The Island of Paradise, a Fate/Apo x Fate/GO crossover

[Keyne]

Disclaimer: The story is fictional. The characters are fictional. The setting is fictional. Borrowed stuff from Type-Moon for the funzies. Nothing belongs to me except the hardware on which I had written this.

Now...

This is a "little" something I wrote some time ago. My inspiration was BB's summer vacation/comicon island event in FGO. I thought there was a shortage of stories like this, so I went with the flow.

A bit of romance. Perhaps a bit of drama. A bit of action. A bit of otaku.


Without further ado, "The Island of Paradise".


- * - * - * - * - * - * -

A dark blue sky littered with little, glimmering lights of far-away stars. A vast plain, long and wide as the eye can see. A bed of delicate flora endowed with sapphire petals. A land riddled with majestic rivers, lakes and ponds among great tracts of land. Great mountains in the distance marking the horizon. The calmness, the solitude. The primordial feeling of greatness encapsulated in a supposedly empty space.


This was his vision of every day.


His great, scaly head moved upwards to gaze at the myriad of sparkles high above him. Each one had a world of its own. Each on its own story. He wouldn't know them. However, he would wonder sometimes what would it feel like to travel to one of those stars. His body shifted slightly. The powerful, draconic limbs moved. The orb of power within his grasp pulsed. Not an uncommon occurence. It held a wish set into motion by a man fixated on granting the human world salvation. His body moved to adjust his grip on this treasure.


The Holy Grail. The greatest power said to be able to reach the root of all things. It was here. With him.


How many years had it already been? He couldn't say, He had lost track long ago.


To prevent the wish from taking shape, he made a sacrifice. He willingly chose to become the enemy of humanity and snatch away what the humans deserved. He forsook his mortal coil to become the giant fiend Fafnir and stole the Grail. No-one knew of this deed. None but a few souls. People whom he would likely never meet again. Although...


"No matter how much time will pass, I will meet you again."


He held dearly to this one small promise. Those were the last words he heard from her. A painful parting.


He still remembers how it came to be. The priest in red chopped off his own arm to prevent her powerful attack from incinerating the Grail. The small black hole absorbed much of the flames. As she laid there collapsed, her vitality fading, the damage she had caused was too little. The blast caught only a fraction on the side of the vessel, the main body remaining untouched. He dropped to his knees and grasped her frail body with his arms. She was sorry for her defeat, but amidst the soul-crushing sadness, she whispered something that gave him a slither of hope. She disappeared soon after.


He gave out a long sigh and lowered his head. Here, among the legendary beasts of old, or at least what remained of their once impressive numbers, Fafnir waited. He rested his head upon the top of the Grail and closed his azure eyes. In his mind, he saw a young man cradling the same object as he did. The orb was too big for him to hold, but he wouldn't let it go. He looked as if he was in a dream state, neither in reality nor in a fantasy. He was floating on the river of time.


Suddenly, the boy stirred. He opened his eyes. Slowly at first, for the light stung him, he beheld the world he was in in full view. He felt as if he was slumbering for ages even though the dragon that was him had been wide awake the whole time.


He heard it in the movement of the wind.
He heard it in the rustling of the grass.
He heard it in the ripples on the water.




Footsteps. Delicate, almost inaudible footsteps. Someone was crossing the waters. Someone was approaching. The wyrm opened its eyes, the boy's sight already fixed on her. What he saw was a mirage of white, gold and amethyst. The figure looked so fragile, yet so strong. With a slow, confident stride she came up to the beast. With one smooth motion she held out her hands. The boy, as if instinctually, did the same.


"Wake up."


Her voice rang out in the silence of the world.


And the boy woke up.


*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


The first sun rays of the new day were barely reaching the windows of his room. The night sky was gradually turning from the ultramarine of the night to a more lighter shade of blue, suggesting a clear sky for the time of morning.


Sieg opened his eye and noticed his arm was held out high as if he had been grasping for something in his sleep. He lowered his hand and looked at it. He noticed nothing unusual, nothing out of the ordinary. Even the black marking on the top of his palm looked normal.


Yet, he couldn't shake off this feeling. Perhaps something profound has happened, perhaps it was all an invention of his still somewhat lethargic mind. He couldn't tell exactly.


He rubbed his eyes and yawned silently. The digital clock on the wall showed 5:30 A.M.. He lifted his body up to a sitting position.


"That dream...", Sieg uttered to himself. He stood up and made his way to the balcony. He opened the door and the yet-cold summer air engulfed his body. The breeze hit his nose with a hint of salty aroma. He took in a deep breath and ruffled his hair with his hands. Leaning against the railing, he took in the summer scenery before him.


His apartment was on the seventeenth floor of a luxurious hotel just by the beach, in the only city on this tropical island in the middle of no-where. He knew full well that he did not possess the means to book a suite this expensive nor did he even plan something like this for himself. He remembered that he had found a ticket and an invitation to this...


"Saberfest... was it?", he mused. They had his name on them for some reason.


Now that he thought about it, wasn't this topic all the rage at Chaldea the other day?


He looked down. Even this early there were people who did recreational activities or were plainly going for their morning shift. Even a summer paradise had to run somehow. Having decided that was enough of fresh air, he went inside his room. Loitering too long in just his boxer shorts while on full display was slightly unbecoming as well. He had to get ready for his part-time job.


He passed his bed, which was definitely too big for one person to sleep in, and went into the corridor. He opened the door and stepped into the bathroom. After fifteen minutes of body maintenance, he left the adjacent room with a wet head and only a towel around his waist. He opened the fridge just below the mounted TV set and took out his breakfast. Being a terminal of his original body, there was no need for sustenance, but thanks to a certain someone he found food to be quite pleasurable.
He turned on the TV just to see what the news were. The moment he did this, a busty, purpled-haired woman appeared. She wore nothing but beachwear, her tanned skin and a tiara composed of only five stars.


"Hello and welcome all fans!", she shouted with glee. "I know you couldn't wait for this year's Saberfest! We have all your favourite artists just waiting for you with their latest creations! And believe me, those books are HOT! Later on we're hosting a special event!"


She blinked coquetishly. Sieg could've sworn he saw a small star shooting from under her eyelid.


"But let me not spoil the fun for you, tee-hee~~! Come to the convention center downtown to find out!"


She twirled like a dancer and the camera zoomed out. Now her body was in full view. She pointed the finger at the screen and:


"This has been BB-chan! Bye~~"


Her figure faded out as the logo of the Saberfest 2018 was taking her place. Sieg had already finished his food. He threw away the wrapper of his sandwiches into the bin next to the fridge. As a Servant he already had an outfit programmed for him so it took no time at all to dress himself. His hair dried instantly as well.


He turned of the TV and swiftly left the apartment. The door locked automatically. He pushed a button just by the lift's door and waited. He noticed the lift had thirteen floors to pass until he could get on.
Sieg used the time to think about the odd dream he had. It was extraordinary to see such a vision. As a conjured image of the original body that had been cut off from any connections with said body, he shouldn't have witnessed such a vivid manifestation of


"Desire?", he mused. He shook his head lightly. "I know that. But why me?"


He scratched his chin with his hand. He felt slightly confused by all of this, but for now he had to let it slide. It was ultimately harmless if a bit unsettling.


He heard a beeping noise, signaling the arrival of the lift. As he was about to enter it...


"WE'RE LATE DAMNIT!!!"


"I KNOW! I'M SORRY I DOZED OFF!"


"STOP YAPPING, MASTER, AND GET ON!! YOU THERE, MOVE!!"


Two shapes zoomed inside, one tanned and auburn-haired and one dressed in red and black, completely pale. The pale one slammed the console, the door to the elevator closed and disappeared from the young man's sight. The last thing he registered was a huge cardboard box in the hands of the more vitally-colored person. It had something written on it.


"'Senpai's hidden stash'?" Sieg tilted his head in wonder. He didn't know what that meant. Frankly, he couldn't be bothered by that right now. Not when he had to go to work.


"Jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii----"


He felt someone's eyes on him. In the far end of the corridor there was a person peeking out from their door. Sieg faintly could work out the shape of a hood and the rims of a pair of glasses. However, as quickly as he had seen them, the door closed and the sight of the person was no more.


"Strange..."


Sieg decided he couldn't loiter more and used the stairs to get down. As he was entering the lobby, he heard a familiar voice.


"For all that is damned, Master!! How could you not have seen him?!", asked probably the angriest female voice imaginable.


"I'm sorry. I really didn't see him.", responded a female voice that was on the verge of tears.


There they were. One young woman was standing over another woman and chastising the poor thing mercilessly. Dozens of comic books were sprawled on the ground right by the reception desk. The receptionist was absent at the moment, so there was no-one there to help them pick their stuff up.


Sieg looked at the clock in the lobby. It was nearing 7:00 A.M. He still had some time before his shift started. He ran up to the bustling pair. Now he could see in detail just who took his elevatior ride away from him. The first woman, he assumed the angry one, was nearly as tall as he was. Skin pale as paper, eyes yellow as sand, hair long all the way to her knees. She wore a bizarre, black bikini with red trims. Most astoundingly, she had a disproportionate number of stockings and long sleeves on, combined with straps and katana scabbard. Sieg couldn't make out if she were a ninja or a samurai, or was it just...cosplay, was it?


The other woman, the one groveling on the ground, had visible tanlines on the neck of her short orange Hawaiian top. Her brownish hair neatly complimented her amber eyes, though that sidetail looked a little silly. Her most shapely behind was adorned with stylish white shorts. The pitiful frown she had was a disservice to her otherwise pretty face. Wait...


"Let me help, Master.", Sieg said as he crouched and began gathering up the books.


The women ceased any movement. They recognised him as the man they had passed in their way to the elevator but they hadn't even focused on his face back there. He managed to pick up at least ten books when they finally caught up with the situation.


"Sieg-kun!", said the one he called "Master". "What are you doing here?"


"W-when did you get here!?", screamed the angry one, visibly shaken. She crossed her arm on her ample chest.


"If I'm correct, I flew here four days after you. I found the ticket on my bed.", he said calmly. "It appears we live on the same floor."


"That's great!", Master seemed to have cheered up. She hastily joined Sieg in the cleaning process. "Isn't it, Jeanne Alter?"


Jeanne Alter was not amused.


"W-who would be happy about that?!", was her quick answer. She wasn't even looking at them. The coffee vending machine was much more interesting at the moment. Sieg, however, noticed a faint blush on her very troubled face. He thought it best not to address the issue right now. A small sigh escaped his lips.



"Anyway, we must hurry or we'll miss the opening ceremony. Our stand isn't even ready yet.", she continued, more mumbly than furious this time. She finally found it inside her to assist them.


With three people the task was done remarkably fast. Master and Jeanne Alter rushed out of the hotel with the speed on a hurricane. Sieg had wondered whether he should've at least given them a ride to the convention center. He was a dragon now after all. However, Master's short bow and Alter's curt "goodbye" persuaded him not to.


He got up from his knees, checked the clock again and agreed that the best course of action would be to double his pace. He ran out the door, took a swift left turn and went straight down the road. He liked this part of the city. His route was surrounded with beautiful palm trees, standing proudly in rows on both sides of the road. On his right, he could see the long strand of soft sand the the rolling waves of the sea. The sun had already been up, so he could see everything clearly. The sight was beautiful.


But he had to hurry. He didn't have much time left, so he couldn't marvel at this morning scenery. There was a reason for this.


He felt he had a debt to repay for this vacation of sorts to whoever had got him this ticket, so he took a job in a local cafe to earn at least some money in order to pay it back to his benefactor. It was one of those maid-and-butler cafes which were popular in the Land of the Rising Sun. The business was in its highest gear thanks to the Saberfest. Day in and day out, the café was full with fans. So he had to be diligent and earn as much as he could.


The building was neatly placed. It was set in the middle of the main city road, just two blocks away from the convention center. It wasn't a big place, but it had its charms. It was a pity he couldn't serve any customers outside. There just wasn't any room for outdoor seats. One could blame how sandwiched everything was in this city; everything had been built so tightly.


As he ran, he passed more and more people, a signal that the day had finally begun for the city. He had to dodge and sidestep just to not fall into anybody. A dangerous game, but one he had to play. Unluckily for him, the traffic light at the intersection just by his workplace decided to change. With a low grunt, he stopped. The crowd of pedestrians finally managed to catch up to him. Squeezed tightly between a throng of people felt really uncomfortable to say the least.


The moment those lights turned green he sprung off. Not to be beaten by the torrent coming right at him, he doubled his efforts to get to the other side as quickly as possible. Just ten more meters and he could start his new work day.


"Oomph!", he shouted. Unexpectedly, from the left, a rounder fellow came into his way and pushed him forward. Sieg jumped twice to keep his balance, but with this many people here, the task was gradually getting harder by each move. He had to support himself. All of this has been too unsightly already. Falling flat to the ground would've been straight embarrassing, not to mention painful.


"Here!", he heard a voice right next to him. He set his gaze forward and let his body fall. The next second he felt an impact. He fell into someone. He exhaled abruptly, the air beat out of his lungs. His head landed on their shoulder, his arms wrapped around their back. The person didn't even budge. They must've been pretty strong.


"Are you alright?", the person spoke. Sieg recognised the voice had belonged to a female.


He adjusted his stance and once again stood straight on his feet. He brushed the hair that stuck to his face from his eyes and finally looked at his saviour.


"Yes. I'm sorry I....", and the apology got caught up in his throat.


One gaze into those eyes and he knew who had just saved him. It was a face he knew so well. A face he longed to see once more so much. Those gentle, lavender eyes, now blue as the sky. That smile that held not a speck of malice. That waterfall of golden locks, onced tied in a braid, now let wildly loose. Her attire was very different from her usual getup as well. Her torso and waist was covered in a plain white one-piece swimsuit with black stripes on the sides. She had a modest white blouse on her shoulders and a big, teal-and-white beach bag at her sandal-clad feet. He was so mesmerized that he had completely forgotten that he was still holding her. Apparently, she had done the same.


"Ruler!"


"Sieg-kun!"


Perfect timing.

END OF PART 1

[Keyne]

It took them almost a minute to realise that their intimate moment had been in the attention of the crowd. Some men cursed that they were taking precious pavement space, some women whispered between themselves about how cute they looked. They parted feeling slightly embarrassed. Jeanne looked away and coughed. After clearing her throat she could speak again.


"W-what are you doing here, Sieg-kun?", she asked the youth. Her cheeks were still flushed.


His expression turned stern; an expression he was accustomed with. Some could call him a perpetual frowner, but that was because he had been unused to showing emotion. Although that wasn't a problem anymore, this situation left him speechless.


He knew this wasn't the Ruler he remembered. This Jeanne was a different summon. Just her looks resembled the girl he held so preciously in his mind. He shouldn't associate himself with her more than the bare minimum lest painful memories should resurface. But...


"I was invited here by someone.", he answered in a quiet voice. "I'm staying in the hotel just by the beach."


She raised an eyebrow and her mouth opened in surprise.


"The big one? The CCC Plaza?", she unconsciously reached for his hand. He didn't pull back.


"Yes. I believe that what it's called.", he nodded his head.


"I'm staying there, too!", she exclaimed with unhidden note of happiness. "Floor seventeen, room 175!"


He sighed. To see her bubbly self it was very troubling for him. That was her radiance.


"Floor seventeen, room 176. Middle of the corridor, just by the lifts.", he said. His lips curled into a small smile.


She, however, beamed a smile as hot as the sun. She wondered how on Earth did they not see each other all this time when only a wall was separating them.


"By the way, why were you in such a hurry?"


Her question shook him.


"It's because I work at this establishment.", a small bead of sweat slid down his neck. "And I think I'm late.", his head turned to the building named "PaoPao Maid & Butler Café".


Jeanne covered her mouth with her hands, her face all red. She then lowered her head in a bit of a shame. He saw this and quickly tried to mitigate. He shook his nead and smiled at her.


"I'm sorry to have kept you.", she mumbled.


"Don't worry about it. My boss is lenient and there's no real move this early. It's more storage work than actual serving.", he brought his palm to his chin. "Maybe she'll let me off if I tell her I brought a customer?" he gave her a meaningful look.


"Wha? ....ah." and took her into the café.


*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


After ten minutes of getting reprimanded by his boss and dressing up into his uniform he was ready. It was a standard set of black shoes, trousers and suit with a white shirt and a vest underneath. He had a neat little black bowtie under his collar. To complete the image he had a golden pocket watch on a small chain.


He walked out into the café's main room. Despite the exterior's formidable shape, the interior looked a bit cramped. The bar was to the right of the entrance, and to the probable surprise to some patrons, the shelves behind the cash register had bottles of alcohol, wine and brandy glasses on display. The café itself could serve about twenty customers at once, and five more at the counter. Eight tables had places for two with one big table in the middle had four seats. The walls were decorated with posters of anime girls in maid outfits. An otaku's haven.


She was sitting right in the middle of the room. Her head was resting on her hands and she had a calm expression on her face. Sieg felt uneasy about dragging her inside like he did. He hoped she wasn't angry at him.


He approached her casually but kept an air of dignity about him. Right now he was her butler, her servant. With tray in one hand and the menu in the other, he started:


"Good morning, milady. It'll be an honor to serve you today. Please, tell me your order."


Jeanne couldn't say a word. She could swear there were tiny sparkles glittering around his figure. Was this what they called the butler's charm? She took the menu from her hand and opened it. She didn't know on what to concentrate. She shot glances from his slightly smiling face to the menu to his face back again. Sensing her consternation he spoke out:


"For starters I would recommend our famous rice omlette if you'd so prefer, milady.", his soft tone sent shivers down her spine. He seemed seriously into this.


"Thank you, but I have already had breakfast.", she said after composing herself. "But if I may, I'll have some white coffee."


She handed him the menu and Sieg bowed to her with a "It shall be done, milady." A moment later he disappeared inside the kitchen door. Jeanne was all alone again. She sighed and returned to taking in her surroundings. The frilly-draped big windows kept the cafe illuminated with natural light, the pastel beige colors mixed with pink rims around the maid pictures gave the room a really cutesy atmosphere. However, she noticed that for a maid-and-butler establishment there was a shortage of maids. Even behind the cash register there wasn't anyone.


Sieg's return interrupted her musings. He was carrying a full tray composed of a kettle, a flower-patterned cup, a spoon, a platter of biscuits, a bowl with lumps of sugar and a cup of milk. He set it on the table and gazed at her.


"May I, milady?"


She nodded her head. He picked up the cup full of black powder and poured water into it with such ease he raised the kettle higher and higher without spilling a thing. He stopped when he felt the cup was almost full.


"Sugar, milady?"


"Two lumps, please."


He used the spoon to dip two lumps of sugar into the hot concoction and stirred it until the sugar disolved. He then added the milk. He let the coffee and milk gently mix together and let the fragrance of the drink fill the lungs of his customer.


"Please enjoy.", he bowed to her. She took hold of the cup. The smell of the coffee was truly enthralling. She brought the cup to her lips and let the brown liquid moisten her throat. The soft, silky and sweet taste filled her with warmth she didn't know she had longed for the whole morning. Waking up so early hadn't been easy even in the time of he life, so she was grateful for this additional kick of energy.


"How is it?", the ever-present servant asked.


"It's superb. Thank you.", she smiled at him with content. His own smile rose up.


