A Nascent Kaleidoscope.

Chapter 689 - 609 + Little Dragons 4

Clint Barton "Hawkeye," POV

The world was upside down.

There were buildings in the sky.

Said buildings had to be hundreds of stories tall. And they also bent at 90-degree angles without falling over.

I’m pretty sure there was a tree that sprouted four of itself in a circle casually floating through the sky too.

Alright, not in Kansas anymore.

Magic stuff.

Magic.

Keep an open mind, Coulson said. Why did I have to draw the damn short straw with Natasha? She’s much better at just keeping an open mind.

The moment she heard ’Magic,’ her face changed, and I really should have been more concerned about that.

Now that I think about it, she definitely cheated when we drew straws.

It’s safe to say that I’m a bit out of my depth here.

"Hello~"

The blue girl was squatting next to me; I didn’t even notice her sneak up. "Hello."

She smiled in amusement. "You look a little concerned."

I looked up at the twisted eldritch buildings that branched off to the sky. "Just a little bit."

"This must be overwhelming; is it your first time? Everyone has trouble their first time, so don’t worry about it. You just need to remember to breathe and pace yourself."

I opened my mouth and then fizzled for a moment. "Did you..."

Was that a sex joke?

It was definitely a sex joke.

Her smile widened as she realized. "You looked like you were about to start having a panic attack." She poked my chest. "You got dropped in the deep end. Focus on something pleasant, like your family. Wife and daughter, right?"

"How did you know that?"

"Oh, sorry, was I not supposed to?" She looked apologetic but still.

"...very few people know about my family," I whispered. "I would very much like to know how you know about them." I mentally measured the time it would take to draw an arrow from my quiver depending on the answer.

I specifically had Fury hide any details of my family; there’s not a single mention on any Shield databases or documents.

There is no information anywhere, not even a marriage certificate buried in some hospital’s filing cabinet in the basement either.

"I’m a goddess; one of my domains is the Homestead. If you have a home in your heart, I can feel it." She put another hand on my chest, and oddly... I didn’t feel threatened at all.

It was weird and warm and made me think of home.

"Don’t worry, I won’t say anything." She giggled. "Feeling better?"

"...yeah," I breathed out. I felt better.

Weird.

A goddess?

I read the reports on everything that happened in New Mexico. Hell, I wasn’t far away when it happened. But even still, I don’t think this is anything I’ll ever get used to.

She definitely had a non-human feeling, but I just chalked that up to her being...well, blue and not human.

I peeked over the trashcan I was hiding behind. "So...um, where are we exactly?"

"Ah, well. I don’t know the exact name, but..." She put a finger on her lips. "Hmm, to put it into words you would understand, we’re basically in a pocket dimension? Sort of a mirror of the ’real’ world; that’s why everything looks twisted and wrong."

Okay.

I understand some of the words.

"Second question."

"I’d be happy to answer." She perked up.

"Why did...um... Wilhelm, was his name? Yeah, why did Wilhelm throw a brick at that guy’s face?" I was, I think, understandably distracted for the past couple minutes, so I feel like I was missing context.

She scrunched her nose. "Wilhelm tends to do that to people he doesn’t respect when they do their cliché monologues."

"Cliché monologue? Arrogant and some inflated thoughts of self-importance?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Ah." Yeah, I understood. "I do the same, but with arrows, honestly."

Granted, none of mine were ever...well, this.

But I’ve run into the types far too many times when on missions.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Glad to see that even people doing magic are still stupid and predictable.

"Should I be worried? Shouldn’t you be helping him?" I asked again.

She shook her head. "If Wilhelm is being silly, then it’s fine. Well, he does it sometimes when he’s annoyed too. But not when other people are involved." She gestured to us. "And he’s not really a threat."

"Uh...forgive me if I feel unconfident in that considering where I am." He somehow pulled me into another, uh...pocket dimension?

"Oh, let me clarify. He might be good at magic and whatnot, but he’s not actually here. That’s some kind of clone or projection that he cast from far away. Any of us could very easily handle that thing, so no need to worry."

"...right."

I am very far out of my depth.

"And, uh...did he say why he was here?"

"Apparently he came for the demon?" The blue girl didn’t sound too sure. "His motivations were rather vague."

I looked to where Johnson was still prone after...he had a boat dropped on him. The other lady was standing next to him, looking very unconcerned as well.

"Wasn’t Coulson next to him?" I immediately started looking around.

"Coulson had good instincts. He noticed something happening and jumped out of the ’area’ just in time. Though, if he knew what was happening, he probably would have ’stayed inside.’"

"Yeah." I nodded. "Coulson isn’t the type to run away."

How would you know you’re getting pulled to.....this place, instead of whatever wacky weird thing someone was trying to do to you?

"Your friend is fine too." She spoke up. "Wilhelm isn’t so callous as to hurt the person underneath. The Demon took the brunt of the ’hit,’ as it were. And there won’t be any lingering pain or damage to your friend after we pull the demon out."

It sounds oddly reassuring coming from her.

"Well, this is going to be fun to write a report about when it’s all done."

"If you want, you can shoot him with arrows. Bonus points if you hit him between the legs." She offered it like some kind of consolation prize.

I was honestly surprised she made that kind of offer.

"...I really shouldn’t."

It was unprofessional.

I took the taser arrow out of my quiver and took aim as her eyes sparkled in delight.

[Line Break]

Wilhelm POV

I miss my first brick.

But each successive generation of brick lives up to the original’s status.

I vaguely recall the Ancient One talking about this asshole, so I had no qualms about bricking him in the face. Even without that, he was definitely the type that needed to take a brick to the face.

I could already guess that his motivations were very stupid without even hearing them.

Thus, he has been blessed by the Holy Brick.

He got up quickly, clutching his nose that looked a little bloody. "Did you throw a brick at me?" He asked incredulously.

"Nope. Must have been someone else." I responded casually. "Probably someone else who finds you disagreeable. I would suggest making a list, but I’m sure it would be vast."

