A blunt question, unrelated to the battle in front of them, and it seemed to genuinely take the Director off guard for a moment, as the man blinked once after turning away from the fight, visibly processing the fact that Waver had come over and spoken to him.
"Become? What has it become?"
"Jealous, petty, rife with infighting, and generally inefficient." Waver did not pull his punches, giving his unvarnished opinion. "Is that what you imagined all those centuries ago?"
"…I didn't dare to imagine anything when I contributed to the Association's founding." The Director eventually replied, grey eyes studiously Waver curiously. "Magi have a tendency of falling well short of even the humblest ambitions and goals. I could have set the bar in Hell, and they would still have failed to clear it. I merely observe, preferably from afar, as I have done for many centuries now."
"Yes, it has been noted that, for a director, you do very little directing." Waver probed. Of course, the vast majority of Magi were perfectly content not to have another person standing above them and telling them what to do, but at the same time, there were many points throughout history when the Clocktower really would have benefitted from a strong leader without ties to any of the individual factions. The Vice-Directors did what they could of course, but not all of them had been as powerful and superior as lady Barthomeloi.
"I am only Director by elimination, because I survived all my contemporaries. It is not a position I ever coveted or chose." The Director countered without the slightest bit of heat in his tone. His words sounded rehashed, practiced, as if this was something he often said. "The Clocktower was created to be an institution that would be run by twelve lords of the most powerful families. Let them run it, I say. I no longer have any interest in its political workings. Perhaps it could be said that I never had any interest in the first place. Magi are… banal, even on the best of days."
"I see." Waver nodded, and he kept his silence from then on, allowing the Director to turn back to the fight. He had heard enough.
Nothing the Director said had been too surprising or upsetting, but when Waver walked away, it was with a bad taste in his mouth. The Director had long been a figure of myth, someone surrounded by rumours, of whom it wasn't even known whether he was alive or dead. He was revered, feared, and perhaps even slightly admired.
No longer though, at least not by Waver. The man was curt, uninterested, and he lacked any sort of charisma. The idea that he could be friends with someone like Zelretch, who, for all of his faults, embodied the idea of the typical maverick Sorcerer, seemed ludicrous.
Lady Barthomeloi fitted the ideal of a Director far better, and the fact that she couldn't rise to that position, mainly because of her already existing role as head of the Aristocratic Faction, was a terrible shame. She might have brought back some much needed gravitas to the role.
There was no use in bemoaning the impossible though. He would just have to hope that as few people as possible spoke with the Director and that the image of the mysterious and always-vigilant leader would remain intact.
Meanwhile, the battle in the Arena continued unabated, and Waver couldn't help but wonder what was going through Shirou's head right now.
Was he still happy, or was he worried? Excited? Angry perhaps at the fact that he was being made to fight before a large crowd as though he were a gladiator?
With him moving too fast to see, it really was impossible to tell.
Fighting like this with Lorelei was absolutely exhilarating!
There was no other way Shirou could put it. He might have had a few reservations about the presence of such a large audience, usually preferring to work in relative privacy, and he didn't much like any of the judges, except maybe the priest, but all such concerns had long since fallen away.
He was being pressured, pushed, challenged, and even driven into a corner several times, and he couldn't be happier about it. To fight like this, with no holds barred but also no fear of death or of others getting hurt if he lost, was infinitely more fun than he could possibly have imagined.
He fought with lightning, fire, Runes, and blades, his tried and true methods of battle, and Lorelei met him with rains of laser-like light, chains of solid fire, an endless barrage of rocks and explosions, dense fogs that weighed down his limbs and sucked the oxygen from his lungs, fans of wind and water, and persistent lunges with her rapier.
A motion of her hand made the air around him freeze in place as she prepared another Rain of Light, each beam holding more power than the old Shirou, from before Mjolnir's arrival, could have produced in a day. It was a powerful attack, one that had been the end of many senior Dead Apostles and even an Ancestor, but against Shirou, it was utterly ineffective.
His control over the air was greater than hers, so he just walked away, ignoring her attempt to lock him in place and dodging the Rain of Light with over half a second to spare.
Striking like the lightning he controlled, he rushed at her so fast that even she had no time for a proper reaction. His fist landed squarely in her stomach, a seemingly excellent hit, but the redhead clacked his tongue in annoyance immediately after.
Lorelei would never just let herself be struck like that. He was dealing with another clone.
Indeed, the Lorelei he had punched flickered and disappeared the next moment, and the real Lorelei emerged from within the dust cloud that they had kicked up earlier.
She did that sometimes, using clones to distract him, and although they held barely a fraction of her actual power, they sure were annoying. A fraction of Lorelei's power still packed a good punch after all, and Shirou needed to take care not to get boxed in by them.
The Queen of the Clocktower called forth another Rain of Light, but this time, Shirou didn't passively wait for it to come. With a burst of the Mysterious Power, his Divine Might, he crushed the spell before it could form, and he replaced it by dark clouds hanging over the Arena.
The wind was now blowing furiously, as both Shirou and Lorelei struggled for control. He was dominant in their struggle, but she was cunning and clever, taking every opportunity she saw to undermine him, making sure he could never use the wind to its fullest potential.
The Curses she threw at him in the meantime were annoying, but easy enough to block or break. Frustratingly though, she did the same with his Curses in turn.
He threw Mjolnir at her, the hammer ignoring all defences and distractions in its way, and Lorelei had to call forth her greatest shield in order to even just deflect the weapon, to prevent her head from being smashed to a pulp.
Which gave him the opportunity he needed to get close again.
Foregoing Mjolnir for now, he jumped close and swung a right hook at her face, but she managed to block it with both her arms, utilising all her strengthening Magecraft to its fullest extent. The kick he launched next knocked her back however, and Shirou immediately Traced the Babylonian spear Serpanitum, increasing his reach as he swung again.
The first time he'd Traced the Noble Phantasm, minor it may be, he had surprised her so much he had nearly taken one of her eyes. This time, she ducked beneath it, before dancing away again.
She was no fool. She had recognised very quickly that his strength was greater than hers, so she never engaged him directly, always remaining at a slight distance. It was as annoying as it was impressive to see how she slipped from his grasp like smoke, time and again.
But this time, she'd slipped up.
Mjolnir was still behind her.
After he had thrown it and she had dodged, he had not called it back to his hand. Instead, it had floated in place at the back, waiting for the perfect opportunity.
Which was… now!
Shirou called the hammer back to him with only a thought. He made no move and said not a word, knowing that ever the merest twitch would tip Lorelei off.
Similarly, Mjolnir made not a sound as it flew straight at the brunette, aiming for the back of her head as it lowered its speed to non-lethal levels. They did not want to kill her after all.
Lorelei must have had eyes in the back of her head however, or perhaps just tremendous battle instincts, because her eyes suddenly widened to the size of saucers, before she jumped away like a frightened hare.
Mjolnir sailed past her, seeming almost disappointed its surprise attack had failed, but once again, Shirou didn't catch it, as he was already on the move, aiming to catch something else.
That something being Lorelei.
Somehow, he managed to grab her mid-jump, throwing his arms around her middle while she was in the air.
