-"Thank you for waiting. What can I do for you?"-I looked at the huntress who was waiting silently.
She looked at me, her eyes revealing a complex mix of emotions, including pity, understanding, and even some heartache. She continued looking at me like that for a while longer before finally speaking.
-"You're strong."
I blinked, not sure how to respond to her.
-"How did you do it?"
-"Did what?"-I asked, genuinely not understanding what she meant.
-"Lived. Survived."-She looked at the celling collecting her thoughts.-"Due to our contract, I saw parts of your memory. I met many heroes, some with less than pleasant stories, but few experienced despair like yours. How did you manage to rise after... You know."
-"After infection and landing in the Lands between? Even I'm unsure. After being saved by Princess, I hung on to my desire to repay her."-I shrugged.-"Maybe I created a persona for myself that I then started to portray. Or maybe that was always who I was, previously repressed by the environment of Laterano. I delved into magic to escape the hopelessness I felt then. Luckily, I was able to live."
-"Luck?"-She seemed surprised by my attributing what happened to luck.
-"What else? Some kind of fate or destiny?"
-"Your effort? Hadn't you worked for years to resolve your predicament, becoming who you are now in the process?"
-"I did, but each of my steps could be accomplished only due to a heavy amount of luck. Take me 'curing' my oripathy as an example. The process of imbuing Primal Glintstone with a soul. Even greater sorcerers died due to unforeseen circumstances, yet I, a novice with barely enough understanding to perform that ritual, achieved that."
-"Even then, shouldn't you put more emphasis on your effort?"
-"Maybe, but I believe that both of our stances are just other forms of self-deception. Some think that only effort matters, while others put emphasis on talent or luck. Worse, many just thank some god and move on with their lives. This is nothing more than a difference between glass being half full or empty."
-"I would rather believe that my actions amount to something, even if they are guided by divine will at some point."
-"And I prefer to think that luck is on my side."
-"Don't Stars rule fate in your magic? Why luck?"
-"Because luck is fair, without some greater will or preference. Destiny and fate often imply some greater plan or being, while luck is just luck. A pure happenstance. Well, I doubt this subject is what you wanted to truly talk about. How about moving to the main subject?"
-"This was part of the main subject, but I indeed have something else I want to talk about. Now that you are my Master, I want to know what you plan to do. I don't believe that you are not interested in grail, you are not some kind of saint."
-"I'm interested in it in a manner of how a smith is interested in a legendary weapon, not to use it but to understand and take inspiration from it."-I nodded and admitted.-'What about you?"
-"I wanted to ask for a world where no child is harmed, but after hearing about that priest, I understood that such wishes bring more harm than good."-She sighed.-"I'm a little lost, to be honest. That's why I wanted to talk with you."
-"I see. I'm not sure how I can help you, but I'll do what I can."
-"You should know some things about me, right?"
-"I haven't experienced your past through our contract, but I have some knowledge of your legends."
-"Then what do you think about me?"-She focused on my face, trying to see through my expression to understand my true thoughts.
I thought for a moment, collecting my thoughts before speaking.-"In my eyes, you are someone deserving the name of hero. Representing virtues, but also the shortcomings of your patron goddess. But being a hero, especially a Greek one, is not a pure compliment."
-"That is quite generous."-Her face reddened slightly, not expecting my opinion of her to be so positive.
I smiled, knowing that she must have interpreted my words differently than I meant them, but for someone born in ancient Greece, being a hero who resembles their god is as good complement as it can get.
-"Ehem."-She cleared her throat, trying to hide her blush.-"Well... Now that I know what you think about me, what about my actions? What are your thoughts on them, especially the later parts of my life?"
-"Hmm... If I were to sum everything up into one sentence, I would say that you are no different than some princesses in fairy tales, trapped in an ivory tower due to circumstances beyond your control, but rather than waiting for princely rescue, you fought for everything at every step of your journey."