"You would be surprised." He wiped away the blood from his nose. "My enemies don’t live to develop grudges."

Hoh.

He’s not real. I could immediately feel that he’s ’off.’ Some kind of clone or spiritual projection, maybe? Astral Projection? I have some vague knowledge of that subject. Just from my spiritual power, I’m much more sensitive to the souls of others, and he felt ’empty.’

An avatar?

That might be closer to home.

I want to analyze it a bit further.

Credit where it was due, he wasn’t throwing a tantrum. That at least spoke of having some manner of caution and forward-thinking skills.

Well, that or he’s not strong enough to say "fuck it" and start throwing hands.

Salem is protecting the unconscious guy, and Jinn is sitting next to Clint, who got swept up into the Mirror Dimension, so they should be fine.

"So, Kamekillus, what’s your whole big evil plan? You have one, right? You look positively exuberant at the idea of waxing poetically about how you were never taken to prom, so the world has to suffer."

Second time in the Mirror Dimension, I wonder if I can break through it this time without resorting to the Kaleidoscope? If he starts altering the surroundings, though, I may just need to abandon that thought. Don’t want to risk the normal people from getting swept up into something just because I’m curious.

"Kaecilius." He corrected.

"Kelpallius."

He didn’t correct me again. "You misunderstand. I am not here to make the world suffer. I am here to save it."

"Oh." It clicked. "You’re one of those."

"One of ’those’?" He questioned.

"Yeah, the ones who think they’re the good guys, you know. While they’re elbows deep in the bodies of innocent people." I nodded.

It’s always the same shit, isn’t it? Whatever, I didn’t really care about it that much. If he were here properly, I probably would have just cut his head off and been done with it. But since he’s hiding off somewhere else, we may as well let him blabber on.

He frowned a little. "You don’t know what you’re standing in front of."

"Looks middle-aged and balding if I had to guess." I rolled my eyes. "But go ahead, try to convince me."

He tilted his head. "Why do you think I should convince you of anything? You stand in my way; it’s inconsequential whether you understand my plight or not."

Huh.

You get one point for not taking the edgy path, I suppose.

Damn, this usually works. Am I losing my touch?

"So why do you need the demon?" I pointed over my shoulder at Johnson still on the ground.

"Do you believe I would reveal all my plans to someone I just met?" He furrowed his brow. "I’m sorry to say, but I’m not that naive."

Well!

Color me shocked!

Now I’m curious.

Damn him.

"Okay, but answer me one thing." He looked at me curiously. "What are you stalling for?"

Was he waiting for his real body to come on over after realizing that it wouldn’t be an easy grab of the demon, or whatever?

His expression shifted slightly, as if given the go-ahead, and his hands moved quickly and with practiced competency.

Sparks flew through the air as sigils ignored around him.

I flicked my hand, my wand appeared between my fingers, and between us, there was a collision of spells, resulting in an explosion of energy.

I haven’t really looked into the sorcery here. It was something I planned on doing; I just hadn’t had the time yet.

But having a second look at his ’orange sparks,’ I think I understood the basic principle.

The way it sort of ’sparks’ in the air, like something was being ignited, it’s because something was. They’re basically using energy from a different dimension to ignite the mana in the air, which is what causes the visual phenomena.

Rather than me, who has magic circuits that intertwine internal Od and external Mana, they combined other dimensional energies and the world’s Mana in the air rather than internally.

Same result, but different process.

He worked quickly.

A whip made of orange light came at me from the side; I batted it away with a quick Greater Ward cast from my wand.

I followed up with a bolt of lightning erupting from the tip of my wand right at him.

He twisted his glowing sigils until they formed a shield that my lightning splashed again. With a few movements of his arms, the shield distorted and reformed, showing new sigils and runes as he held it between his arms.

It glowed and released a bright beam of light.

"Finite." I cast a counterspell that dispelled it.

"I summon the Winds of Watoomb!" He shouted, and it was like a small hurricane erupted around me.

Winds dense enough that I couldn’t see through them.

I scoffed.

"Hanuman."

It was like an invisible hand descended, pressing his wings to the ground and forcing them to disperse outwards, nearly knocking him off his feet.

He slid backwards a few steps but caught himself. "Impressive. I am confused as to why I have not heard of you before. You are most certainly not a Sorcerer of Kamar-Taj; where did you learn?"

"How do you know I didn’t learn at Kamar-Taj?" I asked him, twirling my wand in my hand. "Maybe you were just a bad student and didn’t learn?"

"I was the best student. I could have been the next Ancient One." He said proudly.

"I’m sensing some sort of unresolved tension between you and the Ancient One. Is it sexual? I hope it’s not sexual, because I flirted with her...a lot, and it would make things awkward."

His mouth snapped shut as if he was trying to process what I just said. "Has anyone ever told you that you have a uniquely gifted way of angering people?"

"More than once!"

Damn, hit a nerve there, but that still didn’t get much out of him. Competent assholes are annoying to deal with.

He looked at me flatly. "We have no enmity. I simply seek to retrieve the...demon inside that man. I will even do so without harming him. And then, we can leave without any further provocations."

"Ah, the bargaining stage. Alright, I’ll make a deal with you. I’ll let you do just as you ask, as long as you do something for me."

"Yes?" He perked up.

"You see that light post there?" Despite it being the Mirror Dimension, it did reflect the street.

"I see it."

"Take that, and use it to go fuck yourself." A bit of my real thoughts coming through. I just genuinely hate people like this.

He didn’t intend to respond to that. "It seems we will not reach a compromise. I will stop holding back."

"Ooh." I waved my hands in a faux terrified manner. "Should I stop playing around then?"

I think I almost figured out the Mirror Dimension now. Give me a few more minutes, and I should be able to pull it down the ’normal’ way they do?

Well, let him keep talking. I’m curious to see what tricks he has. Being a sort of Avatar, there were limitations to what he could do. If the Ancient One was having problems with him, then he must have some tricks up his sleeve.

In that case, why not see them when he’s ’limited’ ahead of time?

