Chapter 66: What is…

Rin glanced at my outburst and asked, "What's wrong?"

I pointed at White Saber (Lily) and said, "There is no way in HELL I was ever. EVER. Like that! No, zero! NO. The purity of her soul disgusts me on a fundamental level! It shines like millions of stars, brimming with hope and wonder. GEH."

I actually felt repulsed to be around her, like I ran the risk of the absolute purity of her soul washing away my beloved corruption.

I could hear Rin's voice dripping with smugness as she asked, "Wait, that's you? A younger version of you?"

Crossing my arms in an X, while shaking my head I absolutely refused, "Nope. Nope. Hmmm mmm. No. No, no, no. No. Hell no. NO. NO!"

My face went through various stages of denial and anger, but Rin only had the biggest, most shit eating grin I've ever seen the whole time. With dramatics, she raised her left hand to her forehead and with a sigh said, "Oh, what a tragedy! To go from such a pure maiden to…" she then motioned my way lazily as she finished with suppressed giggles, "This."

Much to my annoyance even the withering glare I sent her way did little to stop her from giggling at the entire situation. While Rin was enjoying my self loathing of my younger self, said self was actually doing rather well against Lancer considering her Master.

After Lancer speared her in the heart with his Noble Phantasm's release, "Gáe Bolg," I felt like I took actual damage to the core of myself when Lily yelled, "To Pierce a maiden's heart and then flee like a drunkard Father! As expected of such a scoundrel!"

However, the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back was when Rin fell on her ass and started laughing hysterically at the retort. Unable to handle such pure cringe and shame, I teleported next to Lily and threw a punch right to the side of her head. Much to my surprise, she raised her sword to block the attack just in the nick of time, and quickly shot off through the centre of Shirou's little shack. Completely obliterating it, and nearly taking him out as well as a consequence.

I was confused at how she was able to block my attack, if only barely, before I noticed my Disillusionment Charm had deactivated. With a soft hum, I corrected my posture and thought, 'Hmm. Maybe because I actually attacked this time, instead of merely defending? Or was it the bloodlust that I released that broke the charm?'

A shout from Shirou brought me out of my musings, along with a complaint from Lily, "Jeez. What the heck was that? She came out of nowhere. An assassin?"

With a wave of my hand I disbursed the dust cloud that was kicked up before returning my hands behind my back and taking up a regal posture.

With a groan, and a sigh of relief from Shirou, Lily got up from the ground and dusted herself off a bit. As she cleaning up a bit she said, "A low blow such as that won't be able to-"

However, her taunt seemed to die in her throat when she looked up at me. She immediately froze mid-motion before asking with wide eyes, "Morgan?"

With several blinks, she asked again, "Sister, is that you?"

I just glared at her while I debated if I wanted to correct that statement, but I would be lying if I said I'd rather that narrative go around than admitting that I was EVER like her at any point in my life.

So, with a mental shrug, I said with venom dripping freely in my voice, "Artoria."

Lily had a sly smile as she said, "You look… older."

I merely huffed and raised my nose to her, and with disdain I replied, "And you are still a brat."

I sneered slightly when I saw her flinch a tiny amount. Tossing Rin a subtle nod when she joined me at my side I said, "Still full of hopes and dreams I see."

She took a proud stance and puffed out her chest as she exclaimed, "But of course! I will be a great King one day!"

I released a laugh much like a classic villainess while covering my mouth with the back of my left hand, "Ohohohoh~. That's cute. But, we both know you don't; You fail. And in this day and age, your vaunted kingdom is even debated if it existed in the first place!"

My malicious sneer only grew when I saw her visibly deflate, but much to my annoyance she recovered in no time and declared, "That is what I intend to correct with my wish! I will do it right this time!"

With a sigh, I roll my eyes as I say, "Sure, sure. But, I already see a glaring flaw in your plans, Artoria."

