I am a Peerless Hero without equal! (WC/Currently in FGO Part 1)

"Nursery Rhyme, huh?" Kuku's words were drawn out like an elastic band.

Nursery nodded. Ritsuka had to agree with Kuku; it was a very strange name for a girl. Did her parents really love nursery rhymes so much? Were they musicians? It would make the most sense if they were.

"So how did you meet Nursery, Zvezdnyy?" Kuku asked as she began approaching the new girl.

"It was during a fateful game of tag amidst the laughter of the orphanage children that I first laid eyes upon her—a solitary figure, dressed in finery that shimmered like starlight, standing on the fringes of our game."

Zvezdnyy's arms were spread out to symbolize distance.

"Her gaze held a wistful yearning, and I could not bear such loneliness to linger. With the unyielding resolve like that of my Polkovodets, I seized her hand and pulled her into our revelry, binding her to our joyful realm!" Zvezdnyy took the girl's hand with her own, bare skin blending with the darkest purple.

Annoyance flashed across Nursery Rhyme's face, a grimace cast on her mouth before vanishing. She was put off by Zvezdnyy's closeness almost like a cat.

"Zvezdnyy, maybe you should give the girl some space?" Ritsuka said.

Zvezdnyy turned to look at the teen with a head tilt, "For what reason?"

"Zvezdnyy." Kuku dryly stated.

The blonde girl froze, before turning slowly like a child who was caught red-handed. She let go of Nursery and strode towards Kuku, trying to brush her past actions aside.

"Fine, fine! I shall retreat like…" Zvezdnyy trailed off before finding her words again, "Like a shadow! At dusk and grant her the distance she seeks. But know this—my watchful gaze shall remain, ever ready to bridge the chasm when fate demands it!"

Ritsuka glanced at Willas, who appeared to be asleep. His eyes went up and down the man's body. All of Willas' wounds were gone, and his black eye was gone also. No wonder Kuku's seen as an Angel.

Being next to Kuku for so long has left Ritsuka relatively unaffected by such miracles, unlike these underclasses who are now worshipping her.

"By the way, who is this enigmatic figure?" Zvezdnyy asked as she teleported next to Willas. Despite her short height, she loomed over the man like a skyscraper. "His aura stirs the winds of fate—tell me, what role does he play in this grand tapestry?"

Did she change her height? Ritsuka wondered, considering she shouldn't tower so much over him…

"That is Willas, someone we befriended," Mash replied.

Zvezdnyy examined the man closely. Ritsuka would liken her action to that of a scientist looking over the physical characteristics of a newfound species. Zvezdnyy's dainty fingers traced her chin as she appeared to be in deep thought.

"So he be a stranger thou hast befriended?" Nursery Rhyme spoke up. She approached the man with her head held high, eyes full of disdain, "But why? Dost thou not know strangers art perilous?"

Zvezdnyy giggled, prompting Nursery Rhyme to look unamused, unhappy at how her words were being dismissed.

Zvezdnyy spoke in her usually dramatic manner, "To tread such a path is to embrace the hollow echoes of a desolate existence. For what are strangers, if not unwitting souls yet to be ensnared by the gravity of your indomitable will? They are but unclaimed disciples, awaiting the moment when your shadow shall eclipse their world, and they kneel before the throne of your boundless charisma!"

Nursery's eyes twitched. Her body spun around as she placed a hand over her chest, head slightly tilted derisively, "How naive art thou. 'Tis for good cause that, in faerie tales, 'tis ever the strangers who play the villains." Nursery leaned in, "The evil queen who disguiseth herself as a harmless old crone, the big bad wolf who devoureth Little Red, and the witch's house that enticeth Hansel and Gretel. Strangers art ever perilous, for their intents be shrouded in mystery."

Ritsuka's brows furrowed. Of everything Nursery Rhyme could've said, he did not expect that. Those words she just uttered didn't belong on the lips of someone so young, but at the same time, those fairy tale analogies did make it seem age-appropriate. It was paradoxical, how young her choice of words were compared to how old their contents were.

Willas suddenly took a sharp breath in as though he was held underwater for some time. The man snapped up, his limbs floundered about before calming down when his eyes graced Ritsuka.

"Ritsuka? Where am I? The last thing I remembered was some police hitting me in the face with a baton…"

"You were preaching about how the workers should rise up and the police got angry," Ritsuka answered.

Kuku raised an eyebrow. She remarked to herself, "Police brutality is a thing even this far back huh?"

Willas took in his surroundings, looking around at his environment. His eyes stopped when they found the most beautiful thing Willas had ever laid eyes upon, so much so he'd struggled to put it into words.

"Woah."

"This is Kukulkan. She is the 'Angel' that's been healing everyone." Ritsuka introduced, "She healed you."

"Angel huh?" There was a slight edge to Willas' voice. The man narrowed his eyes, and a strained smile split his face. He covered his mouth and appeared to be struggling with something. "Angel…"

Oh shit. Ritsuka realized his mistake. Willas was someone who lived to spite god. But now he's just been saved by a Messenger of God.

