Chapter 451: Chapter 409
Dreams were weird.
Dreams that were filled with memories not your own? The dream cycle took that to the next level. It almost felt like lucid dreaming, except I couldn't control anything, but still experienced it vividly.
I watched Raikou and Vlad fight. The maniacal laughter of his even as Raikou continued to fill his body with wounds.
From the position I was able to see, it seems like he genuinely was rejoicing in/reveling in/happy about his defeat. Which wasn't odd considering how much he despised his connection to the 'Vampire' and to be forced into the state so close to that was the worst torture you could inflict upon him.
I couldn't help but marvel at Raikou's skill.
Vlad was no match for her whatsoever. He acted like a mindless berserker, just throwing himself at her at every opportunity. It reminded me of how Lancelot was under his own Madness. Granted, I did not believe Vlad to be anywhere near as skilled as Lancelot was.
Vlad was a General first and foremost. That wasn't to deny his presence on the battlefield, leading the charge against his enemies. But he did not take the path of a warrior, but of a leader primarily. And I didn't think he would dispute that claim either.
Seeing Raikou dance around his blows and gracefully inflict cut after cut, whittling him down until she severed his arm, it could only be called beautiful.
The dream abruptly ended once she finally defeated him.
And my eyes shot open.
I was staring right into Raikou's as she laid her head next to mine.
"Dream cycle?" She asked.
"Yeah, you too?"
She nodded. It was normal, when one of us had it, it was pretty much guaranteed that the other had it as well.
It wasn't always pleasant either.
I know the absolute worst parts of Raikou's life. And she did not have a pleasant life in her early years.
"Nothing bad I hope?" I asked.
She had that little smile on her face that made my heart skip a beat. It was so utterly adorable that it was hard to put into words. "I saw Master ask out his first crush."
I groaned and opted to push my head into her chest. Not that I needed an excuse to bury my face between her generous bosom.
"There there, Mommy will make you feel better." She giggled. "Master was so cute when he was younger."
"I'm glad you enjoyed one of my most embarrassing moments." I huffed.
"I think it was sweet." She countered.
"She shot me down, hard."
"Yes, but that was her loss."
I knew she was just doing this to make me feel better, and it did work. "I got to see you fight Vlad."
"Mmm." I felt the vibrations in her chest. "I did not expect something so recent. It is not as bad as it could have been."
"Seems to be the summarization for everything that's happened."
"You did the best you could."
"I know, that's probably what makes it even worse." I sighed. "I literally don't know what I could have done differently bar calling out to Meridia and dooming the world regardless."
"And now you have time to figure it out." She pointed out.
"Yeah." I relented. I talked a big game back at Chaldea about regrouping and coming back, but I don't know where the fuck to even start. One thing was for sure, I would have to begin my Bankai training in earnest.
Sixth, Cu said.
Sixth singularity was my deadline to return. It implied a lot of things and I was maybe only right about half of them. But what I guessed was that he felt confident in them handling up to that point. But what came after....even he was worried.
I had time to prepare.
And it wouldn't be just Raikou I went with next time. Nor would I be hiding. The next time I showed up, I would be prepared for a fight.
"Does the fact that you're squeezing my behind mean that you're feeling better?" She asked.
"Maybe I just like squeezing your butt?"
She giggled, pinching my cheek. "Do you wish for me to really cheer you up?" She asked with a sultry smile.
"In any other circumstance, I wouldn't leave the room with you being able to walk. But....we have guests and I don't want to ignore them to have sex."
"You are correct." She shrugged helplessly. "I am worried about Jeanne."
"Yeah, me too. She must be feeling really confused about everything, especially with how the Singularity ended...."
"No one is at fault." She reassured me.
"I barely spoke a few words to her. That otherJeanne." I didn't want to call her a Fake. She didn't deserve that. "I was broken over what happened in the Fuyuki singularity, and it was nearly a copy of that circumstance but....I'm relieved. I'm relieved that my Jeanne is here right now."
