Endless Path : Infinite Cosmos

Though lazing about in bed all day seemed like a pleasant idea, especially with good company at his side, Vahn knew he had other duties to attend. If he delayed dealing with Musashi and Caenis for too long, there was a good chance they would harden their hearts to resist him to their deaths. This was a less-than-ideal outcome as, if possible, Vahn wanted to reach an accord with the group, bringing an end to their current conflict.

While it may be true that Musashi's group saw him as a villain, that didn't mean they were incapable of seeing reason. If he could convince them that the actions he was taking now were steps to ensure everyone could live a peaceful and happy life, there was a chance the conflict between their groups could be brought to an end. He would give them the opportunity to freely observe the changes his actions brought about and, deciding for themselves whether or not he was 'truly' evil.

If Musashi's group insisted on fighting, even after his attempts to reason with them, Vahn would cut them down without mercy. He would not tolerate their hypocrisy, allowing them to throw the world into further disorder for their own selfishness. It may be true they wanted to protect the future, but, if it was at the expense of the past, they were, in many ways, worse than him. Unless their future was some comprehensive utopia, it would be easy to tear apart all of their arguments as, in the end, he had Alaya's and, by proxy, the World's interests at heart...

After massaging the inside of Fenrir's ears with his thumbs, earning a contented cooing from the loveable Vanargandr, Vahn motioned to steal a kiss before smiling as he said, "Come, we shouldn't lounge around for too long. I can feel the others worrying so, even if I wanted to, sleeping would be impossible."

Though she wanted her Master to rest longer, Fenrir wasn't going to argue against his decision. She gave him one last affectionate nuzzle, deeply inhaling his fragrance, before extricating herself from his body. Then, after a light tap of the gemstone on her collar, her lingerie-clad figure was covered in form-fitting white shorts, a grey undershirt, and a long-sleeved fur-trimmed jacket with the emblem of the Empire on the shoulders. On the back, a much larger emblem, depicting a wolf's head, served as Fenrir's own symbol, one which had been adopted by Hati as well.

Before Fenrir could make way for him to go about his own business, Vahn pulled out the same brush he had gifted to her long ago, a nostalgic artifact that reminded them both of the home waiting for their return. This brought a smile to Fenrir's face and, even without having to convey his intentions, she happily sat in his lap and allowed him to brush her hair and fur...

---

Even without having to call anyone to alert them of his awakening, Vahn was greeted by a whole host of women when he finally emerged from his room. Leading the pack was, as could be expected, Artoria, but, with the exception of those participating in active operations, nearly everyone else was also present.

Vahn ended up nearly being tackled to the ground by Illya but, as he had 'felt' her intentions before she even started to move, he was only pushed back a few steps as she complained, "I hate you..." in a tiny voice.

Though he found her words somewhat amusing, Vahn resisted the urge to release a chuckle as he held her firmly in his embrace and countered, saying, "I love you..." in response. This caused her to adopt a look of blame before she ultimately buried her face into his chest and answered, "I love you more..." in an even quieter voice than before...

After pacifying Illya for a short while, Vahn went through the entire crowd of women, understanding he had worried them quite a bit. After all, it was exceptionally rare for him to actually be taken out of commission, so, after being told by Merlin to stay away from him, they couldn't help but worry. Thus, before he moved on to more official duties, Vahn had the important responsibility of doing his best to allay the concerns of his myriad of lovers, all while marveling at the flow of fate surrounding each and every one of them.

When things finally began to calm down, Vahn invited most of the girls to accompany him to the dining hall. He had already produced a second body prior to exiting his chambers so, after the larger part of the procession followed his main body outside of the Inner Sanctum, Vahn met with Artoria and Gray to discuss what had happened while he was asleep. Though he didn't actually need to ask, as it would have been pretty obvious if something unexpected happened, he knew it was important to Artoria that they had such moments together.

As she had held herself back in the presence of everyone else, Artoria took the opportunity to sit at Vahn's side when they were 'alone' together. Though Gray sat on the other side of him, she had long grown accustomed to the presence of her distant descendant, coming to see her as an extension of herself, in many ways. Thus, Vahn found himself sandwiched by the near-identical woman, enjoying the softness of their bodies as Artoria explained, "Musashi is currently being held in the undersea isolation facility prepared by the Atlas Temple. Per her request, all other personnel evacuated the facility, leaving only Da Vinci to monitor her status. As for Caenis, she was moved to the Greenland Research Facility, imprisoned in their lowest level with chains and magical seals."

Vahn wasn't fond of imprisoning people, but, as he needed information from the two, he wasn't left with much of a choice. He had grown weary of this battle between their two forces so, if possible, he would like to bring the conflict to a swift end. Searching the World's Bounded Fields would require a significant amount of time and effort as, unless they arbitrarily decided to destroy them, an in-depth investigation would be required before deciding on the Bounded Field's fate.

