Fate/Grand Order: Queen of Magic

A/N: First off, In my previous chapter I wrote that Arturia was sixty two CM tall. I was wrong as I was not looking at my notes at the time, She is actually One Hundred Fifty-Two CM tall. I usually use feet as measurements so I did not really catch that as I went over it a third time before I posted it. Thanks to the reviewer: Hissy Cow, for pointing that out. I had not even noticed, how embarrassing. *Sweatdrop* Anyway, thank you all for reading the second chapter! I have such good reviews on it that I wanted to start this as soon as I finished with some of my other ideas. So here it is! Hope you all like it! ^^

Chapter Three: Two Trolls and A Enabler

In one of the darker corners of the small Cafe sitting rather innocently in one of the small shopping areas of London three Magus's where looking at each other. The two males having recognized kindred spirits were exchanging rather scary smiles with each other while the small woman with them shuddered at the vague feeling of impending doom. Arturia Potter watched with some horror as Merlin the Magus of Flowers and Zeltrich the Kaleidoscope exchanged what passed for smiles at each other before shuddering again. She had a rather horrible feeling that this was the beginning of the end time for her sanity.

"You know," The Vampire masquerading as a lordly elderly man started as he looked at the two sitting at the other table. "If anyone other than me knew about what happened the night before Arturia here would be in some Magus's lab likely being dissected right now." Said green-haired young woman tensed slightly as she looked at the man… Vampire, until Merlin reached across and grabbed her hand that was gripping her fork like a lifeline. The Magus of Flowers shot her a reassuring look before glancing back at the other male with something decidedly unfriendly curling across his smile.

Zeltrich noted it too and waved a hand as though dismissing the danger before quieting as the nervous blond teen from earlier returned with there orders. As the nervous teen sat there orders down he happened to glance across to the red-eyed elderly man and blanched before hurryingly putting down the last of the twos food then running like his very life depended on it. The young man practically flew like a bat out of hell back into the kitchen of the establishment not to return until closing time… hours after the trio left.

"I do not mean to sound hostel about that," The Kaleidoscope stated, waving a hand dismissively towards the aggravated Incubus. "It's just the truth. If anyone finds out about it… well, I think you can understand what they would do to her correct?" he directed that to Merlin who was watching him with dark amethyst eyes full of an inhuman black rage that disappeared almost as it came. The white-haired male nodded silently before taking a sip of his tea.

"So," He stated after swallowing his mouth full of Earl Grey. "Why would you get involved Kaleidoscope? You are not all that interested in anyone unless it suits you in some way. Why help us, Why help Arturia?"

Zelrich gave a rather evil looking grin at the two of them before it slid into something more serious.

"True, Normally I would just watch as some idiot tried to get to your little mistress and be rather entertained with what you come up with as a suitable, shall we say?, punishment. After all, I like being entertained and don't normally see the need to get involved. However, I need some help with something. You see, in about another five years give or take a month or so, This world will come under attack by someone that I can not take down. Not directly at any rate. All will fall under his power and only one hope will remain. They could win by themselves, that much is true, but quite frankly they waste a resource that I find quite valuable in a last ditch effort to kill something that is quite ah, resistant, to death. Much more will come after this first attack and I don't quite like the fact that such a valuable resource will be used so ineffectively when we have something, or rather someone, right at this very table that may be able to do so without disappearing." Zeltrich glanced at Arturia as he said that making Merlin's hackles rise. The Dead Apostle waved him off before continuing.

"Now, in return for helping out, not only do you two get to live beyond those five years I gave you an estimate on but you also will get help with this current… annoyance of yours. All you have to do is become my apprentice." That last part was aimed at Arturia who looked at him with wide green eyes from behind her slim glasses. Her mouth moved silently for a bit before she chanced a glance over at Merlin who looked to be deep in contemplation about something. Green eyes met Amethyst and locked for a long moment before Merlin subtly nodded.

Arturia looked back at Zeltrich before giving him a searching look. The elderly looking man raised a brow before meeting her gaze straight on for several long moments. The green-eyed young woman sighed then before giving a nod of her own.

"Very well," She stated in a surprisingly strong tone. "What would you have us do then?"

