Excalibur, Caliburn and the King of Knights

[2B]

This is Arthuria’s entrance to the Omniverse, it uhm, became a bit lengthy, but I hope you enjoy it!

“Bedivere……” sounded a weak voice. It sounded like the person behind the voice was in pain, yet was still striving to great efforts, in order to conceal it. “Bedivere, promise me…..that you will dispose of Excalibur.” the voice ordered, trying to take a commanding tone in its final moments. “Return it to the Lake, Bedivere.”
If one were to take a look at the situation, there was a single solitary knight dragging a sled behind himself, where a figure clad in marine blue armor lay in rest, whom seemed to be the one issuing commands. “But my King, Arthur. It is the Excalibur, I could never.” the knight responded to the voice, as the pair arrived beneath an ancient oak tree that was located in the center of a small isle, the Holy Isle, they called it.


Laying down the rains of the sled Bedivere made his way to the resting figure, easing himself upon one knee as he slid his arm behind the figure’s back. From there, he would start leveraging his partner up with seemingly relative ease, as the pair finally managed to get onto their feet. “We’re almost there, your Highness.” the knight reassured, as he started to help the other towards the tree.

“Bedivere… Promise me that you will return Excalibur into the lake.” was the only response he received, as the figure - earlier referred to as King Arthur - kept insisting upon such a simple thing. What an embarrassment it was.. Britain had fallen, the once proud country was being torn apart from inside and Avalon had been lost. Arthur himself had received a fatal wound from the traitorous knight Mordred, leading here, where he would live his final moments, accompanied by his most loyal knight, Bedivere.

Bedivere slowly eased Arthur down onto the ground, to rest against the mighty oak. “Your king orders you, Bedivere, as his final command.. Return Excalibur into the lake.” His voice shattered, a much more feminine voice revealed from beneath the practiced tone. Calmly, Bedivere responded; “Yes, my King, you need not ask anymore, I will see to it personally, Arthuria.”

In all reality, the proud king Arthur was no man, nor was his name Arthur. The king’s name was Arthuria, and who was believed to be he, was merely a she. Yet for all of his.. Her life, she had pretended to be a man. And it seemed that her time as a King was over. Regret took hold of her mind, as the once proud King of Knights reflected upon her past, the decisions she had made and hoped that the sword that had once been lodged tightly in the stone’s cold embrace, Caliburn, would’ve chosen someone else. Someone more fit to be king. And it was with these dire and desperate thoughts, that the King of Knights, Arthur - Arthuria, drifted from the warmth of life, into the cold, eternal darkness.

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Shielding her eyes from the sudden light with a hand brought to cover her visage, Arthuria woke up from her dream. It seemed that yet another Holy Grail War had come to its inevitable conclusion, and she had once more been forced to witness her own bitter end. Yet this time, something felt different. Before, she had always ended up standing in the close vicinity of a magic circle, yet this time there seemed to be none. There was simply darkness, and the light shining from before her. And that was when she heard a voice resonate within her mind.

“My name is Omni. This is not the world you know. This is the Omniverse. You interest me, so I have made you part of it. The Omniverse is a place that reflects the wishes of those who are part of it. But! There are rules. I will explain them only once, so listen carefully.”

Omni? Omniverse? So...was this not one of the Grail Wars..? And if so, how had she ended up here. A fleet of questions sailed the knight’s mind as she steeled herself, listening closely to what this being had to tell her. After all, he would only explain them once.

“This is Omnilium. It’s what ties the Omniverse together. Without it, you are nothing. With it, anything you desire can be yours. But you will need more than this. If you desire it enough, you will find it. You will find that using it comes naturally. Just think of what you desire most."

Omnilium? A matter of somekind..? Was it possibly comparable to magic power? Arthuria pondered within her mind, trying to make sense of the situation as much as she could. She eyed the rainbow-like matter in her hands, as she pondered. So could it become the Holy Grail, could it grant her one and only desire..? Arthuria received no answer, as the being voiced himself once more.

