Chapter 65: Triumphant Return
Triumphant Return
When he had entered Vivian's secret passageway leading back to the real world, Shirou had half-expected to end up in the middle of nowhere, far away from London, perhaps at a site of great Mystical importance. The United Kingdom had no shortage of places with lingering Mystics that were known even to the mundane folk. Places that, if so needed, might be able to link up, however shortly, with Avalon.
Stonehenge was the first that came to mind, or the lake at Camlann, or some other famous spot. Skara Brae was another example, but also Tintagel Castle, Sherwood Forest, Loch Ness, Hadrian's Wall, and the Isle of Skye. Each of those still had strong associations with the distant past, and had to be easier to reach for a Mystical passageway than London, a massive city that had been the seat of human civilisation and progress for many centuries.
But it turned out he'd been too pessimistic. When he emerged from the water again, he found himself in the Thames, at a stone's throw from the Big Ben.
A good lesson not to underestimate Avalon and its inhabitants.
The setting sun showed it was nearing evening, which meant he'd arrived back just before the end of the third day. Just in time then, provided he made it back to the Clocktower before the sun had fully set.
He quickly swam back to shore, having little trouble with the current, though he had to give his utmost not to retch at all the things he tasted and smelled in the water. London was an impressive city, but it sure wasn't clean.
London being London, no one really looked at him twice even when he climbed up on shore and walked off sopping wet, and it was only a few minutes later than he reached the Clocktower again, passing through the Bounded Fields that were meant to keep unknowing trespassers out.
Once inside the Clocktower, he did garner a lot of attention, partially because he was still wet, but mainly because he was the oh-so-vaunted Sorcerer that everyone had heard of at this point.
Frankly, it was starting to get really old, really fast.
He gave the Magi no attention in return, trudging on towards his room in the Department of Modern Magecraft Theories, where Rin and Ophelia should be waiting for him.
Had the Clocktower been a safe place, they might have been waiting for him in the Carillon Observatory, near the tunnels into which he'd disappeared, but Rin would never be so foolish as to put herself at risk like that. Lord Carillon might be an ally of lady Barthomeloi, but even then, they were still a Magus, and thus never completely reliable.
Besides, no matter how much Rin might worry about him, she was not going to stand near the tunnels like some kind of grieving damsel with nothing better to do. The Magus Association and her own pride would not allow for theatrics like that.
If she was worrying about him, she would be doing so in the safety of their room. The same went for Ophelia.
Indeed, when he got back to their chambers, knocking a few times before entering, he found both girls safely inside, tending to their own matters seemingly without a care in the world, as if he'd never left.
When they looked up and saw him however, the relief in the room was immediately palpable.
"Shirou!" Ophelia looked enthused at his safe return, her eyes lighting up in surprised delight as she rose from her sofa, shocked yet happy that he had managed to successfully brave the Tomb of Albion. "You're back!"
"Cutting it awfully close, weren't you?" Rin did not look the least bit surprised though, merely satisfied that he'd managed to keep his promise to return in three days or less. "Any later and I might have started to worry about you."
"The journey took longer than I expected." Shirou admitted, her adorably aloof attitude bringing a smile to his face. "It was a lot more difficult than expected too. But I'm home now."
"Yes." Rin nodded, her satisfied expression turning into one of those lovely and kind smiles that he adored so much. The ones where she abandoned all pretence and bluster to express her sincere love for whomever she was smiling at. "Welcome back, Shirou."
Her words washed over him like a wave of gentle heat, refreshing and relaxing after such a long time of hard work and danger, and he realised, with startling clarity and certainty, that Vivian and Merlin, despite their otherworldly beauty, could not hold a candle to his gorgeous girlfriend.
It was a glorious return of a conquering hero, and though there might not be any parades or adoring crowds to welcome him, he was plenty satisfied with what he had.
This dormitory might not really be home, but with Rin here, it was more than close enough.
Realising that made a wave of exhaustion take hold of him however, nearly making him stumble as his legs almost gave out on the spot.
Perhaps he'd finally pushed past his limits, or, more likely, returning to a safe and trusted environment eased the tension in his muscles and bones, revealing that he'd actually pushed past his limits a while ago.
In either case, it was all he could do to sit down on the nearest sofa before he fell, thereby eliciting shouts of deep worry from both Ophelia and Rin.
"I'm fine." He said quickly before they could start panicking, holding up a reassuring hand. "I'm fine. I just… phew, I'm really feeling the past three days right now."
"Let me guess, you kept on going for the entire time? Didn't rest for a moment?" Rin asked as she sat down on the sofa's armrest, looking fondly exasperated now that she knew he wasn't in danger of passing out or worse.
"Time was strange down there. Actually, it still doesn't feel at all like three days have passed since I left the Carillon Observatory and entered the tunnels."
"That… does sound logical." Rin mused, her hand automatically moving up to brush a strand of hair out of her face. Not much was known about the Reverse Side of the World, in fact, it could be said that Shirou was now the world's foremost expert after his short trip, but its tenuous grasp on the laws of physics was well established nevertheless. "For you, it probably really was less than for us. What was three days here might have been only a single day there."
"I couldn't tell you how long it took me exactly. I didn't bring a watch or phone." Electronic devices didn't mesh all that well with areas that were rich with high-density Magical Energy, so Shirou had left his phone in his room, not too keen on having it explode in his pocket. "If I could have measured the time properly, I would have rested at regular intervals of course."
