me and my servants. ~”~

“Ugh…” I groan and crack open my eyes. They feel so heavy as if being glued together. “This is…” pulling myself up, I am trying to squint and have a better view of my current surroundings.

‘Dark.’ That is my first impression. The room is too dark for my liking.

“Master, you are awake.”

“Excellion!” I grab my floating grimoire. “Do you know what’s happening?”

“We were sucked by a vortex of magical power. This is most likely a different dimension of our world.”

“Parallel world?”

“Not quite. To be more precise, this is the other side of the world. It’s like we are in the mirror version of our world. I analyzed the surrounding area and concluded as such.”

“A mirror version… Speaking of which… this is…my room…?” I squint to get a better focus. The position of the furniture, the colour of the painted wall, and even the books on the desk are in the same position as I had left them. And…

“…this is my handwriting…” I am unmistakably in my room and if Excellion is right, I am in the mirror version of my room.

“Ah! Where are the others? Saber and Archer?”

“I have detected Saber and Archer’s mana on the first floor.” With that said, I rush to the first floor.

“Saber! Archer!” I found the two collapsed on the floor.

“Mas…ter…” they groan and slowly open their eyes.

“Are you two alright? Feel hurt anywhere?”

“…we are fine…” they stand up and check for any abnormalities in their body.

“How about you, Master? Are you okay?” Archer asked back.

“I don’t feel anything weird in my body. So, I am fine.”

“Where are we…” Saber asked.

“Excellion.”

“I shall explain.” My floating grimoire repeated what it had explained to me.

“So, did the other masters and servants were transported here too?” Archer asks Excellion.

“I have no sufficient data to conclude. But this is a high possibility.” Excellion states with its mechanical voice.

“Let’s secure our perimeter first. We will see if this can used as our base of operation.” Archer’s suggestion is what we can agree on. We quickly found out that even though we can see the vast city in our peripheral vision, our room of movement is only limited to my house and the yard. In shorts, we can’t get out of my house. Some kind of invisible barrier enclosed this space. ~”~

“Seems like we are really on the other side of the world.” Archer sighed. The house itself is a perfect replica of mine, the only evidence that we are in fact, are not our world is the round big yellow moon that is hanging in the sky. The moon looks bigger and feels closer and it does exude eerie feelings to whoever gazes at it.

While in our small patrol, I cast bounded fields here and there to prevent anything jumps on us in surprise. From now on, at least temporarily, this will be our home base operation.

“Now, our next agenda is, searching for the exit along with the disappearing masters.” Archer continued. “Any idea?”

“…” We look at him with a blank stare.

“I thought so.” He sighed.

“Maybe we can blast the bounded field leading to outside?” I said.

“…Excellion also doesn’t know what kind of place is waiting for us outside. It’s best not to rush.” Saber said.

“Let’s take a break for now,” Archer says and I nod. “I will go make a drink then.” Archer then disappears into the kitchen, leaving me and Saber in the living room.

‘…I am worried… is everyone okay…? I hope nothing bad happens to-’ I blink as I feel a small poke on my forehead.

“Don’t get so worried, Rein.” Saber, the culprit who pokes my forehead smiles. “Everyone is strong, so they will be alright. We will find them and go back to our world. I promise.”

“…”

I wonder why… despite just knowing for 3 weeks at most. Somehow… I feel I can believe everything Saber said. What a strange and funny feeling.

“Resting your mind is also part of the job.”

“…okay…” I nod. I do feel better after his little talk.

“Good.” Saber smiles in satisfaction and pats my head. I blink and nuzzle my head to his palm, enjoying the gesture (of affection).

‘…Cute…’ the said knight thinks as he sees imaginary flattened cat ears and swishing tail and he is trying hard to stifle his laughter. ‘…I will protect you… this time… for sure…’ his eyes soften ever so slightly.

“I guess you get how to handle Master down to pat.” The amused voice of Archer rings out.

“Archer, I am not a pet.” I pout. “It’s rude… boo…” I puff my cheeks as big as possible.

“…you look like a squirrel.” Archer quirks his brow.

