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FICTION
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Chapter 24: War Plans, Absolute Divinity and a Worm
With some of the main issues finally solved, it was about time to get some plans going at the eventuality of dealing with the full-force of an assault from the Ainsworths.
From newer estimation, I was aware that it would still take around two more weeks to get the portal to properly stabilized, but I wasn't going to bide my time for that long as I had so much to do.
I needed to get much stuff moving, to get some people secured in better places and to finally make some defensive preparations for what was going to happen the very moment the head of the family decided to finally step inside this dimension.
Knowing the furious state I had left Darius Ainsworth, with Ruby having done quite the foul move and by having taken Pandora out of his close watch, I was well aware that I had to play my cards correctly if I wanted to avoid a full conflict by the castle.
Despite the man having received quite the details over this Fuyuki Town from Sakura, I knew that he didn't have the same perspective of strategies as I had.
The 'optimal decision' within his mind would've been to keep the most treasured bit of his plan in the safest place within the city, which was the Einzbern Castle in this dimension.
The thing is, while that would've been the most viable option, I also knew that even a less safe location would've done miracle work with this circumstance.
And letting Pandora stay at the castle would've been just a moron decision considering the closeness of the rift to the forest where the fortress was.
If they wanted, they could've gained a complete victory by merely attacking the castle. They had Beatrice and Angelica, both girls being equipped with some of the strongest Cards available in their arsenals.
I knew how to counter the blonde thanks to Miyu's brother and Canon Kuro, but I was dreading a match against the always-grinning girl that cared a lot for Julian.
The redhead had a single Berserker Card, yet the nature of the Servant itself allowed for the presence of two Heroic Spirits to boost her body and abilities.
Magni, son of Thor, is already a tough bastard with its divine stats, but the fact that it had also access to his father's Divine Core made it possible for Beatrice to also make use of Mjolnir.
And that was just the offensive capacity of such a boost.
The real problem was the resilience to attacks, all because of her little '1-Up' life allowed by Thor's Core.
She had used it back in Canon to survive a full blast from Fragarach, at the expense of being forced to no longer being able to use Thor's hammer after that very situation.
Which forced her to enable Mad Enchantment.
I knew that both Arthur and Artoria could've killed her without much of an effort, but the troublesome part of that idea was… that I didn't plan to kill her.
While Beatrice had given plenty of reason to warrant some punishment, her actions in these crimes weren't hers.
Reborn as a Doll to Darius after dying in front of Julian because of some rubble falling right onto her during an Earthquake, the redhead had barely resembled what she once was.
She was given new life, but also a newer purpose. Gone was the shy little girl that just wanted to love a caring young man, and here a sadistic tragic figure replaced her.
A puppet, another nail to the coffin of the mostly-gone Julian.
Darius had made an effort to secure the boy under his command, to twist his mind to his whim by shattering whatever resilience was within his mind.
It's kind of ironic to think that, without Darius, Julian would've seriously taken the role of the 'Shirou Emiya' of his dimension.
Miyu's brother was someone that had long ditched the ideals of Hero of Justice, instead shifting his determination to protect his own 'world'.
Julian was lost in the convincing rhetoric of being a savior, someone that really wanted to stop the madness destroying the planet.
This is why, despite his opposition at the utter brutality displayed by his ancestor while he manipulates his body, I knew that the young man was quite subdued to this 'last road'.
There wasn't one. I had pondered well enough over the chances of that dimension surviving the quick-paced stagnation and there wasn't just any mean to avoid that.
Even a Grail War had a limit, and Pandora's Box was a messy way to try and save everything.
...This is why Darius wanted to use it, not to save the world as a whole, but that part he deemed worth of surviving.
Minions, servants, slaves.
He wasn't caring for some glorious mission of peace and justice. Just like any traditional Magus, he was trying to make a big win out of the horrible situation.
And now he was suffering a fair amount of problems all at once.
Maybe he had expected me to do something against him, just not this soon and not this strongly.
Now he was quite aware that I was a big threat that he will have to deal with if he truly wanted to succeed with his mission, and he would have to set maximum priority with whatever I would be doing within his domain.