"I have measured your ability. I am confident—"

I sensed the subtle fluctuations of Space; the Mirror Dimension’s edges began to twist.

That’s a big nope; time to stop playing, I suppose.

I waved my hands; about a hundred Runic Circles floated in the air, each holding a ball of lightning that immediately discharged on his person.

"Shield of the Seraphim!"

His shield surprisingly held.

Did he call it the Shield of the Seraphim?

How...cute.

Ironically though, it looked like a very strong shield. I think... I detected a hint of holiness from it? Not like actual Holy Power, but like the faint echo? I wonder if the spell isn’t just named that for the sake of it?

Something I’ll need to look into.

I held my palm up facing him, and my spiritual power was released. "Hadō #88, Hiryū Gekizoku Shinten Raihō."

The world around us was filled with lightning, and a significant chunk of the mirrored world around us utterly shattered.

His shield nearly withstood it.

Nearly.

Was it his prowess or that of the spell itself?

I would have to look into it.

But about half of it still stood, cracked and noticeably falling apart. The other half, well... His left arm was gone. And his left leg, for that matter—a good portion of the left side of his body had seen better days.

He fell to his knees, and the spell eventually faded. He looked to be on his...last leg.

Heh.

Though as I got close, he waved his hand, producing another of his magic circles, about to cast something, but I saw an arrow fly past me and hit him square between the legs.

It wasn’t a normal arrow either; it looked blunt?

His eyes widened as the arrowhead latched onto him and released a surge of electricity.

A taser arrow?

I quickly cast a stupefy, followed by several binding spells, and then I threw a talisman at him to bring it all home. He wasn’t going anywhere, nor was he going to be a danger from now on.

I looked back at the source.

I saw Jinn peeking over a trash can with Clint next to her. She held a thumbs up to me with the biggest grin on her face.

I gave a thumbs up back.

I’m proud of her.

His body was twitching.

Manages to nearly shield against my spell but gets shot in the balls, and that’s what has him on the ground twitching. I should maybe feel offended, but I was oddly accepting of it.

"Fascinating." I nudged him with my foot. "So you can feel pain through the projection? It feels sort of like astral projection, but with a fake body wrapped around it?" He looked up at me like, ’How did you know?’ "You probably want to ask me a question like, ’How did you know?’ I would answer with something witty and then say something like, ’It’s rather obvious. ’But I digress."

Hmm, blood?

"Your fake projection can bleed? That’s neat." I grabbed his collar and dragged him back to the other. "Victory!"

The arrow stuck to his groin was still letting out jolts.

It must have been painful.

And I’m like..... 70% sure the pain was being returned to his original body, whenever that was.

Salem rolled her eyes. "Are you done playing?"

"Yes," I nodded. "I was just curious about his magic, so I let him have a go at it. I was hoping to get him angry enough that he would do something a bit flashier, but what can you do?" I dropped him down.

Well, it usually works. Run my mouth a bit, insult them, and they spill their ’diabolical’ plan. It costs me nothing normally, and it often, to a surprising degree, gets me notable information.

"So...evil magic man?" Clint came over next to Jinn.

I shrugged. "More or less. I can give you a better rundown if you need it for your ’records’ later."

He nodded, thankful.

I was actually not entirely clear on his motivations, but he most definitely wasn’t on the up and up.

And he had caused trouble for the Ancient One, and I trusted her a lot more than this random mook.

Though, credit where it’s due, it’s a neat spell he’s using to project himself over distances like this. That’s something I’ll need to learn myself; I could see a wide array of uses for it.

What was he stalling for? Was he trying to waste time until his real body came over? Was he delayed by something somewhere else? And if these guesses weren’t right, then what?

So many questions!

Though, I admit my intrigue wasn’t to the point where I couldn’t live without an answer. As I pondered the infinite mysteries, I flicked my wand, casting a wide assortment of various binding spells on him.

He wasn’t going anywhere, nor could he conceivably cast any magic in that state. I was keeping him ’alive’ just so I could hand him over to the Ancient One. I believed with her skill, she could track his ’real’ body down by using this.

At the moment, I was doing my best to account for ways he may try to dismiss it or cancel the spell and taking preventative measures.

"Should we do something about him?" Clint gestured to Kaelmenos.

"His real body is getting the feedback."

"Huh." Clink stared at the taser arrow still shocking him between the legs. "I’m starting to feel bad."

"Should we deal with this now?" Salem was, of course, talking about the possessed man.

"May as well; I’m curious as to why he wanted the demon inside in the first place. Normal exorcism then? Hmm." I tapped my chin, thinking of the best way to do this without harming the man.

"I can force it out myself without harming him." Salem crossed her arms, and the shadow under her moved; several Geists emerged and delved into the unconscious man.

Clint’s eyes widened, but he didn’t voice discomfort despite the...scary nature of it.

Personally, I’m bouncing between being terrified and wanting to carry her off to the bedroom myself.

Rather quickly, his body started to shake, and many Grimm Hands emerged, as if pulling something out with them.

There were many strange sounds, something fighting back, but it was hopeless.

The entity was eventually revealed too. It looked like some kind of earth elemental at first glance, as if made of rock, but it wasn’t. It was something...particularly nasty. Something that pricked at my ’this is wrong’ meter.

That’s coming from a Half-Devil.

Whatever this thing was, it came from a place that was really the bad sort.

Its one ’eye’ looked around as it struggled.

"Hahaha..."

I looked at Kaemanius, who was laughing, despite the pained look on his face.

"Why are you laughing?" My Stupify wore off; he was trying to break through my other spells.

"He has awoken." Jinn nodded sagely. "I believe the term is ’masochist.’"

Clint nearly choked.

First time meeting Jinn? One side, pure and vibrant, maybe even a hint of innocence about her. Then she opens her mouth and says things like that, and it’s sort of a whiplash.

But I love her all the same.

Despite her joke, she already had magic dancing between her fingers, watching him carefully. I still had my wand in my hand as well, my other bindings still in effect.