“You will not be alone in the Omniverse. There are others. Of course, they, too desire Omnilium. Do not fear death. For as long as you interest me, you will be reborn.”

The King of Knights thought that this was starting to sound awfully familiar, as she went through the rules and limitations of Heroic Spirits and what she had learned before.. But still, the being had insisted that this was Omniverse, and the knight couldn’t remember ever hearing of such thing before in any material related to the Holy Grail War.

“That’s all you need to know right now. You’ll figure out the rest soon enough. I’ll be watching … and waiting.”

Arthuria realized that the being was fading, and she was falling back to darkness. What would happen now, she thought, as she closed her eyes.

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Once more, the King of Knights brought her hand to shield her eyes, as she slowly flickered them open against the bright white light shining into them. The being seemed to be gone. That was the first thing that registered within the woman, as she slowly figured she was resting on something soft. Laying on her back, she soon realized that her whole body felt rather..exposed. Quickly, the woman rolled from her back first onto her front, from where she pushed herself up and managed a sitting position. Not looking around herself, she reminisced back to the darkness, where she had been told. Think of what you desire most, hm? Well, at the current moment it was rather simple, clothes. The first outfit that came to her mind, was the simple blue dress that she had worn whilst strolling the aisles of her castle.

The dress was made of ultramarine blue fabric with exquisite golden embroidery. The inside of the dress was lined with a softer cloth for comfort, and to create a highlight to the front of the skirt. The white fabric also covered the chest area of the dress, because the rougher blue fabric would be rather uncomfortable for such parts. The white cloth overtook the blue dress at hems that were decorated by lace, decorated with small golden embroidery.

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As she sat there, Arthuria pictured every slight bit of the dress that she could possibly recall even to the slightest details, concentrating upon it attempting to push it into materialization from her mind. For ten straight minutes the girl simply sat there, picturing every nook and cranny of the dress she used to wear in the past as it materialized before her. Eventually, as she believed she had managed to capture dress in a way that did it justice, she opened her eyes, discovering the dress neatly folded before herself. The King of Knights paid no thought to the fact that she had indeed just created it, as she hastily dressed herself.

Now that she was dressed and not completely naked, Arthuria finally took a look regarding her surroundings. She stood upon lush, green grass, that eventually faded into a bright white. Turning around the woman gasped at the sight presented before her eyes. Her surroundings had gone completely unnoticed by her before, due to the wardrobe malfunction.

”Can this be?” she slowly asked half aloud. What Arthuria witnessed before her, was the same green grass extending for some dozen meters in front of her, before a large lake took over and spread to dominate the landscape. There was also a small island in the middle of the lake, where seemed to be a large stone with something protruding from its depths. ”The Holy Isle..? But...it can’t be. The stone wasn’t here.. There’s something wrong.” the woman noted aloud, as she began to approach the shore with cautious, shaky steps. She was wondering why was this world...Omniverse, was it? Shaped like the Holy Isle, and why was Caliburn here? Was this the earlier being’s way of welcoming her, or was it just a cruel joke?

Her steps grew faster in pace, as the King of Knights could feel her nervousness taking over. There was no bridge leading to the Isle, the distance from the shore being approximately thirty meters or so. Arthuria noted that she was by now running without the feat having even registered to her, having covered the distance to the shore. Much like in the past, the woman didn’t even consider the water as an obstacle, her faith in the Lady of the Lake’s blessing unwavering. As the soles of her feet contacted the surface of the water, instead of running across it with mere splashes of water audible from below her feet, the girl sank like a stone, stumbling face first into the quickly deepening shore water.

As the King of Knights clambered back onto her feet from the water, a question was presented to the air. ”Oh Lady of the Lake, have thy abandoned thine defender?” The response the soaked woman received was one of cold silence, and the situation had quickly developed towards the reality, that Arthuria would have to swim if she wanted onto the isle. But she wouldn’t have been the king, if she was one to give up after such menial hardships. The King of Knights took some steps back discarding the dress she had so hastily put on, setting it onto the grass in hopes that it would dry out whilst she was away. Leaving herself in mere underwear, the woman took a running start, this time diving head first into the cold, dark lake.