"…"
"…"
That Rin gave him a silent look of amused doubt was fully expected, she was just that kind of person and he loved her for it, but the fact that Ophelia also seemed sceptical hit him hard. What did it say about him that even a person he barely knew had such a low opinion of him?
"I fought a Jotun."
So he blurted out the first thing that came to mind in order to distract his disbelieving audience.
With great success.
"A Jotun?!" Rin demanded, her voice almost shrill as her smug expression fell apart and was replaced with unbridled shock. She even almost fell off the chair's armrest, were it not for him holding on to her. "You mean, one of the Norse Giants?!"
"Yes." Shirou nodded quickly, jumping on the opportunity to get the upper hand again. "And I also met Magni, Thor's son."
This time, it was Ophelia's turn to almost faint, as she practically collapsed on the couch behind her, while Rin visibly had to struggle to wrap her head around what he said, holding his shoulder so as not to fall.
It wasn't the most outrageous claim he'd ever made, as very few things could beat being the successor of the Norse God of Thunder from another universe, but it was baffling nevertheless. Sufficiently so for the girls to completely fumble over their replies.
Neither of them doubted him for a single moment however. They knew he wasn't a liar, and more importantly, when they took a metaphorical step back to look at the big picture again, they soon realised his claim actually wasn't that outrageous.
He'd descended into the Reverse Side of the World after all, the very place where gods and mythological creatures did very much still exist. That he'd come across Magni Thorson and a Jotun might be shocking, but it hardly defied logic or common sense in this case. Some might even say, rightly or not, that meeting creatures of old was perhaps only to be expected when one ventured into the Reverse Side.
All that was to say that Rin recovered very quickly, easily adjusting her expectations with the sort of skill that could only come from a deep experience with the insufferable man she loved, and even Ophelia, who had very little experience with the utter hurricane that was Shirou's life, didn't stay down for long.
"How deep did you go exactly?" Rin asked, elegantly crossing her legs now that she'd found her balance again. "You told me, before you left, that you hoped you would only have to descend for a short while in the Tomb of Albion itself, but this sounds like you went all the way to the Reverse Side."
"I did." He confirmed, as he had indeed gone that deep and then some. "But I-"
"Right, so you met Magni in the Reverse Side, where the Norse Gods have been banished to." Rin drew the logical conclusion, relaxing fully now that she'd found a perfectly sound explanation. "You really must have gone deep then, supposing that the concept 'deep' has any meaning in such a place."
"It does not, I think." Shirou hadn't been down there long enough to perform an accurate study, nor did he ever want to. Just three days had been plenty to know that it was a confusing, ill-designed and ill-defined realm with very few redeeming qualities. Still, he was able to say with some confidence that 'deeper' or 'further' weren't really concepts that applied to the place. Not in his experience at least. "But as I was trying to say, Rin, I actually met Magni in the Tomb of Albion, well before I entered the Reverse Side."
Another few seconds of silence passed, as the black-haired girl let that sink in.
"That's impossible." She then dismissed his words out of hand, before she pulled a face, as she realised that, with his track record of achieving the impossible, she'd almost definitely have to eat those words soon. "Alright, fine, since it's you, it might be possible, but how? Even if Mystery is returning to the world, it shouldn't have increased enough yet to allow an actual, native god to maintain their existence, even far below ground."
"He used a kind of Projection, to forge a presence in the Tomb of Albion while his actual identity, the one that Gaia wants to have banished, remained in the Reverse Side, where it belongs." Shirou did his best to explain Magni's feat, but it was difficult, since he didn't quite understand it himself. "Do you remember those video calls that Ayako made? It was a bit like that."
"I… see." Being a Magus of superior skill and insight, with the added benefit of being in a romantic relationship with a god who specialised in Projection, Rin could almost see how that might work, though the amount of effort that would be required for such an incredible spell was absolutely astronomical, doubly so for gods who were technically swimming against the world's current. "That is… quite something."
"Quite something?" Lacking a proper education herself, Ophelia had to ask for clarification. "Did it cost a lot of Magical Energy?"
"If Magical Energy was all he used, then yes, I imagine the amount of it would be enough to scorch an entire continent." Rin replied bluntly, to Ophelia's evident shock. "Not that I think that is what happened. There's no reason an actual god would limit himself to Magical Energy only when he probably has much better options available."
"He didn't." Shirou confirmed. "I'm not sure, but I think he mainly used Authority and pure Ether, rather than Magical Energy."
"Yes, that's what I thought too." With the god's methods having been discussed, Rin moved back to the god himself. "I… I imagine he wasn't too happy to see you? Did he attack you?"
Just like Shirou himself, Rin mainly thought of gods as arrogant, capricious, and highly proud beings who did not take kindly to others muscling in on their territory. An upstart human like Shirou, who tried to claim one or more of their Domains, would surely find himself on the receptive end of their wrath.
But surprisingly, not everyone agreed.
"Magni wouldn't do that!" Ophelia suddenly claimed vehemently, sitting right back up from where she'd been sprawled on the couch. "He is Thor's son! He must be a kind person!"
Her sudden outburst raised a couple of eyebrows, and she soon realised what exactly she'd just done and said, shrinking back in on herself.
"At least, that's what I think." She muttered, feeling awfully self-conscious over her loss of control.
"Well, someone is a fan." Rin smirked, truly bringing a blush to Ophelia's cheeks.
"She is right though." Shirou nearly laughed at how quickly that caused the brunette to perk up again, even as Rin gave him a sharp look. "He was very kind to me. In fact, he even called me his little brother."
