Raven hummed a soft tune, the same as always, as he focused on the shield before him, he had been planning on selling some products in the future, nothing quite so grand in power, but still better then the usual garbage found in most stores and weak military units of the supernatural world.
He originally had just been working on a shield requested to be made by Albus for a friend of his, but then he also got paid for it! Twice! Once from Albus, and then by the friend.
He would never worry for money again, but having your own flow of money was great, not that he didn't with his businesses, but this would also increase his reputation known by people.
In most circles, he is merely known as Raven Inanis, Magician of The First, Hogwarts Teacher and Essentric Magician.
He wants to add more not it, Essentric Merchant. He who sells the best gear. Any title works if he was honest, so long as it doesn't suck, because then he'll have to wipe out humanity and supernatural races and begin again.
"Nah, too much effort." Raven chortled before focusing on the shield, this would be one of the few tester items he would sell, or rather example items to bring in proof of quality. After all, if your product lacked quality, no one would want them, especially this type of product.
"You've been staring at that shield for a while." Rose spoke and Raven raised an eyebrow as he looked up to see her standing in the doorway of the room he was working in.
"It's to be expected, anything made by me is definitely for staring at." Raven grinned at her as he winked as she went red.
"You pervert!" She launched a fireball at him and he laughed as he raised the shield as it glowed before the fireball bounced back. Rose huffed as it harmlessly splayed off her.
"Takes one to know one dear apprentice~" he laughed at her as he snapped his fingers sending the shield to his workshop.
"Whatever, the headmaster is looking for you, something about the two schools arriving for the tournament." Rose huffed out before she stomped off, her face still red.
(Sheesh, these two need to get an adult room together lol)
Raven laughed softly before another snap of his fingers had the room cleaned and spotless, like it wasn't ever used, and then he headed out.
•~~~~~•
"You want me to teach more children?" Raven asked in disbelief, his eyes narrowed at Albus and Minerva, the latter looking off in the distance, merely here in her duty as Vice Headmistress.
"If you can." Albus said and Raven deadpanned stared.
"Albus, dear Albus, taunting me will not get you anywhere, you know this very well. I'm already stretched thin with my duties at the clocktower and teaching, which you forced onto me mind you, not to mention the little free time I barely have. So why should I stretch myself even thinner by tripping my current student count?" Raven raised an eyebrow as he tapped his foot.
"The goodness of your heart?"
"Bitch please, my heart is pitch black." Raven laughed as Albus sighed before he hesitantly summoned three books.
"I acquired these from an old acquaintance of mine, back from when I was younger and traveled the world to master my craft, and I'm sure these could convince you. I felt these would be useful in convincing you to increase your haul." He slid them off and Raven curiously read their titles.
Devils and Demons, by Mephisto Pheles
Familia Rituals, by Frijjō
Domains and Divine, by Megalonimus
Raven took a deep breath as he flipped through them, and grabbed them in the same moment.
"Very well, your bribe is accepted, but I won't take anymore on afterwards, I won't run myself even more thin." Raven warned before he disappeared.
"I wonder if he realized he can just quit?" Minerva wondered and Albus chuckled.
"Minerva, he won't quit for one simple reason. His pride. He will not give up on something he can do, this is one of those, I have no doubt he will just use one of his puppet bodies to teach, he does that mode the time anyway unless it's a practical lesson." Albus chuckled knowing he had walked away the winner, because he had gotten those books at a cheap cost, of drinking and chatting.
"So you played him?"
"Not at all, we both came out winners here." Albus denied before turning to stare out the window. He felt a storm was coming, something big. "Have the professors increase their patrols." Albus added after a moment of consideration.
"Very well." Minerva nodded as they both just sat there in comfortable silence.
•~~~~~•
Raven hummed as he arrived in his office at the clocktower, his quiet place, besides his workshop, and started reading, however in that moment he just remembered something very important.
He stood Artoria up, he had promised her a date, or rather they agreed to one over the summer, and he had just gone and disappeared all summer and not anything beyond a mere letter. She deserved a better explanation.
"Sir?" A voice asked after knocking on the door.
"Fuck." Raven whispered. "What is it?" He asked louder.
"Lady Bartemaloi is requesting your presence." Raven slumped as he tossed aside some random stuff on his desk before leaving his office, it was always something.
•~~~~~•
Raven smirked darkly as he stared down at the dead apostle who was ranting to his army of ghouls and minions. A dark vindictive feeling was welling up in him, and he wanted to quench it.
