May 27, 1941 United Kingdom
"This place seems suitable."
Artoria commented, looking at the half destroyed and abandoned building, a consequence of the continuous bombings that hit various parts of the United Kingdom during this and the previous year.
The place was empty both inside and out. The population of this region had long since been evacuated and there was no one left here. It was a perfect place for what Artoria was about to do.
Several years had passed since Artoria was reborn into this world and joined the British Army, going through many things and experiencing firsthand the cruelty of war.
She participated on several different fronts and excelled on each one, saving hundreds or perhaps thousands of people in the process.
She was on the defensive front of Norway and Denmark where a group of Hydra enhanced soldiers invaded.
It was a surprise to the stationed troops to see entire campaigns of Nazi soldiers with mechanical parts integrated into various portions of their bodies.
They were harder to kill but not impossible. Artoria excelled in this battle by wiping out several enemy lines of these enhanced super soldiers, increasing the morale of the Allies. Thanks to Artoria's efforts, victory was assured, but they still withdrew from Norwegian soil because the battle in France had begun.
From that point on, Artoria became notorious on many battlefields, saving several shipments of refugees from being bombed by Nazi cruisers during the relocation of British citizens to safer regions.
What truly marked her as a heroine of Great Britain was during the Blitz bombings in London. A rescue operation was deployed across the capital and Artoria was positioned as captain of the ground defense team during the attack.
She saved at least 1,597 people during the retreat, although it was estimated that even more survived. This number included the royal family. The public practically witnessed Artoria blocking bombs in the air with her body and deflecting planes with stones that had fallen from buildings. This made her a key figure in the successful retreat and the rescue of civilians during the air raid.
After several clashes with Italy, which had also declared war on the United Kingdom, Artoria won admiration from people throughout most of Europe, at least among the allied nations.
After a period of accolades and promotions, Artoria requested time to rest, which was happily granted. Now she was here to try something she had long wanted to attempt but never had the time for.
"Good first."
Artoria prepared herself in less than a second. The formal military officer uniform disappeared and was replaced with silver armor decorated with blue and gold designs. A white cloak with a fur lined collar billowed in the wind. A golden crown rested on her head, her hair pulled back.
It was the armor used by the Lancer version of Artoria, but this time she not only carried her holy lance but also her two swords, Excalibur and Caliburn, in their respective sheaths. She also carried Avalon.
"Well then, let us protect the aria as well. Who knows what the aria will be like when it appears. Open the gates of your kingdom. Avalon."
Holding her scabbard in her hand, Artoria spoke the activation command, unleashing a gigantic inherent barrier that covered her entire world. It was replaced with a vast plain of nonexistent flowers beneath a clear blue sky. The air was clean, free from the pollution of the war to which Artoria had grown accustomed, and a feeling filled her soul, a feeling she did not know she had missed.
She was not sure if this could be done using her pod as a medium, but apparently there was no problem.
"Deep sigh. Well, let us continue."
Artoria was not here to test her abilities or relax within the peaceful scenery.
She held the royal holy weapon tightly in one hand and her spear in the other. Tension filled the peaceful world. Artoria was preparing to face one of her greatest challenges.
She was going to confront her sister.
"He whose name resounds in the past as in the present and will continue to resound in the future, answer my call. With the dignity of a king, with the blood of a relative, and with the sharing of a legend, I demand your worthy presence and that you face me."
With the sound of her final sentence, a magic circle appeared before her, glowing intensely in an ominous deep red. The Holy Grail in her hand burned like fire, but she did not care. She was far too tense to be bothered by it.
After several agonizing minutes, the circle burst into a blinding flash of light that filled Artoria's entire field of vision. It lasted for several seconds until the light slowly faded, revealing a figure standing where the magic circle had been, staring at Artoria with brutal intensity as if trying to pierce her with its gaze.
"You have grown up, little sister."
She spoke in a neutral yet seductive tone that made Artoria feel as if thousands of spiders crawled down her back.
The person who appeared was clearly a woman. She wore a long, somewhat revealing dress in shades of black and blue that trailed along the floor like a veil of darkness. Her skin was pale, almost sickly white, and her shiny platinum hair flowed down her back. Her figure was striking. Her breasts were not as large as Artoria's, yet they were still large enough to leave anyone speechless. Her head was adorned with a Roman crown of thorns and a misty veil that covered her face, making it difficult to see. Anyone who managed to see beneath the veil would be shocked by how much she resembled Artoria.
There was no need to delve into who she was. It was quite clear.
Morgan le Fay, Artoria's older sister.
"...It has been a long time, sister Morgan."
