Ch 152: Artoria’s despair… and hope?

Artoria has almost managed to get some sleep, despite being bound with her back pressed against a bondage furniture and her limbs restrained to its legs. And being stripped to her underwear. There wasn't much else she could do as the leather restraints, while not too uncomfortable, were unforgiving. And there was no one to talk to. But after what felt like hours with no other distraction than to stare at the lewd toys and devices that filled the room, she found herself growing bored.

At the same time, she was fine with being bored, if it meant that perverted girl wasn't there. Eventually, she would return, and Artoria dreaded she might become more acquainted with the toys that she's ever want to.

She was feeling somewhat relaxed, and had closed her eyes when she suddenly felt a presence.

"I'm back." smiled Akeno, standing a meter from Artoria.

"How are you doing?"

"How do you want me to do, with me bound to this perverted furniture and locked in a place filled with lewd things?" angrily retorted Artoria, straining once more against her bonds.

"It must be really aggravating, right?" nodded Akeno with a smile. "To know that you would easily be able to break free and shatter the bondage bench into splinters, if your mana wasn't sealed. Fortunately for me, it is."

Artoria fumed as Akeno started stripping. Once naked, she walked to one of the cabinets and opened it.

"I'm sorry for being late, actually. After our meeting with Kiritsugu and Irisviel, and they are doing well, by the way, we had to make a detour and kill an evil Magus. Another Servant joined our side, and we saved over a hundred kids that the Magus intended to use as fuel for creating mana crystals. The Mage Association agreed to take good care of them."

"That's a good justification for being late, at least." conceded Artoria.

"I hope so, I wouldn’t want you to hate me for it." grinned Akeno as she took a black latex bodysuit from the cabinet.

"There are plenty other reasons for me to hate you." retorted Artoria.

"I'm sure. And we're going to work on that." nodded Akeno, looking over her shoulder at Artoria, and selecting a second latex bodysuit, a blue one.

Akeno started changing into the black bodysuit, and Artoria watched her, feeling irritated, until she couldn't wait anymore.

"What did you talk about with Iris and Kiritsugu?" she demanded.

Akeno waited to have the suit up to waist level before she replied.

"Kiritsugu doesn't seem to care much about you, frankly. He easily gave me your Command Spells once he decided he wasn't winning this War, and that he had something to gain from the trade. Irisviel do care about you, clearly, but she was overruled. I told her you were doing well and that you would likely visit her in the near future, so she was placated."

"But we reached a tentative agreement. There is soon going to be a sparring match, between Britomart and another Servant I have yet to enhance, in the very near future, as a demonstration of what said enhancement can do. If Kiritsugu is satisfied, and I think he will, he will work for Noah and I for three years. In return, we will give him power, enough to face his targets head-on, and that will allow him to stop using guerilla tactics."

"What kind of enhancement?" frowned Artoria.

"Ara ara, are you perhaps interested?" chuckled Akeno as she finished inserting her body through the neck-entry bodysuit and started working the creases out. Although it was more by habit than any real need, as she self-sizing bodysuit greatly reduced them on its own.

"I only want to know because I may end up fighting Lancer!" retorted Artoria, and Akeno's smile widened.

"Most abilities coming with that enhancement are related to combat. Greater strength, speed, reflexes, high-speed movement, and so on. But a few are for a more general use, like being able to heal injuries or dispel curses, understand or speak any language… or being able to detect lies. And your last answer wasn't really honest, Artoria. There is a part of you who is curious about it."

Akeno put on a black leather waist cincher, accentuating her curves, not that they really needed any help, and knee high-boots with high heels.

"What do you think?" asked Akeno when she was done. "I wasn't into latex initially, but my boyfriend loves seeing me wear it, and I gradually grew fond of it. I keep being reminded of our first time when I wear a suit like this."

"I think it's something only a degenerate would wear! The way it reveals your curves is much too obscene." spat out Artoria, scandalized. And yet, she couldn't seem to look away.

Akeno's left brow twitched, and her smile turned somewhat scary.

"Ufufu, you've done it, now, Artoria. You are too judgmental, and that is a flaw we need to correct, for you own wellbeing. And the best way to make you more tolerant, is to get you used to wearing latex outfits, too."