"You feel like you were too quick to accept the other Jeanne's sacrifice?"
"I know how it sounds..."
"It's what makes Master Human." She booped my nose.
"Funny, I'm feeling less and less human these days. I don't know where I would be without all of you in my life."
"In more trouble, most likely. You have a penchant for it."
Being dead was the more likely bet.
She shifted, sitting up. "If we don't have time for me to properly take care of you, I know you enjoy watching us get dressed and undressed."
I absolutely did.
I don't know why. Obviously, there's the enjoyment of having someone you care about undressing. But the opposite seemed to ring true as well.
Well, I could enjoy myself for a minute or two, it wouldn't hurt anything.
@***@
"Jeanne?" I barely walked out the door to the bedroom and saw Jeanne poking her head out of her own room.
"G-Goodmorning." She greeted awkwardly.
"....you know you're allowed to leave your room, right?" I asked.
"I...didn't want to disturb anyone."
I just shook my head, holding my arms out. She took my meaning and walked into my hug. "How are you doing?"
"Better." She replied, which probably wasn't entirely a lie.
"Get any sleep?"
"A little." She shuffled out of my arms. "I guess...it's just a big change so it was hard to shut my eyes for too long."
"You poor thing." Raikou hugged her next. Well, more like attempting to suffocate her with her cleavage. She wasn't doing it entirely on purpose, so it only took some mild struggling for Raikou to let her go.
"Come on, we can get some food or something, then get you settled properly." I offered.
"I would like to see where you kidnapped me to." She smiled.
"It wasn't a kidnapping."
"You didn't ask for my opinion!"
"Would you have not wanted to come?"
"Well.....no." She admitted. "But you should have asked!" She puffed up.
"Jeanne, do you want to come back home with me?"
"You can't just ask now." She cutely whined.
"Possibly changing into some booty shorts for my viewing pleasure?"
"D-don't just ask something like that in front of other people!" She turned a shade of pink.
"I don't mind." Raikou pushed up against her, leaning down close to her ear. "We can match~"
"Neh!?"
Raikou was the best.
That was enough teasing of Jeanne this early in the morning. Instead, I just led her down the stairs where a bunch of familiar faces were sitting around, chatting.
"And there he is." Zelretch declared as we came into view.
"Gramps." I was happy to see him.
"You had quite the adventure it seems." He smiled.
"That's one way to say it." I walked over, giving a hug and kiss to Venelana and Yasaka. I took an empty seat, and was feeling pretty proud of myself, or rather Jinn, for having the foresight to make our living room able to accommodate so many people. I plopped down on an empty seat and took out the device Gramps gave me when leaving for the singularity and tossed it to him. "I'm surprised everyone else isn't here."
He caught it handedly. "I will look over this afterwards."
"We didn't want to pile up on you, especially since you didn't do anything wrong." Yasaka responded. "You must be exhausted in more ways than one. Take a couple days to rest up, go check up on everyone at your own pace."
I was thankful for that. As much as I would love to have all my girls fawning over me, I was....not in the proper mindset at the moment to handle that.
Raikou and Jeanne joined me, Jeanne looking a bit hesitant.
"Mozart." I greeted the last person present.
"My dear Master." He grinned.
"Sorry for just.....throwing you off into a guest room as soon as we got back."
"No, no." He held a hand up. "Believe me, I am fully understanding of the circumstances. Even as a Servant, I was quite exhausted both mentally and...well, not quite physically, but using my Noble Phantasm for so long was exceedingly draining on my spirit."
"You did well."
"Your praise is heartwarming." He patted his chest. "And I have had the pleasant opportunity to speak with two fervent fans of mine! And they both have seen me in person. How outstanding! This trip has already been one worth every effort thus far!"
"You know, I completely forgot that Gramps had probably been there in person too."
"I traveled quite a bit in my younger years." Gramps stroked his beard. "I can't say I was at many of his performances, but I did catch a few when I had the time."