"Oh, Nothing much." The Vampire stated with an almost boyish grin on his weathered face. "Nothing much at all, I just need you two to come to the Clock Tower for a week or so while I set things up with Chaldea and the rather annoying family that runs it. Then… well, we will need to start to stack things in our favor before you go back to that backward school of yours."

Eyeing the fanged annoyance with more weariness than she would give a Death Eater at any given time Arturia pointed out that she did have guards watching her relatives home that would notice her missing eventually only to get a rather disturbing grin back.

"You let me worry about that! I'll take care of it!" He stated in a cheerful manner that let the other two know that someone was going to get a rather unfortunate surprise pretty soon. Arturia almost felt sorry for whoever it was that would finally notice her missing. Almost. She had a long memory though and most of her guards were on her shit list anyway.

"Er… What about my things? I did leave some in my relative's house."

"Don't worry about that! I'll get your things!"

"Somehow that makes me worry more."

And so several things changed course and many atrocities that could have happened were redirected into more acceptable courses. Of course, somethings may have changed but others… would still come about abet in a different manner. That was for later, however, now was the time for some of the… more interesting… deviations.

"By Merlin! What is that thing?!" Arthur Wesley shouted as he looked at the rather oddly shaped purple and green dinosaur that was holding Alastair Moody in a bear hug while singing what would become known as the most horrifying song ever heard in the Wizarding world. Severus Snape sneered as he flung a deadly curse at the thing only to have it reflect back at him making his dark brown almost black eyes widen before he swiftly ducked the pale plum colored jet of light that carried on behind him to smash into a blandly colored wall which promptly melted into a puddle of blandly colored gue.

Remus Lupin looked wide-eyed at the puddle before glancing back at the still singing dinosaur.

"- We're one big family!~"

He was going to have nightmares about this, he just knew it. Moody, still in the clutches of the demented singing dinosaur twitched before adding one more thing to the great list of things that he would be paranoid about.

It took the greater part of three hours for them to finally disable the thing… only for it to suddenly shine brightly before shrinking into a toddler's cuddly toy. Shooting the thing suspicious looks the four men blasted the thing with spellfire just to be sure it would not suddenly reanimate and only when it was completely gone did they decide to look around Number Four in the vain hope that Arturia Potter was still in residence.

She was not. As a matter of fact, everything of hers from her books to her quills was gone. Petunia, when she came home later that evening bluntly stated that she did not particularly care where her wretched, unnatural niece went so long as she was no longer her problem.

This they would later find, was just the beginning of their troubles.

Arturia meanwhile was lounging about the room that Zeltrich had put her and Merlin into before leaving once again in what could be considered a very odd form of apparition but what he had told her was the use of his True Magic, The Kaleidoscope. The room was nice, all things considered. It had a large canopy bed that Merlin had looked at with interest, Arturia had flushed at that look as he had glanced back over at her with a rather wicked one when he caught her looking as well. The rest of the room was just as rich as the dark blue and gold bedspread. The walls were a nice robin egg blue with small white swirls inlaid in, making it look almost like marble. The floor made out of deep walnut wood with the old style furniture made in the same wood. Merlin stated that the furniture itself was at least a century old but very well cared for, Arturia could see that as the finish on the wood was not chipped or cracked like some that she had seen in older furniture. The room also had a bathroom that was not too different from her own in her cottage. The tub was an old clawfoot but this one was made out of what looked to be marble while the fixtures were made out of gleaming silver steel. The walls were a dark blue color that echoed the sheets from the bed.

Really the room was richly decorated and made Arturia a bit worried about putting even a scratch on anything. Both Merlin and Zeltrich, however, waved her off, telling her that it was fine and everything was protected by magic anyway. So the two of them settled in the room with Arturia not bothering to unpack her large compartment trunk but rather clean it out of the warn clothing only to put her new ones in their place. The other clothing was then tossed by Merlin somewhere where they could be 'useful' later. Wondering just what it would be useful for Arturia shook it out of her head before looking over the stack of papers that Zeltrich had left for her.