He had not a second to enjoy his success or plan his next move however, as the brunette's cruel fists started hammering him into oblivion.
She ripped off his winged helmet, easily pulling its strings loose, before she struck his temples and his jaw, bashed him over the head several times as if he were a rabid dog, stabbed with her fingers at his throat and his ears, and even tried to gauge out his eyes with her nails.
Were he a normal man, that would have absolutely obliterated his head, to the point where mush would be all that remained. Since he was a Demigod however, she barely left any bruises.
That was not to say it didn't hurt though. Wherever Lorelei's fists landed, they felt like hot irons pressed against his skin. His only reaction however was a slight tightening of the corners of his mouth.
Realising that her blows weren't having the desired effect, and keenly aware that she couldn't win in a straight competition of strength, Lorelei's eyes darted around, searching for a way to turn the tide.
When he began squeezing her however, to crush her into submission, she had no choice but to pull out the first of her three ultimate trump cards.
There was a sudden bright flash, and the next moment, Shirou was holding nothing but air, while Lorelei smacked against the ground at the other end of the Arena.
It barely took him a moment to realise what she'd done.
"Short-range teleportation."
It was the first thing he'd said for over five minutes. Normally, he wouldn't waste any air on anything but spells, but this was unique and startling enough that he broke that self-imposed rule.
"Yes." The brunette confirmed, slowly getting up from where she'd fallen down. "Limited to line of sight only, costly enough to be usable only a few times per day, and I can never quite stick the landing. It is useful though."
"Some might say that it is True Magic." Shirou pointed out, as teleportation, no matter how short-ranged, was something that was still utterly impossible to achieve with technology. It was a sub-field of the Second True Magic, and teleportation was in fact the reason that people thought Shirou could wield the Kaleidoscope, though it was of course only the Bifrost.
In the audience, there were plenty of people thinking about that again, Shirou could see it in their eyes, and he found himself wondering once more whether it was a good idea to just allow every Magus here to witness their battle and their techniques.
"I do not use the Second True Magic for this. These techniques are older than that." Lorelei shook her head as she replied, loud enough for everyone to hear, before she took in a deep breath and settled into a combat stance again. "But we have talked enough about my feat. Let us continue fighting."
"Are you sure? You can take another minute to recover." Shirou offered, and it spoke to how exhausting teleportation had to be that Lorelei seriously considered his offer for a moment.
"No." She eventually ended up saying however. "Let us continue now."
"Very well."
A beat of silence passed between them.
Then they launched their attacks again, shaking the Earth and shattering the air between them.
As she met Shirou's relentless attacks with her own, Lorelei couldn't help but wonder whether she'd made the right decision by teleporting out of his hold earlier.
Yes, she'd been rather stuck, locked in place by his strong arms, but she hadn't yet exhausted all of her options when she'd impulsively decided to use the first of her trump cards. Brute force hadn't worked, but there had been a slew of other methods she could have tried, Curses most notable among them.
But then, he had begun squeezing, and she had acted by reflex, fleeing as best as she could. Now, she had to deal with the consequences.
Her trump cards were not just trump cards because they were very powerful and able to turn the tide of any battle, she had many other spells exactly like that, but because they were immensely costly and utterly draining to use. The sort of spell you only used in the direst of emergencies, because you wouldn't be worth much anymore after casting it.
The teleportation spell had cost Lorelei greatly, and as she prepared to engage Shirou again, it was with bone deep tiredness. An exhaustion that weighed her down as surely as a mountain would have.
Worse, it didn't just come from the teleportation spell, but also from the accumulation of all her previous efforts thus far. She'd been having a lot of fun, and in her rush of childlike enjoyment, she had foolishly ignored the toll that the fight had been taking on her.
It had been a mistake to try and keep up with a Demigod. It was obvious his reserves and stamina were far greater than hers. Dragging this out was only to his advantage.
If she wanted to finish this, she had to do so quickly.
A gesture of her hand called forth another Rain of Light, hammering the area before her with the fury of a meteor shower, but Shirou dodged again, as he had so often before.
Normally, she would have paired the attack with a spell that froze the air, or with several wind blades, if not a tornado that would cut off any possible escape route. Unfortunately, those spells had already proven useless against the God of Thunder, so she did not waste a mote of energy on them.
Instead, she pulled out the meaner spells at her disposal, in an effort to hold him back.
Area of Effect attacks that were meant to shut down a human's nervous system. Curses that would flay his skin and strip the flesh from his bones. Spells that would rent space itself in an effort to slice him to pieces. She even threw in several Gandr-shots that held diseases no longer known to Man.
But Shirou easily dodged, deflected, undid, and tanked them all, retaliating against her with numerous Runic Arrays that tore her surroundings to pieces in a sea of flames, lightning, wind, and explosions. He even copied several of her own spells with his Runes, creating the required Arrays on the fly.
It really was impressive. She doubted even the best of the Fraga family were this proficient in using Runes.
Just like Shirou was impressed by Lorelei's incredible skill and power, so too was she impressed by his might and capabilities. To have such control over the elements that they would not harm you was something the Barthomeloi could only dream of, and that peculiar thing he did to create actual Noble Phantasm was something so baffling that she made a mental note to discuss it with him later.
Both combatants fought with all they had, both greatly admired the other's skill and tenacity, but both were also aware that only one could win the battle in the end.
As Lorelei had already realised, time was on Shirou's side. He had greater durability, greater stamina, and far greater reserves of Magical Energy, not to mention Divine power and Authority. If she wanted to win, she needed to take the initiative again.
Shirou on the other hand would be better off by choosing a more evasive fighting style. Keeping a bit of distance, while still pressuring Lorelei hard enough that she burned through her energy faster than she could regain it. Never fully committing, while always keeping her on her toes.
But that was not how he wanted to win. Using his greater stamina to wear her down was the same as admitting that she had beaten him in strength and skill. Were she an actual enemy, a dangerous creature that threatened humanity, Shirou would have chosen that approach without hesitation or shame, but since she was a dear friend, he would never.
Winning on what was little better than a technicality would not satiate their needs.
So when Lorelei prepared to use her second trump card, in an effort to end the battle swiftly, Shirou stood ready to meet her head-on.
One way or another, the fight was going to be decided soon.
Doctor Kix had never enjoyed watching battles. In fact, he didn't even like fighting to begin with. He was absolutely awful at it himself, hated what it did to others, and despised its constant glorification by people who really should know better.
The fact that he'd made a career out of fixing the damage that fighting could cause had only increased his disdain for the act. He'd dreamed once, with all the arrogance and ambition of youth, that he'd find the cure for cancer and AIDS one day, earning his glory through saving millions, but with things being as they were in the Moonlit World, that had never happened. These days, most of his time was spent on sewing up wounds and breaking various Curses in the Clocktower's infirmary, rather than on research.
To call him a pacifist was a bridge too far however. Kix understood that it was necessary sometimes to fight for the right cause, to vanquish oppressors and hold back those who wanted to hurt the innocent. That was true for the mundane world, where evil men were ubiquitous, and doubly so for the Moonlit World, where actual monsters still prowled.