She took up a biscuit from the platter and bit into it. The flavour of nuts assailed her tongue. The soft texture, the moist insides. It was delicious to say the least. She swallowed the bit and washed it down with another sip of coffee.


"By the way, Sieg-kun.", she turned to him. "Are you alone here today?"


"Apparently, milady. I've been told that the female servants will return shortly after the opening ceremony at the convention.", he said.


"Oh...", she took one more long sip. And she froze. "O-opening ceremony!"


"Is something the matter, milady?", Sieg showed concern for his patron.


"WHERE IS SHE?!?!?!??"


A big commotion was going on the streets. Someone was shouting obscenities and curses. They could also hear a voice trying to calm down the other.


"Calm down, Alter. Everything went smoothly, right? Osakabe-hime agreed to start selling the books, so we're covered, right?"


A black and red shadow stomped across the window. An orange one came in tow a second later.


"WHEN I FIND HER, I'LL BLOW HER UP! ALL OF MY HATE!!!"


"A-Alter! The people. The people are staring."


"AH, WHATEVER! I NEED A DRINK!"


The last shout was right behind the entrance to the café. The door suddenly flew open. A furious Jeanne Alter marched in, unabashed. She wore the same costume as earlier, only less tidy. She looked as if she had to fight her way through to get here. Her Master looked much better in comparison but running around her angry friend made her pretty tired.


"BARTENDER GET ME SOME...", Alter screamed at the counter but saw no-one there. Her eyes jolted to the center of the room next, and there she saw them. Jeanne was GINGERLY sitting on a WHITE chair, drinking something from a WHITE cup and enjoying cookies from a WHITE plate, all the while accompanied by HIM dressed like a MANSERVANT.


A vein popped on her temple and her left eye began to twitch.


"Give me one reason why I shouldn't just burn this place to the ground?", she growled while trying to smile. A bit of a terrifying sight to behold.


"Alter, please...!", screamed Ritsuka while waving her arms, completely panicing.


Sieg jumped over the table and landed right in front of Jeanne Alter, his face inches from her own. He had a stern but determined expression to match her enraged one.


"Because that would distress me greatly.", he said calmly while peering into her yellow eyes, unflinching.


"Why would I listen to...", she stuck her finger onto his chest, still persisting in her intentions.


Even the boss and kitchen staff left their duties to see what was going on. Sure to say, the two of them made quite the commotion.


"I implore you to reconsider.", Sieg was not going to relent. He lowered his head so it'd level with her. His gaze became piercing. The closeness to her face threw a shade that made him look almost intimidating. He was far from the "child" he had been all those years ago. He knew he had to fight to preserve what was his.


Luckily for him, his adversary decided to let it go. Alter, for some reason, suddenly became bashful. She looked away, pouting and blushing. She crossed her arms on her ample chest and huffed. She couldn't believe this guy stared her down. There was something in those eyes....
"W-well whatever! I won't do it!", she scoffed. "But don't think you're off the hook, “holy” woman!"


Jeanne, who was cautiously anticipating the progression of events, let out a big sigh. She knew she had disappointed her “sister” and Ritsuka, so she had to make amends. Fortunately, Sieg prevented a bloodbath, so she could do that more peacefully.
"Anyway, I came here to drink. So, gimme something to drink.", Alter passed him and dropped on the chair opposite to Jeanne's. Looking completely unsatisfied, she glanced at Sieg. Ritsuka relaxed her shoulders and sat next to Jeanne.


"I'll have what she's having.", Alter pointed at her 'twin'.


"I'll have it as well.", Ritsuka chimed in, smiling weakly.


Sieg looked at all three of them. His lips curled up and a spark appeared in his eyes. He bowed deeply and said.


"I'm happy to serve, miladies."


Ritsuka looked relieved. Alter almost choked on the biscuit she had stolen from Jeanne's plate.


*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


It was just past noon.


"Aaaw geeeez, what am I even doing here?", came the mildly irritated voice of Jeanne Alter from underneath her parasol.


After the incident in the café, Sieg had a talk with the owner. It seemed that was something she had forgotten to tell him the day before. When he left the office he sighed deeply. He was glad he didn't lose his job, but the conversation left him confused in spite of that. Apparently, there was to be a “Gents' Only Day” today, and just female workers had to come to work. But the manager was too busy with paperwork and he had already left for home, so he couldn't have been told. He also received a word of apology for the lecture on punctuality from earlier. All in all, it was uncalled for.


"I guess it wasn't that bad. I will get paid, and I did cash in three orders.", He thought while setting the blankets and parasols on the sand.


"Once again, I'm sorry for everything.", Jeanne chimed in, with her hands clasped together and smiling sheepishly.


As it was, the three of them had the privilege of leisure time at the beach. Ritsuka said she'd check up on Osakabe-hime and to reanimate her if she had to. Being around people was a health risk for the poor thing.


They returned to the hotel, changed their clothes and rented some beach equipment from the reception. Jeanne Alter said she had four sets of the same swimsuit, so she didn't look any different when she left the room.






Sieg and Jeanne on the contrary. Sieg emerged from his room dressed in black trunks, sandals, a white shirt and an azure hoodie while Jeanne was wearing a black bikini with a white wavy pattern, wooden clogs and a violet blouse.


Soon enough, they were happily settled on the still empty beach. There were people jogging and surfing in the distance. There were also amateurs of sunbathing sprawled here and there, but most of the people who should have been here from the moment the sun had got up just weren't here. They reckoned it must've been because of the grand doujin event not far away.


Jeanne sat on the blanket next to Sieg who was busy pumping the swimming wheel with the contents of his lungs. Funnily enough it was Alter's idea to take a red and black one. It was obvious that she wouldn't be using it, though. She sat on her blanket, hugged her knees and kept that position ever since they set up their place. Seems she still was grumpy over something.


"Avenger, could you give me that other wheel?", Sieg pointed at the deflated piece of rubber right next to her.


"Whatever.", she tossed it to him like a rag and looked away. "Here."


Sieg was about to take it, a bit confused over Alter's strange behaviour, when Jeanne addressed him.


"Excuse me, Sieg-kun.", she sat down by his right side. "Could I ask you to do something for me?"


She was blushing slightly and her eyes couldn't focus on his gaze. She fidgeted with her fingers.


"Yes, what is it, Ruler?", seeing her consternation he wanted to spark a talk to calm her mind. "What can I do for you?", he put away the deflated swimming wheel.


Jeanne sighed and made a loud "o-khm!". After clearing her throat, she finally faced him. Her blue eyes were anxious, but also carried a bit of hope.


"First thing, could I ask you to call me by my name from now on?", she started quietly, unsure. "Now that you're in Chaldea, you have seen that there's more 'me' present. C-could you please call me “Jeanne” from now on?", she blushed even more, trying not to avert her eyes from him.


Sieg looked behind him. Alter didn't move a milimeter. She just looked at the distance, far away from them. He was curious what her reaction would be at those words. She was Jeanne too after all. He returned to Ruler. His lips turned to a smile and he replied:


"If that is your wish.", his voice sounded melancholic. "Jeanne."


Hearing her name spoken by him with that voice made her jump internally. In the same time, he looked like he had been in a daydream. He saw that amethyst-eyed wonder again, smiling at him, encouraging him.


"Oh, please. Sentimental bullshit.", the voice to his left snapped them out of their state of exhiliaration. Alter blurted out those words while still keeping her eyes firmly away from them. Jeanne faced Sieg again and asked for the second favor:


"The second thing is...", she trailed off, but she was just gathering her courage. "Could you...put the suntan lotion on my back, please?"


Jeanne Alter's head snapped in their direction. Her pale complexion adorned with an irregular shade of red. What she saw was Sieg already putting the lotion on his hands and Jeanne exposing her back to him while craddling her bountiful chest in her arms. She had hoisted her large braid over her shoulder to keep it unsullied.


Sieg rubbed the oily substance between his palms to warm it up and put them on Jeanne's arched back. The feeling of her skin, though enhanced by the lotion, was like silk. Smooth, warm. He traced her shoulderblades in a circular motion. Once, twice, then he went down to her lower back and size. Jeanne had closed eyes. She didn't say anything, but one could tell that his gentle touch was pleasant.


Jeanne Alter's jaw was flying up and down rapidly as if she wanted to say something. The embarrassment she felt was so severe. She got up to her knees and finally spat out:


"H-how lewd can you be, oh Saint?! This is obscene! Aren't you ashamed?"


Sieg stopped and looked at the bewildered Avenger. Jeanne indeed had a deep blush on her face but could not answer properly. How to put it, she was too much into this. A soft massage like this made her feel too relaxed. Alter's voice busted her out of the trance.


"It is necessary to avoid sunburn.", Sieg said in a slightly concerned voice. He turned to her, showing his moist hands. "If you want, I can cover you next."


C-C-C-C-C-C-C-C-Cover her next?!?!?! W-what does he mean by that? Could he........


"Nonononononostayawayfromme!", Alter jumped and hid behind the parasol as if something bit her. Even the hottest molten rock on Earth wasn't as hot as her face right now. Her eyes were open so widely they threatened to leave their sockets. She clamped down on the parasol and refused to budge from her hiding spot. "IfyoucomecloserI'llcutyoudown", she caught the hilt of her katana with one hand, ready to strike.


Sieg's gave her a very puzzled look. Not lingering on what had happened, he returned to Jeanne. There were still spots on her body that needed his attention. He took the plastic bottle and squirted out some more white liquid. He rubbed it on his hands again and put them on her body. He carefully administered the substance onto her lower back muscles and her spine. He heard her moan silently when his hand slid too low, but she didn't stop him. Then he took care of her sides.


"Jeanne. Your body is pretty fit, isn't it?", he remarked softly.


"E-Eh?", was her reply. "W-what do you mean?"


He kept sliding up and down along her side muscles. He couldn't say it out loud, but he enjoyed how they flexed under his light touch. To be honest, it was a pleasure to touch her like this.


Pleasure. He didn't get to feel pleasure in the past often. Only a handful of times. But for what he could gather right now, it was something engrossing, enthralling. He felt that he had to control himself, or else he'd want even more.


The dragon of greed, Fafnir, let out a long sigh.


"Hyah!", came a shout from up close.


Sieg suddenly froze. The voice he heard was Jeanne's.
"What's wrong, Jea.."


He quickly learned what was wrong. His hands, during his careful ministrations, went a bit too high. His thumbs and index fingers brushed along the sides of her breasts. Actually, they made direct contact. He retreated his hands with haste, feeling ashamed of what he had done.


"I'm sorry, Jeanne. I am really sorry. I didn't mean to do that.", he quickly apologised, his face downcast. "I was just so into it that I started daydreaming."


"Lecherous wyrm.", came a hiss from behind the parasol. She was glaring daggers at Sieg, almost crying. Heck, this could've happened to her!


The blond girl sighed and cleared her throat. She slightly turned to face the boy. He was still looking miserable as if he had done something very wrong and needed to repent. With one hand she reached for his face and raised it to meet her blushing visage. To his surprise her eyes weren't beaming with anger.


"I understand. I, too, am sorry for not warning you. You were doing such a god job and I felt so relaxed...", she faced away from him, but only for a brief moment. "I might have caught myself daydreaming as well."


"Jeanne...", he breathed out as he witnessed her small smile.


"Could you help me tie this?", she showed him her back once more, but this time she threw the laces of her bikini top there. He approached her and tied the laces into a pretty ribbon. He also helped with the clips, albeit more clumsily. The darned things just wouldn't catch one another.


Jeanne stood up, nearly jumped in fact. Sieg was relieved to see her enthusiastic self again. His slumped shoulders could regain composure again. Jeanne's lips curled up as she addressed her companions.


"Alright! All done! Now, let's go for a swim!", she exclaimed.


The weather was beautiful. The air was hot. The beach was still fairly free of people. Who wouldn't want to take a nice dip in the azure ocean's waves?


Jeanne Alter.


She would just refuse to move. Her companions were unsure if she truly hated them or was just too embarrassed of what happened just a few moments ago. She would just stand there and act as if the parasol was the only thing between her and their pitchforks.


Sieg sighed. He gave a meaningful look at Jeanne.


"I will join you in the water, but...", he blushed bashfully. "Will it be fine if we stay in shallow waters? I don't know how to swim."


Jeanne blinked her eyes twice. With a smile, she crouched and took his hands into hers. With one swift motion, she picked him up to his feet.


"That's fine, Sieg-kun.", she said with glee. "We can enjoy summer however we want."


Before moving from under the shade of their protective dome, the blond girl snatched the swimming wheels Sieg had inflated. She grabbed Sieg's hand with her free one and they took off towards the rolling waters of the ocean.


Jeanne Alter finally decided to move. She relaxed her tense shoulders and slowly took her place on the blanket. Without the feeling of being threatened with sexual violence, or so she thought, she sat crosslegged and slouched her back. A great sigh escaped her lips. She unfastened all the belts which held the katanas. With a loud clang, they all landed on the fabric. Jeanne Alter couldn't help but scoff at how everything they took from the hotel looked so generic. The feeling passed quickly, though, and she suddenly realised how thirsty she was. She eyed the duffel bag her more vitally-colored counterpart always had with her. There was a sippy cup inside.


Her head turned towards the sea. There they were, playing in the water like little kids.


"Mghh...", her mood dropped again.


Just look at them: splashing water on each other, she laughing, he troubled but smiling, she teaching him how to move in the water, he looking like an idiot in that red-and-black floating thing. Oh, now they're crashing against the waves. Oh, the wave pushed her on him. Great! Oh, blushing but laughing. Even him! SOMEHOW THAT TWERP KNOWS HOW TO LAUGH!!!!!


"MGHHHHHHH!!!", her frown had hit the ground.


She got up on all fours and stole the sippy cup from Jeanne's bag, grumbling. She didn't know why she was so pissed now. Heck, she'd been pissed all day, but for some reason meeting him of all people sent her mood to an entirely new kind of dump. She flipped the plastic straw, put it into her mouth and took a big sip. The drink was still cold, but tasted strange. It definitely wasn't sweet or fizzy.


Jeanne Alter sat down again and opened the lid and looked inside. It looked like plain water.


"Electrolytes?", she raised an eyebrow. "Why would a Servant want to keep hydrated?", she shook her head and closed the cup. Then she took another big sip. And another. And one more.


Halfway through the cup she realised that she's been casually drinking someone else's water all this time. She decided she didn't care. She examined the cup. And coughed instantly. Of all the...


"That woman has very bad taste."


The cup had pictured of dragons around it. Dragons of all shapes and sizes. She turned it around to see what was printed on the bottom. To her surprise, there was a jade, cross-shaped squigle that reminded her of something. Where had she seen it before? She pondered a good while, not finding an answer. Then...


"It's him...", she blushed furiously. The image of that certain hero came to her mind. The hero who thwarted her biggest asset just before Master could get to her in Orleans.


She peered once more at the seaside. The two of them were now sitting in the shallow water and talking. Jeanne always had that matter-of-fact countenance whenever she tried to explain something. Sieg was just intently listening. His left hand was exposed. That's where Jeanne Alter's eyes were fixed: on the black mark he had there.


"Siegfried." she muttered. "Fafnir."
She made a sour scowl but only for a second. She opened the lid of the cup and gulped all the drink down. It tasted like somewhat like medicine with a hint of apples. Seems she had been right about the electrolytes. Having finished her refreshing treat, she returned the cup to Jeanne's bag.


"ALTER!", she heard from afar, just as the cup slipped inside its resting place. "ALTER!"


That bubbly woman in wet clothes was shouting at her and waving her hand like crazy.


"ALTER, THE WATER IS GREAT! PLEASE, JOIN US!"


Even him. He was waving at her too, beckoning her to join. He looked like a soaked animal in that getup. Why he didn't bother to take his garments off, she couldn't be bothered enough to know. She wanted to decline. She really did. She didn't want to be here in the first place. She'd rather be with Master, showing off her drawing skills. But...


"ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT! STOP WAVING BEFORE YOU START LOOKING EVEN MORE DUMB!", she screamed back and got up to her feet. For some reason she was willing to comply.


She lazily entered the sun-baked field of sand. She had to cover her eyes because of how blindingly bright is was outside of the shade. Jeanne Alter put her hands on her hips and began her approach.


"Consider this a privilege. You actually caught my attention.", she said, all haughty and smirking. She brushed her hair with one hand, looking like a princess. "Know this, I am above your childish games...", all with eyes closed.


Halfway to the water.......


"JEANNE ALTER! RUN!", she heard him screaming. She eyes snapped back open. He was running in her direction at top speed. Her haughtiness evaporated in a milisecond, a fluster taking over. Dead in her tracks, he caught her.


"FAF-WHAAA", she yelped out.


The last thing she saw before losing vision was Jeanne rushing in front of them. She extended her swimming-wheel-armed hands and...


*BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT*


Everything vanished in a flash of golden light.

END OF PART 2

[Keyne]

A lonesome object flew through the sky. High, above the clouds, the person pondered her mission. She tapped her helmet twice in the temple. A user interface, intricate and complicated at first glace, popped before her jade eyes. The right side of it showed her her condition. She used a voice command for the system to make a count.


-- Heart rate: steady. --
-- Breathing: normal. --
-- Hydration: below normal. --
-- Hunger: critical! --


Indeed, the icon representing nutrition levels was flashing in a bloody red color. In such situations, the needs of the body took precedence before the goals of the mission. She lowered her altitude and dove into the white mist of the clouds.


-- Visibility: ZERO --


The left side of the UI represented the condition of the mechasuit in the lower corner and mission objectives higher up. She voiced her desire to check the roster of her targets again. The system complied. She also requested the mechasuit to turn on the auto-pilot mode.


As the programming took control of the machine, visages of several different people flashed in front of her eyes. They were all women, they were all blond, nearly all had green, two had yellow and one had blue eyes.


They all had her face.


Some even shared her name.


"Computer, conduct a scan and confirm targets in the vicinity. I had a reading yesterday that the big island nearby may be important to us.", she said calmly.


-- COMMENCING SEARCH --


The notification shone before her eyes. Soon a map of the area took its place. It showed her an archipelago of small, volcanic masses of land and a big one, righ tin the middle of the map. The big one was her concern. It was the most inhabited. She could see numerous signatures in its central area.


-- SEARCH COMPLETE --
-- TARGET NOT FOUND --


She sighed. It was a bad day for hunting it seemed. The situation had been repeating for the last four days. She had been patroling this peculiar area because she had a gut feeling she'd find her game on that island. Her instincts just couldn't let her leave this place.


She scrolled with her eyes the faces of her targets. Honestly, this could've looked quite bizarre from the point of view of a third party, but to her it was serious business through and through.


-- TARGET 001: CODE BLUE – same face...
-- TARGET 002: CODE RED – same face........
-- TARGET 003: CODE BLACK – same face..........
-- TARGET 004: CODE WHITE – ABORTED


GRRROOOOOWWWWWLLLLL!!


She felt her belly churn inside, demanding attention. Badly! She finally realised how hungry she had been. The last meal she had was twelve hours ago. That's approximately how long her hyperspace jump lasted before arrival in Earth's orbit. She needed to refuel.