"You missed out." Venelana chimed in. "I was there at nearly every one."
"My Lady, you it pleases me to know someone of your status thought so highly of my performances." Mozart responded smoothly.
"I feel left out. I was around that time, but I wasn't really connected with the western world." Yasaka sighed. "I'll need to see what I was missing out on when you perform next."
"Next?" Mozart blinked, realizing. "I suppose that is a consideration now, isn't it?"
I didn't initially intend for him to come back with me, but now I was responsible for him all the same. Therefore, I wanted to make sure I did right by him. "You have a chance to do whatever you want now. If you want to return to performances....we can figure out how to do that. The idea of spirit inheritors or reincarnations isn't uncommon here, so we can get around a lot of questions that way."
"Your most wonderful Grandmother had been telling me some specifics about her origins. I'm curious, would my presence be unwelcomed in hell?"
"You....want to go to hell?" Jeanne blinked.
"It would be quite the exciting experience, don't you think?" His eyes lit up.
"I find myself confused. You've been rather easy going considering my origin...and my grandmother. I'm fairly sure your official biography lists you as 'Profoundly religious'."
"That would be accurate." He nodded.
"I am confused."
"Why would it effect me?" He tilted his head. "My thoughts would not change, nor would my heart. And if they did, then....my beliefs were not as dear to me and important as I believed."
"That's a rather refreshing mindset." Yasaka noted.
"I couldn't agree more." Zelretch nodded.
Jeanne was silent, perhaps contemplating his words and reflecting on them. If anyone would mirror them, she would easily be able to.
"There's no problem. However, you can expect a lot of Devils trying to get you to join their peerage." Venelana replied.
"A peerage? Are there many Musical groups down below?" He asked.
"Pardon, I believe I glossed over an important detail. I had forgotten you were not from this world and I'm rather new to outsiders, as it were." She chuckled. "Where to start...when the original Lucifer was still alive, and we were enemies of Heaven, our numbers dropped drastically low. So a rather smart Devil named Ajuka created a way to turn other species into Devils."
"Pardon, did you say the original Lucifer?" Mozart blinked.
She looked at me and I failed to hold back a laugh. "I never fully explained that part."
"The original Lucifer and Demons are all dead. The current Lucifer is my son and it's more a....title. Like President or Prime Minister, if that makes sense."
"Curious." Mozart replied. "And fascinating. You said 'enemies with heaven' in a past tense."
"Oh yes. We recently have brokered a Peace agreement." She glanced at me. "You can thank Wilhelm over there and Yasaka as they were both involved. After raking those poor Angels over the coals first."
"Angels!? You met Angels!?" Jeanne's eyes widened.
"I told you that Michael invited me to become an Angel."
"I didn't believe you!"
"That actually happened." Venelana supplied.
"!?"
"No faith." I shook my head. "I would make a good Angel."
"For all of ten seconds." Yasaka snorted. "Even that is a generous estimate. How long do you think you would take to fall?"
"That depends, how far away is Gabriel? Because after seeing her, I can't understand how there are so many Angels left."
"That's true, she has some impressive assets." Yasaka seemed to agree.
"Wah...?" Jeanne looked utterly unable to follow.
"Gabriel has some big boobs." I deadpanned.
Jeanne looked like she had to reboot. Once she processed what I said she immediately started hitting my shoulder. "You're not allowed to say something like that! Bad Wilhelm!"
"So says the Patron Saint of Bondage" I couldn't help myself.
"Neeeeh!"
"Oh my, I like her." Venelana giggled, covering her mouth.
"Once more, I agree completely." Zelretch chuckled. "It's unfortunate I was not in France during her time."
"I would not think I would ever sit across from a true Saintess. She is rather warm." Venelana smiled. "I wonder how Heaven will react when they inevitably find out."
"Eh?" Jeanne took a break from assaulting me to blankly stare at her.
"Well, it doesn't matter as long as she's here. They know better than to test my patience for the moment." Yasaka hummed. "However, if Jeanne here is wanting to meet them, that's a different story."