Hence, his work for lady Barthomeloi was bearable, as she ultimately fought to better the world, rather than for her own advancement. It was a far cry from curing cancer, but it would do, for now.
He could do without the constant fights in the Arena however, pointless as they were in his opinion. If lady Barthomeloi and the Sorcerer Fujimaru, or Emiya rather, wanted to flirt, he'd much rather they did so through normal means. Far easier, far safer, and not nearly as much damage to fix in the end.
It was not up to him however, and after giving their battle a cursory glance for politeness' sake, the doctor took a stroll through the stands, waiting for them to finish.
His opinion on the battle was not one widely shared though. From what he could hear, most Magi were thrilled to see their Vice Director fight a Sorcerer, though that had probably more to do with the fact that they were seeing incredible Magecraft than with the spectacle of the battle itself. Both combatants were regularly doing the impossible after all, using spells and techniques that were either thought long lost, or would kill almost anyone else. When the Vice Director actually managed to teleport, several Magi nearly fainted in shock.
Kix even saw several people taking notes, from what little they could actually see amidst the smoke, dust, lightning, and fire, and he smiled wryly, almost comforted by the fact that Magi never changed, no matter the circumstances.
They barely paid him any attention, and that suited the doctor just fine, as he kept on walking to clear his head.
Until he saw a familiar figure. A very unexpected familiar figure.
Kix blinked once when he saw it, certain that his eyes were playing tricks on him, but when the scene before him did not change, he had no choice but to conclude that what he saw was the truth.
There, on the lap of a young girl whom he did not recognise, sat one of the Wolpertingers he'd taken care of for a few weeks. A little rabbit with stubs on its head that would one day grow into antlers, and a few feathers on its back, indicating the emergence of wings.
The girl just sat there, bold as brass, holding a Phantasmal Beast in her arms as she watched the battle down below. It was a sight that should have been as astonishing as the Vice Director's sudden teleportation, yet she looked so casual and unassuming that no one paid her any mind.
Kix would have missed it too, had he not been so familiar with the little beast, and he stared at it in genuine bafflement for several long moments.
Once he'd gotten his surprise under control though, he wondered what he should do next.
The smart thing to do would be to keep walking, as this was none of his business anymore. On the other hand, his curiosity begged to be satiated.
In the end, he decided he should at least greet the small critter and its new master.
"Good morning." He spoke as he climbed the stairs that led towards the plum-haired girl's booth, attracting not just her attention, but also that of her companions.
"Good morning." The black-haired girl whom he recognised as Rin Tohsaka, the Vice Director's new and first apprentice, responded promptly, and it did not take long for her to recognise him as well. "Doctor Kix, welcome. What brings you here?"
"Boredom and curiosity." He replied succinctly, before tipping his head at the Wolpertinger. "I saw someone I recognised, so I stopped by to say hello."
"Oh, doctor Kix! You are the one who took care of Charlie and his family over the summer." The plum-haired girl, who'd looked a little suspicious of him before, warmed up to him immediately, her eyes sparkling as she held out the Mystical rabbit towards him. "He missed you. Would you like to pet him again?"
"Again?" Kix huffed, not remembering a time when he'd ever been allowed to pet the Wolpertingers. Their mother was quite protective, and the babies were utterly uninterested in humans like him.
This time though, the mother wasn't here, and the little critter looked perfectly content to be petted. Hence, with the mental shrug, he reached out and stroked the creature's head, feeling a slight burst of surprise at how soft its fur turned out to be.
"My name is Sakura Matou. It is an honour to meet you, doctor." The girl, Sakura, bowed to him in greeting, speaking in fairly decent English, if with a strong Japanese accent that showed she hadn't spent much time among native speakers. "Senpai spoke highly of you."
"Senpai?"
"She means Shirou." The third girl, a fit-looking brunette who actually reminded doctor Kix a bit of lady Barthomeloi in her youth, explained, only glancing his way for a short moment before looking back at the Arena. "She always calls him that. Ayako Mitsuzuri, by the way."
"I see." Doctor Kix nodded, before taking another good look at the three girls who were sitting here in one of the best stands available in the entire Arena, while looking entirely relaxed and confident, as if they belonged here. That, coupled with the presence of the Wolpertinger, made it relatively simple to figure out who they were. "Can I assume that you are the three girlfriends whom lord Fujimaru, that is, lord Emiya, so often speaks about?"
"That's us." Sakura Matou confirmed, and the fact that she was a True Magician's lover went a long in explaining why she could sit here with a Phantasmal Beast seemingly without a care in the world. Her lips did suddenly shape themselves into a pout the next moment however. "That Director really was rude though, suddenly revealing Senpai's name like that."
"I'm not getting good vibes from him, that's for sure." Ayako Mitsuzuri agreed, speaking an informal, popular sort of English that she'd probably learned from the current British youth. "Lady Bar-tho-me-loi seems much nicer."
"Indeed." Kix didn't comment on how the brunette almost butchered the pronunciation of the Vice Director's name, choosing instead to ask about something else he'd been wondering about. "But is she nice enough for you to allow this?"
"This?" Rin Tohsaka asked, looking away from the battle again.
"The fight." He clarified, gesturing at the ring, where lady Barthomeloi and Emiya had just decided to tear up the ground in order to throw flaming boulders at each other.
"Why would we not allow it?" Sakura asked while cocking her head in confusion. "I suppose it is a little dangerous, but Senpai is enjoying himself, and lady Barthomeloi is as well, so there shouldn't be any problem, right?"
It took doctor Kix a moment to get his ducks in a row, mentally speaking, but then he suddenly realised what was going on here.
"You don't know then?" He asked, almost rhetorically. "That lady Barthomeloi vowed to marry the man who defeats her in battle?"
A few seconds of silence followed his words, as the girls glanced at each other, entire conversations being held without the need for talking.
"She did tell us that." Tohsaka eventually replied, her tone a bit wry. "I had to bring it up myself and question her for quite a while, but eventually, she told me about that arrangement."
"You know?!" Kix's eyebrows would have gone up into his hairline if he'd had any hair. "And yet you allowed this battle to take place?"
"Everything has been sorted out in advance." Tohsaka assured him. "All parties involved are fully aware of the stakes and have given informed consent."
"Except for Senpai." Matou sighed, looking back into the ring again. "I don't think he knows."
"He doesn't?!"
"He doesn't have to." She didn't quite look happy about it, but she did appear resigned. "It would only complicate matters when he has to focus on fighting. He might even throw the battle if he knew, lose on purpose, and lady Barthomeloi would never forgive him for that."
"This whole battle is meant for them to reconcile after all." Mitsuzuri added, her lips curling up in approval. "An honest fight between equals, in which they can prove themselves sincere. It's how warriors communicate."
"I wasn't aware they had a falling out." Kix had heard nothing about an argument between the Vice Director and the True Magician, though that should have been the talk of the tower.
"It's not something they advertise." Tohsaka laughed shortly, before shaking her head. "And it's not even a falling out. Their relationship has just become a bit more… complicated, than they anticipated, and they need to straighten things out before they can continue together."
