Chapter 196: Chapter 187
I was tired, no, that wasn't a strong enough word. Even fatigue didn't quite hit the mark. Physically and mentally, I was damn well exhausted. In another situation, I would have gleefully make notes about how the Boosted Gear felt after being utilized for so long, and the side effects of such a burden on my body.
But at the moment, I wanted to just lay my head down and go to sleep.
Preferably between my teacher's thighs.
I miss my Scáthach.
"Are you sure this is the right way?" I turned towards Jeanne who was.....sorta leading us, but not really. It was more like she was headed towards the Grail and we were just following along because 'technically' she wasn't allowed to help us.
My words broke the awkward silence that closed in around us. "Are you questioning my ability now?" She looked at me dryly. "Not before you tied me up and used me like a compass?"
"That doesn't sound like something I'd do." I smiled at her.
I'm glad she wasn't treating me any different. I couldn't deny that I had thoughts like that, worry that perhaps she wouldn't like me when my origins was revealed.
I held back a sigh at the thought. I knew If I continued down this mental path, I would lose myself in it when I needed to be more focused on the moment.
[Maybe you should find a therapist or something?]
I almost wanted to scoff at his response. Not because I looked down on getting some mental health help, but who would be able to deal with this hot mess? Find some random Shrink – Hey doc, I'm a half human / devil hybrid, oh and I'm part dragon too because I got one in my soul and gave up my heart to him. Did I mention I'm also the reincarnation of the man I call grandfather? By the way, I killed the woman I fell for, and I'm dating the female version of King Arthur. Also, I banged an Eldritch Goddess.
[Don't get snippy with me, it was just a suggestion.]
I took a breath, and let myself calm down.
Sorry, just kind of wound up with no outlet at the moment.
You're right, I shouldn't keep pushing everything down and try to ignore things.
But, thoughts for later. At the risk of sounding like I'm procrastinating, I really do need to focus on other things at the moment.
"We're here." Jeanne stated, pushing open two large door that led inside what appeared to be a Workshop.
"So this place managed to survive?" I muttered. "How long will this structure remain since Assassin is gone?"
"Things should be settled by the wars end." Jeanne replied, as if a fact. I guess her 'instinct' was telling her it's fine.
"Shit, is that the Grail?" Mordred poked her head over, practically pushing past both of us. "Looks freakin weird."
"Huh, yeah, didn't think it'd look like that." Kairi muttered as well, poking his Sun Glasses a few times.
I knew his glasses were a Mystic Code, but I still don't know what it does, and I'm really curious now.
The Grail itself looked like a sort of statue melded with a large stone slab.
"Did you expect a golden chalice?" I chuckled, stepping into the room.
"Kinda." Mordred shrugged. "I guess I pictured it how the 'Holier than thou' asshole described the real thing."
"You mean Galahad?" I took a minute to process what she said. That was the guy from the legend of retrieving the actual Holy Grail, not this thing that Mages named to poke at the Church.
She scoffed. "Had a stick up his ass the size of father's lance. Always strutting around like he was better than everyone."
"Huh." I Blinked at her words. "Learned something new, I guess. Artoria hasn't mentioned him much."
"Not surprising, no one really liked spending a lot of time with him. He had that sort of personality that made you feel inferior just by existing next to him." Mordred started walking towards the Grail. "God forbid you say a naughty word or litter, cause he'd be giving you a lecture about 'proper' etiquette." I could feel the sarcasm in her voice.
I'm happy that she's still open with me. Even if Kairi is keeping me at arms length, always making sure I'm within his vision.
I took a moment to look up at Raikou who gave me a bright smile. I allowed myself a moment, closing my eyes and leaned on her shoulder. {Thank you for accepting my summons} I sent through the link. I know I said it multiple times already, but she was the best Servant I could have asked for.
{Thank you for summoning me.} She returned.
I stood up straight, opening my eyes again. It seemed like everyone was hesitant to actually approach the thing. Even Jeanne was staring at it with a blank expression.
"Yo, can I get my spear back?" I said, breaking Jeanne from her strange trance.
She instinctively hugged it closer to herself. "Where exactly did you get this?" Her tone sounded rather accusatory.
"Stole it." I grinned without a hint of shame.
Jeanne puffed up, giving me a cute glare. "Stealing is wrong."
