「 Alistair's Pov. 」
The car came to a slow halt as we reached the front of the manor, causing Amelia to lower the divider separating us from the driver, before finally rolling to a stop.
"And we're home," Amelia said with a hint of weariness, before looking up into the rearview mirror, allowing her to see Morgan, then glancing aside to look at me.
"I've moved your things into your grandparents' room, and have readied your old room for Sakura to move into," she stated, before glancing once more at Morgan's reflection, and looking at me. "Could you tuck her in for the night while Morgan and I talk?" she asked, causing me to nod.
"Sure, I'll do that," I affirmed, causing her to nod. "Good. I'll park the car in the meantime," she replied airily, before gesturing for me to leave the car. "You three can go," she said, before slightly turning to look at Morgan. "I'll meet you in the West Wing Lounge."
Before Amelia could continue, I gave a slight cough, causing her to look at me. "That's not going to work," I stated, causing her to raise a brow in confusion. "Why?" she asked pointedly, causing me to briefly glance at Morgan, who was conveniently not looking at me.
"Altrouge hates Morgan's guts," I stated, causing an almost pained groan to escape Amelia's lips as she pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "Of course…" she grunted out, before inhaling a deep breath, as if gathering all of her frayed patience.
"Fine." Amelia spat in a clipped tone, before turning to look at Morgan. "You stay in the car with me." She turned to look at me. "I'll sneak her in while you distract the Little Monster," she suggested.
I gave a slight nod, before unbuckling my seatbelt. "Sounds like a plan," I said, before opening the door and stepping out. "I'll be in the office for a few hours after I put Sakura to sleep, so let's chat when your little meet and greet is over," I suggested before closing the door.
Walking to the other side, I easily opened the passenger door, revealing the aforementioned little girl on the brink of nodding off, as her head slightly swayed from side to side as she sat.
Grabbing her hand, I gently guided her out of the car, receiving little to no protest from the girl, as she followed along almost like a zombie. Squeezing her hand a little, I gave her a small smile as I closed the car door. "Hold on a little longer, soon you'll be sleeping in the most comfortable bed you've ever slept on," I said encouragingly, only to receive a nearly mute hum of affirmation.
Seeing that she was still capable of walking, I decided not to pick her up yet, as I had this odd feeling that Altrouge was about to throw herself at me, so having a kid in my arms would only lead to them becoming a human‑shaped pancake.
Walking up to the large front door, I placed a hand on the doorknob, and infused some of my Od into it, causing an unlatching sound to emit from the door's lock.
With that, I slowly opened the door, revealing a full foyer, along with a figure sitting on a sofa in the reception part of the room.
The second the door opened, she bolted up and started making her way over here. "Oh Alistair!~" Altrouge said with a happy smile, while smothering a twitching Cath in her arms as she practically skipped over to me.
"I've missed you so much—" her words and body came to an abrupt stop as she got a better look at me, causing her to blink in confusion.
"The fuck?" she said in clear bewilderment while pointing at me, causing my eyes to widen before pursing my lips.
"Altrouge," I grunted out disapprovingly. "There is a child here," I said while not‑so‑subtly gesturing at Sakura, who was luckily too tired to follow along in our conversation.
"Wait, you expect me to act PG all of a sudden?" she said with clear surprise, while comically flinching back like the remark physically pained her.
I gave a slight sigh before giving her a dubious look. "Just… please tone it down a little while Sakura is around," I said tiredly. "I'd rather not explain to her the meaning of the word you just used, let alone the plethora of colorful terms you know," I explained with a hint of helplessness, only for Altrouge to grow a sly smile.
"I would happily explain it to her," she said confidently, causing me to raise a hand and pinch the bridge of my nose. "Altrouge…" I said in a warning tone.
That seemed to be the wrong thing to do, as she gained a mischievous look. "Hell, I'd have no problems giving a practical demonstration if you'd help me with it," she teased, causing me to groan.
She gave a light snicker before continuing. "Lighten up, it's not like she can understand a word I say in English anyway," she said dismissively.
Yup, I'm not touching that with a six‑foot pole until she learns of Morgan. It's better and easier to explain that way.
Sighing slightly, I gave her a bemused look. "Right," I said convincingly, before giving a slight smile. "It's good to see you again though."
Altrouge gave a happy smile at my words, causing me to give a slightly more enthusiastic smile in return, before glancing down at the poor beast she was strangling. "Can you let go of Cath now? Poor thing is about to pass out."
My words were accompanied by a strangled "Kyu!", causing Altrouge to pout, but she still acquiesced and let him go.
Cath fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes, not even bothering to land properly, and just lying sprawled on the floor furiously panting.
The fact that Cath stays with Altrouge, despite this level of mistreatment, has to be the world's 8th wonder. Not that she didn't treat him well most of the time, but I've seen enough animal abuse to make most 'pets' leave on the spot.
