How I Saved History (Fate/Grand Order SI)

[elif]

I staunchly refuse. One or two wave motion swords is acceptable in accordance with the Rule of Cool. But the Nasuverse has long since passed the Wave Motion Threshold, and passed into the realm of the patently ridiculous.

I mean, King Arthur evidently had no less than two melee weapons that shot fuck-off huge lasers! And yet nobody thought to mention said fuck-off huge lasers in any of the legends about him! And now, I keep expecting them to whip out Gwenheffaferawrferfaffergaddawaffer, Arthur's favorite toothbrush, and reveal that it's secretly the planet's favorite backscratcher, formed entirely from humanity's desire for proper hygeine, which cleans your teeth by shooting sterilizing lasers!

Click to shrink...

Look, if you wanted a Servant that fights in melee, you should have summoned an Archer.

 

[EVA-Saiyajin]

So, prefacing this: I am not up to date on how gods work in Nasuverse. My understanding is that the greek pantheon were originally a set of foreign aliens/TYPES with a robo-laser theme. Odysseus has a divine grandparent.

So, yes, guile hero him up, I'm all for that. But maybe give him some kind of robo-laser toy? Hold out eye laser in one eye?

Click to shrink...

Herakles has divine parents, so does Achilles. He doesn't have their pre-Divine Spirit futuristic stuff...

 

[EVA-Saiyajin]

I staunchly refuse. One or two wave motion swords is acceptable in accordance with the Rule of Cool. But the Nasuverse has long since passed the Wave Motion Threshold, and passed into the realm of the patently ridiculous.

I mean, King Arthur evidently had no less than two melee weapons that shot fuck-off huge lasers! And yet nobody thought to mention said fuck-off huge lasers in any of the legends about him! And now, I keep expecting them to whip out Gwenheffaferawrferfaffergaddawaffer, Arthur's favorite toothbrush, and reveal that it's secretly the planet's favorite backscratcher, formed entirely from humanity's desire for proper hygeine, which cleans your teeth by shooting sterilizing lasers!

Click to shrink...

Therewith King Lot smote down King Arthur. With that, his four knights rescued him and set him on horseback; then he drew his sword Excalibur, and it was so bright in his enemies' eyes that it gave light like thirty torches. Therewith he put them back and slew many people.​

Click to shrink...

It's a stretch, yes, but I've seen greater, and it's not a non-existent basis.

 

[Darko]

Herakles has divine parents, so does Achilles. He doesn't have their pre-Divine Spirit futuristic stuff...

Click to shrink...

Cu and Diarmuid also have divine parents, a sun and death god respectively, though it's odd that Diarmuids attribute is Earth instead of Heaven like other demigods.

Karna and Arjuna are also the sons of a sun and lightning god respectively.

The Nasu universe is kinda weird in its depiction of gods and what they actually are.

 

[EVA-Saiyajin]

Cu and Diarmuid also have divine parents, a sun and death god respectively, though it's odd that Diarmuids attribute is Earth instead of Heaven like other demigods.

Karna and Arjuna are also the sons of a sun and lightning god respectively.

The Nasu universe is kinda weird in its depiction of gods and what they actually are.

Click to shrink...

Different origins, same result: Divine Spirits.

 

[Darko]

Different origins, same result: Divine Spirits.

Click to shrink...

It's still weird though.

 

[EVA-Saiyajin]

So, I'm guessing he's his personal hero because he fights with wits and everything he has, like he does?

 

[Darko]

So, I'm guessing he's his personal hero because he fights with wits and everything he has, like he does?

Click to shrink...

Yep.

Also the whole trying to see his family again and being prevented from doing so by a powerful magical being and going on adventures might have increased the respect Charlie had for old Ody.

 

[Charles Flynn]

It's a stretch, yes, but I've seen greater, and it's not a non-existent basis.

Click to shrink...

One melee weapon that shoots fuck-off huge lasers is perfectly acceptable. Two is just silly, and leaves you wondering just how many Noble Phantasms Arthur has. I spent half of the Camelot Singularity pondering that particular question. After a certain point I started wondering if Artoria owned anything that wasn't a Noble Phantasm.

"Oh, those slippers of yours? Harfradderafferadn, the Bunny Slippers of Promised Foot-Warming. They make sure your feet are warm on cold nights."

"Using lasers."

"Using lasers, yes."

"And my cloak?"

"Oh, that's Gadderawferaddd, the Mantle of Perfect Kingship. It ensures that none may doubt your righteous and benevolent rule."

"Using lasers."

"Well, obviously, how else do you prove that you're king?"

"BY RULING JUSTLY!"

"Pffft. No. Lasers are definitely the way to go."

"Is there anything I own THAT DOESN'T SHOOT LASERS?"

"Well, there's Prydwen."

"That's a shield that turns into a boat. It doesn't count."

