Faceless Fates (Fate Grand Order Drones/TFMC)

Hey folks!

Alright. February has arrived. Everyone doing okay out there? Keeping warm? It's bloody cold over here. I thought the sun was supposed to start rising earlier by now. Stupid solar mechanics, what you do for DZ?

Ah well. I don't have much to report this week, aside from writing going pretty well at the moment, so I'll hand you over to this Fate dronification story! Do please enjoy!

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“Be gone from this place, Beast.” High Queen Morgan’s voice rolled through the halls. “It is not for you, or your kind.”

“So cold, your Majesty.” Heels clicked against the stone with every step, a smooth, uninterrupted rhythm as Koyanskaya approached the throne. Dressed in her crisp white NFF uniform, she looked completely out of place in this fantasy kingdom – aside from her pink, fluffy tails that curled in the air behind her, of course. “Are you really so keen to reject me? Seems like you could use an efficient secretary to straighten this place out a little.”

It could be said that she had grounds for thinking so. The world of Fairy Britain was a desolate one. Endless stretches of dead ocean, broken up only by one island, built up high by a concentration of decayed corpses. It was a world without hope. Without a future. A world where the only way forward was sorrow.

It was a world that High Queen Morgan kept going out of steadfast determination and love. Love for an ideal. Love for a place. Certainly not love for a people, no, but she allowed them to exist, and surely that counted for something, yes?

Well, her knight Barghest (who went by the title of Gwain) might have thought differently about that had she been asked, but Morgan wasn’t the type to inquire about things she already knew, and Barghest wasn’t the type to offer opinions when they weren’t asked for, so the two of them got along quite well together. Truth be told, of the three Fairy Knights that served the Queen, the blonde was by far the most reliable. Bahoban Sith (who’s title was Tristain) was a spiteful, flighty minx – by Morgan’s own insistence – and Melusine (Lancelot) was just plain flighty.

If you wanted to present the image of a powerful, loyal knight, that was Barghest, without a doubt. Thus, it was often she, rather than her fellows, who stood at her Queen’s side. And now it was she who barred the pink haired beast’s path, sword planted firmly in front of her.

“Not a single step further, interloper. The High Queen has granted you leave to visit her Kingdom, but nothing more. If you stand in defiance against her explicit instruction, then I’ll make sure your execution is swift.”

Fitting for the title she’d been given, the Queen’s hound towered over the fox – a difference in height that only became clearer as Koyanskaya drew closer, coming to a stop a few paces in front of the knight. Her tails swished behind her.

“Visiting’s nice,” the ‘Secretary’ said, smirking up at the giant of a knight. “But I think I’d much rather own the place.”

“You dare-!” The sword rose, flames licking along its edge, ready to cleave a disrespectful head from its neck.

But Morgan’s voice rang out from down the hall, the Queen herself lounging in her throne, observing the clash from afar. “Calm yourself, my Knight. The feral animal simply wishes to goad you. It’s the only kind of wound a creature like her can muster against you.”

There was a certain smugness to her words, and a rare twitch of a smile on her lips. The Queen didn’t enjoy much these days, but there was a little savage satisfaction to putting people in their place that still resonated within her.

“You should know, Beast, that you don’t face exhausted servants of histories that should never have been, or the desperate summonings of the remnants of Chaldea,” she said, her words carrying with thunderous intent. “Now you stand before one of my Fairy Knights in her prime. One of the strongest beings in existence.”

Koyanskaya folded her arms behind her back, leaning forwards just a little, enough to let her tails swirl around her as she inspected the morsel in front of her. Whatever she saw drew a smile – but it was a smile with teeth. “Should I be impressed?”

And in kind, Morgan’s smile grew that much wider. “Were you possessed of even a mote of the intellect you believe you possess, yes. But one would never expect that of one such as you.”

“Your Majesty,” Barghest eyes flicked backwards, towards her Queen. “Please, allow me to remove this interloper. Her mere presence is a stain on your Camelot that I would see removed.”