"…What?"
He gave the girls a summary of his meeting with Magni Thorson, and although he tried to be brief and succinct, his need to include as many details as he could led to him rambling on for quite a few minutes.
Not that Rin and Ophelia minded. It gave them a bit more time to make sense of what he was saying.
"So what you're telling me is that Magni Thorson, one of the Norse Gods, who were famous for their pride and insular nature, immediately welcomed you into the family?" Rin slowly rubbed her face when he nodded, clearly wondering whether it would be worth the energy to get upset about this.
"I think those ancient myths were exaggerated. Magni was neither overly prideful nor insular." Shirou had of course only spoken with him for less than an hour, so he was no expert on the god's character and morals, but he hadn't seemed like a typical, high-minded deity who considered anything below him to be vermin at worst and cattle at best. "He even did his best to help me, warning me about the dangers on my way."
Rin had no reply ready this time, merely rubbing her head with both hands in abject confusion, making a mess of her hair. Knowing that she would regret that later and that some personal attention was actually a great way of calming her down, Shirou promptly took her onto his lap in response.
He Traced a comb, a really fancy one, and after he'd forced her arms down and at her sides, where they couldn't do too much harm to her appearance, he set about fixing her hair.
As he had expected, the comb's smooth passes through her beautiful black tresses went a long way in calming her down, and before long, she relaxed again.
Though that didn't mean she was no longer worried.
"A god's favour is just as dangerous as their curse." She warned him, quoting a saying from Ancient Greece, born from the many tragedies that occurred because a god was trying a little too hard to be helpful. "The ancients taught us never to trust a god, even when they wish to help, for their help is ruinous and purely for their own amusement."
"Not every god." Ophelia protested, strangely hung up about protecting at least a select few deities.
"No, not every god." Rin had no issue agreeing with that, glancing none-so-subtly at Shirou as she said so. "But certainly many of them."
"You are mostly right, Rin, but the truth is more complicated than that. Almost none of the beings I met in the Tomb of Albion, even the Divine ones, were purely evil or destructive. There are more sides to them than only the bad ones." Shirou tried to introduce some nuance, something often lacking in the Moonlit World. "I don't doubt that Magni is capable of great violence and terrible aggression, but there is more to him than that. From what I could see, I'd say he is also helpful, genuinely kind, honourable, and familial even with someone he has never met before. I see no reason other gods can't be like that as well."
Even the Jotun, stubborn and narrowminded as it had been, had admitted at the end that Shirou was not Thor, and had even wished him good luck.
"And humans can be awful too." Ophelia joined his side with a new argument, reminding Rin of the fact that gods didn't have a monopoly on being evil and destructive.
"Alright, alright." Rin knew when she was beaten, and she gracefully backed down, admitting that gods weren't necessarily bad news. "But, Shirou, did you say Divine ones? As in, plural?"
"Huh? Oh, yes, I suppose I did."
"Exactly how many Divine creatures did you encounter down there?"
"Magni, Kerberos, that Jotun." Shirou began summing up, before huffing in amusement. "It was actually quite funny. None of them were at all like I expected."
"Kerberos…?!" Rin nearly choked on her own breath, her mouth opening and closing like she was a fish on dry land, before her voice rose several octaves. "A Kerberos, s-surely? Just a three-headed dog?"
"No, I think it was the Kerberos." Shirou corrected her, quite certain that the Divine Beast had been the real deal. "The Guardian of the Underworld, though now the Guardian of the Reverse Side."
"…" Rin spent the next several seconds in deep thought, her expression shifting and twisting with every passing moment, from disbelief to rage to panic, until it went completely neutral, the same look she might give to a passing car in the early morning. "You're having me on."
"I'm not. I swear." For some reason, that expression was utterly hilarious to Shirou, and he struggled to contain his laughter, which did not help his case at all. "It really was Kerberos. No doubt about it."
"How did you get past it then?" Rin demanded, her expression regaining some heat. "No offense, but even with all your power, you are not the equal of Herakles."
"True, but I didn't fight it. I bribed it."
"Bribed?"
"With food, mainly, and a few bones to chew on."
"…Of course." Rin let out a deep sigh of resignation, completely deflating on the spot, before nodding to herself, as if it actually made a lot of sense. "If an oaf like you can be a god, and if Magni Thorson can be a family man who actively welcomes Japanese former humans into his family, then Kerberos can be bribed with food. You know, I suppose I've been looking at the Divine the wrong way before. They are a lot more… comical? Down to Earth? Utterly ridiculous? than I expected."
Shirou didn't really know how to reply to that, so he didn't, keeping his silence for now.
"Let me guess, Shirou. Kerberos was surprisingly cute as well?" Rin then asked, lifting a single eyebrow with a tired and laconic expression.
"Well, there was that moment when it pushed one of its noses into my stomach to thank me for the food." Shirou recalled. At the time, down in the Tomb with the actual Divine Beast right in front of him, it had been quite intimidating, but looking back, there was definitely an adorable aspect to it as well.
"I knew it." Rin looked triumphant yet tired, as if happy to be proven right, yet also painfully aware how much of her remaining common sense she'd had to sacrifice for that short victory.
She said no more after that, wallowing in her triumph, leaving Ophelia to ask a question of her own.
"Could you tell me more about the Jotun?" She asked, shifting back from Greek Mythology to the Norse Legends.