Most of it was information about Chaldea though some of it was general info about apprenticeship. Some of the things made sense while still, others made her eyebrow raise. Like the fact that as his student Arturia was not just under his protection but also under the umbrella of the ClockTower as he was an administrative power in it. Oh, not that he really ever used said power but he was still a part of it. Filing that away for contemplation at a later date Arturia glanced over her shoulder at the bed where Merlin lay sprawled on his side with his arm propping up his head as he glanced down at a thick leather covered book. Taking in the rather colorful animated drawings of Knights fighting against what looked to be a herd of chimeras the green haired girl was reasonably certain that he was reading one of her history books. Not A History of Magic but one that she found in a second-hand shop that she visited often when she was in Diagon Alley during the time before her third year of Hogwarts.

"Done with the demonic paperwork?" The lounging man asked as his amethyst eyes darted up to lock onto her green ones. The slow sensual smile the spread across his aristocratic face made the teenage Witch roll her eyes even as she flushed. Really nothing he did was non-sexual in any way, given that he was a half-incubus though it did explain quite a lot about his habits, as he could make just breathing look sensual. It was one of the reasons why despite him being so very careful and kind to her Arturia was well aware that she was little more than a meal to him. Oh, she never refused him and was unlikely to do so without a good reason but she knew that she was nothing special to him. Taking her mind off of those rather depressing thoughts Arturia smiled a bit before giving a small nod.

"Yeah, It's a bit more protection for both of us that I did not expect but otherwise there is nothing that I really feel uncomfortable about. Do you want to double check it?" The green-eyed teen asked as she gestured to the papers on the roll top writing desk. Merlin seemed to ponder it for a long moment before nodding and sitting up in a smooth motion that almost screamed inhumanity. Arturia though was used to how smooth his movements were so ignored it, only handing over the papers when he came within reaching distance. He shot her a slightly amused look, knowing what had crossed her mind when he had moved, before looking down and scanning the paperwork.

Fifteen minutes later he pulled away from the peppers with a considering look in his eyes that made her brow raise in question. Merlin shot her an inquisitive look only for her to gesture at the paperwork with a questioning expression on her face.

"Ah! Well, I see nothing wrong with the contract. You will be his apprentice for a few years that is true along with being his contact with the Chaldea Center but besides that, there is really nothing that will trap you or anything. From what I read he wants you to go back to Hogwarts for at least the next year then go to Chaldea as his representative. He states in the training part of the contract that he will contact you Via the kaleidoscope with your work and such for him so you don't even have to stay here for that. All in all, it's a very good deal…" he trailed off making Arturia shoot him another questioning look wondering what was making him so hesitant about speaking the next part.

"Well," The white-haired man started rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "It just seems like too good of a deal. It makes me wonder just why he needs you so badly that he would be going through all this. I mean from what he says they, whoever 'they' are can take care of whatever calamity that is coming by themselves so why would they need you there? And why would he do so much just to help them? I think, whatever is coming, it's worse than he cares to admit." Yui blinked in shock then began to think about what he said. It was true she noted absently, the whole thing was rather strange but she got the feeling that it would not do her any lasting harm in the long run and would save her more trouble than anything else so she nodded before shrugging.

"Even so, at this point, I don't think I can really back out. Plus, I don't really like being out of the loop so to speak. If the world really is that close to ending I would rather like to know damn well why it is." Merlin had a rather odd expression on his face, a tiny little amused smile that held little warmth in it when she explained her reasoning. Eyeing him under her lashes Arturia wondered if perhaps she had said something that upset him when he let out a dry chuckle. The hair along the back of her neck stood on end as the sound echoed in the stone room.

"We are more alike than I realized." The incubus muttered, tapping the ends of the papers along his mouth as he gazed down at her with a dark possessiveness hovering in his amethyst orbs. Arturia opened her mouth to ask just how they were alike when he pulled the papers away only to lean down and kiss her. The kiss was slow but no less enticing than any others he had gifted her with. Instead of being a hot messy mash of mouths together as he attempted to devour her it was a slow conquering on that left her shaking, almost wanting more as he pulled away.

She was panting as he pulled away only to rest his forehead against hers for a moment as he seemed to gather his thoughts. Their hair mixed together slightly, his iridescent white locks intermingling with her own dark green ones while their eyes stayed locked on one another.

"Hmm, I think we may need to get out and walk around for a bit. Staying cooped up in here will give me… ideas… otherwise." Merlin purred out as he leaned back away from his small mistress, enjoying the way her panting did some amazing things to her chest. Flushing an even deeper red Arturia blinked before licking her lips and nodding then standing up abruptly almost crashing into Merlin she spun around the chuckling male to make her way to the door.