"Also, your armor doesn't have a point-defense laser system yet, but I'm working on it."

The Very Next Day.

"Hey, Merlin, this is my new dog Cavall. He's perfectly normal in every way, and doesn't shoot lasers."

"Huh, I'll get right on fixing that."

"NO! FUCK YOU, MERLIN, DON'T YOU DARE RUIN THIS FOR ME!"

 

[Bear_Mint]

One melee weapon that shoots fuck-off huge lasers is perfectly acceptable. Two is just silly, and leaves you wondering just how many Noble Phantasms Arthur has. I spent half of the Camelot Singularity pondering that particular question. After a certain point I started wondering if Artoria owned anything that wasn't a Noble Phantasm.

"Oh, those slippers of yours? Harfradderafferadn, the Bunny Slippers of Promised Foot-Warming. They make sure your feet are warm on cold nights."

"Using lasers."

"Using lasers, yes."

"And my cloak?"

"Oh, that's Gadderawferaddd, the Mantle of Perfect Kingship. It ensures that none may doubt your righteous and benevolent rule."

"Using lasers."

"Well, obviously, how else do you prove that you're king?"

"BY RULING JUSTLY!"

"Pffft. No. Lasers are definitely the way to go."

"Is there anything I own THAT DOESN'T SHOOT LASERS?"

"Well, there's Prydwen."

"That's a shield that turns into a boat. It doesn't count."

"Also, your armor doesn't have a point-defense laser system yet, but I'm working on it."

The Very Next Day.

"Hey, Merlin, this is my new dog Cavall. He's perfectly normal in every way, and doesn't shoot lasers."

"Huh, I'll get right on fixing that."

"NO! FUCK YOU, MERLIN, DON'T YOU DARE RUIN THIS FOR ME!"

Click to shrink...

Merlin is about to turn that dog into a Kryptonian

 

[Darko]

One melee weapon that shoots fuck-off huge lasers is perfectly acceptable. Two is just silly, and leaves you wondering just how many Noble Phantasms Arthur has. I spent half of the Camelot Singularity pondering that particular question. After a certain point I started wondering if Artoria owned anything that wasn't a Noble Phantasm.

"Oh, those slippers of yours? Harfradderafferadn, the Bunny Slippers of Promised Foot-Warming. They make sure your feet are warm on cold nights."

"Using lasers."

"Using lasers, yes."

"And my cloak?"

"Oh, that's Gadderawferaddd, the Mantle of Perfect Kingship. It ensures that none may doubt your righteous and benevolent rule."

"Using lasers."

"Well, obviously, how else do you prove that you're king?"

"BY RULING JUSTLY!"

"Pffft. No. Lasers are definitely the way to go."

"Is there anything I own THAT DOESN'T SHOOT LASERS?"

"Well, there's Prydwen."

"That's a shield that turns into a boat. It doesn't count."

"Also, your armor doesn't have a point-defense laser system yet, but I'm working on it."

The Very Next Day.

"Hey, Merlin, this is my new dog Cavall. He's perfectly normal in every way, and doesn't shoot lasers."

"Huh, I'll get right on fixing that."

"NO! FUCK YOU, MERLIN, DON'T YOU DARE RUIN THIS FOR ME!"

Click to shrink...

Well it makes sense that a lot of the things around Artoria would be magical given that she was raised by Merlin and has him act as an advisor during her rulership.

 

[Darko]

Merlin is about to turn that dog into a Kryptonian

Click to shrink...

The original version of Krypto the super dog.

 

[Potates]

Thank for making oddyseus cunning again.
Also, I want to thank you in advance, because I´m sure that you won´t let quetzalcoalt speak spanish. I can´t undertand why everyfreakingbody in fiction makes the aztec/maya/inca deities speak spanish. If anything, it is more likely a good part of them would kill anyone who dare to speak spanish in front of them.

Click to shrink...

Quetz doesn't speak Spanish because she's South American. She speaks it because she loves lucha that damn much. Or at least, that's what I'm going with.
Speaking of, Flynn doesn't have the best team to deal with her. Most of his servants are good so they can't hurt her.

• George, Mash/Galahad, and Ishtar (Flynn's face when he realizes how useless she is) are Lawful Good
• Holmes is Neutral Good
• Siegfried is Chaotic Good

Medea is lol bad at hand to hand plus Quetz's A rank Magic Resistance, Cu's NP has a small luck factor involved and Hassan's has both a luck and mana factor and Quetz's are both EX. They're boned.

 

[HelloThereItsMeGeralt]

I love Nasuverse for many things, but not for accurate portrayal even for Jokes. Plus I do not like nerfing characters/aspects to overtly favour others.

