Chapter 24.2 - Otherworldly Reflections [2]

"You truly are evil, Hanami." Fruel says, his eyes downcast and his posture slouched. He's clearly tired after the hours he spent convincing the other elves of the controlled councilmen, a process that wasn't helped by them being especially stubborn in their belief that the councilmen were perfect warriors and immune to being controlled. It's only when I appeared and talked to them that they finally believed it.

Of course, while he was busy dealing with the fallout alone, I busied myself by the [Obelisk], browsing through the things that I could buy from it. Most of the cooler items are obviously currently out of my budget, but it's always fun to just see what future things I might be able to gain.

And now that I'm back here, seeing his suffering, I can't help but grin.

"Why say that? Does my help mean nothing to you, Fruel?" I say back, and I watch him sigh. I laugh, much to his further ire. "Well, just enjoy the rest of the day off. You've earned it."

"That I have I suppose." He says with a tired smile, before turning to her. "On that note, you'll be leaving soon, aren't you?"

"Mm? Ah, yeah, I'll be gone for a while. There's going to be some...interesting things happening in the future, "To be precise, I spent some time delving through the possible futures using my mystic eyes, a process that's thankfully been sped up due to its recent power up, and it seems Shirou's going to be involved in another fun adventure.

Being the person I am, I'm obviously going to join him, probably with Gil as well.

"I see…" He frowns slightly, clearly not liking my leave since the investigation isn't quite done just yet, but as we don't have any further clues to work on, he can't help but accept it. "Well, I'll hope for your continued safety, Hanami."

"And why would you?"

"...what?" He halts, eyes widening in surprise at the sudden shift.

With narrowed eyes, I turn to him. "Why would you do so, hmm?" I repeat, waiting for his reply as my mystic eyes come to life, the green of my eyes overtaken by an enchanting shifting blue adorned by gold.

The man doesn't say anything. He doesn't understand, but he feels my power slowly leaking into the atmosphere, feels the pressure of the surrounding air begin to increase, and he takes several steps back. His steps are swiftly halted when he bumps against a wall, and he completely stiffens as I begin to approach.

"You know, just like you, I've been busy looking through the history of this world, trying to find something that might aid in our investigations. But, I didn't read through the [Logs] at the [Obelisk], no, no." My eyes grow brighter, and cracks begin to form across the floor as my prana seeps into them.

"The [Obelisk] is a physical object, and for how powerful it is, I doubt someone can't tamper with it, you know, take out some key portions of history so that no one could know. So I peered into the fabrics of reality itself, because that can't be altered, it can't be remade, reframed."

"And you see,"

I stop right before him, my face just inches from his, and my lips curve to a small, menacing smile.

"You told me elves and humans are cordial with each other. Not friends, but not enemies. But I doubt something like the complete destruction of about half of the elven population at the hands of humans thirty years ago can be forgotten, and forgiven so easily. It's even weirder that I can't seem to find any record of that in the [Logs]."

"W-Wait, Hanami, what do you-"

"Shh." I cut him off, pressing a gentle finger onto his lips. "Be quiet. I'm explaining, and it's quite. Rude. To. Interrupt."

Fruel goes completely pale, and my smile grows. "Every single moment I stood in this country, I asked myself, "Why are they so nice to me?" After all, thirty years shouldn't have been enough time to let a grudge of that scale be put to rest. I asked around as well, and everyone I asked gave me a similar response, one that told of the elves' cold demeanour to others."

"Why did you bring me in? Why are they so quick to accept me, to accept my claims? Why did they not question me further after I gave my photos as proof? I could've just fabricated them, made them up, but you asked nothing. Why did you get so comfortable with me so quickly? Why did the councilman asked me to become a citizen after such a short time?"

"Why did the elves you tried to explain to deny your explanation, but accepted mine?"

"...!" Fruel's eyes goes wide open in realisation, and my smile grows to a smirk.