"You asked me what I wanted it for?" He continued to chuckle. "It was supposed to be a Trojan Horse, a gift from the Master."

"A master," I repeated. That sounds rather ominous.

However, he didn’t react in the slightest. "Yes, unfortunately that plan is foiled. But would you like to meet him?" He smiled, and the skin around his eyes peeled away, looking burned and discolored.

Not unlike how the possessed man looked before, and somewhat similar to the ’Demon.’

I felt something was wrong.

My eyes turned to the demon, and its body twitched, cracked, and then expanded in the blink of an eye.

The energy swell-up was hard to miss in that single instant.

I used my Authority of Hanuman to blow Jinn, Salem, and Clint away just as the first crack began to leak.

Out of my sleeve flew several talismans that floated around the demon’s body, linking together to form the five elements. I quickly drew several runes in the air to contain whatever it is that was happening.

I felt a foreign dimension encroaching onto the world aggressively. This thing was acting like a bridge; I’d never seen anything like this before.

Full serious mode was immediate.

My swords all flew out and stabbed into the ground around it, forming a pentagram that lined up with the one above, linked by the talismans.

Jinn and Salem began casting their own shields, seeing the seriousness of the situation, so I focused entirely back on the issue at hand.

Its bloated body was starting to leak, like a balloon on the verge of popping. I threw out several more talismans onto its body, trying to contain the foreign dimensional energy. But gradually they were getting worn away by it, some kind of corrosive effect.

Several of my Magic Circles shattered instantly too.

The dimensional energy intensified by several magnitudes and knocked my hat off from the force released.

I pulled on the Kaleidoscope just to shunt some of the Dimensional Incursion out of the immediate vicinity, but that was just a band-aid on a gunshot wound.

I braced myself and slammed my Staff of Magnus down, casting a Shield of Asgard over everything around me.

Now just to carefully grab the unconscious—

I looked down and saw Clint grab the leg of the possessed man and throw him back.

He looked up at me with an awkward smile.

Well, shit.

I grabbed Clint instead and used my body to protect him as my aura flared up.

The body exploded, like a black hole, sucking us into it.

[Line Break]

My back hit something solid.

Ground?

The area around me felt cold. I realized I had Clint in my arms. Least romantic rescue of something I had ever been a part of.

"Ow," Clint groaned, rolling out of my grasp.

"Ow," I repeated, wobbling a little as I stood up.

A quick look around, and I realized we seemed to be on a floating rock in the middle of a vast, distorted space.

I could see various cosmic phenomena that really shouldn’t be existing simultaneously all together like this. There seemed to be a frozen sun not far away, giving off some semblance of heat, but no actual warmth.

There was an aurora weaving through the void, but it lacked the real brightness it should have.

And there was a wide array of strange growths the size of planetoids that jutted all over the place.

I let out a sigh. "You know I would have grabbed your friend, right?"

Clint let out a long sigh too. "I panicked and reacted out of habit."

I pat his shoulder. "You’re a good guy."

"Thanks." He accepted it. I think he was happy I wasn’t blaming him. "Any idea where we are?"

"Nope." I didn’t like it though. "But we shouldn’t stay here long; this place is giving me very big danger vibes." Which was...rare at this point in my life.

I felt very uncomfortable here.

A prickling sensation down my neck was constant.

Thankfully my stuff was dragged over too, so I could just collect it all easily.

"...sorry." He apologized.

I waved it off. "I should have noticed something sooner. It’s not your fault; you had no idea what was going on." I found it hard to give him any kind of fault when, on the outside, it looked like shit had hit the fan and he was more concerned about his friend’s safety.

It’s not like he could read my mind and know I was going to keep his friend safe as well. We’re practically strangers; it would be odd if he did trust me that fully.

A Trojan Horse, he called it? Was the demon’s purpose supposed to be to open a portal between Earth and this place?

Did he just say ’fuck it’ and have it explode on us to be petty?

That’s what I would do.

"I read your file." He sat up, looking just as uncomfortable as I was. "You can make magic portals, right? Can you get us back home?"

I took out Mirage. "Need a bit to calculate it. I can’t just snap my fingers and boom, magic portal. It’s like trying to drive in a snowstorm without any vision. If I can’t see the roads or the signs, I have no idea where I’m going, and that could be...bad."

Especially in an eerie place like this.

He nodded, understanding my comparison.

"It shouldn’t take like. There was a brief connection with Earth, so I should be able to trace that back. A couple of hours, I would say, at most."

Clint relaxed when I said that.

"Should I be surprised that I can breathe? I feel like we’re in space."

"We’re in another dimension, actually." I stabbed Mirage into the ground and began my calculations. "As for what dimension this is, I have no idea."

"Hey, uh...question."

"Yeah?"

"I really hope that I have a concussion because I think I saw those stars blink." Clint pointed to the distance.

I followed his extended finger, and a shiver went down my spine as I looked at something that my mortal mind had to nearly crash to process.

Something massive, it seemed to be reflected across hundreds of different space-times simultaneously, vaguely humanoid in shape.

Some kind of huge entity that would put Surtr to shame in just size alone.

Danger.

Absolute danger.

At least on the same level as Ophis and Great Red.

At least.

I couldn’t judge more than that.

Then it looked our way.

No, it saw us.

A hand that could probably grip the moon for leverage reached out across the void.

"Time to go!" I grabbed Clint and used Mirage to cut a hole through the Dimension using the Kaleidoscope. Having no idea where this would deposit us in this world-line, I jumped through.

[Line Break]

Non-Canon Omake: The Little Dragons, Chapter 4

Morgan stomped out of her room—her workshop. Basically a closet that the twins gave her to do her thing in private.

She glared at both her sister’s children and threw the object she was holding towards Gwyrde. "There, I made it. Now, explain what you meant."

Gwyrde caught it, a bracelet mystic code. "This little thing will work?"

Morgan scoffed. "Who do you think I am, child? Creating a Mystic Code that fools a Master’s perception into thinking you’re another Servant? That is easy. I’m sure this idiot could have done the same thing." She jabbed her thumb at Gyneth.

