Noble Phantasms, those powerful armaments wielded by humanity's heroes. Those people feared and revered by the masses, who had made names for themselves by accomplishing that which was impossible throughout the ages.
They were also the greatest Mystery.
Stabilised by the belief of those very masses, given strength by man's incredible capacity for imagination. Those heroes, and the weapons they wielded, were, in a way, man's collective delusions in the modern day and age.
Then, they were also the greatest of magecraft.
For what was magecraft if not that which deceived the world to breathe life into miracle and fantasy.
But, I wasn't sure if I could be quoted on this. It was the only plausible explanation I could come up with. When Heartless had declared that I could 'see' mystery itself on that train. I was almost positive he was blowing it out of proportion just to screw the situation over as much as possible. I was not so positive anymore.
When that so-called 'God', or part-deity, no-… I knew who it was now. When that King brought his legend forth and opened a gate into his treasury, he showed me the crystallized mystery that was his Noble Phantasm. My eyes did not care for what I wanted, they saw through all whenever given free reign.
They analyzed that mystery. At least, the miniscule facet that King employed in that moment.
The act of opening a gateway into the treasury of the verily greatest hero to ever live. The act of retrieving a treasure from within.
The Gate of Babylon.
The treasury which held all treasures of man belonging to King Gilgamesh of Ancient Babylon.
Humanity's first, oldest hero. Thus, its first great delusion as well.
My brain overloaded multiple times just from witnessing it, and I bled from every pore in my head for it. But, indeed, I did analyze that mystery. I comprehended it. I spent the entire night dissecting it. By the time we gathered in the dining hall for breakfast, I could effectively reproduce it.
The Dead Apostle's venerated Curse of Restoration was far more useful than even I'd initially realized.
But, it wasn't all incredible.
The cost was terrible. And, I could only open it. I couldn't pinpoint what I'd retrieve or even what was inside at all. But, still, I could go inside myself.
Hehehe.
I needed to face him.
I wanted to strip him bare for all he had.
I needed to wring everything he had out of him.
Even though, my own eyes would work against me in that. I wanted to do it regardless. I had to do it.
"Why are you breathing hard like a pervert?" Caren cut into my thoughts, putting down her fork.
I looked up from my breakfast of… cereal and milk, "You don't get to call anyone a pervert, deviant tramp."
As if to prove my point, her pale cheeks grew tinted, and she shivered. Before I could press that further, Nobunaga let out a loud wail. The Demon King slammed her hands on the table from across Caren. Then, pointed an accusing finger at me.
"What is this blasted assortment of dishes?!"
Tilting my head in confusion, I stared at the chips, cereal, protein bars and instant noodles on the long table between us. Fair enough. They felt a little out of place at a table designed for proper rich folk feasts, in a literal hall decorated with expensive paintings and chandeliers and all that jazz.
I shrugged.
"None of us can cook. What do you expect?"
Well, I could. I just didn't want to.
"This is all we've been eating ever since we came here." She complained, promptly forgetting how much she loved all of this the first dozen times. "You have money. I am Shogun. I deserve variety!"
Caren raised a hand, "I can cook."
"Yeah, but I don't trust you not to put hairs or other weird fluids in my food."
Looking like she'd been caught red-handed, the priestess immediately lowered her hand and averted her gaze.
I facepalmed, "God, I feel so bad for your father."
"My father abandoned me… But, if you want, you can ask him yourself."
Oh yeah, I'd promised I'd kick him in the family jewels for her-
Wait a second.
I raised a brow, "And how would I ask him?"
"He is in the city." She answered casually, stuffing a chip in her mouth.
…
…
I steepled my fingers and inhaled deeply.
"Mind telling me the name?"
Caren looked at me strangely. "Kirei Kotomine."
…
Well now.
"So I guess I fulfilled our promise."
Inwardly, I regretted not asking who he was before from the depths of my heart. That exchange would've been so much more amusing if-… Ah dammit, what a missed opportunity. Mm, at least he was saved, so there was always next time to bring it up.
"Oh?" Caren craned her neck curiously. "You met him."
"I also did what I said I would."
At that, she showed the barest hint of a smile. For once, she actually looked her age, and I felt not too bad about having taken her in when kicking her out was the justified reaction to her behavior. Of course, Caren being Caren, HAD to ruin the moment right the next second.
"Are you sure you won't act on your deviant desires?"
"What deviant desires?!" I pulled out my phone and showed her the wallpaper, "This. This is what I'm into."
Instead of getting annoyed, the priest just pursed her lips. She looked down at her chest, then at Nobunaga… who was trying to hide her grin for some reason.
"I don't see much of a difference."
…What?
My Luvia was stacked.
I flipped the phone around my way just as Nobunaga started cackling madly.
It wasn't Luvia.
