“Can Artoria Pendragon please report to the Control Room. I repeat, can Artoria Pendragon please report to the Control Room.”
Shirou Tokisada Amakusa sighed, and began to head towards the Control Room.
He’d been mainly staying out of everyones way, due to their being no need for Rulers outside of Singularities.
But upon hearing the blunder that the acting head of Chaldea had just uttered over the PA system, he knew he needed to intervene.
I don’t think Dr Romani is actively aware of how many Pendragons no dwell here.
——————–
Opening the door to the Control Room, Shirou was quick to speak.
“Doctor, you’ve made a…..big….mistake………sigh” Shirou saw he had arrived to late to stop the problem.
Milling around the Control Room, all standing patiently and using their combined aura of the King to keep the good Doctor in his chair, Artoria Pendragon and their ‘sisters’ were all lined up before him.
The Once and Future King of Britain.
The Knight Princess of Britain.
The would-be Goddess Rhongomyniad.
The Dark-tainted Tyrant King.
The King of Storms and Lord of the Wild Hunt.
The unsuccessful Slayer of Sabers.
The Treacherous Knight and her Summer twin.
The way each casually displayed their unbridled charisma was frankly impressive.
The King of Knights just stood at attention, their attention solely focused on the Doctor. While not inherently meant as a bad thing, it was obvious the Doctor wasn’t easily handling having the undivided attention of the King of Knights.
The would be Goddess’ attention was more relaxed, but she had the same manner as the King of Knights. It was clear the two were very alike, despite the drastic change of appearance.
The Knight Princess was mirroring the King of Knights and the Would be Goddess, constantly adjusting herself to match the two who stood on either side of her.
Whereas the Tyrant King’s gaze spoke only of having the attention of someone who would happily crush an annoying fly purely to stop an annoyance.
The King of the Storm had her dressed in her dark armor, the imposing appearance belying the relaxed posed she bore.
The unsuccessful Slayer of Sabers was the odd one out, barely holding still and trying not to lose face in front of her eventual quarries.
The twinned Treacherous Kngiht was unexpected, at first glance.
But since Shirou knew about the rather complex relationship Mordred had with the various incarnations of their Father, it shouldn’t surprise him that they both turned up.
Sensing an opportunity to turn the formidable attention being direct at him away, Dr Romani reached for the proverbial hand Shirou had arrived to late to easily offer.
“What brings you here, Ruler Amakusa?” the Doctor stated weakly, invoking Shirou’s class.
At hearing ‘Ruler’, he felt the Pendragons turn their gaze to him.
The Light aligned ones quickly ascertained he wasn’t a potential threat.
The Dark aligned ones gaze lasted much longer, but eventually subsided.
Shirou released a mental sigh. He didn’t want to start a fight with any of these Servants, and the idea of fighting the Alters of Pendragon was a terrifying concept.
“I’ve come to help with the….situation.” he stated bluntly.
“To be frank, as you can obviously see, you didn’t think when you asked to see Artoria Pendragon, because, due to how tiring your work is, you forgot that Artoria is one of the few Servants to have multiple incarnations.” Shirou paused, allowing both of the parties watching him to let different parts of his message sink in.
There was a brief look of confusion on Dr Romani’s face, followed by a split second of understanding, again followed quickly by a deep and very believable sounding yawn.
“Yeah, you’re right. I run myself ragged, so that everything is easier for Ritsuka and the Staff.”
What was interesting, was the different reactions of the Pendragons.
The King of Knights and the would be Goddess both nodded, apparently sympathizing with the Doctor’s plight.
The Tyrant King and the would be Assassin looked bored, for reasons that would be different to each other.
The Knight Princess just followed her Seniors’ example.
The masked King of Storms just stood there impassively, emotion hard to read through a mask.
The Mordreds, on the other hand, were carefully observing two different targets.
The Traitor Knight was observing the Staff, seeing how they reacted to the statement.
She’s a clever one. She knows how to see if a leader is lying.
