"Honestly, Rits, I'm sure Mashu could have—uh."
Standing at the door to the summoning chambers, Kana looks in, blinks, and blinks again. Ritsuka is on his knees before a small girl with long purple hair sitting imperiously on a stool, kneading her feet with his hands. He seems absolutely enraptured with her. Behind the small girl stands a statuesque woman with incredibly long hair of the same shade, meekly hugging herself.
"...Shirou's daughter?" She whispers.
Kana raises one finger. She lowers it.
This is absolutely disgusting.
"Ritsuka motherfucker Tohsaka, what the hell are you doing?" Her words do not quaver, she does not raise her voice. Kana makes a calm inquest at him.
Ritsuka looks over at her, far too happy to be her beleaguered and hysterical twin brother. Like, he's usually a drama queen with no chill.
This boy is nothing
but chill. It slightly concerns her. "Kana!" He says happily. There is an odd edge in his voice. "Have you come to pay tribute to the fair Goddess, Stheno?"
Ah. That explains a lot. This is probably a noble phantasm in process. This looks like outright mind control and
fuck that's creepy. Kana sighs and walks towards the little girl, the eldest Gorgon in the flesh. "Hi, in case you haven't already realised, I'm that idiot's sister and your
other Master." She offers a polite smile. "Kana, at your service."
The tall woman frowns. "Sakura?" She whispers, and realises too late that the acoustics of the summoning chamber are actually really good.
"...Uh." Kana looks at the tall woman in the back. Wow she's tall. Like, not
that tall, but tall for a girl! "Wait, how do you know--"
"So you're the one the
imbecile called to save him," Stheno scowls, her delicate features sneering and imperious. "Do you know what he did?"
Kana lets out a breath. What did that imbecile do? "Okay, Rits is kind of an idiot, but he's not an imbecile."
"I am whatever lady Stheno says I am," Ritsuka says, happily entranced.
"And if she said you would look fantastic in a dress?" Kana counters.
"Then I would happily wear one," he replies. Kana's eyes bulge. That did
not just happen. Ritsuka looks over at Stheno immediately. "Would I, milady? Would I?"
"...We will see, later," Stheno says. Yep, looks like the good old Crossdresser EX is still operational. But that's uh, not a great sign.
Kana sighs. "Yes, he called me and I came the minute I could. What did the stupid nerd do?"
Stheno snaps her fingers. "Meduseless, tell her."
Medusa? Oh boy.
"Yes, eldest big sister." The youngest Gorgon steps forward, hands clasped over her abdomen. "It started not long after I was summoned…"
--
The light dies, and she feels her form solidify. Another incarnation, another life. But this time, she does not compete for a grail. Maybe she will find some sort of redemption, before the monster takes over aga--
"WHAT?! SERIOUSLY?!"
Medusa frowns through Breaker Gorgon, and sees her Master standing shocked before her. He stands just slightly taller than her, right above her eye line. It's shameful how she can even meet his gaze… If only she weren't so disgustingly tall.
"Servant Rider, answering your summons. If you wished for a sacrifice, feel free to--"
"Oh. Oh, no no no!" The boy quickly shakes his head. "No, I'm happy to summon you! This is just the first time… I can't believe it actually worked! A Servant! I summoned a Servant!"
Medusa looks oddly at her new Master. Somehow, he seems familiar… Wait, that hair and those eyes… The boy seems to resemble Rin. And more than skin deep; the way he stands, the way he's rambling… he has her mannerisms.
So that's how it is. Rin won, in the end. What a shame, Sakura. But it is not the end. There will be other loves, other boys who will treat you well. Like Ayako's younger brother… Hm, isn't that a thought...
"You're Medusa, right? The Gorgon?"
"Ah?" She nods at her Master. "Yes, I am. Doesn't that concern you?"
The boy shrugs. "Honestly, I'm just happy I called on someone for once! I'm Ritsuka Tohsaka, looking forward to working with you!" He extends a hand, which Rider takes after several seconds. This is… odd. Acceptance, from a new Master? And so soon? He can't possibly be Rin's son. Maybe Shirou's influence shines through strongly.
