IBHJ 1123

"Tch!" A sharp sound made him turn. Mordred stood there with her face twisted in displeasure. He wondered if she was really that disappointed about not getting to stab Xuanzang.

Leaving Mordred to her mood, he turned back to the others. "What brings you two all the way out here?"

"Well..." Xuanzang looked over at Abigail.

"We're going to March, big brother," Abigail said, having recovered from her earlier scare.

"You're heading there too?" His eyes lingered on the crown resting on Abigail's head. "Did you hear something from Hope?"

"Did you also hear from Hope, big brother?" Abigail asked after a pause.

"Yes, he told me he could help remove the crown. Is he part of your Council, Abby?"

She shook her head. "Hope knows how to remove the Crown, but he's not in our Council. We don't even know who he is. He's just been helping us for as long as I can remember."

"I see..." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. This Hope could be anything - a creature of Gaia, a Heroic Spirit, or maybe even an enemy they hadn't figured out yet.

Without warning, Abigail wrapped her arms around him, pressing her face against his stomach. "I'm so happy you're safe, big brother."

The sudden hug caught him by surprise. Had they grown this close?

He couldn't understand, but for someone like Abigail who lived in a world of cold calculations and worth, simple kindness meant everything. Ever since she lost her power - and her perceived value - Shirou's decision to stay by her side had broken down the walls between them. But Shirou wouldn't realize this. To him, it was just the natural thing to do.

"Thanks for worrying about me, Abby," he said softly, patting her head.

Abigail's face relaxed with relief. Since the witch trials, everyone had turned against her - the townspeople, the priests, even her friends and family. Their coldness had left her heart aching with loneliness.

"That's it!" Mordred's boots thumped against the ground as she stormed over. She grabbed Abigail by the collar and yanked her up.

"Wah! What are you doing?" Abby flailed in panic.

"I should be asking you that, you Outer God's puppet!" Mordred jabbed a finger at Abigail's cheek. "Don't think you can mess with my father's head!"

"I'm not a puppet!" Abigail's fear turned to anger as she glared back at her. "And I'd never try to control anyone!"

Shirou watched their argument heating up and sighed. "Mordred, put Abby down. Xuanzang is right there watching us."

"Oh, so it's 'Abby' and 'Xuanzang' now?" Mordred turned on him, her eyes flashing. "Since when are you so friendly with them? Are you really this clueless, or are you just pretending to be?"

She jabbed her finger against his nose, and he blinked at her in confusion. "...What?"

"You just love being surrounded by women, don't you? Drawing them in one after another. No wonder you were a king. You probably think no one will say anything even if you share a bed with someone new every day. You're going around—"

He cut her off by pulling her into a hug. "I'm sorry."

"F-Father..." The fight drained out of Mordred as she clutched his clothes, her anger melting away into silence.

After a quiet moment, she looked up at him. "Alright, that's enough. How long are you planning to hug me, old man?"

Shirou let out a silent sigh. This child is impossible to please!

He let go of Mordred and turned to the others. "Xuanzang, Abby, I'm sorry you had to see that."

"Oh, don't worry about it."

"Just don't call me a puppet again." Abigail added, still clearly bothered by Mordred's accusations about trying to control Shirou.

A rustle of wings broke the peace as doves and owls burst from the trees in panic. An icy chill crept through the air, turning the forest as cold as a tomb.

Xuanzang wrapped her arms around herself, shivering. "Why is it suddenly... so cold?"

A deep voice slithered out from the shadows of the forest. "So you're all heading to March to find Hope and remove the crown? All the empire's enemies gathered in one place. Not that it matters to a mere traveler like me." The voice grew harder. "But you and I have unfinished business, Fujimaru Shirou!"

That voice...

Shirou turned to see Artoria emerge from the trees, her face clouded with fury, the air around her heavy with killing intent.

"A-Artoria..."

"Don't you speak my name! You despicable, honorless traitor! I trusted you, and you repaid me by attacking me from behind. Twice!"

Shirou sighed. Sure, attacking her from behind wasn't his proudest moment. But what was he supposed to do when she went after Mordred? He couldn't just watch someone attack his daughter.

"Since you made such delicious food, I could have forgiven those sneak attacks - just beating you up once or twice would have been fair payback. But what you did to me while I was unconscious... Unforgivable!" Artoria's finger shook as she pointed at him.

He felt the shift in atmosphere immediately. He turned to find Xuanzang and Abigail clutching each other, staring at him like he was some kind of monster.

"Wait, you've got it wrong! Artoria, this is a misunderstanding - it wasn't me!"

"If you didn't violate me, then who did?" Artoria's eyes burned with fury. "And now you're going after other women? You have no shame!"

He watched helplessly as Xuanzang and Abigail backed away from him.

It was just a turtle drawn on your face! Did you have to make it sound so wrong?

He opened his mouth to explain, then stopped cold. Mordred had drawn that turtle. If Artoria knew that, in this state... He had no idea how strong she was now. He couldn't risk her turning that rage on Mordred.

"Fine, yes, I did it. The turtle looked good on you." He spread his hands in surrender.

Truth was, he'd let Mordred draw on her partly because he wanted to see proud Artoria look silly. But he never expected her to chase them down like this.

He should have known better than to tell her where he was headed. Who could have guessed Mordred would show up there? He'd only planned to travel with this world's Artoria to the nearest city before going their separate ways. The Mordred incident had changed everything.

"So what now?" he asked.

"What now?" Artoria's voice went dangerously low. "I believe in paying back exactly what I'm owed. Everything you did to me, I'll return in kind. First, I'll knock you out. Then I'll violate your body!"

Xuanzang clutched Abigail closer, both of them shaking.

"I'll peel your skin off and draw ten thousand little turtles on your face-" Artoria's threat cut off with a dull thud. Her eyes rolled back, and she crumpled to the ground, blood pooling beneath her head.

"Some Pendragon instinct she has. No wonder she's a fake." Mordred tossed aside the bloody rock with a smirk.

While Artoria had been focused on Shirou, Mordred had used her Grail to slip through the ground behind her. She'd picked up a rock and, copying Shirou's earlier move, brought it down hard on Artoria's head.

"That was pretty brutal, Mordred."

"You did the same thing before. You're in no position to judge." Mordred scoffed, then nodded at Artoria's unconscious form. "What do we do with this fake mom? She knows too much - should we just kill her?"

"It wouldn't help. She's from the Eternal Empire - she'll just come back to life even if we kill her."

"So what do we do with her?"

"We could bury her alive," He said thoughtfully. "Even if she can't die, it'll slow her down for a while."

"That could work." She nodded.

"Um..." Xuanzang raised her hand timidly. "Could you maybe not talk about such horrible things so casually?"

In the end, they couldn't bring themselves to be that cruel. They just tied Artoria up and had Mordred use her Grail to disarm her before taking her with them.