"Sure." Shirou had noticed by now that she seemed to have an interest in the myths of the Aesir, and he had no issue telling her more about his experiences with them. Everyone deserved a hobby or interest, and liking Norse Myths was perfectly innocent, even in the Moonlit World.
It wasn't like Ophelia was ever going to bring about a return of the Ancient Norse World at the cost of the rest of human history after all. The very idea beggared belief.
He told her the tale of his confrontation with the Jotun, soon noticing that Rin was also paying attention again. It was evident, from the way her expression brightened more and more, that this was something that finally made some sense to her ears.
The Jotun had possessed a near-irrational hatred for the Aesir, a look on life and the world that was positively archaic, a one-sided rivalry with Thor, and the narrowmindedness and devotion to purpose that was to be expected from a Mystical creature.
Of all the beings that Shirou had encountered, it best suited Rin's definition of how an ancient mystical creature was supposed to behave and act. It was the very picture of a Jotun, completely faithful to the ancient legends, without possessing any strange modern quirks.
Hence, it had Rin's seal of approval.
"I am glad you didn't kill it." She said once he finished describing the altercation. "It would have been a great loss for common sense all over the world."
"I suppose that is true." Shirou indeed hadn't killed the Jotun, though not so much for the sake of common sense, but because the being had been honourable, noble, and steadfast, all qualities that should be preserved rather than snuffed out. It might be easy to forget it with all the craziness going on lately, but he still wanted to become a Hero of Justice, which meant he couldn't go around killing honest Jotuns merely because their views differed from his.
"I wish I could have met it myself." Ophelia muttered, her eyes set in a thousand-mile stare as she imagined talking with a Norse Giant herself.
"Not going to happen." Rin mercilessly crushed her dreams however, not feeling the need to summon the kindness and gentleness of her school-idol persona in the current situation.
"Rin." Shirou frowned at his girlfriend, wordlessly scolding her for her careless remark.
"What? It's the truth. The Reverse Side is both unreachable and unobservable for humans."
"I am sure Ophelia knows that. There was no need to trample over her fantasy." Shirou's frown only deepened, but then he released a sigh, letting the matter drop when he saw that Ophelia hadn't even heard Rin's comment. "Never mind."
It was a testament to how frazzled Rin had to be for him to be the sensitive one, and it seemed she realised that as well, as she awkwardly cleared her throat a moment later.
"Well, in any case, it sounds like you survived your encounters with the divine beings without too much trouble." Rin also let the matter drop, trying to move the subject along and prodding Ophelia to knock her out of her thoughts. "Were those all of them?"
"Not quite." Shirou honestly wasn't sure whether the residents of Avalon held any divinity, but after hesitating for a moment, he decided there wasn't any harm in naming them too. He was going to have to bring them up sooner or later, so it might as well be now. "There are two more who might qualify, though their divinity is arguable."
"I find it suspicious you are not mentioning their names." Rin said bluntly, narrowing her eyes at him. "You had no issue with talking about Jotuns and Norse gods and all the rest. Are these two really that much more special?"
"Yes." Shirou replied just as bluntly. It was of course a matter of opinion, but he genuinely believed that. "And I think you will agree. At the end of my journey, I met Merlin and Vivian."
"You went to Avalon?!"
It was Ophelia who realised it first, gasping in disbelief when he nodded, while Rin's jaw outright hit the floor.
For Ophelia, who was fairly familiar with the legends of King Arthur but no expert, it was already incredible that Shirou had gone to the Ever-Distant Utopia. For Rin, who had studied the legends in great detail in preparation for the Grail War, just like Shirou, it was absolutely mind-blowing, and there was an undeniable flash of jealousy in her eyes.
That flash hadn't been there when they were talking about the Tomb of Albion or the Reverse Side in general. She hadn't been jealous about meeting Magni or fighting Jotuns. She barely cared about Shirou encountering numerous species of Phantasmal Beasts, many of which were unknown. None of that appealed to her in the slightest.
But visiting Avalon? Meeting the Mage of Flowers and the Lady of the Lake?
That was something she herself also very much wanted to experience, and for the first time since the conversation began, Rin visibly cursed the fact that humans could not survive in the Reverse Side of the World, causing her to miss out on something so amazing.
"You met Vivian?" She had to settle for the next best thing, to thoroughly interrogate her boyfriend, speaking the Fairy's name with reverence and care, as if tasting it on her tongue. "The Vivian?"
"The one and only." Shirou confirmed with no small amount of amusement, seeing his own disbelief and excitement reflected on his girlfriend's face. "The very person that Nasu and Arcueid sent me to find."
Rin fell silent again, visibly reeling from the news, leaving Ophelia free to ask a few questions of her own.
"What was Avalon like?" She asked, very much interested to know what exactly made a true Utopia.
"Like?" That gave the redhead pause, as he had to think back on what he'd seen and experienced. He remembered the rolling hills and fields of green, the endless colourful flowers and buzzing insects, the blue sky without a single cloud in sight, and the absolute peacefulness that could only come from an existence entirely free of conflict. With all that in mind, there was only one thing he could say. "It was gorgeous, but I didn't like it."
"Not?" Ophelia seemed strangely disappointed to hear that. "It wasn't a Utopia?"
"Oh, it was a Utopia, absolutely, but… well, that made it rather boring." Shirou explained his reasons plainly, and Ophelia made a soft noise of understanding in response, though she didn't quite seem to agree. "If a world is already perfect and nothing ever changes and nothing and no one can be hurt, then what would be the point in living there?"