The Queen’s laugh tinkled like crystal. “Do not worry, Sir Gwain. The mutt only bares her fangs – she dares not bite with them. You may let her posture and preen as she pleases, but don’t dignify her actions as a real threat unless she truly forgets herself. If she actually is foolish enough to attack, you may destroy her at your leisure.”

The tall blonde nodded. “As you command,” she said, turning back to the smirking pinkette. The High Queen was correct, she knew. While the woman’s cruelty was truly dazzling to the hound of the Fang Clan, her power couldn’t be questioned. And indeed, nor could Barghest’s, even if the full extent of her might was suppressed by her title. They had no need to concern themselves with the barks of a feral fox.

Still… Her instincts were unsettled. There was something odd about the woman in front of her. Something that prickled at her danger sense. She’d seen Koyanskaya before, of course, when the woman had acted on behalf of her Majesty’s associates in other realms, though Barghest didn’t know much about those things. But there was something different about her now. Something she couldn’t quite place.

It was enough to make her pay attention as the secretary strutted even closer, seductively rubbing up against the knight’s front, stroking a finger down her silver breastplate. “So aggressive. Why, it’s almost human of you, my dear. But don’t worry yourself about ‘removing’ me. If I decide to attack, you can rest well assured that there will be absolutely nothing you can do about it.”

Her tails curled possessively around the knight’s legs, sliding up her armoured thighs.

Morgan’s low chuckle echoed through the empty halls. “As the floors were only just cleaned, I shall warn you now. Sir Gwain is no mere knight. They were born as one of the strongest warriors that the Fang Clan had ever produced, and have only grown stronger with each successive battle.”

Barghest tried not to let herself blush, feeling the blood beginning to heat up her face. While her power as a warrior was a point of great pride for her, her actual history wasn’t one she liked to talk about. The reason she had grown stronger wasn’t because of battle experience, after all – rather, it was her curse of gluttony…

She went to ask that her Queen not speak too highly of her past – only to find her mouth refusing to open. Nor would her head turn to look away from the fox in front of her. With a start – a muted one that never made it to her face - she realised she couldn’t move.

The tails curled around her legs rose up, wrapping around her back. Koyanskaya smirked up at her.

“They received their position as my Fairy Knight when they single handedly ended a most distasteful war, personally defeating a calamity in single combat, after devouring a coward who refused to use his magic, and taking it for herself.”

Barghest might have objected strongly to the mention – no, to the outright bragging about her ability to devour other fairies to gain their power, but right now she was focused on the danger at hand. Why couldn’t she move? What had this pink haired bitch done to her?! She was trying to struggle, but her muscles wouldn’t so much as twitch! How was this possible?

A pink tail rose up and coiled around her neck, sliding gently under her long hair.

“Their conquests are legion. Both in battle and otherwise.” The Queen was clearly enjoying the show. “If that’s an attempt at seduction that you’re trying, then I think you’ll find she’s more than equipped to handle you.”

The knight truly wished she could move – just her lips, or just her eyes. If she could, she might have been able to ask her Majesty to maybe make less with the snide comments about her love life, and more with the helping her! But despite the powerful fae’s fervent wishes, her body simply stood in place, hands resting against her planted sword, forced to stare forward as those tails moved up and swirled around her head with their soft, soft fur…

Through their haze, she could still see Koyanskaya’s golden eyes glittering as they stared at her, the Beast’s smile all too easy to imagine. She was clearly enjoying every moment, even while the High Queen remained oblivious. The fae’s body quivered under her touch, responding to her command and her command alone. This was absurd, how on earth was she doing this? She had to fight this, she had t-!

A tail slid down over Barghest’s face, and her thoughts went blank.

Koyanskaya covered her malicious giggle with her hand as she drew her ninth tail down, revealing… Nothing. No sign of the fairy knight’s face at all – just flat skin where it should be. Her proud features? Gone. Her earnest, mismatched eyes? Gone. Her tight, ever stoic lips? Gone! Even her sensitive nose, vanished. The front of her face had been rendered just as blank as the brain behind it.