"You coming?" She tossed over her shoulder as she straightened her dress before opening the door to the hallway. Merlin just shook his head with an amused expression still on his face then followed her out the door. Looking both ways down the large stone hallway Arturia tried to remember just which way was the classrooms as Zeltrich had stated that a few of them would not mind letting her or her 'Familiar' sit in on classes while he was gone. Downstairs, she remembered was down the right side of the hallway and then there would be an old stone staircase that led to the lower levels where the classrooms where. Nodding to herself she set off with an unnaturally pretty tagalong following her.

In the end, it took them an hour to find the classrooms then another half of an hour to find one that had yet to start. The teacher, one Lord El-Mileo II, was actually quite enthused with their presence and spent the time before class began to talk to Merlin quietly about King 'Arthur' which made the half incubus smile wistfully all the while. When the classroom was finally full however the Lord called class to attention and started his pre-planned lecture for the day.

Arturia found it very enlightening, she had only really learned Magecraft from her books on the matter and had never had a formal teacher so this was all quite new to her. The Teacher was also quite good at what he did and kept her attention for the whole time without her really even realizing it stated just how good he was. The fact that said teacher was strict but fair was another point in his favor. He never favored any one student, established family or not, and made sure that there was no bullying in his classroom which she noted with a sardonic smile, made him much more competent than just about all the Hogwarts staff put together.

Even Merlin was quite surprised with how educational the class was, even if it was only highlighting just how much had been lost over the years since he had last wondered the world freely. He seemed to like the young Lord too, telling Arturia by the end of the class that he was fairly more competent a teacher than he was. Which when you think about just who Merlin thought made just how complimentary that comment was come into sharp relief.

After that class, the two wandered around until they found the dining hall. As it was nearing one in the afternoon they were both getting quite hungry and decided to grab a bite to eat. The Magus's that normally went about their day watched them order something from the chefs before taking a seat. All the eyes on them where making Arturia slightly annoyed but she did understand why they were making a big deal about the two of them. Before he had left to attend to both getting her things and setting up a distraction at her relative's house Zeltrich had gone to the head of the Clocktower and told her that he had taken on a rather gifted apprentice and would caution anyone from trying anything with her because he would be very… put out with them. That had apparently been enough to keep most of the elitist crowd away but it did not mean that they kept their eyes or words to themselves. Merlin had already scared the crap out of two snooty lordlings who had made rather derogatory comments regarding how she, a commoner, managed to summon him before she could rain him in.

It was as they were tucking into their meal, fresh roasted bell peppers for her and a rather bloody stake for him when they were approached by someone. Arturia had barely managed to take a bite of her food before a rather snotty high pitched voice broke in from her left.

"So it's true then, some new blood bitch managed to spread her legs far enough to catch the attention of a Phantasmal." Arturia could hear a soft cracking sound making her eye Merlin wearly before turning to face the most likely female Magus judging by the pure cattiness off the comment. Trying to ignore the rather impressive dents and cracks that Merlin was leaving in the solid wood table with his bare hands Arturia took her first look at this hours annoyance.

She was pretty, Arturia supposed, or she would have been if not for the sneer making her doll-like face crunch up into something better suited to a hags features. She had perfectly curled platinum blond hair that fell to her waist in ringlets along with a pretty, if only in a doll-like way, face. She sort of reminded Arturia of her Aunt Petunia's old antique porcelain dolls that she took great pains to tell her where inherited from her mother, Arturia's grandmother. Pretty blue eyes and softly aristocratic features that made it hard to tell the girls exact age were joined by a ruby red pair of lips that were likely full and pouty when not twisted up into the sneer that she wore now. The rest of her body was just as delicate and pretty with a slim figure that held more than a few curves, long legs, and long-fingered pianist hands. The clothing she wore was a bit outdated but clearly spoke of wealth as it was made out of what Arturia was fairly certain was silk brocade, at least the skirt portion while the rest was made out of lighter airy silk. All of it in a shade of blue that brought out her eyes. Arturia could also see that she wore quite a few jewels on her fingers and neck, high-grade ones at that. So likely a jewel magus then in at least a lower noble family, not a higher one as they would likely know better than to annoy an apprentice of Zeltrich's.