"To be happy." Ophelia replied, arguing without much heat. After the life she'd had, staying in a place of absolutely peace and calm for a few weeks or months sounded perfectly fine. Doubly so since she couldn't be hurt there. A world where it was always Thursday.
"Being happy all the time is the same as never being happy. You'd get bored very quickly." Shirou wasn't just saying that. He had actual case-studies to back up his claim. Merlin and Vivian had been wise and beautiful, as well as helpful and kind, but they had also been bored. Bored out of their minds. His arrival was the first actual reprieve they'd had in centuries, which probably also played a role in the eager way in which they'd welcomed him, and the thought that they'd have to spend the rest of eternity there, in a place where nothing ever happened, spurred him on even more to find a way to free them.
"I wouldn't stay there forever. Just… a while." Ophelia reminded him however that she wouldn't necessarily be trapped in Avalon forever, like the Fairy and Incubus, and that leaving again once she'd had her fill was still an option.
"…Visit, yes. Stay, no." Shirou tried to succinctly sum up their feelings about Avalon, and Ophelia couldn't disagree with that. It sounded about right. "I suppose it's more than Merlin and Vivian got."
"Okay, my turn again." Rin had waited patiently for them to finish their little discussion, but she now inserted herself in the conversation once more. "I don't much care for Avalon itself. I want to hear about its inhabitants."
Whether knowingly or unknowingly, Rin said pretty much exactly what Shirou had been thinking earlier, and the redhead couldn't help but smile at the similarity between them.
"Don't smile so stupidly." The black-haired girl didn't much appreciate the delay however, prodding him insistently to get him talking already.
"Right. Merlin and Vivian." Shirou paused for another moment, but now to gather his thoughts. He'd never been a very descriptive or wordy sort of person, so to do them justice was going to be quite the challenge. "They were…"
"Yes?" Rin practically demanded, her eyes burning like coals.
"Beautiful." He stated, before falling silent again.
"…" Rin continued looking at him with expectant eyes.
"…" He smiled back at her, as if waiting for another question.
"That's all?!"
"It does cover everything that needs to be said." Shirou nodded with a most serious expression, before quickly holding up his hands in surrender when Rin went for his throat. "I'm kidding, Rin, I'm kidding! Of course they were more than just beautiful."
"I would hope so!" Rin did not appreciate his little joke, turning herself around on his lap and leaning her whole body down on him to pin him to his seat. "Tell me everything. Were they wise? Elegant? Could you see that they were- are great heroes?"
"Yes, to all three. They were magnificent creatures."
"Creatures?" His way of describing them made Rin frown slightly, as it was hardly the most flattering of words.
"They certainly weren't human." Shirou explained, drawing a noise of understanding from her. "They look like humans, beautiful humans, but they are much more than that."
"And there was nothing strange about them? Nothing that contradicted their myths?" Rin pressed him, both verbally and bodily, and Shirou suddenly got the sense that they'd come to a very important point in the discussion. "You couldn't bribe them with sweets? They didn't wear sweatpants or sunglasses or whatever? Talk with some dumb cockney accent?"
"No, dear, they fully lived up to their myths." Shirou swore, doing his best not to laugh at how intensely she was staring at him. "They were wise and elegant, like you said, they wore medieval clothes perfectly fit for people of their standing, spoke and acted like British royalty, and had the mindset of royalty too. They were everything you'd expect from them, Rin. You would like them very much."
That they had sometimes squabbled like an old married couple was something he kept to himself. He didn't think Rin would like to hear that right now.
"Oh, bless the Root." Rin sagged in relief, and the redhead now laughed for real, patting her head softly. "I don't think I could have taken it if they had been ridiculous as well."
"I'm glad I could assuage your worries." Shirou took her into a quick hug, before letting her go again when he noticed Ophelia was starting to feel very awkward indeed. "Ah, but let's try to stay focused. I did not travel all the way to Avalon just to meet Merlin and Vivian, as much of an honour as it was. I went there to get something."
"…Excalibur?" Rin looked like she almost didn't want to ask, no doubt feeling ridiculous at the mere suggestion that he'd obtained the world's most famous holy sword, but when all was considered, it was in fact one of the most plausible possibilities.
"Excalibur." Shirou confirmed, and he would have placed a hand on his chest, had it not been for the fact that Rin was still glued to him like a koala. "I have it with me, sheathed in Avalon."
"By the Root." The black-haired girl muttered, pulling back slightly to place a hand on his chest herself, looking absolutely fascinated by the idea that he had stored two Legendary artefacts in there. "Can I… Can I see it?"
"Sure, though we aren't allowed to wield either Excalibur or Avalon. Vivian was very clear about that. We can only look."
"Oh, I wouldn't dare to wield them." Rin laughed, a bit too high-pitched for it to be entirely natural. Still, it was good enough.
Shirou placed his hands on Rin's hips to gently push her off him, but she didn't move. In fact, she didn't even seem to notice he was trying to push her away, unconsciously leaning a bit more towards him even, as if to continue cuddling him.
"Rin, I need some space for this."
"O-Oh, right, sorry."
She quickly rose to her feet, and Shirou placed a hand on his chest and concentrated, pulling forth both Avalon and Excalibur with a speed and efficiency that came from great experience.
He'd only ever pulled out Avalon of course, but it wasn't too different to also pull out Excalibur at the same time. In fact, it would have been more difficult to pull out one while leaving the other behind.