Caught your attention didn't I?

"Why do they listen to me so much?" I continue, increasing the pressure in the air for further emphasis. "Why are they so eager to talk with me, to listen to me, to learn about me? Because don't think I don't realise you've been probing me on information about my life Fruel. Oh, I know, and I've known for a while."

Ah, the elf's really shaken now, but I won't let this end, not yet. So I pour more energy into the air, and the smell of ozone begins to fill the room we're in as lightning begins to crackle around us.

"You see, I have a very, very small question I can't help but ask."

"A-A-And that i-is...?"

I lean in close, close enough to feel his panicked breathing, and I outright grin. "The councilmen are controlled, so what's to say all other elves haven't been controlled in some way either?"

Fruel stops breathing entirely.

"After all, you're all so intent on dismissing other people, but you're so accepting of me. Isn't that weird? Isn't it also weird that you're not asking about that, at all? Hmm?"

Fruel's completely frozen now, his pupils dilating as something inside him shatters, and I finally pull away from him, a satisfied smile on my face. "But, of course, that's just an assumption. Surely all other elves can't be controlled like those councilmen, right? Think about it, will you?"

I turn to leave, but I stop myself and add, "Oh, and I've burned every note you've created of me. It's flattering that you've noted down so much about me, but considering all of it is made without my consent, I think you can't fault me for burning it away. I won't hold you against it, but don't do it again, alright?"

"Because if you do, then I'll make sure you won't be writing anything ever again."

The room goes silent as the last of my lightning fades. Fruel's completely frozen, and seeing him like that, I give him a deceptively cheery smile. "Well, I'll be off now. See ya!"

And so, with my words said, I vanish, teleporting back to my home.

Ah, that was fun.

~~~

[Due to special circumstances, the quest [An Elven Crisis] will temporarily be put on hold]

[[Intimidation] has leveled up x3!]

~~~

It'd much started as a normal day for Saber. She'd woken up, somewhat later than intended due to the dysphoria of once again having an actual body. As it's been since they first began this journey, she woke to be treated by Shirou's wonderful cooking, enjoying the drool-inducing buffet whilst dutifully ignoring the strange looks she garnered from the others.

She cared not for what they thought. She was a king after all.

Though Irisviel asking Shirou about when he'd be having children did make her stutter slightly. Slightly.

Shirou and her continued their journey around England, touring through the lands that her kingdom once stood. It was...rather amazing really. To see the civilisation she'd left behind advance until what it is now was quite a powerful moment.

Of course, they spent quite some time tasting the local cuisines as well, both for her own enjoyment and to aid her master in adding several more recipes into his repertoire.

Then, as the sun began to dip past the horizon, they finally returned to the temporary lodgings everyone else was in. She'd given her greetings, made some small talk with Irisviel and Maiya, played a small game with Illyasviel, and gave some advice for Sir Gareth to help her develop the familiarity with the spear Hanami had given to her as a placeholder.

Well, a placeholder it might be, but its strength rivals that of a Rank C Noble Phantasm, so Saber could only accept the fact with a wry smile.

However, unlike usual, Shirou asked them to order some food instead of cooking it himself and swiftly fled into his room. As expected of such a sudden act, everyone was worried for the auburn haired boy.

Quickly following, she reached his room and his door.

Just to see him glowing with bright, pinkish light, one that looks awfully familiar. Shirou's eyes snapped to hers, surprised, and she quickly broke out of her stupor and ran to his side.

But alas, it was too late. The moment of indecision she made was enough time for Shirou to be completely engulfed by the light. In a burst of wind and flowers, her master disappeared, leaving only a single remaining flower floating to the ground.

With a quickly building annoyance, she stepped forth, took the flowers in her hands, and crushed it.

"Merlin…!"

