"So… did I pass your test? Whoever it was that set all this up."
Arthur slowly turned around with a relaxed posture, staring at the empty space before him.
Silence lingered for a few seconds, until a mischievous giggle echoed.
"Ufufu~ how rude, King of Heroes! I don't care what you call that annoying woman over there, but at least call me Master Gaia!"
The voice was soft and playful, yet carried a strange authority.
Then, the space warped, and two figures appeared before him.
The first was a little girl with short blue hair, an ahoge swaying on its own as if it had a life of its own. Her eyes sparkled like sapphires, her expression lively, almost innocent, like a mischievous child who enjoyed playing pranks.
Beside her stood another figure, a girl with long white hair that flowed like strands of moonlight. Her pale skin and serene gaze radiated an almost ethereal delicacy. There was a gentle grace about her, almost angelic.
One looked lively and adorable.
The other, fragile and cute.
But Arthur was not fooled.
He knew they couldn't possibly be ordinary children.
The mere fact that they had both been able to create an entire dimension and summon a beast like that already placed them on a level beyond anything he had ever faced.
Not to mention the girl who had called herself "Gaia" had referred to him as "King of Heroes."
(So these two brats are the ones behind all this… Wait, no, not brats. They could very well be hundreds of times older than me…) Arthur thought as he stared at the two.
The blue-haired girl tilted her head and smiled even wider.
The ahoge atop her head twitched as if it had read his thoughts.
"You're thinking something rude, aren't you? What kind of knight thinks that way about delicate ladies such as us?"
Arthur felt a bead of sweat slide down his temple. Her smile wasn't threatening, but it was so precise it almost felt like she really had read his mind.
(Women…) he muttered inwardly, keeping a straight face.
(No matter the age, women always seem to know when someone's questioning how old they are.)
He sighed.
"Before anything else, can you tell me who you two are?" Arthur asked as he stored EA back into the Gate of Babylon.
The two exchanged a quick glance. The silver-haired girl spoke first, her voice low and melodious.
"I am Alaya, the collective will of humanity. I represent the sum of mankind's desires, fears, and survival instinct."
Arthur felt a sharp jolt inside.
(Don't tell me…) He turned to look at the other girl.
The blue-haired one laughed, twirling slightly on her heels as if performing on stage, spreading her arms wide:
"And I am Gaia, the soul of the Earth! The embodiment of the planet! So treat me with respect, arrogant mortal!"
Arthur was silent for a few seconds.
He blinked once.
Twice.
Then let out a short, incredulous laugh.
"So… the will of humanity itself and the soul of the planet decided to play children's theater. That explains a lot."
Gaia puffed out her cheeks, clearly irritated by his disdainful tone, her ahoge trembling indignantly.
"Hey! Don't mock me, or I'll summon an even bigger beast than that last one just to wipe off that smug grin of yours!"
Alaya, on the other hand, remained calm. Her silver eyes locked onto Arthur's, sharp as blades.
"Do not underestimate us because of our appearance. Appearances mean nothing. We existed long before your reign… and we will exist long after your fall."
Arthur raised a brow, staring at them both.
"…Interesting. But one question remains: what exactly do you two want with me? Why are you in this world? And how did you even find me?"
Silence fell for a moment.
Gaia grinned mischievously and walked toward Arthur.
"Here's the deal…" she said, stopping right in front of him.
The huge difference in height forced her to tilt her head way back just to look him in the eyes.
In the blink of an eye, she vanished—then reappeared clinging onto him, her arms wrapped firmly around his neck, her legs crossed against his torso, her face inches from his and her eyes locked onto his.
"Would you mind letting go of me?" Arthur asked blankly.
"Ehem, we need your help." Gaia quickly changed the subject.
Arthur blinked in surprise.
"…Huh?"
He arched an eyebrow, glancing from Gaia clinging to his neck to Alaya, then back to Gaia.
"Wait. You two… literally broke through this Multiverse's barrier, dragged me into this dimension, and made me fight that thing… just to ask for a favor?"
(let alone care about this whole situation, shouldn't you two hate each other?)