With her heart pounding a thousand times a minute, she greeted her with stiffness but without wavering in her determination.
Finally, a reunion of sisters is born that alone would destroy the world.
I am going to cut the following here because everyone wants to see a fight between them, but I am going to omit it to get to the part that most yuri fans want to see. I also made some changes to Morgan's character because, let us be honest, how is that woman supposed to reconcile with Artoria? Well, I will not interrupt you anymore. Keep reading.
Everything was destroyed. Much of the plain full of beautiful flowers had disappeared. Large craters were scattered everywhere, and black fire enveloped the grass.
"..."
A tired sigh.
"Do you feel calmer now?"
Artoria asked, sitting on the floor with her back against the crater wall, looking at the woman, her sister, lying at the center of it.
"I feel ashamed and angry at how everything was so one sided from the beginning. Could you not have been kinder to your sister?"
Morgan complained, unable to move an inch.
"It is hard to think about being kind when a barrage of primal curses explodes in your face before you can even utter a word."
Artoria criticized, reproaching Morgan for her cowardly outburst the second she appeared.
When they fought, Morgan did not hesitate for a second. The moment she confirmed that the person in front of her was Artoria, she attacked. In the end, she lost. If it had been the original Artoria, the result would probably have been closer, but the current Artoria was a fusion of several Heroic Spirits with the same origin. She had too many forms to deal with Morgan, which resulted in a one sided defeat, much to Morgan's shame.
"Why did you call me?"
Morgan asked, her tone devoid of emotion, as if the fight they had just had did not matter.
"...Well, I am not really sure. Maybe I was just feeling a little lonely. Maybe."
Artoria answered without much certainty.
It was not a lie. She did feel somewhat lonely. After living and witnessing so many things, Artoria began to distance herself from others, except for those with whom she already had a clear relationship.
Artoria was strong, but the feeling of loneliness bothered her deeply. She had spent a lot of time alone in her previous life, and she did not want it to be like that in this one. She wanted someone to walk the same path with her, without fear of a sudden goodbye, whether they were good or bad company.
Another reason was something she had considered in the early months of her rebirth in this world. She wanted help to deal with future threats she could not handle alone and to cover her flaws.
"I am surprised you chose me out of all people to keep you company. I would think you would rather tear out your eyes than see me. I would do that."
Morgan replied mockingly, leaning against the crater wall after regaining some mobility.
"...I never hated you, sister. I never meant to."
Artoria answered, surprising the witch, who finally showed an expression that was not her usual smiling mask.
Artoria was not lying. Neither she nor the original hated Morgan. She hated her own powerlessness, her inability to do more for her kingdom, and her weakness in facing her destiny. But toward Morgan, she felt the love of a sister. Morgan was the reflection of what she herself could not be, and that frustrated her as well.
"To be honest, I always believed you would be a better ruler than me and that the right to the throne should have been yours. Unlike me, who surrendered to fate, you wanted to face it to the end. You fought for what you believed was yours. In the end, you won something I could not do because I was blinded by an ideal I could not achieve, which ultimately divided my kingdom and led to its fall. And I admire you for that."
Artoria said, looking Morgan in the eyes from behind the veil, her voice serious, each word carrying honest weight. This is something she sincerely believed, and the original Artoria did too.
"You really do not change, do you, even with so many variations of yourself piling up one after another?"
Morgan replied with amusement, making Artoria look surprised.
"What is with that look? Did you think I would not know? You used that Holy Grail to bring me here, and it is connected to you. I know everything there is to know. That is why I have not asked where you got all these abilities you did not have before, and why you look so different from how I remember you."
Morgan argued as she stood up, having recovered some strength, and sat down again next to Artoria, removing the veil covering her face.
"I am not going to get stuck in the past. I do not need to carry burdens that no longer exist. Holding on to resentment my whole life would be exhausting, and I am not willing to waste my time on it. I never thought I would still be thinking about you even after everything ended, almost one thousand years ago. Your name still echoed in my head. Do you know how desperate that is?"
Morgan complained, clearly annoyed. She had lived long after the fall of Camelot, and even after more than a millennium she had not been able to stop thinking about her unpleasant sister. It almost drove her insane, to the point of creating a vessel intended to hold her reincarnation, only to sabotage herself at the last moment.
Her thoughts were contradictory; she wanted to bring her back, but at the same time she wanted to fail. She no longer knew what she wanted.
"I even appeared at the entrance to Avalon to steal a fragment of your spirit and kept it close my whole life. Do you know how humiliating that is?"
Morgan shouted in frustration, leaving Artoria speechless. She did not know why she was being blamed for something that happened after her death and that Morgan had done on her own. But she said nothing. She knew how to pick her battles and did not want to start another war.