“Eeeh… I prefer cat though…” I protested.

“…then you look like a cat.”

“Much better.” I nod in satisfaction.

“…Saber, as you can see, our master needs extra protection against humans.” Archer looks at Saber.

“It’s most certainly so.” Saber nods in agreement.

“I am always worried if she would go with a stranger if she was offered a candy.” Archer sighs.

“I am not that gullible!” I exclaimed.

“Here, your favourite hot cocoa drink.” Archer takes one of the mugs.

“Oh! My favourite.” I bound to Archer to get my drink. I look at him expectantly while waiting for him to hand me my drink. “Mine.” I hold out my hand and Archer gingerly hands it to me.

“…” They look at me blankly while I sip my hot beverage.

“…I am really worried more than ever…” Archer lamented.

“Should we cast a magecraft that will beep loudly if strangers approach her?” Saber is seriously thinking about this.

“That’s a good idea. And when it’s activated, it will send her location to us…”

“Caster’s charm!” they look at each other in realization.

“Man, after we find her, we need to ask her to make one that lasts a lifetime.” Archer grins.

“It might not as durable as hers. But we certainly can learn that magecraft from her.” The servants’ discussion has certainly taken a strange turn.

“I will see if I have that kind of magecraft in me. I will offer my help too.” Even Excellion is joining the discussion.

The playful atmosphere disperses instantly the moment we feel a new  presence of a new mana. “It’s coming from the backyard.” I say, pinpointing the location.”

“Heh, even a bounded field is useless.” Archer sneered.

“Let’s go check it out.” The three of us cautiously go to the backyard.

“This… a Sakura petal…?” a pink small flower petal floats away. A breeze blows, carrying more petals. The strong scent of the Sakura flower makes us stop dead in our tracks. There, in my backyard, a large blooming Sakura tree is standing. The flowers rustle along with the wind.

“I will perform a scan.” Excellion floats near the tree and does its thing. “Scan complete.” It floats back to my side.

“What is that?” I asked.

“That is a gate.”

“A gate?” we blink.

“Yes, regardless of its appearance, it’s an entrance to another place. I don’t have sufficient data to pinpoint where we will end up. But it’s a high probability, it will be in some sort of space.”

“A space within a space…” Archer sighs.

“…my bounded field is still intact with no holes… Either the magus is a genius or this has been here from the start and now finally activated because we somehow fulfil its requirements…” I muttered, analyzing every possibility.

“So, this is an invitation for us then?” Archer quirks his brow.

“Most likely.” I nod. “It’s as if we are invited to play a game. Either we get out or we will be trapped forever.”

“…But we only have one option from the start,” Saber said. “…which is continue to step forward.”

“Then, we have decided our next course of action,” Archer smirks. “Let’s eat something before we go.”

“Macaroni gratin!” I declared. “I want to eat macaroni gratin!”

“Ah, macaroni gratin? Hmm…” Archer is thinking. “Let’s see if the ingredients are available.” Surprisingly, the ingredients are still edible, hence the hot cocoa earlier.

Not long after, a hot steamy plate of macaroni gratin is placed on the table. “Woah…” my eyes sparkle. “This looks delicious.” I almost can’t hold back myself to dig in.

“Better thank Saber. He somehow made it work.” Archer said. “It’s an eye opener to make a macaroni gratin like that.” I heard him mutter.

“Really?! Saber made this?”

“Yes. I hope it’s to your taste.”

“Then, bon appetite.” I chomp down on the meal. “…” and then I put down the fork.

“Is it not to your liking?” Saber becomes worried.

“…no… it’s just…”

“Just?”

“…Somehow… it’s a very nostalgic flavour…” I say while in a daze. ‘It has a very kind taste.’

“Oh…”

“It’s very delicious.” I beam and resume my eating. “Thanks for the food.” I finish it in a record time.

“I am glad you like it.” Saber smiled. “If you’d like. I will cook it again.”

“Really?!” my ears perk up. “You promised! No take back!” I quickly sealed the deal before he could change his mind.

