Chapter 86: Actions and Consequences

Sensing Thomas and Caenis rushing over, the faux Artoria turned around, gripping her sword in preparation for a fight.

Holding up his hands to show he didn't mean any harm, Thomas slowly approached the petite Knight King to say, "Roaming around here won't do you any good. This place is a Reality Marble, so you won't find what you're looking for here."

Though she kept her hands on the grip of her sword, the faux Artoria lowered it slightly to ask, "What's a Reality Marble...?"

"..."

Exhaling a tired sigh, Thomas lowered his hands and replied, "It's very complicated. Once we're out of here, I'll have someone explain it to you. The most important things you need to know right now is that we're not your enemies and that you will dissipate if you don't form a contract with me, a girl named Illya, or a girl named Miyu. We're the only three people who possess Mana in this world..."

Raising her sword, the faux Artoria asked, "How is that possible? Mana is one of the fundamental building blocks of life. Do you think me a fool...?"

Shaking his head, Thomas replied, "I'm just stating the facts. Once Caenis and I have dealt with the person we came here to defeat, you'll be able to ascertain the truth for yourself. I'm not trying to force you into a contract or anything..."

Sensing no falsehoods in Thomas's words, the faux Artoria slowly lowered her blade. She still had her doubts, but Thomas and Caenis were her only sources of information. There was also the fact that if the former's claims turned out to be true, she would be doing herself a tremendous disservice by treating her potential Master with hostility.

"Very well," said the faux Artoria. Before Thomas could respond, however, she questioned, "You mentioned there is someone in this world you must defeat? How have they wronged you?"

Realizing he had overcome the first hurdle, Thomas exhaled a sigh of relief before adopting a serious expression as he briefly recounted the situation. By the time he was finished, a hint of emotion had manifested within the faux Artoria's gaze.

Holding up her sword like a Knight making a vow, the faux Artoria stated, "If what you've said is true, I will fight alongside you to ensure this tyrant is brought to justice."

Smiling wryly, Thomas replied, "I appreciate the sentiment, but we've all but won this fight already. If I weren't over here trying to explain things to you, we might have already captured Crocodile."

"I...see..." muttered the faux Artoria. Then, catching Thomas a little off guard, she averted her gaze, seemingly embarrassed. Thomas assumed she was, but it was difficult to tell since her expression hardly changed.

Throwing the faux Artoria a bone, Caenis said, "You can protect this idiot while I capture the Crocodile. He or she is bound to be desperate, so they might try to sneak attack Tom to secure a pyrrhic victory. As a Knight, you should be capable of protecting at least a single person, right?"

With a muted but resolute look on her face, Artoria nodded her head and replied, "I am able." in a firm tone.

Adopting a wolfish grin, Caenis remarked, "Good, because if you make a mistake, you'll be fucking over a metric fuckton of people. As unreliable as he might seem, a lot of selfish cunts are depending on Tom to unfuck their situation and achieve their dreams. If you get him killed, I will literally rip you limb from limb..."

Sensing the bloodlust exuding from Caenis, the faux Artoria instinctually gripped her sword. The former gave her a 'very' dangerous feeling, so she began having doubts about whether or not Thomas was someone worthy of her allegiance. Despite this, she maintained a look of conviction as she replied, "A proper Knight never reneges on their promise. So long as he is not revealed to be a villain, I will protect Sir Thomas without fail..."

Snorting through her nose, Caenis retorted, "Actions speak louder than words. Also, if you fuck this up, you can be sure that neither of the girls he mentioned previously will accept you as a Servant. They need Tom's help to restore their friend's world, so fucking him over is the same as condemning billions of people to die. Remember that."

Though she couldn't grasp the concept of 'billions' of people, the faux Artoria's expression became even more resolute as she looked toward Thomas. He wore a wry smile, but there was a hint of exasperation and concern in his gaze. The former was obviously in regard to the present situation, but the latter reflected uncertainty about the future.

Holding up her sword a second time, the faux Artoria pledged, "I swear by my name, Artoria Pendragon, and the Holy Sword, Caliburn, that I will not let any harm befall Sir Thomas under my watch. Should he fall before me, I will accept all due punishments without protest."

In response to Artoria's vow, a series of runes lit up along the length of her sword. At the same time, her Mana reserves noticeably decreased, a sure sign that a very powerful form of Magic had been invoked. If Chiron or Chloe had been present, they would have recognized it as a Geass, a self-imposed restriction that functioned as both a blessing and a curse...

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Once his reserves were exhausted, the Temple protecting Crocodile faded away, followed by him returning to his 'original' form. Immediately after, he sped off as fast as his sand could carry him, convinced that it was only a matter of time before Thomas's and Caenis's 'transformations' wore off.

Though Crocodile was fairly quick, capable of averaging hundreds of kilometers per hour over long distances and several times that in short bursts, the use of Nitocris's Noble Phantasm had left him exhausted. He couldn't even produce a sandstorm to conceal his location, so it only took a few minutes for Caenis to track him down, ahead of Thomas and Artoria.