She raised an eyebrow in confusion and motioned me to continue. Conjuring a fan made of shadows to hide the absolutely nasty smile I was sporting, I said, "I stand before you, and in opposition of you." With a flick of my wrist I dismissed the fan and rested my right arm in my palm before continuing, "And this time, I will be actively doing my own dirty work."

With a devious smile, I drew my hand backwards and a javelin made of pure shadow was created along the motion. When I was ready to throw it, the javelin was four metres long with a tip crackling with an ominous purple lightning. My smile turned cruel as I turned my head to Shirou, and threw the spear.

I heard three gasps as the spear left my hand. Lily wasted no time, and appeared in front of Shirou, and was using her sword along with a mana burst to hold the spear at bay. The sound of grinding metal was ringing out, along with the crackling of thunder as the two weapons clashed in a test of might.

With a mighty yell, Lily diverted the spear into the air with all her strength. There was a crack as the spear broke the sound barrier as it left the city skyline before exploding into a massive purple ball of hatred and rage.

I didn't get to see their reaction however, as when Rin saw the spell get deflected she asked me to teleport us back to her house. As we arrived with a soft crack, Rin bent over and was softly groaning. Before I could say anything though, she held up a single finger and asked me to wait a moment.

With a few long drawn out sighs, she collected herself, and with a nod she turned to me and said, "Why did you try and kill Shirou?"

I raised a brow and asked, "Do you have a problem with my actions in attempting to remove an opponent?"

She instantly said, "No." She frowned slightly to herself before saying, "Yes?"

Adding a tilted head to my raised eyebrow I asked, "Well, which is it?"

She seemed to struggle for a few moments before throwing up her hands in the air and yelling, "Oh, forget it!" Crossing her arms under her breasts she said, "Just forget it for now. I am going to go to sleep, and I'll tell you after I've thought about it."

Releasing a hum and a half shrug I said, "Sure, you do that."

She narrowed her eyes at me and said, "I will."

She then huffed and left the living room while I just smiled slyly at her. After I confirmed she was in her room, I walked over to the couch and released a long sigh as I collapsed into the soft cushions. Sitting in a rather unladylike fashion I just closed my eyes and thought, 'Well, that went from 0-100 rather fast. But really, her soul threw me for such a loop! How is it so pure?! It makes Asia's from DxD look like Issei's damn it!'

As that thought passed through my mind I hummed as I asked myself, 'Speaking of Issei… I wonder what happened to Rias after I killed him. I think I should send someone to make sure I don't have some Light-touched She-Devil after me. That's a pain I don't want to deal with…'

A cruel smile appeared on my face when I thought of the DC universe that had kicked off my entire ascension, 'I wonder how long it's been since I've been there? I did say I would go back one day… I'll have to check if I can teleport there one day; If I even remember after all of this~.'

With a soft chuckle, I correct my posture and sat like the Ex-King I am as I mulled over what I wanted to do next. I focused my senses on the city and the area around it and to my surprise I now sensed nine servants, excluding me.

Slightly swaying my head back and forth I think, ' So, assuming Medea isn't replaced, and is counted as a down and out that leaves… three more to show up?' With an interested hum I continued, 'While there are some major differences, some are still the same. I want to meet the real Gilgamesh. And punch his fucking pretty face through the damn planets core.'

Turning my head lazily toward the front of Rin's home, I released another interested hum as I stood up, 'Interesting. A master and two Servants are rapidly making their way here?'

Appariting to the front gate, I hovered in the air with my hands behind me in a relaxed state as I waited for my guests to appear. I didn't have to wait long before they arrived; A little girl sitting on the shoulder of an absolute tank of a man who was nothing but muscle. And standing next to him was…

My thoughts froze as I gazed at the other Servant and before I could even register what I was doing I said, "You are extraordinarily beautiful."

All three of them froze at the sudden declaration, and the one who I directed to it blushed an equally beautiful red, and before I could stop myself I once again blurted out, "Your blushing face is just as gorgeous."