There was also the fact that, while they had taken various precautions, Archimedes seemed to be the type that meticulously planned everything. It was for this reason that Musashi and Caenis had been moved to locations far from the heart of the Empire as there was a very real chance the capture of the two was a part of his plan. Their nature as Divine Spirits couldn't be ignored and, even if his tech was significantly less advanced than Da Vinci's, it was already proven they had the ability to traverse Imaginary Number Space.

To circumvent whatever Archimedes had planned, Vahn couldn't afford to sit idle for too long as, with each passing moment, the shaggy-haired inventor was undoubtedly forwarding his schemes. This made him, in many ways, the most dangerous opponent among the enemy forces as, from what they had been able to deduce, he was the mastermind behind everything. If they could take him out or reason with him, a lot of future troubles could be avoided.

Archimedes had to know by now that, no matter what kind of scheme he came up with, opposing the Empire was all but impossible. His only real option was to discard his so-called heroic visage and aim for mutually assured destruction but, even then, his efforts would be in vain. At best, he would be able to cause mass destruction among the civilian population, laying the blame on the Empire in a last-ditch effort to drag their reputation further through the mud. Even this would ultimately prove futile, however, as, even if humans were pushed to near-extinction, he would just have to help them rebuild after dealing with Angra Mainyu.

Alaya carried the genetic sequence of every human, animal, and plant that had ever existed on the Surface World so, even if everything but Avalon was destroyed, they would eventually rebuild. Vahn had an infinite amount of time at his disposal so, even if he had to rebuild civilization from scratch, it was only a matter of time. There was no path to victory for Archimedes and his forces, so, if he could make them realize this, Vahn was hoping they would either return to the distant future or, at the very least, stop causing him so much stress...

After listening to Artoria's explanation, Vahn nodded his head in understanding before hugging both her and Gray close to him. He knew meeting with Musashi and Caenis was an urgent matter but, just as before, Vahn prioritized the things most important to him. Artoria and Gray both had unshakeable convictions toward him, but, after seeing the state he had been forced into, they would obviously be affected. Thus, before setting out to deal with their captives, Vahn spent a fair amount of time trying to ease the uneasy feelings lingering in their hearts and minds...

---

Though nearly twenty hours had passed within the Projection, less than three had come and gone in the outside world. During that period of time, Da Vinci had continued to silently watch Musashi, her eyes rarely even blinking as she monitored the woman's vitals and physical makeup.

Divine Spirits were exceptionally rare, so, while she resisted the urge to perform experiments on the rather buxom samurai, Da Vinci still wanted to collect as much data as possible. There were so many secrets locked away within Musashi's body, but, knowing Vahn would never forgive her, combined with her own inhibitions towards experimenting on unwilling participants, Da Vinci could only watch the monitors vigilantly.

Contrary to how most people would act in the same situation, Musashi was surprisingly calm, much calmer than expected. Da Vinci knew that Caenis had been a lot more 'difficult' to deal with, so, she couldn't help but wonder what allowed Musashi to remain calm. The electrical activity in her brain was reminiscent of REM Sleep but, based on how other areas illuminated, it was obvious Musashi was completely aware of her surroundings. This made her state appear similar to deep meditation, but, as there were many incongruities, Da Vinci couldn't be certain.

Unfortunately, in Musashi's current state, conversing in any meaningful way was all but impossible. Even if Da Vinci wanted to question her, it was simply too dangerous to do so, as, despite her own power being beyond comprehension, intuition told her that Musashi would be able to cut her down. This feeling hadn't faded away even after Musashi's weapons had been sealed away so, fearing what would happen if she panicked, Da Vinci had ordered the evacuation of the entire facility. Most of the unnecessary equipment had also been stripped away and, if it came down to it, the entire facility was set to implode as a final failsafe. Since they were more than 4500m under the sea, even the majority of S-Rank Heroic Spirits wouldn't be able to survive...

Despite all these preparations, including making a faux-body using techniques similar to Touko's, Da Vinci had a distinct impression that Musashi couldn't be held. If she truly intended to escape, it was likely only Vahn, Arcueid, and Merlin could keep her at bay, as, since the time of her summoning, Da Vinci had only met a few existences that made her feel as if her knowledge amounted to nothing by comparison. These were the various Tier 5 entities Vahn had identified and, while Musashi gave off a subtly different impression, Da Vinci could tell she was hiding something unbelievably powerful...

Fortunately, Da Vinci had already been alerted to the fact that Vahn had awakened, so, with any luck, he would arrive before Musashi lost her patience. She didn't seem to be in a particular rush, but, if her intuition proved correct, which was almost always the case, this was primarily due to the fact that Musashi was trying to ascertain whether or not this was 'reality'. After being captured the first time, it would have been pretty obvious that the Empire had the means to trick a person's senses, so, until she was certain the world around her wasn't an illusion, Musashi seemed to be practicing patience...

(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Taking care of what is important','Archimedes becomes more and more like a villain with each passing day...','Da Vinci's intuition o_o...')

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