The very moment they began to emerge however, he realised he'd made a mistake.
In Avalon the Utopia, it made no difference whether Avalon the sheath and Excalibur were contained in a vessel or held out in the open. There was so much Magical Energy in the air already that the passive effects of the legendary artefacts was like dumping a truckload of water into the sea. It was a lot of water, but not nearly enough to make a noticeable difference.
On Earth however, even inside the Clocktower, revealing Avalon and Excalibur together was like dumping that same truckload of water into a broom closet filled with highly sensitive electrical equipment. An absolute disaster waiting to happen.
The artefacts weren't even actually out yet and already, Shirou could feel how all the Enchantments in a hundred-metre radius around him were straining and squeaking under the pressure, like cables forced to hold up too much weight.
There was too much Magical Energy, too much power released too quickly, and the Bounded Fields of the Department threatened to come undone under the sheer weight.
Strangely enough however, Ophelia and Rin looked perfectly fine.
It shouldn't be possible. By all accounts, they should have suffered under such massive amounts of power, poisoned by the ridiculous concentrations of Magical Energy reminiscent of the ancient times, yet they remained unperturbed, aside from being alarmed at the destructive effects around them, which they too could sense perfectly well.
But then again, perhaps it was to be expected. These weren't just any ancient artefacts, these were Avalon and Excalibur. A sheath known for its ability to completely protect and heal its owner and those they cared about, and a most holy sword only ever used in the defence of honour and justice.
Breaking mindless Enchantments and Bounded Fields was one thing, but they would not do harm to living beings carelessly. Especially not to the innocent.
Or at least, that seemed the most logical explanation right now.
Still, Shirou promptly put the sword and sheath back where they came from, before any Enchantments could really break and the Clocktower was suddenly left defenceless. Lorelei would have his head if he left such a trail of destruction again, and rightly so of course.
Fortunately, storing them solved the problem immediately. Inside his body, they couldn't do any harm, as he contained the Magical Energy within himself. The next moment, things had normalised already.
"That wasn't a very good idea." He nevertheless concluded.
"You think?!" Rin snarled incredulously, rattled by the sudden violence against the poor spells around them. "By the Root, that could have been a disaster!"
"I stopped before any real damage could be done." Shirou assured her. "And don't worry. I'm sure they won't be able to do much damage in our house or in the Vault. Once we're back home, I'll show Avalon and Excalibur to you."
"Never mind showing them! Why did Vivian give them to you if they're this dangerous?" Rin was truly agitated, nearly red in the face from excitement, and not in a good way. "As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, didn't you say we aren't allowed to wield them?"
"No one in the Modern Age may wield Excalibur." Shirou confirmed, his voice solemn and serious. "The rules surrounding Avalon are less stringent though."
"Then what's the point in having Excalibur at all?"
"I'm not supposed to use it myself, but I can watch over it until I can deliver it to its true wielder."
"Its true wielder?"
The surprises of the past hour must have really made an impression on Rin, because she was normally not the type to ask such superfluous questions. There was only one person in history who had wielded Avalon and Excalibur, and she knew perfectly well who that was.
But with her mind so frazzled, she needed Ophelia to connect the dots for her.
"But how can you give them to King Arthur?" The young woman asked, looking more than a little confused. "He is dead, or at least in Avalon, not here."
"What?" Rin looked at the brunette like she'd spoken Swahili, a beat of silence passing between them, before her eyes went wide in realisation. "Oh! The Grail War! You'll give Avalon and Excalibur to King Arthur when she is Summoned as a Servant!"
"Precisely." Shirou grinned. "According to Merlin, King Arthur will definitely be one of the Servants Summoned for the War. That is why I was allowed to take her weapon with me, to pass on to her. I have no doubt she'll be on our side."
"Haha!" The news that one of the most chivalrous and noble kings in history would be Summoned made Rin jump for joy. Even if King Arthur would be the Servant of another Magus, she would never let Angra Mainyu escape the Grail. She was after all the personification of chivalry and knightly duties.
Her enthusiasm was infectious, as Ophelia was soon smiling too, even if she didn't really know what they were talking about.
When the enthusiasm subsided however, Rin soon spotted a small inconsistency in Shirou's story.
"Won't she already have her weapon though?" She asked, remembering quite clearly that all the Servants of the Fourth War had received their weapons and Noble Phantasms from the Grail upon their Summoning.
"In a way. She'll be armed with a copy of Excalibur, created by the Grail. Apparently though, that copy will be entirely insufficient for the things that are to come. That is why I must give the real Excalibur to her, so she can better fight at our side."
"Shirou, do you have any idea how ominous that sounds?" Rin deadpanned, scarcely able to imagine a threat that would require the real, actual Excalibur to solve. "That sounds like we're going to have to deal with… With something like…
"A dark god?" Shirou suggested, reminding her that their primary opponent was in fact the Zoroastrian Devil himself.
"Good point." Rin acquiesced, though she did not look reassured at all. "This is going to be a hellish Grail War, isn't it?"
"Based on what I've heard so far, yes." Shirou did not try to soften the blow or tell a white lie. Neither of them would be served if he did that. "Everyone I have talked to, from Nasu to Gilgamesh and Magni, seemed to be of the opinion that it is going to be a terrible ordeal."
"Ugh." Rin made a sound of displeasure, looking less motivated than ever, which was saying something, considering the fact she'd never been very eager to fight in a Grail War.
"You don't have to participate if you don't want to. I can handle this by myself."
