It'd been a few months since I was summoned to the sixth singularity, and only a few weeks since I had killed Gareth in our fight against Richard, who was abnormally strong, but that's a location buff for you. Ever since then, Gawain and Lancelot have been somewhat distant with me, and I get it, but I still don't regret it because I didn't want Gawain to have Gareth's death on his hands and for Lancelot to be spared from killing her again.
Unfortunately, this can't go on, and it seems like the Lion King herself has noticed as I see her loyal dog Agravain walk towards me with a scowl on his face. He stops in front of me and barely controls the sneer from appearing on his face as he informs me of the Lion King's wishes.
"Sir Crimson, the Lion King demands your presence in the throne room in five minutes, be there or face the consequences." His cape bellows as he walks away, most likely informing Gawain and Lancelot the same, dutiful knights that they were, they may reach the throne room before I do, I cannot let that happen.
In just 1 minute I reach the throne room, taking a moment to settle myself before I hear the Lion King call my name. I enter the throne room and quickly take note of my surroundings, smiling inwardly as I see neither Gawain or Lancelot. Satisfied with my observation, I continue to walk forward and stop in front of the Lion King, kneeling in greeting. She gives me a once over and then calls in both Lancelot and Gawain, both entering with much of the same grace I had and kneeled before her as well.
We were there, kneeling for 5 minutes when she spoke, "it has come to my attention that there has been infighting between 3 of my most powerful knights. Such infighting has led to a decrease in efficiency when carrying out the Holy Selection and I find myself questioning your allegiance to the cause."
At those words, the three of us tense in anticipation, waiting to see what exactly she has to say next. She continues, "I find myself dissatisfied with these actions and wonder whether it would be better to kill you all and try my hand at summoning once more. Tell me what do you 3 have to say for yourselves" she finishes coldly.
The 3 of us take but a few microseconds to think when I have my answer, "I apologize for your dissatisfaction my King, I had not realized our actions had caused you such ache. I seek to remedy such feelings and offer myself to whatever punishment you find me deserving." Lancelot and Gawain piped up with similar answers, and then all 3 of us continued to kneel there while the Lion King deliberated on her answer.
After a few moments, the Lion King had found her answer, "I am pleased with your attitudes and have decided to grant you all a single chance to remedy your problems. You have until tomorrow morning to squash them, or I will have you executed for treason against the crown and parade your bodies around as an example. Understood?"
All 3 of us responded, "Yes my King!"
"Then you are dismissed" and with a wave of her hand we stood up and left the throne room. Once outside, we allowed the walls to fall and each took a sigh in relief, and I laughed in disbelief, Lancelot and Gawain mirroring me. Once we calm down, I speak, "Lancelot, Gawain," they hear their names and look at me, "I would like to apologize for killing Gareth while she held Richard. I know of your histories and wanted to spare you both the pain of having her death on your hands. It's because of that, that I apologize since I do not regret killing her, it spared you both and ended the conflict. What I guilt over is having you two watch her die once more and robbing you both of the choice to do it yourselves."
Lancelot and Gawain stare at me in shock, Lancelot's face morphs from shock to remorse and Gawain looks apologetic. Lancelot tries to speak but closes his mouth while Gawain, undeterred, speaks up, "I would like to apologize to you Shirou, I had no knowledge of the burden you carried since Gareth's death, the truth is, I was avoiding you because I wanted to thank you. I know myself, and I know that in that very moment, I would have killed Gareth to succeed in the mission, it would have made me a fantastic knight, but an even worse big brother, so thank you Shirou, thank you for taking that choice away from me and letting Gareth die with dignity."
Gawain starts to tear up at the end there and I quickly project a handkerchief for him to use and project a wall so he could cry without anyone seeing. With that finished, I turn to Lancelot, who looks like he doesn't know what to say and keeps hesitating to put his hand on my shoulder. I call to him, "Lancelot," he looks my way again, "it's okay, you don't have to say anything, I forgive you." Lancelot looks at peace with himself after I said that and pats my shoulder, nodding in thanks.
We smile at each other and start to make small talk when I hear Gawain clear his throat, so I dismiss the wall and dismiss the handkerchief. Patting his shoulder too as he thanks me and invites Lancelot and I to his room so that we may share stories, something we ended up doing until morning. Then we remembered the King's ultimatum and hastily made our way to the throne room where the King took one look at us and faintly smiled, dismissing us right away.
We chuckled amongst ourselves and went our separate ways to perform our duties for the day, content with the fact that we were now friends.