Chapter 19: 2-6 [Update]
- Location
- London
January 19th
"Good morning, young lady. Young master. If you would be so kind as to vacate the bed so we can finally get around to cleaning after the young lady?" The next morning, Outis and Elizabeth were woken up by the looming form of the head maid of the castle… Bernadett, Outis recalled. Although he could only recognise her by her voice as the woman waiting patiently at the side of the bed was decidedly more… detailed than the morning before. A heart shaped face framed by the luscious, white locks of hair and ruby red eyes, fairly tall. Liz had excellent taste, he noted.
"Mmmust we?" The pinkette snuggling into his side mumbled as her tail swatted at the maid.
The unimpressed look Bernadett sent her way, even as she pushed the extra appendage with a gloved hand, was on a wholly different level now that there was a detailed face behind it. Well, that took care of any doubts Outis may've had as to her identity. "Seeing as you are not, in fact, still going at it, I assume our work wouldn't go to waste and that at least one of you is ready to be a productive person today."
"C'mon, Liz, I'll bridal carry you down to the hall." The black haired man offered with a stifled yawn.
"She will walk, or else you will just be dragged into another room." Bernadett countermanded immediately.
"I'm not that bad!" The Countess squawked, tail shooting up ramrod straight.
"I believed so as well, and then you actually got married." The head maid countered mercilessly.
…Outis made a small mental note to buy condoms as soon as possible. Any other Servant short of Medb, he wouldn't be concerned, but Liz'd had like five children and if anyone was going to figure out how to fudge the system to keep the track record going…
"Hmph!" Despite that, Liz slid from the bed with complete lack of concern for her state of dress, or the lack thereof.
[Since Bernadett broke the ice, I might as well provide a status update on the results of the night's events.]
[Even if the most obvious one has made itself apparent already.]
"The castle has been… renovated." Bernadett confirms. "We have lost the dungeons entirely, not that they were in much use. Thankfully, whatever magics keep you updated on the technological progress saw fit to make sure the staff are as well, or else we would be lost with all these new amenities."
[Now, to make matters official.]
[Beauty and the Beast Strengthening Interlude complete.]
[Rewards: Báthory Erzsébet unlocked. Elizabeth Bathory Bond Level 6, Elizabeth Bathory Ascension 1, Elizabeth Bathory (Caster) obtained, Mecha Elizabeth mk. 1 and mk. 2 partially obtained]
[Elizabeth Bathory: Charisma C upgrades to Idol's Charisma A, Torture Technique A replaced with Sárkány Inheritor A]
[Idol's Charisma allows manifested Elizabeth in particular to freely switch between Lancer and Caster class. The function is absent from the version granted by the Install.]
[The wraiths, as part of the castle, can be summoned and sustained in a radius centred on Elizabeth.]
[Additionally, using Báthory Erzsébet allows for an instant transition between Elizabeth's Territory and the site of her Noble Phantasm's deployment]
"I much doubt we would be of much use to the young lady in combat." Bernadett huffs. "Not at the level she operates nowadays."
"It would cut down on the costs of hiring actual back-up dancers…" Liz mused aloud as she allowed another maid to go through the motions of helping her dress up.
The head maid sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Young lady, I would remind you that we have jobs already, superficial as magic appears to make them. You would also need to take the time to bring them up to speed on the modern way of dancing and playing."
"Just consider the lessons a fair exchange with the fact you can now appear out of thin air to rein her in." Outis chuckled as he stretched languidly, bare feet deeply appreciating the new parquet as he stepped off to flip through his admittedly limited wardrobe.
"Moou~" The dragoness pouted before blinking. "...What's up with those two robots, by the way?"
[They qualify, according to my databases, as distinct enough Servants that are part of the gacha pool. They are also, technically speaking, part of the castle itself.]
[As such, between that and the fact they were defeated without being destroyed, they remained behind even once the Interlude finished. However, to draw upon their capabilities directly or manifest them beyond the boundaries of the castle, Outis would still need to actually draw them from the pool.]
"Mark Two was well behaved enough, although I'm not so sure about Mark One." Outis hummed as he finished buttoning up his shirt. "How's everyone been holding up after yesterday's shock, Bernadett?"
"Currently gathered in the Great Hall." The maid replied as she opened the door for them. "I believe they wished to spend the rest of the night together as a form of reassurance."
The staircase leading down from Elizabeth's bedroom to her solar and below, to the rest of the castle was already an indicator of the changes to Csejte. Modern, mahogany railings and electrical lamps casting the descent in a soft, pink glow. But it was the Great Hall that truly drove it home that the castle had been modernised beyond belief.
It was now illuminated by a trio of sprawling chandeliers with myriad of crystal doo-dads hanging off of them and reflecting the light in the twinkling, golden glow. The high table was still there, raised above the rest of the room, a long and carved piece of laminated, dark oak. Elizabeth's throne remained pretty much unchanged, while the rest of the seats at the high table gained more elaborate backrests, with generous plush seating in burnt orange.
The three full room length tables were gone, replaced with a myriad of more private seating arrangements, small rectangular tables with four sofa chairs each, everything in black, orange and red. Even the floor received a bit of a glow up, the wood shining with polished freshness.
All in all, it felt a bit like Elizabeth presided over a five star hotel, with her own position seemingly easily turned towards a more defensive purpose.
"Commander, Elizabeth." Nightingale greeted them from an out of the way side-table where she was tending to a hunched-over Parian. The dark-skinned girl looked up and flashed Liz a shaky smile, before looking down again.
[Parian Bond Level 2 gained]
Moriarty was sitting at his usual spot, engrossed in his laptop, while the Dallon sisters had their own spot off the main table, all but glued to one another.
"Sup, lovebirds, finally decided to grace us with your presence?" Victoria greeted them jokingly. Even still, her hand hadn't stopped rubbing Amy's back.
