Mélusine stayed the beach for a bit. She knew the battle with ORT will not be done so fast, this was confirmed when he and the other Ultimate began their engagement in combat and could no longer be detected. So she plans on settling some stuff before Galahad returns. But just in case he does return early, she left him a message on a nearby cliffside.
Once done she flew back to Japan.
She knew who to meet, she remembered his scent, she made sure to remember it for such a day like this. She did not let anything get in her way.
"Look at you."
Mélusine looked down at Herod. He was missing a leg and being carried by a Seraphim and guarded by ten of them. They were fairly far from U.A. hiding in some patch of nature off on the side of a road.
"You…" He looked up with weary eyes. He lost a lot of blood. "Lancer…"
"Greetings, Handler. I was Lancer, servant to Master Galahad, formerly known as Albert Hiroyuki. Now I am his lover, Mélusine, The Last Dragon of Earth. I have come to snuff you out."
Herod's lips curl and he lets out a laugh. Melusine could see a kind of despair and madness in his eyes.
"How truly hilarious! Damn." He shook his head. "I raised the boy too well. To have gotten his hands on such a woman…" He looks up at Mélusine and narrows his eyes. Some vindictive rage burned in them. "Enjoy the damaged goods."
Mélusine scowls before slaughtering everyone there. She did take time to look into the Seraphim, she removed their attire and saw their appearances. They have Galahad's appearance and scent from before she and he contracted. But they had some modifications to them, like they cut them up and added things to them.
She could tell from their scent that they have metals and various chemicals in their bodies that fill and run through their veins. Galahad had told her that they also modified Albert with some extra organs or two, but never to this level of degree.
He was the prototype for the rest of these… clones.
"Clones…" She gritted her teeth.
Though they were not her lover they still shared his pre-Grail-War appearance and biology. They have nothing behind those eyes, they are only tools that have been even more broken in than what they ever did to Galahad. Should he see them Mélusine fears Galahad would act further as a Beast.
With one last sneer she spat on Herod's corpse and then burned the remains until only ash remained.
'I'll need to find someone to find the rest, I doubt this is all of them, and exterminate them all.'
Her next destination was back in the city near U.A.
"Hello there cute frog."
Asui is frightened when she lays eyes on Mélusine. She was somehow even more frighting.
"You…" She softly says as she rests for a moment, alone. "Is… Albert with you?"
"He goes by Galahad now. Seeing as everything that Albert was is dead and gone."
Asui's face scrunches up in pain.
"…Are you here just to make me feel even more terrible?"
"Not really. I wanted to ask you why you betrayed him?"
Asui took a moment to think on her answer, soon after a minute she gave it.
"I… was scared. His actions… I was torn between loving him and… fearing what he does. He… he kills people. I… I just wanted to make sure he was on the right path, a heroes path."
Looking at her Mélusine understood why Galahad was so forgiving her. He knew why she did what she did. She couldn't blame her for trying to help him in the best way she could.
"He'll come by when he is done. I'll make sure of it. Take care, Tsuyu Asui."
She then leaves. Tsuyu lets out a very deep sigh along with a heavy frown.
"Albert… I'm sorry."
Tears slowly drip down her face, alone in a city in ruins.
Mélusine didn't have much else to settle, as for the clones of Albert... she was sure they will be dealt with, after all U.A. wouldn't forget what they did.
"No." She stopped in her tracks. "Gal wouldn't let loose ends go."
So she tracked another scent, Nezu. She quickly flew towards him and found him helping order and manage the calamity.
She snatched him faster than anyone could register. High in the air Nezu jolted with fear and panic and suddenly coming face to Mélusine.
"H—hello!" He greeted.
"Nezu, I want you to find and kill the ones in black that attacked the school."
He took a moment to get his gears going before he replied.
"That is not our top priority for the moment, but we will track and hunt them all down."
"Thank you. Make sure you burn their corpses. They are clones of Galahad."
Nezu tensed up. Mélusine noticed as she was holding him in her arms.
"They do not seem to have his Quirk is that is what you feared. They seem to be at least as strong as a human of that age with some mods done to them by the now fallen American government. I trust you will heed my words?"