The altitude meter hit four kilometers above ground. She would leave the clouds soon. The milky white parted and gave way to a bright blue, vast as the eye could see. The waves of the ocean were lazily rolling toward the unknown horizon, the sun was blinding. The thermometer module read twenty-nine degrees Celsius. The nearest settlement was...


-- TARGET ACQUIRED --
-- TARGET ACQUIRED --


Suddenly the UI turned red. The auto-pilot shut itself down. After regaining full control of mobility, she halted the machine. She smirked. Her gut was right after all.


GRRRRWWWLLLLLL!!


"S-Shut up!!"


"Computer, show data and exact coordinates of targets.", she tried to regain composure.


The UI flashed two pictures. Two nearly identical people, practically twins, if not for the difference in skin complexion. The first one had a gentle face with a kind expression. The other had a look of utter disgust.


-- TARGET 005: CODE SAINT WHITE ACQUIRED! --
-- TARGET 006: CODE SAINT BLACK ACQUIRED! --
-- SENDING COORDINATES --
-- PROCESSING --


"There I have you.", she exclaimed with a hefty dose of satisfaction in her voice. This day just turned for the better. Two red signatures appeared on the map. West coast, bay area, the city. There was also one more signature with them, but they were of no consequence. Should they interfere, they'll meet the same fate as her prey.


She revved up the engines in her leg modules and began her approach to her desired location. Not even hunger mattered now. She could eat after they have been eliminated.


-- DISTANCE: 10.000 STANDARD METERS --
-- ETA: 2 STANDARD MINUTES --


No stoping now. Nothing would get in her way.


"Computer, plug into the nearest satellite. Acquire visual of the objective."


-- PROCESSING --
-- CONNECTION ATTAINED --
-- LOCATING TARGET --
-- PRODUCING VISUAL --


A screen blinked before her eyes. She saw two people jumping as the waves crashed against them, the third hidden below a parasol. She recognised the literally-white-skinned woman to be Code Saint Black. Her eyes darted again to the pair in the water. The much-less-sickly-white blond woman had to be Code Saint White. Both matched the description in her database. The photos she had also confirmed their identity. The man they were with...


"A non-issue.", she mused.


-- DISTANCE: 3.000 STANDARD METERS --
-- ETA: 40 STANDARD SECONDS --
"All boosters, halt!", she shouted. The programming did as commanded. To steady the flight, counterboosters fired up from her knee and elbow joints. Soon, the machine was perfectly motionless and set on hover mode.


"Prepare Rhongomyniad!", she ordered. "Operation Code RED! Release the seals!"


-- LOADING BATTLE PROTOCOL --
-- OPERATION CODE RED MODE COMMENCING! --
-- RELEASING POWER BREAKERS --
-- POWER BREAKER 1 RELEASED --
She heard a loud hiss from her back's right side. A cloud of steam soon followed.


-- POWER BREAKER 2 RELEASED --
The same happened with the vent on her left.


-- CHARGING WEAPON --


She reached with her mechanic hand to her left shoulder. She grabbed a thick shaft and pulled at it. With a loud clang, the weapon was drawn. Rhongomyniad was a double-bladed spear, with blades almost like spirals, pointy and dangerous. In addition, it had a circular handguard to protect the gauntlet. The blades swirled restlessly, endlessly, being filled with more and more power from the core of the suit. The core which was the rider herself.


The blades whirred and gave a golden glow. Lightning started crackling around the guard. The air around began to hum together with the spear.


-- CHARGING COMPLETE --


"Commence termination protocol!", she was ready to kill.


-- COMMENCING --
-- ATTACK MODE OPERATIONAL! FIRE WHEN READY! --


She gripped the blade with all of her might. Her enemies would be eradicated in a matter of seconds. The time was right. Her body arched back, lowered its stance. Her lance pulled back.


A crosshair appeared in the middle of the screen. All was set.


"RHONGO—"


The visual showed Saint Black approaching the pair total nonchalance. Arrogance even. She wasn't suspecting a thing. Saint White was looking at her. Even better.


The man....


A sudden close-up. The man casually turned his head towards Saint White, and...his expression changed. He was alarmed.


'GODDAMNIT! I OVERLOOKED THE SUN'S LOCATION. THIS WEAPON GLOWS TOO MUCH!'


There was no time left. It had to be now.
"—MYNIAD!!"


She thrusted the spear forward. In a split-second, a beam of pure energy erupted from the tip. A torrent with only one purpose – to disintergrate its prey. It met its destination before she could bat an eyelash. The beam exploded upon impact, sending the residue energy into the sky as a pillar of light. The surroundings of the impact were so bright there was no telling what happened. Even her optic modules had to recalibrate themselves before resuming function. That's how big a punch this weapon packed.


"Computer, confirm target extermination", she breathed out, at ease but still vigilant.


-- PROCESSING --
-- CONFIRMING --
......
......
......
......
......
......
"What's taking you so long, computer?", her voice sounded less patient.
-- CONFIRMING --


....
....
....
....
....


Finally:


-- TARGET EXTERMINATION: NEGATIVE --
-- MELEE CONFRONTATION ADVISED --


She looked at the visual footage. After the light faded away she could clearly see three people still living and breathing. And looking in her direction.


*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


"Sieg-kun, Alter, are you both alright?", Jeanne screamed as loud as she could. The sound of ringing was filling her ears. She hoped they were not hurt from the blast or the residual energy. She could see zaps of lightning here and there. The sand directly in the spot of the impact had changed into a semi-solid, translucent substance.


Sieg opened his eyes and scanned his surroundings. He appeared to be untouched. Nothing hurt him. He only felt the slight discomfort of having sand everywhere. He just wished his body wasn't so wet from the sea water, else the sand wouldn't be sticking to him so. Once the dust cleared he could clearly see what had happened.


Ruler's timely use of her most precious banner saved them from a firework's demise – dying in the blaze of glory. Everything around was either turned into glass effigies or was emanating with the leftover power of whatever had wanted to incinerate them so badly.




He sighed. His senses finally catching up with him, he felt that he was on his knee. He tried to stand up but something kept him down. Only then he realised that his arms were occupied. The weight of what he was carrying had put a strain on his arms.


He looked down. There, nested in his arms, lied Jeanne Alter. Legs together, arms and hands stuck together, pressed to her chest. Overall, she looked like a curled up kitten. She remembered it. How he suddenly grabbed her and pinned her to his body. Then, he spun around to shield her with his back should Jeanne's whatever she had been doing failed.


Seems she didn't fail. But this situation was...


"C-could you let me go now, Fafnir?", she mumbled out. Her face was like a chaotic mash-up of bewilderment, embarrassment and a bit of gratitude. To her defence, the beam attack came completely from the left field. If only she had known, she'd have used her new-found powers and...


Sieg set her on her feet and stood up. He patted his clothes to clear out as much dirt as possible. Jeanne Alter did the same. Still blushing, she dashed for her weapons. The moment she felt cold steel in her palms again, her usual attitude returned.


"So, where's the fucker who wants to die? EH?", she yelled as she emerged from under the parasol.


"There.", Jeanne pointed at the sky. They could see a small dot just below the clouds. Steam was rising from it, joined with an emanating golden flicker from its supposed hand. Their assailant, doubtlessly.


"Just what is their business with us?", Sieg asked. The answer was yet to be revealed.


His body engulfed itself in blue light. Soon, he stepped out of it, clad in his white shirt, black vest on top, black trousers and shoes. An elegant outfit. With one peculiar addition. Down his left leg dangled a long scabbard with a sharp weapon inside. He took ahold of the black hilt and pulled out the sword.


A loud metallic noise.


In his hand was the arming sword of Astolfo, one of the twelve Paladins of Charles the Great. The sun reflected in its narrow, pointy blade. He let his arm relax, he'd have need of it soon. He gave it one more passing glance and smiled. This sword was the only tangible memento he had from his time of partnership with the ever-enthusiastic pink-haired Servant. His great friend and one of his saviours.


He looked at his left hand. The three black marks of the dragon were there. The very creature he had become those years ago. Well, he would put this power to use yet again.


From behind his back, Jeanne Alter witnessed his transformation. The raging tempest became a silent fury. She will cut down the bastard that had attempted to shorten her life. But first...


"Just be sure not to get in my way. You got that?", she growled.


Sieg stood there motionless. Suddenly, a zap of pure, green energy came through his shoulder, through his arm, to dissipate at his fingertips. Alter cringed.


"Does everyone get to use lightning these days?", she rolled her eyes. "Cheap."




The look he gave her when she finished her comment didn't at all quench her thirst for blood, but it did manage to effectively shut her up. He wasn't angry, nor was he disgusted. He wasn't just a homunculus. Inside, he was a monster.


"Prepare for contact!", Jeanne's alarm made them ready. They joined her at the frontline. Two Saints and one hybrid against...what exactly?


The "thing" landed in a short distance from them. It was something that could be described best with the words 'mech' or 'battlesuit'. No modern technology was capable of building such a thing. Metal joints, sturdy plated helmet, visor obscuring the eyes of the pilot, giant exhaust vents on its back. Wings of steel, jointed arms and legs, boosters here and there. And a grand weapon in its hand.


The exhausts spewed out steam with a noisy hiss. The robot slowly took a stance, its joints whirring with every move. Now, legs apart, crouching, with lance prepared to strike, the mech was ready to fight.


"Oy! Was it you who fired at me?", Alter taunted the newcomer. Her taunt was met with silence. "Answer, you tin-canned bastard!", a vein popped on her neck. She gritted her teeth.


The robot remained voiceless. The rider inside was pondering.


"You're fucking mocking me?", Alter screamed. Black energy started forming in her hands.


"DEATH TO ALL SABERFACES!", the machine roared.


The battle started in a blink of the eye. The pilot kicked in the acceleration and the mech rushed into its adversaries. With spear raised high it dropped on Jeanne with all of its mass. Jeanne parried its powerful attack with the shaft of her banner. Sparks flew. Jeanne had to brace herself. It wasn't just strength, but also velocity, she was fighting. The mech broke the lock and swiped from the left. Jeanne used the steel tip of the banner to slide the weapon out of the way.


"An opening!", came a voice from her left. Sieg slipped passed her and slashed at the exposed side. Astolfo's sword managed to graze the protective plates of the mech but not enough to inflict significant damage.


The mech's free hand shot in his direction. His reaction was good but poorly timed. He managed to block the fist, but the remaining force pushed him backwards and sent him flying. His landing, meters away, knocked the air out of his lungs.


"Normal attacks may prove to be too weak", he thought as he painfully raised his body.


He could see Jeanne Alter clicking her tongue in the distance. Soon, she disappeared out of his sight. Her plan was different. If attacking frontally doesn't give results, an overhead attack may have a chance.


Jeanne in the meantime was busy keeping the assailant in close range. Her every blow met with her swift return. Jeanne really was the epitome of a tank; the mech couldn't even scratch her and couldn't get away from the Saint's assault.


"Who are you and why do you attack us?", she shouted while dodging a blow aimed to her head. "Answer me!"


The mech answered by delivering a kick to her stomach. Jeanne blocked it, but had to involuntarily retreat a few steps, leaving two perfectly straight lines on the sand. Its leg was still in the air. That's when she decided to strike.


"HAAAAH!", Jeanne Alter drew her katanas and dropped at the enemy from above. The pilot of the mech, however, turned out to be perceptive. She raised the spear over her head and caught the katanas before they could touch the head of the suit. A teeth-gritting sound was elicited as the steels colided. With minor damage sustained, the mech spun around and gave the airborne woman a punch to the gut. A last-moment block saved her from incapacitation. Alter was blown away several meters back. With a scream, she tumbled a few times upon impact with the ground. Two of her precious swords landed on the sand, shattered. She still had one left. And a headache to boot.


Sieg run up to her and lifted her up by the arm and waist, to which she replied with a shove to the side.


"Let me go!", she growled. "I've got this!"


She was furious.


She rose up to her feet slowly, shaking. Her body language suggested Sieg that he shouldn't move near her right now. She spat out some sand and cursed under her breath. Seemed her plan wasn't too good. But it did manage to gain them something.


Jeanne, acting instinctively, attacked the mech's exposed back with a heavy thrust just as it hit Alter. The spear-like tip shattered the metal casing and plunged into the circuitry of the machine. A spasm shook the machine. Sparks of electricity shot out of the wound. Jeanne could see the diodes inside flashing like crazy. Jeanne could hear a voice inside the cockpit.


-- MAJOR MALFUNCTION DETECTED --
-- BOOSTER/THRUSTER SYSTEM SHUTTING DOWN --
-- REDIRECTING ALL ENERGY TO COMBAT MODULES --
-- SURVIVABILITY TAKES PRIORITY --
-- PROCESSING --


The blond warrior ripped out the shaft from its back, causing the mech to topple on one knee. She then attempted another thrust, but the mech spun around its weapon to block it. They exchanged blows three more times before he mech decided to hop back and distance itself. But it didn't have the liberty to regroup.


Sieg, invigorated by Jeanne's precise hit, attacked from the back. He aimed for the hole she made with her spear. Before the mech could land, he had been already there. He jumped and channeled green lightning through the blade of his sword. With all of his might, he pierced deeper into the chasis and sent his power straight into its core.


"AAAARRGH!!", the pilot screamed, but held her ground. She shook off Sieg with a swing of her powerful arm and made him retreat. Jeanne attacked frontally again to buy him some time.


Its moves became more sluggish than they had been. Jeanne Alter could act again. While the mech was occupied with her "sibling", she could prepare to strike. She extended her right arm and started chanting a spell of sorts. Black embers gathered at her fingertips and began to grow. When the chant was over, a big fireball was ready to smother its target. Alter grasped it firmly and aimed. Unluckily, the mech was still moving and she didn't want to miss.
"JEANNE!", Sieg cried. "TOGETHER!"


She saw him rushing again, lightning in hand. The pilot had been ready this time. She spun around, knocking Jeanne back and swung its weapon at Sieg. The boy, however, wasn't planning to meet it head-on. He ducked rapidly, just before the tip of the spear could graze his head. He slid in between its legs. The quick disappearance from its field of view left the mech confused. Once it started turning, it had already been too late. Sieg, still on the ground, grasped on of its legs. A current of electricity shot through it, filling its circuits. The person inside suffered the pain of electrocution yet again.


Jeanne then sprung into the air, twirled her banner around and brought it down like a sledgehammer onto the mech's head. The sound of a very disturbing crack filled the air. The helmet of the battlesuit couldn't withstand the hit and broke. Half of the visor and face mask just fell off, revealing a portion of the pilot's face. But before they could have a better look...


"GRAAAAAAHH!!", she roared. The mech suddenly exploded with golden energy. A sudden wave of heat engulfed them, smoldering clothes and burning tissue. The accompanying gale of wind pushed them back. They hit the ground like ragdolls, unmoving.


Alter used this moment to strike. The moment the aura faded from the mech, she threw her fireball at it. Too slow to respond, it took it directly to its side. Black flames covered it entirely, gnawing at the metal and threatning to immolate everything inside the battlesuit. Without hesitation, she prepared another one and cast it. The already flinching mech simply couldn't defend against it. The melting wing plate had thrown it off balance. The fireball made impact slightly lower than the last one, in a less protected place. The fire erupted again, eating everything in its path.


"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGHH!!!", the pilot screamed in agony. Seemed like the flames got through the plating and hit something vital. Alter drew her last sword and recited a mantra. She felt reality warp around her for a split-second. She kicked off the ground. With hate in her mind and wind in her hair, she slashed at the foe. The mech responded automatically. It blocked the katana with its armored gauntlet while the other hand aimed to pierce her with the spear. The thrust was blindingly fast. It burst through Alter's body with a splutter of blood and organs. The lifeless body hit the ground, rent in half.


It disappeared.


Jeanne Alter morphed on the other side of the mech. She slashed at the chest piece. The blade dug into the metal but didn't do much damage. All it did was make some sparks fly. The plate was thick there. The robot lift its leg and kicked her in the gut. A huge purple spot appeared on her stomach as the steel foot connected with her flesh. Alter, bent in half, collapsed and stopped moving.


And disappeared again.


Jeanne Alter moved below the gauntleted arm of the mech and slashed just under its armpit. The cut was deeper this time. Steam blew out of the wound. Black and blue liquid dribbled out of it as well. Destroyed cables spewed out of it. The arm then ceased functioning. It just went limp as a boned fish. Alter was so occupied with the damage she had done, she didn't register the arm swaying. It bonked it on the head quite hard. Her body fell, incapacitated.


And did it the third time.

END OF PART 3

[Keyne]

Alter appeared in front of the mech. She wasn't too happy with what happened just now. The technique she had used before her assault allowed her to come unscathed out of three lethal situation. Her spirit had to prepare itself before she could use it again. She looked in the direction Jeanne and Sieg had been thrown too. They were still on the ground, but finally moving.


The pilot used this situation to the fullest. While Alter's attention was elsewhere, she brandished her spear and bashed her in the side. She cursed loudly as blood shot out from her mouth. Her world spun around and soon she was on the ground, landing facefirst in the sand.


"ALTER!", screamed Jeanne. She just happened to be a few meters from her.


The mech groaned, buzzing sounds coming out of its various wounds. It tried to take another step, but it dropped do its knees instead. The pilot inside kept issuing orders to it, but the robot had great problems with just standing up.


Sieg lifted himself up and readied his sword. His clothes were torn. His vest and pants were in tatters, a bit of his hair was burned, his shirt – charred. Jeanne ran to Alter's side to check if she was alright. Her outfit wasn't in better condition. Her blouse was completely gone and her bikini top was threatening to rip. Her hair was loose; the braid came undone. She flipped Alter's body around. The pale woman automatically started coughing out sanguine-colored sand. Her right side was unhealthily purple and swollen.


"Hang in there!", Jeanne tried to support Alter's head on her lap. Alter opened her eyes and groaned the moment her head felt the softness of Jeanne's thighs.


"I'm ok, stupid.", she looked to the side. "I wasn't doing thi--", she barfed out blood again "-this for you."


Jeanne felt relief that Alter could talk smack back at her. It really was proof she was alright.


In the meantime, the pilot finally managed to make the mech stand up. The machine was almost shrieking with agony. The steel joints of its limbs moved with such friction that the sound alone could break windows if there were any in the vicinity. Its wings were melted, the burnt side exposing pink, soft flesh. The left arm was wiggling lifelessly at the side of the robot, it's cords severed. The helmet wasn't really providing protection anymore.


The only thing that was still dangerous was that double-tipped spear.


Sieg came in between the girls and the mech, sword at the ready. His posture exuded determination.
With force in his voice, he started:


"Just who are you? Why did you assault us?"


Silence.


"Answer me!!"


The mech took two lazy steps forward. Sieg raised his sword. The sun shone at the face of the pilot. He could see her cold stare from those jade green eyes. Her lips were curled in a frown. Her brows furrowed. A sign of conviction.




Jeanne Alter picked herself up. Jeanne caught her just as her wobbly feet threatened to bring her back down. She eyed for her weapon. She found it near. She picked it up. She had to rely on Jeanne to keep her standing again. She didn't like it but now wasn't the time. Her head was woozy.


Jeanne carefully let her go and prepared her banner again. Despite her current look and Sieg's close presence, she wouldn't get bashful right now. Even if it meant showing more skin than it had been appropriate to. The three of them would face the enemy yet again.


"ANSWER ME!!"