"M-meeting Angels!?" Jeanne fell back in her seat with a 404 error.
"I believe she's broken." I poked her cheek.
I was tempted to poke her boob, but I resisted.
"Continuing where I left off. The method created was something called 'Evil Pieces'. I won't bore you with all the details just yet, but basically they're these Magical items in the form of chess pieces that are implanted in the person's soul and it converts them to Devilhood. Once you take the a piece from the 'King' you are part of their 'Peerage'."
"Would they be beholden to their 'King'?" Mozart asked.
"Yes." Venelana didn't lie or hide the truth, she very bluntly stated it outright. "You would be forced to listen to their every order."
Mozart looked quite thoughtful then looked at me. "Would you be against me becoming a Devil, Master?"
"What?' I blinked.
"I wish to become a Devil and experience it."
".....you are...."
"I believe my previous words held true. I simply wish to experience it. I am an existence that already lived and died. What point is there for me to 'live' again if not to try something different? An entire new culture and race to explore. I can't imagine what ideas I will have once I become a Devil. Will my entire way of thinking change? Will my concept of Music change along with my damnation? The idea is both thrilling and terrifying in equal measure."
"....you want to become a devil?" Venelana asked quietly.
"I would, yes." He nodded.
Venelana looked at me, then back at him. "....do you have a preference on who you accept a Piece from? If so, I wouldn't mind offering my own, but –"
"My Lady, I would be thrilled to have such a wonderful fan introduce me to the world of Devilhood." He once more was rather smooth in his delivery.
Venelana turned to me and I knew she was really wanting a certain response.
"I hate Evil Pieces as a concept, but it's not my place if someone wants to turn into a Devil by their own will."
Venelana practically squealed with glee. "I have a mutated Queen Piece available!"
"I hate to be a downer, but that may not be possible." Zelretch interjected. "I am familiar with those Evil Pieces, and I am to believe they require the 'King' to be either stronger or around the same level of strength as the one they wish to turn."
Venelana paused. "Oh.....I believe I got excited and forgot something obvious."
"Ah....will it not be possible then?" He asked.
"I don't know if I'm capable of reincarnation you as you are...well, I've only recently learned what a Servant actually is."
"I'm not a particularly powerful Servant." Mozart noted.
"A Servant is still a higher existence." Zelretch replied.
Venelana visibly deflated. It was very odd of her to show this much outward emotion.
"Hey gramps....could I boost her Evil Piece?" I questioned.
He raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps....but again, a Servant is still a higher existence than the 'Evil Piece', it may not be applicable."
"There is a simple answer to this dilemma." Raikou spoke up.
"Something obvious we are missing?' I asked.
"I admit, I don't know the answer either. I would need time to think this over and devise a few hypotheses to test." Zerletch said.
"It is rather obvious when you think about it." Yasaka smirked.
"What? What am I missing?"
"Our man can be rather dense sometimes, can't he?" Yasaka giggled.
Raikou smiled. "He misses the obvious sometimes, but that's why we're here."
"Alright, you two are having a jest on me. Can you just give it to me straight?"
They shared a look, giggling.
"Go ask Meridia for help, foolish Master." Raikou lightly chided me. "She is more than willing to help in things such as this."
"Ah, that would solve it." Zelretch snorted.
"Pardon? Who is this....Meridia?" Mozart looked around.
Venelana stood up, and nearly threw herself at me. "I am going to be showing my gratitude to you later."
As exciting as that was... "As long as you're happy, it's good enough for me."
"Will, dear." She put her hands on my cheeks. "That just makes me want to reward you even more. Please clear a few days of your schedule. You will not be leaving my bed for the entirety." She whispered.
"....okay." I accepted, perhaps a bit taken back by her aggressiveness.
"Mozart, how would you like to visit the Underworld? I would be thrilled to give you a proper tour." Venelana offered, removing herself from me.