Not bothering to look at her hyperventilating pet, she sidled up next to me and linked our arms together. "It's good to see you too," she remarked happily, before she started guiding us forward.
"Now, let's get the little miss in bed, then we can talk about how you are a set of red contact lenses away from looking like an Apostle, and why you feel off," she stated, causing me to give a slight groan, while gently tugging along Sakura.
"I just went over that with Amelia—can you cut me some slack?" I said dismissively, causing Altrouge to pout.
"Come on," she moaned childishly, while tugging my arm. "Look, even Cath wants to know," she stated while pointing behind us, causing the two of us to turn our heads and look there, only to not find anything.
"Huh?" Altrouge said with clear confusion. "He was so excited to see you," she mumbled with a hint of bafflement.
…If I recall correctly, Cath has a really sharp nose… like 'I could smell a magical core from across the pond' sharp, no way he didn't notice Morgan's arrival. The little shit seems to like her more than me, so it shouldn't be surprising that he ran for her… best to try to distract Altrouge.
Tapping our linked arms, she turned to look at me with a questioning look. "Ever tasted Divine blood?"
There was a beat of silence.
"What?"
~~Fate/False Order~~
「 Morgan's Pov. 」
The car ride to the garage, followed by the walk into the manor, was painfully quiet, as Amelia guided me into one of the less‑used lounges.
Her posture was stiff, and she was clearly on edge.
This was going to be a long talk.
As we entered the lounge, she almost slumped into a sofa, while gesturing for me to sit in the opposite one.
I easily acquiesced and sat across from her.
Amelia raised her hands and gave two crisp claps, causing a stone golem to enter the room and walk over to her. "I need a bottle with something strong and a glass," she ordered, before glancing at me. "Anything you want?"
Hmm… I wasn't particularly parched, but I should probably accept some goodwill, as denying it wouldn't do me any favours right now.
"A glass of red wine would suffice," I said with a small nod, earning a grunt of acknowledgement from the woman before looking at the golem. "What she said, and you can use a bottle from the vampire's stash," she said before waving it off, causing the golem to swiftly leave.
Silence filled the room once more, but I couldn't be bothered with it any longer. "Well, I believe you had a few questions for me," I stated, causing the woman to sigh.
"I do, but I'm not certain how truthfully you'll answer," she replied calmly, causing me to sigh.
Giving her a slightly tired look, I cocked my head to the side. "You can stop repeatedly turning your Circuits on and off," I said flatly, causing her to slightly stiffen. "Any hypnosis or mental suggestion I could have put on you would have long since been dispelled," I explained with a slight roll of my eyes.
"Though I commend your forethought, wasted as it is, as I do not hold any ill will for you, nor any inclination to hurt or control you," I stated, before extending a hand and conjuring forth a scroll.
Placing it on the table separating us, I slid it over to her. "This is a gesture of goodwill," I stated, causing her to hesitantly pick up the scroll before unrolling it and skimming its contents.
The Self‑Geass was relatively simple; I would not use magecraft to alter her mind, alter my words or her perception of what I say, while keeping to the truth about myself. Neither would I harm her, directly or indirectly. All this would last for an hour, with the possibility of an extension if both parties agree.
Simple, neat, and rife with holes for me to use to not expose Alistair's secrets, as they did not pertain to myself, meaning I could warp them so as to not expose his past life.
Amelia slowly lowered the parchment, and her eyes fully locked themselves onto me.
The contract had its intended effect, as her posture loosened up, and she looked far more relaxed, especially after she subtly used magecraft to check its authenticity.
"Are you Morgan Le Fey?" she asked crisply, causing me to nod. "Yes."
She didn't even flinch at the answer, only squinting her eyes, seemingly having come to that conclusion before our chat. "Have you done anything to Alistair?" she asked pointedly, causing me to shake my head. "No, not in the way you are implying at least."
At that she further squinted her eyes. "Is he under your control, or do you have some form of influence over him?" she continued, earning another shake of the head from me. "No, neither have I used any form of mental influence on him through magecraft or anything else. The only influence I have over him is the influence he allows me to hold over him."
Her posture seemed to finally completely loosen, as if a great weight on her had been removed from her shoulders.
"Alright," she muttered, before refocusing on me. "How are you here? Were you summoned as a Servant, or did you somehow return from Avalon?" she questioned, causing me to sigh.
"I was summoned as a Servant," I replied, and I could see a flash of disappointment cross her eyes. She likely hoped that Alistair was as detached from the war as he pretended, but him having had a Servant would mean that he had gone behind everyone's backs to do so. It was best to nip this in the bud before it festered, and I could start laying the groundwork for the full explanation.