She growled out in frustration. Somehow, she heard the distant echoes of gentle laughter, and it was only with all her built patience from years of dealing with the magus that she managed to stop herself from destroying the temporary home she was staying in.

~~~

"Can't you, I don't know, give me something to analyze? Please?"

"Hmm…" Zelretch hums, making a show of stroking his beard, before cheerfully smiling. "Nope."

"Please…?"

"Nope." He repeats, and I groan out in frustration. Since I don't actually know how to use [Kaleidoscope] just yet, I immediately went out to seek the one that did. And I did.

I found Zelrecth, asked him to help me, and he declined. We've been doing this back and forth for about 5 minutes now, and it was slowly driving me to insanity. I just need the goddamn bastard to do one trick, one, and I'll be able to analyze it and use it as a template to try and get to Shirou.

"Mm, if you don't learn this kind of thing on your own, then isn't that cheating, Hanami-chan?"

"My [Gamer] is a cheat." I retort back, the vampire laughs, and I do my best to restrain the scream of frustration that's quickly bubbling in the back of my throat.

[[Stoicism] has leveled up!]

Seriously?

"Besides, don't you already have the perfect inspiration to take from?" He asks. I stare at him, confused, and he continues, "Hanami-chan, what have you been fighting against for the past months?"

"...The grail?" Grinning, he nods. "B-But that's stupidly inefficient! My MP won't be enough, and I'm not stupid enough to try and gather mana from the air!"

Well, technically, it is possible, but it'd take an insanely long time, which would lead me to missing out on whatever trials Shirou is going through. And wouldn't that be an extremely anticlimactic way to end things?

Then, Zelretch outright laughs. "Of course not!" He says jovially, and I can quickly feel my ire building again.

"Tell me, Hanami-chan, what's the purpose of the grail?"

The purpose of the grail? "Uh, to gather enough magical energy to try and punch a hole towards the Root, right?"

Zelretch blinks. "Well, yes." He says with a wry smile. "But often than not in the Nasuverse, the grail is used for everything else other than its intended purpose. Now, what is it's most famous usage?"

"The Holy Grail War." I answer simply, and he nods.

"What do you do in the Holy Grail War?"

"You summon servants, and battle, and then probably destroy the grail because some stupid people decided to summon Angra Mainyu." I say, and he nods again. Where is the damned vampire trying to go with this?

"And how does a summoning work exactly?"

...Huh?

"Well, the grail reaches into the Throne of Heroes, takes out a copy of the hero's [Spirit Origin], and sends out that copy under one of the seven classes. Usually. On the magus' side, they prepare the summoning circle, the reagent, and-"

Suddenly, something clicks in me, and an epiphany shines through. My mystic eyes flare to life, and immediately, it begins to scan through the possibilities, seeing if the solution I thought up was even possible.

It...It might-, no, it should definitely work!

"I think I get it!" I say, and with a smile on my face, I bid my farewells to the smiling vampire and quickly make my way to Gilgamesh, who's already sitting atop Vimana, our destination set to the temporary lodgings Saber is currently in.

~~~

"Hmm, a [Gamer] without the coveted [Gamer's Mind] and [Gamer's Body], yet one who's become capable of standing atop the same plateau." Zelretch looks to the slowly fading windtrail, and his smile becomes just a tad bigger. "How interesting."

[She is, isn't she?] He hears a gentle voice say in his mind, and he closes his eyes.

"My, hasn't it been a while, [System], is it now?"

[Unoriginal, I know, but it doesn't really matter.] He can almost imagine it shrugging as it says so. [Besides, the girl's reached into the deeper parts of [Yuriele] now. There's not much I can do for her.]

"I guess so." He says, softly. "I guess so."

They lapse into silence for a moment, before System speaks up. [There's not much you and I can do at this point, not without breaking the world that is.]

"Like what you did when Hanami's head was chopped off?"

[...Hey, at least fate still binds her at that moment, so I could influence the world as much as I wanted.]

It's a weak explanation, but Zelretch ignores it. "Nevertheless, the curtains are about to be lifted, and conflict will soon come knocking on her doorstep. Will she be ready, I wonder?"