I am knowledgable on Hindu mythology and we have encountered many till now a few corrections:

1) Arjuna's noble Phantasm "Pashupata" is basically Ea's Enuma Elish+Azrael. Of course, by rules, Mahabharata is younger than the Epic of Gilgamesh so Gil gets the point.

2) Karna's Armor functions defensively but only when any form of sunlight falls on the surface on the user is. The only time Karna would be vulnerable would be during Perfect Lunar eclipse that results in complete darkness. Please remember Moonlight is a form of sunlight, and the whole earth is considered a surface rather than a continent only or anything.

3) I forgot how you showed Duryodhana, but if it is post-war of Kurukshetra, then except his thighs, he is invulnerable to any and all forms of damage [like Achilles' heel]

4) I hate Rama and Sita of Nasuverse. I hate them. It's like portraying Jesus as a lunatic/schizophrenic. In-game if I get them, I will burn them immediately out of sheer principle.

5) I have not played the Lostbelts, but I am aware of the barebones of the story. From what I remember Ashwatthama is present and he has Narayanastra as his noble phantasm.




It is not some laser or flame thrower. Narayanastra is basically Gates of Babylon [if it is truly infinite and not a hyperbole] and as long as the enemy is capable of fighting (has weapons in possession) and has not turned his back on the weapon user. So as long as you face the weapon fired and possess any weapons on you [yes claws etc count, but not your intellect] there will be infinite number of weapons coming at you all of divine quality and make; with no input from user. Sounds OP? No, because you can use it only once in your lifetime.

In Nasuverse, it would need energy to create them of course.


If regarding the game I have made any errors, then please rectify me. Yes, I understand there will be biases. Pretty sure there are other legends suffering the same. At least one reported by the author itself. IMO there was no need to change these aspects to retain of what FGO has, horror with light heartedness.

Can anyone please explain what happened with Odysseus?

 

[Silver W. King]

4) I hate Rama and Sita of Nasuverse. I hate them. It's like portraying Jesus as a lunatic/schizophrenic. In-game if I get them, I will burn them immediately out of sheer principle.

Click to shrink...

How should they be portrayed?

 

[HelloThereItsMeGeralt]

How should they be portrayed?

Click to shrink...

That is a loaded question. But Rama was a guy who took love and duty in equal measure. I mean he left his wife because she was considered "impure" by his populace. We think CasGil is a charismatic king? He has nothing on Rama. And he was a child prodigy. He killed a demoness and her son in mere moments who his teacher Vishwamitra could not kill at the age of 16.

Vishwamitra is also an "isekai" character who went sorceror + warrior route. He was a king, who left his kingdom for power and respect from sages and learnt arts of battle from Shiva by meditation and supplication [Shiva is the owner of Pashupata] to defeat the sages, but the sages could not be harmed by weapons, so went full druid and tried to become a sage himself. Such was his efforts the king of gods [yes father of Arjuna] sent his courtesans to disrupt his rituals. The disruption worked, and in anger he started making his own multiverse [which later became the southern skies] with their own gods and such [all gods except Vishnu <owner of Narayanshtra>and Shiva] to grant him Sagehood.

This guy could not defeat that demoness, who Rama slew at the age of sixteen with a single arrow.

FGO tells us about Sita his wife who he married by breaking a bow of Shiva (which only Sita could lift until Rama and uses as her weapon in FGO?) while trying to thread it [this is what Odyssus did innit?]. After kidnapped by Ravana [this is another badass] he defeated him in single combat later in his life [at age 33ish against thousands of years of age of Ravana].

But FGO shows him as a lovesick fool? I do not like it at all. Even his Lily version would be an excellent archer [if Nasu was fair; equal to ArcherGil with NP spam; after all Arjuna and Karna wanted to become as good as him] and Ruler Rama would have been a singular powerhouse. I mean in maturity in direct combat only his sons could defeat him AFAIK in the age of gods. His alter form could have a servant dedicated towards revenge against Gaia and humanity for taking Sita from him [remember Alceides, just make him a pale bishounen: Rama was bluish in complexon] as a Berserker if summoned from the throne or as a beast class villain for Indian lostbelt.

Perhaps I am going on a tangent, but his name is a powerful mystic code that should be capable of healing diseases, possessions, injuries and granting minor clairvoyance towards victory. So yes, they could have shown him even as a caster. But they chose to show a very miniscule part as his servant form.

Please inform in case of more doubts or errors.

 

[Silver W. King]

That is a loaded question. But Rama was a guy who took love and duty in equal measure. I mean he left his wife because she was considered "impure" by his populace. We think CasGil is a charismatic king? He has nothing on Rama. And he was a child prodigy. He killed a demoness and her son in mere moments who his teacher Vishwamitra could not kill at the age of 16.