"…You are well-informed." The casualness with which the girls spoke about matters so sensitive in nature either meant they were extremely skilled in espionage and intelligence gathering or that Emiya simply told them everything he knew.
Knowing the Sorcerer, it was probably the second.
"Shirou tells us everything." Mitsuzuri confirmed his suspicions the next moment, seemingly unaware of how extraordinary that was.
"I see." Doctor Kix didn't quite know how to react to that, so he didn't, instead joining them in watching the battle in the ring for a minute or so, to gather his thoughts.
Not that there was much to see. Lady Barthomeloi and Emiya were moving much too fast for him to follow, and the fact that neither had to use Incantations or Arias made it even harder to figure out what was going on.
What he did see however was that the battle was insanely high in its intensity. Undoubtedly, both Emiya and lady Barthomeloi were burning through massive amounts of Magical Energy every moment, more than the average Magus could hope to produce in a month.
Impressive, certainly, but also concerning.
As a Magus-doctor, he was well aware what kind of effects sustained Magecraft-use could have on a person's body, on their Magic Circuits, and he had to admit he was getting a little worried by now.
As a Sorcerer, Emiya's well of power should be near bottomless, and he very much looked the part. Whenever he stood still for a moment, Kix could see that he seemed as fresh as he when he started, as if the past thirty minutes had never taken place.
Lady Barthomeloi on the other hand, despite her immense reserves of Magical Energy, was rapidly reaching her limit.
It wasn't something Kix had ever expected to see, the Vice Director being somehow outlasted in a fight, but he could not deny the evidence of his own eyes. Whenever she stopped for a moment, to change directions or charge a particularly powerful spell, he could see the few drops of sweat forming on her brow, and the whiteness in her face, not to mention how her eyes were slowly getting bloodshot.
Those were all signs of Magical Energy exhaustion, and Kix morbidly wondered how long the Vice Director would try to continue even after she started running on fumes.
Only for a moment though. Immediately after, he remembered his vows as a doctor, and that he should never let it get to that.
Open wounds were no issue, nor were severed limbs, cuts, grazes, broken bones, lacerations, shredded organs, or even severe blood loss. All of that was easily fixed with the right forms of Magecraft, forms that every lord in the Clocktower had access to.
The only things that were to be feared were serious wounds to either the head or the heart, or the complete exhaustion of one's Magical Energy. Those were injuries that might very well be untreatable, even for him.
This might be the fight of the decade, one that lady Barthomeloi and Emiya were enjoying very much, but Kix wouldn't hesitate for a moment to put a stop to it should he deem it necessary. That was one of his roles as the Vice Director's personal physician. He had to prioritise her health, even if that meant he had to forcibly conclude the battle and declare Emiya the winner by default.
So he pushed himself away from the railing.
"I need to speak with the judges." He said by ways of explanation when the girls gave him curious looks. "This is not going well."
He was barely halfway to his destination however when lady Barthomeloi suddenly stopped. The Rains of Light dissipated, the fires were extinguished, and she halted any and all spells she'd been casting. From one second to the next, she seemingly gave up entirely.
But nothing was less true.
She was preserving her energy, Kix realised, and preparing a few final attacks. The last ones that she'd be able to execute before her tank was empty.
As far as he knew, she'd never been put into that position before, and he almost dreaded to see what she was up to.
For a moment there, he couldn't help but pity Emiya.
When Lorelei suddenly ceased her constant bombardment of spells and Curses, Shirou's instincts immediately started blaring that something was wrong.
She halted, standing still where before she'd been so mobile, and she breathed in deep, tensing and relaxing her muscles several times.
Shirou wasn't a fool. It was obvious she was planning something.
In some ways though, this sudden passiveness was a relief. He'd noticed that she was running out of Magical Energy, and he'd been quite worried about that. Magical Energy exhaustion was a very dangerous thing, something any Magus should avoid at all costs, yet it hadn't seemed like Lorelei was planning on stopping the fight any time soon.
It had gotten to the point where he seriously considered either sharing some of his power with her, just to fill up her gauge again, or to surrender outright before she could harm herself.
But it seemed he'd underestimated her. She too knew that her Magical Energy was running out, that she was nearing the point of exhaustion, and she adjusted her tactics accordingly.
The next few attacks would be the last.
Now, the wisest thing for him to do now would be to erect defences around his person and let her destroy herself against them. To change his surroundings into an impenetrable fortress in which he could hole up until she exhausted herself. To put it simply, he only needed to outlast her, which appeared to be a trivial task at this point.
But again, that was not how he wanted to win. It would be lazy, opportunistic, and anti-climactic, especially after the display they'd already put on.
Victory, whether his or hers, had to be grand and impressive.
So he erected no defences, instead waiting for her to finish her preparations, stalking from left to right and back as he watched her closely.
He expected a lot from her, a grand finale, and he prepared himself to weather an avalanche of power, the greatest of infernos and blizzards, the cruellest of Curses, the most merciless of barrages, and the meanest of Hexes. Everything Lorelei had kept in reserve so far, unleashed on him at once.
But that never happened.
Instead, she went straight for his throat.
From one second to the next, she vanished, disappearing even from his sight.
There was no flash of light to warn him, no Incantation or build-up. It was not her teleportation spell, or indeed any form of teleportation at all. She just moved, so quickly that even he could not quite follow her.
He didn't even have time to be shocked before she reappeared right in front of him, already inside his guard.
Her punch landed squarely on his jaw, and he was knocked back completely, skidding across the Arena floor in an ungainly heap of limbs.
He came down with a great smack, his head spinning from her blow, but he was just fast enough to dodge the next attack, rolling out of the way with all the grace of a hippopotamus.
It took every bit of his Reinforcement, all the potency of his Runes, and the whole of his new, mostly Asgardian body, but he managed to stay ahead of her by a hair, dodging the next two blows too.
But then she kicked him, against his right leg, and his jaw dropped when the bone snapped right in two. He stumbled back, reeling, though not from the pain, because pain meant nothing to him after the Great Fire, but from surprise that she'd managed to deal him so much damage.
It was healed after a few seconds of course, but it was astounding all the same that she could break the bones of a Demigod with nothing but pure force.
His ribs suffered the same fate however when she punched him in the chest, and he wheezed for air, black spots beginning to dance in front of his eyes.
But even through the black spots, he soon saw what she was doing. His Clairvoyance meant that her techniques could not be hidden from him for long.
She was using something akin to Reinforcement, if Reinforcement was dialled up to nineteen and used like some kind of explosive.
First, she gathered an absolutely ludicrous amount of Magical Energy in her limbs, so much that other Magi would have surely lost the limbs about halfway through, and then pushed it all out, ejecting it like an energy blast that propelled her forward like a jet engine. Sort of like a… Mana-Burst?
The technique itself was surprisingly simple in principle, just a souped-up version of Reinforcement essentially, but that did not make it easy in practice. Between the eye-watering amount of Magical Energy needed every second, more than a normal Magus could hope to produce in a day, the immense precision required to not rupture arteries, veins, and muscles, and the focus it took to fight even while performing such high-level Magecraft, Shirou would have thought it a technique limited only to ancient creatures, like the Dead Apostle Ancestors and Servants.