"More like Bernadett all but chased us out of the room with a broom." Outis chuckled after shooting Head Nurse a nod. He made to start heading towards his usual seat, but Liz beat him to the punch, slipping away from him and marching right into the middle of the hall. Her eyes swept across the whole of it, lingering for a moment on each man and woman under her roof.
And then, she bowed practically at a ninety degree angle. "I AM SO VERY SORRY, EVERYONE! I LET PERSONAL MATTERS ENDANGER YOU WHEN YOU WERE MY GUESTS! I AM TRULY, DEEPLY SORRY FOR ALL THE DISTRESS!" It was impressively loud, almost on the level of an actual dragon breath, felt in the bones as it filled the air.
Although, given she used her tail to counterbalance her sharp movement, she also gave Outis an eyeful of her backside. He had no idea if that was intentional and either way he knew discretion was the better part of valour.
Victoria grimaced as she poked her ear. "Didn't know you had 'create psychotic supervillains to hit my house' in your bag of powers." She commented dryly. "Hell of a way to learn magic is real, gotta admit."
"I have already told everyone back when they saved me." Parian added quietly as she shuffled uneasily over to Elizabeth and knelt in front of her, cupping Elizabeth's face in her hands. "But you explicitly told me I might be targeted by villains and I still signed up, didn't I?"
"Waaaaaaa! Saaabah~!" The dragon girl cried, quite literally going by the tears streaming down her face, falling onto the other girl, throwing her arms around her neck.
Outis couldn't help his fond smile. Really, was it any wonder he'd fallen for this girl?
"I diagnose that girl with hysteria." Nightingale muttered dryly as she massaged her temples.
Victoria just shook her head as she grabbed her sister and shuffled around the emotional Liz over to Outis. "So, was the bitch the only projection or are the others the same?" She asked straight out of the gate.
"They aren't projections in the parahuman sense, but yes." The Master of Cards replied as he leaned against the wall. "I am the only one made of ordinary flesh and blood here, Brocktonites notwithstanding."
"They definitely look and feel like regular flesh and blood." Amy grunted. "For a given value of regular. So whatever bullshit power makes them, it goes above and beyond what is strictly necessary."
"You can say that again." Outis chuckled, shaking his head softly. "I'd tell you more, but while I put up what protections I could against nosy Thinkers, this world sure has some obnoxious clairvoyants. Only reason I'm not having this whole conversation through Da'at is that I don't want to leave Vicky out of it."
"Still can't believe your mission control gal runs on the literal power of friendship." Victoria chortled, shaking her head. "Don't think anyone would believe that's a legit power."
[Friendship and irresponsible spending.]
[Disregarding how little of the latter you are doing.]
"Fairy Queen exists, at this point I can believe anything is a legit power." Amy countered.
"Fair. Now, back to responsible sibling track." Victoria sighed as she clapped her hands and focused on Outis. "I decided to trust you with Ames and… okay, this kinda shook it a little bit, but I would be hypocritical if a villain attack made me walk it back. A single unconnected villain with personal grudge 'gainst Lizzy?" She shook her head. "Fuck, it has been eight of us New Wave against Empire's numbers and they know a lot about us."
"But, Outis, here's a thing. Empire ain't Marche. Four capes, no matter how versatile your bullshit is, just isn't a recipe for success, and whenever they are hit seriously, the Empire strikes back. And I don't want Ames to go way of aunt Fleur."
"I hear you. Give me a second, let me see what I can do." Outis said with a sigh, even as he sent out a telepathic message to all his manifested Servants. [We need intel and firepower. All of you know who I'm thinking of. Yay or nay?]
[She is not exactly a good fit for a heroic look and will require some defrosting before she is pleasant company, but she will not deliberately plunge a knife in your back.] Moriarty offered immediately.
[It will be a very bumpy ride for everyone but you even if she warms up to you, Commander.] Nightingale sighed.
[...She isn't as bad as she was.] Elizabeth gave her opinion. [But you will need to pay attention to her for the foreseeable future, Darling. She is proud, and believes herself a monster incompatible with humans. I believe she won't go out of her way to be a deliberate monster, at least.]
[Tonight or tomorrow, then. Best to give everyone a bit of breathing room before I bring her out to play.] Outis decided with a bob of his head, before his mind moved on to another colossal asset. [Any objections to me bringing out our regular Assassin in the meantime? The cat is out of the bag already, may as well reassure everyone by summoning her right here and now.]
[She will put up a high and mighty act, Darling, but she is a sweetheart, deep down. So don't let the first impressions get to you.] Elizabeth advised with a mental equivalent of a sigh. [Besides, you need practice wrangling more difficult people before you try for someone actually difficult.]
"Alright, we have a heavy hitter on the way, she'll be here by tomorrow morning." The Master of Cards said as he stepped off the wall, back and shoulders straight for all his smile was crooked, "In the meantime, would you like to meet genuine royalty?"
The sisters exchanged glances before Vicky shrugged. "Ye, sure. Not sure what's so special 'bout that, but go for it."
That was all leave Outis needed to stroll to the centre of the Great Hall, the main table tall and proud behind him. A flick of his wrist was all it took, Card sinking into the plush carpet. The circle manifested, the orbs of white began their dance turning rainbow before a pillar of milky white interwoven with glittering gold before it exploded outwards, showering everyone around liberally with golden dust.
The woman who stood in front of Outis was about five foot six, with long, jade-hued green hair reaching almost to the ground. It was cut into an even line just above her eyes, also green if a couple shades lighter, with a mole under the right one. A flowing, white robe split from under her generous bust revealing her stomach. A series of gold ornaments pulled the material to her right, preserving her modesty with just a hint of undergarments. Her arms were bare, save for the bands of pure gold clasping them over the elbows and at the wrist, with gold rings resting on her fingers.