Oh, how delicious. A towering giant of a woman, the epitome of a knight in shining armour – rendered as mindless as a mannequin at just the touch of her tails.

Mm, she could feel it draining, the other woman’s thoughts, memories, personality and mind, all of it sucked down her tail and into her. It was a truly magnificent amount of magic, maybe even enough to form its own holy grail.

But compared to Koyanskaya as she was now, it was a drop in the ocean. Utterly unnecessary. She wouldn’t even do such a pathetic amount of power the honour of using it. Instead she just channelled it down through her arm and out into her hand, storing it in a lovely little device she’d prepared for this kind of thing.

Her NFF brand smart phone.

Barghest’s face flashed up on the screen for a moment – just the barest hint of confusion showing in her eyes. Then it flashed away, stored in a folder for later perusal, if the fox decided she needed a laugh. There, she’d filed her away with her other fairy nights, just between a shocked Bahoban Sith, and a smug Melusine.

Mmm, now that last one had been worth absorbing. The power of a true dragon had made for a fine foundation of her sixth tail. Koyan’s fingers couldn’t help but stroke the fluffy limb as she remembered gaining it, draining the arrogant silver haired knight’s entire existence into herself…

It was a good thing she’d gotten to Fairy Britain early and made that deal with Aurora. Otherwise she might have missed such an incredible boost to her strength! If she hadn’t managed that, why, she might not have made it all the way to nine tails – and full beasthood - at all!

Her thumb skimmed along the next face in her collection. Ah, Aurora. Well, of course she’d needed to test her new power out on someone. And anyway, that fairy had made a much more reliable faceless minion than she had a trading partner.

Such delightful memories~ The Beast shook her head with a grin, before sliding the phone away in a white stitched pocket, before reaching up and propping up her blank muscle mannequin’s chin with a finger. Eyes sparkling, she rose up on her tiptoes, and pressed a kiss against the empty space where the drone’s mouth should have been.

“Are you quite done?” Morgan’s voice intruded, and reminded the fox that the High Queen was still present. “I think you’ve spent enough time realising that Sir Gwain is far more than you can handle. Now leave, mutt, before I have her destroy you as she’s requested.”

Present, perhaps, but oblivious to the fate of her knight. Oh, how confident she was. This would be fun.

“Actually, your Majesty,” the Beast purred, her voice a soft impression of contrition. “With all posturing aside, I have come to you with an offer that I believe you’ll be interested in. A simple sale, courtesy of the ever reliable NFF.”

The Queen raised an eyebrow. “Doubtful. But I see no harm in hearing your request. You may approach, under Sir Gwain’s watchful eye.”

Koyanskaya had to stop herself bursting out into laughter, looking up at the eyes that ‘Sir Gwain’ no longer had. “Of course, your Highness~” Then she leaned in close to the former knight, lowering her voice. “Escort me to your old Mistress, dog, and don’t let her see your face until I desire it.”

Empty of will and thought, the new drone didn’t hesitate to obey. There was no need to collar this hound, her obedience was guaranteed. The Beast slid past her and all but skipped up the corridor to the throne room, her tails flying high behind her, hiding her minion’s face from cold blue eyes.

The throne room was empty when she arrived, with no fae nobles gossiping away in the corners. Clearly Morgan wasn’t in the mood to deal with their kind today. But the woman herself was there, seated, as ever, in her throne in the middle of the room. The grand circular chair from which she ruled over all of fairy Britain with a grip of iron.

To Koyanskaya’s critical eye, it looked a bit bare bones, with none of the extravagance she liked to see in such high class structures. Alas, Morgan was a woman of rather restrained tastes these days. Such a pity. But very easily fixable.

“Your great Majesty,” she said, curtsying before the throne, her tails fluttering and allowing her mindless mountain minion to pass around her and take her former place at Morgan’s right hand, her empty face out of the Queen’s sight. “So kind of you to allow me an audience.”