But here Lorelei was, using exactly that technique in her fight against him, though that probably said more about her prodigious skill and talent than about the ease of the technique itself.
She moved like the lightning that Shirou controlled, striking him time and again, being absolutely brutal as she targeted his joints, his eyes, his ears, and his fingers, breaking and tearing anything she could get her hands on.
Even with Shirou's potent Healing Factor, it might very well have been enough to knock him down for a sufficiently long time to claim victory. By foregoing any Spells and elegance in favour of throwing down with him directly, Lorelei could focus all her effort on her second trump card, one that worked as a direct counter to any Magus, up to and including Shirou Emiya.
But he wasn't just Shirou Emiya anymore. He was also Thor, the Successor of the God of Thunder, and brawling was what he did best.
He retaliated, letting his instincts take over, punching and kicking right back while mitigating the worst of her attacks. It was a mixture of boxing, wrestling, and various forms of martial arts, developed over thousands of years of combat and perfected to be as lethal and efficient as could be.
His execution of it wasn't perfect though. Thor had been a big and brawny figure, with strength and muscle to spare, while Shirou was smaller, with less strength and less endurance. The techniques that he used now were just not optimal for someone with his build.
But it was enough. Lorelei was a prodigy in hand-to-hand combat, like she was a prodigy at everything else, but her actual experience with it was limited. She did not have the benefit of thousands upon thousands of years of near unending battle, forcing her to improve or die in fights against monsters and demons that would give even the bravest of Heroic Spirits nightmares.
Already, Shirou was dishing out more than he was taking, blocking and redirecting her punches while landing several of his own, and the balance was only shifting more in his favour with every second that passed.
Not because Lorelei was now truly running out of Magical Energy though. The Mana Burst technique was costly, but he had been subtly sharing his own power with her since she'd first used it, determined not to let the fight end with her running out of juice.
He was gaining the upper hand because he was getting more in sync with Thor's memories. The techniques that had been polished across a million battlefields were becoming Shirou's own, and they were slowly but certainly overwhelming Lorelei.
He had to be careful though. She'd already surprised him twice. He had no idea how many more cards she'd hidden up her sleeve.
Lorelei had one trump card left.
She'd been pushed to the absolute brink by Shirou, something that had never, ever happened before. All her Spells, Hexes, Curses, and weapons had proven useless, and even Teleportation and Mana Burst had failed to turn the tide. Indeed, they had failed to even slow Shirou down, and with her keen sense for battle, the brunette knew that she had only a few seconds left before she was overwhelmed.
On the battlefield, a few seconds could be an eternity, but right now, they passed a lot faster than Lorelei would have wanted.
This was her last chance if she wanted to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat with her final ace in the hole. Her final card up her sleeve.
It was, to use modern vernacular, now or never for her third trump cart.
And after thinking it over for a moment, Lorelei decided on never.
There was no way she was going to use that third technique against someone she loved and respected. She'd rather lose ingloriously, being beaten into the ground and humiliated in public, than commit such an atrocity.
Teleportation and Mana Burst were trump cards, her means of last resort, because they were costly, difficult, and risky to use. Overkill too, against just about every opponent imaginable. The sort of techniques Lorelei would save until last but weren't all that dangerous.
That final technique however was nothing more than mutual destruction. An accursed Spell she'd learned from a Daemon she'd happened upon by chance in the gardens of the Barthomeloi-estate. It cost no Magical Energy, making it a perfect Spell to use when she was completely on the ropes, yet was potent enough to kill even the most powerful of Dead Apostle Ancestors with ease. The Daemon had even sworn it was capable of wounding Primate Murder itself, if Lorelei was prepared to burn her entire Soul.
It was cruel, atrocious, and horrific, enough to make young Lorelei throw up whilst learning it, but if she were ever defeated by a monster that she absolutely had to kill, it was a good Spell to have up her sleeve. Something that would make sure said monster would never harm anyone ever again.
Shirou was not a monster though. She wasn't going to use it against him, ever. She'd rather lose this battle, fair and square.
But she wasn't going to go down like a candle spluttering out in the wind either. If she was to be defeated, she would remain on her feet until the very last moment.
Letting up on her Mana Burst, giving her Circuits some much needed rest, though she had to admit they'd been able to continue for a lot longer than she'd expected, Lorelei used normal Reinforcement to resume her physical fight against Shirou.
She threw a right hook, followed by several quick jabs with her left hand, and when he stepped closer, she drew him right into an upper cut, striking him on the chin several times.
She wasn't able to stop him from landing several punches of his own in her abdomen however, blows that made her legs wobble, and she quickly made a mental note that she had to work more on her lower guard.
Her brain rattled when he struck her across the temple, her eyes bulged out when he rammed her in her stomach, her limbs trembled when he punched right through her weakening guard, and the world spun when his fist landed right below her left eye.
Bruised and bloodied, Lorelei was on her last legs. She had lasted longer against the Demigod before her than anyone could have thought possible. She had proven herself a true warrior a thousand times over. No one would think any less of her if she sank to her knees now.
Naturally, she exceeded expectations again.
With the final bit of strength left to her, she grabbed him by the shoulders, drew her head back, and then slammed her forehead into his.
She had a hard head, her whole family agreed on that, and now, she tried to make use of it in a fairly creative way.
It could have worked too. Once, when she was seven, her father had commanded her to slam her head against a rock, and to their great surprise, she'd managed to split the rock in two.
Alas, Shirou barely took a step back however, giving her a slightly confused look, before he retaliated swiftly and mercilessly.
His head slammed into hers, and Lorelei was knocked flat on her back, her ears ringing and stars dancing before her eyes.
Her last thought before darkness claimed her was not one of revenge or disappointment however. She felt no anger or hurt, no sadness or wounded pride, despite her first defeat ever.
Instead, she thought of the future.
'Would red and gold highlights go nicely with my wedding dress? I think it would be really pretty.'
And with that last, nonsensical thought, she went out like a light.
The whole Arena held their collective breaths when lady Barthomeloi went down, knocked on her back by a most brutal headbutt.
They breathed out again when she didn't get up, even after ten seconds, yet still they made no noise, glancing at each other in askance.
They had no idea what to do. No one knew the correct procedure for when the Vice Director lost an official match against a True Magician. Whether they were supposed to applaud or not, or if they should congratulate him, or perhaps even swear revenge for humiliating their great leader.
It was almost funny how they shuffled around in confusion, until one person suddenly started applauding.
It was the priest, the innocent and uninformed priest, who only saw someone winning a match and did the most logical thing he could think of.
A moment later, the Director joined him in applauding, followed by Merem Solomon and Waver, and so, it spread through the Arena, until nearly everyone was clapping their hands.
No one cheered though. They weren't quite that happy, or that brave.
The True Magician Emiya looked around the stands once, a bit in a daze and unresponsive to the applauding, before he moved over to lady Barthomeloi and picked her up in a bridal carry.
He then made eye contact with doctor Kix, whom everyone knew to be lady Barthomeloi's personal physician. The man nodded in understanding, looking a bit weary, before moving towards the exit as well.