"Eh, he was trying to kidnap my daughter, so I'd say it's justified."
Jeanne blinked at me. Before sighing and handing it back over. I could tell it didn't 'appreciate' being held by me, but allowed me to do so. Again, I felt like if I tired to wield it, it would probably do something to retaliate.
Well, back in the ring you go.
Looking back at Jeanne, she had a strange look on her face. Did I forget to mention to her that I have a daughter? It was mentioned when I was.... So she should have heard it? I guess processing takes a moment.
"...Just don't abuse it please."
"No thoughts of keeping it? Big G probably whispered in your ear through it."
"Must you call him that." She huffed.
"Actually...now that you know the truth, I kinda do." I chuckled awkwardly.
"What's up with that exactly? You a demon or something?" Mordred came in the subtly of a dragon.
Even Kairi looked like he was stopping himself from facepalming.
Well, I prefer this over the awkwardness of the walk over here. "Half Devil." I decided to be honest. "Mom was a normal human, and I thought I was too up until a few years ago. She died and I lived by myself for most my life. I only learned that father dearest was keeping a firm hand on my situation, so I didn't wander too far form the glass prison he set up." I waived my hand flippantly.
Was I bitter?
Yeah.
I wasn't as bitter as when I first left, and I feel like I am in a much better place since my first visit to Kyoto, but old memories were drudged up that I haven't fully dealt with.
"Got any cool powers?" Mordred seemed a bit interested, and Kairi looked like he was trying to not listen in too obviously.
I held my finger up, my Power of Destruction formed at the tip with a little pop, like lighting as it crackled before sputtering out. "Bloodline ability – Power of Destruction, destroys things conceptually."
Hmm, it felt easier to manifest than the last time I tired without using the Sword as a catalyst. Filed that little tidbit down for later to investigate more.
"That's fuckin rad." She perked up.
Never change Mordred.
"I also got wings."
"Shit, really?"
I couldn't hold back a grin at she earnestly seemed excited. I flexed my back a little, letting them pop out.
"Awesome." She inspected them. "Just.....out of curiosity...is it possible to hold up another person while you fly?" She looked a little embarrassed to ask that.
It was hard to resist the urge to give her a head pat. "If you want to go flying, I'll take you when we settle everything." I whispered to her.
"Idiot." She said quietly, looking away. "I never said I wanted to." Though her happy expression contradicted her words.
I took a step forward, reluctantly leaving Raikou's side. "So, Short Stuff, want to decide who's the true winner, hmm?"
Mordred quickly returned to her normal attitude and let out a snort. "Father would be upset if I killed his Queen."
Which was Mordred's way of saying she didn't want to fight.
So I shrugged, accepting it for what it was.
Walking up, I looked the Grail over.
"Wilhelm." Jeanne spoke up. "Something is wrong with the Grail."
I glanced to her and back at the Grail. "Yeah, something is wrong with it. I didn't notice until I got this close." I put my hand over it and began looking at its structure.
My eyes widened as I realized what was happening. "Oh wow, we were cutting it close here."
"Something wrong?" Kairi asked.
"Yeah, Shirou managed to actually make a wish, albeit through some strange logic and round about way. But a wish all the same."
"How, I thought someone had to be the winner?" Mordred looked confused.
"Technically.....no." I scratched my cheek. "It's little more than a big mana battery if you wanna get down to it. It's main purpose – the inception of its creation – was to punch a hole to the Root using the path that Servants come when summoned. It utilizes a very complex and finicky Magecraft known as Wishcraft to shape the mana into 'wishes'. I won't bore you with the specifics, but essentially, it only needs a certain amount of power to actually utilize. The Apocrypha failsafe wasn't the intended direction for the War, only a fail safe if someone tried to abuse it."
"So we don't have to fight until only one remains?"
"Yes." Jeanne interjected. "Those are the rules to acquire the wish." She glanced at me. "Regardless of the Grail's ability to utilize its mechanism, you are not allowed to make a wish until you are the final Servant."
"Hoh." Mordred looked a little amuse. "What If I want to anyways?" She seemed like she wanted to throw hands.
"Saber." Kairi calmed her down. "Not right now.
"Tch." She clicked her tongue but backed away.
She really does like fighting.
"Can you explain about 'cutting it close'?" Kairi spoke up again.