“Well then, it’s time to see what kind of things they have for us in the store,” Archer said. ~”~

“Ah, heroes from another world, please help us to vanquish the Demon King Illya.” Row and row of people… in a very familiar wardrobe and setting are kneeling in front of us.

“…Demon King Illya?” Archer repeated the word with such an absurd tone.

“Ah… Shiro did say Illya likes to play JRPG old school game.”

“…so, we are the heroes now?” Archer feels like he is going to puke.

“It appears to be so.” Saber nods.

“I see. So, this fall into the isekai trope that is in trend right now.” Excellion flat tone is somewhat making the whole situation funnier.

“Umm… Heroes…”

“Tell me about this Demon King Illya.” We turn our attention back to the big shots of the country.

In short, Demon King Illya has been wreaking havoc for her last 100 years and every brave hero that ventured to the Demon King’s castle never made it back.

“Saber, can your Excalibur kill Heracles in one shot?” Archer looks at his fellow servant.

“…Heracles is known to have 12 lives. So, 12 times if I can take one live per shot.” Saber answers seriously.

“…Just keep him occupied long enough so we can knock some sense to Illya,” I say.

“I have some restraining magecraft at my disposal.”

“Are we going right away?” I ask my servants.

“I prefer to go after we prepared more thoroughly,” Archer said.

“And I concur.” Saber agreed. We are given rooms to rest, but Archer insists that it’s better for us to stay in one place for my protection, in which all of us agree. It’s better safe than sorry. Thus, the 3 of us plus a talking book are discussing our next move.

“Excellion, do you feel anyone we know here?”

“Although it’s faint, I do feel the mana traces of Tohsaka Rin and Rin nearby.”

“!!” that catches our attention instantly.

“You should tell us sooner!” Archer said.

“My apology. I will prioritize this information next time.”

“Where are they?” indeed, our first priority is to search for our friends.

“Northwest of the castle, approximately 60 km from here.” Excellion said.

“Let’s go. Saber, I will leave Master to you.” Archer opens the balcony and jumps down.

“Roger.” Saber turns to me and smiles, “Excuse me, Rein.” With ease, he lifts me up… using only one hand. I automatically wrap my hands around his neck to stabilize myself. “Then, I will jump down now. Please close your eyes if you are scared.”

The feeling of the wind whipping on my body as we jump down actually feels great. “Let’s do it again later!” It’s actually a very addicting feeling, granted I have been given a perfect safety measure.

“If you’d like, I will do it again and again.” Saber laughs a little and then rushes to keep up with Archer.

Archer… is fighting Lancer by the time we arrive at the designated site. “Tsk, a reinforcement.” Lancer clicked his tongue.

“Rin, are you here? We don’t want to fight, just want to talk. If you are here, please answer me.”

‘No answer… I expected this.’

“Do you know, Shiro told me a long time ago that he might or might not have a crush on Rin?” I pretend to talk to Saber.

A rustle on a tree and then, someone jumps down. “Tell me more about that.” Rin… wearing a black hooded cloak on top of her usual red-themed outfit finally shows up herself.

“Master, I told you not to show yourself no matter what.”

“I know. But they know about that man.”

‘That man?’ I blink.

“Name yourself.” Rin glared at me. She doesn’t seem to recognize me.

“I am Rein. A hero that was summoned to defeat Demon King Illya.” I used the handy identity I was given not long ago.

“Hero? You?” Rin is jaw dropped.

“Hahahaha!” Lancer laughs out loud. “What kind of joke is this? Did they seriously think a sheltered princess can defeat Demon King? I know they are getting anxious because no more people dared to challenge the Demon King. But to think they got so desperate that they sent a little girl who is still wet behind her ears…” he shakes his head in pure amusement.

“Eeehhh… I look that young? I am at the same age as Rin though.” I do think my features are pretty average, just a little shorter than average girls.

“…you will look more convincing if you don’t talk in that kind of position…” Rin deadpanned.

“…In what kind of position?” I blink and then make an ‘o’ shape mouth. I forget I am still literally sitting on Saber’s arm. “…It feels comfortable though,” I comment offhandedly. ‘And I oddly like it.’