Arturia's reply was to smile at the new annoyance. It was not a nice smile.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Merlin twitch then go still as he eyed her with a bit of weariness himself. Which she could understand as he never really had gotten to see this side of her himself yet but she really did not care, she was done with this shit. She could take a lot of things but she had reached her limit with these idiots who thought a name, or bloodline for that matter, meant anything to her, in the end, they all died the same after all.

"New Blood Bitch?" Arturia asked softly, her voice carrying a soft but no less deadly danger to it that had most people scurrying away from the blond twit. She blinked guildless green eyes that were half covered by her glasses but held a darkness that had been so far dormant.

"Yes, that's all your kind are after all!" The Twit went on with a snarl now decorating her face turning it even uglier. "Bitches that can't even read when they are not wanted in polite society. The only reason you are here is that you managed to Fuck a Phantasmal and be a good enough lay to make him stay for a while. Well, Some may be intimidated into staying quiet by the fact that your skill in the bedroom won you an apprenticeship but I will not! Whores should not be present in a high-class place like the Clocktower. Furthermore…" She never quite got the chance to finish that sentence before something flashed up from below her to knock into her solar plexus knocking the air out of her leaving her unable to continue.

Arturia had never liked that word. Would never like it most likely. Sort of like the word Freak. It was just something that set her off as nothing else would. She could lay the blame at the feet of her dear Aunt, who this girl reminded her uncomfortably of if not a prettier version. Wore. She had been called that since she started bleeding every month. Her jealousy twisted Aunt had first called her mother that for as long as she could remember but when Arturia had first started developing curves and becoming a woman the nasty bitch had turned it on her. At first, the girl she had been had not known the meaning and so like most things she did not know had looked it up in the dictionary at school. It had not been a pleasant experience to find out just what she had been labeled as. So she could be excused for how she reacted to the bitches utterance of that hated word.

Everyone looked in astonishment as the previously smooth stone floor now held a large blunted spire of rock driven into the Noble brats upper chest. Oh, it was not pointed so it did little damage as what it could have done otherwise but it was still alarming how fast it had appeared as was the now very unnerving smile painted across the green haired teens face as she stared with suspiciously blank eyes at the blond haired teen in front of her.

Arturia tilted her head to the side ever so slightly and her smile widened by a minute fraction before more rocky spires rose from the floor to crash into the body of the now wide-eyed mouthy twit who just realized that she may have been poking a dragon with a stick. A dragon who was about to roast her very thoroughly. Pale green eyes watched dispassionately as the girl's tiny frame sailed through the air after being rather thoroughly pummeled by the stone spires before Arturia stood up in a smooth vaguely inhuman way then prowled over to the battered form of the young noble that lay in a crumpled heap some fifteen feet away.

Coming to a stop just beside the now terrified snotty teen Arturia looked down at her with almost aqua colored eyes and a terrifying cold smile on her face before she glanced up and looked around her with that same smile.

"Does anyone else have anything to say about my so-called 'Profession'?" Her voice was as cold as her smile was while her eyes looked almost dead of any emotion. Many shuddered and stepped back vaguely feeling as if they were in the presence of something so utterly alien that they could not understand it. Those older Magus's and the ones that had seen things like Dead Ancestors tensed, wondering just what she was and contemplating on whether the Ancestor that called the Clocktower home had taken her as an apprentice for a more sinister reason. However, they too knew that the brat had gone too far so simply turned away from the spectacle. It was not their problem after all.

After reframing that no one else had anything to say on the subject Arturia nodded before looking back down at the broken body on the floor below her. In a rather detached way, she noticed the broken bones and likely ruptured organs that she had given the other girl but felt nothing in regards to it. Not joy nor sorrow that she caused it only a sort of detached wonder if any of it would be permanent. People as stupid as her should not procreate after all. You don't go poking at something that you have no idea about, after all, it may hit back harder.

"Speak to me one more time like that and the next ones will not be blunted." Was all she said before turning on her heel and stepping back to the table. "I'm not hungry anymore, you may stay here if you wish but I think I will wait for Master in the sitting room. He should be back soon after all."