Willas' fists clenched tightly. He licked his lips. He was on the brink, either punching or fleeing, Ritsuka did not know. If it was the former, that just meant a broken hand, and there's a not-so-small chance of Willas punching Kuku. He did disdain 'god'.

"Never bring me here again, Ritsuka. And you 'Angel' I spit on your god."

The man spat on the floor and quickly left, all without saying another word or looking back.

"..."

There was a moment of silence as what just occurred sunk into the minds of all those present.

Ritsuka brushed his hair with his right hand, "Oh god, I'm so sorry Kuku I forgot he had a bad experience with religion and—"

"Eh, it's fine."

Kuku appeared unfazed by the whole ordeal. She was the very opposite of Ritsuka: calm and collected, as though she was very used to such disrespect. Willas's insults found no purchase and just slid right off. If it was Iskander, Ritsuka thinks that man would've been split in two.

"I gotta go find him. I thank you for healing Willas!"

"You're welcome."

With that, Ritsuka left, and Mash followed and was seen off by Zvezdnyy.

Now alone with Nursery, with Zvezdnyy just out of the peripherals, Kukulkan turned towards the new girl. Nursery suddenly tensed up, as if ready to flee at a moment's notice.

Kukulkan began probing, blunting asking, "Are you perchance a Servant?"

"I have servants who obey me, yea." Nursery nodded dramatically as she replied.

"Of course you do. Nonetheless, with the current restrictions in place, I couldn't know if you're a Servant even if I wanted to. I think letting Zvezdnyy off on her own for a while should be fine. She did promise not to do anything too drastic, or eye-catching." She mumbled to herself, "Given the past week, small-scale reality warping seems to not trip any alarms…"

Zvezdnyy suddenly appeared next to the doll-like girl, practically dragging her away.

"Come, Nursery Rhyme! My Polkovodets here is busy, so let's go elsewhere that's more fun!"

With everyone having left, Kukulkan now stands alone within this church. Not a single soul in this room. The Goddess rubbed her forehead, "Guess I'm putting healing on pause for today. I did say I'm going to check out that threat… the Rat King, was it?"

_______

Zvezdnyy was having a great day. An impeccable day one might even say.

Today, she met a new friend who practices the Path of Drama almost as much as she does. If only her Polkovodets had also practiced the Path of Drama, it would have been perfect.

Meeting up again with Ritsuka was a treat. Meeting anyone who indulges and responds well to her Path of Drama is always a treat, maybe because they're so rare. It's like finding a diamond in the rough, always a cause for celebration when finding one.

Zvezdnyy skipped across the brick road like a floating balloon, unburdened by a single care in the world. It was the very picture of child-like innocence, a time of joy, a time to be looked back upon fondly.

Zvezdnyy stopped and looked around the bustling street she found herself on. The girl looked around at all the shops showcasing interesting trinkets and works of art on their fronts. Men dressed in black with cone-like hats walked past Zvezdnyy, giving her a quick look before moving on. With the way both Zvezdnyy and Nursery were dressed, they did belong in a place as rich as this.

"Behold those absurd crests upon their heads!" Zvezdnyy said while pointing at them, "What manner of secret order do they belong to, clad in such outlandish garb?"

There were so many of these beings in outlandish garbs here. Some hung on the edge of the road, by the walls of the shop while others patrolled like dogs.

Nursery Rhyme gave one glance at one of the 'secret order' members and answered while inspecting one of the jewels on her dress, "They be the watchmen. They art come to uphold order and mete justice unto any who would thieve."

The watchmen were like hawks, their gaze on constant alert as they swept up and down this shopping street. Zvezdnyy noticed all had a baton hanging off their belts. Completely unlike the guns that the Foundation guards would always use.

"Ah, then they must be benevolent wardens of order, for they wield batons instead of firearms!" Zvezdnyy's hands and legs moved in an expressive manner as if she were a character in a theater play, they moved in ways that suggested reverence, "Such restraint—truly, these Londoners must be enlightened souls, choosing mercy over carnage in their pursuit of justice!"

Nursery Rhyme furrowed her brows, her gaze left the jewel and went to the blonde girl. Nursery stared at Zvezdnyy for several seconds, blinking absentmindedly, before shaking her head slowly and letting out an overly dramatic, exasperated sigh. Nursery placed a hand over her forehead.

"Nay. Having dwelt in the Church this past week, surely thou hast marked how seldom these watchmen set foot in the slums. They fix their gaze here, whilst turning from those places that have true need, for here doth the wealth gather most."

Zvezdnyy frowned, "Is that not simply the law of convergence at work? This place teems with life, drawing souls like moths to a flame, while the slums remain forsaken, their silence echoing the absence of fate's guiding hand whenever I have wandered through them."

Nursery knew what Zvezdnyy meant. She caught on to the meaning of Zvezdnyy's words much faster than even the adults, infinitely faster than the other kids at the orphanage who would laugh at her queer way of speaking.