"Well, I've got one more attempt," Ritsuka tells her cheerfully, showing off four gemstones. She nods and stands by the side. Her Master tosses the gems into the summoning circle and three golden rings bloom from it, before a gold-white pillar hits the ceiling. "Wait, did it just--"
Standing in the ring is a diminutive figure, her hair done up in long pigtails, wearing a loose and breezy toga. "Rejoice, Master," she titters, her voice girlish yet imperious. "You've called upon a Goddess~"
"E-Eldest big sister?" Medusa blurts out. Stheno looks at her, and visibly stops herself from leaping forward to hug her. Of course she wouldn't; she is a Goddess, an ideal of beauty. She has standards. But even so, these tears in her eyes… they are real…
She never expected to be reunited in a place like this…
"Medusa," Stheno gasps, but then her shock turns into malicious glee in the blink of an eye. "I see you're still tall as ever. How monstrous."
The pain that shoots through her is not from mortal injury, but a spiritual wound that can never be healed. Medusa falls on her knees in a bid to hide her height, even if it is hopeless. "Yes…"
Ritsuka frowns. "Hey, that's not nice. Apologise to her, Stheno."
The eldest Gorgon turns to their Master. "Hora~? A mortal recognises us?" Her grin turns sneaky. "Well then, you might be interesting to play with…"
"Yeah, no, not going to happen," Ritsuka says flatly. "I'm not into children."
Somehow, somewhere, the air shatters like glass. It's an interesting phenomenon, that. Glass shattering is basically never good. Even a monster like her knows this. It's why they do their best to break it as much as possible.
"C-Children… how impertinent!" Stheno stamps her feet childishly and pouts at Ritsuka. "On your knees now, pig! Beg for forgiveness and we may yet spare you the worst!"
"Yeah, no, I'm… christian-ish," he says, trailing off at the end. "Hm, honestly I've never thought about it… But if I was going to worship the Gorgons I'd pick Medusa. Sorry. Love the hair colour, though."
Medusa looks up, tears staining her eyes beneath Breaker Gorgon. This boy would love her, a hideous, gangly monster, as a Goddess?
Stheno gasps. She does a bit of a twirl. "Y-You fool! Don't we dazzle you? Isn't our appearance the true desire of men?! Love me!"
"Yeah, no," Ritsuka says flatly. "I'm not into lolis. Might go to jail, and honestly the Internet is wrong. Flat is not
justice."
His final statement hangs in the air. Both Stheno and Medusa look shocked at him.
Ritsuka scratches the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah… Sorry, that was rude, I more meant to say--"
"UNACCEPTABLE!"
Mana overflows from her small body, an unyielding ocean that threatens to swallow him whole. Primal fear grips him. Medusa knows why; his instincts as a Magus tell him that Servants only unleash their power when they deploy their Noble Phantasm. And her elder big sister's Noble Phantasm is particularly cruel to men.
Ritsuka quickly pulls out a phone and clenches his red-branded hand. "Fuck fuck BY MY COMMAND SEAL--"
"SMILE OF THE STHENO!"
There is pink light.
"Kana come to the summoning chamber immediately it's an emergency. Come now please NOW PLEASE!"
Medusa sees that he does not hear the reply. His eyes have already glazed over.
--
"...So basically my brother is an idiot who has feet in his mouth at all hours of the day."
"Essentially," Rider nods.
"Rude," Ritsuka scoffs poshly. "I am an
imbecile. Did you not hear milady Stheno's decree?"
"Shut up, pig," Stheno scowls.
"Of course, my goddess Stheno."
Kana sighs and jabs her forehead. Okay yeah this is a predicament. Somehow she needs to resolve this incident, but using Command Seals basically undermines her authority forever.
God, what a mess.
"...Stheno, while my brother is a massive idiot -
don't you start - he
did apologise, and you
have made him suffer for it." Kana puts her hands behind her back and leans forward to her, closer to eye level. "How about you let him go and we torture him
without mind control? That way we can
watch him suffer!"
"I'd rather not," Stheno harrumphs. "Until this pig has paid his dues and knows
true beauty, he shall remain mine. Grand Order or not." She narrows her eyes at Kana. "Not that
you'd understand, you
cow."