Nezu nods immedatly.
"Of course! I will inform the others!"
"Thank you, sincerely."
Before he could say a word she flew him back down and left before he could register it all again. With that taken care of she went back to the love nest as she calls it and begins to pack up a few things.
"Hm… How was it that her majesty showed me?" Mélusine scratched her head a bit.
She tries to remember how it goes when she picks up Kischur, the weapon not the person.
"… You are the only gift that he cares about."
"Leave it."
Mélusine is shaken at the voice. She knows this voice very well and she is pleasantly surprised to hear it again. She turns and to her surprise meets an old friend.
"Oh, you look different, Barghest."
Sitting in the shadows of the home where Mélusine calls a love nest, sits a notably tall, robust, and imposing statured woman in black armor. Her heterochromia eyes were like fires in the night as they gleam through the shadows.
She stands up and steps towards Mélusine into the light. She had short, ashen hair with her horns being longer with a black and red hue to them. She was somehow even more imposing now than back she and Mélusine were alive. But Mélusine herself was even more imposing now than she ever was before.
"I become a Counter Gurdian."
"That so, was it of your own volition?"
"I am here because of you. The world's Mystery has begun to rise significantly, enough so that Counter Guardians can now appear again. Many have already been deployed to steer humanity. This is a golden opportunity to fix humanity's future trajectory."
"Now after a Beast of Humanity has been born?"
"… You cannot take that weapon, Mélusine, for that very reason. Either he leaves or we kill him."
"Pfft!" Mélusine covers her mouth trying not to laugh. "He is Beast VIII, the new Ultimate of Earth—Type Humanity. I doubt even a Grand Servant could kill him without help."
Barghest narrows her eyes on Mélusine.
"I know you were his servant. That you chose to incarnate to be with him. So I ask you, as one Knight of the Round Table to another. Make him leave."
She floats over to her.
"That was his plan from the start." She pokes her nose and smugly smiles. "After he kills that Spider we will be off exploring the stars, together."
She floats back to where she was before. Barghest only sighs.
"Then he will not need that weapon." She points to Kischur. "He is already too powerful. Giving him that is like giving her majesty… well a divine construct. It is needless."
"It has sentimental values."
"He has you, does he not?"
"He does but this comes from one of the few people who cared about him."
"The Kaleidoscope. Hmph. Then return it to him. That weapon is still needed here on Earth for humanity."
"Are you going to fight me if I say no?"
Barghest stepped forward again to look down on Mélusine.
"I am stronger than you. Even back in Fairy Britain I could crush you if I decided to let go of my restrains."
"And now? Do you think you can kill me?"
Mélusine released her own mana, it was bright red and overwhelming like that of the sun breaking over the horizon. Barghest let her own mana out and it was as dark and hungry as the abyss as it collides with Mélusine's.
Mélusine hated to admit it but the Barghest before her was truly on another level than before. Very likely she has gotten stronger from the Counter Force empowering her and her gaining an ungodly amount of combat experience. With her strength right now she is sure if she goes full out she could kill the Queen and even her most powerful guard, Woodwose. As for herself… she would win at the cost of losing a limb or two. That is how powerful Queen Morgan and her guard, Woodwose, were together, to match and draw blood from a super existence like Mélusine at full power.
'Not worth the effort.'
Mélusine sighs as she retracts her mana.
"Give it to Kischur, or else." She holds her hand out to Barghest.
Barghest softens her expression and also retracts her mana.
"You certainly have changed a bit." She makes a faint, little smile.
She takes Kischur from Mélusine.
"Have you gotten control over yourself?"
"I have." She nods. "It has been nice seeing you again, Lancelot."
"I as well, Gawain."
"Let us hope we don't see each other again, or the very least this version of me."
She turns to leave, her heavy footsteps echo through the home. As she gets to the entrance she stops to look at Mélusine.
"And the magecraft you were looking for is this done like this."
She swung her hand and a part of the wall was gone. Mélusine saw how the Fairy Pattern in Barghest were used.
