Magic! The Tool That Can Make All Sorts of Bad Things Possible!!

Which is GONNA make negotiations fun fun FUN!!

Might as well give the viewing audience out there making the Heroic Spirits new Legend a good show!!

Rei

Oh Lord give me strength... Sometimes I so hate being right!

Thankfully, it wasn't ME being the cause of the present tense stand-off. My tone and word choice might have NOT endured myself to the Knight of Betrayal . . .especially when I'd found myself having to step in before Mordred can draw that damn sword of her and start a battle that will end in the death of almost all the knights (and quite a few other people) here.

"Ow," Mordred winces, finding the write attached to the hand which had been drawing her sword in anger being held in a vice-like grip. A rather PAINFUL vice-like grip, in fact.

Almost insulting, really. The fact that Mordred here was so invested in getting into a shouting match with an equally irate King of the Brits. . . . She forgot that she had guests.

Rude!

. . .

Okay! Get a grip on yourself Rei and concentrate! You've downed more than the daily recommended limit on mana potions and that's been playing merry Hell with your temper. So far I haven't slipped and taken off that Bit . . .have not taken off of that twin-tailed BAKA who insulted my younger sisters so casually. Nope, haven't twisted old Rin's head like the cap on a tube of toothpaste; and I CAN do that easily even WITHOUT power armor . . .

Rin would have it COMING, considering that the younger sisters of mine are still finding their pride in being something BEYOND a mere EVA pilot! Insulting their performance by calling them . . .!

HEH, focus Rei...

Right! Tactics I used? Not the wisest of choices but then again the best of a bad lot. Grabbing Mordred? Not sure I would have used THAT set of tactics I'd used if we'd been out in the open, considering how hair-triggered everyone OUTSIDE had been earlier with a simple viper setting off the final fight leading to the King's death. But here inside a tent for negotiations? Well, the guards are drawing arms but . . .

"Your Majesty, please calm down!" I call out, still holding Mordred's sword arm in a vice grip. "Nothing is served by this."

Hey, yes I am almost commanding royalty. Thank you for noticing! I wasn't joshing you when I said we were going to be a "neutral party" in these negotiations.

But honestly? I would have to say that smart money would be for us to just cap Mordred and make a run for the border whilst Mordred's forces get mopped up by King Arthur's loyalists in the confusion. But that wouldn't be too dishonorable for the "King of Knights". That and I honestly do NOT feel like being an assassin, even IF it is the "smart" thing to do here.

If things to too long I might have to rethink that, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. At least right now we've made sure that those who are here are trusted by both sides to not needlessly run their mouths and share information that should NOT be shared just for giggles and grins (i.e. prone to gossiping). With the tent being far enough away from normal businesses and houses (and guards to keep out eavesdroppers), I CAN address a very large elephant in the room...

"You don't need to do that," I say, shaking my head and letting go of her arm before she can do something stupid (like saying something to light off the powder keg we are suddenly in here). "But your father DOES have rather negative feelings about situations similar to how her father, Uthur Pendragon, had forced himself upon your grandmother and leading to a 'situation' which almost had her born out of wedlock; almost a bastard." "And , of course, that is why SHE reacted so poorly to you when you broke the news that you were her son," I finish up, earning a rather heated glare from Mordred (who at least had the good taste to have removed her helmet during this "negotiation" session).

"Oh Please!" Mordred sneers, now trying to draw her sword on ME of all things. "You're trying to imply that my MOTHER raped?. . A woman cannot rape a man!"

NO, that sword is STAYING in its sheath young woman!! I can keep your arm pinned even without me being in power armor, thank you!!

"SHe's a magus!" I almost shout back at her. "Look! You've heard of Love Potions, right? You THINK that those who get DOUSED by such vile concoctions are in their right mind when they fall in love with the person who gave it to them? I mean really?"

Honestly, this place! I suppose it has all to do with this being a reality that reflects the anime and the anime is based on an eroge video game, but seeing almost everyone (including Arturia, all of them) practically blue screen over something that was almost blindly obvious to anyone from Terra Prime? With knowledge on how magic can be misused? How it can make what would otherwise be a VERY difficult thing to accomplish before the advent of such things and "date rape" drugs?

