3 Childhood II

[A/N: If there was gonna be an "opening" to this fic, it would be 'The last of the Real Ones by Fallout Boy. So give it a listen, if ya want. Enjoy and scream at me if I goof up on lore or other stuff!]

The moment she shouted those words, time seemed to slow around her. It slowed until it reached a complete stop. Altria's environment changed until she blinked, seeing a place of near infinite space. It was covered in swords that were stabbed into the ground. Before her was a hill, covered in blades.

Alone, stood a man in a red shroud and black body armor. His hair was white and swept back. His eyes, a hard grey, were boring into her own gold eyes. Closing his eyes, he sighed to himself softly and shook his head.

"Of course.. Just our luck that this happened. Well.. perhaps it's good luck?" The man pondered to himself as he watched Altria's expression shift.

"What do you mean? Who are you? What happened to Artoria!?" Altria grew increasingly more alarmed, though the man either didn't notice her concern or simply ignored it.

"That thing's influence on you gave you her Alter's form.. somehow. Hmph, I'll save that for later. You have arrived in your inner world. Unlimited Blade Works" The man explained, watching Altria's confusion grow.

"Heh.. you've forgotten even that?" Somehow, his smug grin when he said that irritated her far more than it should have.

"I don't remember much but I have a feeling I can't stand you.." Altria muttered with as much pettiness as she could gather, earning a single laugh from the man.

"Good then, your instincts and feelings haven't changed. Hopefully that foolish wish to be a hero has as well" Hoping to test her reaction, he carefully watched her but contrary to his expectation..

"Hero? I would only ever come to be a hero for one person. I'm not as selfless to claim I'll be everyone's savior. But if I can save 𝗵𝗲𝗿.. it is enough. Speaking of.." Altria impatiently tapped her foot and glared at the man.

His smug smirk changed into a real one. A far more content one.

"Good. I'll have you know that Artoria is fine, for now. Your perception of time is different here. You're still charging right at that boar. You're only seeing me here because I needed to see you won't just end up like the other versions" The man folded his arms and regained his steely expression.

"The other versions..?" Altria felt a sharp pain in her head and winced while grabbing it.

"That will come later. You say you have no intention on becoming a hero to any but her, correct? I'm still skeptical but I can trust a selfish motivation far more than a selfless one that only ever ends badly for you. You want to help her? Be by her side?" He probed, seeing Altria fidget with a tinge of pink on her cheeks.

"U..Uh.. well.." Altria tried to find her words when the man slammed his palm to his face.

"Don't ever make that expression in front of me again, please... My sanity took a serious hit there" He complained as Altria scoffed.

"I really really can't stand you.. Haa~ Yes. I want to be by her side. I feel as if something bad will happen to her and I can't bear the thought" Altria shot the man a determined look.

"I can accept that. Very well. You will receive part of my memories. Only containing the blades, that is. I'd rather not turn a kid as jaded as I am" He chuckled at his last words and poked her forehead with both fingers glowing a steel grey.

Altria slowly began to fall out of her inner world when she heard the man speak once again.

"But I'll still say this.. That's Hell you're walking into, kid. Is it worth it?" He asked, watching Altria.

To Altria, it looked as if everywhere she looked, there were flames. But at the end was her goal. The reason she would go through it all.

A lonely King. A woman, a hero clad in armor. Her happy expression as she devoured all the food in front of her. The one she would spend lifetimes to return to, just to hear her name spoken by her again.

"She's more than worth it.." Altria responded as a weapon was created in her hand.

And Altria disappeared from her inner world, leaving the older man there.

"Hopefully it goes as smoothly for you then. Well... with our luck, it definitely won't" He mused to himself as he heard another voice behind him.

"I'm surprised you let her go so easily. Though I imagine that has something to do with your own memories of her" The voice questioned.

"Hmph.. Perhaps, a little. As long as she isn't pursuing an ideal not her own, it's enough for me. She'll see me later in her life, to receive my memories" The man explained without turning around.

"You're sure she will be able to handle them? I remember very little but I know your memories are treacherous" The voice asked.

"If she grows the way I expect her to, it won't be all too shocking for her to disregard all my memories and strive to be better. After mine, come yours. Yours are what worry me. That woman...-No. That Beast did things to you" The man glanced over at the voice with a furrowed brow.

"The memories and my own Reality Marble will serve her well. More power and a cautionary tale" Finished talking, both men opted to quietly sit upon the hill and watch events unfold for Altria.

-Back in the Forest-

The moment she uttered those words, she knew exactly the weapon she would trace. Something a Demon, Undead or beings from a specific place feared. A murderous aura appeared and flooded the area. A red barbed spear of death formed in her hands. The history, composition and more flashed in her mind as she took the correct posture.

The Boar faltered in response to the spear's presence and attempted to stop its charge. Altria took advantage and stabbed straight down on the spot where it was going to be if it hadn't stopped. Altria was fast though, she spun the spear's shaft around her shoulder and stabbed the Boar with a quick thrust into its body.