Which was terribly convenient since I had some plans over abusing this little fear he had about me.
My attention turned back to the current situation, with me taking two small steps back after knocking at a much-familiar entrance door of the small building in front of me.
Behind me were a nervous Kuro and a confused Erika.
Yep, the little blonde had been freed from a prison she had already proven to be able to leave without obstacle if she wanted.
The girl was surprised by the fact I had decided to move her out of the castle, yet there was no doubt in her reaction that she was enjoying walking around Fuyuki after having been stuck in that room for some days now.
Yet now that we were at the first destination of this long day, her blue eyes were trying to convey the utmost degree of confusion over what was going on right now as she didn't recognize this place.
But Chloe was well-aware what this house was and she was already sending me some glares at the fact she really didn't want to be there now.
I had promised her that I would've circumvented the issue of the school and got her still busied somehow and, considering that she was now allowed with so much free time, I decided to have her enjoy some more opportunities since she now had a proper body.
It would be a lie to say that I had left the rest of the group without any tasks, as I had divided them in two groups.
Gilgamesh and Artoria were sent to the Matou household to prepare for some reunion I wanted to hold with both Sakura and Zolgen, while I had Luvia and Arthur to check on how Miyu and the other occupants of the Edelfelt mansion were doing without much of a serious mission going on.
Soon there were some footsteps approaching and the door was opened by a calm-looking Sella.
"Hello, how may I help-" Her eyes widened as she noticed me. "Shinji-san?"
"Sella-san, I'm sorry for this sudden visit," I apologized quietly while bowing my head a little. "But there is quite a serious matter I wish to discuss with Kiritsugu-san and Irisviel-san, are they at home right now?"
The young woman blinked in surprise at the query, but she managed to recover pretty quickly from her moment of shock. "Irisviel-sama and Emiya-san are at home," The maid replied quickly, her tone letting out some nervousness. "They have skipped going outside since Illya had been suffering stubborn fever."
I blinked at that. "A fever? When did it start exactly?"
"From what I remember it was two days ago," Sella answered calmly. "It happened quite suddenly, but it's nothing dangerous."
Two days ago Kuro and I had gone through the operation to get new bodies, and if I remember correctly, even without the Seal they still had some connection between each other.
It wasn't a big stretch to consider how this phenomenon was connected to the operation.
I nodded. "I understand," I commented quietly, still thinking about this discovery. "Can we come in then?"
There was a brief hint of doubt within her face, silence replying to me for a couple of seconds… then she sighed.
"Shinji-san, I wouldn't advise for you to come too close to Irisviel-sama," The Einzbern muttered nervously. "She has been having quite some strange attitude since some words that Chloe-san had given to her."
...What?
I glanced behind, and Kuro's attention was 'surprisingly enough' elsewhere. Perhaps the sky was prettier than usual to get the girl's attention now that she was mentioned.
Just as I returned my attention back to Sella, I noticed that the young woman was staring with barely-veiled surprise at the different Einzbern.
She glanced briefly back at me and I nodded. "That's part of the things I need to tell to them."
The young woman sighed and nodded, making way as the three of us slowly entered inside the house, my mind bracing for whatever insanity Irisviel had committed because of some harsh talking with Kuro.
The girl had already commented on the topic way too many times for me to just ignore or forget, but I was caught off-guard when I learned that there had been some big conversation just a couple of days ago.
Sure, I knew that the dark-haired Einzbern had done something to turn quieter than usual, but I couldn't just pinpoint the complicated origin of this newly-found issue with just some emotions.
I was the first one to venture inside the living room and I was granted quite the curious sight that was just telling me that the woman might have taken whatever conversation had happened to a degree a little higher than normal.
Kiritsugu was quietly sorting out numerous guns of various caliber, with Maya taking seat by the couch opposite to his while helping him with the particularly complex task.
They both were distracted, yet I saw the 'head' of the family giving a quick glance to us, surprise swelling instantly but not surviving for long before getting replaced with a gloomy and dreading mask.
I gulped nervously as I turned my attention at the small table there and… I blinked at a calm-looking Irisviel sitting peacefully by the table.