"Now how should I go about this?" He mused to himself curiously before nodding his head after a moment. Above his hand a familiar white circle of magic energy formed, and started expanding rapidly.
"Genocide." Raven smirked before beams of holy light energy started raining down on everyone in their hiding spot. After a moment he leapt down from his vantage point, he used gravity magic to slow his descent down to where he landed softly on the ground.
"You bastard! Do you know how long I've been-" Raven kicked the man in the face to shut him up.
"John Rawl, Age 37, Born September 23, 19XX, son of Harlem Rawl and Jonathan Rawl. Blood type: AB. Middle child. Worked at McDonald's your whole life, however on your 23rd birthday, you ran into Nrvnqsr Chaos, Dead Apostle Ancestor 10, he turned you for unknown reasons. Spent 14 years growing your ghoul army and gaining minions to rule the world. Believed yourself to be as powerful as your sire." Raven smiled as a fist implanted itself into his cheek, but he didn't even move an inch.
"Correction, not even stronger then the weakest ancestor, they could have sent me flying, yet all a rage fueled punch did was tickle, if that." Raven smiled before a single kick lashed out sending John flying.
"Honestly, it's kind of pathetic." Raven sighed in disappointment as he casually blocked a bunch and back handed John into a wall. "You dead apostles always go for the ruling the world type shit. Like why can you all just use your eyes and make a business or something? Why physically take over the world, that's so much work. Just rule it from the shadows and leave all the actual work to others." Raven landed a hail maker of a fist to John casually almost splitting his head in two.
"Paperwork is boring and sucks balls. Sometimes it's easier to think of burning the world down." Raven chuckled before pausing. "Oh shut up you old hag! I live here I'm not gonna destory it. All my shit is here." Raven sighed as the voices in his head, specifically Gaia, started yelling about not destroying the planet.
"You have issues." John said and Raven narrowed his eyes before flicking his finger and John was vaporized in a flash of white light.
"So many of them." Raven agreed before vanishing.
•~~~~~•
Raven could admit to being nervous only very few times in his life, actually nervous and not minor worries. This was one of them.
I mean, how do you explain to a girl, King Arthur of all people, that you abandoned a promised date to go exploring another dimension…
"Wait… saber has experience with fae, Morgan Le Fay and Vivian of all people, less said about Merlin, I could have just asked her, damnit!" Raven groaned in self annoyance as he walked through the halls the clocktower, his senses letting his track the three.
However as he walked through the hallway someone bumped into him, he ignored them and kept on his way, he heard them complaining about how dare they and what not, so he wandlessly cast a silencing charm that would last for a month. Was it petty and too much? Absolutely. Did he care? Not at all.
He did walk away in a slightly better mood though.
•~~~~~•
"You're late." Artoria said simply as she stared at Raven who had just walked through the door of the training arena tha they had occupied.
"You wouldn't believe the traffic, just one incident after the other." Raven quipped on instinct, and he could see Rin and Shirou pause and slowly back up to the safe area of the room with a barrier. Artoria stabbed her sword into the ground as she offered a small smile.
"What kind of, incidents?"
Raven knows he probably should shut up and just admit the truth directly instead of quipping, but he can't help himself, it's like his body calls for him to torment her.
(I mean… xD)
"Well let's see, dimensional rulers hosting super auctions, floating oceans, uhhh supernatural assassin after my head and an unspeakable one." Raven smiled cheerfully before in the next moment she appeared moving to inspect him.
"You don't seem mad, but as a fae child, you can never quite be sure." Artoria said as she looked him in the eyes, and he smiled.
"I apologize." Raven admitted after a moment. "I decided that doing as I wanted superseded more then just a letter with barebones knowledge. I understand if you don't wish to go on a date, or stay friends." Raven let out a sad sigh as he waited for her response.
"Summon your sword." Artoria said as she moved away form him, taking Excalibur out the ground and pointing it forward at him. "Prove your sincerity to me. A warrior from Japan once said this to me, swordsmen understand each other by crossing swords. Let us cross blades." She smiled a little and he summoned malevolent.
The next moment he was raising his sword to block her attack, and in that moment he saw a young girl standing before a man with long white hair, freaking Merlin!
He lashed out with a kick to her stomach sending her back and leapt forward and swung his sword down, and in that moment Artoria saw a child staring with hollow eyes at everything.