Vishwamitra is also an "isekai" character who went sorceror + warrior route. He was a king, who left his kingdom for power and respect from sages and learnt arts of battle from Shiva by meditation and supplication [Shiva is the owner of Pashupata] to defeat the sages, but the sages could not be harmed by weapons, so went full druid and tried to become a sage himself. Such was his efforts the king of gods [yes father of Arjuna] sent his courtesans to disrupt his rituals. The disruption worked, and in anger he started making his won multiverse [which later became the southern skies] with their own gods and such [all gods except Vishnu <owner of Narayanshtra>and Shiva] to grant him Sagehood.

This guy could not defeat that demoness, who Rama slew at the age of sixteen with a single arrow.

FGO tells us about Sita his wife who he married by breaking a bow of Shiva (which only Sita could lift until Rama and uses as her weapon in FGO?) while trying to thread it [this is what Odyssus did innit?]. After kidnapped by Ravana [this is another badass] he defeated him in single combat later in his life [at age 33ish against thousands of years of age of Ravana].

But FGO shows him as a lovesick fool? I do not like it at all. Even his Lily version would be an excellent archer [if Nasu was fair; equal to ArcherGil with NP spam; after all Arjuna and Karna wanted to become as good as him] and Ruler Rama would have been a singular powerhouse. I mean in maturity in direct combat only his sons could defeat him AFAIK in the age of gods. His alter form could have a servant dedicated towards revenge against Gaia and humanity for taking Sita from him [remember Alceides, just make him a pale bishounen: Rama was bluish in complexon] as a Berserker if summoned from the throne or as a beast class villain for Indian lostbelt.

Perhaps I am going on a tangent, but his name is a powerful mystic code that should be capable of healing diseases, possessions, injuries and granting minor clairvoyance towards victory. So yes, they could have shown him even as a caster. But they chose to show a very miniscule part as his servant form.

Click to shrink...

Damn. That's actually pretty fascinating. O_O

Like seriously, it makes him even more interesting. Thing is for me, since the FGO version was my first introduction to the character, I'm kinda sympathetic to his portrayal in the game, so what you described makes me think that as a Servant he's free to act as he chooses, and he chose to seek out Sita and try to just be happy after a life of struggle.

But your descriptions makes him sound pretty cool to see combat-wise, that if the Sita issue was resolved in Nasu lore, he would have been too terrifying to fight (So OP as to break the scales and to maybe be stronger than Gil and Nasu can't have that ). Fuck, now I want to see that version of him even more.

 

[HelloThereItsMeGeralt]

Damn. That's actually pretty fascinating. O_O

Like seriously, it makes him even more interesting. Thing is for me, since the FGO version was my first introduction to the character, I'm kinda sympathetic to his portrayal in the game, so what you described makes me think that as a Servant he's free to act as he chooses, and he chose to seek out Sita and try to just be happy after a life of struggle.

But your descriptions makes him sound pretty cool to see combat-wise, that if the Sita issue was resolved in Nasu lore, he would have been too terrifying to fight (So OP as to break the scales and to maybe be stronger than Gil and Nasu can't have that ). Fuck, now I want to see that version of him even more.

Click to shrink...

See I am all for Nasu's "rules are made for breaking" mindset. But either willingly or due to time restraints he has chosen to ignore certain legend characteristics which are very fascinating part of the legends. This has carried over to FGO. That you said about as a servant choosing to go for Sita is all good, but the way it is shown is completely unacceptable to me. He behaves like a lover pining for meeting his love. But they are cursed to not meet, so his outlook would have been different. In lily's case he would be somewhat like a shounen character, "I will meet her again, you will see?". As for Ruler/mature version he would have been hopeful and his declaration would have resonated something in you, like the way when you meet CasGil for first time, and think; Damn this is a king; same would have been for Rama. I mean this guy was a mean curse breaker whose charisma was enough to bend gods. And his alter version would have been like an ultimate form of "I lost my love,give her back" like remember Asura from Asura's wrath?

I have no problems with power scaling, even though it would have made more sense to have powerful characters from each myth, rather than now, where in game if you have Archer Gil you must put grails on it. Instead we have harem of MamaRaikou, Scatach, Saberfaces. In Fate/Zero, I always think man what would have happened if Rama would have been there in that meeting of kings? He could have washed clean Iskander and Gil for disparaging Artoria, by stating that her kingdom has lasted the longest and in combat his ire against Artoria would have been comparable to Lancelot as her country gnawed India for two-three centuries. I mean this guy almost established the geneva conventions equivalent in India. This does not show his stupidity because he was that capable. And you know the funniest part? If this Rama would have been shown [Ruler or Mature Archer] here in this fic? He would have given carte blanche on Flynn except the centaur case, as well as kept him in line. Although knowing his luck, this version of Rama would not have been summoned by Flynn at the first place. He is pretty much the Indian superman of prehistoric times. And god forbid his successor in Indian mythology Krishna.