Happily humming as she continued to draw something over some paper, I also spotted Leysritt sitting a couple of seats away from her, the short-haired Einzbern quietly snoring as she continued with her nap by the edge of the table, blissfully ignoring the absurd scene unfolding right now.
My full attention was directed at the matriarch of the Einzbern, my steps slow but quick as I carefully approached her.
She seemed too engrossed by her activity to notice my approach, and I managed to get close enough to take a peek at what she was working with.
Flowers. I blinked with even more surprise as my thoughts of seeing some macabre topic was dashed away by the peculiar style used to create some pretty flowers over the paper used for this little project.
To be fair, I hadn't expected to deal with any of this but… eventually I ended up mesmerized by the beautiful drawing that was on its way to be completed by the determined-looking mother.
Silence persisted as time passed, but soon Irisviel paused in her little effort to take some breath.
Just as she prepared to resume with her work, her entire body tensed and her eyes widened as she slowly turned to look behind herself and… she noticed me.
Her red orbs narrowed at me in a moment of outright irritation and I frowned back at the challenge thrown my way.
"Shinji," The woman greeted with a cold tone, almost stomping me where I was standing.
"Iri," I replied with a quiet but neutral tone.
"Irisviel," She corrected with a sigh.
"Iri," I remarked with a shrug, causing her to snort in brief amusement before she realized it wasn't the 'time' to appear silly.
"I find you responsible for many heinous crimes."
"Would it be asking too much to have a list of those… crimes?"
"You stole my daughter," The Einzbern accused. "And now she hates me."
I blinked at her answer. 'Hate' is a strong word, and I couldn't just see Kuro say something like this, especially to Irisviel of all people.
"The correlation?"
"She wants to stay with you and not with us," She answered quickly, her chair turning slightly more as to help her stare more at me. "Thus you're to blame."
"I think you're well-beyond going through this degree of silly, Iri," I retorted calmly, causing her to huff.
"Then you're wrong."
…
"I just called you smart there," I explained with a confused frown, her strong front faltering a little at that. "Look, how about we just talk about it?"
"I'm ready to wage war," She admitted. "I can't just back away so suddenly and wihtout any good reason."
I blinked at that, and pondered about this very detail.
Then I nodded as I got a good idea. "If Jubstacheit hadn't forced the Einzbern genes to be dominant in your daughter, how do you think her hair would've been?"
The sudden question seemed to catch off-guard the woman. Yet Irisviel seemed to recover gracefully if not swiftly.
"What?"
I sighed, a small smile appearing on my face as I looked back at Kuro and… she looked back at me with a surprised look.
Before I could say anything, I heard a gasp from the mother, and I barely noticed Irisviel blitzing around me and towards the panicking girl.
Chloe didn't have the time to react properly at the situation, the lack of her Archer-Card already proving that her reflexes had dimmed just a little as she failed to avoid the glomping.
"Oh my- Kiritsugu, come here!" The woman exploded in giggles as she tightly held the nervous dark-haired Einzbern, lifting her up from the ground while her husband approached with a hint of curiosity lingering by his face.
Just as the trio reunited and Pandora decided to move away from the scene and closer to me, the girl visibly distressed by the sudden display of affection, I decided in the meantime to focus on another problem I could actually help with.
A certain kaleidostick carefully drifted out of my pocket and right in front of me as I sighed.
"Illya-chan is sick, I don't see any reason for her Ruby to be unable to heal her," I started to explain at the Mystic Code. "She's probably taking some perverted pictures- please, do give the girl some help… and the help is for Illya, not your counterpart."
Ruby bent a little as to nod. "Aye, Shinji-sama, I will see for the poor maiden to be cured of her illness!"
I blinked at the seriousness in her tone, almost surprised by it as I stared at the Mystic Code flying away from my sight.
Taking a moment to sigh, I turned my attention back to Pandora, preparing to deliver quite some important speech with the two parents when I felt a pair of arms quietly crossing around my neck.
My surprise intensified as I felt my back being subjected to the sudden pressure coming from… two pillows.
"Shinji-kun," A now-awake Leysritt greeted with a yawn. "You're here."
I sighed, trying to ignore the newest sensation the best I couldn't but still failing because of the teasing smile on Erika's face.