[That is quite the mystery, isn't it?] System says with excited anticipation, and Zelretch can't help but smile excitedly as well.

~~~

"...So, you knew?" Saber says softly, pinching the bridge of her nose to try and relieve the building stress. Hanami, who'd appeared several minutes with Gilgamesh, can only smile wryly.

"Somewhat. My eyes aren't all powerful sadly, and I can't predict that the future I saw will come true at all."

"But it did." Saber says.

With a sigh, Hanami points a finger at the Archer beside her, who's currently far too busy playing with her gaming device. "She came, which was something I didn't really expect." She explains. "Though, considering that she can also somewhat see into the future, something like that isn't all that surprising." She then adds.

Isn't that just a minor thing? She wants to ask, but she quickly realizes how stupid of a question that'd be. The appearance of Gilgamesh in any situation was a giant deviation from any previous plan.

Saber sighs. "...So, what do we do? If what you say is true, then he's gone beyond this world, right?"

A group of gasps came from the others at the table, but Saber ignores them. "Well, no worries, I asked Zelretch to give me some pointers on what to do, so getting to Shirou shouldn't be too hard. I think."

At the mention of this 'Zelretch', most of the others sitting with them froze, and Waver in particular seems to have become absolutely catatonic. Saber can only stare at him questioning, wondering why.

"So, can we go now?" Saber asks again, pressing her thumb down on the table to try to relieve some of her building worry.

"Such impatience, where did your kingly attitude fly to, Saber?" Gilgamesh says with a scoff, but then smiles at her. "But perhaps such a change isn't a bad one. Worry over a cared individual isn't wrong in any way."

"Well, don't worry, we can get started at any time." Hanami adds with a smile. "Got everything you need?"

"I do."

"Alright, nice!" The girl says, and with a shower of light, her clothing shifts, turning from some casual garbs into a smart scholarly suit, with the magical purple scarf wrapped around her neck. Once again, the girl shows another Noble Phantasm in her arsenal, but Saber couldn't even muster any energy to be surprised. Is constantly pulling out new Noble Phantasms her true power?

Whatever the case might be, it does make the girl look quite dashing, if she does say so herself. It makes the girl seem completely different, as if the cheery girl that's been sitting there before is suddenly switched by an aristocrat, one whose presence exuded grace and wonder.

"So, got any big open space for me to use?"

"There is. There's an empty plot a couple blocks down the road. No one's used it in years." Kiritsugu helpfully provides. "Just be wary not to draw attention to yourselves."

"Ah, that one, okay." The girl mutters, nodding as she remembers which one Kiritsugu mentioned.

"And don't worry, I'll just set up an [Empty ID] and everything'll be good!" She says, and at that, Kiritsugu nods, returning to the newspaper he'd been reading. Saber blinks at the sudden end, wondering what this [Empty ID] Hanami mentioned is, and also why Kiritsugu knows such a thing.

Actually, isn't the man rather relaxed at the moment? Didn't his son just get kidnapped to another dimension?

"Well, alright, let's go!" With an excited smile, Hanami bounces up and turns to leave, Gilgamesh and Saber following just behind her, but Sir Gareth quickly stands up.

"W-Wait, please let me follow you, master!"

"Nope, can't let you do that." She says, and quickly continues before the knight could continue. "I need an anchor to return back to this dimension, you see? I mean, I have Francis' connection to pull from as well, but extra insurance won't hurt, right?" Hanami explains, but Gareth clearly still remains stubborn in her decision.

Seeing that, the girl sighs, dropping her smile. "Besides, I need you to protect them all, you know. I mean, just having the Magus Killer be here should be enough to deter most from coming, but the world's rather turbulent at the moment. We have no way of knowing what will happen." Placing a hand on Gareth's shoulder, she smiles. "Do that for me, okay?"

"...Mm, okay." She finally says, if rather reluctantly.