She struck a pose, right hand resting on her cocked hip, head held high enough she was managing to look down on everyone present despite the dais.
"Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator is here!" She declared with a haughty smirk. "With this summoning and the contract formed, you may consider your life to have peaked."
"... Holy shit she has an attitude." Victoria whispered in muted awe. "And that's your stealth woman?"
Amy, on the other hand, seemed to be far more interested in the thin strip of skin Cleopatra's outfit was showing off.
[Assassin class, naturally.]
[Truly, fate has a sense of humour regarding these things.]
"Welcome to the Csejte vára, your majesty." Outis greeted the Last Pharaoh with a genuine smile and hands folded behind his back, not one trace of contempt in his address. She was a queen and would be addressed as such until their relationship became more than professional. His only point of resistance was in offering a nod of acknowledgement instead of a proper bow. "The staff are preparing your accommodations as we speak and I will see about reuniting you with Emperor Julius as swiftly as luck and funds permit."
[Cleopatra Bond Level 2 gained]
There was a flash of surprise in the woman's eyes, quickly hidden as she recomposed herself, even though she did lower her head so she was looking Outis in the eyes at the level instead of the ridiculous display of haughtiness she did not a minute earlier. "I- I thank you, my summoner. I do advise you to work dearly for those funds, neither me nor Julius are people willing to suffer plebeian accommodations for longer than absolutely necessary."
"Wasn't 'Julius' a soldier?" Moriarty murmured with an astonished shake of his head. "Roman opinions on luxury are well documented."
"I will, naturally, be holding you up to your promise." Cleopatra continued as she crossed her arms under her bust (a choked, unintelligible sound escaped Amy's throat) before taking in the Great Hall with a nod. "How nostalgic, to be gracing the halls of Csejte with my presence once more immediately upon summoning." Turning around, she spotted Elizabeth on the floor, still holding Sabah in her grasp. The parahuman was visibly torn between her arms full of affectionate monster girl and the vision of beauty who just appeared out of thin air. "The same as always, Countess?"
"Just about, Pharaoh." Liz sighed as she stood up, pulling the dumbfounded Sabah along her. "Darling will give you the tour of the place since you barely bothered to look around the last… two times you were here. I think I will go see what Mk.1 and 2 are doing. Maybe I can even convince them to get some actual names~!" She added as she waved her goodbyes, primarily at Outis, while dragging Sabah with her.
"Jealous little thing, isn't she." Moriarty chuckled as he slid his laptop to the side.
"A bit of overreaction." Cleopatra responded in kind, shaking her head. "Her tastes are a bit less restrictive than mine, after all. Unless she is willing to let me have a go at her staff…" The woman hummed as she spotted one of the wraith-maids scuttling around. Who was, just like Bernadett, another white-haired, red eyed girl.
"Women." Nightingale ground out.
[Are you not one as well, Miss Nightingale?]
"We do the most with what we are given." The nurse replied tersely.
How Guda managed hundreds of Servants, Outis would never know.
"One of these days, I must ask Elizabeth just how she had managed… all of this." Cleopatra confessed as she walked slightly behind Outis through the halls of Csejte, now well lit with electrical lights alongside the ceiling, some of which at least were coloured instead of uniformly bright white. "While Servants do get an update on modern times, it's usually not… comprehensive enough to allow us to do this kind of thing. Not unless we actually had the relevant skills already, and those Servants wouldn't need the update."
It certainly was impressive enough how the whole castle now looked like a thematic, modern high-class hotel conversion. A (very brief) stop by the now installed 'public' bathrooms dotting the halls revealed proper plumbing in addition to electricity, the doors to servant rooms and guest quarters were upgraded with more modern locks. The passing Wraiths even revealed modern cleaning equipment. As well as modernised… 'self defence tools'. It was a truly bizarre anachronism.
"She is a veteran of the Moon Cell Wars, perhaps she learned from there?" Outis theorised with a fractional tilt of his head even as he drank in the changes. How Liz had managed to blend the mediaeval castle charm with Dubai's particular flavour of high class hotel was beyond him, but damn if it didn't work. "It wouldn't be her strangest feat, that woman is truly terrifying when she puts her mind to something."
There was no helping the fond, proud smile pulling at his lips.
Elizabeth hummed an absent minded tune she remembered from… was it the Moon? Probably. Most of her repertoire was saved from there. Hell of a first place to be summoned into, she had to admit. Still, she hummed as she worked on putting Mk.2's internals back where they belonged. Clue was in the name. To the side, Sabah was watching with morbid fascination as she converted power armour back into a robot.
"Honestly." She harrumphed as she twisted her wrist and exerted extra force to shove a bit where it should connect. "That bitch had to be coasting on the flimsy connection between us. This is amateur work. You're lucky she didn't fuck anything up permanently."
"I have noticed." Mk.2 agreed flatly as it stared straight ahead. Really, Mk.1 and Mk.2 (she refused to share name with them) were, for all that they were advanced beyond compare, showing their origin as guardian statues. With the tech on display they should have an array of functions enabling them much greater body language mimicry… or was that just Mk.2's insistence on viewing herself as a weapon first and foremost. "Query, Elizabeth Bathory."
"Hmmm?"
"Even with the information package updating one's knowledge base, I am not aware of any circumstance which would grant you the access to the kind of knowledge base necessary for the modifications to Csejte you have performed…. Or for the kind of repairs you are providing right now."
"She shouldn't?" Sabah blinked in confusion. Darling's explanation back in the Great Hall was fairly well translated into parahuman lingo but there were still things that tripped the capes.
"Negative. The knowledge package ought to bring the historical basis up to speed to avoid confusion, but it shouldn't grant an actual proficiency, unless it is necessary within the bounds of Servant's skillset, like Riding skill translating into new modes of transportation." Mk. 2 explained.