"I do believe your excitement would lose out to mine, Lady Gremory." Mozart stood up.
"I'll talk to Meridia and figure things out." Venelana threw me a glance.
"Don't worry about it, go have fun." I playfully shooed her away. It was obvious she wanted to go have fun with her new 'friend'. Probably show him off to anyone that will be around. And Mozart sounded just as excited to go play in Hell, so let them have at it I say.
Venelana activated a Teleportation Circle, taking Mozart along with her.
"...are you okay with him just....being a Devil?" Jeanne suddenly asked.
"Normally, I'd ask something like, 'do you have something against Devils' and tease you about our own relationship. But....I'll jut cut to the thick of it. I support personal choice in nearly every situation. I'm no fan of Devils, bar Venelana, I can count on one hand the number of Devils I actually will speak to. But everyone is entitled to their own choice. If Mozart wants to play around as a Devil, that is his prerogative, and no one is allowed to tell him otherwise."
"...Free Will?" She asked.
I nodded. "Out of the many things I disagree with your God with, the idea of Free Will is not one of them. I respect his stance on not interfering in most situations. He was very much about letting Humanity make their way once they grew up enough."
"Oh." Yasaka covered her mouth.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"I just realized we never properly introduced ourselves. Venelana was just..."
"Fangirling over Mozart?"
"That is an apt way to describe it." The Kitsune giggled. "Let me do so properly. I am Yasaka, The Leader of the West Kyoto Youkai, which roughly constitutes half of the Youkai of Japan, and the land you're standing on right now. And also Wilhelm's woman."
"Thank you for having me." Jeanne quickly switched to proper etiquette. "I'm Jeanne D'Arc."
"Yes you are." Yasaka giggled again. "Wilhelm told us all about you. And he failed to deliver just how adorable you really are~"
"Eh?"
"Don't mind it, dear." Zelretch interjected. "She is a Kitsune, getting a reaction out of people is something she does without even thinking."
"Oh, you know me so well, Grandfather~" Yasaka playfully swatted her hand his way.
He smiled in return. "I am Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg. You may call me Zelretch or Grandfather as my Grandson's other paramours do."
"W-what are you saying, we're not --- !?!" Jeanne quickly flushed again.
"Oh, who's what now, Grandfather?" Yasaka shot a smirk his way.
"I'm an old man, allow me my fun."
I pulled Jeanne into a hug to calm her down. The sputtering Saintess was always cute, but it made for difficult conversation when she was like this. "He's just having a joke on you, don't worry about it."
She hid her face. "Will."
"Hmm?" She still didn't look up.
"If....I wanted to go meet the Angels and join them, like Mozart did the Devils.....would you let me?"
"Jeanne, if you wanted to go to Heaven and join them, I would deliver you to the Pearly White Gates myself, kick the door open, and drop you in Michael's lap."
"Thank you." She whispered.
Distinctly, she didn't say that's what she wanted.
"But don't talk about attacking Heaven!"
"It wouldn't be much of an attack. Attacking implies that they can defend themselves..."
"Wilhelm!"
"I feel like she's going to do a good job of keeping my troublesome Grandson in line." Zelretch stated.
"It's strange, I felt something similar." Yasaka and him shared a look I didn't quite see. "But now that you and Wilhelm are both here, I had something I wanted to talk about."
"What's up?" I asked, fending off Jeanne's fists.
"What are your thoughts on sending Kunou to schools in another world?"
"Oh shit, what's this?" Right as Yasaka asked, Mordred walked through the front door.
"Mordred, watch your language." Artoria pulled up behind her and stopped right as her eyes landed on us. "....she does look like me."
"Told you so." Mordred snorted. "Hey Frenchie, good shit seeing you again." Mordred cheerful waved.
"S-saber?" Jeanne blinked. "I forgot that Wilhelm mentioned you were here too." She brightened up.
"Yeah, Achilles and Atalanta are running around somewhere too, they'd probably be happy to see you as well." Mordred strode over, falling into the empty seat.