The Servant's face was absolutely red as she stuttered out, "Yo-you're rather fetching as well. But now is not the time…"

I was completely ignoring the other Servant and Master, Heracles and Illyasviel von Einzbern respectively, and focusing my entire attention on the stunning Fairy Knight; Barghest. I was not surprised she didn't confuse me with her King, Morgan Le Fay, like Lily did. I would be immensely disappointed in her if she did, honestly. Truthfully, I was blown away by the cute little fidgeting she was doing trying to conceal the smile that was threatening to sprout from the compliments.

I beamed a toothy smile of my own at her and said, "I will make it the time then." I glanced at the other two who were still rebooting from the semi-pink atmosphere before I looked back and continued, "I would rather spend time with you, than do whatever your summoner has planned."

That seemed to finish Illya's reboot sadly as she said with a slight startle, "Ah! No wait, stop! We're here to fight! You hurt my Onii-chan, only I am allowed to do that!"

Feeling annoyed at the interruption, I glanced at the duo before I MOVED. Appearing in front of Berserker instantly, I smashed my fist directly into his chest. There was a glorious sickening crunch sound and a massive backlash of kinetic energy from the attack. The wind rushed away from the point of impact as his body started to fold in on itself before he shot off faster than a jet.

Illya released a surprised yelp as she fell a few feet before I caught her by the nape. I had silently casted a barrier around her to prevent any damage, as I didn't want to risk having Barghest getting de-summoned on the off chance I can't become a Master. I turned Illya so she was forced to look into my glowing golden eyes as I calmly said, "Young ladies should stay silent when the adults are speaking."

There was a loud explosion sound, and an equally huge dust cloud forming in the distance from Berserker's landing. Illya glanced at the rising cloud before looking back at me and nodding stiffly.

I gently set her down as I said, "That's a good girl."

I looked up at Barghest, and while she didn't rush in to save her Master, she nonetheless was ready to do just that if the need arose and she was given the chance. I smiled at her and said, "You've got great instincts, Fairy Knight Barghest."

She relaxed her posture when I had set her Master down gently, and was looking at me with a raised eyebrow as she asked, "You know me?"

Getting a small smirk I said, "I do, indeed. Though, I must confess my knowledge of you was sorely lacking when it came to your beauty. I was not blowing hot air when I called you beautiful, Barghest."

The blush came back in full force as she smiled slightly while she asked, "May I know who owns such a silver tongue?"

I smile wildly as I grab the sides of my dress and do a full royal-like courtesy while I introduce myself, "My full name is Artoria Pendragon Alter. It is my greatest pleasure to make your acquaintance."

She raised her eyebrow and before she could ask I nodded my head and said, "What you are thinking is correct, but it is also wrong. A story for another time."

She nodded her head as she did a knight's bow and returned the greeting in earnest, "My full name is Fairy Knight Gawain. But I would be most appreciative of you, if you would continue to call me by my fairy name: Barghest."

I gave her a nod and said, "Of course." I then had a sly grin as I added, "I'll call you whatever you want. Whenever you want."

She seemed confused for only a split moment before her blush was upped a few degrees. Giggling softly, I continued when she was looking back at me, "I know you adore a strong lover, and while I did display such strength…"

I did a flourish as I summoned a sword of shadow in my right hand and took a combat stance. Smiling at her I finished, "You won't be satisfied with just that, will you. Come, test your mettle against me, and let me prove to you that I have more than what it takes, to take you as my lover."

While she was still blushing up a storm, her face turned serious as she drew her sword before saying, "Are we not going a tad fast?"

I smiled widely as I answered, "Something about you calls to me, my Barghest. I desire you, and I want to see where this might lead."

I could have sworn I was able to see smoke coming from her ears for a few seconds before she shook her head and declared, "Then have at thee! Do not take this lightly, bare your all to my blade while I do the same! Let our souls sing in battle!"

[author] And VINE BOOM! (I cringed typing that.) Bet you were not expecting some of these twists, huh?![/author]