Green lightning rolled through his arm and vanished at the tip of the sword. Maybe some time in the past he'd show more restraint, but not today. If he had to fight, he'd fight at his absolute best.


Finally, a clear voice rang. They could hear authority in that voice, the propensity to command. A voice which abhors defeat.


"I am Mysterious Heroine XX!", she exclaimed. "I will kill all Saberfaces!"


"Wha..?", Sieg raised an eyebrow at this ridiculous statement. "What did she..."


-- DIAGNOSTIC RUN COMPLETE! --
-- RESTORING POWER TO UNBROKEN MODULES --


They could hear the engine springing to life and roaring. The lance once again shone with pure golden light. The undamaged limbs regained some of their stability. The machine could walk and fight again. At least on land.


"I have no idea what you're talking about, but if you aim to harm them then you'll have to come through me!", He gave her a menacing glare. His grip on the hilt tightened.


"Don't get ahead of yourself. We can fend for ourselves.", Jeanne Alter stood next to him. "The fuck is a 'Saberface' anyway? If that's an insult, I'll butcher you."


"You shall bother us no more.", Jeanne added, taking Sieg's left side. "Flee or face defeat."


As it was, the second round of the showdown was about to commence. Both sides of the conflic were about to continue. But then...


"IT'S A GUNDAM!!"
"LOOK AT THAT! SEE THOSE SMOKING CHICKS?!"
"BETTER! LOOK AT THOSE TITS! WHERE'S MY CAMERA?"
"WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL US THERE WAS A COSPLAY EVENT HERE?"
"WHO THE FUCK IS THAT GUY?!"
"PANTYSHOTS INCOMING!"


A throng of individuals with all sorts of anime merchandize put in any available pocket and in ready-to-burst backpacks suddenly appeared at the site of the duel. A slobbering mess of unhygienic smells, exhausted expressions, sweaty clothes and anime figurines. As far as the eye could see.


"O-otaku?", Jeanne Alter yelped. "HERE? IN THE OPEN?"




She bit her lip. This was going south alarmingly fast. Fighting this woman was one thing, but fighting a host of people who'd love nothing more to take pictures of you in more and more indecent poses was a completely different level of bullshit.


"Sieg-kun! We'll take care of the otaku! We've had dealings with them before.", Jeanne shouted as both her and Alter turned their attention to the rabid fans. "Please watch our backs!"


"Will you be ok?", he asked.


"Quit your talking and get going!", Alter interjected.


As the girls took it upon themselves to fend off the crowd of misfits, Sieg was left to fight the mech in front of him. He had the trust of the saints, so he couldn't waver nor give quarter. He would fight with everything he had.


His left hand let got of the hilt of his sword. He raised it high to the sky, its top side facing Mysterious Heroine XX. She still didn't move. She was anticipating the attack. A green glow appeared on his hand. A black mark burst into light.


"MY HERO! COME!", Sieg shouted.


Blue light engulfed his body. A battle cry shook the ground. The attack came faster than expected. A silver flash, a slash, a clang. The broken arm, with all the wing plates behind it fell to the ground. Gazing at her from below was a tall figure adorned with steel pauldrons and armor, an open chest with a great green marking looking like a pagan cross, long silvery hair and the gaze of someone ready to kill. In his hands, a greatsword so famous every dragon shuddered at the sound of its name.


The Hero of the Nibelungs has been reborn once again.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


-- CIRCUIT MALFUNCTION IN CORE REACTOR --
-- REROUTING ENERGY --
-- LEG MODULE DESTABILIZATION --
-- LOWER BODY MOTOR FUNCTIONS COMPROMISED --
-- EMERGENCY DIAGNOSIS COMMENCING --
-- FLIGHT MODULE AT 20% EFFICIENCY --
-- LEFT ARM MOTOR FUNCTIONS LOST --


Red notifications were flashing all over her face, slightly obscuring her vision. She couldn't have that in a combat situation. The enemies were coming at her from left and right, or even above. Her hitlist had descriptions of their abilities, but now it seemed severly outdated. They were strong and more cunning than she had anticipated. The mentioned skill set also differed from her records.


She clicked her tongue in frustration. To top it all up, this guy was getting in her way. She had previously considered him collateral damage, but right now he was pretty much top priority. His lightning attack were dangerous. In many ways. Saint White's banner and Saint Black's flames were lethal in their own rights, but that green zap of energy could mess up her systems for good, not to mention paralyze her. The last thing she'd want was to be a sitting duck for any of them.






If only she could fight on foot. But, alas, she had no weapons of her own this time. Just the equipment attached to her mech. Should the situation fail to go to her advantage, she would have to flee. Or else she would die. Such was the life of an assassin.


Her targets were ready to fight again. The three of them had reformed ranks and readied their weapons. Saint Black was badly hurt, but standing. The other two were in much better shape.
A big problem.


The diagnostic programme was still collecting data. This mech had some degree of self-repair mechanisms, but they needed time to operate. An opportunity had to present itself. Right now. She had to regroup.


And as if with a touch of a magic wand, they came.


Dozens of men in T-shirts and shorts, carrying rolled up paper tubes and overstuffed backpacks with what happened to look like comic books, rolled out onto the beach. She could gather from the nigh-unintelligible screaming that these people had thought this was some sort of costume play, or even a...photoshoot? The hell was a Gundam anyway?


The men surrounded them. Some of them even picked up their cameras. The lewdness in their eyes was almost disturbingly palpable. And what was that about pantyshots?


-- DIAGNOSIS COMPLETE --
-- SELF-REPAIR MODULE COMMENCING DUTY --
-- PROCESSING --


The one notification she had been waiting for. She grinned slightly. Now, to get away.


"...", the command she wanted to give got stuck in her throat.


The boy approached her with a confident stride. The two women went away to destroy the perverted tide of otaku. Whether it was irrational, irresponsible or inapproariate, now was not the time for such musings. She prepped the machine for takeoff manually. She didn't want to give him any hints.


The boy showed her his left hand. It started glowing and he was gone. She had to hide her face from the bright light. Once he stepped out of it, he was a different being entirely. His form exuded authority and danger. The sword he was holding right now was no joke either.


Huh? Swordplay, lightning magic, now transformation? Wasn't that enough talents from someone who looked like a plain magus dressed like a playboy?


*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


Sieg, now in the form of Siegfried, sprung into action immediately. For the time being, he had only three transformations before the cooldown could kick in. Luckily for him, he didn't have to bother with fearing of becoming a dragon. He could do that at will.


With cold determination he slashed at the mech. Mysterious Heroine XX had to parry the blow. The machine yelped in pain. This attack was much fiercer than what strength he had exhibited earlier. The mech dropped to a crouch. Sieg wouldn't let it recover. He broke the lock and swung his sword from the right. The pilot's extraordinary instincts helped prevent a death blow by jumping back, but the revealed flesh still tasted his steel. The tip of his blade had a sliver of crimson liquid on it, lazily dripping down. The mech landed and automatically fell to its knee. The wound wasn't deep, but the pain was very real.


She had endured such cuts many times in the past. This one would not stop her as well. She stood up and raised her spear. The moment she did that, the weapons clashed again.


Two times. Blows from below.
Three times. Blows from adove
Eight times. Blows from the sides.
Twenty times. Parry. Feint. Repeat.


Too fast for the normal eye to register, they exchanged attacks.
Balmung roared.
Rhongomyniad whirred.


Sparks and blood flew around. With each clear hit of the sword metal parts were destroyed. With each clear hit of the lance, a new wound would appear on his body. The self-repair programme would fix the damage. The Dragon Armor would close all the bleeding gashes.


However, Sieg knew he was running out of time and the pilot knew her repairing functions had their limits, not to mention their power consumption. This pesky stalemate had to be broken.


*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


"Gugh!"


After disposing of yet another creep, who dissipated in a cloud of black smoke, Alter clenched her teeth. With no healing to provide, she was visibly in agony. She also had begun having problems with breathing. It seemed that nasty hit had left her a crack or two in her ribcage. That would also explain the constant flow of blood in her mouth.


Two more otakus came at her from the left. Ignoring the pain, she dispatched them without hesitation. The lifeless husks dropped to the ground before vanishing. Sweat was getting into her eyes. She grimaced and wiped her forehead with her hand.


"ALTER!"


The moment her eyes were free of water, her head shot to her left. One of the otakus was an arm's length away from her, his poster raised to the air. He didn't move from that position though. He couldn't, with a spear shaft going into his skull from one side and the spear tip going out of it from the other. The otaku's body spasmed and evaporated.


This one time Jeanne Alter thanked God, if he ever existed, for her counterpart's talent with the polearm. Or, more accurately, its reach. Jeanne had to thrust its entire length to cover her rear. She retracted it, and with an overhead swipe, she slashed at three more assailants.


Jeanne Alter, envigorated, cut her new target twice before she finished him off with a swift kick to the groin. Four more fell from her black fire. A few steps farther, Jeanne kept a group of ten of those psychoes at a distance.


With each attack, more died. But one thing was getting more and more apparent and self-evident.


They were tired.


Jeanne Alter's movement became sluggish and uncoordinated. The more she swang that katana, the bigger time gap she made between attacks. The gap itself was minimal, almost unnoticable, but dangerous. Her reach wasn't as big or wide as Jeanne's. She had to go in close and personal. Block, parry, slash, another block, kick, punch, another parry. This all costed energy. And put a big strain on her already battered side. The otaku knew this. They attacked that place deliberately in order to make her flinch. If they could just disarm her and pin her to the ground, they'd have their wicked way with her. At this point it was just a matter of time.


She gazed wearily at her counterpart. Her Noble Phantasm could give her the healing she so badly needed. But Jeanne needed some space to deploy it. Space they didn't have right now. All the woman could do is batter those before her with her trusty flag. And so she did.


Jeanne had to play the role of the protector on double-duty. She needed to keep herself safe and watch out for Alter as well. There was no telling how many of these men she had cut down or sent flying. She had lost count at sixty. Their numbers were abnormal, and the sickly glow in their eyes - disturbing to say the least. These weren't normal men. Something compelled them to come here. She knew. This wasn't the first battle she had with them. The circumstances were a lot different though.


From the fight with the Mysterious Heroine and her mech she was the one with the least injuries, so she had vast reserves of steam still left in her. She could continue this fight without pause. The problem was...


"Alter!"


She brandished her staff and bashed two assailants coming for her ally's rear in the chests. Knocked away forcefully, they toppled twenty more on their way before landing heads-first in sand. Without time to gather thoughts, she held her flag sideways and blocked three posters. The combined strength of the otaku made her stagger, but only a little. She regained her footing and pushed them away. Ten more fell in their way.


Alter finally had a chance to breathe. She found this basic function increasingly harder. The huge bruise covering her side was all manner of purple colors. Though now, upon closer inspection, ill-colored, greenish spot also emerged. She fell on one knee and coughed. Blood dripped out of her mouth. She winced and rubbed it away with her sleeved hand. All signs of her previous vigor had gone away with the sweat, now rolling down her neck.


"Damnit! I can't collapse here.", she cursed under her nose. "If I do that, I'll never hear the end if it from that worrywart!", she looked at Jeanne's back.


On wobbly legs and using her sword as a crutch, she stood up. She could still fight! No stinking piece of shit with oversized shorts on will get into her pants with their filthy cameras!


Rage burned in her again. It helped, if only a little bit, to dull the pain.


"I'll burn you all until you're lumps of charred fat on the ground!!", she roared. She raised her weapon and readied to charge.


She took one step forward.


"ALTER!!!", she heard someone scream.
And her world became black.


*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


Sieg knew his three minutes were almost up. The mech in front of his had shown extreme resilience even in his near-scrapheap-material state. The spear it bore could not be trifled with. Its power was enough to break through Fafnir's blood armor. His body was bloody, his clothes – torn, his pauldrons – missing. Only his sword remained untouched by the destructive force of his enemy.


The mech, despite its endurance, was on its final fumes as well. Nearly all of its extrnal extremities that weren't limbs had been torn off by Balmung. The chasis had been dented and broken in numerous places, its usability highly questionable. The helmet was gone, ripped from the main body. Right now, he was fighting a blonde, longhaired woman with jade eyes, a scowl on her face and a long bloody gash over her right eye.


Both of them were exhausted to the point of fainting, but fainting right now would mean certain death. Adrenaline had to run. Keep that heart beating, those reflexes sharp.


"Guess there's no other choice. It has to come down to this.", Siegfried's voice broke the silence between the warriors.


"Had enough already, shapeshifter?", the woman wanted to sneer so badly.


Sieg didn't answer, just held his sword up high and pulled at the hilt. The lapis eye socketed in the very center exposed itself, suddenly erupting with energy.


-- NOBLE PHANTASM IDENTIFIED --


Her yet living interface screamed as if in panic. Mysterious Heroine XX winced and forced her machine to move. She concentrated and started pouring all of her remaining magical energy to her spear. The blades slowly but surely started spiraling. Faster and faster. The golden glow returned. Rhongomyniad was once again full of power.


The clash of Noble Phantasms could commence.


Sieg poured his whole being into this blow. The sword that felled the great, evil dragon Fafnir shall sing once again the song of destruction!


"The evil dragon will be vanquished, in this moment the world reaches its twilight--", he chanted as he readied his arms.


"INTERCEPT THAT ATTACK, RHONGO-", she shouted and pointed at him with the tip of her spear.


The climax of the battle was nigh. It was "do or die" for both of them. All the world would come crashing down in mere seconds away.


"Now fall--", he would not falter and slay the enemy.


"-MYNIAD"!!






Suddenly, the mech lost all motion. Neither the arms or legs could move. The spear shut down abruptly, which caused an explosion inside its circuits. There was no energy flowing anywhere inside the mech. The connection to the core was gone.


A bead of sweat appeared on Mysterious Heroine's brow. In her wildest dreams, this she had not ever anticipated that her equipment would just break down in the most critical of times. There was no time to react. That sword would fall on her in the next second. Only a miracle would save her now.


"BAL—", the death sentence came.


"ALTER!!", a scream from a distance.


"—MUNG!!", and the sword of dragonslaying fell.


Deadly, blue light followed the slash, rending matter itself with its radiance. Dust was kicked up. The roar of the wind was nigh-deafening. Everything went white.


But the mech was still standing when it all settled down. An offset, slight as it was, born out of a moment of hesitation, had crept its way into his attack. She was still alive. Mysterious Heroine XX examined her condition. Looking around, she found, to her dismay but also a good dose of relief, that Balmung only ripped away the spear-carrying hand of her vehicle, permanently disarming it. It was nowhere to be found.


Sieg returned to his normal self soon after. Having spent so much magical energy he felt himself tired. This fight had clearly taken its toll on him. His saint graph wasn't as durable as his original body. But it seemed he had more things to do.


"That scream!", he turned towards the source of the voice just now. He lost all interest in the mech.


Mysterious Heroine XX used a manual lever to eject herself from the battlesuit. The broken chest armor was stifling, She couldn't breathe properly. The moment her feet touched the ground, she instantly dropped down with her full body.


"H-hungry. P-pain.", she whispered indignantly. She lost the fight but her body was still functioning. Her brain was flashing all sorts of red lamps in her head. After a few seconds, she found out that she could barely move. She could just lie there with nothing on other than a white-and-blue bikini and get sand everywhere.


That's how they found her....


*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


"I can still fight!", she shook off Jeanne's hands and stood up. She cursed herself for this moment of weakness. Not because she had to embarrass herself in front of her and make her worry, but because she had let this tiny wound get to her. The otaku could trap them in a circle just because of her little blackout.


She picked up her sword and winced painfully. Her breathing was ragged. She could feel her hands shivering. She looked at her hands. She couldn't grip properly. But she had to.


One of the otakus shot out of the group in an attempt to push her down to the ground. A big one at that. Jeanne couldn't react in time. She already had two of them to deal with.
He rushed at her with one big rolled-up poster of...her, in her other form. She could recognize her face in that picture. THE NERVE!


With all of the strength she could muster, she slashed at him diagonally. She missed the guy's face by a fraction of a centimeter. However, his prize wasn't so lucky. The poster flew out of his hands, ripped to shreds. He couldn't believe his eyes. The object of his love, ruined!


Meanwhile, Alter continued. With one more slash, she cut off his right hand. The severed extremity fell to the ground and bloodlessly dissipated into black smoke. That wasn't enough to stop him He managed to get a hold of her. He actually had some muscle under all that fat. He lifted her up brought her close. She could smell the stink, unwashed pits and all.


"My waifu!", he breathed out. Some spit dribbled down his face.


"D-D-DISGUSTING!", she yelled out in horror and kicked him in the gut. That made him stagger. He released her and bounced backwards. With her body free, she could attack again. She gripped the sword as tight as she could and removed his other hand from his body.


"GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!", her right foot swung back and returned with the force of a thousand suns, planting itself firmly in his crotch. The impact made an audible crack, meaning a broken pelvis. Also, a stain of blood appeared under her foot.


"SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEE----", was the guy's responce. He threw his head up high and screamed so loudly, the rest of the attackers stopped moving for a moment for a moment in confusion.


Jeanne Alter then neatly decapitated the bastard. As his body turned into a puff of darkness, she smiled, then grimaced.


"Jeanne! Alter! Where are you?", came a familiar voice from behind the crowd of perverts.


Jeanne pushed three back with her banner and stabbed on who tried to flank her with the butt of the shaft. She, then, put the shaft into the sand as if she wanted to pole vault, and she did. With outstretched legs, she kicked the otaku closest to Alter and made him topple. Now, with her back to her 'sister', they could put up a more coordinated defense.


"SIEG-KUN! WE'RE HERE, IN THE MIDDLE!", she screamed back to give him their location.


"WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG, STUPID DRAGON?!", Alter added, then coughed up blood.


*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


Sieg jumped up, gathered some lightning in his hand and sent it down, frying five attackers. His feet connected with the ground and he made another zap at the crowd. Three more fell. But that was still not enough. The otaku, luckily still not considering him to be a threat, pressed on.


"Sieg-kun! Alter is badly hurt and I'm running out of space for my weapon!", Jeanne's shout sounded very worried.


"S-Shut up! He doesn't need to know that!", Alter chimed in a second later.






There was no helping it. He had to liberate them fast. His power reserves were still considerable, but even slashing through them or blasting them apart may prove to be too risky, especially if his allies didn't see what he was doing.


These were otaku he was combating right now. Obsessive fans.


He had heard Master and da Vinci talking about this. From the bits and pieces he had overheard he could gather that some people were "overprotective of purity to the point of madness." or "over-romanticizing virginity" or somesuch.


A thought ran through his mind. A very silly thought. So silly it made him blush instantly. But if it meant giving the girls at least a second of respite, he'd do it. Even if he would have to endure a beating or scolding later. Most surely both.


He took air into his lungs.


And shouted out the most embarrassing thing in his life.


"HEY YOU LOT! THOSE ARE MY FIANCÉS YOU'RE PESTERING! NOW, AWAY WITH YOU OR FACE THE WRATH OF THE MIGHTY DRAGON, FAFNIR!!!"


A sudden stop. Dozens of faces turned towards him. All with blank stares.


He already destroyed his image. Best he could do was to keep going. Lives were at stake.


"HAH!", he posed, brandishing his sword. "SO YOU STAND DEFIANT! KNOW THEN THAT I HAVE ALREADY CLAIMED THESE MAIDENS' PURITY FOR MY OWN. WHAT SAY YOU?"