(If the situation is so bad, why don't you just use your counter-guardians? Aren't they designed for situations like this?)
His tone dripped with disbelief.
Arthur narrowed his eyes, clearly suspicious.
"Alright… so explain this to me. Why exactly are you doing all of this? Gaia, you should be busy wishing for humanity to explode in the bloodiest way possible. And you, Alaya, normally wouldn't lift a finger unless the very extinction of the species was at the door. Even then, you'd only unleash the Counter Guardians if both of you agreed. So… what's the catch here?"
The two exchanged glances in silence. Gaia spoke first, trying to downplay it:
"It's… let's just say it's a whim of ours."
Arthur raised an eyebrow, staring at her without blinking. His silence weighed heavier than any words. Gaia held his gaze for a few seconds, then huffed and sighed, defeated.
"Fine, fine! Damn it, you're annoying. The truth is… we lost a bet."
Arthur blinked. "…A bet?"
"Yes." Gaia growled, almost embarrassed. "With that damned old man, the One Above All. He told us we should start caring more about humans, about life on Earth, blah, blah, blah… and here we are."
Arthur went completely silent. His expression remained neutral, but inside his head chaos was boiling.
(Wait a second. That damned geezer lets half of the Marvel Universe go straight to hell on an endless loop, but he steps in here… forcing these two to play cosmic babysitters for their own universe?)
Arthur rubbed his forehead, incredulous.
(So much crap happens out there and he doesn't lift a finger… but here he decides to play the moralist. Unbelievable.)
"Don't get me wrong," Gaia interrupted, snorting with disdain. "I still hate humanity. I want all of you gone, preferably screaming. But… rules are rules, and that old bastard left no room for discussion."
Arthur let out a short, disbelieving laugh.
"So basically… all of this is happening because you two don't know how to play poker against Stan Lee."
Gaia clenched her teeth but didn't reply. Alaya, who had remained silent until then, averted her gaze as if the truth was too humiliating to admit.
Gaia opened her mouth to retort, but Alaya spoke first, her calm voice cutting through.
"A Holy Grail War is about to begin… but something about it is not as it should be."
Arthur narrowed his eyes.
"A Holy Grail War…?"
Alaya gave a slight nod.
Gaia sighed, her ahoge swaying indignantly.
"Yes, and this time it's not a simple event. This time, the fight won't just be among seven Masters and their Servants as usual. Unfortunately, we cannot foresee what this might cause."
Arthur narrowed his gaze even further.
"So in short, you have no idea what's going to happen."
Gaia puffed her cheeks again, pouting.
"Hey! That's not true! We have an idea… but we can't contain it on our own."
Alaya stepped in once more, serene as ever:
"The natural mediator of the war, the Ruler—a special Servant meant to observe and enforce the rules—will also be summoned. Unfortunately, she alone may not be enough this time."
"So that's it… you want me to act as some kind of bodyguard for this Ruler."
Gaia clapped her hands, radiant like a child who had finally been understood.
"Exactly! A guardian who can support the mediator when things spiral out of control."
Arthur rubbed his face, letting out a deep sigh.
"Of all the absurd things I've seen and heard… now I'm being asked to babysit a referee in a war between mages."
A dry laugh escaped his lips.
"You two really have a strange sense of humor."
Gaia smirked mischievously.
"It's not humor. It's destiny—or rather, your destiny!"
"Exactly," Alaya agreed.
Arthur wavered between laughing and frowning. He knew that behind their words, there was undeniable seriousness.
"Putting that aside, you still haven't told me how you found me in another Multiverse, let alone how you crossed into it."
Gaia and Alaya exchanged a quick glance. Gaia was the first to speak, settling herself comfortably around Arthur's neck as if her position was the most natural thing in the world.
"About that… you're mistaken. We're not exactly in a different Multiverse."
She opened her mouth to continue, but before she could, Arthur gently grabbed her by the back of her collar and pulled her off, holding her like a small kitten.
Gaia gasped in surprise, and without hesitation, Arthur did the same to Alaya.
"Hey! W-What do you think you're doing?!" Gaia exclaimed, flailing her arms.