"When thou dost visit the slums, doth it chance to be when the sun standeth at its zenith?"

Zvezdnyy nodded, perplexed by the question. Soon, egged on by Nursery's silence, Zvezdnyy realized what she meant. Those people who reside within the slums are at work, so of course it would be empty during the daytime!

Nursery Rhyme's expression turned ugly.

"The true visage of man is avarice. The wealth of these patrons draweth the watchmen as doth carrion call to flies. Should these patrons suffer harm at the hands of knaves, they might well raise an unwanted fuss." Nursery's eyes swept across the shopping street like a lighthouse. Her hands came up, her fingers came together to form a gesture that resembled a telescope. Through the tunnel created, Nursery gazed upon a nearby aristocrat sipping a cup of coffee and reading the news.

"The highborn feast within their bubbles, heeding not the wretches who scarcely endure. London is like a powder keg, awaiting but the right spark to be set aflame."

There was a cold fire in Nursery's eyes. "How warm would the flame be? Would it suffice to drive forth the chill that lodgeth within thy hearts?"

There was only confusion in Zvezdnyy's eyes. She tilted her head and a finger hung from her lips.

"Eh? Surely, their hearts will waver once they witness the agony of the forsaken! Even my indomitable Polkovodets, a Commander of unparalleled might, could not turn away—when faced with the… what word did she use?" Zvezdnyy dropped the Path of Drama as she tried to remember the exact word her Polkovodets used to describe the women she healed. For some odd reason, she covered the mouth of Father Benedict before uttering that name.

"'Comfort Women' ravaged by the Pox. She cast aside her priorities and aided them without hesitation! Though, for reasons beyond my understanding, she banished me from the chamber of healing. Regardless, my path remains unchanged. All that is required is for me to unveil the tragedies unfolding hidden from them—such a truth they cannot turn away from."

"Are you so bloody naive? Do you honestly believe they will aid those 'Comfort Women'? Those who see them as less than dirt?" Nursery Rhyme snapped as she lost her Path of Drama. The girl crossed her arms, her face scrunched up into a frown. "Like sugar-coated sugar."

"To aid one's fellow kin is the very essence of humanity, Nursery! You must love your neighbor, after all. Naturally, that would mean these humans of higher standings would leap over the other to aid those less fortunate after I reveal the affliction they knew nothing about."

The gears behind Nursery's eyes began to spin. Five seconds after Zvezdnyy's words, just as the blonde girl believed she had won and was about to enact her plan, Nursery asked, "What doth 'human' mean to thee?"

Unlike others who might think for a long time about how to respond to such an existential question, Zvezdnyy's reply came practically instantly.

"A true human is one who bears the sacred form—five digits upon each hand and feet, two arms to shape destiny, two legs to stride upon fate's path, two eyes to perceive the world's truths, two ears to heed the whispers of fate, a nose to breathe the winds of change, a mouth to speak their will, and a tongue to weave their words into reality. Any deviation from this divine design marks one as something… not."

Nursery continued with her Path of Drama, raising an arm up from its crossed position up to her cheeks, "And... what of the charge to love thy neighbor?"

Zvezdnyy replied without thinking for a second longer, her feet skipping as she moved around Nursery Rhyme.

"That is the visage unseen—the hidden mask within, the essence of humanity that lies beneath the surface! If the outer form is but a vessel, then the inner face is the soul's unyielding truth, the core of what it means to be human! To help others is the very nature of mankind. Though some may practice it to a lesser extent."

Zvezdnyy's mind remembered those individuals who didn't entertain her Path of Drama; instead, they got frustrated only by her extensive vocabulary. Hmph.

Nursery Rhyme got a clearer picture of Zvezdnyy's logic. To her, a human must have all of their physical characteristics, and the truth of man's unshackled form is selflessness.

"And if, per say, they lack a hand?"

"Then they're not human."

Nursery's hand came to her mouth.

"Even though they love their neighbor?"

Zvezdnyy sighed sadly, bringing her hands up in a gesture of powerlessness, "They remain outside the sacred realm of humanity. To be human is not merely to bear the form but to wield its full potential—to walk, run, lift. A cripple, unable to match the strength and swiftness of the unbroken, lingers in the sorrowful chasm of the subhuman… Yet, such a fate is not immutable! It is but a tragedy awaiting rectification, something I can lift them out of." The sadness fell away near the end, giving way to excitement.

As Zvezdnyy monologue, her hands weren't still and moved around in a manner that emphasized her words.

Nursery Rhyme wondered how Zvezdnyy wasn't seeing the contradictions within her logic.

"Is it so? Thou dost cherish selflessness, no doubt born of that angelic woman. Thus hast thou cast that virtue upon all of mankind." A grin appeared on Nursery's face, "Then let me lay bare before thee the true visage of man—an unyielding truth that shall rend thy delusions asunder." Nursery Rhyme promised, a glint of cruelty in her eyes.

Zvezdnyy was intrigued.

AN: Playing Path of Exile has not been conducive to my writing schedule.