The Summer Knight was watching Dr Romani. Or more specifically, she was searching for signs of physical fatigue.
Shirou was stunned.
The Heir of Pendragon would’ve been a formidable foe if nurtured properly, even more so than she already is.
“That’s fine then. Fatigue makes smart men do stupid shit all the time.” The Traitor Knight snidely remarked.
The King of Knights sighed, before turning back to the Acting Head of Chaldea.
“So, good Doctor, which of ‘me’ did you need to speak to?”
Dr Romani perked up, seemingly glad the potential problem was now not his problem.
He gestured to the would be Goddess.
“Artoria of the Camelot singularity. Da Vinci and some others wanted to talk some hypothetical summoning ideas, and seeing just how much of your potential world is in sync with our Summoning System.”
The would be Goddess nodded, and started to head towards the door, that had the quickest route to Da Vinci’s workshop.
“I’m so very sorry for causing this commotion. Inform Emiya he can increase his food supply in exchange for extra meals for you all.” Dr Romani said with a smile.
All the Artorias’ beamed. “At once!”
The Mordred’s sighed and followed their various Fathers.
However, before they could all leave, Shirou loudly cleared his throat.
Turning back, the King of Knights and their sisters looked at the man now standing between them and their banquet.
“What is it, Ruler? Do you have need of us?”
“Yes, I do.” Shirou indicated to one of the nearby staff to activate one of the nearby ‘whiteboard’ panels on a nearby wall.
“So, I know it doesn’t feel like it, but a potential schism in Chaldea was just averted.”
The Pendragons looked at Shirou in confusion, while Romani watched the ordeal as a whole slightly confused, and Shirou noticed that both Mordreds wouldn’t meet his gaze.
Shirou proceeded to draw 3 very basic groupings.
Group 1 containing chibi drawings of the King of Knights and the Pendragons who looked similar to them.
Group 2 contained chibi drawings of the Tyrant King, and the Pendragons who looked like them.
Group 3 contained chibi drawings of the King of Storms AND the would be Goddess.
Shirou then pointed to the Traitor Knights.
“This doesn’t apply to you two, but you two need to stay and listen to this, so I don’t need to explain it again.”
He waited until he got confirmation from the two, before he began his explanation.
“So, Group 1, will be known as ‘Artoria’. ” Shirou stated, putting enphasis on the ‘oar’ sound in Artoria’s name.
“The King of Knights was first, and thats the name they are registered under.”
Shirou indicated Group 2.
“Group 2, will be for the Alters of the King of Knights. You guys will share the name ‘Arturia’.” Shirou put emphasis on the ‘Ur’ part of the name.
He then indicated Group 3.
“Group 3, will be called ‘Altria’, referring to the fact you are born of a divergent history surrounding the use of Rhongomyniad. Do we all agree to this?”
The Pendragons all quietly agreed, none of them having particularly strong reasons not to make the lives of the Staff easier.
“Then I’ll message Da Vinci, and get a memo sent out. Should we keep the scheme going forward, if more incarnations turn up?” Dr Romani was already at work, as he spoke up.
“Sounds like a smart plan. We can always come back and discuss with all the affected parties if that changes.” Shirou stated, hopefully making sure this confusion would never happen again.
He turned back to the crowd of Pendragons.
“Now you may go. Enjoy your meal, and try not to give the Cook staff too much grief.”
He turned to start erasing his work, ignoring the half hearted protests the Artorias were making, and the grumbles the Arturias were making.
Just as he was finishing the clean up, the doors to the Control Room opened once again, and two figures stood there.
A Pendragon in an athletic swimsuit, wielding a water gun.
A Pendragon, dressed in a lazy Alter’s attempt at a Santa outfit.
“Sorry we’re late! What did we miss?” The Summer Pendragon asked in earnest, a smile on her face.
Shirou looked at the two Pendragons, then at the work he had just erased, then back again, then sighed.
Dr Romani chuckled.
“Come in, you two. The matter I called for is settled, but the poor beleaguered Ruler needs to bring you up to speed on something else.”