The blonde was grinning, almost ready to giggle at my plight while Liz continued to keep me stuck in that strange embrace.
"L-Liz, you shouldn't press so tightly," I tried to carefully dislodge myself out of that hug, only for her arms to squeeze me even closer.
"I slipped," She replied flatly, not even caring at how feeble that explanation was and… Sella was staring with a full-face red blush.
Seriously, this family is the most bizarre in the Nasuverse!
If only Shinji knew that this wasn't going to be the most bizarre moment… for today.
~Change of POV~
Perhaps I should've been a little more lenient.
The living room of the Edelfelt Manor was filled with almost every occupants of the building, with the exception of Auguste, Luvia's most trusted butler.
Miyu was carefully tending at Bazett, the woman groaning a little as she was carefully placed by the long sofa there while both Rin and Luviagelita tried to make sense of why I was here.
But there was no means for the two apprentices to the Wizard Marshal to understand why I, of all people, was here to deign them with my presence.
I reckon I could've been gone for another route, maybe even gone to directly intercept my current target of interest to avoid the amusing situation that saw the only remaining member of the Fraga McRemitz family getting obliterated in a couple of seconds.
It was surprising, but also absolutely just for me to comprehend how her abilities just failed to stand up against my own.
There was no denying that a well-aimed Fragarach would've proven to be quite the difficult obstacle to overcome with my eased state, and how a well-placed punch could've still left me harmed during the 'match'.
I had just presented myself to the doors, knowing that the young boy I was trying to have a private conversation with was still busy with the Einzbern/Emiya household.
Once he was done there, it would've been the Matou's turns and, finally, here at the Edelfelt Mansion.
Shinji Matou, an interesting individual I had just 'known' about as much as he was aware of me.
He wasn't expecting my presence. But to be honest, not even I had expected for this sudden reunion to be needed.
Yet the necessity had risen up from the very troubles riddling the state of things- this world being a minuscule particle of what truly going to be the glorious battlefield of the conflict that was brewing.
A mysterious threat, a novel alliance that hailed under a single common point.
It was particularly hilarious how it all started, and how I was suddenly and surprisingly yanked to deal with this situation with other trustworthy men and women.
"I'm still failing to understand how you've managed to beat a professional Magus when you yourself aren't one," The young Tohsaka finally brought up with a huff, her blue gems shining a pretty light as she was troubled by the entire situation. "And to think that Zelretch-sama would just allow you to stay there without any notice."
"It's scandalous," The older Luvia pointed out with a huff. "While I understand that we've duties to abide to, I don't see how housing such an unneeded guest would-"
"Duties to abide?" I interrupted quietly, taking a brief moment to sigh before staring at the blonde. "Do you understand that up until now you've done the minimum of keeping up with thse with how you've behaved even recently? With how you've carried yourself around others?"
"You don't have any right to-"
"Luvia-san," I hummed quietly while turning to the younger blonde, the one sitting right beside the taller and more powerful King Arthur.
To think that such a development could've been missed by me… but maybe I should've expected this as a possibility.
The webs of the multiverse are multiple, but logical actions dictated certain hints within the plot itself. But even thinking too much about it would be counterproductive, especially with how negligible some details were now.
"Yes, sir?" The child asked with a polite tone, drawing a pleased smile on my face and a nod directed at her to praise such a dutiful manner.
"If you were to pick a decision about either swallowing your pride and committing to a mission ordained by Zelretch-sama or not, which one would you pick?"
The girl had little to think as she merely sighed. "Uh… do the mission?"
I nodded, returning my stare back to the two confused teens. "What you've just listened was a mature decision coming from someone younger than you two. You should be quite ashamed of yourselves." I explained dryly before staring dully at the blonde. "Especially you, Luviagelita. Your younger self managed to not only give an accurate answer, but also presenting it politely and properly towards someone of my stature."
"You're not a Magus, why should-"
"You're English, good sir?" Rin was interrupted by Arthur, the former King of Britain offering me a curious look as I glanced at him.
"That would be… correct. How did you deduce this?"
"I can feel some accent, very little but just enough to recognize it," The blond elaborated. "Your manners and your tone suggest that too."