"Rude. But not untrue."

"About being a fool or making one yourself." Her brother asked.

"Oi, don’t be a prat." She picked up a piece of broken rubble and tossed it at her brother.

"Children." Morgan’s tone carried the very definition of annoyance. "I have been patient. I am not a patient woman."

"What did you want explained again?" Gyneth asked, unphased.

"The explanation on your father." She all but hissed.

"Oh, that," Gyneth hummed. "I don’t know what’s hard to understand about what I said."

Morgan looked towards Gwyrde, who looked away. "It’s...complicated."

Morgan narrowed her eyes. "I have the distinct feeling you both are going to be difficult."

"Have you ever considered—" Gyneth was about to say something, but Morgan interrupted her.

"Tell me what I want to know and I’ll lift my dress up." The witch said very bluntly.

It took both the little dragons off guard, but where Gwyrde went silent in confusion and surprise, Gyneth shot to her feet.

"Deal!"

"Dammit Gyneth!" Her brother let out a sigh and smacked his hand to his face.

Morgan had a smug look as she crossed her arms.

"You couldn’t hold on for even a second?"

"I can’t help it; she discovered my weakness," Gyneth said defensively.

"It wasn’t very hard to discover." Morgan drawled with a deadpan. "You’ve been staring at my derriere since I arrived."

"Dammit, Gyneth, she’s our aunt!" Gwyrde grabbed a rock and threw it at her sister.

"Umu."

Her brother threw up her hands in exasperation.

"Don’t blame her; my behind is divine." Morgan smiled smugly again. "Now, tell me what I want to know."

Gwyrde let out a sigh. "It’s not a big secret, it’s just not something we usually talk about with people we don’t know."

Gyneth, as playful as she was being, did share the same sentiment. "Rather not have a crusade called on us from the church."

Morgan acquiesced that it was something they shouldn’t just blurt out randomly.

"It’s not even the real Lucifer. The real one died in our birth world, it’s his...uh, replacement. More like a King Title than anything. Dad’s his bastard." Gyneth explained. "Half human, Grandma’s side. Obviously."

Morgan furrowed her brow. Not because she didn’t understand what she said, but because it sounded kind of ridiculous.

But she also was able to gleam that they were telling the truth.

Oh, there was a lot more information she wanted to ask, but the way they were hesitant to talk about it, she decided not to push for now.

Except for one thing.

"How did your father and my sister..." She trailed off, but the twins understood what they wanted to say.

"My mom or his mom." Gyneth asked.

Morgan let out a sigh. "Two of my sisters! Two!!" She threw her hands up. "Whoever was first."

"That’d be my mom." Gyneth spoke up. "It’s honestly kind of boring. Dad was adopted by Grandpa Zelretch—"

"The Kaleidoscope?""

"Ya huh."

Morgan blinked. "That’s....concerning." Even she knew about the Kaleidoscope. Someone who was even older than she was. Hell, she had met him once in her youth, but she wasn’t anyone important at the time so he barely spared her a glance.

"Well, Aunt Rin summoned mom during the 5th grail war, they went on to win. Aunt Rin got taken in as Grandpa’s student and mom and dad met at the Clock Tower. Dad said that mom was being stupid, saying thing like how she wasn’t pretty and no feminine appeal or whatever. Dad then asked her out on a date and got her to accept and, well...things just happened from there."

In all truth, it wasn’t very exciting.

"That is significantly more mundane than I expected." Morgan clicked her tongue. "But knowing my sister, that’s exactly what would win her over." She let out a scoff. "No ’feminine appeal’!? We look almost identical, I’m just more...rounded. If she’s calling herself ugly, doesn’t that mean she’s calling me ugly!? I’ll smack her the next time I see her!"

"Oi, time to pay up." Gyneth gestured with her hand.

"Seriously Gyneth? Don’t actually tell our Aunt to flash you." Gwyrde felt like he should be used to it at this point.

"I am owed a debt!"

"I will call mom."

Gyneth knew that it wasn’t an empty threat.

"I am not a liar." Morgan let out a huff. "I said I would lift up my dress, and I will." Just as she said that, Morgan held her hand out, and it seemed like all light around them was pulled towards her palm, creating near absolute darkness.

There was a very brief moment of rustling fabric before the light returned.

Morgan stood there, looking very pleased with herself. "There, I lifted my dress up. I hope you enjoyed the view."

She wasn’t someone so quick to...reveal herself to others.

She was Morgan Le Fay, not some common harlot.

"It’s not fair!" Gyneth fell to the ground, hitting her hands on the floor. "Why does the world hate me?"

Morgan rolled her eyes. "Must you be so dramatic? I swear, I don’t know how my sister raised you to be like this. Such a voraciously lewd girl. Why can’t you be more like your brother?"

Gyneth began to cry. "I want to be like him! He can see in the dark!"

Morgan blinked as she processed what her niece just said. She then turned to look at Gwyrde on the other side of the room, who turned red under her gaze and looked away.

"It’s not fair! God, why didn’t you let my semblance let me see in the dark like Gwyrde?"

For the first time since arriving, Morgan, ever so slightly, flushed in embarrassment.

That was a miscalculation on her part.

She didn’t even think that her nephew could...apparently see in total darkness...

It also didn’t help that she was wearing something particularly....delicate right now.

"...you have Mystic Eyes?" She awkwardly asked her Nephew.

"No." Gwyrde shook his head. "It’s...my semblance."

"Your what?" Morgan’s embarrassment disappeared because she now was interested in a word she didn’t recognize.

"Um...in another world, humans are able to actualize their souls in a way that produces a sort of barrier around them. It’s called the light of the soul, and it’s an energy similar to Qi or Touki or Chi or whatever you want to call it." Gwyrde intentionally flared his Aura up.

It was a faint red, perhaps with a tinge of black in there.

"It can be used as a shield, or in other ways like to envelop myself with to make me stronger and such."

Morgan didn’t interrupt his explanation because just from a few moments of analyzing the way the energy acted, she could more or less understand its implications.