"Then..." Sigh of weariness "I hate to admit this. I hate it with all my heart, but it is true... I really could not live without you."
After so much outburst and complaining, Morgan admitted this, leaving Artoria with her mouth agape and her eyes threatening to pop out of their sockets.
"I hate humans and I hate you, but I cannot live without you, so listen."
Morgan spoke, then approached Artoria, moving like a venomous snake stalking its prey, with seductive and mesmerizing movements.
Artoria jumped at the sight and tried to back away quickly, but it was too late. Morgan was already in front of her face, just inches from her nose. She held her chin with one hand and her shoulder with the other, preventing her from moving away. In this situation, Artoria's face turned visibly red as she panicked, searching for any crack through which to escape.
"I once swore that I would take your kingdom and everything in it, and that includes you, so you better be prepared because I do not plan on letting you go. You will be condemned to carry the same person who destroyed everything you worked for because now you are mine."
She said in a commanding tone, tightening her grip on Artoria's shoulder and staring at her with the eyes of a predator.
Artoria stood there bewildered, not knowing how to respond. All this happened so fast that she could not fully process it, but instinctively she understood something.
They were claiming her, and she could not allow that. If she considered herself king, she could not yield to anyone. She had to reaffirm her dominion.
Almost instinctively, Artoria took Morgan's chin and pulled her face closer, stealing her lips. Before Morgan could realize what was happening, Artoria went deeper, sliding her tongue between Morgan's and transforming the casual kiss into a deep French kiss.
They remained like that for several minutes until they finally separated, both breathing heavily and blushing intensely.
They stared at each other, their eyes unfocused and unsure what to say, until Artoria gave a smug smile.
"Identify."
Morgan simply replied.
She knew she had acted impulsively. It was an instinctive response that came out when she felt cornered, but in the end, she kept her dignity intact, raising her pride as king.
"........You!....Damn idiot!"
Morgan did not take long to show her anger. She really did not like being retaliated against. She became angry easily and was very resentful. She lunged at Artoria with considerable fury, giving her no time to dodge.
After an hour, both now felt married, although this time it was not a serious fight. There was more shoving, since they were very close to each other, which ended in a Roman style wrestling match that made them writhe on the ground.
The moment had passed. There was no need for further explanation. They already knew each other's place in their hearts and what they intended to do with it. Morgan did not plan to be separated from Artoria for many years, and even if it were difficult, it would be impossible. Besides, Artoria's increased charm also greatly affected Morgan, and in the future, her attachment to her would likely only grow stronger.
"Well, we better get out of here. I have a lot of things to explain to you now that you are here."
Artoria no longer needed to remain, so she immediately removed the inherent barrier that had reincarnated part of Avalon and returned to the half destroyed building of reality.
"It seems the consequences of the war this time were quite serious. Although I witnessed this war at the time, I did not care enough to find out details. They are just humans killing each other, something they have always done."
Morgan commented, looking at the surrounding environment in the world of Fate. She was still alive until the modern age and had witnessed all the wars that plagued London or Great Britain in general, but she lived secluded and did not care about human conflicts, so she was not very clear about the events during World War II.
"I imagine I do not need to explain to you that this is not our original world, right? The Holy Grail must have provided you with the necessary knowledge."
Artoria asked as she made her armor and weapons disappear and put her officer's uniform back on.
"Yes... The information provided by the Holy Grail was quite complete. I was aware that something existed beyond the Sea of Stars, but I never thought it was a completely different reality. That old vampire could travel through different versions of the world, but all within the same reality or the same universe. This world has a completely different origin from ours, with no restrictions on the use of magic and without the mystery being diminished. I think I can even feel divine influence. This world would be a paradise for mages if there were not so many dangers lurking in its shadows."
Morgan commented, marveling at the novelty this new world brought. She casually tested her magic and discovered it flowed naturally, without anything suppressing or limiting it. This greatly amazed Morgan, as it had been a long time since she could use magic so freely. She ignored the fight she had with Artoria, thinking it was just the effects of being in Avalon.
"This world still holds magic and mystery very much in mind, including gods, so it's best to keep a low profile for now. Who knows when they'll be watching? I don't want to deal with those things right now... Here, put this on."
After finishing speaking, Artoria handed Morgan a change of clothes: a simple dress that covered her entire body. It looked somewhat worn, but it was the best Artoria could find. There was a shortage of many things these days, and she herself didn't wear dresses.
"What a boring designer! You know I could easily create one myself with magic, right?"
