A Different Fate - [Rewrite]

Chapter 10:England, present and past

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As soon as the dematerialization was complete, Arturia immediately felt it.

She was home.

She was back in England.

A nostalgic smile appeared on the face of the former King of Britain. Her time as a king had ended, but her deep connection with her land had not… and she could feel every bone of her body recognize the place where she was. She was in her country, in her beloved country… and she still had something profound that linked her with it.

Her expression was one of such perfect completion that Gilgamesh could not help staring at her. Was that the result of having her come back to her homeland?

But the moment was over too soon. They had dematerialized into a small station right outside London. They knew how to reach the Mage's Association through the British Museum, but before going there, they needed to change their appearance slightly.

They had decided it was not a good idea to disguise themselves by using their powers, because not only was it energy consuming, but it could also be detected. And since they were going to enter the headquarters of a group made of people who specialized in magic, it was best to keep a low profile. After all, their very existence had been a product of magic.

Arturia had taken with her the bag she had prepared in Fuyuki a long time before, with money in it. She had changed a part of it into the correct currency to be able to use it in England without problems, because she did not want to rely on the Einzberns for most of their expenses. She was glad that she and Gilgamesh could benefit from their help, but she was well aware of the fact that they could not be trusted. Moreover, she did not like the idea of her movements being traceable.

The woman had foreseen that the King of Heroes would not be thrilled about having to travel on the same trains as those he considered 'mongrels', but she had patiently reasoned with him, explaining how important it was to maintain anonymity. And she had pointed out the fact that, once they learned where exactly the most important places were, they could dematerialize there. Very unenthusiastically, Gilgamesh had finally relented, but his expression remained one of pure disgust during the whole train ride to reach the centre of London. Arturia did her best to ignore him.

Their first destination was Oxford Street – it was a crowded place full of shops, and they had to change their appearance to make sure they were not recognizable in the unlikely case they met someone who could guess their identity. Arturia was about to buy hair-dye but, unexpectedly, Gilgamesh firmly opposed that plan. He told her that neither he nor she would stain their blonde colour with anything else.

A bit irritated, but also surprised by the fact that he included her in his reasoning, she conceded and opted for a wig for herself. She knew that Gilgamesh would not tolerate such a thing for his person; therefore, she just suggested he let his hair down. He accepted that idea – during the war, no one had ever seen him with his usually spiky hair down, except Tokiomi and Kirei; the former was dead and the latter was in Fuyuki.

He looked quite different from his king persona with his hair down – he looked good, her mind impishly murmured –, but it still wasn't enough as a disguise. Arturia decided to have him buy a pair of wraparound sunglasses… because his red eyes were bound to appear strange in the modern world. She bought a smaller pair for herself, just in case, even if her green eyes were less striking among the population. In the same shop where she purchased the glasses, she also bought some makeup. She noticed how the King of Heroes lifted an eyebrow at her, but she only rolled her eyes.