-"Me? A princess from a tale?"-She never expected me to compare her like that.
-"Were you not? As a child, you were cared for by animals, and later embarked on a journey to both prove yourself and seek your roots. After meeting your family, your tragedy began. In word where men ruled, no matter how great a hero you were, you would always be only a woman; thus, they trapped you, not with solid walls, but with your promises and vows. But you resisted, upholding your convictions even when those led you to a dead end. While not traditional, your story fits a fairy tale princess through and through."
-"We might have different ideas of a fairy tale princess."
-"I guess so."-I shrugged.-"I have yet to meet a princess who waits for rescue rather than fights for everything herself. But let's circle back to the main subject. I guess that all that asking was meant to help you clear some doubts, am I right?"
-"You are right, but I'm yet to find the answer I want. Let me be direct, in your eyes, what should I do from now on?"
-"You mean in this War, or..?"
-"Both."
-"I see. Then I hope that in this War you can follow my command while ensuring your well-being."
I could see that this wasn't what she wanted to hear, but both of us knew that this was the purest truth.
-"As for after, it depends. I doubt any wish can be realistically achieved, but methods to prolong your existence in this timeline are not few, so if you want to stay and find a new purpose, do so. At the same time, I feel that something that would overturn everything will take place soon, but I can't place my finger on what it will be."
-"A precognition?"-She looked at me, both surprised and serious.
-"I guess so. I seem to possess some talent for such matters, but aside from some basic stargazing, I never dwelt deeper. I used divination a few days before, and a few images I saw there already happened, which is why I'm worried. The last thing I saw predicted that Ruler would unleash power that even I find deadly. Even that priest doesn't warrant such action, so I feel that we are still missing something."
Atalanta stayed silent, seemingly thinking about what I had revealed and what had already happened in the shadows during this War.
-"Well, no need to worry about it, just keep it in mind."-I finally spoke to interrupt the silence.
-"I'll find out what's going on."-She said suddenly.-"I'm quite good at finding traces."
-"I'll leave it to you then."-I nodded, knowing that she most likely used this task as something to occupy her mind while she works out her plans for the future.
Having something to occupy her mind can help her resolve her doubts on her own, so I don't mind even if nothing comes from her investigation. Atalanta was like a bow; she would shoot her target, overcoming everything that stood in her way, but at the same time, if she were to lack a target, she would be of no use at all. So while I empathized with her doubts about her past, present, and future, what mattered now was that she could use her full strength when needed.
Shortly after that, she left my tower and disappeared from my perception, so I returned to other matters at hand. Most of the preparations for spellcasting were already done, so I passed the time working on some of my other projects, mainly on the strange, unidentified object I received from Gaia. Morgan returned it to me during our last conversation, unable to find anything using her methods.
Playing with the small orb in my hands, I carefully probed it with each of the available means to me, finding nothing. It was as if this object was nothing more than a purposeless marble, yet I was sure that there must be something more to it. With no invasive approach proving to be of no use, I decided to take a risk and use some more drastic measures.
Grasping it firmly with my left hand, I manipulated my Originium Glintstone to envelop it and dissolve the surface of the orb as slowly as it was possible. The moment the tiniest particle of the marble was corroded, a reaction occurred. The crystal that formed around the orb instantly exploded in size, becoming larger than a soccer ball in the blink of an eye.
Halting the process, I forcefully stabilized the created crystal, performing checks to make sure it was safe. Luckily, nothing else happened; the orb was stable enough to halt the corrosion, while my control over this Originium Glintstone crystal wasn't lost due to whatever happened. After confirming again and again that there was no danger, I now focused directly on the Originium Glintstone crystal around the orb, quickly detecting differences in it due to my familiarity with it.
With my limited understanding of Originium, I could only confirm that whatever the thing confined to the orb previously was, it was now partially unleashed into the crystal before me, but still sealed from the outside world. For now, I decided to leave it be as the time didn't allow me to delve deeper into it at the moment, but if I wanted to research it more, I would need to first understand Originium much more than I currently do.