"Greetings." Artoria politely directed towards Jeanne.
"Hello!" Jeanne smiled back. "You are already very different from the version of you I met in Chaldea."
Artoria looked at me, raising an eyebrow.
"She was apparently summoned by them before we arrived." I said softly.
"We will speak later." She nodded, not one of anger or even accusation, but one filled with a subtle amount of concern. I know she was wanting to make sure I was feeling alright there. And she no doubt knew what was going on thanks to Raikou, so it was appreciated.
She subtly glanced around and there was a particular lack of seats.
I held my arms open, giving her an inviting smile.
She turned a faint shade of pink, but didn't put out any form of argument, walking over and sliding into my lap as my arms quickly wrapped around her.
"If you two start going at it, I'm out." Mordred said flatly.
"Mordred!"
"What? I don't want to know what weird shit that dandy gets up to." She snorted.
"Today is a good day." Zelretch mused.
After the whole mess in Orleans....I was oddly in agreement with him thus far.
"What were you saying before, Yasaka?" I rested my chin atop Artoria's head.
"I wanted your opinion on sending Kunou to school in another world to avoid her being around during the war." She reiterated. "Both your opinion as her father, and Grandfather's insight on where, if we send her somewhere."
"...like a boarding school?" I asked.
"Something like that." She nodded.
"I wouldn't be against it at all. Of course, that would involve having a very in depth talk with Kunou about everything."
"I think she's old enough to handle something like this." Yasaka replied.
"I'm not against it again, and I'll defer to your expertise."
"Expertise, sure, let's call it that." Yasaka snorted. "You seem to think I have any idea what I'm doing most of the time."
"If I may ask, what do you desire in schooling for Kunou?" Artoria inquired.
"She's been adamant about learning magic. So I figured an education that covers that would be something we could all get behind. Somewhere without anything too...dangerous. But also somewhere where she can spread her wings and make some friends."
"I was drawing a blank until a moment ago, but I just recalled a world I had visited some years ago. I think it was during the 1200's back home that I left and visited that world, but it took place during their Second World War....Give me a little bit to refresh my memory and find my old notes and I can give you a definite answer." Zelretch replied.
"Well, this is boring." Mordred stood up. "Hey Frenchie, wanna go check out your new home? I can show you around the place, found some cool spots."
"Eh? Um...okay?" Jeanne blinked.
"Awesome, let's bail before they start snogging." Mordred practically pulled Jeanne away and out the door.
"....well then." I said idly.
"Mordred is more perceptive than he appears." Artoria replied. "She was not feeling particularly well, was she?"
"Jeanne...had a rough time of it. She's going to need a bit to acclimate."
Artoria nodded. "As I said, Mordred is more perceptive than most give him credit for."
"I'll need to thank her later, she'll probably do well with a familiar face expanding her horizons a bit." I didn't want to be her sole emotional support. It's good for her to have friends around.
"Well, I merely wished to check in to make sure you were well, Wilhelm. I understand you experienced quite the ordeal, and as we're under not pressing time constraints, please come speak to me when you have a moment after taking some time to yourself." Gramps stood up, walking towards the door. "I will also look into the place I mentioned before."
"Goodbye, Grandfather." Raikou responded.
Zelretch smiled brightly before walking right through the front door and disappearing.
"There are more seats open now." Artoria commented.
I didn't let go of her. "Yes there are."
Yasaka came over and stole the seat next to me, so I was squished between Raikou and her with Artoria on my lap. "All taken, sorry. You have joined the cuddle pile, escape is impossible."
"Clothes are optional as well." I added.
"Then I choose to keep mine on." Artoria said dryly. "However, I will not be upset if your hands wander a bit." She quietly added.
Ah, I needed to relax like this. And I know Jeanne is in good hands with Mordred who will pull her out of her shell rather quickly.
I can worry about the important stuff in a few hours. Right now, I really just needed a breather.
[***]
A/N
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