"And, uh....people who awaken their Aura also awaken a ’Semblance’. It’s an expression of their soul, a semblance of magic, as many call it. Mine lets me see through Illusions, Darkness, or anything that tries to obstruct my vision or things like that. And...when I focus, I can see movements easier, which helps in a fight. Dad called it a "Mind’s Eye knockoff." Gwyrde scratched his head, still feeling embarrassed.

Morgan clicked her tongue. "So it helps you act like a Knight, does it? Not tricked by illusions or deceptions of the eyes."

Gwyrde just nodded. "Mom said something similar."

Morgan looked down at the crying Gyneth. "Does she have one of those...semblances too?"

"Yeah."

"...dare I ask?"

Gwyrde let out a sigh. "It has to do with explosions."

"Of course." Morgan responded dryly. "Do you –"

Gyneth shot to her feet, her whining and crying completely disappeared. "Gwyrde, it’s time!"

"The other servants appeared?"

"Yeah, it’s just like mom said. Rider just rode up into the sky and announced himself to get the other Servants to appear." She grabbed her staff, swinging it around. "Everything’s ready, let’s get to work."

Morgan wasn’t really sure about this plan, but at the very least, she wanted to see her sister’s children’s full potential.

Though, she was taken aback by how quickly her niece seemed to ’recover.’

Strangely, the girl looked completely different now, the jester replaced with the face of a proper Magus.

"I’ll meet you down there, I’m going to set a few things up." Gyneth told him before jumping out the window.

If Morgan didn’t at least know her niece had the competence to figure out some form of flight, she would have felt even more exasperated.

"I suppose me saying that this is foolish for the hundredth time would not dissuade you?" She crossed her arms, looking at her ’master’. " I am the Servant, you are the Master. It’s supposed to be me that goes into battle."

Gwyrde scratched his cheek, still feeling awkward from before, but he took a breath and settled himself. "You’re a Caster Servant."

Morgan raised an eyebrow. "If you’re about to insult my ability just because of my ’vessel,’ I will be annoyed."

Gwyrde cleared his throat awkwardly. "W-Well, it’s just....You’re not the type to fight in a melee with someone. And if Mom were to see you...she may use her sword without a second thought. And then there’s Sir Lancelot as a berserker too... I do not believe he would allow you reprieve in his madness."

Morgan let out a small chuckle. "And you, little knight, are you going to protect me?"

"Yes." Gwyrde said without hesitation.

Morgan blinked, surprised by how quickly he confirmed it. "Against your mother and Lancelot?’

"If need be." Gwyrde puffed up his chest. "It is my duty; I shall protect you even from them. It matters not if they are servants or are family. I will not allow harm to come to you, that is my oath."

Morgan was silent for a long moment.

Her mouth slightly opened to say something, but the sincerity in which he said it made it difficult for her to mock him.

"Very well then, my little knight. I will leave my safety in your hands should it come to it." Morgan’s lips curled up. "You can consider the...view from earlier as your payment for services."

Admittedly, Morgan found the way he went red at the teasing to be....cute.

[Line Break]

Not much had been changed by the twin’s arrival to this world line.

Even Gyneth’s earlier ’bombardment,’ it simply ruined a plan constructed by two masters. The others were almost entirely unaffected, and a similar scene played out.

Rider, standing upon his chariot, pulled by two divine bulls, announced his presence to the world.

His name, his legend.

He declared himself Iskander, the King of Conquerors, and challenged any others hiding to come out and face him openly.

His beckoning and shouts were heard throughout the area. "Is there no one that is not a coward among you? Servant or Master, who dares show themselves in front of this King?"

Morgan had hidden nearby.

She could hear his blustering and couldn’t help but roll her eyes.

She wondered which fool would reveal himself so openly at his provocations.

Something that would have to be more foolish than that big oaf was.

"I’m not a coward!"

Well, there were fools he knew who would throw caution and subtlety to the wind and do so. She just hoped that she would be mistaken.

Gyneth wasted no time flying over. "Sup."

Even Rider was taken by surprise but let out a hearty laugh. "Someone answered my call! A master, from the looks of it. Look, boy— "He smacked the shoulder of his master, a younger man, the younger version of Waver Velvet." - Your fellow Master brazenly appeared, this is courage!"

"It’s stupidity! I don’t even see her Servant anywhere!" Waver flinched under his shoulder smack, letting out a huff.

Gyneth sat on her staff, using it as a ’broom’ in her hovering only a few feet away. Her purple hood was pulled up over her head, so her face was barely visible, doing enough to hide her features.

"Hey there, big and tall and muscular."

"Hello to you too, young lady." Rider smiled good-naturedly. "Which Master are you?"

"Caster’s Master." She said offhandedly.

Waver nearly did a spit take. "The Master of Caster!? Why are you just flying around openly!?"

To him, it was insane.

Casters were known for creating a workshop to establish a territory where their strength increased to the highest possible point.

They were weak, but once a Caster Servant had their Territory established, they became one of the strongest and most annoying Servants to handle.

"Should I be concerned? Are you both going to take advantage of little defenseless me?" Gyneth responded. "Don’t worry, I can take you both on."

"Are you insane!? You think you can fight my Servant!?"

Gyneth smirked. "I never said that in a fight."

It took a moment, but Waver’s face went beat red. "W-what!?"

Rider let out another boisterous laugh. "Learn from this girl, boy. She has the confidence that you want for yourself. This is a woman."

He turned to Gyneth. "How about joining my army? I plan to take the Grail and incarnate myself. Then, I will restart my conquest across the world!"

"Will there be women?"

"What!?" Waver blurted out.

"Of course!"

"Tempting...." Gyneth bit her lip. "Can I ride your chariot?"

"Of course not!"

"Sure." Rider immediately overrode him.

"Awesome!" She floated over and slid off her staff, standing between both Waver – who freak out, nearly falling off, and Rider who reached over and steadied him. "This is neat, more spacious than I thought."