As I couldn't put the orb into the storage due to its strangeness, I changed the crystal to form a scabbard that I hung on my side. Creating a crystal sword to put it to use, I cleaned the surroundings before occupying myself with other matters, such as looking for traces of our opponents and mending some damaged magic nodes from the previous night. It was only after the sun started to set that I found signs of our opponents.
-"So they are indeed coming, huh?"-Red Saber looked at the black dot on the horizon.
-"They are afraid."-I smiled, observing their preparations from a safe distance.-"That Priest can't give us time to flip the board this War is played on, after all, as a Ruler, he has the greatest advantage from all possible classes in a somewhat normal Grail War. And so, he has to take a risk."
-"Tsk. Talk like a human."-Saber struck my side with her elbow.-"I have had enough of hearing you analyze them again and again. Just tell me that I need to know."
-"Then you just have to know that they will be ready for us."
-"Good, otherwise the fight would be too boring."
-"Be careful. Atalanta will be..."
-"Right, I'll take care of your little kitty."
-"Shut it, you tin can."-Atalanta's fur bristled at being called a cat.
-"Stop it, you two. I will take care of my disciple. I'll leave the lancer to you two."-Archer looked at the saber and Rider.
-"Sure!"-Rider jumped while Black Saber just nodded
-"I'll bring them down, but I can't involve myself in your fights until they act against the rules."
-"I'm the same, so Eno and I will focus on keeping that priest in check."-Jeanne finished our task division.
I met Jeanne's gaze, and she nodded, ready to finish this War. Smiling at that, I flew into the air, landing on the top of my tower, waiting for the sun to fully disappear behind the horizon. With the last ray of sunlight gone, I started to cast my spell.
The Flying Fortress stopped far enough from us that they couldn't engage use with their weapons, waiting for us to attack. As the minutes passed, the clouds slowly started to gather above my tower, drifting toward the fortress as normally as they could. But as I never intended to be stealthy, the anomaly was quickly detected, and so, the Fortress started to light up with countless magical circles and runes, trying to resolve coming danger.
It was then that I accelerated my casting, making the previously slow cloud erupt into a powerful blizzard, hurling icicles the size of a person at the enemy defenses. At the same time, arctic winds surrounded the fortress, pressuring my opponent while exploiting any opening that was left. The direct confrontation began with a clash of magic, and even after long minutes, there was no sign to tell who held the upper hand.
With the natural advantage of the fortress, their defenses were hard to chip, let alone breach, but my preparations and advantages allowed me to single-handedly put them under siege. Now I need to find an opportunity to finish my trap. Time crawled forward, and slowly my blizzard started to get the upper hand; the first signs of accumulated damage started to show on the fortress, with some external elements crumbling due to the constant frost wind, while other places started to get frozen solid.
I observed how Assassin started to reinforce her defenses, purging unnecessary and damaged parts of the fortress while strengthening essential parts of the fortress. As the clash started to slowly tilt back into the impasse, while the Assassin was fully occupied with controlling the fortress, I struck with my hidden hand.
An invisible ripple appeared in the blizzard, and pure mental power suddenly struck down at the fortress. It ignored all solid matter and, like a thunderbolt, directly struck the Assassin in her throne room. She momentarily lost control of the fortress, dizzy from the unexpected strike, but as she tried to regain it, I acted faster and stopped her.
With the defenses effectively crippled, the fortress couldn't hold under the onslaught of the ice and wind, and not even ten seconds after the mental attack, the walls crumbled. Now, even if Assassin could regain her control, it would be too late; the Flying Fortress was going down. While I stayed back to keep my spell up, I watched how other Servants on my side entered the fortress. After I ensured that the the fortress was on the ground and held no more danger to us, I will join Jeanne inside. But for now, I continued to turn the Flying Gardens into an ice tomb with my blizzard.