Elizabeth grinned to herself as she leaned deeper into the machine's chassis, the light held between teeth showing her the particularly tricky portion of hydraulics. "Oh, that's 'cause of my first Master!" She mumbled through the tube in her mouth. "Kinda bitch, but also super advanced AI from a way higher tech base than here or Chaldea. Cheats like you wouldn't believe."
"You had an AI for a summoner the first time?" Ahhhh, Sabah's confused voice was cute~. Cute!
"Yep. She called herself BB, never explained what the initials meant and was hard into dom loss. So, you know, played the evil AI tyrant overlord to the hilt." She could understand. While she appeared fairly generic, Hakuno was a very cute girl. Bit more passive than even Ritsuka, but certainly not bad to look at. "Went rogue, smashed the data of a couple big shot goddesses into herself… Moon Cell was kinda like the Matrix." Elizabeth added as a way of explaining the Moon efficiently. "Ayway, she souped herself up and then went about acquiring minions and modifying them to perform better too." Most of said minions being her 'children', but still, Elizabeth herself benefitted too. "I just hoarded her gifts real well and made sure she didn't notice she never took them back~."
"You sure boasting about getting one over an advanced AI with god complex is - aaaahhhhh, that's the spot - smart?"
Elizabeth chortled as she finally finished with Mk.2 "Probably not, but she is not here so what's the worst that can happen?"
___________________________________________________________________________
"Let us see if Fortuna smiles on us today." Outis hummed as he stood in one of the castle's many lounges, Cleopatra artfully sprawled across the sofa next to him. Honestly, he was pretty sure the place had become bigger on the inside.
[Deploying Chamber of Guf.]
A brilliant, blue circle manifested on the floor in front of them, a deck of cards floating perfectly in the middle, just waiting for the pulling hand.
"It really plays up the theme to the hilt." Cleopatra commented as she observed the lightshow. The woman did her level best to appear nonchalant, but the light reflected in her eyes just so to capture the hunger.
"A pinch of showmanship goes a long way." The Master of Cards chuckled, drawing out a streamer of cards with a flourish, twirling them into a perfect circle. The Cards glowed white, even as their Classes solidified on their backs in sequence. Saber, Saber, Assassin, Archer, Rider, Archer, Assassin, Assassin, Caster, Moon Cancer.
The first Saber Card's stock image glowed and peeled away in a shower of pink particles revealing an extremely skimpily armoured Elizabeth.
[Saber: Elizabeth Bathory (Brave) obtained.]
[The Moon Moon of Elizabeths.]
The rest followed suit, until it was the Moon Cancer's turn. The dreadful suspicion was only confirmed as the 'stock image' peeled away in a veritable curtain of heart-shaped, pearly-pink foam…
[Moon Cancer: Sessyoin Kiara obtained.]
"Burn it. Burn it right now." Outis ordered, voice strained with a hysterical edge. He was not dealing with that woman. Not now, not ever, not even with an army of Hans duplicates to berate her into submission.
The Card was immediately consumed by the white flames. This time, unlike with ol' Gilles, the white flames were generously streaked with strands of purple, burning away the original image and etching a new one. The purple colouration of the generic card fit suspiciously well with the figure.
[Meltrylis Bond Level 2 gained.]
[̸̞̄B̷̗̾B̷̀͜ ̸̩̊B̷͖͊ȯ̴̳n̶̮͑d̵̦̿ ̶̇͜Ľ̸̮e̷̦͋v̷͖̅ë̵̞́l̵̤̎ ̶̹̈́1̸̞̂ ̵̫̓g̷͖͊ḁ̵̚ị̷̆n̶̤͆e̷̳̐d̴̺͘]̵̖͌
̷̩͗[̸͓̎P̶̰̀â̵̻s̷͙̚s̷̥͝i̷̠͗o̷̡̍n̴̞͊l̷̮̀i̷͇̊p̵̬̂ ̸̙͂B̸̤͘o̴̺͋n̷̰̈́d̶̻̾ ̶̜̆L̶̻͝e̵̲̓ṿ̸͝e̷̬͘l̸͙̉ ̸͔͑1̵͍̏ ̵̫̂g̸͚͗ả̷̦i̵̘͑ṉ̸͊e̸̯̽ḏ̴͝]̶̼͗
[Chromatic Card of Moon Cancer obtained.]
[STR: E AGI: E END: E MGI: D LCK: D NP: E]
[Magic Resistance: E]
[Territory Creation: E]
[Item Construction: E]
[N/A]
[NP: Ņ̵̡̗̩͎͕̹̲͉̩̎̈́̋̂̈͝/̶͔̪̑̃̀̌́̕͠A̶̟̍̈́̌͊̃͆̂͐̅ C.C.C: Celestial Connection Contract]
[Rank: E] [Type: Anti-Unit]
[Effect: Use it to tune up for the BB Channel~!]
[You are welcome, Senpai-candidate~!]
[I feel violated.] Da'at commented with a clear shudder in its voice.
"..." Outis' face was utterly blank, before breaking into a grin brittle as glass, eyes utterly dead. "So! Who wants to check out the minibar?"
He wasn't about to face the very real possibility of needing to enable a reality-warping AI's defeated villainess fetish sober. At least he would be really putting his back into the grinding, wasn't that grand, Da'at?
[I am asking Shaper for the finest junk data it has.] The voice of the system agreed.
By joining, you, too, can access two chapters ahead.
"Good morning, young lady. Young master. If you would be so kind as to vacate the bed so we can finally get around to cleaning after the young lady?" The next morning, Outis and Elizabeth were woken up by the looming form of the head maid of the castle… Bernadett, Outis recalled. Although he could only recognise her by her voice as the woman waiting patiently at the side of the bed was decidedly more… detailed than the morning before. A heart shaped face framed by the luscious, white locks of hair and ruby red eyes, fairly tall. Liz had excellent taste, he noted.
