Fate: Opression

9

Planet: Earth
Date: May 18 2020
Location: M1 motorway – approximately 10 km from Nottingham (England)

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"

She is what?"
The silence in the car was decidedly tense.
Waver Velvet felt a trickle of sweat run down his forehead as he kept his gaze fixed on the highway while he drove the car. He tried in every way to ignore the outraged and cold looks the Servants in his car were giving him, but it was feat easier said than done. The two Knights of the Round Table had eyes blazing with fury as they stared at him with obvious hostility. That was quite unnerving. Even Rin was turning pale in the middle of this situation, fidgeting in silence in the front seat with a visibly hesitant expression. He didn't blame her for her nervousness.
Still, his eyes flickered to a certain Saber on the right. King Arthur — or rather, Artoria Pendragon — sat motionless in the back seat next to her Knights, with an unreadable expression on her face. It was impossible to see what she was thinking behind that mask of cold and impassive indifference. There was simply no way to see her inner thoughts. Waver had to give her credit for this. Her poker face was flawless.
"Mr. Waver... can you explain it again?" Bedivere asked slowly. Though he tried to restrain himself, he couldn't hold back a hint of anger in his tone as he spoke those words.
Lord El-Melloi II sighed. "Gray is the result of a secret experiment that originated more than five hundred years ago. The clan of the village where she was born aimed to create a being capable of handling the Holy Lance that had been passed down for generations. In other words, their purpose was to revive King Arthur; both in flesh and spirit."
The immense disgust and anger in the faces of the two Knights was impossible to miss.
Artoria, instead, remained cold and detatched.
"Gray was meant to be the flesh of King Arthur," he kept on explaining. "When she was born, her facial features vaguely resembled those of your king, but ten years ago her body suddenly changed, becoming extremely similar to that... of you, your majesty. Losing her true face, she could no longer differentiate her own existence from that of the vessel she was meant to be. Due to this situation, the villagers believed her to be King Arthur's second coming, and energized the village elders, making them take seriously the plan to bring back King Arthur. As a result, Gray feared and hated her own face. The villagers treated Gray as the body of the king, and started regulating her lifestyle to the finest detail to try and increase her compatibility as much as they could."
"...this is blasphemy," Gawain spoke with almost perceptible outrage. His face was twisted into an angry grimace as he turned to Artoria. "My King... have you nothing to say about this?"
The woman merely fixed her eyes on Waver. "What happened to her?" she asked, her voice quieter than usual.
The black-haired man remained calm as he concentrated on driving. "I saved her," he replied simply. "Two years ago, the Clock Tower learned of what was happening in the village. They sent me to investigate the situation. Once I learned the truth, I knew I had to do something to stop their plan. So, I helped Gray escape, and I took her away from the 'destined fate' to become King Arthur. The Clock Tower razed the whole village to the ground soon after. No one survived," he concluded, narrowing his eyes at the memory.
Artoria visibly relaxed. "Good," she glanced outside the window as the car sprinted on the highway. "I'm glad that's over."
Rin blinked confusedly at her reaction. "Wait, that's it?" she asked, staring uncertainly at the king with an incredulous expression.
The blonde woman nodded as she glanced at Rin with her green eyes. "Although I can't deny that what was done to her in order to bring me back to life is disgusting… the child is not to blame for her past. What happened to her was horrible and unjust, but she had no choice over it. It wouldn't be fair for me to judge her for what she went through. If those responsible for such insanity have been eliminated, then I'm satisfied," she explained, both to her and the Knights.
A small smile formed on Lord El-Melloi II's lips. "I'm glad we're in agreement on this matter. Gray can be aloof and shy, but she's not your copy. She is her own person. Please don't blame her for what happened, King Arthur."
"Of course not. I would never do something like that," she assured him, shaking her head. Then, her face became more serious all of a sudden. "However, there is another matter beside the girl that I'm most concerned about."
Waver widened his knowing smile. "Let me guess: the Lance."
Artoria nodded seriously. "Indeed. What you said surprised me. How did Rhongomyniadsurvive to this day? It shouldn't have been possible. Without me, the original owner, such a weapon should have disappeared from the planet. Its power and its Mystery should have faded away completely. Yet, it survived," her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "How?" she demanded.