Kana stands up straight. She pinches her nose and exhales sharply. Suddenly, her sympathy has completely died. "Stheno?"
"I'm not interested in your bargains, cow-Master," Stheno says, waving her off dismissively. "Leave us, lest I make him do something."
"Herakles," Kana says calmly but firmly, drawing all eyes as her Command Seals glow brightly, "By my Command Seal, come."
There is thunder. There is lightning. There is the Son of Zeus, in the flesh, standing tall beside his comparatively-tiny Master. Kana is pretty short, but she's not
that short - and yet compared to Herakles,
everyone is short. He looks over at Kana, slightly frowning. Now, Kana isn't a Berserker whisperer like Ritsuka is, but she
does know how to set the big guy off.
"Stheno over there has mind controlled Ritsuka and won't give him back," she says flatly. Stheno's eyes go wide as dishplates as Herakles snaps to face her, glaring with all the ferocity of a monster himself. Even Medusa takes a step back instinctively, knowing true fear. "Anyways, Stheno, let him go or I let the big guy loose - and he loves the idiot."
"Imbecile," Ritsuka hisses.
"You're an idiot, shut up."
Stheno glares harshly at Kana but she knows it is a battle she cannot win. Regrettably, it takes some muscle to get the
point through to her. "Fine," she says, angrily and through gritted teeth.
Ritsuka lurches up like a coiled spring suddenly released, and he nearly stumbles face-first into Herk's abs as he finally has control again.
"Thank you," he weeps. "Thank yo-ho-ho-hooo Kana, holy
fuck what was I
doing."
"Shut up, imbecile," Kana snaps playfully, causing Stheno to almost smile before remembering her frustration. She looks over at Medusa. "Anyways, Rider, if
you are a hideous, gangly monster, then what am I?"
"A troll," both Stheno and Ritsuka say, at the same time, in the same tenor.
Kana looks at her brother again. What a fucking imbecile. "You get one~," she says sweetly.
Ritsuka blanches. "I'm sorry."
"Mmhm. One punch in the face, you imbecile,
who's a troll?!"
"Come on you were asking for it!"
"THAT'S TWO! TALK SMACK GET SMACKED, IMBECILE!"
Ritsuka screams incoherently at the flawless logic. He looks desperately up at Herakles, but the giant simply returns with a flat gaze. He's brought this on himself. Even the mad hero agrees - and he's literally too insane to understand this sort of shit right now.
Stheno smirks devilishly. "Actually, Master, we might get along after all."
"I sure hope not," Kana says, returning with a smirk of her own. Honestly probably not really, Stheno is a horrible self-centered god-bitch, but in the afterglow of vindication it's nice to have a friend. "Welcome to Chaldea, Stheno."
"Sakura, how..." Medusa mutters under her breath. And Herakles gives her a single sympathetic nod, when no one is looking.
- End Chapter Ten -
Several hours later, the twins return to the sparring grounds looking to vent their tensions through the sacred family tradition of 'fuck you talk to my fists'. But they find a sight far more wondrous and cathartic.
Orange juice and rind drops off the ceiling and the walls, while both Gilgamesh and Nobunaga are rolling on the floor, covering their faces. There is orange rind everywhere. And Gil's sunglasses, no doubt absurdly expensive and nigh-irreplaceable, have been shattered on the ground.
It doesn't take a genius to realise what the hell happened here.
"Did you get your fight, Nobu?" Kana asks with a sigh. The Demon King whimpers as she nods. "This is why you don't fight."
"...I actually don't need to do anything," Ritsuka says happily. He no longer seeks vengeance. Good. "You've already punished yourselves. This is
amazing. Don't do it again, guys, I'll see you tomorrow!"
He turns around to leave. Abruptly, Gilgamesh grabs and suplexes him.
"How," Ritsuka rasps.
"You're still wide open, Master," Gilgamesh says, then laughs. "My eyes burn BUT MY HEART BURNS HOTTER!"
Kana ponders it. She shrugs. "That's bullshit, but I believe it."