"Mmmust we?" The pinkette snuggling into his side mumbled as her tail swatted at the maid.
The unimpressed look Bernadett sent her way, even as she pushed the extra appendage with a gloved hand, was on a wholly different level now that there was a detailed face behind it. Well, that took care of any doubts Outis may've had as to her identity. "Seeing as you are not, in fact, still going at it, I assume our work wouldn't go to waste and that at least one of you is ready to be a productive person today."
"C'mon, Liz, I'll bridal carry you down to the hall." The black haired man offered with a stifled yawn.
"She will walk, or else you will just be dragged into another room." Bernadett countermanded immediately.
"I'm not that bad!" The Countess squawked, tail shooting up ramrod straight.
"I believed so as well, and then you actually got married." The head maid countered mercilessly.
…Outis made a small mental note to buy condoms as soon as possible. Any other Servant short of Medb, he wouldn't be concerned, but Liz'd had like five children and if anyone was going to figure out how to fudge the system to keep the track record going…
"Hmph!" Despite that, Liz slid from the bed with complete lack of concern for her state of dress, or the lack thereof.
[Since Bernadett broke the ice, I might as well provide a status update on the results of the night's events.]
[Even if the most obvious one has made itself apparent already.]
"The castle has been… renovated." Bernadett confirms. "We have lost the dungeons entirely, not that they were in much use. Thankfully, whatever magics keep you updated on the technological progress saw fit to make sure the staff are as well, or else we would be lost with all these new amenities."
[Now, to make matters official.]
[Beauty and the Beast Strengthening Interlude complete.]
[Rewards: Báthory Erzsébet unlocked. Elizabeth Bathory Bond Level 6, Elizabeth Bathory Ascension 1, Elizabeth Bathory (Caster) obtained, Mecha Elizabeth mk. 1 and mk. 2 partially obtained]
[Elizabeth Bathory: Charisma C upgrades to Idol's Charisma A, Torture Technique A replaced with Sárkány Inheritor A]
[Idol's Charisma allows manifested Elizabeth in particular to freely switch between Lancer and Caster class. The function is absent from the version granted by the Install.]
[The wraiths, as part of the castle, can be summoned and sustained in a radius centred on Elizabeth.]
[Additionally, using Báthory Erzsébet allows for an instant transition between Elizabeth's Territory and the site of her Noble Phantasm's deployment]
"I much doubt we would be of much use to the young lady in combat." Bernadett huffs. "Not at the level she operates nowadays."
"It would cut down on the costs of hiring actual back-up dancers…" Liz mused aloud as she allowed another maid to go through the motions of helping her dress up.
The head maid sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Young lady, I would remind you that we have jobs already, superficial as magic appears to make them. You would also need to take the time to bring them up to speed on the modern way of dancing and playing."
"Just consider the lessons a fair exchange with the fact you can now appear out of thin air to rein her in." Outis chuckled as he stretched languidly, bare feet deeply appreciating the new parquet as he stepped off to flip through his admittedly limited wardrobe.
"Moou~" The dragoness pouted before blinking. "...What's up with those two robots, by the way?"
[They qualify, according to my databases, as distinct enough Servants that are part of the gacha pool. They are also, technically speaking, part of the castle itself.]
[As such, between that and the fact they were defeated without being destroyed, they remained behind even once the Interlude finished. However, to draw upon their capabilities directly or manifest them beyond the boundaries of the castle, Outis would still need to actually draw them from the pool.]
"Mark Two was well behaved enough, although I'm not so sure about Mark One." Outis hummed as he finished buttoning up his shirt. "How's everyone been holding up after yesterday's shock, Bernadett?"
"Currently gathered in the Great Hall." The maid replied as she opened the door for them. "I believe they wished to spend the rest of the night together as a form of reassurance."
The staircase leading down from Elizabeth's bedroom to her solar and below, to the rest of the castle was already an indicator of the changes to Csejte. Modern, mahogany railings and electrical lamps casting the descent in a soft, pink glow. But it was the Great Hall that truly drove it home that the castle had been modernised beyond belief.
It was now illuminated by a trio of sprawling chandeliers with myriad of crystal doo-dads hanging off of them and reflecting the light in the twinkling, golden glow. The high table was still there, raised above the rest of the room, a long and carved piece of laminated, dark oak. Elizabeth's throne remained pretty much unchanged, while the rest of the seats at the high table gained more elaborate backrests, with generous plush seating in burnt orange.
The three full room length tables were gone, replaced with a myriad of more private seating arrangements, small rectangular tables with four sofa chairs each, everything in black, orange and red. Even the floor received a bit of a glow up, the wood shining with polished freshness.
All in all, it felt a bit like Elizabeth presided over a five star hotel, with her own position seemingly easily turned towards a more defensive purpose.
"Commander, Elizabeth." Nightingale greeted them from an out of the way side-table where she was tending to a hunched-over Parian. The dark-skinned girl looked up and flashed Liz a shaky smile, before looking down again.
[Parian Bond Level 2 gained]
Moriarty was sitting at his usual spot, engrossed in his laptop, while the Dallon sisters had their own spot off the main table, all but glued to one another.
"Sup, lovebirds, finally decided to grace us with your presence?" Victoria greeted them jokingly. Even still, her hand hadn't stopped rubbing Amy's back.
"More like Bernadett all but chased us out of the room with a broom." Outis chuckled after shooting Head Nurse a nod. He made to start heading towards his usual seat, but Liz beat him to the punch, slipping away from him and marching right into the middle of the hall. Her eyes swept across the whole of it, lingering for a moment on each man and woman under her roof.