Not even hellfire would cleanse this shame.


But it wasn't all in vain. A commotion was formed.


"What in the actual FUCK?!"
"MY WAIFU IS PURE!"
"The fuck did you say, fucking twink?"
"Who the fuck is this guy?!"
"Say more shit about my waifu, I dare you!!"


Their eyes started glowing red. That was not a normal condition for humans, but Sieg didn't exactly have time to consider that. The important part was that his plan was working!


One more push. Then may the heavens fall upon this world.


"WAIFUS? SHAMEFUL! ABHORRENT! AWAY WITH YOU, FILTH! I HAVE COME FOR MY BETHROTHED AND I SHALL NOT LEAVE WITHOUT THEIR WARMTH BY MY SIDE!"


"SIEG-KUUUUUUN!!!"
"FAFNIR, WHAT THE------!!!"


"FUCK YOUUUUUU!!!!!!!!"




The embarrassed shouts of the women were quickly drowned by the enraged roars of the men surrounding them. They all, as one, rushed at Sieg. He could do only one thing right now.


"JEANNE! ALTER! JUMP UP!!"


Out of everything he had said, at least one thing was very true. Without hesitation, with no trace of the recent shame, he faced the tide of men. He kicked off the ground and disappeared in a flash of light. A tempest-like wind suddenly hit the strand, beating up sand and the unfortunate otaku which got in its way. The girls were already in the air, just like he asked. He grabbed them as delicately as his giant, scaly hands could.


"WOOAHH!!"
"EEEP!!"


His draconic wings flapped once, and he took to the skies. He gained altitude quickly. He bent his spine and turned. Soon enough he was levitating high above the beach, covering the entire battlefield with his shade.


"T-THIS WAS YOUR PLAN, YOU DUNCE? YOU FOOL? I WANTED TO DIE DOWN THERE FROM ALL THE STUPID SHIT YOU WERE SPOUTING!!", said ever the complaining Alter.


"S-SIEG-KUN. WE'LL HAVE TO TALK ABOUT THIS LATER!", added the prim and proper Jeanne.


Both had to shout to make up for the height difference and his constant wing movement stirring the surrounding air. He could hear them just fine as he had them very close to his body though.


"I'm sorry for that, and I'll be happy to hear you out, but I had to get you out of there quickly and frankly, I had no better idea in mind.", Sieg answered.


"W-WELL, AS LONG AS YOU UNDERSTAND, THAT'S FINE."


"So, what now?", Alter asked with a lot less vigor and a bit more pain.


They were safe for now, but Sieg, being a terminal, couldn't hold this form for too long. Mana was running out fast. The situation below took a great shift. The otaku, having been robbed of their "waifus", turned to another one. They could see another wave of them coming from the streets of the city. A dragon over the recreational area of this place was an uncommon sight. One worth wasting time to observe. And an unlucky circumstance for someone.


Mysterious Heroine XX was in a very bad predicament. Bruised up and immobilized by the previous battle, she was at the otakus' mercy. They made lewd pictures with her. They made her take strange poses. Some were even vile enough to start outright groping her and fondling her.


Devious, deranged louts.


She wanted to resist but couldn't. Her own regeneration was too slow.


"Get off of me!!", she groaned and tried to wiggle her way out of this dreadful situation, but being held up by two fully-able ugly creatures was just too much. With her whole body on display for them to touch and make photos of all she could do was to endure.


Sieg knew that he shouldn't but he felt bad for her anyway. He flew lower to get a better view of what was going on.


"Leave her be. The bitch deserved it.", Alter said with a fair amout of displeasure in her voice.


"Alter, don't even say that.", Jeanne replied. "I know she attacked us, but no-one deserves such humiliation."
Alter scoffed.


"Says the woman who was burned alive for the people's entertainment."


"ALTER!"


"I know we shouldn't show mercy to someone who tried to kill us in the most cowardly way.", Sieg interjected. "But leaving her in the hands of of those monsters would be just too cruel."


Alter shrugged.


"Well, whatever. Do what you want. As long as I can take her head, it's fine."


Alter didn't feel like quarreling. She wanted to rest already. To that end, she allowed Sieg to do his thing.


"Thank you, Alter.", he sounded grateful.


"Whatever...", she replied in a hushed voice.


"Hang on! It's going to get hot!"


The women took ahold of his clawed fingers and held them tightly.


"SIEG-KUN! TAKE THIS BOON WITH YOU!", Jeanne offered a small prayer to the high heavens. "I WILL CHEER FOR YOU!"


Sieg suddenly felt empowered, as if his strength grew ten fold.


"KILL THEM, DRAGON!", Alter suddenly screamed.


Sieg felt another surge of power. The command from the Dragon Witch further bolstered his strength.


With so much faith placed in him, he could not fail. He closed his eyes. His core sprung to life. Raw mana came in ripples, then in streams, then in waterfalls, concentrating in one point. His fire glands, the unique organ of the legendary fire-breathing reptiles, lit up. The air in his lungs became hot. Blue smoke erupted from his half-open jaw. The green color of the marking on his chest became more vibrant. The dragon Fafnir was about to attack.


He looked inside his mind. The magus, Sieg, held out his hand. The chant that would bring destruction was about to be unleashed.


"The pilgrimage to the beyond. I am the evil dragon that flies away holding the Grail of Heaven, disintegrate it all…"


The command seals on his hand illuminated the darkness with their brilliant light.


With a voice full of passion, he exclaimed:


"AKAPHILOGA ARGRITHR [THE INCANDESCENT DRAGON BREATH SCORCHING A THOUSAND WORLDS]!"
The dragon's jaw opened and all of the gathered force was spewed out at once. Blue hell rained down upon the world below and ate it whole.

END OF PART 4

[Keyne]

The burning hurricane scorched and seared everything in its path. All the otaku caught in its path could let one agonizing scream before melting into a heap of charred fat and flesh. Their bodies couldn't even evaporate properly. The breath of Fafnir robbed them from the swift release of death. Only now, as heaps of refuse, could they vanish.


Her body was on the ground, surrounded by sand. Her originally small features saved her from complete incineration. Just before getting hit by the blast, the two brutes dropped her. Their reaction was minimal and careless, but luckily that saved her life. Now, breathing heavily and trying not to inhale too much dust, she decided this bried moment of respite.


She thought about continuing her mission. It went through her battered head once or twice. She brushed the thoughts away. She could barely move. Additionally, the utter humiliation she had experienced killed what little motivation she could've still had.


Her battlesuit was one leg in the scrapheap as well.


She had to escape, however, for her life was still in danger. The Saberfaces were still out there and in much better condition. She was entirely sure they would want vengeance for her assault on their lives.


She saw the dragon looming over the beach. That huge creature. She followed it with her eyes as it landed on the ground with a loud thud. She saw one of the Saints jump down from his outstretched hand. The other, she surmised, couldn't move just like her. The dragon changed back to that young man in a flash of light. The last image she saw was him holding the black Saint in his hands like a bride. The white Saint was saying something to them. Mysterious Heroine XX rolled her eyes.


"Ugh... Men can be so troublesome sometimes...", she trailed off. A misty vision of auburn hair formed in her mind. The person smiled at her. She blinked twice. The person was gone.


-- EMERGENCY REPAIR PROGRAMME FINISHED --
-- AUTO-PILOT FUNCTION REACTIVATED --
-- FLIGHT MODULE REACTIVATED --
-- POWER RESTORED IN 15% --


Despite the destroyed helmet, the interface still worked. How happy she was to hear that monotone, digital voice of her machine. She knew now that she did have a means of escape. The problem was...


"NGGGHH!!!", she flopped onto her belly. The clothes she had on her barely held tight to her body due to all of that abuse.


...how to get there.


The robot was lying a few meters from her, toppled by the blast wave and catching sand. Elbow after leg, leg after elbow, her crawl to safety began.


*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


"Y-you know you can put me down, right?", Alter mumbled. "I can walk."


"For now, please rest.", Jeanne hushed her. "You are badly hurt. I can heal you but we need a safer place."


Sieg and Jeanne looked around while Alter's shoulders slumped. She had precisely no strength to resist. She hated it, but this one time she allowed herself to relent. Her head bobbed to the side and bumped against his shoulder. Sieg gazed on her face. It was like she cut herself off from the world surrounding her. Pain and exhaustion made her expression into a unique painting.


It reminded him of something. Very long ago, he had given a girl such as this a long piggy-back ride. She also had been tired, and hungry. It was when it all began.


Fond memories. They don't die so easily.


"Ruler.", he whispered.


A roar of twin engines woke him up from his musings. A single thrust kicked up lots of sand. Sieg and the young women looked up. Even Alter had to see this. With one eye she observed the hovering craft above them. A broken chunk of metal that still could move.


"I WILL BE BACK FOR YOU, SABERFACES! BE CERTAIN OF THAT!", they heard a scream from the flying husk. Sieg felt her cold eyes staring at him. "I SHALL REMEMBER YOU!"


The mech turned around and just like that, it flew away. The three of them watched as it slowly turned into a black dot on the horizon and vanished in the far-away clouds. Once the spectacle was over, they made their way to their blankets.


"We must lay her down.", said Jeanne with concern.


As they walked, he could finally assess the state they were in. As expected, swimwear was the worst choice to be fighting in, especially such a prolonged and intense battle. Everything he had on his chest and back was gone, his scar prominently visible. Only his trunks somehow managed to survive. They were now trying their hardest to remain on his slender waistline. Jeanne wasn't looking any better. She had the ribbon that had kept her hair tied. Now, her long golden locks were flying with the wind. Her blouse was gone. Her bikini was lightly damaged but nothing too threatning to its integrity. Alter lost all of her weapons, her long sleeves and her pink sock.


In one word: a mess. But they were free to recuperate. That was all that mattered.


Sieg sat Alter on the blanket the moment they got there. Then he carefully laid her down. She groaned a bit but other than that, nothing esle happened. Jeanne kneeled next to her and summoned her holy standard. With one pull at the string, the flag unfolded and covered the top of Alter's body. The fabric felt so soft to the touch, but this time it just made her wince.


"Cover your eyes, Sieg-kun.", said the Saint. "It will be quite bright."


"Don't worry.", he replied. "It will not be the first time. Please, do what you have to do."


Jeanne made a slightly consternated expression but said nothing else. Offering a prayer to the high heavens, the flag took on a golden glow. The glow became blinding soon enough.


"Luminosité Eternelle.", Jeanne said with power in her voice.


Another flash of light. The area was filled with the brilliant radience of her Noble Phantasm. Sieg couldn't take his eyes off it, even though they were glazed over with tears. He could almost hear the mad laughter of the raging flesh giant that called itself Spartacus. And the relentless power that nulled his devastating blow. Him and Astolfo marveled at the sight of the Saint that did it.


It was her, Jeanne d'Arc. He smiled warmly seeing how concentrated she looked. Another fond memory.


"Hrrn!", the body under the banner began to stir.


"You mustn't yet get up, Alter. Lie down, please.", Jeanne exclaimed, her tone commanding.


"Fine, fine!"


The Noble Phantasm ceased its function and Jeanne rolled it up again. She set it aside and began examining its effects. The horrific bruise Alter had on her side was gone and her skin looked much more healthy.


"Excuse me.", she said and leaned over the pale woman. She stretched out her fingers and delicately slid them up and down her ribcage. Seeing no reaction from Alter, she moved lower. She pushed the fingers lightly into her flesh which earned her a quick, sharp hiss.


"The wound seems to be healing well. Best to leave it alone for now.", Jeanne sat down and wiped her brow. "Let's rest."


And that's what they did. Alter lied there, sprawled on the blanket, enjoying the shade of the parasol in the afternoon, while Sieg and Jeanne took their time sitting and talking about little nothings. He began to wonder how this part of the day would have turned out if no one had wanted to ruin it for them. It had already been fun then. Then his mind turned to the big fight they had with Mysterious Heroine XX. Despite their various differences, they managed to pull off quite a nice bit of teamwork. Not only did they beat a mech, but also an army of crazed people. That alone was crazy.


"Sieg-kun, are you listening?", Jeanne interrupted his thoughts.


"Yes, I'm sorry.", he replied. "I got caught up in my thoughts."


"Heh!", came a sneer from the side. "Typical dragon. A maiden flashes a naked breast in front of him, and he's all gone."


"ALTER!", the blonde screamed. A fit of laughter, then coughing followed.


"Mou!", Jeanne puffed her cheeks slightly.


Sieg couldn't help it but to find their bickering quite refreshing and adorable. No matter how much time passed, he'd always feel at home in her presence. Alter finally managed to sit up. There was no pain left, just fatigue, which made her moves very sluggish. She grinned widely and gave Sieg and uncharacteristic for her slap on the shoulder.


"You're not that bad of a fighter for a fire-breathing lizard."


Sieg was slightly taken aback by the sudden complement. The ever-nagging and complaining Jeanne Alter seen in a more chipper mood clearly was a sight to behold. The boy sent her a smile and replied politely:


"Thank you. Seeing you fight with all of your strength so badly hurt was very impressive as well, Alter."


Honestly, if a smile could melt steel beams...


Alter seeing and hearing all that shrinked almost immediately and turned her head away to hide the ginormous blush that erupted on her face. The action left him a little confused.


"T-thank you.", an almost inaudible sound escaped her lips, but he heard it. His confusion disappeared.


He now faced Jeanne, who listened to their exchange quite intrigued.


"You too, Jeanne. If it wasn't for you and your excellent skills, we'd have a lot harder time defending ourselves. Thank you."


Jeanne suddenly touched her cheek with one hand while waving at him with the other. She could feel her face heating up.


"Oh, stop it, Sieg-kun. I just did what I had to."


But the depth of his gaze persuaded her to accept his praise. That warm yet meaningful look made her think about that whole situation. Their frolicking in the water, their fight against many foes, what they're doing now. Every hectic and strange thing that had happened up until now.


Yet.


His visage was so... content, so relaxed. He was calm. He was happy.


She closed her amethyst eyes and was about to ponder more when...


~~GROOOWL~~


A bead of sweat rolled down her cheek. To show how hungry she was in front of Sieg was most embarrassing.


"I'm sorry. It seems all this fighting has made me quite hungry.", she mumbled out.


"Then I suggest we go and eat.", Alter replied, spirited all of a sudden. "I'd chow down on a pork chop myself."


"First we need to change.", Sieg added.


"Meh, boring!"


Jeanne watched this happy chat with a sheepish grin on her face. Still nurturing that image of a content Sieg in her mind, she picked up her bag and stood up. Her sippy cup was there.


"..."


Come to think of it, she hadn't drunk anything ever since leaving the hotel those hours ago. That wasn't right for the body at all, especially with all the excessive workout she had done. She took out the dragon-patterened cup out of its container and placed the straw into her mouth. While observing how the pair of her companions were gathering their things, she took a sip.


"Hmm?"


The cup was empty.


*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


The rest of the afternoon was a scramble of events with varying amounts of stress. First, Master appeared, all flustered and sweaty from all the running she had done. She told them a story of how she had seen a big pillar of light blazing out of no-where and the sudden disappearance of practically every customer. One peek out the window and she could see a host of some hundred people hitting the beach at once. She didn't mind all that, with all the profit she had made beforehand, but it still piqued her curiosity. The prolonged absence of all the people in the hall had made her feel uneasy after a while. Then, she saw a big thing in the sky breathing hell down to the ground. That's when she had decided to run. Fast.


Poor Osakabe-hime had to stay alone again. This time, however, she could breathe more easily. Being a total shut-in, crowds had always given her big pangs of anxiety. She just couldn't get used to public life however hard she tried. Now, with the con hall practically vacant, she could throw her legs upon the table and lay more comfortably in her chair.


"Aaaaaaah..!", she groaned tiredly while fanning herself with one of her creations. "When will this nightmare end?"


Unluckily for her, there was still some time before the end of the day.


"Oh yeah, that still needs to happen...", she covered her eyes with her hooded cloak. She didn't like the sun.


Meanwhile...


"I'm telling you, Master, that I'm fine! For all that's unholy!", Jeanne Alter fully returned to her complaining mood. "I took out half myself!"


Master, the Jeannes and Sieg were sitting at a dinner table at a restaurant and filling their bellies with delicious food. Jeanne had remarked that after such a battle they should eat something nutricious and healthy, but not without taste. Alter just scoffed at her words. Ritsuka offered to pay for the food and Sieg just followed suit, seeing that he would not persuade her out of it.


And, so, there they were. Munching on everything best the house had to prepare. Alter took a full plate of meat and fried potatoes while Jeanne fancied a bowl of onion soup and a steamcooked fish with some greens for the main course. Sieg browsed through the menu but couldn't decide on what he'd have, so he took what Jeanne had taken, feeling no real appetite for red meat. Ritsuka decided to just drink some green tea.


"Say what you will. I'm still going to worry for you if something like that happens!", Master would have none of it.


"Geez! You're such a pain in the ass!", said Alter after eating a big bite of her medium-rare. Then, she washed it with half of her glass of red wine. For some reason they could buy alcohol here, and Alter made it painfully clear that she didn't want any 'kid shit', so she got what she wanted.


"What do you think of this soup, Sieg-kun?", Jeanne asked the young man next to her.


Sieg took the spoon to his lips and drank its content. The consistency of the liquid was quite thick and the taste was rich if a little sweet. He could only feel content with his choice of meal.


"It's good. The chef knows his craft well.", he answered and looked at her. She smiled warmly at him.


They both reached for their drinks. Their cups were still steaming and the aromas of the drinks inside them filled their noses. While drinking, Sieg couldn't help but to feel nostalgic. There was a time when he and Ruler went out of the Yggdmillenia castle to lure out Jack the Ripper from their hiding spot. Even though, the "date" they had was a hoax, everything that happened during it was real. He recalled their conversation. He also recalled all those things he had said that flustered her so.


"...", he sighed. He knew that he had been too honest back then, but who could stop a young, inquisitive mind. And he did mean some of the things he had said.


"Is something on your mind, Sieg-kun?", Jeanne's voice brought him back to reality. He gazed at her slightly puzzled face, and shook his head.


"I'm sorry.", he said. "I was...reminiscing."


Her eyes blinked. Sieg didn't know if she understood him. He suddenly felt like being honest again.


"I just...feel like I have to express my gratitude yet again. Thanks to you back there, we persevered.", his ruby eyes were fixed on her. "So, should this body ever be of any help to you in the future, please use it.". He was dead serious.


A blush of brilliant pink flooded her cheeks. Additionally, she felt strange. She couldn't pinpoint exactly the source of this feeling, but if she had to guess, it'd be something akin of a deja vu. Like something of this likeness had happened before.


"S-Sieg-kun!", she blurted out. "Please don't say things people around could misunderstand."


"HACK! COUGH! COUGH!"


On the other side of the table, Jeanne Alter suddenly fell into a coughing fit. After a few rounds of shooting air out of her lungs with simultaneous fist hits to her ribcage, a half-chewed piece of steak blasted onto her plate.


Once she was done spitting her lungs out, her hands landed on the table in such a comical manner one might think she'd want to pounce on him. She lifted up her face to glare at him. Her face was as red as the wine she had been drinking. She pointed a finger at him.