I blinked. "Impressive. I wouldn't have expected any less from the King of Knights."
He bowed his head calmly but then I resumed my talk with the two girls.
"Still, your performance was distasteful," I judged bluntly, drawing even more anger out of the two apprentices. "And I wouldn't be surprised if Zelretch decided to deny you his teachings once this is all over."
"WHAT?" The young Tohsaka finally exploded in outrage at my comments, her hands slamming by the small wooden table between me and her. "You-You just came out of nowhere, managed to maim someone as experienced as Bazett-san, and now you ridicule us about-"
"The truth," I placidly interjected. "Because, up until now, the ones that were capable of securing the entirety of the Cards were Miyu and Illya."
At being mentioned by me, the little maid stopped with her ministrations and gave me a quick surprised look.
"Both have formed a contract with Ruby and Sapphire after the disappointing bickering you've been caught into after picking just the first card," I continued to point out at the two. "And I'm sure in saying that neither Illya nor Miyu have yet shown any issue that made both Kaleidosticks regret the ultimate decision of breaking the contracts with you two."
"O-Once we will be done with this, Zelretch-sama will surely help us-" Luviagelita tried to counter but I was already losing my patience over their attempts.
"By leaving both of his creations under the care of possible new apprentices," I rebuked with a huff, drawing some shocked expression from both… and from the young 'Emiya' working with the unconscious Executor. "What? You thought that he was just going to forget how you messed up this badly?"
"But we recovered the cards!" Rin replied heatedly. "We completed the mission!"
"But you still managed to lose the contracts with Ruby and Sapphire," I tiredly reminded. "And that isn't going to be fixed with a little plea."
It seemed like my words were finally starting to make sense to them as their postures grew more and more uneasy, showing nervousness over what felt to be an undeniable truth.
Differently from Shinji, I had no reason to let some incompetency go unchecked for so long.
I knew that mistakes could kill so suddenly and so unexpectedly. Mistakes could damage people, make them easy to attacks.
Mistakes were stupid, especially when so repetitive and continuous.
But just as I prepared to enjoy some more silence while ignoring the two 'poor girls', I found myself taken by surprise by what followed next.
"You're lying."
I blinked, glancing to the side where little Luvia was. The younger blonde was giving me quite the tense but somewhat determined look, catching me off-guard with her convincing tone.
"How so, Luvia-san?"
"Zelretch doesn't assign students by what the Kaleidoscope think," The girl continued with a serious voice. "Apprentices can also be picked without Zelretch-sama having to give them any mystic code… like Shinji and Nagato Tohsaka."
Awe blended with wonder at that curious reply as I found myself intrigued by such thought. It was correct, there was no doubt about it in my mind but-
"A-And I don't want to become Zelretch's apprentice," Miyu blurted out loudly, causing me to look at her with a fascinated look. "I-I think that Luvia-sama is capable of continuing with her role, and that despite her flaws, both her and Rin-san are meant to be his apprentices."
"Mhh," I hummed quietly and sighed. "It would seem that my thesis has been cracked open so suddenly and easily… I guess that I might've been harsh in some bits. But still, you both need to pick up the pace if you want to be considered real apprentices, especially now that there is a interdimensional problem threatening the stability of this universe."
Rin frowned. "What do you mean...sir?"
I smiled at the reluctant note of politeness, almost understanding now what Shinhachi(1) was referring about the importance of certain honorifics.
That strange bot sure knows how to heighten an already-divine charisma when he wants to.
"The Ainsworth Family will surely come barging in this world in a matter of few days, especially with how desperate they are about their prime objective," I started to explain with a serious tone. "But you still have plenty of times to make countermeasures to strike them badly once they show their faces."
"But how?" Luviagelita inquired with some perplexity. "From what we've found out, the Clan is only present in the other dimension."
"And that's an incorrect statement," I pointed out with a sigh. "Darius Ainsworth was active when he was alive. You've access to some important records, and I can assure you both that some news will pop out about him."
"And then?" Rin asked a little too giddy for my tastes.
"And then you draw some plans, working hard to make preparations to counter any invasions," I replied with a minor scowl. "If you start to work properly, to truly bring honor to the role you've been bestowed with, then there will be no issues in finding help from Shinji."