And then, she bowed practically at a ninety degree angle. "I AM SO VERY SORRY, EVERYONE! I LET PERSONAL MATTERS ENDANGER YOU WHEN YOU WERE MY GUESTS! I AM TRULY, DEEPLY SORRY FOR ALL THE DISTRESS!" It was impressively loud, almost on the level of an actual dragon breath, felt in the bones as it filled the air.
Although, given she used her tail to counterbalance her sharp movement, she also gave Outis an eyeful of her backside. He had no idea if that was intentional and either way he knew discretion was the better part of valour.
Victoria grimaced as she poked her ear. "Didn't know you had 'create psychotic supervillains to hit my house' in your bag of powers." She commented dryly. "Hell of a way to learn magic is real, gotta admit."
"I have already told everyone back when they saved me." Parian added quietly as she shuffled uneasily over to Elizabeth and knelt in front of her, cupping Elizabeth's face in her hands. "But you explicitly told me I might be targeted by villains and I still signed up, didn't I?"
"Waaaaaaa! Saaabah~!" The dragon girl cried, quite literally going by the tears streaming down her face, falling onto the other girl, throwing her arms around her neck.
Outis couldn't help his fond smile. Really, was it any wonder he'd fallen for this girl?
"I diagnose that girl with hysteria." Nightingale muttered dryly as she massaged her temples.
Victoria just shook her head as she grabbed her sister and shuffled around the emotional Liz over to Outis. "So, was the bitch the only projection or are the others the same?" She asked straight out of the gate.
"They aren't projections in the parahuman sense, but yes." The Master of Cards replied as he leaned against the wall. "I am the only one made of ordinary flesh and blood here, Brocktonites notwithstanding."
"They definitely look and feel like regular flesh and blood." Amy grunted. "For a given value of regular. So whatever bullshit power makes them, it goes above and beyond what is strictly necessary."
"You can say that again." Outis chuckled, shaking his head softly. "I'd tell you more, but while I put up what protections I could against nosy Thinkers, this world sure has some obnoxious clairvoyants. Only reason I'm not having this whole conversation through Da'at is that I don't want to leave Vicky out of it."
"Still can't believe your mission control gal runs on the literal power of friendship." Victoria chortled, shaking her head. "Don't think anyone would believe that's a legit power."
[Friendship and irresponsible spending.]
[Disregarding how little of the latter you are doing.]
"Fairy Queen exists, at this point I can believe anything is a legit power." Amy countered.
"Fair. Now, back to responsible sibling track." Victoria sighed as she clapped her hands and focused on Outis. "I decided to trust you with Ames and… okay, this kinda shook it a little bit, but I would be hypocritical if a villain attack made me walk it back. A single unconnected villain with personal grudge 'gainst Lizzy?" She shook her head. "Fuck, it has been eight of us New Wave against Empire's numbers and they know a lot about us."
"But, Outis, here's a thing. Empire ain't Marche. Four capes, no matter how versatile your bullshit is, just isn't a recipe for success, and whenever they are hit seriously, the Empire strikes back. And I don't want Ames to go way of aunt Fleur."
"I hear you. Give me a second, let me see what I can do." Outis said with a sigh, even as he sent out a telepathic message to all his manifested Servants. [We need intel and firepower. All of you know who I'm thinking of. Yay or nay?]
[She is not exactly a good fit for a heroic look and will require some defrosting before she is pleasant company, but she will not deliberately plunge a knife in your back.] Moriarty offered immediately.
[It will be a very bumpy ride for everyone but you even if she warms up to you, Commander.] Nightingale sighed.
[...She isn't as bad as she was.] Elizabeth gave her opinion. [But you will need to pay attention to her for the foreseeable future, Darling. She is proud, and believes herself a monster incompatible with humans. I believe she won't go out of her way to be a deliberate monster, at least.]
[Tonight or tomorrow, then. Best to give everyone a bit of breathing room before I bring her out to play.] Outis decided with a bob of his head, before his mind moved on to another colossal asset. [Any objections to me bringing out our regular Assassin in the meantime? The cat is out of the bag already, may as well reassure everyone by summoning her right here and now.]
[She will put up a high and mighty act, Darling, but she is a sweetheart, deep down. So don't let the first impressions get to you.] Elizabeth advised with a mental equivalent of a sigh. [Besides, you need practice wrangling more difficult people before you try for someone actually difficult.]
"Alright, we have a heavy hitter on the way, she'll be here by tomorrow morning." The Master of Cards said as he stepped off the wall, back and shoulders straight for all his smile was crooked, "In the meantime, would you like to meet genuine royalty?"
The sisters exchanged glances before Vicky shrugged. "Ye, sure. Not sure what's so special 'bout that, but go for it."
That was all leave Outis needed to stroll to the centre of the Great Hall, the main table tall and proud behind him. A flick of his wrist was all it took, Card sinking into the plush carpet. The circle manifested, the orbs of white began their dance turning rainbow before a pillar of milky white interwoven with glittering gold before it exploded outwards, showering everyone around liberally with golden dust.
The woman who stood in front of Outis was about five foot six, with long, jade-hued green hair reaching almost to the ground. It was cut into an even line just above her eyes, also green if a couple shades lighter, with a mole under the right one. A flowing, white robe split from under her generous bust revealing her stomach. A series of gold ornaments pulled the material to her right, preserving her modesty with just a hint of undergarments. Her arms were bare, save for the bands of pure gold clasping them over the elbows and at the wrist, with gold rings resting on her fingers.
She struck a pose, right hand resting on her cocked hip, head held high enough she was managing to look down on everyone present despite the dais.
"Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator is here!" She declared with a haughty smirk. "With this summoning and the contract formed, you may consider your life to have peaked."
"... Holy shit she has an attitude." Victoria whispered in muted awe. "And that's your stealth woman?"