 

[Charles Flynn]

I love Nasuverse for many things, but not for accurate portrayal even for Jokes. Plus I do not like nerfing characters/aspects to overtly favour others.

I am knowledgable on Hindu mythology and we have encountered many till now a few corrections:

1) Arjuna's noble Phantasm "Pashupata" is basically Ea's Enuma Elish+Azrael. Of course, by rules, Mahabharata is younger than the Epic of Gilgamesh so Gil gets the point.

2) Karna's Armor functions defensively but only when any form of sunlight falls on the surface on the user is. The only time Karna would be vulnerable would be during Perfect Lunar eclipse that results in complete darkness. Please remember Moonlight is a form of sunlight, and the whole earth is considered a surface rather than a continent only or anything.

3) I forgot how you showed Duryodhana, but if it is post-war of Kurukshetra, then except his thighs, he is invulnerable to any and all forms of damage [like Achilles' heel]

4) I hate Rama and Sita of Nasuverse. I hate them. It's like portraying Jesus as a lunatic/schizophrenic. In-game if I get them, I will burn them immediately out of sheer principle.

5) I have not played the Lostbelts, but I am aware of the barebones of the story. From what I remember Ashwatthama is present and he has Narayanastra as his noble phantasm.




It is not some laser or flame thrower. Narayanastra is basically Gates of Babylon [if it is truly infinite and not a hyperbole] and as long as the enemy is capable of fighting (has weapons in possession) and has not turned his back on the weapon user. So as long as you face the weapon fired and possess any weapons on you [yes claws etc count, but not your intellect] there will be infinite number of weapons coming at you all of divine quality and make; with no input from user. Sounds OP? No, because you can use it only once in your lifetime.

In Nasuverse, it would need energy to create them of course.


If regarding the game I have made any errors, then please rectify me. Yes, I understand there will be biases. Pretty sure there are other legends suffering the same. At least one reported by the author itself. IMO there was no need to change these aspects to retain of what FGO has, horror with light heartedness.

Can anyone please explain what happened with Odysseus?

Click to shrink...

I am aware of Duryodhana's invulnerability, yes. Flynn actually was going to suggest they attack his weakpoint during their fight. Unfortunately, Duryodhana won anyways, largely as a result of his team completely outclassing Flynn's. Also, Duryodhana busted into their strategy session before Flynn could tell his Servants where to aim for.

As to what happened with Odysseus, in the story, he killed Jaguarman by using his Noble Phantasms and skills in a gambit that he'd been setting up for weeks. In essence, however, one of his Noble Phantasms, ἐπιςτροφή τοῦ Ὀδυσσẻως, allows him to reenact the Masacre of the Suitors, but only if he's met a specific list of conditions: One, he must be disguised by one of his other NPs, the Shroud of Athena. Two, it only functions if he's used one of his skills to mimic Territory Creation, and it only covers the specific building which he's designated as his Territory. And last but not least, three: He can only activate it if his target has abused, exploited, or otherwise violated his hospitality.

In exchange for the frankly ridiculous amount of set-up time required to properly use this NP, it's effects are devastating. The building he and his targets are in becomes an inescapable prison that can only be opened by someone on the outside, or by Odysseus ending his NP. Everyone inside the killing field has all their weapons and armor removed (including the capacity to use magecraft) and their Parameters halved. The only way to avoid this massive debuff is to know Odysseus' true identity before he activates his NP. Its final effect, however, is perhaps the most useful. Once the bow is strung and his killing field activated, Odysseus gets the first shot. ἐπιςτροφή τοῦ Ὀδυσσẻως effectively rewrites reality so Odysseus shoots first.

P.S. Thank you for elaborating on those points. While I knew some of them, such as Duryodhana's invulnerability and... unfortunately placed... Achilles' Heel, I'll be the first to admit that my mythological knowledge has a few blindspots. I'm well-read, not all-knowing.

 

[HelloThereItsMeGeralt]

While I knew some of them, such as Duryodhana's invulnerability and... unfortunately placed... Achilles' Heel, I'll be the first to admit that my mythological knowledge has a few blindspots. I'm well-read, not all-knowing.

Click to shrink...

If you are all-knowing, then you are possibly a ROB, and we all know where it goes eh?

It does not help that FGO and Nasu, in particular, have changed things for their benefit, as I pointed out. I am knowledgable in Hindu Mythology, but as you have possibly surmised, not in other myths. May I ask have you posted this work in any other websites?

I did not know whether my post will get attention, but the fact about Karna's armour is very very obscure and immensely debatable. Plus not very useful indeed, after all how many perfect solar eclipses take place in decades?

Waiting for next chapter and servant sheets for your servants. Stay safe and keep writing.

 

[Charles Flynn]

"I don't actually know much about the goddess at the heart of the jungle," Odysseus explains over dinner. "I do, however, know that she's some sort of sun goddess. And, obviously, that she's Aztec. The building style of her temple confirms that."