“…” Rin and Lancer stare at me.

“I guess, I should get down first.” Saber gently lets me down at that.

“So, how and what do you know about that man?” Rin glared.

“That man? You mean about Shiro?”

“Yes. And you seem to know about me too. But I don’t know about you. Speak. What is your true purpose.” Rin said while pointing ‘Gandr’ at me.

“I know you, yes. And I know Shiro too, but in different way than you imagined. Rin… what is the last thing you remember?”

“What do you mean?” she narrows her eyes. “I am Rin, the guardian of this forest. I have been born and raised here. Until that man… stole this forest heart.”

“So you are hunting Shiro down now?” Archer quirks his brow in amusement.

“Spill everything you know about that man.”

“Okay.” I nod. “Shiro… his full name is Emiya Shiro, adopted son of Emiya Kiritsugu, 16 years old, currently living with Saber (Female) and Sakura, his kouhai visits him every single day. Rin, you too used to live with him.”

“?!What?!!!”

“And the four of you are engaged in pandemonium of love.”

“Don’t say that!!!! I am not in love with him!” Rin shrieked while blushing.

“But your face is red!”

“No! You see it wrong! I am-”

“Master, I have finished my scan. There is a spell put upon Lancer and Tohsaka Rin.”

“Can you undo it?”

“Yes, I have finished the counterspell.”

“Good. Saber, Archer.” They know what I am going to do, so they used this chance to subdue Lancer who realized a second too late.

“Restrain.” I use a binding spell on Rin and Lancer for extra measure.

“You cowards! You lied to me!” Rin hissed.

“I am not. Don’t worry. I will make you remember everything. In fact, you will be thankful for me.” I smile.

“No… don’t come near me! NO!!!!!”

“...I didn’t do anything bad.” I pout. Rin and Lancer have successfully regained their memories. “Why does she scream like I was going to harass her?” I sulk, drawing a circle on the ground.

“So-sorry, Rein. I didn’t mean it like that. Yo-you see, I didn’t remember who you are.” Rin tried to appease my mood.

“You even pointed ‘Gandr’ at me,” I mumbled.

“I told you, my memory was manipulated. Besides, when you smile like that in that kind of situation, everyone obviously will think you are going to do something bad.” Rin stretches my cheek.

“It hurts… It hurts, Rin. My cheeks are going to fall off.”

“So, what do we do next?” Lancer asked.

“Obviously searching for Emiya Shiro,” Archer said. “You two said he stole this forest’s heart. Which means, you two met him.”

“…wait a minute…” Rin takes a deep breath and begins to sort her memory.

“Excellion, how was it? Do you feel anything?”

“Yes. There is indeed a trace of Emiya Shiro and his servant, Saber here.” Excellion stated.

“Can you tell us where he is?”

“100 km from here, to the east,” Exellion said after a while.

“Then, we got ourselves a lead. Let’s finish this and smack whoever threw us here.” Lancer grumbles.

“We are in agreement for once,” Archer said. ~”~

When we meet Shiro and Saber, the first thing Rin does is... send Shiro off with a flying knee kick. The kick is so marvellous that Lancer and Archer are clapping their hands in awe. “I get Shiro-Saber team.” I giggle as if I am collecting Pokemon.

“So, our next team is Hakuno-Namless.” Archer cranked his neck. Someone recognized his face and told him to give his wife their best regard.

“So, they are married now?” my mouth turns into a cat-shaped due to excitement. “I guess I have more material to tease them more. Ah, it’s so fun.” I literally skipped due to the excitement.

“…Rein… I didn’t raise you to be like this.” Archer sighs.

“Eeehh… best friends tease each other, no? This also counts as a payback for Nameless.” I smile innocently.

“You are still holding a grudge about it?” Archer sweatdropped.

“Not really. My main reason is because Hakunon is fun to tease.” I answered.

And so, we finally arrived at the house where the two of them were supposed to live. I knock on the door, waiting for either Hakunon or Nameless to open the door.

“Yes…” Hakunon opens the door and is surprised to see a group of people whom she has no idea of, is crowding in front of her front door.