And so, the greatest battle that the Arena had ever seen came to a close. The Sorcerer was the clear victor, once more establishing his kind's dominance over the ordinary Magi, leaving everyone in blissful ignorance that he was actually a Demigod.
Merem Solomon quickly made himself scarce, recognising that his reason for being at the Clocktower was now over, and that he really shouldn't overstay his welcome. Emiya and Barthomeloi were otherwise occupied right now, but once they'd recovered, they would definitely remember the Vampire in their midst. If he was still around by then, he'd die.
He had no illusions about his chances of winning. He'd mainly attended the duel for the fun, but he'd also learned more about their abilities than he'd ever expected, or wanted for that matter.
Shirou Emiya and Lorelei Barthomeloi were absolutely lethal, wielding power that seemed more fit for the divine than for mere humans. No Ancestor could stand against them, especially not when they were together.
There was no way that the Ancestors would be able to complete the Aylesbury Ritual with those two around. It was time to call for another emergency Ancestor meeting. The third one in as many years. A record, surely.
The Director watched the boyish Vampire go, saying nothing, before he too vanished into thin air. Not by teleportation, like Lorelei, but simply by being unremarkable and calm, melting into the crowd with the ease of centuries of experience.
The priest was promptly escorted back home by Lorelei's grunts and had his memory wiped of the whole affair. He was pleasant and well-willing enough, and probably not someone who'd blab about Magecraft to just anyone, but secrets only remained secret if they were shared with as few people as possible.
He and his church did receive several massive donations over the next few months though, as a sign of appreciation for a favour that the priest could not even remember.
Shirou's own family, who'd only come over from Japan for the duel, were also returned home in short order, through the Bifrost. There was no reason for them to linger at the Clocktower for a moment longer, especially not after he'd just won such a monumental match. There was no sense in tempting fate and leaving them vulnerable to bad actors.
Rin would return soon, to resume her lessons with Lorelei, but Sakura and Ayako should stay well away from London. Now that it was known they were Shirou's girlfriends, there'd definitely be all sorts who'd try to manipulate, blackmail, or even harm them.
Waver and his students returned to the Department of Archaeology, their new base of operations, where Waver immediately got to work on mapping out the consequences that the duel and the Vice Director's subsequent loss would have on the political landscape.
He wasn't the only one either. Many other Magi, from the lords to the lowest of assistants, also had to take a moment to fully work through what had just happened. Even lady Montmorency, who'd witnessed the duel remotely, had to move some of her other priorities around to make room for this particular matter.
In short, there was plenty to do, plenty to gossip about, and many important conversations to be had, but none were more important than the one currently being held in the Healing Wing.
It concerned the wedding between a True Magician and the Vice Director after all.
After Shirou had just won the battle, he was at first worried that he might have hit Lorelei too hard at the end. Her Magical Energy had run out by then, she'd stopped using Mana Burst entirely, and even her Reinforcement was running on fumes. Using so much force to finish her had been entirely unnecessary.
Alas, with his spirits up and his sense of reasoning down, he hadn't thought before he'd swung, and the headbutt in particular had been the result of unthinking enthusiasm induced by her own attack moments prior. A headbutt for a headbutt, so to speak.
Now, she was unconscious, completely unresponsive to the world around her, and he was left scrambling, caught off-guard by how suddenly the battle had ended and honestly concerned for a moment he might have actually killed her.
But that wasn't the case. She was knocked out, yes, but her breathing remained steady and her heart was still beating. Bruised, bloodied, and defeated she might be, but she wasn't going to die so easily.
What's more, it wasn't even an hour after he'd brought her to the Healing Wing that she began to stir already, something that both surprised doctor Kix and yet did not surprise him at all.
"By all accounts, her head should have been reduced to pulp, or her skull should be smashed at least, but she's fine. She's completely fine." He threw his hands up in powerless surrender, looking resigned and outraged at the same time, somehow. "I don't know how she does it, I really don't, but she'll make a full recovery by the end of the day. By tomorrow, there will be not even a trace left of today's battle."
"How very impressive." Shirou said, fully meaning it. Such a thing was logical for him, with his Healing Factor, and would be for most Phantasmals and Dead Apostles, but not for Lorelei. She was as human as human could be, a human who'd run out of Magical Energy on top of that, and still she recovered as if she was half-Fae.
Not that he'd ever say that to her. Being human was a point of pride to her, to all members of the Barthomeloi-family, if he could believe the rumours. They were powerful and resourceful, Lorelei most of all, and definitely enhanced in some way, but still completely and fully human. Even Shirou's own Clairvoyance confirmed that twice over and then some.
"Still, allow me to contribute as well." He said, placing a hand on her arm and bathing her in the golden light of his Healing Power. Healing Power that was an expression of the Mysterious Power, which he now knew to be nothing less than Extra-Universal Authority. The might of a Space God.
It still sounded very unreal when he thought about it like that. Almost as if it were something he'd read about in a story or something. Alas, to him, it was all very real, and while it did feel a bit overwhelming sometimes, it also definitely had its uses.
His Healing Power for instance was a Miracle, a divine gift. Only a few moments after he'd started healing her, Lorelei already stirred again, before her eyes opened and she sat up straight.
Just like that, she was perfectly fine again.
Her gaze went around once, taking in her surroundings, and when she was satisfied that she was in familiar and friendly territory, she focused straight on him.
"Congratulations." Was the first thing out of her mouth, as sincere as sincere could be.
It was almost enough to make Shirou laugh. Choosing to congratulate him first, and in such a straightforward manner, was very much like her.
"Thank you." He replied, matching her tone and stance. "You fought well."
"As did you. I have seen enough, I am satisfied." She declared, lying back down on her bed and presenting her arm to doctor Kix, who approached to take another reading of her vitals. "You might be inhuman, but you are still Shirou Emiya."
"Oh wow! You're right! I am." He agreed exaggeratedly, as if that were an incredible discovery. Immediately after though, his tone softened, as he did appreciate her implied promise that his inhuman nature would cause no further problems between them. "Thank you, for allowing me to prove myself."
"Thank you, for being willing to do so." She countered, not blinking or wincing at all when doctor Kix jabbed a needle in her arm. "You have earned your prize."
"Oh, I was hoping for that." The redhead grinned. Lorelei had already told him, before their battle began, that there was a prize to be earned by defeating her, and while he did not care much for material wealth, he did find himself very curious indeed. "Is it another Mystic Code?"
"No." She shook her head.
"A great amount of wealth?"
"I would never give money as a gift."
"Another Phantasmal Beast?"
"I have no other Phantasmal Beasts to give you, I fear."
"What then?" His options exhausted, Shirou asked it directly. "What prize have I won?"
"Me." She replied, sounding perfectly casual and relaxed. "You have won my hand in marriage."
"…?"
Shirou cocked his head to the side, wondering if he'd heard that correctly.
"The prize for defeating me in battle is my hand in marriage." She repeated, noticing that he could not believe his ears. "This is a condition I set years ago, long before we met. It was to ensure that my family or faction could not set up a betrothal for me without my explicit agreement and permission."