It had gone to reveal much more to the King of Knights (all of them) just why they'd reacted much more poorly over Mordred's reveal than otherwise she . . .they could have there.

God Help me. . .Do not get me STARTED on the temporary "equipment" that Merlin gifted Arturia as a joke! No, one might have argued that Merlin had only done that to ensure that the King of Knights would be able to sire an heir with Guinevere. And I know that by Nasu canon, they went with the idea that there had been some kind of descendants from that marriage of political necessity, but . . .I still made the offer to castrate Merlin for the King because of his bad tastes with jokes.

Too bad her Majesty turned down the offer. . .

"And what does that . . .have to do with . . .?" Mordred begins, only to slow down and stop as implications begin to dawn upon her. "B-but mother didn't slip a Love potion . . ."

"But she DID use magic to 'perform' without my consent," the King almost growled, not at ALL happy to have this subject brought up but had agreed ahead of time that it may be necessary . . .

From here? Well, oddly enough it seemed to have opened up a door. A hopeful door of a possible reconciliation looked to be opening when Mordred actually says that she (a term that she bristled at me continually used but opted in not making issue due to my ODD and obviously dangerous nature) said that she was willing to surrender with conditions, but . . .

A flash of light and a sense of extreme disorientation and I find myself elsewhere.

Looking down and quickly patting myself down, I find myself nothing amiss but . . .the same cannot be said for the other members from inside the tent. The guards from both Mordred and King Arthur had gone somewhere far away and out of sight, but I can safely say that both King Arthur/Arturia and Mordred are looking decidedly YOUNGER than what I am seeing now.

Next to Modred's dropped sword (stuck sticking out of the ground by its point) is a youngster who I can only say is Modred but in a soft cloth pajama version of her armor. The tyke is clearly asleep and looks rather cute...

As for Arturia? Well, I can see the hero over further away in a field, next to what I'll take as Caliburn? Yes! And Arturia is now a much younger woman, a teenager in fact dressed in that Saber Lilly costume I saw in the Book. Nice to see they got THAT part right...

But I really should pick up Mordred from the ground. Dirt hardly makes for a proper infant bed, you know! That and I don't think I want to interrupt this next part, considering what I know is going to happen: a lot more than what Merlin expects. Arturia knows and has a resigned look to herself be also a look of resolve.

Yeah, she can feel that her humanity is slipping away and I THINK I know why she's going to pull the sword even IF she's only moments away from going full-on Fairy Queen here.

She wants to still be the monarch of Camelot even IF she'll no longer be human. . .

"If you pick up that sword," the hooded figure in white I peg as Merlin warns. "You will stop being a human, you know?"

"I know Merlin," Arturia says softly, a single tear falling down her face. "I know."

Merline blinks, not only from something decidedly OFF from what he'd expected Arturia to respond but the rather odd . . .echoing tone Arturia's voice took at the last.

Reaching out and yanking, the sword comes out of the stone, and indeed Arturia rapidly ceases being human as a pair of dragonfly-like wings quickly sprout from her back and her blond hair turns a silvery color. Green, vibrant eyes take on a purple and slit pupilled look, perfect for Arturia's new race. The white dress she'd been sporting shifts and changes to that of a light blue royal robe (with fur lining) fitting for what Arturia now is.

Taking the drawn sword, the new Fey Royal turns it and actually THRUSTS it into the valley between her breasts, but draws no blood as it quickly disappears within her body (and into her heart), sealing the transformation permanently forevermore. This of course causes Merlin to shout in alarm, but is quickly silenced by a casual gesture from the Fey which knocks the mischievous mage off his feet and out cold! Quiet frankly, the Queen had little to no time for that foolish and meddling old "friend" with a decidedly twisted sense of humor so wanted NOTHING more to do with him.

As a human, Arturia might have been foolish enough to tolerate such antics but as Fairy Queen it just would NOT do at ALL!

. . .

I will admit to not have expected a young girl by the name of Hannah (just like the ones we'd left back at our impromptu base for safety) to show up here. What in the Hell is she doing here? Seems enraptured by the Queen, whatever the case. . .

1. Arturia no more, the former human is now Queen Titania, queen of the Fair Folk as Vivian and her fairy allies had MADE her become in the end.

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