“Why should I not?” The silver haired queen lounged in her seat, utterly unconcerned with the monster in front of her. “It’s far simpler to destroy you here. I don’t even need to stand up.” She tilted her head in askance. “What offer have you come to make, Beast of Cherishment? I’m sure you already know that if I find your case lacking, your existence will be forfeit, so do not waste my time with small talk.”

Koyanskaya gave the queen her politest smile as she nodded. Naturally, she understood exactly what the stakes of this conversation were. “It is a simple offer, your Majesty. I’m giving you the opportunity to become my unthinking, unknowing mage drone, to serve me in whatever fashion I feel fit, and in return, I will turn your beloved Britain into my holiday home. I love all these foul creatures you have running around, it’ll be a lovely change from my Tunguska is too cold.”

To Morgan’s credit, she didn’t look surprised. She didn’t even look offended, really. She just leaned back in her throne with a sigh. “You are not worth my effort. Sir Gwain, remove her.”

She waved a dismissive hand, already moving on from the matter and reflecting on matters that she would be addressing tomorrow… Only to pause as the expected execution didn’t occur.

“Sir Gwain?” For the first time, Morgan noticed how still her knight had become.

It was far too late.

Pink tails shot out, snaring around the High Queen’s arms and legs to hoist her up into the air, away from her throne. A good dozen defensive spells immediately flared, trying to strike back at the Beast, but their power either rolled off her like rain, or worse, fed into her tails and disappeared. Morgan was by no means a weak woman – she was one of the most powerful mages in all of history – but against the fully realised Beast, even that strength was as nothing.

“Unhand me, vermin!” She snarled, her eyes flashing with furious fire. Her struggles availed her naught, merely wiggling her body as it hung suspended in Koyanskaya’s grip. “What have you done?!”

“Now there’s the Morgan Le Fay everyone’s been waiting for!” The fox laughed. “Nice to see you’ve still got a little spite left in you. It’ll taste that much sweeter when I drain it down.” Her eyes flashed as she leered at her prey. “As for what I’ve done, well, why don’t you take a look?”

With a flex of her tails, she pulled the helpless monarch away from her throne and spun her around to get a good look at her faceless knight. Morgan’s jaw dropped as she finally got a good look at what had become of Barghest, her struggles stilling momentarily. The sight of her most trusted aide reduced to little more than a mindless mannequin clearly shook her.

“What-?”

But anything she had to say about the matter was quickly smothered by pink fur.

That got the Queen struggling again, trying to fight out of the cocoon of pink that had enveloped her head, though her movements soon slowed. She could feel something being stolen from her as the Beast’s tails stroked at her, as they cherished her, and leeched away her most integral essence. Unable to do anything to fight back, all she could do was try to resist as she felt her passions leak away, her fury fade, her desires drain, and her memories sink into nothingness. Her mind, her personality, her entire self was slipping through her mental fingers.

The next thing she knew, her feet were set back on the floor, her head so hollow she could feel a breeze blowing in through one ear and out through the other. Confusion, uncertainty filled her heart. She could no longer remember her name. She could no longer remember her desires. But she remembered, with fear, the missing face of someone she once cared for.

Tentatively, her hands shaking, she reached up and pressed her fingers against the front of her head, searching for her face. She found nothing but blank skin. Her chin wobbled, but she had no mouth with which to scream.

Then one last tail ruffled her hair, and even that limited awareness winked out. Her mind went blank. Just like the mannequin knight before her, Morgan Le Fay had become a puppet Queen.

“So happy we could make a deal everyone would be happy with, your Majesty,” Koyanskaya giggled, grinning down at the terrified face that she’d just downloaded into her phone. “Or at least, no one’s complaining now~”

Then, with a flip of her tails, the Beast took a seat in her new throne – a wave of pink washing through the room as she sat down, changing the décor from that depressing crystal blue to something more fitting for a new NFF acquisition. Her two faceless minions took their places, one on either side of her, staring blankly into nothingness as their Mistress assessed her new property.