Amy, on the other hand, seemed to be far more interested in the thin strip of skin Cleopatra's outfit was showing off.
[Assassin class, naturally.]
[Truly, fate has a sense of humour regarding these things.]
"Welcome to the Csejte vára, your majesty." Outis greeted the Last Pharaoh with a genuine smile and hands folded behind his back, not one trace of contempt in his address. She was a queen and would be addressed as such until their relationship became more than professional. His only point of resistance was in offering a nod of acknowledgement instead of a proper bow. "The staff are preparing your accommodations as we speak and I will see about reuniting you with Emperor Julius as swiftly as luck and funds permit."
[Cleopatra Bond Level 2 gained]
There was a flash of surprise in the woman's eyes, quickly hidden as she recomposed herself, even though she did lower her head so she was looking Outis in the eyes at the level instead of the ridiculous display of haughtiness she did not a minute earlier. "I- I thank you, my summoner. I do advise you to work dearly for those funds, neither me nor Julius are people willing to suffer plebeian accommodations for longer than absolutely necessary."
"Wasn't 'Julius' a soldier?" Moriarty murmured with an astonished shake of his head. "Roman opinions on luxury are well documented."
"I will, naturally, be holding you up to your promise." Cleopatra continued as she crossed her arms under her bust (a choked, unintelligible sound escaped Amy's throat) before taking in the Great Hall with a nod. "How nostalgic, to be gracing the halls of Csejte with my presence once more immediately upon summoning." Turning around, she spotted Elizabeth on the floor, still holding Sabah in her grasp. The parahuman was visibly torn between her arms full of affectionate monster girl and the vision of beauty who just appeared out of thin air. "The same as always, Countess?"
"Just about, Pharaoh." Liz sighed as she stood up, pulling the dumbfounded Sabah along her. "Darling will give you the tour of the place since you barely bothered to look around the last… two times you were here. I think I will go see what Mk.1 and 2 are doing. Maybe I can even convince them to get some actual names~!" She added as she waved her goodbyes, primarily at Outis, while dragging Sabah with her.
"Jealous little thing, isn't she." Moriarty chuckled as he slid his laptop to the side.
"A bit of overreaction." Cleopatra responded in kind, shaking her head. "Her tastes are a bit less restrictive than mine, after all. Unless she is willing to let me have a go at her staff…" The woman hummed as she spotted one of the wraith-maids scuttling around. Who was, just like Bernadett, another white-haired, red eyed girl.
"Women." Nightingale ground out.
[Are you not one as well, Miss Nightingale?]
"We do the most with what we are given." The nurse replied tersely.
How Guda managed hundreds of Servants, Outis would never know.
"One of these days, I must ask Elizabeth just how she had managed… all of this." Cleopatra confessed as she walked slightly behind Outis through the halls of Csejte, now well lit with electrical lights alongside the ceiling, some of which at least were coloured instead of uniformly bright white. "While Servants do get an update on modern times, it's usually not… comprehensive enough to allow us to do this kind of thing. Not unless we actually had the relevant skills already, and those Servants wouldn't need the update."
It certainly was impressive enough how the whole castle now looked like a thematic, modern high-class hotel conversion. A (very brief) stop by the now installed 'public' bathrooms dotting the halls revealed proper plumbing in addition to electricity, the doors to servant rooms and guest quarters were upgraded with more modern locks. The passing Wraiths even revealed modern cleaning equipment. As well as modernised… 'self defence tools'. It was a truly bizarre anachronism.
"She is a veteran of the Moon Cell Wars, perhaps she learned from there?" Outis theorised with a fractional tilt of his head even as he drank in the changes. How Liz had managed to blend the mediaeval castle charm with Dubai's particular flavour of high class hotel was beyond him, but damn if it didn't work. "It wouldn't be her strangest feat, that woman is truly terrifying when she puts her mind to something."
There was no helping the fond, proud smile pulling at his lips.
Elizabeth hummed an absent minded tune she remembered from… was it the Moon? Probably. Most of her repertoire was saved from there. Hell of a first place to be summoned into, she had to admit. Still, she hummed as she worked on putting Mk.2's internals back where they belonged. Clue was in the name. To the side, Sabah was watching with morbid fascination as she converted power armour back into a robot.
"Honestly." She harrumphed as she twisted her wrist and exerted extra force to shove a bit where it should connect. "That bitch had to be coasting on the flimsy connection between us. This is amateur work. You're lucky she didn't fuck anything up permanently."
"I have noticed." Mk.2 agreed flatly as it stared straight ahead. Really, Mk.1 and Mk.2 (she refused to share name with them) were, for all that they were advanced beyond compare, showing their origin as guardian statues. With the tech on display they should have an array of functions enabling them much greater body language mimicry… or was that just Mk.2's insistence on viewing herself as a weapon first and foremost. "Query, Elizabeth Bathory."
"Hmmm?"
"Even with the information package updating one's knowledge base, I am not aware of any circumstance which would grant you the access to the kind of knowledge base necessary for the modifications to Csejte you have performed…. Or for the kind of repairs you are providing right now."
"She shouldn't?" Sabah blinked in confusion. Darling's explanation back in the Great Hall was fairly well translated into parahuman lingo but there were still things that tripped the capes.
"Negative. The knowledge package ought to bring the historical basis up to speed to avoid confusion, but it shouldn't grant an actual proficiency, unless it is necessary within the bounds of Servant's skillset, like Riding skill translating into new modes of transportation." Mk. 2 explained.
Elizabeth grinned to herself as she leaned deeper into the machine's chassis, the light held between teeth showing her the particularly tricky portion of hydraulics. "Oh, that's 'cause of my first Master!" She mumbled through the tube in her mouth. "Kinda bitch, but also super advanced AI from a way higher tech base than here or Chaldea. Cheats like you wouldn't believe."