"Indeed, a chariot needs room to maneuver, both you and a weapon. Many overlook the skill and training one needs for chariot combat; it’s a different beast than riding on a horse." Rider nodded.

"Don’t chat with her; he’s an enemy master! Just...just kill her already!"

"Rude." Gyneth turned her nose up. "I’m a guest. Is this how you treat guests, Waver?"

"You’re not – "He pause. "You know me?"

"Duh." She rolled her eyes.

"...have we met before?"

"In a manner of speaking."

Waver furrowed his brow because he was trying to remember who this girl was because he was drawing a blank.

He couldn’t see her face, mostly just her mouth and nose, but her voice and mannerisms shouldn’t have been enough.

"Wonderful, acquaintances then! There’s nothing better than a friendly fight!" Rider proudly declared.

"This is a war, not a friendly spar!" Waver immediately cried out in reprimand.

"Same thing really." Gyneth shrugged. "At this point, technically, all Servants have met one another at some point since they exist out of time and space. Across all possibilities, across parallel worlds, they have met before."

Waver just blinked.

Rider, understood about half of that, but he just nodded along.

"Do you have a name, girl?"

"You can call me Gyneth. If I said my last names, Waver would probably have a heart attack and fall to his death."

"Then I thank you in advance." Rider chuckled, taking the joke graciously.

Waver didn’t know what to say even as he silently fumed.

Did Gyneth hate Waver?

Actually, the opposite, she admired him for his talent and skill. In her own world-line she was a student of his, one of many, and had taken plenty of his classes.

However, she was also holding a grudge where he rejected one of her requests for funding for an experiment.

It was completely valid.

There was merit in finding out if tantric rituals produced better results if the partner was a MILF or not; it was something worth testing!

But that was besides the point.

"One courageous master, how about you others hiding in the shadows reveal yourself. Or are you not as brave as this girl here!?" Rider’s voice echoed out. "It seems the other masters are nothing but cowards."

"I won’t get angry if you insult me, Rider. But if you insult my Master, I will defend his honor." A voice called out as someone stepped out of the shadows.

"Hoh, a spear, then; you must be Lancer." Rider rubbed his chin.

"God damn, he’s pretty," Gyneth spoke.

"Pfft" Waver nearly choked.

Though, Rider let out a bark of laughter. "Well said! A handsome man indeed. What’s your name, Lancer?"

Lancer actually appeared slightly sheepish at his comment, not expecting such a blunt compliment. "I’m afraid my Master forbid my –"

"He’s Diarmuid Ua Duibhne," Gyneth said casually.

"– Name."

They all sort of went silent and stared at Gyneth.

"What?" She looked at them. "He has a face that’s basically begging me to lick peanut butter off his fingers. Do you think a mystic face is common? What is it again, Diarmuid of the Love Spot?"

"I see, a magical face! One that affects women, no wonder." Rider nodded.

"..." Lancer let out a sigh. "I suppose it’s not important now. I am Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, as the lady said. I would prefer if you don’t draw attention to that aspect of my person. It’s not a pleasant feature, more of a curse."

Lancer twitched because he heard his master shouting in their shared link.

"I’ll cut to the chase. Join me, Lancer!" Rider didn’t waste a second.

"I’m afraid I’ll have to decline. I have sworn myself to my master."

"Oh well." The rider seemed nonplussed, as if it were expected.

"Are you going to come down here and fight, Rider?" Lancer leveled his spear at him.

"In due time, in due time. How about we have the others come out? Or are they just opportunistic dregs that won’t reveal themselves unless their foes are tired and battle worn?" Rider hummed.

The next one made their appearance, and Gyneth unconsciously pulled her hood up tighter.

"Your insults are misplaced, Rider." Saber appeared with her own ’Master’ in tow. "To appear so bombastically without any consideration would be the height of foolishness. Something I’m sure you are accustomed to."

Gwyneth, of course, recognized the voice of her own mother.

"Ohoh, it seems the little girl has some bark." Rider just grinned as they both saw her.

Saber’s eye twitched slightly but didn’t rise to the ’insult.’

"And you must be Saber’s Master."

"White hair, red eyes—she must be one of the Einzbern Homunculi," Waver whispered.

"God damn, she’s pretty," Gyneth whispered.

"Is that all you have to say!?" Waver groaned.

"What? Do you want me to name Saber too?"

"Can you?’

"Of course I can," Gyneth scoffed.

"Excuse me?" Saber interrupted. "How could you possibly–"

"King Arthur."

"-- know my name."

They all went silent again, staring at her.

Saber didn’t deny it, which all but confirmed it.

"Saber, how did she guess your identity?" The Einzbern Homunculi, Irisviel von Einzbern, asked Saber.

"I... I am not sure?" She was utterly confused.

Rider let out another laugh. "Who would have thought that King Arthur was a little girl!"

Saber was about to open her mouth and respond in kind, but someone beat her to it.

"Oi, what’s wrong with being a girl, huh!?" Gyneth kicked the muscled servant. "You got something against girls?"

"Peace, girl." Rider held his arms up in defeat. "I take back my words."

"Hmph."

Saber looked at the girl up in the chariot and felt confused about something. "Have we met before? There is something familiar about you."

Gyneth pulled her hood. "Nope, never met you before in my life."

Saber for some reason felt those words weren’t entirely truthful, but she also couldn’t fathom having met this young girl before considering her origin.

"How did you know she was King Arthur?" Waver asked in confusion.

"I can read minds." Gyneth wiggled her fingers mythically.

"T-That’s bullshit!" Waver declared without hesitation. "Then what am I thinking about right now?"

Gyneth covered her chest. "Thinking about a lady’s chest so intensely, how rude."

"Bwah!?" Waver went red immediately.

"Boy, you have a lot to learn about how to interact with women." Rider shook his head.

"I was not—" He realized it was an effort in futility; he realized he walked right into that teasing.

"I came here to fight; who will fight with me?" Lancer cut through the chatter, declaring his intentions.