With that, the green haired girl walked out of the dining room only looking back once and waving her hand. The stone spires shattered into shards before sinking back into the stone, leaving no trace of their existence other than the beaten body of the mouthy magus.

Arturia made it up four flights of stairs before turning a corner and leaning against an alcove where she would be shaded from sight then rested her head against the stone with her eyes squeezed shut. Everything stopped being in such sharp focus while her emotions came rushing back to her making her small frame start to shake slightly. Resting her hand against her mouth Arturia held back the urge to scream. She hated it when that happened. How she loathed it when that inhuman thing reared its head whenever she was in danger of shutting down due to something traumatic. It had been happening ever since she brushed against the Vale of Death. She knew in a peripheral way that something was changing inside of her just as it had the outside. Sometimes… it felt like she wasn't even human anymore, and that scared her. She did not know what she was becoming but whatever it was only had the vaguest sense of humanity in it and it was growing stronger by the day.

A gentle touch against her bare shoulder made Arturia's eyes pop open only for her to calm as they caught sight of amethyst ones peering down into her face. Merlin stood in front of her blocking her further from sight as he boxed her into the alcove with his taller form. An odd expression was on his face. Arturia searched it, wondering if perhaps he too was leery of her now before catching both arousal and fascination in his gaze. His hand that rested against her shoulder gripped it gently while his thumb caressed the soft skin of her collarbone.

"I did not know you could do that," The pale haired man began, referring to the subtle show of power she had used in the dining room. "As a matter of fact, I distinctly remember you saying that you couldn't use much magecraft and yet…" He trailed off when he saw the shy bashful look in her eyes. "You didn't know either did you? That down there was all instinct wasn't it?" Merlin asked with a tilted head.

Arturia nodded, taking her hand from her mouth to rest it against his chest. Biting her lower lip and rolling it in between her teeth the teen thought for a moment on how to phrase what she wanted to say before speaking.

"No," She hesitated before sighing and continuing on. "I… I told you about the DOM right? To explain about Sirius. Well, whenever he pushed me out of the way it had not quite been soon enough. I may not have gone through it but a part of it brushed me and… and I have been changing ever since."

Merlin froze for a long moment as he carefully went over what she had just said trying to not break out in slightly hysterical laughter when he realized just what she was referring too as the 'Vale'. He remembered it being a giant stone archway in his time that whispered with the voice of all the souls he had ever known or would know. However, to those who had already lived once it would whisper in the voices of those who they had known at the time. Trying to desperately call out to the one who no longer knew them. Oh, and if touched it had the power to change your form, not just on the outside either as a few unlucky magus's had found out, closer to the strongest life which resonated with you the most. It would not change your gender or anything but Circuits and your Element and Origin would likely change.

As he contemplated just what he had been told Merlin also began to string together just who Arturia could have been judged on her looks, skills, and mannerisms before giving up and starting to chuckle just a little bit unnervingly when everything finally clicked together. Arturia's odd looks, Her power over earth, The divinity that was growing day by day inside her and even the odd way that she seemed as inhuman as he sometimes. He was holding The Weapon of the Gods in his arms. A slightly hysterical thought of just how the King of Heros was going to take it when he learned that his reincarnated best friend had been deflowered and was being courted by an Incubus made him lose it and start laughing hysterically almost as he clung to a very confused Arturia.

He was so very fucked and for once, not in a fun way.

A/N: and that wraps it up for this chapter! Wow, it's near fourteen pages long and I would have kept going but I thought that this would be a good stopping point. Now as for why Arturia reacted so badly to the word Whore, well I for one can not see Petunia stopping at calling her mother that and would likely be a bit more vicious to any female child of her sisters than a male child so it was tossed around a lot during her childhood leaving her with about as good of a reaction to is as to the word Freak. Now, arguably this made Arturia very very keen to not be seen as sexual or even sexually desirable so she very carefully did not even consider anything like that until a half-starved Incubus was summoned into her living room. This is where her other half of being raised by a horrible Aunt comes in. While she was fed it was only enough to live off of so she knows hunger and would never willingly let anyone suffer like that so she did not really think too hard about 'Feeding' Merlin. I hope that I explained that well enough but if anyone has questions just leave it in a review and I will try to put a more adequate answer into the next AN. Anyway, Thank you all for reading and please Favorit and Review.