Morgan said as she took the clothes Artoria was offering her. "I'm not going to refuse them, but I'll still complain about it."
"...Well, I thought something worn like this would lend credibility to the story I've prepared. After all, people will ask where you came from. I plan to introduce you as my sister, and they'll want an explanation."
Artoria commented, somewhat embarrassed. She had already created a backstory so that Morgan could integrate into the world without many problems, although it was only in case things turned out well when she summoned her.
"I had already spoken to the royal family about it, telling them that I had found a member of the Pendragon family and that I was going to get her; with that, they would take care of giving Morgan citizenship and her identity documents."
Otherwise, if she were presented like that, given the state of the United Kingdom, it wouldn't be surprising if they mistook her for a spy impersonating Artoria. She explained this to her, along with the details of the backstory she had invented.
"If you don't mind... you will be known as Morgan Pendragon. If you're not comfortable with that, it can still be changed."
Artoria told her, somewhat uncomfortably, that she knew very well that this kind of thing was like a trigger for Morgan. With her history of wanting to take over the British government, now bearing the surname of the royal family would seem, in a sense, insulting.
".....I see~"
Morgan was surprised, but the next moment a seductive smile formed on her lips. She approached Artoria, pressing her body against hers and looking into her eyes with intensity and mischief.
Morgan was shorter than Artoria, but tall enough to face her even if she had to stretch.
"This is a proposal, little sister~"
Morgan playfully commented, drawing out the words, making Artoria blush visibly. She did not know how to proceed in this type of situation.
"...It's just a family record."
Artoria responded defensively, averting her gaze from Morgan.
Morgan just smiled smugly, separated from Artoria, and started changing her clothes right there. It was cold because of the sudden ice storm hitting London, but neither Artoria nor Morgan seemed to care. They felt that the intense cold was a minor concern.
Artoria, still looking to the side, sighed wearily.
She genuinely thought it would be more difficult to establish a relationship with Morgan. There was a reason she decided to summon her first, before anyone else connected to her: she was the most difficult to deal with and the most cunning person Artoria knew besides Merlin. But unlike Merlin, she was more direct and twisted. She knew better how someone thought who would do anything to destroy and torture their targets in a world where that was commonplace. Her advice would be very useful, although there was also the worry that she would stab her in the back the moment she had the chance. But her intuition told her that wouldn't happen in the future, though she would not let her guard down.
Morgan would be the eyes her intuition could not detect, or so she hoped. At least, the will inherited from Artoria was calmer, able to resolve a centuries old conflict, or at least that's how it seemed. She would not be overconfident.
"I'm ready, let's go."
While Artoria was lost in thought, Morgan had already finished changing. The dress Artoria had given her was a faded, light blue one piece with tattered edges. It wasn't a pretty dress, but Morgan wore it as if it were designer. She shone with an air of mystery and dangerous serenity.
Artoria approached and placed an almost untouched black shawl over her shoulders and stared at her for a moment before speaking.
"I am no longer the King of Great Britain. I don't intend to see you again as the Duchess of Ireland, but as my older sister. I hope I'm not wrong to trust you, but I don't regret it."
Artoria commented seriously, holding Morgan's shoulders, to which Morgan only smiled maliciously, grabbed her by the neck, and said defiantly.
"You'll regret it. I'll make sure of that, and you won't be able to get rid of me."
"..." Sigh.
Artoria said nothing; she had rolled the dice, and this was what she got. If it blows up in her face, she would be ready.
Artoria took Morgan to the registry office to confirm her identity papers. The press found out, and overnight there were reports in the newspaper and on the radio about the return of a member of the almost extinct Pendragon family and the older sister of the quintessential heroine of the United Kingdom, which became a trending topic for quite some time.
During her time at one of Artoria's properties, which she used as a retreat when she had free time, Morgan applied to be a military doctor. She took the tests for assistant leader and passed them all with flying colors. When it came to medicine, Morgan knew more than any current doctor. She ended up as an assistant leader in the battalion under Artoria's command at her request.
She didn't harass her because she was her sister, but because she had real medical skills, and it was also convenient for Artoria to have her nearby to keep an eye on her.
She regretted it after the regular visits for medical checkups increased, forcing her to endure the ridicule and psychological strain she faced every time she entered the hospital and was left alone in her office.
Time passed, and the war continued; clashes with the fascists intensified; Southeast Asia had also joined the conflict, with Japan leading the battles.
Everything continued until December of that year, when the United States officially declared war on the fascists, joining the Allied armies and participating in the fight.
Right at the end and beginning of the year, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom summoned Artoria to his office with a suggestion.
A proposal that would mark a milestone in the history of the Marvel universe.