"You speak of Shinji as if you… know him," Little Luvia pointed out much to my growing interest over her.
My smile returned on my face. "There is indeed a correlation between us. Something that I would be glad to explain but… it's too complicated. Too messy."
"If it's anything perverted, I-"
"I can assure you that my relationship with Shinji is platonic, Luvia-san. Albeit strange, if not bizarre on itself."
…
"I don't understand."
"Good," I said while nodding at her. "Then we will both avoid some unneeded headaches about the matter."
My assurance seemed to easily dissuade the child from pursuing something more from this conversation, and I was finally granted some more silence as I looked once more around the room.
Bazett was no longer groaning, her sleeping form barely lashing around thanks to Miyu's medical experience.
It was impressive to learn that the girl had some knowledge over that subject, almost intriguing as little Luvia's mind.
Perhaps Shinji had been wrong to depict her as an 'untouched gem' that would've been ruined with politics.
No, I was sure that the situation was different, simpler even.
The flexibility to accept new information, to make use of those in theoretical and practical situations, and then being able to elaborate from those bits.
She was seven, and yet I was baffled by her acumen over the Moonlit World.
Little Luvia was a genius, something different from her canon self.
Perhaps I was seeing too much about it, or maybe I was seeing properly something that Shinji just couldn't see early on and was now distracted from noticing.
And with Arthur and Sapphire by her side, I couldn't help but be intrigued by what kind of limits the world will try to impose on her.
She was limitless right now, but there was no doubt that Gaia or Alaya would've tried to meddle with this new development.
They wouldn't accept something so close to the first Gods, the two Wills just wouldn't accept an abrupt reopening of the road connecting the Root to Earth.
But while I continued to muse quietly over these new discoveries and developments, part of my mind still delved back to how I was supposed to interact with the young Matou.
He will be surprised, skeptical and frightful even, but I was certain that with some proper discussion and some careful explanation, everything would eventually make sense to him.
There wasn't actually an immediate worry to be concerned about, even I was aware of that notion, but it was best to have everyone warned and ready for what was going to happen in the span of a few 'years' from now.
Especially those that were going to be the ones that will be the more probable to make first contact with such a dangerous threat lurking around the edges of the multiverse.
A destructive force beyond my abilities, beyond Shinhachi's own powers… it was going to be a brutal and ugly conflict.
Yet I was confident in the strength of those that will join us for this lengthy battle.
It will be glorious and it will be hellish.
But in the end, they would have to prevail for the sake of good and justice.
It was a certainty, it was a promise, it was the undeniable truth-
Because I, Dio(2), knew that there was no other way about it.
AN
EDIT (Before things go beyond super silly!): The Xover project will not happen within the story. it will be a different story altogether. Dio will leave next chapter and there will not be any xovers (except silly references, but nothing more.). This is story is listed as a (Nasuverse SI) and it shall continued to be that!
Little explanation about what is going on with the second part of this chapter:
I've big plans. Plans that revolve around the possibility of a massive crossover among my stories. Why? I always thought about bringing up something that ties it all together. After all, the Bukharinverse is a canon tie to all my stories and… it's about time to make use of this connection.
What does this chapter entail (right now)? Nothing. This one and the next will have Dio explaining to Shinji was will happen and how to prepare… but then? It will take a long time from now to see anything happen again. So no, this is not a crossover, it's just a prelude for something quite big and complicated. But probably my biggest idea yet!
Glossary:
1) John Shinhachi, also known as Unit 428, is the protagonist of the story 'The Living Bot'.
2) 'Dio Brando' is the protagonist of the story 'Absolute Divinity'.
P a treon . com (slash) socialistbukharin
k o-fi . com (slash) justbukharin
REVIEW Q&A!
Gender bend: The info isn't canon. It's only tied to the story. And Kuro could use the Card to summon EMIYA… or EMIYA Alter, but it's best to not summon anyone from that.
Byayan: Just some glimpses, never got too much interested in SU. Still, I see what you're referencing there.
00raiser169: Thanks for the compliments and for becoming one of my s, my dude (or dudette)!