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Seeing Caenis by herself, Crocodile's already grim expression darkened further as he asked, "Why are you helping Alabasta? With your power, you could easily rule-"

Covering the distance between herself and Crocodile in an instant, Caenis gave the purple-haired man a punch in the face as she taunted, "You ain't sneaky, bitch."

As Crocodile was sent flying by Caenis's punch, the tendril of sand he had been snaking toward her through the ground was severed. Several of his teeth were knocked out, but he managed to retain his consciousness as he turned his body into a swirling vortex of sand, creating several blade-like protrusions that attempted to dice Caenis to pieces.

Completely ignoring the blades, Caenis charged through them, letting them break futilely against his skin as she grabbed Crocodile by the neck, negating his sand powers before slamming him into the ground. He tried to stab her in the neck with the gold-alloy hook on his left hand, but she ignored that as well, the tip bending against her flesh as she exclaimed, "Eat shit, you sand-swilling reptile...!"

With Crocodile unable to use his powers or break through her defenses, Caenis had free rein to slam him into the ground repeatedly, continuing even after he had gone limp. It was only once the whites of his eyes had shown that she stopped, allowing him to slump into the blood-filled crater their interaction had produced.

Spitting on the back of the man's head, Caenis mocked, "It's not as fun when you're the one who's powerless, is it? You're lucky my Master is a bleeding-heart buffoon. If it were up to me, I'd shove that hook up your ass and twist it until it came out your pisser."

Resisting the urge to do precisely that, Caenis gave Crocodile one final kick before picking up the two Install Cards that had popped out of his body halfway through her thrashing. She could have stopped then and there, but she still hadn't forgiven Crocodile for denying her the chance to face off against Hector. She could have Thomas transform into him, but it wouldn't be the same as she could never go all out against him.

Reverting to her casual wear, Caenis slipped the cards into the lining of her panties and shorts, intent on having Thomas pull them out once he arrived. Until then, she stood with her left foot on the back of Crocodile's back, preventing him from scattering into sand the moment he regained consciousness. Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long, as Thomas still had the EMIYA Card equipped. It only granted him C-Rank Agility, but he was nearly as fast as Crocodile in his weakened state.

Seeing the condition of Crocodile, Artoria's expression revealed a hint of conflict. Thomas also produced a wry grimace, but he knew Crocodile had this coming to him, especially after pissing Caenis off.

Projecting two pairs of seastone manacles and a metal choker, Thomas placed them on the unconscious Crocodile before rising to his feet and declaring, "With this, Alabasta should be saved. I'm sure Crocodile had a contingency plan in place, but we should have bought enough time for the evacuation."

Turning to Caenis and Artoria, Thomas asked, "Are the two of you ready to return?"

Crossing her arms, Caenis asked, "Unless you want to go another round or ten, what reason could we possibly have to stay?"

Shaking his head, Thomas refused to comment and simply deactivated the Reality Marble. Doing so made the world appear as if it was collapsing in on them, causing Artoria to tense, but it didn't even take a full second before they were back in the real world, standing in the chamber where Crocodile had been waiting for them.

Though Benienma was the first to notice Thomas's return, Robin was the first to address him, musing, "It appears everything went smoothly. I was beginning to worry when a full hour had passed..."

While making his way over to where Cobra was receiving treatment, Thomas explained, "Crocodile made the mistake of trying to turtle up in the middle of the fight. We just had to run out the clock, and there wasn't much else he could do."

"I see..." muttered Robin. Then, after briefly exchanging glances with the faux Artoria, she returned her attention to Thomas and added, "The King isn't out of the woods just yet. Crocodile forced him to ingest a rare spider known as a Desert Strawberry. Several days have passed since then, so if he doesn't receive the antidote soon, there is a possibility he might die at any moment."

Furrowing his brows, Thomas turned to meet Robin's gaze, asking, "You don't have the antidote on you? I expected you to be more prepared..."

Returning a smile, Robin reached into her fur-lined coat to produce a vial of yellow liquid. Before handing it over, however, she questioned, "Are you sure you want to give it to him? You already have the heart of the Princess firmly within your grasp. If she becomes the reigning monarch, you could rule all of Alabasta from the shadows..."

Grimacing even further, Thomas remarked, "That isn't funny, Robin, even as a joke. Now, hand over the antidote..."

"Certainly," replied the raven-haired woman, proferring forth the antidote without further remark. She really was just joking, but she also wanted to see how Thomas would react. If he had paused to consider the merits of her suggestion, she would have disappeared the moment an opportunity presented itself. Now, so long as he made good on his promise to let her peruse Alubarna's Poneglyph, she would seriously consider joining either the Straw Hats or his burgeoning business enterprise...whichever seemed more interesting...

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(A/N: Caenis is a very vengeful person xD...)

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