"I will fight with you, Sir Diarmuid," Saber answered. "A fight between fellow Knights is more than I could ask."

"Hang on, you have to wait in line. My servant was here first, and he wants the first crack," Gyneth interrupted.

Their intentions paused momentarily as Gyneth made her own declaration. "Come out, my amazing Servant!" She snapped her fingers to make it more grand.

The multitude of colors enveloped the area as Gwyrde stepped out of a portal.

He was wearing his normal armor, but he was almost wearing a mask that covered half his face with his own hood up over his head.

It made it difficult to perceive his features.

"This is Caster, my Servant." Gwyrde declared happily.

"..."

"..."

They stared silently again because the supposed Caster Servant was wearing full armor, carrying a sword, and looked the part of a knight.

"That’s not a Caster!" Waver blurted out.

"Yes, he is."

"No, he’s not!"

"Watch this," Gyneth responded. "Caster, cast sword!"

Gyneth shot forward and swung his sword at Lancer.

The Lancer Servant was surprised by the suddenness, raising his spear to block, and found himself pushed back several steps from the force of it.

"That’s not how it works!"

"Yeah? I’m about to cast a fist right into your balls." Gyneth raised her fist up at Waver, who actually unconsciously cowered under the threat.

Gwyrde ignored her, and similarly, the other servants were now focused on the newcomer to get his measure.

Waver looked at him as well, noting he was a servant but couldn’t see his parameters.

Likewise, the other Masters telepathically told their Servants the same thing.

"Greetings, I’m Caster."

"Are you truly a Caster Servant?" Saber asked.

Gwyrde also was a bit stifled to see his mother up close like this but did his best to keep his composure.

"That’s right."

Saber frowned. "Either you are lying or a fool to stand before us without a workshop or territory at your back."

"...I just prefer to act as a knight." Gwyrde said awkwardly. Truthfully, he thought this plan was a little stupid. Who would believe he was actually a Caster Servant?

"Well, I’m not complaining." Lancer took it easily. "This is to my preference rather than fighting a traditional caster."

Saber once more had a strange feeling of familiarity at this servant.

She couldn’t understand why.

"I suppose I shall step back then and allow you your fight." Saber acquiesced. Far be it from her to interrupt an honorable fight between two willing knights.

"You have my thanks, Saber. I’ll gladly fight you after I’ve finished Caster." Lancer spoke, partly in politeness, partly with a smidge of arrogance in his confidence with defeating Lancer.

Gwyrde, though, only felt excited.

[Line Break]

Elsewhere, Kiritsugu Emiya, Saber’s true master, was sitting on a nearby rooftop with a bird’s-eye view of the ’battlefield.’

Known as the Magus Killer, he specialized in hunting other Magi.

He was hired by the Einzbern family as a mercenary to win the Holy Grail in this war and became Saber’s master.

His wife was Irisviel Einzbern, who was currently pretending to be Saber’s master to everyone else.

Kiritsugu was lying prone on a rooftop, looking through the scope of a sniper rifle. "Maiya, keep focused on the Master of Caster for now." He spoke through his radio to his companion.

Maiya, a girl he rescued in the past and became almost like his shadow.

She too was on another rooftop, looking through the scope of a sniper. "Yes, Sir."

Kiritsugu was instead looking at Caster’s Servant, trying to gleam information from him.

However, all the information was coming up blank. All he could see was that the Servant was in fact Caster, which made him frown unconsciously.

If there were a servant that could trick a master’s authority to view a servant’s parameters, it would be a Caster servant.

So it was hard to verify the truth in anything that was spoken.

He was debating on whether to take a shot at Caster’s master right away.

The fact that she identified two servants so easily meant that something was going on that allowed her to do so.

That kind of specialty was dangerous in a war like this.

How much did she see about Saber?

Just knowing her identity already ruined a lot of plans right off the bat.

But if she’s able to see Saber’s Noble Phantasm, that would be just as bad.

Information was always a valuable resource in a fight, and now Kiritsugu was on the back foot, and it wasn’t his favorite position to be in.

She appeared to be a normal Magus in most regards.

Her clothing was far from what a ’modern’ person would wear. And she was floating around on her staff beforehand, which is a well-known trick with brooms, which spoke of a Clock Tower education.

Which aligned with some of the conversation he listened in on with her and Waver Velvet.

Confirming those details were enough to extrapolate some more information that seemed to paint a picture.

He supported Saber’s decision to step back and not engage in the fight that was about to start. He of course scoffed at the notion of ’honor,’ but letting others fight and taking advantage of it was the most intelligent thing to do.

If two servants wanted to fight each other to exhaustion—or possibly death—in the open and even show off their Noble Phantasms, he would sit back and let them.

"Kiritsugu."

"What is it, Maya?" He asked through the radio.

"I believe I’ve been discovered."

His eyes narrowed. "Explain."

The fact is, she was even further back than he was, halfway across the city, on one of the tallest buildings within her reasonable range of operations with the gun in her hands.

"Caster’s Master is looking directly at me."

"...are you sure?" He didn’t want to call her a liar, but he needed to verify.

"She took out a piece of paper from somewhere and is writing on it." Maiya paused. "She is holding it up towards me."

"What does it say?" At this point, he believed her, which meant that Caster’s master was much more dangerous than he anticipated.

Was it a warning? A threat?

Maybe a request to work together?

"The paper reads, ’Are you single?’" Maiya stated.

"..."

"Should I respond? Should I retreat? Kiritsugu?"

The Magus Killer clicked off his radio for a moment just so he could let out a long sigh.

He had a strange feeling that it was going to be a long night.

[Line Break]

[Line Break]

A/N

Wilhelm meets Dormammu.

Dormammu is somewhere on the cosmic hierarchy and very much one of those ’Meridia Button’ problems should he ever have to actually fight him.

Also a Little Dragons, I hadn’t done one in awhile and someone suggested it.

If you want to read 10 Chapters ahead or support me, visit my p.a.t.r.e.o.n.c.o.m / astoryforone

I also have a boosty if you can’t use the above under the same name