"Y-you! Stop it! Right now!", was the only thing she said.


"What's going on?", Ritsuka looked from face to face, confused. She got a glare from Alter as well.


"Don't ask!!", and the conversation was cut.


*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


The sun was half-way down the sky when their meal was finished. Needless to say it had been an eventful feast. Ritsuka had to pay for an extra serving of meat and wine because for some reason Jeanne Alter got all cranky from what Sieg had said.earlier. She'd just eat and grumble from time to time, not paying any heed to anyone. Additionally, Jeanne decided that she still had some room for dessert, so she ordered a parfait. The waitress who brought her the treat tripped over the unevenly laid carpet and spoiled it all over Jeanne's legs. The girl apologized maybe a hundred times before she finally heard Jeanne saying that it was alright. Then it was her turn to tell Sieg not to worry and stop wiping her legs clean about a hundred times more. Of course, that made Alter even more cranky and was about to speak her mind when Master recalled something that ultimately made them all leave.


"Special event? At the convention center?", Sieg asked while trailing along the three women.


"Yeah. There's going to be a show there. A big show!", said Ritsuka.


"Haven't you seen the posters?", Alter rolled her eyes. She lead the column at a fast pace, which made her companions wonder what the rush was. The show still had some time before the opening.


Sieg furrowed his brows. Being occupied with certain things tends to leave you blind to others.


"Can't say I did.", he replied honestly. "So, what's it going to be?"


Jeanne turned around and winked at him playfully.


"A surprise, I'm sure."


The passed the rest of the way to the huge stadium-like building in the middle of the city chatting, joking and generally trying to not lose sight of Alter. With every crossed street the crowd of people grew and grew. They could notice even people with rolled up sheets of paper in their hands and big rucksacks on their backs. Sieg took it with a bit of astonishment but the girls were unphased. These were the guys who they had smoldered just a few hours ago. Now there was a whole host of them, and they were all going their way. Luckily, none of them seemed to notice them.


"Hey, is this...", he lightly tapped Jeanne's shoulder to get her attention. "Didn't we..."


"I understand you may be bewildered by this. Don't mind it.", she calmly said back. She did have a stern expression on her face though. "For some reason they lose all the will to fight, or do anything dangerous for that matter, past a certain point in time. Also...", her voice darkened a little. "it seems they come back to life somehow."


Sieg could fully perceive the bizzare feeling of this situation. The matter-of-fact tone of Jeanne's voice told him what he was already suspecting; the girls fought with them at least once a day. Each time the otaku died, each time they returned the day after. Non-stop warfare.
"At least they're kind enough to share the contents of their pockets when they die.", Alter said, sounding giddy all of a sudden. "Those doujins aren't cheap to make."


With one swift motion she grabbed something from Master's back pocket and started unceremoniously waving it around.


"Hey! Alter!", Ritsuka shouted in pain. For her it felt more like a slap to the cheeks than picking her pocket.


What Alter found on Master was a file made out of what looked like yellow banknotes. Sieg could make out a face in the middle of the closest banknote he could see. The blond man's face was frozen in ostentatious laughter.


"So...you did save our butts back there, but you also turned our income to dust.", she finished, a little less giddy. "NEETohime-sama won't be pleased. She needs this money for... research."


"What do you mean by "research"?", Sieg asked, earnestly curious.


The three of them just shot him a blank glance and said:


"Stuff."


"H-oh.", a bead of sweat rolled down his cheek. It was best not to ask further.


When they reached the entrance, it had already been under siege by lots of enthusiastic people. The spectacle still had some time to start but the ruckus was already giving the gatekeepers a rough time. The otaku wanted to get in despite the constant reminders that the gate would open for the spectators in thirty minutes.


To avoid this crowd and potential autograph signing, the girls and Sieg took an alley leading to one of the service entrances to the convention building. With a little help of a small key they slipped inside unnoticed, and luckily so. A second later the place was swarming with fans.


"Aren't only the staff allowed to carry such keys?", the young man inquired the white Saint.


She hid the key in her bag and smiled at him.


"That is true. However, me keeping one is kind of special.", she answered cryptically.


As they went down the dim hall, the noises of the outside gradually turned into whispers. The center already looked massive from the outside, but Sieg had the pleasure and privilege to learn first-hand how labirynthian it was inside. Just to get to the upper level they had to make at least half a dozen turns and walk straight through a corridor so bland in design walking felt like forever. For some unknown reason, the architect of this temple of commerce had fancied to put every important upstair service exit in the back of the building.


"The person who built this should be shot.", Alter exclaimed, all sour.


"At least we're finally outside.", Ritsuka slouched a bit, rubbed her forehead with her hand and exhaled loudly. "Pheeeew"


Finally, they had some space to breathe. From the looks of things, they assumed that they had arrived in the administrative wing of the building. A simple dark green rug adorned the floor, the walls were light blue, the furniture for resting and writing purposes was minimalistic and all was illuminated by white neon lamps stuck to the ceiling. Typical.


Jeanne eyed a fire route map of the floor. She quickly read it and happily exclaimed that they weren't far off from the arena; just go down the hall, two more turns and a door. On their way there was a giant digital clock showing the precise hour in 10 different places all over the world. They, of course, had interest in just one.


"It's nearing half past five.", Sieg said. Immediately, Jeanne picked up the pace.


"Then we need to hurry."


The tempo of their moves increased steadily from a gentle strut to a dash. Sieg didn't know what was going on or why they had to speed up so radically, but hoped to get some info soon. The girls seemed to somehow know. They passed the door at the end of the corridor. Leaving the cool, air-conditioned location behind them, warm, summer afternoon air engulfed them whole. Rows of seat as far as the eye could see. Three rings of seats, set upon three condignations, ready to house the observers of the arena. In the middle was the playing ground. The area, as big as a football pitch, was entirely covered with hectoliters of water. An artificial island, sprawled here and there, bloomed from the still waves of this lake.


"Hooooh.", Sieg gasped. It was the first time he was here. He didn't know if it was normal for this place to be flooded so, but he could honestly say that the first impression the place made was good. And then he saw it: a huge poster of a smiling Jeanne holding a beach ball and a hoola hoop and two dolphins jumping over her.


"'Exciting Splash! Come and see the dance of love! Today only! Jeanne d'Arc and her dolphins!'", he read along the text on the ad.


"Y-yes. As you can see, I am the main attraction of today's con day.", Jeanne smiled bashfully and started fidgeting with her fingers. "I hope you'll enjoy."


"Jeanne.", Sieg was in awe. The Maiden of Orleans apparently had many talents yet undiscovered.


"Yeah, yeah.", Alter interjected bluntly. "You better hurry to your dressing room, Miss Saint. The show is about to start and you're not ready."


As she said that, they all noticed the empty rows of sitting places above them began to slowly fill up. The time of the show was upon them. Jeanne nodded to her "sister", shot a passing smile to Sieg and said goodbye to Ritsuka.


"I'm off then.", she said and disappeared.


"I'll go too. Have to check up on ohime-sama.", Ritsuka stuck out her tongue. "Gotta count all the money.", and she hopped away as well.


It took Alter a second to figure out that she had basically been abandoned.


"H-HEY! MASTER!", she screamed, throwing her arms around. "DON'T JUST LEAVE ME HERE ALL-"


She glared at Sieg, who quietly observed her outburst with a mix of confusion and worry on his face.


"-ALONE WITH HIM!", she finished, but Ritsuka was long gone.
Alter's head dropped.


*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


Not more than fifteen minutes had passed and the stadium was already full to the brim. Every seat Sieg could see was occupied by an enthusiastic fan. Either was it an otaku, a parent with their child or a marine life lover, everyone cheered. The main attraction of the evening would have the warmest reception ever at full attendance.


The sky had long turned orange and the first glimmers of the night sky appeared, scattered here and there on the darkening blue yonder. The insisde of the arena still retained its natural light, but it was almost certain that for the duration of the presentation the arena illuminators would be turned on to light up the artificial sea.


Sieg and Jeanne grabbed the best seats the could and sat their behinds on the used plastic from which they were made of. Alter felt her seat squeek under her weight. She threw out a curse or two.


"These damn things.", she complained. "Seriously, they have so much money to fix things and still they let us sit on shit."


Some mothers shot her a passing glare but said nothing. Most probably because of her delinquent appearance, and her weapon. She just sat there, legs spread apart, back slouched and that ever-present grimace on her face.


Sieg felt a tad uncomfortable with all the eyes looking their way, but taking everything into consideration, he decided silence was the best option. Nothing good would come of it if they started a fight in this crowd.


He scanned his surroundings. The hastily found two places vacant in the middle row, ground floor. That way they had enough of a clear view of the pool. Alter assured him that her pass, for whatever it was worth, was enough for a ticket if anyone asked. Luckily, the pass also covered one guest of the owner of the card if they wished to enter the inner sancum of the arena.


"Do you want some snacks? Or maybe something to drink?", he asked her. He was getting a bit thirsty himself.


"Neeh.", she waved her hand. "I'm fine. The meat still sits heavily in my stomach."


Her hand rose up to her mouth. She took in air with her nose and burped. She did it with her lips closed to not garner any more attention.


"Next time, remind me to never eat so much.", she turned to him and Sieg could fainly sense the smell of wine and meat coming his way. A simple glance in his direction made her blush with realization of what she just said. She averted her gaze, mentally bashing herself for thinking that there would be another time she'd spend time with him, perhaps alone.


"Alter?", he tilted his head in confusion.


"S-shut up.", she mumbled out a reply.
Sieg had to admit something: both Jeannes had a habit of openly showing their embarrassment when caught off-guard. Even if he didn't understand the cause of it too well, he could predict what their reaction would be. He knew Jeanne well.


In the sulking face of Jeanne Alter he could see the Jeanne he had met long ago, during their date in Trifas. It was when they chose to become the bait for Jack the Ripper and her elusive, cautious Master. He recalled their conversation. Some of it was lost to him, but he clearly remembered the most important parts. She told him that he had to look after himself more, to take his life into consideration. Between courage and recklessness is but a very thin line.


Sieg smiled at the vision of her flustered face when he complemented her for her hard work. She nearly jumped up, saying that it was her privilege to accept the kind words. Hers was a thankless job, but he appreciated her efforts. After the battle with the Assassin of Black, he and Jeanne grew ever closer. The horrors of Whitechapel still lingered in his mind.


He shook his head lightly. He would not want for that nightmare to resurface right now. He gazed at Jeanne Alter who managed to return to her grumpy self.


"W-what?", she groaned. Her white complection still carried a hint of pink.


Well, almost managed.


"It's nothing.", he answered softly which earned him a sigh from the woman.


Actually, there was something he wanted to say to her. To ask her. But...


"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! BOYS AND GIRLS!", the announcer's voice boomed through the speakers. "MAY YOU, PLEASE, DRAW YOUR ATTENTION TO THE CENTER OF THE ARENA!"


Jeanne Alter and Sieg did as they were told. One by one, the illuminators switched on and pointed with their white light at the very center of the pool. Something would happen there.


"TONIGHT, YOU SHALL BE THOROUGHLY ENTERTAINED! FOR HERE SHE IS! THE ONE! THE ONLY!..."


And the whole stadium roared:


"JEANNE-CHAAAAAN!"


Jeanne Alter hid her face in the palm of her hand. "This is embarrassing."


Sieg just smiled sheepishly.


Suddenly, a geyser-like torrent of water erupted from the middle of the arena.


"EVERYONE!", then they all heard her voice.


Jeanne leaped out of the geyser and flipped twice in mid-air. Sieg could see two hoola hoops in her hands. She opened her eyes and smiled to her audience. A screen, which Sieg and Alter didn't notice earlier, made a close-up of the Saint's face. Her gorgeous white leotard seemed almost dazzling in the stream of ever-present white light.
"UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH!!!!!! ", screamed the overwhelmingly male audience. "JEEEAAAAANEEE-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!"


In that split-second, Sieg noticed hundreds of camera flashes going of at the same time. Before she could even shift positions, she already was captured on pictures. Many of them.


"They sure are scary.", he whispered out.


Jeanne twirled as she started to lose momentum and flipped back. Her moves had to be precise. That was half of the glamour of this show. As she was about to fall into the water, a white creature emerged from the depths. A white, long-nosed white mammals with fins.


The woman delicately landed on its outstretched face. The dolphin was so well-trained it didn't even have trouble balancing.


"Iruka-sama!", she exclaimed with glee.


"EVERYONE! PLEASE ENJOY THE SHOW!", she opened her arms as if to embrace her observers and bid the people to have a good time. Of course, that earned her another thunderous roar of awe from the gathered otaku.


And so, the attraction started.


"Show-off...", Sieg could barely hear her words. She looked bored, but also somewhat curious. With one leg on the other, and leaning against the back of the seat, she waited for her older counterpart's next move.


Sieg was already half-impressed. He had seen her fight. He had seen her deadly dance with her trusted banner. Deadly, yet beautiful dance. Now, she was ready to show him something completely different. A new dance.


He couldn't wait.


After the thunderous entrance, she felt it was best to introduce her marine friends to the audience. Each time she shouted out one of their names, the white dolphins sprung high into the air, did a sommersault and landed cleanly in the blue depths of the pool.


Jeanne then decided to use her first props. The arena helper threw her a pair of balls. They were sightly smaller than footballs, and looked a bit softer in fabric as well. The helper, however, threw them quite clumsily. They missed their mark by a big margin.


"OOOOOOH!", cried the audience.


The blonde Saint just smiled. She clapped her hands and asked one of her dolphins for help. She kicked off the ground and just before she got wet in the water, astoundingly, the dolphins caught her feet on their noses and shot her up even higher.


Elevated to such heights, Jeanne felt she should give her viewers a little treat. She twirled in the air like a figure skater and caught one ball on her third turn.


"AAAAAH!!", the audience gasped.


The second ball, however, was too far and she was already losing momentum. Luckily, she had her friends. She whistled sharply and the two white mammal ansered the call. One swam quickly to support her falling self, while the othe surfed for the ball. To catch it, it had to quickly turn around and stand on its tail.


"Ayup!", Jeanne landed softly on the nose of her companion. The other dolphin caught the descending sphere quite nimbly. To show its gratitude for this gift, it bounced it twice and smacked it hard with its tail as it returned into the water.


The ball cut through the air swiftly. Jeanne stretched out her hand and brought it in. Now, with the two requisites on her bosom, the show could start for real.


Jeanne kept her obsrvers on their toes with each stunt, whether it was simple jumps, passing he balls or tricks with the freshly added hoolahoops. The dolphins were so masterfully trained, they performed tasks without even the need to mention them. All the girl had to do was to clap her hands once or twice. They just knew.


With all the 'ooohs' and 'aaaahs' about, Sieg had to admit to himself that he too had become quite enthralled to the outstanding display happening before his eyes. Once or twice he just wanted to cheer with the crowd, but something inside told him not to do it lest it would embarrass him in some way. Such social gatherings weren't his cup of tea. Normally, he'd have liked to drink some coffee and read through fat tomes pertaining about maths, or practice fencing in the Chaldean training room, or simply enjoy banter of his new friends and old enemies while silently watching. Not today, though. Today, he came to see Jeanne. He promised himself he'd behave properly.


He gazed at Jeanne Alter to see if the enthusiasm of this place got under her skin as well. She, however, had the most neutral look on her face. It was painfully clear that the atmosphere of the event couldn't penetrate her mind. Sieg didn't say anything but deep down he felt that it would be a waste if she couldn't get at least a miniscule dose of entertainment into her syster from this spectacle. With a clouded expression on his face, he resumed spectating.


Jeanne brought in a helper for her next trick. They passed the hoops to each other, from island to island, and the dolphins jumped through them. Each time they would try a different move: straight through, sommersault, piking down, barell-rolling. Each time more jaw-dropping than the last one.


Sieg could almost hear her laughing. She was having so much fun.


Then his vision fell to the ground. His own smile lost lots of its vibrance.


Fun.


The girl from his memories had always this stern expression on her face. She was always worrying. He could rarely see her smile. Jeanne had a normal life, a life any girl in her time would cherish. A happy life with her family and friends, maybe a great traditional marriage, a good husband, a child or two. She'd live her life without the need to pick up the sword, surrounded by love.


Alas.


She heard the voice of God. 'So much death' he lamented into her ear. A voice no-one could ever hear, she heard. She lent her shoulder to the grieving Lord. From that day onward, her future life of happiness forever became a distant dream, never to be reached. She picked up her sword, her banner, rallied up the proud men of France and made her name known throughout the Catholic world. Her intentions were pure. Her cause – just.
Her end – tragic and premature.


Betrayed, trialed and sentenced for witchcraft, the heroic country girl from Domremy burned at the stake. Her murder made some drown in remorse, or turn away from God altogether. Some say, the executioner who put her to the torch saw a white dove fly away as she died. Others say that one of her most loyal friends turned into a brutal serial killer of children out of grief and hate.


She died with the name of the Lord on her lips. No remorse, no regret. Just a quiet reassuring thought that her death will mean something for future generations.


A life of sacrifice out of her own choice, when it should've been a life of laughter. Sieg knew almost everything about the girl who had saved him. He admired her deeds from the bottom of his heart. But still, he couldn't help but to think that the young Jeanette, as some called her, deserved a much better life.


He suddenly felt a light thump on his shoulder. The weight of her head made him cease his depressing thoughts. His eyes turned right and saw a mop of pale blonde hair resting there. He recalled Jeanne Alter sitting there, all dispassionate and apathetic to the whole situation. But now she was here, leaning on his shoulder.


"Alter, wha...", is what he wanted to say, however...


"Shut up.", was her curt reply. "Don't speak."


All the things he wanted to say got caught up in his throat. She didn't say that menacingly or as any kind of threat, but it was a clear indication that talking about this would be frowned upon.


"Just let me stay like this for a while.", her voice grew quieter.


Sieg wanted to know the meaning of this sudden strange behaviour from this usually cold and cruel person. It wasn't unsightly or shameful, but it was bizarre. Normally, she'd throw a bunch of insults at him for no good reason. So why?


One look at her face and he knew why.


Jeanne Alter expression was one of complete sadness. Big watery beads were rolling down her ivory cheeks in an ceaseless current. She felt little. So little and frail she could break if breathed on.


What Sieg saw was a little girl, who mourned the life she did not have. A child who for the first time left her dark corner. For this short period of time, her mask was off and her true self exposed.


"You think I'm pathetic, don't you?", her voice was shaking. "A spectre made out of spite of one madman, with no past and no future."


Sieg didn't say a thing.


"Yet here I am, bawling my eyes in front of the embodiment of the greatest threat I have brought to humanity in my time.", she continued on.


Sieg still listened.


Meanwhile, Jeanne made both of her dolphins jump through hoops simultaneously, eliciting another roar of applause from the audience, and a really loud splash.


Alter's head stooped even lower.


"I'm nowhere as near as she is in your heart...but...", her eyes rose up to meet his. Yellow met red.


In his heart.


So she knew.


Sieg was trying to persuade himself not to approach this Maid of Orleans, this 'Chaldean' Jeanne d'Arc. That it'd just bring her pain and unearth memories best kept hidden. He wanted to believe that she didn't remember anything about him at all. This body, this terminal, cut away from its creator should have been void of these feelings while serving as a different entity for the sake of the Master. The original Sieg chose not to step into Chaldea because of a certain promise made by him and the girl from his memories. That's how it was supposed to be. To hide his feelings under the guise of a 'homunculus.'