"Hm. That leaves us with five possibilities," I observe, beginning to count things off on my fingers. "The first would be Tezcatlipoca, who I'd consider the most likely candidate, in light of Jaguarman's presence. The second would be Quetzalcoatl, who's easily the least likely of all the candidates, simply because I can't imagine him working with a servant of his sworn enemy. Third would be a rain god I can't remember the name of for the life of me, and the fourth would be said forgettable rain god's wife, Mixan- Mixanshi- Mixancootie- Misty. I'm calling her Misty, because I don't have nearly enough practice to actually pronounce her name. Fifth would be the Aztecs' primary god, Huitzilopochtli."

"Why on earth would anyone need five sun gods?" Cu asks, looking bewildered. "You'd think that one would be enough."

Odysseus actually laughs at that one. "Eh. I can see it. Gods tend to multiply. I had to give offerings to fourteen different gods of marriage, childbirth, and fertility just to make sure I didn't offend anybody when I was marrying off Telemachus."

Georgios smirks, but doesn't say anything, and I discreetly fist-bump him.

"Well, in any case," I say, after my brief moment of basking in the financial perks of monotheism. "That's not exactly what happened. Basically, the Aztecs believed that there were five ages of the world, and that they lived in the fifth age. In each of those ages, there was a different god in charge of being the sun. In the previous four ages, humanity was completely exterminated by the gods, purposefully or otherwise, and had to be brought back by Quetzalcoatl."

There's a moment of dead silence around the table.

"What?" Siegfried asks, looking slightly nauseous.

"The Aztecs weren't a cheerful people," I say, in what might be history's greatest understatement. "In any case, I'd say that we're most likely facing off against Texcatlipoca, the god of darkness, jaguars, and sorcery. He was the first sun, and, seeing as he played a part in all four of the times humanity was wiped out, I can easily see him as part of the Alliance. Also, Jaguarman was one of his servants, so that would definitely seem to confirm his presence."

"Hm. So. How do we kill him?" Odysseus asks, cutting straight to the important questions.

"Now that is the million-dollar question," I say, leaning back in my seat. "And, quite frankly, I don't want to jump into this too early. We have the advantage of surprise, at the moment. We should take our time and figure out our enemy's weak points." I pause. "I'll also want a second opinion on this whole mess, so once we finish our meal, I'm calling in Caesar."

"True. I suppose we should decide our strategy in a proper conference."

After dinner's over, we send Siegfried back to Chaldea (which he's a good sport about) and call in Caesar. Frankly, I would've preferred to bench Holmes, as he's been fairly secretive and unhelpful for most of the Singularity thus far, but he's still off working undercover, so that's a wash.

And now, after we've cleared the table, we settle around it, ready to come up with a plan.

"Alright. Before we go into how to kill Tezcatlipoca, I think we should take a step back, and determine whether we should."

"What?" Odysseus asks, looking confused. "He's the enemy, Flynn."

"He's not speaking of moral concerns," Caesar interjects, looking at me. "He's referring to the bigger picture, and the broader war. Isn't that right, Flynn?"

"Exactly." I say with a grin. "Teacher, could you provide us with a map?"

Medea nods, and, in a wave of purple, the table's surface is transmuted into a map of the region.

Cu groans. "All right, I'm out. Strategy is not my thing. I'll be standing guard outside if you need me."

Kinda saw that one coming.

"So. As Caesar said, let's look at the bigger picture. I've screwed up by killing a sun-affiliated demigod before, I don't want to see the fallout if I rush into killing a full-on sun deity." I tap on Uruk. "This, as far as we can tell, is the Three Goddess Alliance's primary objective. They destroy Uruk and kill Gilgamesh, and they win. Humanity's destroyed, or re-enslaved, or what-have-you. Bad news all around." I look at my audience, and then smile. "So, the question presents itself: Why hasn't that happened already? Gilgamesh is badly outnumbered, and two-thirds god or not, he's still just a mortal. If they really wanted to, they could just kill him in his sleep, or coordinate an attack from both sides on the ADF."

"You're saying that their alliance isn't as clear-cut as it seems," Odysseus summarizes. "Because they aren't working together or aiding each other in any way."

"Exactly. They may outnumber us, but they're clearly a house divided." I smirk. "It actually brings to mind your old Triumvirate, Caesar."

"I suppose that the parallels are fairly clear," Caesar says with a sigh. "And why do you bring this up?"

"Because it also reminded me of Plutarch's Life of Pompey." That gets a few blank stares. "More specifically, this one line: 'Before, they had stood like three wrestlers, each unwilling to engage another, for fear that, should he triumph, the third wrestler would overcome him, tired from his exertions as he was. But now, Crassus was dead, and the fresh wrestler had fallen, and the two that remained circled about one another, ready to engage.'"