"Oh… Is that so?" His own voice sounded distant and strange to his ears, as if it were someone else talking while his mind was turning a mile a minute, trying desperately to make sense of the situation. "And that worked?"
"Yes, it worked. My family had no choice but to accept my stipulation, and it took only a few beaten suitors for people to leave me be."
"I… T-That… It is… It is a good plan."
He had to give credit where credit was due, even if he still felt entirely overwhelmed by the news.
"It is, rather." She looked quite pleased with the compliment, her lips curling up into a soft smile, which only twitched the slightest bit when doctor Kix stabbed two more needles into her arm, significantly larger than the previous one. "No one ever managed to overcome me on the field of battle. The choice for my husband was mine to make."
"I… I can imagine." Shirou laughed breathlessly. It had already been a monstrous battle even for him, one he'd come close to losing a few times, so he didn't even want to imagine what it would be like for a 'normal' Magus to face off against Lorelei. "Yes, I don't think anyone can defeat you."
"No one." She agreed, before she gestured at him with the hand that wasn't currently being turned into a pincushion by doctor Kix. "No one except you. You defeated me, so my hand in marriage is now yours."
"You mean to go through with it? With your promise?" Unable to escape the reality of the situation, Shirou tried to deal with it as best he could. "You don't have to. I won't hold you to such terms. It is illegal anyway."
The law in all Western countries, as well as Japan and South-Korea, stated that a person's safety, decency, and personal freedom were absolutely guaranteed, even if the victim had given their consent to a violation of those rights. If person A were to stab person B and person B told the police they didn't want to report it or to get person A into trouble, the police would still arrest person A. Stabbing people was illegal after all, no matter what person B said.
Similarly, if person C were to make a deal with person D that they were going to marry, with a witnessed and signed contract ratified by a judge and everything, person D could still refuse to go through with the marriage at any point without consequences. Forcing people into marriages against their will was illegal.
Deals and contracts that involved the violation of safety, decency, or personal freedom could not be enforced, by anyone. Consent given could be revoked at any point, even if it had been given in front of the entire Supreme Court of the United States, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, and the Three Judges of Fairy-Land.
Shirou fully agreed with that sentiment. It didn't matter if Lorelei had formally declared that she'd marry the man who defeated her in battle, not even if she'd submitted it in three-fold to the Director and Zelretch themselves. If she didn't want to go through with it, then that was that.
"I fully plan on going through with it." Lorelei refused to back down however.
"No one would think less of you-" Believing this to be a matter of honour, of keeping her word, Shirou tried to convince her otherwise, but he wasn't allowed to finish.
"You are a man of splendid character and undeniable attractiveness. If I absolutely have to marry someone, which I do, to preserve my bloodline and power, I want it to be you." Lorelei didn't look away or flinch, she did not stutter or fidget. For all that he could see, she fully meant what she said. "I believe there is already a connection between us, one that is sufficiently visible for nearly all around us to see it. I wish to build on that connection."
…This was a confession. He was being confessed to again.
"…You know that I cannot be yours alone." Shirou pointed out, his confusion and rising panic slowly abating at her calm demeanour. "I already have three girlfriends."
"Yes, I know. This is, in my opinion, an advantage."
"Oh?" That was a new one, and Shirou wondered what the reasoning behind it would be.
"As I told Rin, I am not looking for some kind of Soulmate, someone who will never be further than ten metres away from me. I do not need an interfering husband who insists on looking over my shoulders out of some misplaced sense of companionship." Lorelei savagely mauled all hypothetical clingy husbands in existence with an utterly calm and passive expression. "I only need a husband for official events, for tradition's sake, and for children. Other than that, we can maintain our previous relationship, without the need for additional… closeness."
"You're making it sound like a business-deal." Shirou observed wryly. "I don't much like relationships like that. You may call it childish if you like, but I believe in love, Lorelei."
Yes, he did have something similar with Rin, a betrothal contract detailing the terms and agreements of their marriage in a very business-like manner, but ultimately, that was just a side issue. Their relationship was founded on genuine attraction and love first and foremost. If he'd been less than a Third-Rate Magus with not a penny to his name, Rin still would have accepted him, he had no doubt about that.
"Love?" Lorelei's expression became hard to read, but not dismissive or exasperated. "I don't much understand it. I have read about it, but I cannot say I have ever experienced it for myself."
"You don't love anyone?" Shirou wouldn't be surprised if that was the case, since he doubted the Barthomeloi-family raised their children lovingly and the Clocktower wasn't exactly a love nest either, but it was nevertheless very sad. "Not even platonically? As a friend?"
"…There is one person." She admitted after a moment of thought. "I like their presence, and to talk with them. They make me happy, share many of my opinions and viewpoints, but they always stand up to me when they feel I am making a mistake. I do not feel… 'butterflies' or whatever in my stomach when I am in their presence, but I do like them very much."
"Oh, that's good." That person sounded like an excellent friend. "Who is it?"
"You."
"…Yeah, alright, I should have seen that coming." The girls often called him dense, saying that he easily missed subtext and subtle hints, and Shirou could only agree once more. "I am honoured, Lorelei, and I want you to know that I feel the same way about you. You are a precious friend."
"I am relieved." She spoke bluntly, giving him a beautiful smile. "As I said, I do not need romantic love, nor do I expect to ever really experience it. What I need is a friend, someone who will stand at my side when needed, keep my secrets, and father my children. That we share hobbies and viewpoints is a bonus. A welcome one, but a bonus still."
"I see." Shirou said slowly, nodding both to himself and to her. "Yes, I believe I'm beginning to understand now."
It wasn't that she only wanted an impersonal business relationship with him, a loveless marriage like between most Magi who married for power. Far from it. All she was saying was that she didn't want romance in the form that most people believed it should take.
No dates to romantic cities to spend days just walking around, no regular phone calls that served only to declare their love anew, no overly clingy stuff. Lorelei was a serious and professional woman, and she was now telling him that would also carry over into any relationship she'd enter.
They were friends, sharing a platonic love, and that was enough for her.
Now, it just so happened that Shirou actually was a bit of a romantic person, someone who believed in true love, unlike her, but even so, he did not reject Lorelei's proposal.
Friendship, especially the kind that they had, could easily grow into love after all. That was what had happened with Rin, Sakura, and Ayako. He was certain it could also happen with Lorelei, no matter how much she might deny it now.
And if she thought she wouldn't be getting massages, hugs, gentle hair-brushes, and other forms of pampering, she was sorely mistaken. Shirou and pampering were a package deal after all. If you took one, you also took the other. No escaping it.
But he couldn't accept her proposal just yet. There were several details to get out of the way first.
"If you have children with me, they won't be human." He reminded her, knowing that that was an extremely sensitive point, for her and her entire family.
"I know." She nodded, a flash of pain crossing her face that had nothing to do with doctor Kix making a few incisions into her shoulder, before stabbing even more needles into the wounds. "And it feels weird to know my offspring might be inhuman. However, I made my peace with this already. I am willing to accept it, to be with you."
Hold on!
She was willing to forego ancient tradition and her own view on life, to betray everything she and her family stood for, just to marry him?
Wasn't this woman already madly in love with him, despite her protestations?!