But...he was a fool for thinking this.


"Is something the matter with Sieg-kun? Is he in trouble again?"


He heard this line long ago while passing by Master's room. He had been in Chaldea for two days and just learned that she had been there as well. Of course, he started to avoid her however he could. But a Servant cannot be elusive forever to a Ruler. She had seen his name in the mission roster and went to question the Master straight away. They still didn't meet eye to eye soon after this incident, but he knew one thing.


She remembered. Somehow, she did.


"...but...", she badly wanted to say something. ".............forget I said anything, ok?". She suddenly cut the conversation short.


She retracted her head and sat up straight. Sieg gave her a puzzled glance.


"Alter."


But she didn't respond. The look of sadness was gone. The tears all dried up. Only a small smile remained.


"AND NOW, JEANNE WILL PERFOR HER MOST SPECTACULAR STUNT YET!"


"UOOOOOOH!!", the crowd exploded with cheers.


Sieg slowly shifted his attention for Jeanne Alter to the center of the arena. Jeanne was waving to the audience, practically beaming with enthusiasm. The dolphins danced around her on their tales, chirping and clicking loudly. Circle after circle, they were beating up more and more water.


"She's really going to do this here?", Alter scoffed. "Hope you've got something waterproof under those clothes, dragon boy."


"Oh?", Sieg raised an eyebrow and faced the arena again.
"EVERYONE! I WOULD LIKE TO DEDICATE THIS LAST STUNT TO YOU ALL, AND TO SOMEONE VERY DEAR TO ME!", Jeanne's voice in the speakers couldn't sound more happy.


"Very dear...", Sieg mumbled under his nose.


Jeanne Alter snickered and elbowed him in the ribs.


"Ouch!"


"Well, she ain't talking about me anyway.", her voice sounded almost amused.


Sieg rubbed the aching place on his ribcage. The moment the pain subsided he began musing again. Could this Jeanne really mean him? Although this was still Jeanne, this was her from a different summoning. He had some ideas to how she could still remember him but they were just too ridiculous to consider true or even take seriously for that matter. Moreover, she had a Master now. That girl, Fujimaru Ritsuka, was close to Jeanne. He heard it from the stories of their campaign during the first Singularity. She helped a severely weakened Jeanne fight off her evil clone created by the wishes of Gilles de Rais, the madman.


Sieg involuntarily shot Alter a glance. The person from the stories was sitting next to him. Alter paid no heed to him. She was waiting for Jeanne to finish the show.


"BEHOLD!", the blond saint's shout brought him to her once more.


The dolphins had reached the speed required to make an actual whirlwind. That was something no ordinary creatures were capable of. The air inside the arena gained a watery aroma. Jeanne disappeared behind a thick veil of liquid and foam. Waves were raging against the borders of the pool, splashing about. The very front row was completely soaking. But the cheering never ceased.


Sieg found himself catching his breath. As this was his first time at a live show, hosted by her of all people, some emotions just couldn't help but surface. This was the finale, the grandest stage of any happening. He just couldn't stant the tension anymore. He just wanted to cheer with the audience at least this once. Go nuts, as some would say.


"Would you mind if I...?", he asked Alter while standing up.


"What? Get wet?", she smirked. "Be my guest."


Sieg got up and somehow squeezed himself to the stairs leading down to the front rows and the bars setting apart the guests from the tempest in the center of the arena. The closer he got, the wetter it got. And louder.


He stopped between the third and fourth rows where it was still moderately dry. From this point he could see everything, even the top rows on the top floor on the other side of the stadium.


A thunderous roar. No, a thunderous... hum. Like a creature from the very depths opened its jaws to sing a song of damnation. The acoustics of this place did the rest. The echo was so strong even the people sitting in the furthest rows in the back had to cover their ears.


The waters parted.


Sieg saw the creature. Huge, powerful, white as snow.
Its body was as big as the monster from which his original body took the likeness of. He coud sware it was as big as Fafnir. The jaws on that beast could easily take in a whole truck. The fins which were beating the air could topple trees with one blow if given the chance. And she, that little woman compared to this thing, was delicately balancing on its nose. The dolphins swam away.


"Uuuu-UUUUU-UUUUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH!!!"


The crowd lost it completely. From this pool, a bit more than a few meters deep, emerged a giant white whale. Physically, it couldn't possibly come from under water.


"LOOK! THE WATER!", someone screamed.


Only then did the audience see the big golden circle laid on the surface of the water. It was undisturbed by the rolling waves in the pool. Neatly, it resisted all movement. The people pondered aloud what kind of illusion did she use to create such a realistic image of a whale. Speculations were all around the boy.


But he knew. At least he could deduce what it was.


A summoning circle.


"Now, Moby! Up!", Jeanne gave the command. The whale answered with a prolonged, melodic sigh and shot her upwards with his a single nod of its head.


Jeanne had this all planned out. Now that she was in the air, she would perform a figure or two, perhaps a pirouette and then some sommersaults, and then dive into the whale's mouth for extra shock value. Then, the whale would drop into the water, make a big splash and disappear. During the splash, she'd graciously appear riding her two dolphins and shout "De Ocean d'Allegresse!". Everyone would love it.


Suspended in midair, with every eye fixed on her, she uttered as her body began to spin:


"Now, twirl, twirl, twirl, and...."


And...


Sieg saw it. The moment it happened, he saw someone from the opposite side run up to the bars and fire a flare from a gun upwards, straight at the airborne Jeanne. The red projectile missed her by a really small margin as she was in her last pirouette, ready to being the saults. But the following explosion managed to finally stagger her.


"Yaaah!", she cried. Completely thrown off balance, she fell down. The blast blinded and disoriented her. The heat ruined her clothes. A twenty-meter drop into the water below could easily prove fatal for a human, but it could still hurt a Servant. Especially an unprepared one.


Sieg watched everything unfold as if the world slowed down. She was helplessly falling, the audience stupefied by this sudden action, the whale slowly disappearing in particles of light...


The man on the opposite side of the arena reloading his gun.


A strange image flashed before his eyes. A young woman, her life flickering away, lying in his arms. Her hand touching his cheek. Her dry lips saying something inaudibly. Her last smile before her eyes closed forever. And the raw emotion that came after.


"JEANNE!!", his voice broke the silence. Not thinking straight for this one moment, he dashed down the stairs, supported his feet on the safety bar and kicked off. The sheer force packed into his feet broke the metal. With one powerful bound, he crossed the distance needed to catch her in time. He extended his arms and let her fall into his embrace. He felt her weight in his bones and she landed.


"Guh!", he winced.


He fell through the nearly-dissipated whale. He managed to safely reach the other side, but he couldn't stick the landing. The floor was simply too wet. In stead of landing on his feet, he landed on his butt and too a slide towards the first rows.


"GHHH!", his behind clearly felt the pain.


Somehow he twirled around on the floor and stopped. He opened his eyes to check if she was safe. Jeanne reopened her eyes as well. They saw each other.


"S-sieg-kun!", she yelped. Her form shrinked a bit in his arms. For some reason it felt to him like deja vu.


"Sorry, Jeanne. Are you ok? Are you hurt?", his voice was full of concern. His face inched closer.


Jeanne felt her cheeks heat up. She shook her head slowly and put on a reassuring smile. She had to do at least this much to try and calm him down.


"I am fine, Sieg-kun. Thank you for catching me.", she whispered out. If there was something she could express perfectly, it had to be gratitude.


But it calmed Sieg only a little. His face edged ever closer to hers. The blush on her face grew in size and intensity. He put his forehead against her forehead as if checking her temperature. His face, she surmised, was much sterner than ever in similar situations. For now she could only reciprocate the sentiment.


"Sieg-kun. I really appreciate it. I really do.", she started. "I really am fine. I am not hurt."


Sieg felt as if something opened in him. Her voice, tone close to pleading, brought back those painful memories yet again. That's why he wanted to distance himself from her. He wanted these fears to never resurface again. But right now, he knew. He was trying to run away from the past feelings which shaped him into what he was now. But he couldn't. Especially right now, when that person was right here, in his embrace.


"Never again.", he spoke out. "Never again."


"Sieg-kun?"


Ruby met amethyst. Gazing at her the same way he did back then, he declared:


"Never again will I see you hurt, Ruler!". He paused to let the words sink in. "I know you remember. And I tried not to. But never again!"


His gaze rose in intensity so much that it could burn holes in flesh with ease. Jeanne, however, didn't flinch or break contact. As always, she met him head-on. Hearing him say such familiar things woke something in her as well. Something kept hidden very deep inside her heart.


"Sieg-kun."


"Jeanne...", his voice was almost sad.


"I promised."


He nearly jumped back. The shock was too strong. She remembered, that was a fact, but such a confirmation. Right into his face. Too much. He nearly felt like his eyes could spill at any moment. How he longed for this. How much she dreamed of this? He couldn't tell. This sliver of hope to give him even more strength to wait for her coming. She gave him this gift. This present from God. Her content, happy expression as she uttered those words was all he needed to calm the burning in his soul. Well, almost.


"Jeanne.", he suddenly felt a strange pull. Something very carnal. He needed to show her how he felt. Words wouldn't be enough. But what could he do? He set his gaze on her lips. That soft, pink flesh around her mouth. He remembered seeing this a few times very long ago, during one of his trips around Trifas. He decided to try it. His hand slowly cupped Jeanne's cheeks.


"Sieg-kun.", felt his warmth on her skin. She could sense passion behing those red eyes. Nervousness overtook her. She knew where this was going as she was used to seeing such human interaction, but it still made her anxious. She remembered her time with him, with Laeticia, Astolfo, and the others. Could she allow hersef to be swept away by him just this once.


This once?


"DISGUSTING!!!", came the voice that snapped them back to reality.

END OF PART 5

[Keyne]

What approached them was a big chunk of flesh on legs, with a round, red face, a messy haircut and an even messier beard. This unkept visage was further enhanced by his choice of garments: loose slacks reaching his pudgy ankles, used trainers with untied shoelaces, a T-shirt with Jeanne's face on it which barely contained his enormous gut inside it. All in all, a travesty. He looked like he just broke out of his mother's basement. The look of tragedy couldn't be complete without something he held hidden behind his big elbow. It looked like a tall, but narrow...pillow. Upon closer inspection, it had a similar print on it, like the one on his shirt. Only, the girl on the print was naked.


The most dangerous thing, however, was what he was reloading in his other hand. The gun clicked and another flare was ready to be shot.


"THIS SHALL NOT STAND!"


The whole stadium got awfully quiet. The madman rambled on.


"WHAT IS THIS FILTH DOING WITH MY JEANNE-CHAN?", to say his voice sounded hysterical would be an understatement. This man was spewing spit left and right while brandishing that deadly toy of his. "I LOVED YOU ALL THIS TIME, JEANNE-CHAN! YOU HAVE TAKEN MY HEART!"


Jeanne was clearly shocked. She had an inkling of a idea about the situation but this man's chaotic behaviour had thrown everything into disarray. She couldn't collect her thoughts.
"Excu-...", she started, but the man would just not be silenced.


"WHY, THEN, WHY ARE YOU IN SUCH A POSITION WITH THAT FILTH? THAT...THAT MAN!", his gun pointed directly at Sieg. He didn't budge. "I-I HAVE YOUR EVERY POSSIBLE COLLECTIBLE! I KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU! YOUR PICTURES ARE ALL OVER MY WALLS, JEANNE-CHAN!", he was literally sweating bullets.


The man was getting more and more absurd.


Jeanne was getting more and more disturbed.


Sieg remained silent.


The public just watched.


"YOU SEE HOW MUCH I LOVE YOU, JEANNE-CHAN! MY FEELINGS ARE PURE!", he took a step forward. "But seeing you in the arms of another man? That's a big no-no, Jeanne-chan."


The sudden calmness in his voice was even more chilling than his feral display from eariler. The light of the spotlights reflected in his fanatical eyes. They shot from Sieg to Jeanne in rapid motions.


"We will have to do something about it then.". His steps made loud thuds as his ankle meat jiggled. "Then Jeanne-chan will finally see that I'm the best man for her."


The muzzle of his gun touched Sieg's forehead. The bearded man leaned in to spite Sieg even more. His face clearly indicated that he had been off his rockers for some time now. Such a crazy expression could not belong to a sane man. Moreover, his breath stank. Sieg could smell traces of nicotine and some sort of alcohol coming from his mouth. He winced at the odor.


"HEEEH? SOME PROBLEM, PUNK?", the guy spat in his face. "YOU'RE NOT WORTHY OF JEANNE-CHAN, YOU SCRAWNY, STUCK-UP LITTLE CUNT. LOOK AT YOU! YOU LOOK MORE LIKE A BUTTPLUG WHORE FROM ONE OF THEM GAY BARS OR WHATEVER.", he laughed. "Look, Jeanne-chan. This is how you should treat those unworthy of your perfection."


He glanced at her, looking almost like an angel. The contrast was mind-boggling. She had a great urge to summon her standard and bash this man, but she remembered that he was human. She'd kill him easily. Granted, he was disgusting and deranged in how he conducted himself, but outright slaying him would lay on her concience.


Sieg still didn't move. His ruby eyes were focused on the man's face. Insult after insult, after insult. These wouldn't phase him now. He is well over verbal threats or even threats of violence. He had been in enough of these situations to deal with them accordingly.


He took a breath. This alarmed the attacker. He pressed the gun even more to his body.


"THE FUCK WAS THAT, LITTLE SHIT?", he poked him "YOU DARE INTERRUPT ME WHEN I'M TALKING WITH MY LOVE? TIME TO TEACH YOUR PUNKASS A LESSON!", the hammer was put down. "Don't worry, love, he will not bother us any..."


"You shot at her.", Sieg finally spoke.




The man suddenly shut his mouth. He at last caught a glance of Sieg's expression. The 'little shit' as he called him a little while ago had murder in his eye. This wasn't a child's pathetic look of frustration, but a clear intent to rip him apart. Moreover, he seemed not to take the gun set point-blank to his head into any consideration at all. All this time, he wasn't afraid.


"S-So what if I did, ya bitch? I clearly remember her words about a "special someone"!", the fatso's attitude broke upon confrontation. "I-I KNEW IT HAD TO BE ME! WHO ELSE? BUT... "


Jeanne peered at him coldly. A chill rattled his rotund self. The man snapped. Once again with that crazy grin he said:


"BUT SHE NEVER EVER LOOKED IN MY DIRECTION! SHE HAD ALWAYS LOOKED ELSEWHERE, TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ARENA!! I WASN'T HER SPECIAL ONE! BUT I SHOULD HAVE BEEN! ME! AND NO-ONE ELSE!!", foam was gathering in the corners of his lips. He giggled "SO I SHOT HER, TO PUNISH HER!", his eyes turned to Jeanne again. "JEANNE-CHAN WAS NAUGHTY, LOOKING AT OTHER MEN. But don't worry, Jeanne-chan.", he calmed down. "When I'm done here, you will never see another man again. You will only see me.", He beamed a smile.


Back to Sieg. Crazy again.


"YOU HAVE MADE JEANNE-CHAN ACT LIKE A WHORE!", he shrieked. "A SLUT! JEANNE-CHAN IS PURE! AND YOU WILL PAY!"


His finger touched the trigger.


But it never pressed it.


With one swift motion Sieg grabbed the pistol and pulled it out from the man's hand with enough force to throw him off-balance. Green circuits on his hand flared up as he said:


"Strasse/Gehen!"


The flare gun exploded into pieces which scattered all around. Even the shell itself didn't survive.


"Wha...", was the only thing that escaped his mouth as he registered his weapon loss.


But this state wasn't destined to last long.


Sieg was already by him. His right arm, shot forward, made impact with the otaku's giant belly. The force of the punch rent his fat and flesh as the fist dug deeper. But it didn't stop there. Blood sprung from the ruptures in his internal rogans. Sieg drew out his arm.


"GUAGH!", the otaku barfed out. Juiced gushed out from his newly created orfice.


Soon after the first hit, another followed. Sieg charged up his left hand with lightning. It drew a lovely arc in the air and connected with the man's jaw. The charge came through his body, electrocuting it. His jaw flew off its socket, successfully dislocated. The spasms rocked him for a few more seconds. Just enough time to receive another blow.


Sieg pushed him away, then quickly dashed at him. He hopped up lightly and slammed his foot against him. The otaku flew backwards with amazing velocity. A fat cannonball, one would say. He zoomed past the paralyzed audience and smashed against the first rows of chairs in the far end of the walkway. Luckily, they were the only unoccupied rows. For some reason, no VIPs had arrived to see such an esteemed show.


The dust settled and everything went back to normal. At least in theory. The audience, having regained their senses after the flare incident, ran away in a fit of horrible panic. "Terrorists! Terrorists!" they screamed. Seats were demolished, furniture inside corridors toppled and destroyed, personel thrown into a chaotic mess.


The show was over.


*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


Jeanne Alter just couldn't help herself. She daintly sat down near the total wreckege that was the body of the vile otaku, wielder of the flare gun, and poke after poke, she punctured holes in his body with her sword. Apparently, even the broken weapons of a saint graph would return given some time for the graph to readjust itself. Their mystery wasn't too complicated as well, so that made the task even easier.


"Sturdy bastard, aren't you?", she sounded almost bored if not only slightly amused. "Could you disappear already?"


Fumes of black smoke emerged from each hole she had made and the wounds inflicted way earlier, but, surprisingly this otaku didn't die yet. If he did, he'd be just an evaporating black cloud.


"I commend your bravery. I'd have done it differently though.", she clicked her tongue in annoyance. "That woman deserves a lump or two on the head. But..."


She stabbed him again. This time deeper.


"The fuck were you thinking? I just can't grasp you lot."


She ripped out the blade out of the man's stomach. More smoke erupted.


"The hell are you after? Our bodies? Our souls?", she grimaced. "Well, I'm fucking sorry but...


The man rose to his legs in a split-second. Seemingly, his wounds had no effect on him. Like a zombie, he turned to her. There was no drop of blood left within him, just lust coursing through his veins. Alter gazed at him apathetically. Her pose did not change.


"Jeanne! Jeanne!...", he muttered, louder and louder. "Jeanne!"


Then he jumped at her with arms outstretched. And he died.


Alter took the moment to ready herself, grasp the black and slash upwards, rending the man in half. A clean cut, from the groin to the top of his head. Sliced in two like a piece of freshly baked pizza. As the body vanished, Alter groaned. She actually had to stand up. She spat to the side and exclaimed:


"...I am not your goddamn waifu."
She dropped her katana upon her shoulder and sighed. This sudden attack left her feeling a bit cranky but the problem had been dealt with swiftly so she could let it go. She sighed and sheathed her sword.


"Now then..."


She heard fast-paced footsteps behind her. Her head turned in the direction of the sound. She didn't think it was another attack. The stadium was virtually empty and law enforcement supposedly didn't exist here.


Her musings drifted away when she saw that mop of auburn hair tied in that ugly sidetail. Concern was painted on her face. Alter could only assume that she had more or less some knowledge of what had transpired here.


"Alter! Alter!"


Jeanne Alter smiled. What could this lovable doofus want?


"You're making a ruckus, Master! What is it??"