"What?" Artoria paled slightly as her eyes shot back to the blue bodysuit draped over a wooden chair. A chair that had leather straps for the torso waist, wrists and ankles. "I'm not wearing something like this! Get away from me!"

Artoria protested and struggled a lot. But Akeno was persistent, and freed Artoria's limbs only one at a time to put the suit on her.

After a few minutes, she was done, used the application on her smartphone to sync with both bodysuits, and locked the one Artoria wore.

Akeno grinned as she freed the furious Artoria from the bondage bench, and the blonde-haired Servant immediately tried to tear the bodysuit apart. She would rather be naked than wear something like this. But the material was surprisingly tough, and for some reason Artoria couldn't figure out, the neck opening that had easily swallowed her waist, torso and shoulders would now barely stretch enough to her to insert a few fingers in.

Try as she might, Artoria's body from the neck down was completed wrapped in the clingy material, and she couldn't get it off.

"It suits you well, too." commented Akeno with a grin.

"You reprobate! Get this filthy thing off me!"

"After all the effort I made putting it on you? Not for a while, Artoria. Now, let's have a serious conversation."

Artoria paused her struggles, sensing the shift in the atmosphere, and watched Akeno warily.

"Artoria, what do you wish for?"

Artoria didn't answer, waiting for Akeno to change the subject and speak of something less personal. But she didn't and simply waited.

"…Why do you want to know? It doesn't matter anymore. Unless you want me to believe that you would let me access the Holy Grail?"

"Of course not. I told you, the Grail is corrupted. No one is making any wish, at least for this Holy Grail War. I am asking because, while it is true that the girls in Noah's harem, myself included, are his slaves, we are not treated badly, and Noah makes a lot of effort to take good care of us. If your wish is something reasonable, he will help you fulfil it."

"…Only the Grail can fulfill my wish." muttered Artoria as she lowered her head, feeling depressed.

"How can you be sure?" smiled Akeno. "Noah can do many things that others would deem impossible. Because he is the Champion of a Goddess."

Artoria lifted her head slightly, gazing into Akeno's eyes for a time, searching for any trace of falsehood, then she finally sighed.

"I… want to go back in time. If I can return to a point before Britain was torn apart by civil war, before Lancelot left and Mordred turned against me, I am sure I can save my country…"

"Sorry, but that's just impossible. Not even the Grail can go back in time." gently cut in Akeno. "Time can be stretched, compressed, or even paused, to some extent. Lilith-sama is so powerful that she can freeze even a whole planet in time for several months, or more. And yet, even she, one of the seven deities who created this world and the Root, cannot turn the clock backward."

"How can you be so sure? How can I give up without even trying?" exclaimed Artoria.

"I'm sorry, Artoria. But time has its own laws, and this isn't one that can be violated. If you were to reach an uncorrupted Grail and wish to go back in time and save Britain, I assume that the Grail would select another timeline among the almost infinite number there is, one whose present would most closely correspond to what you seek, and send you there. But the Britain over there wouldn't be the nation you created, and the people over there wouldn't be the ones that were part of your past life. Or maybe there would be another Artoria already ruling as a King, who would assume you to be an impostor."

"Or, worse, the Grail might decide to rewrite this timeline's present, killing innumerable people in the process, and forcibly reshaping it to correspond to your former era. Like going to the previous chapter of a book, erasing everything after that chapter in the process."

"This is…" Artoria muttered as she pondered on Akeno's words, desperate to find a fault in her reasoning, but she couldn't find one. And the risk of overwriting the present, of the mass killing that would occur if the Grail really interpreted her wish that way… That was a risk she simply couldn't take.

She fell to her knees as the realization hit her, a terrible sadness crushing her, and her vision started getting blurry.

And she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"You haven't really failed, Artoria. Yes, Britain suffered from civil unrest. But the nation got over it and is still going strong. Great Britain is still one of the world's most powerful nations. Do not spit on the efforts of the people who succeeded you, of the population who kept on living after your death and overcame any hardship they met."

Artoria flinched as she finally realized that her wish was an insult to the people of her nation who survived and thrived.