“I come to get(read. kidnap) you.” I smile.

“Yes?” Hakunon blinks, tilting her head.

~Hakunon-Nameless team… GET!~

“This leaves Sakura-Rider and Sensei-Caster… Illya is obviously in the Demon King Castle with Berserker and probably her maids.” Rin sighs.

“So, what is our plan next?” Saber (Female) looks at us.

“I don’t feel anything of Matou Sakura-Rider and Kuzuki Souichirou-Caster.”

“…Rather than wasting time with no lead. We should pick Illya up first. Who knows she might have known something.” Nameless suggested. And so, our next course of action is to pick (read. capture) Illya-Berserker team.

“Welcome to my castle, O’Hero.” Illya’s voice echoes in the hall, at the same time spotlights are turned on, revealing Illya on Berserker’s shoulder.

“…I have a feeling it will turn out this way…” Archer sighed.

“I commend your bravery to step into my castle. But from now on, it won’t be so easy. To conquer this castle and to conquer me, you have to show your dauntless bravery and wits.” Illya smiled.

“I will await you in my throne room. Don’t disappoint me, O’Hero.” The spotlights turned off and the hall lit up, but Illya and Berserker had gone.

“Huhuhu, before you can get to the throne room. All of you will die in my hands.” Another familiar voice said.

“Ah, Sakura.” It’s Sakura alright. But this Sakura… looks a little different. She is wearing a long black dress with red stripes, and bare feet, there’s a line marking like a tattoo from her neck to her cheek. One thing to note is the dress seems to be alive.

“I am Dark Sakura.” She laughs evilly. “I am the right second in command of Demon King Illya. Now, Heroes who came from far away, we shall have our showdown. I will present my liege with your heads.”

“Ah, Shiro told me he likes Sakura.” I suddenly said.

“Eh? I don’t say-” Shiro gaped at me.

“Is…is that right?” the Dark Sakura who was the epitome of evil has become a shy maiden.

“But you said, Sakura will surely become a good bride.”

“That’s! I did say it, but that doesn’t mean-”

“What’s the meaning of this, Shiro?” Saber narrowed her eyes.

“That’s right, Emiya-kun. You can’t just lead people on! It’s your bad habit.”

“I never lead people on.” Shiro tried to argue.

“…she is scarier than when she was being haughty and selfish…” Nameless shivered.

“Master…” Archer sighs with a pointed look.

“Don’t worry. This is the best method to not hurt Sakura unnecessarily.” I grin. Even though I like to stir the drama, I still do my work properly. I have been weaving a spell little by little to avoid being detected. Rider is nowhere in sight, but she is nearby. The moment my spell activates is probably the moment she will spring out to protect Sakura.

“Restrain.” A magic circle appeared beneath Sakura’s feet and a shadow sprung out.

“There you are.” Archer and Nameless fired their arrows at her to distract her, and I successfully bound Sakura.

“Master Sakura!”

“Rider!”

“Lancer!”

“Right o!” Lancer dashes forward, and spear clashes with Rider’s weapon. I quickly cast another restraining spell on Rider. Now… I have two of them, hands and feet being bound, kneeling on the floor.

“Excellion.”

“Yes, Master.”

“…I do feel like we are being villains here.” Hakunon sweatdropped.

“No… no… save me, SENPAI!”

“MASTER SAKURA!!!”

“…Why were they yelling again? I was not harassing them…” I grumble in the dark corner again, feeling sulky.

“So…sorry, Rein-senpai.” Sakura who is feeling mighty guilty is trying to cheer me up.

“I am very sorry.” Rider bowed her head repeatedly.

“Rin kicked Shiro, yet nobody said anything to her. I was only trying to undo the spell yet…”

“Ah, please, don’t cry, Senpai. I will cook your favourite later, okay?”

“…really…?”

“Really. I will cook a lot of your favourite.” Sakura nods her head quickly.

“…okay…”

~Sakura-Rider team… GET!~

Now, we are standing in front of the throne room. At long last, we will be facing Illya. I hope she has a lead about sensei though.

“Illya!”