Ritsuka stopped right in front of her and immediately bent over. With her arms supported on her knees, she took one long breath after another. Alter just could not hide her smirk. As soon as she was ready, Ritsuka stood up straight. Her brown eyes met with the pale yellow ones of Alter.


"Is everything alright with you guys?", she asked promptly.


Jeanne Alter waved her hands around in a mock pantomime of the horrible battle that had taken place here.


"Apart from the riot on the streets, one flare shot, some lightning and one-fifth of this side of the stadium in shreds...‘twas a fairly normal display.", she stopped by showing her the giant hole behind her.


"Alter, I'm being serious!", Ritsuka would have none of her mockery.


"Me too.", Alter's giddiness dampened a bit. "There hasn't been a day ever since we arrived here without an incident involving perverts."


The Master couldn't deny it. Whether it was on the streets, the beach, or even the far reaches of the island, these guys would appear. Even the giant chicken encounters were way better for their nerves.


"By the way.", Alter noticed something. "What's that?"


*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


"If my outburst offended you in any way, I sincerely apologize."


Sieg sat down on the floor next to Jeanne. He didn't feel all that good for giving into his raw emotions, but he couldn't help it. Just like that time on the Flying Gardens. He felt that he had to pulverize Amakusa Shirou Tokisada or else he couldn't calm down. The difference this time was that she had been watching.


"Sieg-kun...", her voice sounded stern.


He recalled one of the many lectures he had received from her.


"It is true that I'd have prefered this matter to be handled differently. And it is true that seeing you like this for the first time is a big surprise for me..."


He listened. With his eyes fixed upon her face, he observed and listened. Her furrowed brows and overprotective attitude, the sound of the words leaving her lips. They all were precious memories, now resurfaced. He couldn't be bothered with trying to keep them hidden now. He rejoiced in them.


"I'm fine now, Jeanne.", he whispered. She sighed.


"Never trust a boy when he says he's fine.", her features turned softer.


His lips curled up in a small smile. She said that same line after the fall of Avicebron's golem. He had used his second command spell then. Once the power subsided, pain overtook his body. She helped him recover if only a little.


"...but you saved me, and for that I am grateful.", she smiled as well. "However, we will need to talk about that outburst some time later. It wouldn't be too good if you lost control over your temper like that again over such a trivial matter."


"I can't be a trivial matter, Jeanne.", he started softly. "The well-being of those I care about."


"Sieg-kun...", she felt her cheeks warm up.


"Yes?", his ruby eyes peered at her.


"N-nothing!", she waved her hands. "Don't mind me.", she cleared her throat.


This reaction puzzled him a bit, but he didn't linger on the thought for too long. The next moments went on in silence. Both of them just sat there, looking at each other. Sieg took this this opportunity to rediscover the grace of her visage. He noticed things he previously didn't have the time to. Things like how neatly her lashes curved up at their ends. Or how the her eyes looked almost like jewels in the moon, which showered the arena with its gentle light. Or how how rosy her cheeks looked when she was embarrassed.


Or how soft her lips looked.


"S-Sieg-kun.", she suddenly said out loud.


"Yes?", he asked.


"Are you blushing?"


"Eh?", he brought his hands to his cheeks. He felt warmth under his fingertips. Never before has this happened to him. This feeling...


"OY LOVERS!", a loud shout from a few meters away.


...had to wait.








Jeanne Alter was standing beside them. Sieg and Jeanne turned towards her, shock painted on their faces. As stupid as they looked and how much she wanted to mock them, all Alter could do was snicker and cut to the chase.


"Master has some fireworks. Wanna go shoot some?"


Ritsuka appeared from behind her, all smiles and handwaves. Alter had her bag in her left palm.


"Huh?" was their intelligent reply.


*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


As the sky grew darker, from dark blue to a deep ultramarine, shiny sparkles began to appear. Another day on this tropical island of wonder came to its peaceful conclusion. Cars zoomed back and forth along the main street. The sidewalks and pathways were full of tourists and locals minding their own business either in bars or on calm moonlit walks. Only the beach was left relatively unoccupied. Whether it was because of the events that had happened just a few hours ago or something else entirely, no-one could tell.


The sea waves lazily licked the shoreline as the wind was warm and nearly motionless. There wasn't a human within visible distance. The beach was ripe for the taking.


Perfect conditions.


That's why they came here.


"Alter, come here and help me with this!", Ritsuka dropped her belongings and began rummaging through them in search of something.


"Hold your horses, Master!", came a bored voice from behind her. Jeanne Alter, back in her trademark Shinjuku zipped-up dress, sat down crosslegged on the sand and took the bag from her Master. "Just whatcha looking for?"


Ritsuka blushed slightly at the sight. Without a care in the world, Alter just blew her legs open and showed the world what kind of underwear she got for herself. Plain, old Jeanne Alter, bashful at times, but mostly didn't give a single damn.


"Uhm, Alter. C-could you close your legs. Someone might see...", she spoke out sheepishly.


"Huh?", Alter raised her head at her. "You're already looking, dumbass.", she stated this as a matter of fact.


"Yes, but..", her head turned around towards the approaching pair.


Jeanne was wearing somewhat of a nostalgic outfit: an open-back white top, dark purple shorts and thigh-high socks. In her hands there was a big plastic bag of what looked like things hastily bought in a shop. Bottles of drinkable liquids of various kinds for various tastes and packed, ready-to-eat sandwiches. Something sweet, too. She was currently talking with a young man with silverish brown hair and ruby eyes.


Sieg, back in his trademark attire, was carrying a bucket of water for the burnt fireworks in one hand, the other held a small bag of plastic plates and cups and a blanket under his armpit. Engrossed in conversation with the blond girl, his spirit was at temporary peace. The events of the grand finale of the marine show still weighed on his shoulders.


Jeanne Alter groaned and supported her leaning head on her right arm.


"Something in this image causes light to refract inside my stomach. I may actually barf out a rainbow.", she said so dispassionately, although her brows did twitch a bit.


"Alter...!", Ritsuka chastized her. Jeanne Alter was not who'd you call a polite person, but this was simply rudeness spat in someone's face.


Truth be told, the way the lights of the city illuminated the beach and how the soft sea breeze picked up the sand which shone like little glitters in said light really did make the atmosphere seem almost picturesque. The blues and greens and whites and yellows melted together with the ultramarine of the starry sky created a peculiar pocket world for only the chosen, or rather the present, to enjoy.


That's how he felt.


Minutes went by. Having suddenly remembered something Ritsuka grabbed Alter's hand and dragged her back to the hotel, leaving him and Jeanne to tend to the equipment they had brought. The string of curses could be heard even from afar.


After setting everything on its place, Sieg found himself being mesmerized by this nightly spectacle. His head held up high, drinking in the serenity of the open sky, he let his thoughts wander. Each little light in the sky had its own story to tell, each was a different plane of existence.


It was a sight to behold. The beauty of it.


He recalled looking at the same dazzling sky when he still was a part of his original body. Billions upon billions of tiny sparkles spread across a canvas of deep lavender. For a long time that had been his only pleasure during his ordeal. He used to think what would happen if two stars crossed each other's paths. He also used to romanticize the notion of something easily described as a stellar calamity. Funny what passing thoughts could enter the mind of the solitary.


The awaiting.


The lonely.


The image reflected in his eyes as if in mirrors. He was as if in a trance; his body was present and responding but his mind soared above. He looked down at the sea in front of him, but he couldn't see it. There was no sea before him, only a vast field of blue flowers. He heard sounds that were not the gentle beating of the waves against the shore. He heard delicate rustling, merely audible. Those were footsteps.


He felt this situation to be vaguely familiar. Where did he see it?


He unconsciously turned around, away from the flowers. A person in white stood there. Her long golden locks waved in the wind. Her amethyst eyes glimmered with yet unspilled tears. Her hand outstretched, reaching for him. He stood there, petrified, unsure what to do. He remembered this scene. He wanted to remember it. Even though he promised himself many, many things, he wanted to remember this. His beating heart was testament of this.


Her smiling lips parted slowly. She took in some air and with a voice clear as the sunlight on a clear summer sky...


"Wake up, please."


He woke up.


The flowers were gone. The lavender sky vanished. All replaced with the hustle and bustle of the city life in the evening and its artificial illumination. He shook his head to clear away all confusion, suddenly bewildered how he let himself go. The whole scene changed drastically once he snapped out of his daydream, but one think surprisingly stayed intact.


In front of him there was Jeanne, her hand holding his. Sieg felt a pang of guilt and shame for making a fool out of himself so in her presence and making her worry. She was close enough to see her concerned face in the darkness of their shadows.


"Have you woken up? Is everything alright?", she continued.


"Yes. I'm fine now.", he mumbled out.


For some reason his psyche still envisioned this young woman as the person in white from his vision. It just wouldn't go away peacefully. The welcoming hand, the tears, the smile, it all felt too real.


Then he remembered from whence it all came.


The dream. The strange mental connection he had felt during last night. This whole incident hit way too close to home. It was as if he had experienced a really vivid deja-vu. It was too true, and yet was it really? He really couldn't tell. All that he could tell was...


This hand. Her hand. It was so pleasantly warm and comforting.


"Sieg-kun?", her voice rang in his head.


All of this. Every event of this day, from morning until now, piled inside his head. The bothersome vision of the lady in white, the cherry on top, tipped the scales. His body took control over his mind. Not caring about his surroundings, he acted on instinct.


"Hyah!", he heard a small yelp as he pulled her into his arms.


Consequences be damned, the only thing he could consider now was his desire to do this. The pent up feeling was about to burst. Racing with his mind, he allowed himself this one breach of oath. Just this once. He knew that even once would be too much, but....


"Sieg-kun...wha..", he felt the warmth of her voice on his neck.


His arms encircled her feminine frame and held her tightly. With one hand he gently held the back of her head while the other pressed her torso against him. He could feel her softness through the fabric of her clothes. She didn't resist. It was safe to say she had no idea what was going on. Sieg didn't know either to be honest. It was all happening way too fast but he didn't care.


"What's going on, Sieg-kun?", she said to him. Her tone was weak, unsure. Yet...


"I tried to lie to myself, Ruler. A lot has happened today. A lot of memories hidden deep resurfaced. I thought them painful, but...", he continued with a calmness he definitely shouldn't be feeling right now. "You remember it all, don't you?"


Her body quivered under his touch. For the first time after he took her, her body moved. Her head dug deep into his nape, her arms biting into his shoulderblades. She held onto him tightly, as if their bodies were glued together.


"I promised, didn't I?", her voice was trembling. "That I would come find you."


That was all he needed to know.


He pulled away from her body, but only just a little bit. He made some space. His other arm let her go. It ventured from her back up to her white cheek. The eyes he saw were happy, about to spill water. The amethyst of her eyes were threatening to lure him in. He could barely resist.


With what he had left of his sanity, he commanded his body to move the hand cupping her cheek under her chin. Still looking deeply into her he raised her head to meet his. Wordlessly, her lips parted ever so slightly.


He saw it. Expectation. Her shaking body demanded release.


And he would oblige it.


His own lips parted as his head descended. Ever closer to its destination, it tilted to the side to avoid collision. Their eyes closed as the deed was about to be done. They could feel each other's breath on their skin. Flushed and excited, they whispered one last word each...


"Sieg-kun."


"Ruler."

Before locking lips in a kiss. Both inexperienced, their lips were just touching each other. It wasn't anything deep or passionate, but to them, right now, it was the most precious moment. The soft sensation on her mouth sent little shivers down her spine as his gentle kisses rained on her lips. He didn't stop on just one, but urged by unexplainable feelings inside his heart, he felt compelled to continue. What was juvenile curiosity became mature passion. He pressed her body against him in an tight embrace as he kissed her fully, deeply. Even greedily. She felt their joined mouths moisten with each touch. This wasn't unbearable, but she did feel a bit lightheaded.


With one last deep kiss, he entered her mouth with his tongue. She moaned ever so slightly into his, but the voice was gone as quickly as it appeared. Sieg's tongue found hers and encircled it. The two swirled around together, nothing fancy, nothing obscene. Just two tongues rolling around each other. But each move sent fire into their minds.


Sieg finally broke the kiss. He slid out, tongue stuck out. He thought it was over, but it seemed they were still connected. Jeanne's lips were open, her tongue out as well. She looked embarrassed, but not scornful. Sieg could see a hint of excitement in her eyes.


The bridge of saliva that was still connecting them finally broke. The pair stood there, gazing at each other, feeling each other's warmth, basking in each other's presence.


In that very moment came a big explosion in the sky. A ball of fire ascended into the dark of the night and noisily bursted into smaller, bluish embers, which in turn bursted into smaller green embers. Another fireball followed, and another. At first they didn't comprehend it, the recent situation still very fresh in their heads. As the fireworks adorned the skies with their colors and illumination, so came their wonder for the pretty lightshow.


They stood there. Side by side. Hands linked. They watched it all go down in amazement. As if...


This moment was just for them. Orchestrated for them and presented for them.


They gazed at each other one more time to confirm everything that had happened. Sieg smiled gently at the woman beside him. If there could be a moment in his life which he could call genuine happiness, it was definitely this moment. The glimmer in her amethyst eye and the gracious curve of her joyful lips.


Together. At last.

END OF PART 6

[Keyne]

EPILOGUE

When he woke up the sun was already up. He groaned and sat up in his bed. He checked the clock and found out that he had really slept in today. The time on the clock clearly showed 10 am. It was way past the start of his shift at the cafe. Sieg scratched his head in amazement. Not even a week had passed and he was already so late. He thought how he'd explain this to the manager, considering he did get a day off already yesterday.


He got out of bed and stretched. A few of his joints gave a small crack. Not only did he sleep like a log, but also in a bad position. Then he noticed that he had nothing on himself. Normally, he'd at least have something covering his loins. He found them tossed on a chair next to the window of his apartment. Fumbling with them a bit, he finally put them on. Then he noticed something else. There were noises coming from the kitchen. Steps could be heard from here and there accompanied with the sound of opening and closing his fridge's door and water heating up in the electric kettle.


"Hmm?"


He was still a bit asleep it seemed for he still couldn't grasp the situation very well. As he reached for his shirt, he learned that it was missing from the chair. He thought it strange.


Suddenly, a golden head peeked from behind the counter. As soon as he heard her soft voice it all became clear.


"G-good morning, Sieg-kun."


She exited the small room carrying a tray with drinks and foodstuffs prepared for a quick meal. Sieg noticed that she had his shirt on him. She kept the two top buttons unfastened just in case. He also noticed that her hair was undone and she had nothing but her panties to cover anything below the waistline.


She set the tray on the bed and handed him a sandwich.


"Here you are. I found very little in the fridge, so these will have to do.", she smiled apologetically.




She didn't have to. Sieg knew how little he ate. However, he couldn't help but smile. Sharing a meal with someone was something special.


Coffee, sandwiches, dried tomatoes, black olives. Their breakfast wasn't much, but it was very tasty. They ate in silence. A very meaningful silence. They passed glances at each other, but did not utter a single word. Whenever Jeanne's eyes would meet his, her cheeks would flush. She would try to hide it with her food or her mug, but Sieg's eyes were too keen. As bits and pieces of the last night steadily came back to him, he could not help but see that one piece of the puzzle was missing. He could've sworn...


"Uhm, Ruler. What happened to the bedsheet?"


Jeanne didn't answer immediately. She first had to take a big swig from her coffee cup. She put it down and cleared her throat. He seemed puzzled in her eyes.


"Last night...it got a little dirty, so I put it in the laundry basket.", she pointed at the white, plastic container near the exit door. The white cloth certainly was there. It wasn't entirely white anymore. Sieg could see a crimson stain glaring at him. The sheet itself looked like it had been folded in a hurry. When he looked back at Jeanne, she was melting. Her face was so red.


He finally put all the pieces together.


"Last night, we..."


Yes.


After the firework show they returned to the hotel. They didn't meet again with Jeanne Alter and Ritsuka that night. Once on their floor, they heard strange sounds coming from Ritsuka's room. Upon closer inspection, they heard that the whole doujin circle was in maximum overdrive. They heard Alter dropping f-bombs at her Master for forgetting about the deadline for tomorrow and somesuch, followed by millions of pardons from the person in question. Unanimously, they agreed to take refuge in Sieg's humble abode. Once inside and two showers later...


"Uhuh.", Jeanne gave him a slight nod.


All the feelings from the time on the beach came back with a vengeance. They embraced each other and let their passions run wild. Sieg couldn't remember how much time they had spend rocking the bed, but he did remember the touch of her golden locks, the curve of her back, the softness of her skin....


The feeling of being inside her.


Sieg hid his face in his hand and blushed. His blush wasn't as radiant as Jeanne's but he still felt embarrassed. For him to act this wildly was pretty unbecoming. But it wasn't bad either.


"Well, at least this time we managed to stay on the bed.", Jeanne tried to joke. Her smile was a bit crooked but very honest.


Sieg let go of his face and returned the gesture, although very, very sheepishly. Bashful as they were right now, they couldn't deny their high spirits. They almost wanted to laugh.


Suddenly...
The door flung open. A very angry Jeanne Alter stomped inside. Her clothes were dishelved and hanging from her in places, she had bags under her eyes so big they could probably hold a whale inside their folds, her right hand was covered in blisters. She was pissed.


Sieg and Jeanne, shocked and awed, did not budge from their places. They stared blankly at the newcomer, anticipating anything and everything.


"I have been looking EVERYWHERE for you, you IDIOT OF A SISTER!", she raged. "WE HAD A DEADLINE AND NOT ENOUGH HANDS TO WORK!"


Jeanne tried to placate the situation by being apologetic and waving her hands in a calming manner.
Sieg could've sworn he saw Master's shadowy silhouette behind her, barely clinging to life. Could've been his imagination, too.


Jalter continued.


"I HAD TO RUN ALL OVER THIS GODFORSAKEN ISLAND JUST TO FIND YOU AND YOU'RE HERE JUST...", she paused. "Just what were you doing here?"


Her eyes started darting in every direction. From Sieg, to Jeanne, to the kitchen, to the bathroom, to Sieg, to Jeanne again, to the tray, everywhere. Connecting the dots.


Lastly, she looked at the laundry basket.


Then at Sieg. Now he looked kind of nervous.


Then at Jeanne. Now she looked kind of nervous.


"Alter, please no.", came a weak whisper from behind her.


And then, the whole hotel and surrounding neighbourhood heard how displeased she was.


*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*


"Ahahahahaha, seems like he's having fun"


Said a person with long pink hair, on top of his flying beast. As soon as he laughed, his mount kicked off the surface of the hotel's rooftop. It screeched loudly and set to fly towards the sun.


The pink-haired person brushed his bangs out of his eyes and showed the world his toothy grin. His cape fluttered in the wind as the beast beat its wings to keep them afloat the aerial currents.


With one swish, he threw away a piece of decorative paper draped in an envelope.


Yes, it was this person. The perpatrator of this adventure. The one who invited this boy to this island. The inventor of this genius plan.


Yes, it was him.


"C'mon, Hippogryph! Let's see what lies beyond the horizon! Ahahahaha!"


And he vanished, leaving only his joyous laughter behind.
As for Sieg, this marked a whole new beginning for his vacation on the Island of Paradise.






*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-* THE END *-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*