No, it was a nude of a particular Demon King.
I tossed the phone across the room, right into the fireplace.
"Gahahahaha! How was it? My glorious form?!"
I sighed, "When did you even-"
"You were so taken with your studies the last night that I…"
Ah yeah. She did in the night. I admit I was a bit too taken with studying the Gate of Babylon to pay attention to much else.
With a chuckle, I rose to my feet.
"Fair play."
"Mhm. Mhm. Of course!"
"I guess I'll go buy a new phone."
-
Contrary to my wishes, there was no issue with buying a phone. I didn't get randomly attacked or run into someone fun on the way. Other than an overly enthusiastic saleswoman who forcibly gave me her phone number, the trip was uneventful.
I also deleted the number as soon as I was out of sight.
That was not to say that the journey home was the same.
I just so happened to run into a certain ancient hero casually eating vanilla ice cream on a bench with his legs crossed in the park beside the Mion River. I gave him a look, and went about my merry escapade. Or, at least, I tried.
"What? No snide remarks today, mongrel?"
Somehow, I felt this wasn't a coincidence.
"Nah. I don't have time."
He threw his head back and laughed, "You say the most idiotic things! The world itself makes time for me."
"Maybe use some of that time to look for your head. I suggest searching up your ass first."
"Hah! Never have I met one so ready to rebuke myself."
It felt like he was entertained, but judging by the sword he launched at my head, he took offense to my words too. It never did hit me though. I leaned to the side just enough for it to miss me and go bury itself somewhere in the river.
"How dare you dirty one of my treasures?"
"You threw it. Is the age actually getting to your head? Man, I really hope I don't grow up to be like you."
"If you continue down this path, you won't grow up much at all."
That wasn't ominous at all.
"Eh, we'll see. Toodles~"
Waving my hand, I left the park, cutting through the local shopping district to reach a massive school. It was 100% by coincidence that this was the same school Rin Tohsaka attended. No, I definitely hadn't made SURE I'd arrive just in time for school to end just so I could embarrass her.
Totally not.
That wasn't like me at all.
I'd never bother somebody just because I was bored.
With a snort, I sat down on the sidewalk beside the gate and whipped out a chocolate bar. Soon, students started filtering out of their daily prison. Some laughed, some hurried, others looked done with life already. I sympathized with the latter. School had never been all that enjoyable for me either, especially not after my classmates began avoiding me.
Anyway,
A couple girls gave me a few shy glances too, so that was an incredible boost to my already inflated ego. No one quite seemed to work up the courage to talk to me though, even if some looked like they really wanted to.
I loved the attention.
"Who can blame them~?" I shamelessly glazed myself.
Somewhere along the way, I even spotted that ginger-haired boy and the girl Rin hid from a day or two ago. His gaze lingered on me for a moment, before he headed on his way… That kid was a magus too. I just couldn't prove it yet.
"What are you doing here?"
I turned to find an already impatient Rin looking down at me with her hands on her hips. Lost for words, I hesitantly held up the half-eaten chocolate as an offering. Honestly, she looked like she wanted to take it but stopped herself.
"I'm not taking that. Why are you here? People will think we're-"
I hummed curiously, "What?"
"Nothing. It doesn't matter! Come on!"
She grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me with her.
I gave one last look back at her fellow students, who'd already begun whispering amongst themselves as high schoolers often tended to do. Hm, I wondered what kind of rumours they'd cook up by tomorrow. Private messaging wasn't going to help reduce the damage either.
All in all, it'd be fun if nothing else.
"So, what are we doing today?"
"I summoned a servant. You'll be helping me figure out what's wrong with him."
Uh…
"Are you sure… you should be trusting me with something like that?"
"What could you possibly do?"
"Tell some other master?"
She stopped walking and stared at my face for a good second. Then, she just huffed before picking up the pace again.
Another second later, she mumbled something intelligible, "I don't think you…"
"What was that?"
"Nothing! You're an idiot so it's fine!"
Was this another one of those friendless companionship-starved type deals?
Thinking about it, there were a lot of people in our society with abandonment issues and stuff like that where they were starved for affection and companionship. Hm, given the track record magi had as parents and friends… I REALLY had to wonder why that was.
-
Hope you enjoyed.
Henry on his way to make heroic spirits afraid of using their noble phantasms.
A bit more clarification on what happened, he managed to analyze the act of opening the Gate of Babylon when Gilgamesh used it to throw a sword at him since that was all he managed to saw. That alone damaged him enough to have killed him several times over because of how old and intricate the mystery is if he didn't have the BS regen from the Dead Apostles.
To have it completely, he'd need to see the NP in it's entirety, which is damn-near impossible with how full of himself Gilgamesh is.
To put in modern terms, he has a segment of the code for a program, but not the entire program, since he didn't get to see the whole thing.