Check out Draconic x Delusion
-
Courtesy of the 'earthquake', I had to find some new place to eat after receiving a fierce apology from the hotel staff and owners. Only, I barely even rounded the corner before I suddenly gained a companion other than Shuwen for breakfast.
"...Miss Bazett?"
"We don't know when Berserker's master might attack," She explained calmly, matching my pace "Accompanying each other is the most efficient."
I would have definitely bought that explanation... if she weren't so intent on sharing my umbrella. There was also the slight tint on her cheeks that would've also gone unnoticed were her skin not so fair. Still, the Clock Tower Enforcer maintained a rigid expression, even as her shoulder pressed against mine in an attempt to avoid the rain dripping onto her from the edge.
Somehow I couldn't muster the stubbornness to let her suffer that.
With a sigh, I held it out over her a little more. The cold still refused to agree with me though, and I shivered when the cold water from the skies seeped through to my skin. The wind carried with it the pleasant scent of wet earth, and the trees lining the sidewalk seemed to dance and sway in the slight storm.
"I enjoyed the mist too." I noted to myself.
All around us, businessmen and women rushed about with their heads lowered, along with several students who were playfully messing with each other in the rain. Those people seemed barely bothered by the weather.
How envious.
"It messed with my visibility, but yes, it wasn't too bad."
Eventually, I settled on a quiet little cafe tucked away at the far end of a series of clothing and shoe stores. I doubted there were going to be many people there considering the time of day and then the weather. I was right.
There was no one except us inside in the rustic establishment. Old paintings lined the dark wooden walls, and a disinterested older gentleman sat behind the rosewood counter. He greeted us politely, and showed us over to a table in the corner, one row over from the tables arranged against the window wall. I knew people liked that sort of aesthetic but I didn't think much of it.
I stared at the bulb hanging overhead.
"My grandson will be over soon." He bowed politely, "Please be lenient, he's rather inexperienced."
"Of course, sir." Bazett gave the man a practised smile.
It wasn't long before a youth around my age, maybe older, stumbled out from behind the counter. He wore suit pants, and a white shirt with the toughest buttons I'd ever seen barely holding in his stomach. And...
"That vest definitely isn't closing."
Bazett nodded, "It isn't."
I didn't expect the youth to start giving me the stink eye the moment he laid eyes on us. It seemed like coming to us with his mouth shut was a herculean task that he failed the moment he placed down the menu. His dark hair was long and greasy, and there was an unkempt insult of a beard hiding his double chin.
"I know he's handsome and all, but he looks like a homeless person." He looked at Bazett. She remained expressionless. A couple days ago, I'd have thought she was unbothered. But, I knew now that Bazett reacted in other, less apparent, ways. "Why do women always go for guys like him?"
For example, her clenched fist. He did NOT realise that he was a second away from having his shit kicked in by a woman that hit harder than an actual cannon.
I stared at my wet shoulder. Then shivered for another reason entirely.
"Reddit-" I coughed into my palm, "-Reddit mod."
"What?"
"Nothing."
"Aren't you ashamed to ruin someone's life just for a good time?"
And then he wondered why someone would choose me over him.
"Fatass."
Instead of backing off, he raised a brow, pressing his lips into a thin unimpressed line. "You got anything original?"
"I'm surprised they let you work here. Considering, you know, you probably end up eating the whole pantry."
"You don't-"
"Go to the fucking gym, you walking tub of lard."
"I'll have you-"
"No, don't get mad. People tend to trip when they're worked up. We don't want the city to be swallowed up by the ocean."
He opened his mouth to retort, but a loud thwack cut him off. All three of us looked over to see his grandfather rolling up his sleeves, a thick wooden cane in hand. His face dropped immediately.
"G-Gramps, he started it-"
There was no one else there. Unless the old man was actually deaf, there was no way he was believing that. The idiot seemed to realise that almost immediately, and broke into a wobbly sprint towards the backdoor.
Expectedly, he tripped.
I leaned over just in time to see Bazett retract her foot. She averted her gaze in a rather childish manner, puffing up only one cheek.
"...He was being mean."
Chuckling to myself, I turned the other way. It turned out I'd been both wrong and right about there being few people out and about then. The problem was, one of those 'few' turned out to be an acquaintance. Two acquaintances.
Shirou, I understood. He was an anomaly. There was no explaining what was going on in his head at any given moment. That was why it didn't come as much of a surprise when I saw the white-haired girl tip-toeing next to him.
Her crimson eyes shimmered excitedly.
My hair stood on end, but, before that, I reached across the table and grabbed Bazett's shoulder.
"Not right now."
"It's a chance."
She was right.
There was just a slight issue.
"I doubt Berserker won't come charging out of the air the second we try something."
Instead of entering though, Illyasviel snaked an arm around Shirou's elbow. She pulled him away with her, but not before turning around and casting a nasty smirk at the both of us, a finger pressed against her small lips.
"She might hurt him." Bazett pointed out once they were gone.
"I don't think she will."
Shirou had a strange way with people.
Instead of pondering over that, I placed the binder I'd been carrying on the table between us. The detailed research notes of a Zen'in family head from the Heian Era. Magecraft grew stronger the more stable the perception of the caster was, and even if that were not true for my particular case, knowing more about my Shikigami wasn't going to be diminutive either way.