"I see…" She copies it and then stores all she wanted into a subspace.
"Goodbye, Lancelot." Barghest then disappears.
"Hey!" Mélusine shouted. "Get back you mutt! You fucking took a chunk of out of our love nest! Barghest!!"
Mélusine returns to the beach and waits there. She sits on a rock and waits for Galahad to return. She sits on the sand and lets the waves come and go. She closes her eyes and falls asleep after a while.
She counted the days that passed. She counted up to 1800 or so days before she decided to fall asleep.
She dreamt of her time with Galahad. When they first met, the first night they slept together in bed. All the little moments pop into her head as she reminisce of all that they did together.
Mélusine didn't worry of someone coming to attack or something of that nature because she naturally gave off an imposing aura. Life forms weaker than Mélusine naturally steered clear of her. Even humans who came by accident and see her beauty, just sleeping on the shore knew instinctively to go the other way.
Eventually in the area Mélusine became a sort of legend. The Red Haired Shore Maiden they called her. That any who bathes in the waters from her shore will be blessed with great strength, or something along those lines.
Not many people came to see her. Galahad truly sent society back to the stone ages—ah, no there was few that did come to see her.
"Hey, Lancer or whatever you name is."
Mélusine opens her eyes to see none other than Katsuki Bakugo. He was much older than when she last saw him, a boy now a young man, yet he kept that angry, pensive face of his. Oddly enough Mélusine felt Galahad in him.
"The angry one." She said getting up from her spot. "You aged well."
It was in his eyes where she saw a bit of Galahad. They had this uncanny sharpness to them that he had after he made his wish to the grail. The clothes he wore were made from the imugi that Galahad made when he shook his horns.
Bakugo only furrowed his brows even more.
"Where is the bastard? I've come to beat his ass."
"Fufu." She giggled at the thought. "You think because you, I presume, killed one of the offspring he made that you can kill him?"
"I don't plan to kill him, I plan to beat his ass. Where is he? I learned magecraft from miss Aoko."
"Oh, I see, I see. Just because you know a little magecraft and even took in a fraction of Galahad's own power you think you are match for him? You are but an ant to a mountain. Hell, you can't even beat me and if you can't beat me there is no chance for you to beat Gal."
He narrows his eyes and he holds his hand up to the sky. His magical circuits began to activate like a terrible engine of war before an explosion the strength and size of a small volcano erupting. The entire area quaked from the force.
"I can beat him."
"Very impressive. Can I ask, how long as it been since that day you were held hostage by Galahad's handler?"
"… Seven years." He answer putting his hand down.
"Seven years huh… Hmm. How is the world?"
"Shit. But it's getting better than before. Japan is finally stable after six years of conflict. Now we are helping what use to be China restabilize with the help of the Heroes there. From there we began to help the rest of Europe and Asian countries. It has only been one year since we could reach the Americas."
"And how are they now?"
"The entirety of North America is fractured like China during their warring states period. Mexico and Canada were dragged into this chaos by the Americans who were desperate. America was hit the hardest out of all nations. Religious factions quickly sprung up and began to crusade, the biggest one is led by two people Blue and Brother something. Nezu said it'll take at least another decade to fully reunify the Americas, mostly because of the amount of guns people have."
"And what of South America?"
"Little bit better than their northern neighbors. Still broken and tribalized along the coastlines, they get more zealous the further into the jungle you go."
"What of the old man, Kischur? If you were taught by that red mage Aoko then you should also know who he is, right?"
"I do. I like him. Blunt and to the point, sometimes. He is heading the reconnection of humanity. He is the one who told me where you were for learning Magecraft."
"I see… Well you can stay here if you like, but know that even I do not know when Galahad will return… unless the old man told you?"
"He said nothing."
"Hm. Very well then. I'll let you fight me once every month." She holds her hand out. "Come. You cannot have a better sparring partner than I."
A year later, another person came.
"So you are my son's partner."
Mélusine looked up to meet Star and Stripe, Cathleen Bate, Galahad's biological mother. Mélusine could notice the similar characteristics they had. They have the same eyes before Galahad ate Medusa's serpents, even their hair was the same. But she could see it in their noses, they were practically the same.