It was Rin who answered the question. "We don't know for sure. All that is known is that the Lance survived thanks to Add."
Gawain blinked in confusion. "Add?"
"Gray possesses a unique Mystic Code referred to as 'Add', you see," Waver Velvet said. "Add has its own ego and is capable of speech and independent thought. It's a small, talking cube. Typically, it stays locked in a birdcage and Gray usually keeps it hidden beneath her cape, behind her right sleeve. The true function of the Mystic Code, however, is to seal Rhongomyniad away and prevent it from losing its Mystery. We don't know who created such a complex Code, but there's no doubt that it was thanks to Add that your Lance survived to this day, King Arthur."
"...I'd like to see this Mystic Code myself, then," she commented seriously.
The man closed his lips in a thin line. "That's the thing: Add has stopped working ever since the War began," he declared in a solemn tone of voice. He could literally feel the gaze of Artoria and her Knights on the back of his head, but decided to ignore them. "More precisely, it stopped working approximately ten hours before we met you, your majesty. It froze suddenly, out of the blue, and for some reason it even stopped talking from time to time. If my suspicions are correct, Gray was defeated during the last fight for this very reason. Add failed to function properly."
"...I see," Artoria mulled with a frown. "This is unfortunate. A weapon of that kind should not be handled lightly. Rhongomyniad was one of my most powerful weapons, second only to Excalibur. Its destructive power was immense. If it falls into the wrong hands it could generate a great catastrophe and massive destruction on a large scale."
"M-My liege, are you serious?" Bedivere asked her, clearly stunned by her statement.
Rin looked at him in confusion. "Didn't you guys already know about the true nature of the Holy Lance?"
Bedivere shook his head along with Gawain. "We knew about the King's spear, but not of its powers..." he admitted slowly.
Artoria gave them an apologetic look. "Bedivere, Gawain... I'm sorry I kept it secret until now," she said with remorse. Her eyes fell to the side. "Only Merlin and I knew of Rhongomyniad's true power. Merlin suggested to me to keep its true nature secret. Even if I regret doing it now, back then I agreed in order to not generate a conflict of interest among our ranks. But then the rebellion happened..."
Bedivere shook his head. "Don't apologize, my King. We understand," he said in his usual serious and kind tone.
"But still, this is serious," Gawain immediately added. "If our King's Lance is really that powerful, then it could be used for nefarious purposes by some Mages. Or even worse, from other Servants. Something like this must be averted as soon as possible."
"I agree," Lord El-Melloi II promptly nodded.
Artoria clenched her fists. Loath as she was to admit it, the current situation was not a pleasant one. Not only they had found themselves in the middle of a world-scale war that wasn't unfolding the way it should have... but now, even her own Lance had been stolen for some reason, along with Gray as well. Such an event couldn't be accidental, and it couldn't mean anything good either. She was ready to bet on it.
"Mr. Waver... do you think Gray was kidnapped by this red-haired man because of the Lance she carries with her?" she asked in the end, looking at the black-haired Lord with a solemn and serious expression.
Waver Velvet tried to hold back his growing anxiety. "...it's a possibility," he merely answered.
"Are you serious? Stop joking around, sensei. This is clearly the reason why Gray was kidnapped," Rin broke in abruptly, crossing her arms with a snort. Her face was both serious and worried at the same time as she looked out the window in anger. "Jacob and Berserker were killed. Gray wasn't. For what other reason could she have been targeted if not for the spear?"
"We can't deal and reason in absolutes, Rin. I taught you this already. Until we find clear evidence, we can't-"
He was unexpectedly interrupted when his cell phone started to ring all of a sudden.
Lord El-Melloi II answered the call instantly, with a casual and habitual movement of his hand. And that's when it happened.
Artoria and the others could literally see the moment when the man's face suddenly went cold, and his expression turned solemn and tense for some reason.
"...I see."
Waver ended the call quickly, resuming to drive with decision and glacing around with his eyes, looking for a freeway interchange to exit the highway and change direction.
Rin looked at him with concern. "What happened?" she dared to ask.
Lord El-Melloi II narrowed his eyes as he pushed the car at top speed. "Change of plans. Get ready, all of you," he ordered in absolute seriousness. "Something terrible is happening in Edinburgh."
Artoria and the Knights widened their eyes. Rin gasped in shock.
"We've been ordered to go there and stop a sudden calamity that's destroying the entire city."
Planet: Earth
Date: May 18 2020
Location: Abandoned building – Kingston upon Hull (East Yorkshire - England)