But just as she began to plan a few renovations, there was a charge of energy through the air. Koyanskaya’s ears pricked up.

“Ah,” she said, looking at the puppet Queen on her left with amusement. “Were you blocking this from happening personally? How delightfully petty~”

Singularities, Lostbelts, minor holidays… These days there were a lot of unnatural phenomena that went against the natural order, and the natural order didn’t let that go quietly. Typically, that meant that the world usually responded to any problem by throwing Servants at it. Even here, in fairy Kingdom, so removed from the course of human history, there were some Servants who could be called.

And, naturally. Morgan Le Fay in Camelot could only result in a specific variety of summoning, no matter which Morgan or Camelot they may be. Two summoning circles had appeared before the throne, crackling with magical power, three layers of light shining out of each. There was a flash, and then…

“Tch. Why’d I get summoned here of all places?” Clad in red, her famous armour conspicuously missing, Sir Mordred of the Round Table, Knight of Treachery and Betrayal, glared at her surroundings with irritation.

Across from her, the second Servant took a moment to assess the situation before speaking – but her judgement was all the more dire for it.

“I would ask the usual line,” Artoria Pendragon said, frowning at the fox in the throne, “but I can already tell you are not my Master. What have you done to this place, Beast?”

Koyanskaya just grinned, flexing her tails. She hadn’t planned for this, but it certainly wasn’t a problem. “Don’t you like the décor? I think it’s much better than the glum vibe that miss depressed-and-angry-about-it had going,” she answered, gesturing to the drone that had once been Morgan.

Her smirk widened as the two Servants noticed the blank-faced elephant in the room. Their reactions were everything she’d hoped for.

“Mother?!” Mordred was the most obvious – she’d never learned to hide her emotions without her helm concealing her face. Shock, confusion, horror, anger, rage… Oh, she looked so adorably conflicted! What a lovely treat.

And as for the King of Knights herself, well, admittedly her reaction was more subdued. But the Beast in the throne could see that slight widening of her eyes, that twitch of her hands… Oh my my my, was the great King Arthur just as enraged as her son at the sight of his mortal enemy defeated like this? Tut tut, your majesty – a King had no room for such sympathies, even if the woman in question was his sister. Such hypocrisy! How positively intoxicating~

“You-!” Unsurprisingly, it was Mordred who drew her blade first. The tip shook, revealing the woman’s inner uncertainty – only natural for a daughter who both loved and hated her mother - but her expression was one of murderous hatred. “I don’t care who you are! No one harms that woman but me!” She shot forwards, power surging.

“Sir Mordred!” Artoria snapped, trying to call her knight back, but it was far too late. The Servant was already lunging, her sword crackling with red lightning as she swung it down on the occupier of the throne.

The blade didn’t make it. At the last moment, a tail shot out, seizing the blade and stopping it dead as easily as one might halt a stick swung by a toddler. Koyanskaya looked past it, her smug grin meeting Mordred’s stunned shock head on.

And then the rest of her tails snapped in. In an instant, the knight in red was overwhelmed, vanishing from the world as she was completely smothered in pink fuzz. They wrapped around her tightly like a cocoon, cherishing every inch of tomboyish fighter in their warm embrace.

A single moment later, and the tails parted, revealing another blank faced doll, with no trace of Mordred’s fire to be seen. She hung frozen in her prison, just as mindless as her mother, and now just as capable of treachery. The Beast spun her around, then placed her down next to the former Barghest, standing with her arms at her sides, staring blankly at the wall.

“There. The knight of loyalty, paired with the knight of betrayal.” She smirked at the other Servant. “What a nice set they make, don’t you think?”

The sharp sound of Excalibur sliding free of its sheathe was her only answer.

She couldn’t say she minded. “Of course, now my Queen needs a King…”

Artoria didn’t mess around. She’d been summoned in her strongest class, as a Saber, and thus had the full power of her legendary, world saving blade at her disposal. Normally she’d at least try to gauge the enemy before using it, make sure that it was a proportional response – but Koyanskaya had more than proven her strength by taking out Morgan, and confirmed it by defeating Mordred with a thought. There was no need for any further hesitation.