"Don't be stupid." She replied by reflex, giving him a scolding look. "Of course I'm going to fight with you. A proper Magus always stands with her fiancé, no matter what. I'll just have to ask Lorelei for more combat classes."
"That is always a good idea." Even if the Grail War wasn't looming on the horizon, learning to defend oneself was never a waste of time, especially not in the Moonlit World. "There is also good news though. I know the probable identities of at least three other Servants."
"Do tell." In a flash, Rin was all business again, burying her aversion beneath determination.
"Cu Chulainn, Heracles, and Medea." Shirou repeated the names Merlin had given him, more certain than ever that the Mage of Flowers hadn't mentioned them by accident or coincidence.
"Ireland's Child of Light, Greece's Greatest Hero, and the Witch of Betrayal from Colchis." Rin showed she had been preparing as well, frowning at the names. "The first two will be a real challenge to fight, and the third one will be dangerous in general."
"Medea of Colchis… Isn't she the one who killed her own children?" Ophelia asked, vaguely remembering the story of the Argonauts as well as the Greek play that bore the Witch's name.
"That's her." Rin nodded, her lips pursing in distaste. "A talented witch, a genius even according to any story she's in, and particularly vile and treacherous on top of that. A bad combination. She will be one to watch out for."
"Merlin and Vivian insisted I kill her first." Shirou purposefully made no mention of the fact that they'd actually wanted him to kill her slowly and painfully, as he didn't think Rin would appreciate hearing that. "Though I managed to persuade them that I should capture her instead. We should avoid feeding Angra Mainyu at all costs."
"True, but capturing a Witch from ancient times will be extremely challenging, if not impossible." Rin clearly wanted to support him, but she had to be realistic about their capabilities. "Sakura has been practicing hard, but we cannot ask her to do something no Magus ever could. I understand you don't like killing, Shirou, and I don't want to feed that creature either, but if the worst comes to the worst…"
"Then I shall kill her." Shirou didn't have to think twice about that. The safety of his family and the people of Fuyuki came first, and Medea of Colchis was a definite threat towards them. "I will use everything my father taught me and deal with her."
"Your father?" Ophelia asked curiously, clearly not understanding why Shirou suddenly brought him up.
"Oh, right, I didn't tell you yet, did I?" Not caring much for secrets right now, Shirou held out his hand towards the brunette, for a proper introduction. "My name is not actually Shirou Fujimaru. It's Shirou Emiya. My father was Kiritsugu Emiya, the Magus Killer."
"Oh…" Ophelia blinked at the news, but she obediently shook his hand, apparently not all that shocked. "Nice to meet you."
Which was fair enough. After hearing about Norse gods, Avalon, and Grail Wars, the Magus Killer might not be such an impressive thing anymore.
"You're going to have to get used to that, Shirou." Rin patted his back, her smile somehow both mean and kind. "You're more famous than your father ever was. I imagine that in a few years, people will know him as Emiya Shirou's father, rather than the Magus Killer."
"You know, I think the old man would have liked that." Shirou smiled at the thought, before returning to the matter at hand. "He might never have fought an ancient witch before, but I imagine the principle is not much different from modern Magi. Strike fast, strike hard, and make sure never to stand where they want you to stand. Give them no time to think or adjust and give them no quarter."
"Sounds about right." Rin agreed. "Though that will be easier said than done."
"I'll make sure to practice, a lot."
This was something he was going to have to sink his teeth into, but that was fine. Shirou had never been afraid of hard work, and he wasn't going to start being afraid now.
"I think that just about covers everything I have experienced over the past three days." He then moved to the conclusion of his story, getting up from the sofa. "There is much more I could tell, and I will, absolutely, but there are some other things I must do first."
"Waver and Lorelei have been worried about you too." Rin immediately guessed what he was talking about. "Don't make them wait too long."
"I'm going to them now. They should know I'm not dead." Shirou looked at the clock again, pursing his lips slightly when he saw that his deadline for returning had passed several hours ago. Undoubtedly, they were worrying about him right now. "Could you call the others back home for me, Rin? I'll be back as soon as I can."
"Will do." The black-haired girl nodded. She'd been practicing hard with phones and computers, and calling someone was well within her capabilities now, even on a smartphone.
It was an abrupt goodbye, but neither Rin nor Ophelia minded it.
He really was lucky that the people around him were so understanding.
Now he just had to hope that Waver and Lorelei would be so understanding too.
Waver Velvet watched with pursed lips as lord Carillon collapsed the mouths of the three caves in their observatory with a spell so potent it would have drained the average Magus' circuits dry just to attempt it, feeling decidedly ambiguous about the whole matter.
On one hand, it was undoubtedly a good thing that the tunnels were now shut, thoroughly shut if the sound of deep, rumbling collapse was anything to go by. The Phantasmal Beasts who had used those tunnels as their staging ground would have to find another way up, and it had been established already that doing so would be a momentous challenge even for them. Countless lives had just been saved.
On the other hand, Shirou might very well be trapped down there now, having not returned within the allotted three days. His friend was stuck in a nightmarish place, the tomb of an ancient dragon now inhabited by every monster known to mankind and then some, with his best route of escape closed off.
Waver was too realistic, some might say cynical even, to believe that such a thing would be enough to finish the redhaired Demigod off, but it would be an inconvenience to say the least. A true 'hassle', as Flat might put it.