"Relax, relax. I'm just… getting comfortable," Arthur replied with a sly grin. He then sat on the ground, crossed his legs, and ceremoniously placed both of them on his lap.
Gaia and Alaya were left utterly bewildered, unsure how to react. Gaia crossed her arms, pouting indignantly, while Alaya remained serious—though a faint blush appeared on her cheeks.
"So… tell me," Gaia began, leaning forward slightly, "Why didn't my seduction tactic work on you?"
Arthur looked straight at her with a calm, almost paternal smile.
"It's not that it didn't work… it's just that I can't see you that way. I can only see you as a mischievous little sister. And you," he added, turning to Alaya, "as the quiet, reserved little sister."
Gaia's eyes widened, shocked and slightly indignant, her ahoge twitching furiously.
"A mischievous little sister?! I… I AM A PRIMORDIAL GODDESS!"
Arthur chuckled, patting her head.
"Goddess or not, you're still way too small for me to take seriously otherwise. Now then, could you two continue your explanation, my little cosmic assistants?"
Alaya only sighed, while Gaia pouted in frustration—though neither could hide the faint smile tugging at their lips.
With a sigh, Alaya continued:
"Our Multiverses, for some reason, have become connected. We don't know whether it was by chance or by external interference. The fact is that yours and ours now share a bridge. A subtle connection, imperceptible to any cosmic entity, yet enough for us to notice."
Arthur scratched the back of his neck.
"Great… What was already simple just got even more complicated. First you show up uninvited, then throw a monster at me, and now you're saying our Multiverses are… glued together?"
Gaia chuckled softly, lifting a finger as if about to share a funny secret.
"Not glued… more like tangled. But… there's a funny detail. Before coming to you, we had to deal with a very annoying old know-it-all."
Arthur blinked, curious and slightly suspicious.
"Old know-it-all?"
Alaya slowly nodded.
"He didn't want us interfering in this Multiverse after we discovered you. In fact, it's thanks to him that nothing from this Multiverse was able to seep into ours. We spent days debating with him until he finally allowed us to proceed."
Arthur raised both brows.
"Wait. Are you telling me you had to ask for permission? From who, exactly? The cosmic janitor?"
Gaia answered with a mischievous grin.
"He was an old man with a white mustache, dark sunglasses, and a strange sense of humor. He insisted we shouldn't mess with the balance of this Multiverse without justification."
Arthur's eyes widened, nearly choking.
"You can't be serious… That old man wouldn't happen to be…?"
Unfazed, Alaya concluded:
"The one above all. Him."
Arthur ran a hand down his face, laughing in disbelief.
"You've got to be kidding me. The One Above All… with Stan Lee's face again? That's who you're talking about?"
Gaia clapped her hands, laughing brightly.
"Exactly! You have no idea how hard it was! He kept cracking jokes, interrupting our explanations, and even asked for an autograph before letting us through."
Arthur closed his eyes, sighing once more.
"Wonderful. My fate now rests in the hands of two cosmic entities and Marvel's cosmic grandpa. All that's missing is Deadpool showing up to complete this circus."
---
At that very moment, somewhere in the world…
Deadpool was lying belly-down on a messy apartment couch, reading a Spider-Man comic upside down and eating cereal straight from the box.
Suddenly, he sneezed so hard his mask lifted half an inch off his face.
"ACHOO! …Ugh!"
He blinked, looked around suspiciously, then stared directly at the "camera," as if he knew he was being watched.
"Someone just mentioned me, didn't they? I bet a hundred bucks it was in that weird fanfic about the guy with too many girlfriends and a treasure stash. Happens every time."
Deadpool scratched his nose, pulled his mask back down, and muttered:
"Anyway, I'll add that sneeze to the official foreshadowing list. If I don't show up again in two chapters, I'm suing the author."
He raised his middle finger at the air—as if straight at the author—then calmly went back to eating his cereal.
---
(End of chapter)
"Hmph. If you really want to be useful, then entertain me, try to throw those pathetic power stones at me. Let's see if even your insolence can amuse a king."