Excalibur was already shining with its holy golden light as she raised it high.

“EX-!”

The power magnified, conjuring a storm of wind around her. The power of the planet responded to her call, ready to unleash pure obliteration against her opponent.

“-CALIBUR!”

The blade swung down, releasing all of that power in a straight beam, directly at the Beast, at the enemy of humanity-!

The golden light disappeared.

Just vanished. There wasn’t even a flash or any kind of counter. It simply evaporated in mid-air, getting nowhere near its supposed target. Artoria was left staring at her holy blade in confusion, unable to understand why it hadn’t worked.

Unable to… to…

Un… Unable…

Un…

… Her head felt funny…

“So sorry,” Koyaskaya purred, having risen from her throne to circle around the King. “I should have mentioned! This is Camelot-NFF now. My Camelot. My territory. I have aaabsolute authority here.” She slung a comforting arm around Artoria’s shoulders. “So I’m afraid all you’ve done is feed me more energy.”

The blonde blinked at her, her brow furrowing as if she’d been presented with a confounding puzzle – one who’s solution seemed to be completely out of reach.

The fox couldn’t help but grin at the sight. She leaned in, lips against the blonde’s ear. “I’ve been draining you since the moment you were summoned. Thanks for the snack. Now hurry up and forget you were ever a person, okay now~?”

Artoria pursed her lips slowly as the ability to understand her, the cognition required to translate the fox’s words into comprehensible thought, dissolved out through her ears. She tried to speak. Tried to say… Well, even she couldn’t have said what. But all that left her mouth was a sigh as the fight was drained out of her.

The King of Knights eyes, normally shining emeralds, faded to dull moss, and then further to pure white as her irises vanished. Her arms hung limp at her shoulders, her jaw slack, saliva drooling down onto her chest plate.

“That’s a good girl,” Koyanskaya said, petting the blonde on the head, before waving a hand over her face and leaving it just as blank as the rest of her family. Hey, the outside should match the inside, right? “Now go take your place by my throne, and let me get back to actual people things.”

The King drone obeyed, mindlessly marching up next to the drone with silver hair and standing next to her, thoughtlessly staring into space. The fox considered her, and all of her other drones for a moment, before coming to a decision.

“Mm. Clothing is for people, too.” She snapped her fingers, and the outfits of every blank faced mannequin disappeared, leaving each of them nude, and stripping them of some of their last ties to their former identities. Now all that was left was their hair. “Much better.”

Sighing happily, Koyanskaya returned to her throne, pulling out her smart phone once again and scrolling through her latest captures.

Furious Mordred.

Stupefied Artoria.

Terrified Morg- Oh, wait, was this Artoria? Hm, maybe Morgan had been the stupefied one? The Beast peered at the screen, flipping between the two souls, searching for a way to tell…

Before shrugging!

“Eh. I don’t need two of the same face,” she decided, selecting one at random and deleting it, obliterating the last traces of the mind of one of the greatest legends of humanity. Duplicates wouldn’t be tolerated in her collection. Scarcity was value, after all.

Maintenance done, she slid the phone away and snapped her fingers, leaning back. As she did, two of the drones – she didn’t care which ones – fell to all fours in front of her, and she merrily put her feet up on their bare backs.

“Now,” she said, sinking into her new throne. “Where should I start converting the rest of this island into my own little beastly paradise…?”

There was no answer, of course – not from any of the four drones, at least. None of them understood the question – or, indeed, anything at all. Their minds remained as blank as their faces, their souls as hollow as their heads. They were more objects now than living beings, simple pawns to be used by others, never themselves.

They were, at best, prizes. Mere trophies made to display the raw, undeniable power of Koyanskaya, the Beast of Cherishment…

And that was all they’d ever be. Barghest, Morgan, Mordred, and Artoria would never think again.

But they did make exceptionally fine decorations for the refurbished palace~