Prologue

"Of what worth is a king who fails to protect the powerless?"

-?

(Age: Five)

"Saving someone who's in trouble is just common sense!" there was no greater joy a father could feel than hearing his child shout such heroic sounding words, especially in this day and age!

"Artoria Pendragon! How many times have I told you not to climb on the dinner table?!" despite his wife now chasing their daughter around the house with a broom, the sound of plastic armor hitting the wood floor as she ran with a foam sword in her hand, Uther Pendragon felt the worries of the day just slip right out of his mind.

"Papa! Papa!" cried a little blonde bundle of energy as his five-year-old daughter ran right up to him and promptly hid behind his legs, just in time for Igraine Pendragon to come trailing after with a not too impressed look on her face; a look that softened slightly at the sight of her husband being home again, "The evil dragon is after me again! I need your help to defeat her!"

Uther couldn't help it this time and let out a belly of a laugh, bending over to set down his briefcase before swiping his daughter up into his arms, earning a giggle from the little girl in return. While she clearly inherited her mother's stunning looks, even at such a young age a father could tell when his daughter was gonna be a heart breaker, she got her bright blonde hair and stunning green eyes from him.

"Evil Dragon?!" there wasn't nearly as much heat behind Igraine's words this time, in fact she looked more amused now than truly upset, "Well then I guess I'll just have to eat this spoiled little princess!"

"No!" Artoria cried as Igraine came in and started tickling all of her weak spots, unable to escape from Uther's grasps, "I've been betrayed! Treachery!"

Uther suddenly turned around to shield Artoria from her mother's evil fingers and put her on the ground, "Quick, run while you can, I'll hold off the evil dragon!"

Like the little kid that she was, Artoria's eyes lit up and she took off into the house, thankfully missing the way Uther spun back around and pulled his wife in close. Being childhood friends and all, Uther liked to think he knew Igraine better than almost anyone else, so he knew the best ways to make his lovely wife still blush. Then again who could blame her, Uther just had this way about him that made people feel safe and secure, even in the world as it was now.

"Uther," Igraine placed her hands against his suit covered chest, smiling just a bit, "Is this the part where you hold me off?"

Uther leaned in just a bit closer, "Of course."

Igraine could almost feel his lips against hers, it had been so long since they could have any alone time together, "I'll make you work for it."

"Of course," their lips were just about to touch.

"EEEEWWWW!" the sudden cry was enough to get both adults to jump apart like teenagers caught in the act, except for the fact that it was their daughter standing there trying to cover her now red face with her foam sword, "That's sooo groooose!"

"That's it, come here you little brat!"

Artoria ran for her little life.

(Age: 16)

As a member of the government and one of the few remaining good police officers, Uther had a strong sense of justice that could get him into trouble at times. He'd been demoted twice and then promoted thrice, gained and lost allies in the company controlled government, and personally put his life on the line to see justice carried out when few would. So you could imagine how torn he was when he was called to his daughter's high-school, one only opened to exceptionally smart children or those wealthy enough to afford an education, and told she'd gotten into a fight with a senior student. Honestly, she was giving him gray hairs long before his age demanded it!

"Mr. Pendragon, thank you for coming on such short notice," said the principle of the school, a well dressed woman with dark hair braided into a pun, "I hope to have this unfortunate situation dealt with quickly so we can all go about our day."

"As do I," Uther replied in kind, adjusting his black tie as they walked through the halls of the school, the students in their various classes at the moment, "Although I am curious about something. Has Artoria mentioned why she attacked the boy? I only ask because I know I taught her better than that and it isn't like her to lash out in such a way."

"Mr. Pendragon, as you know this school has a zero tolerance policy on any form of physical altercations and if such a thing as a fight breaks out then a member of the staff is to be notified at once. It appears that Ms. Pendragon felt the need to ignore this rule and got involved with an altercation between two seniors. I'm currently unaware as to why she got involved, but the young man has suffered both a dislocated shoulder and trauma to his...groin area," the principle adjusted her glasses at that last part, a bit of red staining her cheeks, before she shook her head to clear away such thoughts.

Uther was indeed worried now, "I see, this is quite serious indeed. I hope that the cause of all this can be discovered and the matter settled to the satisfaction of both parties."