"I don't think that was entirely accurate," Galahad observes.

"Yeah, I probably mangled it. It's been a while since I've read Plutarch. But the sentiment remains."

"So." Caesar gives me an appraising look. "How do you propose to take advantage of this?"

"Our adversaries think that they're the only three wrestlers in the ring. But they're wrong. We are the fourth wrestler. This war will be decided not by who wins the most fights, but by who fights the least. To win, we have to pit our foes against each other, to the greatest extent we possibly can."

"Well put, Flynn," Odysseus says with a nod of acknowledgement. "Now, what do you propose that we do?"

I manfully contain my urge to squeal like a little girl, and continue in a calm, professional tone. "If we're going to pit them against one another, we'll need more information. To that end, I move that we wait and observe, try to get an idea of the personalities in play, and the weaknesses they have. No jumping in headfirst. Anyone have any objections?"

I get smiles and nods from my audience. "Good. Then we start by observing Tezcatlipoca, and then we pull what threads we find."

 

[Potates]

But Flynn, there aren't four wrestlers, there are five. The fifth just happens to be the ref, ring, and audience as well.

 

[Darko]

The second would be Quetzalcoatl, who's easily the least likely of all the candidates,

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Eh, unless the author makes some changes to the line up you'll be surprised.

I can't imagine him working with a servant of his sworn enemy

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You also couldn't imagine Blackbeard being as he was and yet it happened.

The same goes for Jack the Ripper.

Third would be a rain god I can't remember the name of for the life of me,

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Tlaloc.

and the fourth would be said forgettable rain god's wife, Mixan- Mixanshi- Mixancootie- Misty.

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Chalchiuhtlicue.

"Why on earth would anyone need five sun gods?"

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Well the first sun was a huge dick.

Ohh and the extra light for a quick tan.

I manfully contain my urge to squeal like a little girl,

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Anyone else thinking the Servants heard him in the telepathic link.

 

[Charles Flynn]

Observation duty is swiftly established. After Cursed Arm's initial successes, we begin a proper infiltration. When Holmes returns, I send him straight back to Chaldea, and bring out Yan Qing in his stead. Chaldea's chivalrous bandit is then sent in to infiltrate our enemy's ranks, disguised as a mere soldier. Georgios is likewise swapped out for our trump card. We didn't get to use him back in Camelot, but I doubt that'll hold true in the battles to come.

He might seem like a weak Servant, but William Shakespeare is absolutely deadly with the right direction.

Still, our observation swiftly uncovers the jungle goddess' routine. She does lucha.

That's literally it, all she does is lucha! When she's not participating in matches, she's training her force in the art of lucha (which I consider a poor sign for her strategic prowess,) or conscripting more men for her luchador army (which does not have the makings of a halfway effective fighting force.)

But it's what she doesn't do that's most informative. She doesn't kill her soldiers. She doesn't eat their hearts. Instead, she nurtures them, without asking for anything in return.

I was way off the mark. She's Quetzalcoatl. No ifs or buts about it.

Unfortunately, she also doesn't give away much about the dynamics of the Three Goddess Alliance. At least, not until the seventh day of our observation.

---

I'm at lunch when Cursed Arm reports to me that Quetzalcoatl has a new visitor.

I don't waste time.

"Medea! Target's receiving a visitor, I want eyes on the meeting stat, and your best analysis of his mana signature."

She nods, eager for something to break the monotony, and pretty soon we're all gathered around the scrying pool. After a week of sitting and gathering intel, we were all going a little stir-crazy.

"Roman, are you scanning them?"

"Absolutely. We'll have our preliminary report soon."

And so, we settle down and watch the meeting.

Almost immediately, a problem emerges.

"Um, Medea, is there a way to get sound on this?"

"Not one that I can use without them noticing," my teacher says, watching the meeting attentively.

From what I can see of the meeting, it's a tense one. While they both put up cheerful facades, they're clearly on guard around each other. Of course, we're limited to body language and half-assed lip reading for the purpose of figuring out what the meeting's about. All Yang can tell me is that he overheard that the Jolly Green Jackass here's name is Kingu.

"He has a Holy Grail," Roman tells us, halfway into the meeting. "Our readings have definitively confirmed the presence of a Holy Grail inside him."

"Oh." Now it's obvious. "He's the mastermind."

Shakespeare raises an eyebrow. "And how have you come to that conclusion, oh Master mine?"

"Firstly, the Holy Grail. Previously, we've only found the tainted grails in the hands of the masterminds of the various Singularities we've visited. Seeing as he's the only one in the Three Goddess Alliance we've seen who has one so far, it's pretty clear that he's the main mover behind our enemies. Secondly, this is obviously a check-in visit. We haven't seen him here before, and he's obviously not here to stay, so why is he visiting?"