“Huhuhu! As expected from Hero! You easily converted my second in command to your allies in a little time.” Illya laughed.

“…” all of them are averting their eyes, while I just smile at Illya.

“No matter. My Berserker is the most powerful servant in the world. He can easily squish your puny bodies. Behold, the power of Demon King. BERSERKER!”

Berserker lets out a loud roar, signalling the fight is on. With numbers on our side, an overwhelming win is not hard. The problem is we fight not to kill, but to restrain Berserker. That is taking a lot more than we would have thought. In the end, we managed to undo the spell after killing Berserker once and bound him before he revived. We are transported back to our base of operation right after we subdued Illya and Berserker.

“Ouch…” Illya finally regains her consciousness. “What happened?” she blinks.

“You don’t remember?” Rin sighs.

“I remember I was going to visit Shiro and then…”

“I shall explain.” Excellion floats in front of her.

“A talking book?” Illya blinks, and her hand tentatively touches my grimoire.

“…that’s about it…”

“I see… to be honest, I don’t know what happened to Sella and Leysritt. I think I was caught first… I also have no idea about Caster and her master's whereabouts.” Illya said.

“Don’t worry, Illya. Sella and Lyseritt will be right. They are strong, you know?” Shiro assures her.

“Um…” Illya nods.

“The grimoire did say that there is another layer of space after the first one. We might find something there.” Saber (Female) said.

“That’s right. Sensei, Sella and Leysritt might be there too. So, Illya, lend us your power.” Shiro extends his hand to her.

“Well… since Shiro asked nicely. I will help you just this once.” Illya, with her tsundere-like words, accepts the offer.

“By the way, Shiro.” Saber (Female) called out to her master.

“What, Saber?”

“I am hungry.”

“…”

“I am hungry too.” I look at my servants pitifully.

“Actually, me too. Even though I have no real body.” Hakunon raised her hand asshamed.

“Well, I guess after a fight like that, hunger is inevitable.” Archer smiled wryly.

“We will need to cook a lot to feed this army of hungry people.” Nameless sighs.

“Ah, I will help too,” Shiro said.

“Then, I will be going to help. Please endure a little longer, Rein.” Saber pats my head.

“Yes~” ~”~

“Hm? What was I?” I was suddenly gasping in realization. “Mutsuki-san, is there any problem?” Souichirou-sensei asked.

“Ah, no. it’s nothing. I apologize, Sensei.” I recomposed myself.

“Then I will continue the lesson,” Sensei said.

‘???’ I sort my memories bit by bit. I got up early as usual, freshened up myself, ate breakfast, packed my lunch and walked to school as usual… nothing is out of ordinary… so why… do I feel uneasy?

“Rein-chan! What are you dozing off for? It’s lunch break.”

“Ah?” I blink. “Already?”

“Yes… are you really alright?” Hakunon, my best friend asked worriedly. “It’s rare for you to daze like that in a lesson.”

“Sorry to worry you. I am fine.” I assured her.

“Oh, it’s Ayaka! As usual, Proto Archer and Proto Lancer are pushy as ever.” Hakunon sweatdropped.

“Aya…ka…?” I repeated slowly as I followed her eyes to see the scene beneath the window.

“Saber?”

“Ayaka?”

“Eh? Why? Why are you here? Where is this in the first place?”

“Calm down, Ayaka.”

“Jou-chan, what happe… you! Saber!”

“Lancer! You are here too!”

“Man… what the hell is happening?”

“Saber! This time for sure I will beat you and take Ayaka’s hand!”

“…Archer… I won’t allow it!” Saber's eyes are set to a glare.

“Wait wait wait! It’s not the time for that!” the bespectacled girl known as Ayaka quickly diffuses the tense atmosphere.

“So, everyone knows each other?” I finally speak up and in instant, they look at me.

That’s right. We go to the next dungeon after a break… and then… we meet Ayaka, (Proto) Lancer and (Proto) Archer… and then… what happened next…?

“Rein?! Are you alright?!”

“Ah… yeah… I am alright.” I nod. ‘What…was that…?’

“You really should go to the infirmary just in case.”