"Alistair didn't want to summon someone," I lied smoothly, causing her to look at me with confusion. "He was contracted by the Counter Force, by Alaya to become the 8th Master of the Grail War," I explained, and I could see the disappointment in her eyes wash away, being instead replaced with extreme confusion and a need to know.
Amelia sat up straight and gave me a serious look. "Explain," she said curtly, and I only nodded in compliance.
"First, for things to make sense," I began while leaning forward, preparing myself to spew a whole lot of garbage to sound convincing, and to make this sound believable so as to keep Alistair's secrets.
"Do you even comprehend the absolute impossibility for Alistair to be born with a natural Magic Core?" I questioned, earning a slightly confused look from the woman, causing me to give a quick explanation. "Arthur was not born with one naturally, Merlin needed to implant the essence of a dragon in them while Arthur was still in the womb, and I myself needed to do something similar for Mordred to be born with one," I stated seriously.
"For a human to be naturally born with one, even with a sliver of Arthur's blood, let alone in this modern age with its lack of Mystery, is frankly impossible. Something only a Miracle, or the Counter Force itself is capable of facilitating," I explained, and I could see a hint of horror dawn upon Amelia as she quickly pieced things together.
Before she could voice her question, I spoke. "Yes," I said with a hint of steel. "Alistair was partly born thanks to the help of Alaya, placing him basically in its debt even before he was born," I said with a hint of disgust.
The horror that spread on her face was not surprising, and her posture returned to being stiff. "Are you lying?" she pointedly asked, causing me to regretfully shake my head. "No, I am unfortunately not." All of what I said was true after all, only that by 'basically' being in Alaya's debt, was more meant as a nice way of saying that he was already in its grasp.
Now she looked extremely worried, and like clockwork, the golem returned, bringing with it a tray holding a decanter with whisky, with a small glass, along with a tall glass of wine. The golem gently placed the tray's contents on the table, before quietly leaving the room.
Before I could grab my glass, Amelia practically lunged for the whisky and hurriedly poured a glass and downed it before I could move.
"I needed that," she mumbled while slowly pouring another glass. I didn't judge her at all, and picked up my own glass, while giving her an understanding nod.
Leaning back into her seat, she took a small sip of her drink, before refocusing on me. "Could you continue?" she asked far more politely than before. "Of course," I patiently replied, before taking a sip of my own drink.
Huh, it's quite 'polished', who knew the vampire had actual taste.
Removing the drink from my mouth, I gave a contemplative hum, as now I'd have to start the lie to sell this. "Simply put, he was offered to fight in the Grail War, and complete a task in it, and in return be given an 8th Servant slot, along with freeing himself from Alaya's clutches," I explained, earning a serious look from Amelia.
"Did he succeed?" she questioned.
The answer to this is yes, as Angra Mainyu is dead and the Grail can be said to be 'cleaned', but saying so would not be ideal right now. Luckily, this has 'nothing' to do with me, so I can lie. "No, it was a catastrophic failure," I said, and she stiffened.
"Angra Mainyu was never meant to resurrect as he did, and that has likely cost Alistair his afterlife," I said with sorrow, and like that, Amelia became as white as a sheet.
"No…" she grunted out, and her hand visibly shook. "He can't be," she muttered, earning a sad nod from me. "Yes, he'll become a Counter Guardian upon his death," I stated.
That was the last sting, and the glass in her hand slipped from her grasp, shattering on the floor. Amelia looked almost lifeless as she slumped against the sofa.
With a wave of my hand, the glass reassembled, and floated itself back onto the table.
I gave the woman all the time she needed, as she seemed to internally struggle with the news I had just dropped onto her.
After a few minutes, she spoke. "Why?" she asked almost desperately. "Why didn't he ask us to help him?"
This was a difficult question to answer, as she wouldn't like the answer, but I could still work this angle.
"He was scared," I answered, causing her to focus on me. "Scared?" she repeated, and I nodded. "Alistair didn't want to involve either of you for fear of a result similar to what has already happened," I explained, causing her to wince.
"The thought of involving either of you fully died when he summoned me," I continued, and I could see some understanding bloom in her eyes. "He thought it would hamper our communication, and the two of you would be on eggshells around me, not trusting me, causing friction," I explained, and she only nodded.
"That… would likely have been an issue," she acquiesced, causing me to nod. "I too advised against involving his mother for that very reason, as I don't think she'd let me and him stay in the same room together out of fear I'd do something to him."
After my words, she seemingly refocused on something I had said. "Rosalind said the two of you were close," she stated. "Hell, she couldn't stop talking about it," she said with a hint of fondness, before steeling her visage. "Was that all fake?"
I gave a slight sigh at the question, before giving a lopsided smile. "At first, yes," I affirmed. "But, after a while it got pretty real," I said with some fondness.
Amelia's expression didn't change at my reply. "Do you love him? Or are you leading him on?"