Upon entering the principal's office, the form of his now teenage Artoria could be seen sitting up straight and proper; he was right about her taking after her mother in looks. She looked like a princess come to life right off the story book pages, if a princess could dislocate someone's shoulder when that someone was a couple years older than her. Make no mistake, Uther may like to treat his daughter like a little angel, but he taught her how to kick someone's ass if she ever needed to. However, as it turns out, she may have needed to.

"Artoria," Uther called, watching as his daughter stood up and greeted him with a surprisingly stony expression; he'd never seen that kind of look on her face before.

"Father," even her tone lacked almost all emotion, as if it was being gripped by a strong hand that refused to let even a little out.

"Now, Ms. Pendragon, would you care to recount to your father and I just what happened?" the principal asked as she rounded her large desk and sat in her equally large leather chair, staring the blonde haired girl down over the rims of her glasses.

"Someone was being hurt and I stepped in to stop it," was Artoria's response, but it didn't seem to be the one the older woman was looking for; she didn't even blink when the principal narrowed her eyes.

Uther resisted the urge to roll his eyes, his daughter was acting just like his wife did when she was upset and didn't feel like cooperating. She'd answer the question as simply and with as little detail as possible, further irritating the person asking the questions and making them look like a fool when they eventually exploded. Igraine had done the same thing plenty of times when the both of them went to school in their youth, which nearly got her expelled had her father not had so much sway in the government.

"Artoria enough," Uther's tone was like a whip crack, Artoria sat up just a bit straighter because of it, "Now tell us, in detail, what happened from beginning to end."

Artoria took a deep breath, straightening out her uniform's plaid skirt, "I was on my way to my next class when it happened; a boy was shouting at who I think was his girlfriend or something. When she shouted back at him he slapped her, right in front of everyone. I think I heard someone say they were gonna go get a teacher, but after he left it escalated again."

The principal's gaze remained steady as Artoria told her story, dark brown eyes locked with bright green in an unwavering struggle of wills, and Uther could practically cut the tension with a butter knife. Now his little girl reminded him of himself; a scary thought to be sure.

"Is that when you stepped in?"

"No, it was only when he grabbed her by her throat and no teachers had arrived to put a stop to it all. I came up behind him and kicked him in the groin, making him fall to his knees and release the girl, before pinning him to the ground with his dominant arm behind his back. I warned him that if he kept struggling he would dislocate his own arm, but he didn't listen. It was only after that the teachers showed up," Artoria sounded as if she was giving a field report to a superior officer, something she must have learned from watching him the few times he brought her around the station.

"And you're aware of the school's policy concerning violence?" it was a rhetorical question.

"Yes," Artoria felt like answering it anyway.

"Then why would you get involved if you knew the consequences?"

Now there was a fire in Artoria's eyes, burning bright and raging against all those that would challenge its morality. Uther had seen this as well, whenever he looked himself in the mirror.

"Because, saving someone who's in trouble is just common sense."

"Are you aware of just who it was you attacked?"

"No."

"I see…"

The drive back home was tense to say the least, with neither parent nor child knowing exactly what to say after everything that just happened. Uther glanced over at his daughter and sighed when he saw her glaring hatefully out the car window, knowing just how much her heart burned and spirit raged against the injustice of the world. Still, for the moment at least, she needed her father.

"I'm proud of you, you know," Uther spoke up, returning his eyes to the road as to avoid looking at his daughter's surprised face.

"What?" Artoria almost couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"You stood up and protected someone when they needed it. I'm proud of you for doing that, Artoria."

Artoria let out a bitter laugh, "It's not like the school sees it that way. The only reason I wasn't expelled was because the rich boy's family didn't want it to be known on record that their son got beat up by a girl younger than he was. It's stuff like this that really makes my blood boil."

"I feel that way almost every day I go to work and I'm not dealing with bullies or wannabe thugs. The fight for justice in this world is a constantly uphill battle, where people are either too apathetic to care or to corrupt to do anything about it," Uther's tone gained a hard edge again, his mind wandering to all the scum and criminals that got away with their crimes just because of who they knew or some other god forsaken reasons.

"Then...how do you put up with it?"

"Have you ever heard of a game called Yggdrasil?"

I feel the need to branch away from writing Naruto centric stories for a while and thought up this little gem. I think this will be the first, or one of the first, fanfics where Artoria is the main character in the Overlord World. So let me know what you all think and, as always, Deus Vult!