“Don’t worry, Hakunon. I will be fine after a while.” I smile.

“But…”

“Ah, it’s Saber.” I quickly shift her attention back to the Ayaka and Saber…

“Oh, Saber comes to save the day again.” Hakunon chirps. Saber who is always coming to save Ayaka from her pushy suitors… like a knight in shining armor.

‘…why is it… Ayaka… not me…?’ My eyes widen as certain memories begin to surface.

‘Oh! No no no!’ I shake my head. ‘I shouldn’t think about that… I am no longer…’ ~”~

“You sure as busy as ever, Ayaka.” Hakunon laughed as we finally had our lunch.

“They really should cut it out and give me a break. They are doing it every single day. How can they not feel tired?” Ayaka sighs.

“Ahahahaha! Don’t say that! Even though they look like that, they are still very popular.” Hakunon laughs heartily.

“I don’t need it.” Ayaka chomps her lunch.

“But you got to see Saber saving you like a prince on a white horse every single day. What’s so bad about that?” Hakunon teased.

Ayaka looks at her dead in the eyes, “Saber and I are not like that.” she says firmly.

“Eeehh… even though he keeps hovering around you like a bodyguard?” Hakunon put on her disbelieving expression.

“I see… I guess I sorta understood what situation we are in now…” Ayaka nods her head. “But… I have never thought I would see you again, Saber. I am glad you are doing well.”

“Yes. I am glad that you are doing well too, Ayaka.” Saber smiles.

‘Oh…’ I blink at their interaction.

“Keh! There they are being lovey-dovey again.” Lancer… or now to be called Proto Lancer made a face at them.

“We are not in that kind of relationship.” Ayaka sighed for the umpteenth time.

“But Jou-chan is clearly playing favourite.” Proto Lancer protested.

“Heee… what’s this?” Lancer smirked as he finally found something worth his time. “Saber… you sly dog, you have a cute girlfriend yet you were flirting with your current master.”

“Lancer, Ayaka is not my girlfriend.” Saber frowned. Now now, he can’t make his master misunderstand him now, can he?

“That’s right. Saber is like a saviour? A brother figure… he is like that for me. So, don’t go around spreading nonsense, errr… Lancer.” Ayaka backed him up.

“…”

“Rein?” I blink my eyes at Archer’s voice. “Are you alright?”

“Of course. Why won’t I be?” I tilt my head at my unusually worried servant.

“If you want, I can knock some sense to him…” he narrowed his eyes.

“…” I burst out to a little giggle. “Thank you, but it’s not needed. This is… what it should be…” I spoke softly… so soft that I am the one who can hear it.

“Rather, I am hungry, Archer. I want to eat.” I pulled a puppy dog's eyes on him.

“I will whip something real quick for you.” Archer sighs in defeat, not prying what I don’t want to say.

“Then, Archer’s special hamburger steak.”

“…you know that it takes a long time to make, don’t you?”

“Eeehhh… then, Archer’s special omurice.”

“Let’s go with that then.” ~”~

“…haaa…” I exhale a long sigh. “The same trick, but stronger…” I mumbled. But this doesn’t work well for me. Because I have started remembering what had happened before this and it couldn’t even touch the other part of memories… I guess that’s given with how I protected those.

“…I should lock them again… before… before it causes trouble for everyone… and… him too…”

I can already imagine how my teacher will nag at me because of this.

“You should just put him under your slave spell. I will bet my whole entertainment that even if he finds out, he will happily oblige to whatever you want. He’s just down that bad for you.”

“…you are wrong, sensei… He… had someone else saved his heart… a feat that even I couldn’t do…”

“…That’s why… I have no right to insert myself into his heart anymore…” a leaf falls down right on my awaiting palm.

“Rein!”

I shift my attention to the source of the voice. “Ar…Saber? Are you alright? Why are you so out of breath?” I get off the bench and walk to him. “I will go get some water for you.”

“Don’t go!” my hand was roughly gabbed. “Don’t go anywhere! Don’t disappear on me again!” and I was pulled into a tight embrace.

“Ah? I am not going anywhere nor I am disappearing though. I just want to get water for you.” I stated.