Normally, her body would never have been able to sustain the speed and power she was displaying. But upon tracing the spear, she remembered other techniques somehow familiar to her. Reinforcement.

Her body reinforced to new, superhuman heights was fueled by the Dragon heart within her. Her unique magic circuits easily handling such a feat. She would question how she suddenly knew how to use magecraft later. Still a bit surprised at her sudden power, she twirled the barbed spear and quickly finished it off before it could harm Artoria. Gae Bolg, the spear was firmly stabbed into its head, fatally wounding the rampaging beast.

Sighing, she let go of her reinforcement and looked over to Kay and Artoria, who were both staring at her, unblinking. Owen was as well but Altria wasn't paying attention to him. Untracing the spear, Altria quickly ran over to the injured Kay and the spooked but awestruck Artoria.

It was a strange and magical experience for Artoria. One second, she was charging in to save her older Brother and next.. Altria had summoned some kind of scary magical spear that terrified her, yes. But it scared the Boar even more. She didn't realize it but she had been holding her breath until Altria made it disappear. That's when Artoria started to question herself.

~How did she do that!? When did she learn to masterfully wield a spear!? How is she so fast and strong all of a sudden!?~ Those questions kept repeating themselves in her mind until she was finally snapped out of it when Altria shook her for the fifth time.

"Artoria! Are you okay? We have to get Kay home" Altria looked very concerned.

"Oh! Yes, apologies. Kay comes first" Artoria put all her questions on the backburner and helped Altria lift Kay up.

"Altria, we're talking about what just happened when we return home, okay?" Kay left no room for arguments as Altria slowly nodded to herself.

"Hey!! What about me!?" Owen yelled, still hanging from a tree branch.

"Haah.. Wart, get him down, will you?" Kay sighed as Artoria nodded and proceeded to walk over to Owen.

As she tried to coax him down like a cat stuck on a high place, Kay glanced over at Altria, who seemed to be content looking at the ground.

"Altria.. I'm not mad. Neither is Wart, so stop looking as if you did something wrong, okay? I don't exactly know what you did or how you did it but you saved us. We might not be here if it weren't for you" Kay nudged her with a wince.

"Thank you, Kay. I just.. didn't want you to look at me differently is all" Altria let out a sigh of relief as she supported her brother.

"Ha.. different? You're still our workaholic, master chef sister. Though I suspect Wart has her own feelings about the matter, I doubt they'd be negative" Kay shook his head with a wry smile.

"AAAGH!" With a snap and a thud, they looked over to see Owen face first on the ground while Artoria was holding up a stick.

"...Oops?" Artoria sheepishly scratched the back of her head as Owen grumbled and got up.

"Eh.. serves him right for foolishly wandering into the forest" Kay shrugged as Artoria and Owen joined them.

Owen's expression and demeanor drastically changed as he approached them. He was looking at Altria completely differently now. He was in a strange daze that only Artoria seemed to notice now.

Strangely, it seemed to really annoy her for reasons she couldn't understand.

~What's with that expression you're giving to Altria huh!?~ Artoria shot him a glare he didn't notice as they returned to Tintagel.

As soon as they entered, they were surrounded by the men who retreated and more guard reinforcements.

"What happened, Sir Kay!? Did you fell the beast?" One of the men who retreated asked, though Kay showed a difficult expression.

"No! It was Altria! She knows magic! She pulled out a spear like a noble hero and slew the beast in two hits!" Owen excitedly told them, though to them it seemed as if he was greatly overexaggerating.

"Right, yes.. Well, let us get you back to your Father. He practically armed the entire town and told us to look for you" One of the guards pulled Owen away, who started to prattle on about Altria's performance.

"Hmph.. Now he gets it!" Artoria spat, making Altria crack a smile.

"Sir Kay, we will retrieve the corpse of the beast. Perhaps we could cook it, if it is edible, that is" One of the guards remarked as Kay nodded in approval.

"Sure but bring it back to my house. If it IS edible I'd rather have Altria cook it" At Kay's words, Artoria's ahoge started acting up.

She began to imagine all the delicious pork dishes being made out of such a large boar, making her stomach growl.

"Hahahaha!! Wart agrees!" Kay laughed as Artoria flushed red and started to jab her finger at his injuries.

"Ow! OWW! Dammit, Wart!" Altria smiled as she escorted the two home.

Meanwhile, Ector and Merlin had finished their observation and were quietly talking amongst themselves until they heard Artoria's reprimands, Kay's pained howls and Altria's attempted placating.

"We'll finish this discussion later. I'll have to train Altria and Artoria both at once from now on. We may actually have two potential candidates.." Merlin left with those words, making Ector grumble and sigh to himself as he watched his children return.

"Maybe that's for the best.. I can't stand the thought of either being alone" He sighed as a small grin adorned his face.

-Elsewhere-

Out in a land of Darkness, a woman stirred. Standing outside her castle, on a balcony was a beautiful woman with perfect body proportians and a serious face. She was dressed in a sort of bodysuit made for battle and wore a veil on her head. Looking over the dark horizon, her hand twitched and she uttered two words.

"Gae Bolg..?"