A few minutes later the woman found herself at the opposite shore, rising from the waters and standing on the small isle. Observing the island closer, it was approximately ten meters in diameter and the stone was settled approximately in the middle. From this distance Arthuria could already tell what it was, that stuck out from the stone. The hilt of a sword she was indeed very familiar with in her past, Caliburn. ”But how is it..here..?” the woman pondered aloud whilst her feet carried her to the stone with shaky steps. She had lost Caliburn a long time ago as the sword had shattered, yet here it was.

Her thoughts were in disarray, as she tried to figure out what exactly was going on here, as she thought. Does the blade still choose me? Has my wish to the grail been fulfilled..? And if not, am I truly worthy of this blade? It was at that moment, that Arthuria or as she was often called, Saber, reminisced the Holy Grail War she had recently participated in. How she had wielded Excalibur and fought to attain the Gr-....Excalibur. Did she still have it, the woman pondered quietly, the cold air against her bare, glistening skin going unnoticed, as there were more important things on her mind. Then again, if she simply had to imagine her desire to attain it, it seemed rather simple.

Once more, the woman would lower herself to a sitting position, starting to picture the blade in all of its details, the legendary sword Excalibur she was so accustomed to using. Once more this time with some experience in the matter, the woman managed to summon the blade in approximately five minutes minutes. Standing up, she bent down grasping the sword in her hand, lifted it up and gave it a few swings. It did seem like the one she was so accustomed to using, yes.

But it was time Arthuria thought as she set the blade to lean against the stone before her, reaching towards the hilt of what seemed to be Caliburn lodged in the stone. Her hand was shaking from the sheer tension of the situation as she nearly lunged the last few centimeters to the blade, her fingers grasping the hilt before she would give it a strong pull. And it slid. The sword slid up from the stone, sheathed away in its scabbard. At the same time, the King of Knights heard a familiar voice in her head. My blessing shall never leave you, King Arthuria. Believe in yourself, no matter how dire the situation. Instantly, Saber staggered backwards with the blade still in her hand as a tingling sensation rushed through her body, questioning the voice she had heard instantaneously; ”Lady of the Lake?! Is that you?” Yet only silence was her answer. Slowly, Arthuria looked at the sword in her hand, examining it closely with both feeling the engravings with the tips of her fingers, as well as scrutinizing the sword with her eyes. It was definitely Caliburn.

Yet this presented a problem. She now had two swords that she couldn’t just carry around. If she could summon things, could she also de-summon them, or store them away somehow? As soon as she simply thought of dismissing the swords, they simply vanished from her hands. Obviously, the woman would try to re-summon them, finding that they did indeed return to her hand upon her call. For now, she returned the two into their storage.

Author’s note: Caliburn shall for now, be simply a fluff item, she won’t actually be using it, but who knows about the future?

It was time to leave, Arthuria thought, as she headed back towards the water, discovering right away on her first step, that she did indeed once more, possess the blessing given by the Lady of the Lake, granting her the ability to traverse waters unhindered, much like they would be ground. On a running pace, she returned to her dress, only to discover that it had disappeared… What a strange world it was, the woman thought as she once more took her seating position, this time deciding to summon the armor she so often wore.

After she was done with the summoning process, and had successfully clothed herself, it was time to leave. Except that she didn’t know where. Saber looked around herself - this time towards the ever expanding whiteness, noticing small dots in the distance, even though she was unable to determine what exactly they were from such distance. But heading for those was better than nothing. However, due to the distance, there was a question of travel time. She had summoned clothes, her armour as well as her weapon, would it work on something so much larger, living even..? Well, only by trying, could she ever find out the knight decided, as she took her sitting pose and began to imagine.

Twenty or so minutes later Arthuria took a hold the reins of the white horse, directing it towards one of the gates and spurring her newly discovered mount to a canter.

Arthuria is heading towards the gate of Camelot, even though she obviously doesn’t have a clue about such.