“…”

“Besides, I am your master. Where do you think I will be going without my servants?” I awkwardly pat his back, trying not to let him know how much I missed this.

‘Liar… you are a liar, Rein… You never noticed that your voice trembles ever so slightly when you lie. It’s the habit only I noticed…’

“Oh!” I pull back slightly when I realize something. “You remember!” I beamed.

“Remember…” Saber's eyes tremble. “Do you mean the time when we were a-”

“I am glad. I noticed everyone doesn’t remember that we were swallowed into a black hole. Their memories must be manipulated.”

“Oh…” Saber slowly blinks into realization. “We… where are we…?”

“What’s the last thing you remember?” I asked.

“We were attacked and a black hole opened up, swallowing us,” he answered.

“And this is the space inside the black hole. This space manipulated our memories. Must be made to trap us here forever… or until the time that the master of the dungeon feels she is bored enough and let us out.” I grumble in distaste.

We all know who the holder of the real Grail now. Ayaka told us she saw the attacker that transported them to the other side of the world. It’s none other than her sister, Sajyou Manaka, she was supposed to be dead… twice…

She was stabbed by Arthur when she was alive and Beast 666, the true enemy that Arthur must vanquish before he can go to Avalon. Beast 666 who was created by Manaka, imprinted to her as its mother and revived her. Manaka then was killed for sure in the Second Holy Grail War, which Ayaka accidentally joined in.

But now… for whatever reason she is still alive… but if I were to be honest… the reason she must still alive… no, she is not exactly alive. She is dead and now the one in front of us is her lingering attachment to… Arthur…

Her attachment is strong enough to form an astral projection and she moves solely based on her feeling to be with Arthur. She will do anything to be with him and that’s how she stole the Holy Grail from our world and dragged us to this mess.

Everything is for… him…

“Haaa…” I sigh. ‘Really… just what kind of seduction technique this guy used. He even managed to charm a ...supposed omnipotent girl.’

“What’s wrong, Rein? Are you feeling sick? Shall I take you to the infirmary?”

“…” When I look at him fussing around like this… I can’t help but want to tease him a little. “Yeah… I feel sick. I will feel better if you cross-!”

“That’s not good, I will take you to the infirmary now.” Arthur carries me princess-style straight to the infirmary, ignoring the shocked looks everyone gives.

‘Ah… I think I just made my life worse…’ ~”~

[marblesphere]

Master List

Final Fantasy Series

Noctis x Reader (Dream or Reality)

Jujutsu Kaisen

Gojo Satoru x Reader/OC

(Oneshot) (Omake) (Spin Off) (Spin Off 2) (Halloween) (Happy Birthday!!) (Happy Valentine!!!) (Kitsune Sorcerer AU) (Reverse Isekai’d) (Halloween 2022) (Happy Birthday Gojo! 2022) (Merry Christmas! 2022) (999th)(Mafia AU) (Soulmate AU) (Merry Christmas) (Mafia/CEO AU) (High School AU) (Omegaverse) (Demon King AU) (Mafia Omegaverse) (Onmyouji AU/Kitsune Kyubi Gojo) (God AU! Kyubi Switch Simp Gojo) (Omegaverse Jujutsu AU) (Summer Time) (Marriage Lovers) (Template Shoujo Manga) (Vampire Soulmate AU) (Osorezan Revoir) (Car Racer AU) (Clan Leader AU)

Diary of Mafia Villainess (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10) (11) (Ex1) (Ex2) (Ex3) (12) (13) (Ex4) (14) (15) (16) Complete

Fate Grand Order

Charlemagne x Master Reader (Oneshot)

Fate/Alternate Reality Saber Prototype x OC/Reader (Part 1) (Part 2)

Genshin Impact

Xiao x Reader (Part 1) (Part 2) Angst Warning

Xiao x Reader (Oneshot) Suicidal Thought Warning

Ensemble Stars

Knights x Reader (Oneshot)

Please do not post any of these fics elsewhere. These fics are only in tumblr and Ao3 under penname Tsumikio. Thank you very much.