For the next three hours they fought, and with each clash they saw the life of the other, understanding each other on a deeper level. Each clash, a memory.
Raven saw the journey of The Once and Futute King, Lord of The Roundtable, The King of Knights, and above all, just Artoria.
Artoria saw The Prince of Denial, Apprentice of Lorelei, Duke of The Faelands, and above all, just Raven.
"Rah!" Raven roared as he pushed himself to his full power and swung with everything he had, and in that moment his sword broke on Excalibur, and the same sword now was aimed between his eyes by a smiling Artoria.
"You are a very impressive fighter Raven, when you aren't copying me." She teased and he chuckled before in a moment he had invaded her personal space, the second moment he had one arm around her waist holding her up and the other holding her hand with Excalibur pointed away. Then in the final third moment his hand behind her back had a dagger at her back.
"Well played, as expected of a fae." Artoria smiled as she leaned up, since she was only five foot one, and gave him a chaste gentle kiss on the lips.
"Wow." Raven said with a smile as a small bit of red formed on his cheeks.
"Now, let us work out your schedule so we can have our date." Artoria said simply and Raven only smiled. "Tell me anytime and I'll make time, schedule be damned." He said in return.
"No, I will not have you-" he cut her with a kiss.
"You're more important." He said simply as Artoria had her own small blush now. He interlocked their hands and stared down into her eyes.
•~~~~~•
"I wonder if those two lovebirds forgot we were here?" Rin questioned with a twitching eye as she watched the two act all lovey dovey.
"They did." Shirou sighed, but a smile graced his lips as he saw their happy smiles. He glanced at Rin, and nodded to himself as he grabbed her bridal style and walked off.
"Shirou!? Put me down!" He ignored her complaints well used to them.
•~~~~~•
"Next week, on Saturday, I'll come pick you up at noon." Raven decided and Artoria only nodded her head.
"Good, now round two?" He asked with a saucy smirk as he back up a bit and recreated malevolent. Artoria had her own sword return to her hand and then in the next moment sparks were flying.
•~~~~~•
Raven hummed cheerfully as he sat in the freezing cold, which wasn't that bad for him, with a bunch of students and fellow teachers waiting for the arrival of the two other schools.
"You are in a surprisingly good mood, did you kill someone?" Rose asked not bothered by the cold just as he was.
"No, just happy how things are going for me right now." He stated simply and she only nodded her head assuming he made some big breakthrough on a spell or project.
"Up in the sky!" One student called as everyone looked up and saw a flying carriage pulled by Pegasus', obviously offshoots of the real one, but still slightly impressive nonetheless, especially with all the space charms crammed into that carriage. Raven watched as Albus greeted a half giant woman.
"Not going to demand attention?" Rose teased and he only smiled wider which made Rose worry for his health.
"By the lake!" Another student called out and from the water everyone could see a giant pirate ship slowly rise up.
"That's definitely a better method of arrival and travel." Raven stated with amusement before he vanished off to who knows where.
"He's weirdly happy." Rose said to herself, and the people around her nodded in agreement.
•~~~~~•~~~~~•~~~~~•
Raven is very happy to have his sword waifu not angry with him and still willing to date him. Now I know some might be saying, or have said, why wouldn't he recognize Morgan in her memories as they clashed?
Simple answer, plot.
Real answer, Morgan Le Fay, mother of Raven, is composed of three beings.
Morgan Pendragon, daughter of Uther Pendragon and Lady Igraine. Human and sister of Artoria Pendragon.
Morgan Le Fay, a fae being, Duchess of The Faelands and the malevolent side of her being. The enemy of King Arthur.
Vivian, Lady of The Lake, she who forged Excalibur and gifted it to King Arthur. The peaceful side of her being, also a fae.
In this version of the story, each possess varying appearances, almost like three seperate people. So when combined they'd form a completely different person, and they only fully become a single unified entity merging all three after the fall of Camelot and Artoria's death, so ie, she doesn't know the new form Morgan possesses.
Anyway I rewrote this chapter so many times, I was unsure how I wanted to handle Artoria and Raven, but I liked this one, even if it was a bit short in that regard.
Would you all like for them to have a date scene, a whole chapter or just have it happen in the background? You've got time to vote, a couple chapters at least, and I'll put it up as a vote on discord too.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Until next time!
Bye~
-Voidy, The Insomniac Writer
[Discord]
Discord.gg/xpbs9EEEuH