Not that he blamed lord Carillon. They had only acted in the best interest of their department, some might say the entire Clocktower, and with Shirou's full permission at that. It truly had been the right thing to do.
Nevertheless, Waver wasn't in the mood to watch and wait any longer. He had no reason to stay in the Observatory, so he exchanged a few quick pleasantries with lord Carillon, more for politeness' sake than anything else, and then headed back to his office, trying to put his worry out of his mind.
His foul mood must still have been clear for all to see however, for he was only roused from his thoughts once he arrived back at his office. Not a single person had approached him on the way there, to talk, fight, negotiate, or barter.
It had been a while since he'd been able to take such a quiet walk, and Waver almost considered practicing a foul look in the mirror, if it got him results like this.
The peace and quiet was too good to last long though. Inside his office, he found the next set of problems already awaiting him, in the form of three people, who each turned towards him with that typical movement that suggested they were about to make requests of him.
Hopefully, it would all be minor matters, though Waver was reluctant to hope. Hope was so easily crushed after all.
As always, Reines was the first to start badgering him, though when she explained the reason for her visit, most of Waver's reluctance melted away.
"You will be getting awarded a what-now?" He asked the blonde girl, who was beaming like a cat who got the cream.
"My two-year sobriety chip!" She chirped, looking inordinately proud of herself. "It's been two years since I last drank alcohol!"
"I see. Well done." Waver gave praise where praise was due. "That is an important milestone."
"Hehe." Reines beamed even brighter, really looking like an average sixteen-year-old now rather than the cynical plotter she normally was.
After Kayneth had died, Reines had been thrown into a leadership position well before she was ready. She'd been under a great amount of pressure, trying to keep a splintering family together against all odds, which was made worse by the fact that she'd often had to wonder whether she'd make it through the night without being assassinated by ally or enemy.
Sadly, the continued stress had led to a drinking problem, as Reines tried to take the edge off things with booze, like so many other people around the world.
A fourteen-year-old being addicted to alcohol was a tragedy even in the Moonlit World, and upon learning of it, Waver had forced her into rehab, though it had to be said she hadn't fought him hard on that. She was smart enough to know she had a problem, and gladly accepted his help.
Now, she had managed to go two solid years without touching a drop of alcohol, and that deserved a celebration.
"Will you come with me to the award-ceremony?"
"Of course." He agreed without a second thought, seeing absolutely no issue with doing something so brotherly once in a while. "It is the least I could do."
"Thanks! I'll send you the details later!" Reines happily skipped away, followed by her mercury maid Trimmau, and Waver crossed one problem off his list, happy that it was a victory in need of celebration, rather than an issue in need of solving.
"Oi, lordie."
Next up was Kairi Sisigou, the mercenary who had participated in the Purge of the Meluastea and had then disappeared again, off to deal with his own business, as freelancers in the Moonlight World tended to do.
Not bound to any one employee, they were free to travel the world in search of paying jobs, and although Waver only knew Sisigou by name and reputation, it was obvious that the man indeed greatly valued his freedom.
It was funny, really. The man's name meant 'lion' in Japanese, his hair was almost exactly like a lion's mane, and he operated much like an adult male lion who had not found a pack of his own yet. He definitely seemed to have a certain theme going on.
His reappearance was unexpected, but not a surprise. Freelancers travelled the whole world in search of paid work, but usually ended up back at the Magus Association sooner or later, as that was where most jobs could be found.
For a moment, Waver wondered if Sisigou had come here to offer his services to the Archibald or something, but after a moment of careful thought, he dismissed that possibility. Men with his reputation and skill didn't go around searching for work. They had people lining up to hire them.
"Mister Sisigou." Although the mercenary was the head of his family, he did not have lordly status, so Waver did not address him as such. "What brings you here today?"
"A mutual friend of ours suggested I seek you out." Sisigou replied, adjusting his sunglasses a bit as he took a look around the office, undoubtedly sweeping it for bugs. It was a half-hearted effort though, as he understood that it was very unlikely that he would be able to find something that Waver's own staff might have missed so far. He was good, but not perfect. "Rocco Belfeban."
"Ah yes, my old friend Rocco." Waver didn't bother suppressing his sarcastic huff. "What does he want?"
Rocco Belfeban was the head of the Department of Summoning, which was a sub-department of Spiritual Evocation. He was fairly well respected at the Clocktower, mostly for his age and lineage, though it was also well known that he was a proud member of the stubborn old guard. An arch-conservative, who was still sulking about the fact that the continents had drifted apart, so to speak. Very old-school, to the point where even most Magi thought he was a little too ossified.
As a member of the Aristocratic Faction, he was at least nominally on Waver's side, but they were members of opposing sub-factions, between which rivalries could get as heated as between the main factions themselves.
Nevertheless, Waver and he were mostly on friendly terms, having bonded over the fact that they both held a keen interest in the Holy Grail Wars. Waver because he had participated in the last one, and Belfeban because his department was charged with studying and overseeing them, at least in theory.
"It's about the Holy Grail War." Sisigou's answer was thus entirely predictable. There was no other reason for Rocco Belfeban to reach out to Waver. "The next one."
"What about it?"
"Lord Belfeban reckons it'll start sooner than it's supposed to. Not fifty years, apparently, but more like one or two."
It was a significant acceleration of the time table. Normally, Grail Wars occurred once every sixty years, as the Grail needed that much time to charge enough Magical Energy to Summon Servants and grant wishes, but if Belfeban's theory was correct, the Fifth War was due to start only ten years after the Fourth.