Hanami chuckles softly, before suddenly pulling out a book and handing it over to the knight. "Tell you what, try learning this while I'm gone."

"...? What is this, master?"

"It's a book on [Chain Dragon Lightning], a powerful lightning spell. It's not quite your style, but I think it'll benefit you greatly, since there doesn't seem to be any underlying requirement to learn it."

With a goal now tasked to her, Sir Gareth nods with a resolute smile. "I'll make sure to do so, master!"

"Good. Well, we'll be off then. Stay safe!" She says, waving her hand before leaving out the door, Gilgamesh and Saber by her side.

The trip there's done in silence, each of the three busy with their own things. Hanami seemed to be preparing for whatever it is she'll be doing, her mystic eyes activated, shining with enchanting blue light. Saber busied herself in her mind, grasping to feel where the connection to Shirou led to, while making sure to light every single curse she knew at the damned magus of flowers.

And Gilgamesh is busy in her own world, continuing her games on that portable console of hers. How she hadn't bumped into something was a miracle.

After a couple minutes, they make it to their destination. As Kiritsugu said, it's an empty plot, clearly meant for a house, but left behind and remaining empty.

"[Empty ID]" Saber hears the girl mutter, and the area is immediately surrounded by a familiar seclusion bounded field.

Ah, so this is what an [Empty ID] is.

"Well, everyone ready?" Hanami asks, magical energy pooling all around her, lightning the area in a vivid, bright green.

"I am." Saber says.

"Hmph, a king is always ready, Hanami." Gilgamesh adds in, though her eyes are still locked to that gaming console of hers.

Hanami nods. "Alright then. Saber, focus on finding where Shirou roughly is using your connection to him." She says, and seeing Saber nod, she turns to Gilgamesh. "Gil-"

"I know, do not worry." The golden king says, finally placing her games back into her treasury. She smiles at the girl, and Hanami smiles back.

Slowly, Hanami takes a breath, and with magical energy pooling all around them, she stomps her foot onto the dirt. Light shines from under them as a giant magic circle forms, one created from prana and engraved with hundreds of intricate sigils.

"Silver and iron to the origin. Gem and the archduke of contracts to the cornerstone."

Hanami begins, her words reverberating through the air as she speaks.

This is…!

"The ancestor is my great master Schweinorg."

The magic circle under them comes to life, beginning to spin as its purpose is slowly being spoken. The intricate sigils light up in a shower of colors, and the space around them contorts, snapping and folding.

"The alighted wind becomes a wall. The gates in the four directions close, coming from the crown, the three-forked road that leads to the kingdom circulate."

Reflections of the world begin to form in the air, each showing a slightly different past, a slightly different outcome, all converging into one muddled image.

"Shut (fill). Shut (fill). Shut (fill). Shut (fill). Shut (fill)."

"Repeat five times. Shatter once filled."

Webs of magical energy shoot forth, connecting to their legs. Saber shivers slightly, beset by the sudden feeling of an alien presence intruding into her soul. But she remains silent, her mind only focused on Shirou, on the bond they created, one that went above all.

"So I announce, our selves are tied, our fate long past intertwined."

It's a departure from the original, an incantation altered to fit the purpose Tsunaka Hanami needed it to fill. Despite that, the power behind it is no less than before, now stronger with a renewed purpose.

"For that is my oath. Through me the good and the evil will come together, brought together before the horizon of reality."

Through thick and thin they'd persevered. Through deafening silence and raging thunders they'd fought. Through all a bond was forged, one stronger than all.

"So let the world be bent, let us twist the machinations of fate, until all is returned."

"[Varde K'avshiri]"

At its name, the spell is invoked, and the world around them is bathed in light.

~~~

[Through separation, union will be achieved. The reflections of the kaleidoscope shine to you, and through it, you shall never be lost ever again]

[You have gained the skill [Varde K'avshiri]!]