"What is your name?" She replied.
"I was the U.S.A.'s number one Pro Hero before the fall. I was actually on my way to Japan when everything happened."
"I see. Are you here to try and meet Galahad?"
"Yes." She nods. "Can I ask you about him? You are the closest person to him after all."
"Of course!" Mélusine smiled at her request, why wouldn't she try and make a good impression on her beloved's mother.
Months go by. Mélusine spends her time sparing with Bakugo and the rest of her time talking with Cathleen.
But even that comes to an end as they are still heroes. They left to go help the world that is slowly building itself back up. Both of them leave with a far better understanding of Galahad and his actions.
"I'll make sure those bastards are hunted." Bakugo replied as he left.
"I will make sure the world he seeks comes to fruition." Replied Cathleen when she left as well.
Bakugo only stayed for about a year and Cathleen half of that. With nothing else much to do, she returned to sleep.
The next person to come were two people. Azure and Holy Shepherd with a rather large group of people, with another person of note standing right behind Azure and Holy Shepherd.
"So that rumor of a Red Haired Maiden here was you." Azure said stepping towards Mélusine with some fear weighing her steps.
Mélusine woke up seeing this and made herself less hostile, but that was hard considering she is now a full blooded draconic fairy. Albert's Quirk certainly left Mélusine with a farewell present before their connection as Master and Servant was no more.
"Azure." She said looking at the other two noteworthy people. "Holy Shepherd and…" She looked at the other woman with blue hair. "You must be Cerulean."
Cerulean shakenly nods her head. She look similar to Azure but far more built and somehow more softer than her older sister.
"S—s—sis… we should leave." Cerulean begged her sister.
"Nonsense!" She met Mélusine's eyes. "Where is the boss? Everything went to shit about nine years ago. Me and Holy Shepherd here managed to build up our forces in the chaos and try to get in contact. It wasn't until some rumors began to fly around the states of a Red Haired Maiden and her shores."
"The words get jumbled a lot." Holy Shepherd added. "Azure said you are my lords right hand man, I ask of you, where is he?"
"Busy. He will return here one day. After all I have been waiting for nine years now."
"Then we shall as well!" Holy Shepherd turned to the people. "We will take root at the village nearby and make this our home—our holy land!"
"URAAAAAAH!!!"
The crowd cheered on as they began to make their way to the nearby village. Azure remained where she was and looked at Mélusine.
"Where is he exactly?" she asked.
"Deep in the jungle. You do not want to go in. What you find there is something that is taking Galahad, yes that is his name, years to return from."
"All I needed to know." She has her arms up. "Been a long time and…" She puts her arms down. "I kinda just want peace now."
"You look older, not in the time sense but the—"
"Yeah, yeah, I got what you mean." She waved it off. "I'll come by once we settle in. You know with you around the area is pretty damn safe."
"That so, why?"
"Well didn't someone tell you about the Black Horned Serpents? Those damn snakes are like a new apex predator that has slowed the rebuilding of society greatly, at least in the Americas. Major cities are built like back in the old times with forts and stuff."
"Have you killed one by chance?"
"Didn't want to try my luck. But I did hear that if you kill it and then eat it's flesh before it rots, it rots pretty damn fast, you get more powerful. Like there was this one hero a Dynamight was the first one to eat one and they just got way stronger."
"That is true, I met him. He left a few years back after coming to try and fight Galahad."
"Why? Do they know one another?"
"They were classmates once. He always wanted to beat Galahad, but the chance slipped past him."
"I see… I'll come by every now and again. You seem a bit lonely."
"Do as you wish."
Azure would come every now and again to update Mélusine on some of the stuff happening around the world that she picked up. But most of the time she really just slept. No one but Azure really comes to visit Mélusine, the others kinda just worship Mélusine from a distance.
But one day she woke up was to the most pleasant of sounds calling her name.
"Mélusine."
She opened her eyes and a soft sensation was felt on her head. She turned up to see Galahad giving her a lap pillow. He didn't look much different, but he was.