"You had an AI for a summoner the first time?" Ahhhh, Sabah's confused voice was cute~. Cute!
"Yep. She called herself BB, never explained what the initials meant and was hard into dom loss. So, you know, played the evil AI tyrant overlord to the hilt." She could understand. While she appeared fairly generic, Hakuno was a very cute girl. Bit more passive than even Ritsuka, but certainly not bad to look at. "Went rogue, smashed the data of a couple big shot goddesses into herself… Moon Cell was kinda like the Matrix." Elizabeth added as a way of explaining the Moon efficiently. "Ayway, she souped herself up and then went about acquiring minions and modifying them to perform better too." Most of said minions being her 'children', but still, Elizabeth herself benefitted too. "I just hoarded her gifts real well and made sure she didn't notice she never took them back~."
"You sure boasting about getting one over an advanced AI with god complex is - aaaahhhhh, that's the spot - smart?"
Elizabeth chortled as she finally finished with Mk.2 "Probably not, but she is not here so what's the worst that can happen?"
___________________________________________________________________________
"Let us see if Fortuna smiles on us today." Outis hummed as he stood in one of the castle's many lounges, Cleopatra artfully sprawled across the sofa next to him. Honestly, he was pretty sure the place had become bigger on the inside.
[Deploying Chamber of Guf.]
A brilliant, blue circle manifested on the floor in front of them, a deck of cards floating perfectly in the middle, just waiting for the pulling hand.
"It really plays up the theme to the hilt." Cleopatra commented as she observed the lightshow. The woman did her level best to appear nonchalant, but the light reflected in her eyes just so to capture the hunger.
"A pinch of showmanship goes a long way." The Master of Cards chuckled, drawing out a streamer of cards with a flourish, twirling them into a perfect circle. The Cards glowed white, even as their Classes solidified on their backs in sequence. Saber, Saber, Assassin, Archer, Rider, Archer, Assassin, Assassin, Caster, Moon Cancer.
The first Saber Card's stock image glowed and peeled away in a shower of pink particles revealing an extremely skimpily armoured Elizabeth.
[Saber: Elizabeth Bathory (Brave) obtained.]
[The Moon Moon of Elizabeths.]
The rest followed suit, until it was the Moon Cancer's turn. The dreadful suspicion was only confirmed as the 'stock image' peeled away in a veritable curtain of heart-shaped, pearly-pink foam…
[Moon Cancer: Sessyoin Kiara obtained.]
"Burn it. Burn it right now." Outis ordered, voice strained with a hysterical edge. He was not dealing with that woman. Not now, not ever, not even with an army of Hans duplicates to berate her into submission.
The Card was immediately consumed by the white flames. This time, unlike with ol' Gilles, the white flames were generously streaked with strands of purple, burning away the original image and etching a new one. The purple colouration of the generic card fit suspiciously well with the figure.
[Meltrylis Bond Level 2 gained.]
[̸̞̄B̷̗̾B̷̀͜ ̸̩̊B̷͖͊ȯ̴̳n̶̮͑d̵̦̿ ̶̇͜Ľ̸̮e̷̦͋v̷͖̅ë̵̞́l̵̤̎ ̶̹̈́1̸̞̂ ̵̫̓g̷͖͊ḁ̵̚ị̷̆n̶̤͆e̷̳̐d̴̺͘]̵̖͌
̷̩͗[̸͓̎P̶̰̀â̵̻s̷͙̚s̷̥͝i̷̠͗o̷̡̍n̴̞͊l̷̮̀i̷͇̊p̵̬̂ ̸̙͂B̸̤͘o̴̺͋n̷̰̈́d̶̻̾ ̶̜̆L̶̻͝e̵̲̓ṿ̸͝e̷̬͘l̸͙̉ ̸͔͑1̵͍̏ ̵̫̂g̸͚͗ả̷̦i̵̘͑ṉ̸͊e̸̯̽ḏ̴͝]̶̼͗
[Chromatic Card of Moon Cancer obtained.]
[STR: E AGI: E END: E MGI: D LCK: D NP: E]
[Magic Resistance: E]
[Territory Creation: E]
[Item Construction: E]
[N/A]
[NP: Ņ̵̡̗̩͎͕̹̲͉̩̎̈́̋̂̈͝/̶͔̪̑̃̀̌́̕͠A̶̟̍̈́̌͊̃͆̂͐̅ C.C.C: Celestial Connection Contract]
[Rank: E] [Type: Anti-Unit]
[Effect: Use it to tune up for the BB Channel~!]
[You are welcome, Senpai-candidate~!]
[I feel violated.] Da'at commented with a clear shudder in its voice.
"..." Outis' face was utterly blank, before breaking into a grin brittle as glass, eyes utterly dead. "So! Who wants to check out the minibar?"
He wasn't about to face the very real possibility of needing to enable a reality-warping AI's defeated villainess fetish sober. At least he would be really putting his back into the grinding, wasn't that grand, Da'at?
[I am asking Shaper for the finest junk data it has.] The voice of the system agreed.
As always, big thanks to Xanah, Unknown B, Penguino, JoJoDio, Shirou0Emiya, Bowchikabowow. MetaWorld42, nununu, Just Some Guy With A Mustage, Ermast, Helios, Joshua Littlesun, [TEE],PlatiNom, Jose Matos, Soulsmsher, Altaibaatar, Ian DeHart, Brigand, Starfall 20 and ลิงติดเกม จากป่าดิบชื้นแถบอเมริกาใต้, saganatsu, Gabriel, Devan Duncan, Dodge the Lava, Aravir, Alys, Romain BETTINELLI, Phantsai, Austin, That_One_Guy, Francisco Garaycoa, Matthew Johnson and Mohamed Aljahmi, who decided my writing is actually worth paying for.
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