"You know who my father is. Is that not a point of objection?" He tried another avenue.
"I do not care for your parentage, nor do I care for Kiritsugu Emiya. I have no personal dealings with him, as he never once sought me out for battle or assassination." Lorelei assured him, actually looking as if she wouldn't have minded going a few rounds with the Magus Killer. "Why would he? During his heyday, I was still in training at the Barthomeloi-mansion, never having contact with the outside world."
"He was a ruthless warrior with a penchant for slaughtering a thousand people so the one criminal among them wouldn't escape." Shirou loved the man, he really did, but there was no denying his crimes. "He destroyed hospitals and orphanages, not to mention he destroyed and beggared an uncomfortably high number of Magus families."
"Not a problem." Showing herself to be a true warrior-queen, Lorelei didn't bat an eye at his father's purported crimes. "And even if it had been a problem, you are not your father, and I can sympathise when it comes to family-members being ruthless and cold."
"Are you sure that you wish to be with a teenager like me?" Shirou had to ask, because there was in fact an age difference between them. "For a relationship, and sex?"
"No. You are already a wonderful man, but the fact remains that you are a child." She spoke the words with the utmost seriousness, leaving Shirou uncertain whether he should feel insulted or not. "We shall revisit that topic in two years, preferably four. Then we shall further discuss our preferred sexual activities."
Fair enough.
"…" Shirou then came up short, having no more objections to raise right now. "I… I see. Well, if this is what you want-"
"It is."
"Then I… I tentatively accept your proposal." Shirou had no more reason to refuse, though it would probably be best if he checked in with his girlfriends as soon as possible. "I'll have to discuss it with the girls however."
"I have no doubt they will accept as well." Lorelei looked as confident as confident could be, rather suggesting she'd had this discussion with Rin already. "But speak with them, as soon as you can, and hurry back. I'll be waiting for you, so we can announce our betrothal to the Magus Association."
"Perhaps a change of clothes would be in order as well?" Doctor Kix suggested in a very mild tone of voice, finally removing all the needles again, easing a tension in Shirou he hadn't known himself to possess. "Your current outfit seems… unfit, for a ceremony as official as this one."
"Very astute." Lorelei agreed, looking down at herself for a moment.
Her clothes were definitely in bad shape right now. Her shirt had lost its sleeves and had been torn so much her stomach was entirely exposed, while one leg of her trousers had been shredded up to the top of her thigh and the other up to just above her knee. Her gloves had been reduced to cloth bracelets, and her cloak was entirely gone, having been torn into pieces and discarded in the Arena.
Frankly though, the damage was a lot milder than could perhaps have been expected. The clothes might have been Reinforced and otherwise strengthened by Lorelei herself, but that didn't mean much against the power and Authority of a Demigod. The only reason they weren't completely gone was because Shirou hadn't actually landed that many proper hits on her. She'd been too quick, too nimble.
That the outfit had survived didn't mean it was proper though, as doctor Kix said, so Lorelei rose from her sick bed, to make for her chambers.
"I will meet you here, once we are both done with our duties." She told him.
"Ah, yes, see you then."
They separated, off to their 'duties', as the brunette called it.
"Hey, Shirou, welcome back-"
"Did you know?"
Upon arriving back home, in the living room where his girlfriends were waiting for him, Shirou immediately turned to Rin to demand answers.
He wasn't being very clear, he had to admit, and Rin was left confused for a moment, until she frowned deeply.
"No! Of course not! How dare you?!" She growled dangerously, before blinking innocently several times. "Ah, what do you mean?"
"Lorelei! Her promising to marry the man who defeats her in battle!" He clarified, more certain than ever that she had known already when her eyes crinkled in amusement. "She wants to marry me!"
"Go for it." Ayako gave him a thumbs-up.
"That was bound to happen." Sakura nodded, not looking surprised in the slightest.
"We settled things with her already." Rin also agreed, putting one hand on her side and pointing with the other at him. "Just don't be greedy, alright? We also want a taste of an actual warrior-queen."
"You…! You'll… have to discuss that with Lorelei." Shirou bristled without much heat, his planned angry rant coming to a sputtering halt at the mental image of Lorelei and Rin lying together in his bed, naked, intertwined, and waiting for him with hooded eyes. "So you did know?"
"We did, Senpai." Sakura confirmed, looking a bit guilty, which was a damn sight better than Rin, who still looked at him brazenly and with deep amusement. "We didn't tell you though, because we didn't want it to influence your fight with her."
"…"
Okay, that was actually a very valid point. Shirou wouldn't have been able to fight to his heart's content if he'd known about this. They were right about that. He would have held back, so not to force her into marriage.
"Shirou?" Ayako pressed him when he remained quiet for a while.
"I'm going to accept her proposal." He stated, looking at each of them in turn, looking for signs of discontent and disagreement. "This is your last chance to stop me. If you don't speak up now, there'll be four of you."
They didn't. They didn't raise a hand or speak up, merely smiling benignly at him.
"Very well. I will return shortly, after Lorelei announces our betrothal to the public."
"Be sure to kiss her." Rin grinned.
"And tell her to visit us." Sakura added. "Preferably while wearing her skirt and that lovely underwear you told us about."
"…I'll see what I can do." Shirou again held off on making promises, not sure at all whether either a kiss or such dirty talk would be welcome.
He'd worried for nothing though.
"Shirou Emiya has now become my betrothed." Lorelei stated clearly in the Clocktower's main hall, in front of a massive audience of Magi, all of whom were showing various degrees of not being surprised at all. "We shall be wed shortly."
And then, to accentuate her statement, she turned towards him and claimed his lips in a clumsy, yet very passionate kiss.
Well, if she offered.
He returned the kiss, ignoring the reaction from the audience.
And so, he obtained his fourth girlfriend.
"Well damn, now he has a warrior-queen already." Merlin grumbled as he looked through Morgan's lake at the spectacle. "Are we sure this won't cause trouble later on?"
"I am sure. Lorelei Barthomeloi will be no obstacle to Arturia." The beautiful Fae assured him, looking most confident. "No more than Rin."
"Oh, so she's one of those types." The Wizard nodded. "I figured as much, since Shirou does seem to attract them, but I wasn't sure. Well, then I guess he's got things settled."
"On the matters of romance, I foresee little strife around Shirou." The Witch spoke, though a mote of pity entered her eyes the next moment. "Which is just as well, considering how much strife already comes for him."
"He always pulls through." Merlin laughed, before wincing when she gave him a dry look. "Well, okay, not always. I guess Illya's dollhouse still gives me the creeps. But I have a good feeling about this one!"
"I hope you are right." Morgan sighed, looking through her water-mirror again with a morose look, though she smiled minutely when she saw that Lorelei had just kissed Shirou again, for no reason except she wanted to, taking the boy aback completely. "Hehe, yes, perhaps you are correct."
Her laugh, soft and strained as it was, made the entirety of Avalon sing in joy, and Merlin stilled when he saw, for the shortest of moments, the very princess whom he'd fallen in love with all those years ago.
To make that Witch laugh, for the first time in over a thousand years…
Shirou truly was a force of nature.