"Yeah." I tapped on Grail. "He made a wish, but due to the roundabout way he was able to overcome the restraints and failsafes, it was taking a bit of time to actualize. I'd give it – " I stared off for a moment, doing some calculations. " 8, maybe 10 minutes at most before it would go off."
"And his wish would have been bad?"
"Oh definitely." I nodded. "Maybe not immediately, but this time line would have been abandoned instantaneously by the corrective forces, letting it be pruned from the tree of possibilities."
Kairi raised an eyebrow, noticeable even behind his glasses but didn't comment.
I suppose what I said wasn't exactly common knowledge. Maybe he needed a moment to think about what I said?
I turned back around, focusing on the Grail. It wasn't hard to undo the 'wish' so to speak. Simple as cutting off the timer, and forcing the 'wish' portion back into Magical Energy that the Grail was storing.
Whatever he did, it was very smart, if a bit amateurish. He was definitely no mage, but the fact that he was able to come this far just spoke of his ability. A skill or Noble Phantasm perhaps?
I took a small glance at Jeanne, before going back into the Grail and messing with some of the mechanisms. It was almost like riding a bike, I knew what most of this stuff did even if the memories of creating it didn't exactly carry over from my past life.
"Wilhelm." Jeanne spoke up, snaping her head at me. "What did you do?" She narrowed her eyes.
I pursed my lips. "So, you noticed, huh?"
Raikou was already by my side, looking ready for a fight. Mordred seemed ready, able to read the atmosphere quickly enough. Surprisingly, Kairi reacted before both of them, taking a strategic position in the rear, out of the line of sight.
"This was always your plan, wasn't it?" Jeanne asked.
"Yeah." I said quietly, admitting to it.
"Is it worth it?"
"It is." I nodded.
"Yes, I remember what you told me your wish was." She let out a sigh, not looking ready to fight at all.
I didn't want it to come to this, I really don't want to fight her, especially after everything that happened.
"Technically.....what you did is not against the rules." She rubbed her temples.
I blinked, perking up at what she said.
"There are specifically no rules about severing my connection to the Grail." Her tone came off as a bit annoyed. "Probably because it was assumed that would not be possible. But I suppose it was never taken into account someone would have such in depth knowledge of its working, and be willing to interfere in the first place with the combined skill to pull it off so quickly."
Zelretch is the only one alive who has the knowledge to do this so seamlessly, and it would be idiotic to assume he would meddle just to do this specific action. It took Medea weeks to finagle a means to summon Sasaki Kojiro, and that was merely abusing the summoning functions.
While I was fixing things, I managed to snip the little thread that linked her to the Grail so she couldn't use her command seals to order our Servants. Normally, the bond between Servant and Master is contained within the command Seals, which is how they can be ordered through their use. Otherwise, you could command other Servants to die, which would be just stupid. A Ruler Servant is connected to the Grail, and the Grail is connected the Servants, this link is how Ruler can command other Servants with her Command seals.
So I cut her link to the Grail.
It wasn't very hard.
She was right, technically it wasn't against the rules. But at the same time, there was enough wiggle room that she could plausibly interfere if she wished.
There were some other things I needed to do. Jeanne looked at me intently as I continued to mess with it. Besides cutting her connection, I needed to sort of 'unanchor' it from the local Leylines. Again, not too difficult, just a bit....meticulous.
So I did the most obvious thing and stabbed Mirage straight into it.
"What are you doing!?" Jeanne squeaked out.
"Have you never seen Magus do meticulous calculations before, I swear." I dramatically rolled my eyes, a small grin on my face.
In seriousness though, I was letting Mirage handle the calculations, and it would be done much – much faster this way.
"Hey, Shorty." I turned towards Mordred.
"Don't call me that." She said evenly. "What do you want?"
"You trust me?"
"Against every instinct I have."
I smiled, turning towards Kairi. "You trust me?"
"At this point, I can't afford not to trust you."
"Again, that's fair." Kairi is a very pragmatic person. "Don't' freak out."
"Freak out about what?"
I put a hand on Mirage, then one on Raikou, giving one last smirk towards Jeanne.
Her eyes widened. "WILHELM! Don't you dare!" She shouted as I pulled the Grail, myself and Raikou through a portal.
***
Sorry for the late chapter, just kind of took it slow since it was Friday. As a reminder, i won't be posting on Sunday.
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