"Yes, I… I understand." wearily nodded Artoria. "I just have to give up on ever seeing my old companions again, don't I?"

"Not necessarily." smiled Akeno.

"What do you mean? Ah, you think some of them have become Servants?"

"If you're referring to the Knights of the Round Table, I'm sure most if not all have become Servants. But, Artoria, this isn't what I meant."

Akeno grinned as she took her smartphone from her inventory, and showed the background picture to Artoria.

"Why are you showing me this? You and, an older sister?"

"Me and my mom. She passed away when I was six. Defending me from a bunch of crazy relatives who hated my father so much they couldn't stand my existence. A stain on the Himejima clan, they called me."

"Six? How can that be possible?"

"Noah revived her a few months ago. This photo was taken after that." quietly said Akeno.

"Surely you jest!"

"I did tell you that Noah could do some things that others considered impossible, didn't I? And I'm not the only girl in Noah's harem who got her mother, and sometimes father as well, resurrected. There's Koneko-chan, Kyouka, Claire… If you ask Noah, and prove that you are willing to repay with your devotion the price he will need to pay to revive them, I think he will agree to revive at least some of your former companions."

"…Can you swear that you are telling the truth?"

"Yes. I swear Noah can revive the dead, with some limitation, and may Lilith-sama strike me down if I just lied."

Nothing happened, and Akeno shrugged.

"See? I haven't been struck down!"

"…You mentioned limitations."

"Noah can't revive someone stronger than he is. It isn't much of an issue, since he is already strong enough to compare favorably with most Servants, and he keeps growing stronger as he keeps training. And the price he has to pay to resurrect someone is proportional to that person's power, so he may have to save up for some time before resurrecting a strong individual."

"I…" hesitated Artoria, before taking a deep breath. "If he really can do this, I will serve him, at least until I estimate the debt is repaid."

"That's great! So you consent to being trained as a sex slave to better serve him, right?" grinned Akeno.

"What?" blinked Artoria, before she blushed fiercely. "No! Can't I just serve him as a Knight? Surely he has enough people willing to warm his bed, and..."

"It would be possible. There are several members in the family who are just little sisters we love to dote on. But there's no way I'm going to let a gorgeous woman like you off the hook." chuckled Akeno, her thumb moving on the screen of her smartphone. "Don't worry, I'm a skilled trainer! Just give me a few weeks to work on you, and you will love being a slave."

"You…" Artoria almost jumped out of her skin when she felt something suddenly vibrating against her crotch and breasts. She pressed the affected part with her hands to try to stop the vibrations, but it only made her fell them more intensely. She tried to pinch the latex and keep it off her skin, but the slippery material escaped her hands and stuck to her sensitive skin like glue.

And despite herself, the vibrations were starting to make her body react to the stimulation.

"Make it stop!" ordered Artoria.

"Say please." grinned Akeno.

"…Please."

Akeno nodded and the vibrations stopped.

Artoria resentfully stared at Akeno as she walked closer, and an object appeared in her hand. A black leather collar.

"You're not putting that on me!" protested Artoria.

"Ufufu, I am putting that on you!" laughed Akeno.

Artoria tried to resist, but she was limited to a normal human's strength and no match for Akeno, who fastened the collar around Artoria's neck.

"A slave in training should always wear a collar, as the symbol of her position. If you want me to take it off, you will first have to prove that you do not need to wear it anymore, that you do not need the reminder to accept your place."

"Now, I am giving you a choice, Artoria. You can resign yourself, follow me upstairs to one of the bedrooms, and we will make love. It will be nice and gentle, and involve very little in the way of toys and restraints."

"Or, you can be stubborn, and I will restrain you again to the bondage bench, then use the pleasure functions of the suit to torment you until you break and beg me to give you an orgasm. And after I give you one, we start again. And again. I will regularly change the way you are restrained, the way you are stimulated, but in the end, things will stay the same. I will drown you in pleasure and gradually erode your pride, until you feel no shame in being a slave."

"Either way is fine by me."

"You perverted freak." grumbled Artoria.

"Badmouthing me will only make it worse for you… So, what will it be, Artoria? The bedroom, or the basement?"