"I don't know what to expect from this, but... here goes."
"What about breakfast?" Bazett asked with a tilted head.
I wasn't that hungry, honestly. Rather, in my excitement for what was in the files, I was unable to focus on much else.
"You can order for me."
-
I sipped on my hot coffee.
"...Holy shit."
Bazett looked up with a piece of toast in her mouth, "Hm?"
Instead of explaining outright, I merely repeated my ancestor's words exactly as they were written.
"The Ten Shikigami are each the blessing of some deity combined into one pathogen by the Shinto Gods. A God Holder trait present in the blood of the Zen'in. I believe these deities are not solely of Japan. Firstly, the Divine Dogs are not mere dogs-"
Well, anyone could tell that much by looking at them.
"-but instead the lesser children of a giant wolf from the frozen lands in the north."
One needed only the bare minimum of knowledge regarding the Norse to understand exactly what he was referring to. As a user of runes, Bazett most certainly possessed that knowledge. I was right, if her furrowed brows were anything to go by.
"The Jotunn Fenrir is the only wolf that comes to mind."
The Giant Wolf son of Loki and Angrboda, capable of tearing into the flesh of the very gods. He was one of the beasts that heralded the end of the Norse Pantheon in the End Times, Ragnarok. How had the first Zen'in managed to acquire the offspring of that kind of creature?
"I know. He helped the Aesir lure the Jotunn." Bazett took a gulp of her coffee. "In an attempt to woo the Giantess Skadi. He failed. She was already long married to the Vanir God Njord. He became crestfallen once he learned."
...
Was that what he meant by wanting 'thicc mommy milkers'?
...
I pinched the bridge of my nose.
It actually wasn't all that hard to visualise that brain-rotted idiot attempting something like that.
Sighing loudly, I continued, "The Nue is three creatures in total. It is a vestige of the Byakko combined with a piece of the Nue to make Tiger Funeral. The Great Serpent is another aspect of the Nue combined with a poisonous head of the many-headed dragon mentioned in Greek Mythology."
"Hydra. He failed to kill it. Later, Heracles bested the monster as part of his Twelve Labours." Bazett filled in the gaps for me again, seemingly unsurprised by the details where I was inching closer and closer to losing my head.
What the fuck was he doing in Ancient Greece even?
"Trying to sleep with Aphrodite."
...
"...And Hestia. He succeeded with Demeter and Aphrodite."
"What the fuck-" I gripped my head with both hands, jaw hanging low. "You're telling me he banged actual gods?"
Bazett took another sip, "The Greek Gods are known to have been particularly promiscuous."
Y'know what?
Fair enough.
That made more sense than the Fenrir bit.
"The final piece is the Shikigami called Nue itself, which is the main core of the Nue of legend he overcame." I said dubiously, not familiar with what the text was referring to, "The three pieces naturally attract each other, and in a totality, the true Nue can be manifested. It is a creature of legend, and is equally powerful."
Maybe I was dumb for saying all of this in front of Bazett... but, it was embarrassing how much I'd already come to trust her. There was a non-zero chance that trust would bite me in the ass, but I was willing to take the leap all the same.
The older woman shook her head from side to side.
"I'm not familiar with that one."
"Max Elephant, Charging Ox, and Round Deer are the rewards of the Trimurti, acquired after prayer and aid against the enemies of the Triple Deity of those across the sea. Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu, respectively."
Then, he detailed the incredible abilities of each and every single one of the three creatures in his notes. I only stared at them in passing, more interested in the origins of the remaining Shikigami.
Rabbit Escape and Giant Toad were products of entrapped yaoguai from right across the sea that he dragged back with him to present to Tsukuyomi. That tale was rather unimpressive when put against the rest... but, finally, after them, he spoke of the most powerful of the Shikigami.
What he knew of him, I outright forgot to speak out loud.
'I do not know much of the Divine General, as he had never been tamed. But, the Founder's records are decipherable in this manner. The Divine General is not of myth. He has no blueprint. For his creation, Tsukuyomi-sama ventured with his divine brother Susanoo-sama, to the dwelling of their father. The Creator God Izanagi-sama. Then, to make death no longer a certainty, the brothers two ventured down to Yomi-no-Kuni to plead with the Giver of Death, Izanami-sama. For the weapon he wields, they gave the task to Amatsumara-sama, the Smith of the Heavenly Realm.'
...
'The other Shikigami were but paltry favours he himself toiled for. The true gift of the Gods to the Founder was indeed the Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General, Mahoraga.'
Reading of the creature I'd unwittingly summoned when I first woke as a person who had lived two lives, only one question came to mind.
...How the fuck was anyone supposed to tame something like that?
Bazett cutely tilted her head. "What happened, Enji? You look excited."
"I finally get why the Shikigami need to be tamed."
My ancestor was genuinely cracked. He managed all this... all for the love of the game.
Goddamn.
As a fellow transmigrator, I had to step up my game too.
-
Hope u enjoyed.
Plz comment, I worked hard to figure how this would translate with a proper fate amp.