I felt my anger flare at the sudden accusation, before quickly schooling my emotions. I knew a question like that was coming, but it still gnawed at my pride.
"I love him," I stated firmly, before slumping slightly, and placing a hand on my face. "I don't want to cause him any harm, or mess him up emotionally. God knows I've screwed things up badly already, and I just want to make sure he'll be fine and happy," I said with emotion.
My confession gave way to a heavy silence, neither of us willing to break it, but I noticed that she was at the very least looking at me in a different light.
After a bit, she spoke up. "Are you going to be a problem?"
I gave a slight shake of my head. "No, I'm even planning on actively helping Alistair in any way I can," I unhesitatingly responded, earning a distracted hum of approval from the woman.
Silence hung over us once more, before Amelia gave a sigh. "Can… Can we pick this up some other time? This is all a bit much to digest, and I think some time to think this over would let cooler heads prevail," she asked.
Seeing this as a decent outcome, I nodded my acquiescence. "That sounds fine to me, I'll even be willing to sign another Geass for our next talk," I said, earning a slight smile from the woman.
"We'll see," was all she said before standing up, an action which I quickly mirrored.
"Good night," she said, before quickly vacating the room.
"Good night," I returned, just as the door closed in on her.
…That went… reasonably well.
…
Time to find Altrouge…
~~Fate/False Order~~
「 Altrouge's Pov. 」
Standing outside of Sakura's new room, I waited for Alistair to put the girl to sleep.
It had been too long since I had seen him, and of course things had to have gone straight to shit for him, leaving behind a foul aftertaste in my mouth.
After the news with Rosalind dying, I had spent the entire time between then and now buried in psychology books specifically the ones regarding depression and grief. The two concepts were still a bit loosely defined for my tastes, but after reading so many books, I should be able to help him.
If anything, the read on Sigmund Freud's theories was an interesting pastime, though he seemed to claim that Alistair should have been attracted to his mother, so I took his work with a grain of salt
While I was humming to myself, I heard the door creak open, revealing a slightly tired‑looking Alistair.
If you looked past his new (hot) looks, it became eerily clear that he was not completely all there, which became expressly obvious if you looked him in the eyes.
The books on grief and depression were a bit contradictory on what to do in these cases, but according to the grief one, he should ideally not be treated too differently as before the incident, as most seek a sense of normality after such a life‑changing event.
So I'd give him that.
Alistair closed the door behind him, before giving me one of those half‑smirks he'd give me when indulging one of my purposefully annoying requests, though the smile no longer quite reached his eyes.
"I know you said you were going to do paperwork in your office…." I started off. "But?" Alistair supplied with amusement clear in his tone, causing me to mirror his smirk. "Buuuuuut," I said with clear exaggeration. "It's been a while since I've beaten your ass in Street Fighter, and I'd like to see if I can rail you just as badly as I did last time."
Alistair gave a condescending raise of the brow at my comment. "You are talking a lot of shit for someone with no skill who can only spam a single button," he said with mild annoyance, causing a smile to spread on my face.
"I don't need skill to beat you, that's just how shit you are," I said haughtily, before walking past him with my head held high.
Alistair clicked his tongue, though he quickly joined me on my side. "I do not want to even hear the word skill escape your lips when you main E. Honda, you corner‑spamming bitch," he spat back, causing me to give a snort of amusement.
"That sounds like a whole ton of copium you're smoking," I said with amusement, before glancing at him. "You'll have to give me your dealer's number, clearly he's giving you the good shit."
"Kys," was his eloquent reply, causing me to give an unladylike snort.
"No you."
----
A/N
Welcome back, my reader Overlords, please add this to your library and give me some comments, stones and reviews, as it would be much appreciated.
Patience my friends, for all those sad that the chapter ended before the obvious confrontation, know that the next chapter is named: Crashout. So look forward to that.
Now, onto Altrouge… She's a bit confused on how to handle things, as while she had no enmity against Rosalind, though she has some positive feelings for her now that she's dead, as she received a similar letter from Rosalind, just far less heartfelt, along with getting something similar to a green flag for getting a relationship with Alistair. That alone might have made her Altrouge's favorite human, but it's a bit iffy to say.
Her mind just works on a totally different plane of understanding than humans, so she needs a lot of context for how to react. This is of course slightly remedied thanks to her enthusiasm for Alistair, but it is still there.
So she's the least hung up about Rosalind's death, which is neither of their faults, but it's rather her nature as a Dead Apostle / True Ancestor showing.
She's trying her best though, which should be apparent as she even bothered to read up on psychology for Alistair's benefit, so there is that going for her.
AKA: She cares, but in a weird way.
Regardless, hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and I'll see you all next week!
Leave any questions here, and I'll answer them if I can.
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Now, hand over those Power Stones, can't you see they are lonely when not used? Give them to me, and allow them to socialize, it's for their best... I swear...