"Because he's either the one behind the Three Goddess Alliance, or the one serving as the various members' point of contact," Caesar notes, picking up the thread. "So. What do you propose we do about this?"

I grin. "We interrogate him, of course."

"Flynn, the readings we're picking up from him are ridiculous," Roman interrupts, looking at a tablet. "He's not like any other Heroic Spirit we've seen before. In fact, he's-"

"Enkidu?" Ishtar asks, making everyone jump. I look over at her in shock, wondering just when, exactly, she came in. "I leave you for a week, and I come back to find you spying on Enkidu? Why the hell is he even alive?"

"Ah. Milady. It is a pleasure to bask in your presence once more. May I ask where you have been?"

"Oh, well, I went off searching for… something important… and then I got a bit sidetracked, had to win my underwear back from a demon in a competitive board game night, but that's not important! Why is Enkidu there?"

"He seems to be going by 'Kingu' now, milady." I maintain my polite demeanor while mentally slotting her into my now-developing plans. "We believe him to be the primary coordinator of the Three Goddess Alliance, and we're most likely going to torture him until he tells us everything he knows about the Alliance, and then kill him. Would you care to join us?"

Ishtar freezes, staring at me in shock. Pretty much everyone is, with the exceptions of Medea, who's snickering, and Shakespeare, who's furiously taking notes.

"Wh-What?" the goddess of love and war finally asks, her voice little more than a whisper.

"We will interrogate him by whatever means are necessary, using truth detection runes to verify his answers. Since he is our only lead as to the Alliance's coordination and hierarchy, we'll need to extract whatever information we can from him. Since he's also likely the man behind the Alliance, his death is also an unavoidable necessity." I look around at them. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

"Flynn is correct, regardless of how disconcertingly casual he's being about this," Caesar says after a moment. "We'll need to get as much as we possibly can out of him before we kill him."

"I- You're insane!" Ishtar finally snaps. "Enkidu was someone who could go up against me and actually give me pause! Do you really think that you can deal with him that easily?"

"Easily? No. But I do believe it to be possible. I've been working on how to take down the various goddesses of the Alliance since we arrived in this Singularity. I wouldn't still be here if I didn't think those plans could work."

"That's…" she pauses, looking at me with something I can't identify in her eyes. "You believe that you can do this?"

"Yes."

"Then this will be my test for you. Prove that you are worthy to stand beside a goddess."

I nod. "As you command, my lady."

Roman coughs, and the moment's over. "Um… I hate to interrupt, but he's kind of headed straight towards you."

"What?"

"I think he sensed you somehow," Roman says apologetically. "He'll be there in ten minutes, so I recommend that you get going."

"Absolutely not!" I say with a grin. "Ten minutes is plenty of time. Shakespeare, Medea, you know what to do. I'll hand out the scripts."

This is going to be fun.

 

[ThreeTridents333]

You know, I just realized that if canon FGO is winning with the power of love/friendship, then this story would be winning through the power of incredible violence

Meme reference

 

[Wheenesss]

Thus, Charles gets to see why Gil considers Enkidu the only person in the world worthy of being his equal.

 

[Bear_Mint]

For Charlie, negotiation was never an option.

This is going to be fun.

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Also, famous last words.

 

[Potates]

You see Flynn, you're not dealing with the average Enkidu anymore. That's right Chaldea, he has realized the legend. He has become the legendary Super Kingu!

Seriously, he overlooked the fact that Enkidu normally is a match for Gil in his prime. This Enkidu is powered by a grail. His only hope is Kingu going along with his bullshit (which seems to conveniently happen often enough) and not skewer him or his servants on the spot or Quetz lucha her way into the party mid plan. Speaking of, my guess first he'll use Shakespeare's Folio to traumatize him into shock then use Medea's Rule Breaker to gank the grail or some other magical fuckery to imprison him. How well that will work on Kingu is yet to be seen.

 

[Charles Flynn]

You see Flynn, you're not dealing with the average Enkidu anymore. That's right Chaldea, he has realized the legend. He has become the legendary Super Kingu!

Seriously, he overlooked the fact that Enkidu normally is a match for Gil in his prime. This Enkidu is powered by a grail. His only hope is Kingu going along with his bullshit (which seems to conveniently happen often enough) and not skewer him or his servants on the spot or Quetz lucha her way into the party mid plan. Speaking of, my guess first he'll use Shakespeare's Folio to traumatize him into shock then use Medea's Rule Breaker to gank the grail or some other magical fuckery to imprison him. How well that will work on Kingu is yet to be seen.

Click to shrink...

Close. Very close. But not quite there.

 

[Potates]

Close. Very close. But not quite there.

Click to shrink...

Use the Folio to make Enkidu experience getting laid the first time with Shamhat?