Chapter Text
The decision to have Karna materialise around her certainly threw Taylor into the spotlight.
A lot of it was good---
"Miss Hebert, whilst the PRT cannot condone your action in going public... we can at least confirm that the bounty for Leviathan has finally been cleared and moved into a bank account for you. Congratulations, if it was not against policy, I would have presented it as one of those gigantic novelty checks." At least Miss Militia had a sense of humour about it all, even if Taylor had probably just taken enough money out of the budget with the bounty to pay for a small PRT department to function for a year.
"I am going to buy so much shit for the house."
She could already see it, new dishwasher, new washing machine... actually, how much would it cost to have a full team of cleaners do a sweep of the house once a month to keep on top of things? That would make things a lot easier for her and her father.
Speaking of, the money would take some pressure off his shoulders, pay off the mortgage completely and improve their living situation drastically!
... Much more of it was bad.
Taylor barely blinked when Karna practically blinked out of existence beside her, a crack of explosive in the distance and the distinctive ping of metal on metal as her Servant blocked the bullet aimed for her head.
"Master, on the rooftop!"
"Deal with it, Karna."
An eye laser did so... even if it also had some collateral damage. At least Karna held back, she had seen those eye beams take out half a city block during the fight with Leviathan.
In completely unrelated news, the Empire Cape formerly known as Victor was identified by DNA a day or two later from what few pieces were left on a rooftop.
Assassination attempts were not uncommon now, disgruntled Empire and ABB Capes, even people from further afield, Karna dealt with them mercilessly... it was strange to think that, perhaps, Taylor was indirectly responsible for the deaths of a good number of people. But they were trying to kill her, and unlike them she and Karna had killed an Endbringer, so overall it was not as if they didn’t have it coming?
And finally, some of the results were heartwarming.
"... Master, that child over there."
"Hm?"
She had barely turned around before Karna was striding over to a little boy and his mother, the former of whom had just dropped his semi-molten ice-cream to the floor and was preparing to deploy the mother of all tantrums on the boardwalk. But before he could unleash the first sniffle, Karna was there kneeling down, gently transferring a ball of freshly scooped vanilla ice-cream from his own cone onto that of the toddlers.
There was some confusion, the child took a lick as the beleaguered mother thanked Karna.
Taylor was left smiling at the interaction, Karna always rushed to help others like that, almost always giving up something... even if she had paid for that ice-cream for him, she supposed that it was simply in his nature to try and help others.
Quite often people came up for photographs, a few times people gave thanks, tearfully told stories about losing friends or relatives to Leviathan or the gangs. It always made her a little self-conscious, after all, all she did was command Karna and act like his battery, but each time Karna would listen along to their story and then say it was her who made a difference.
It was nice though, to be recognised as a hero, to see the hope in people’s eyes.
"Master, you are pushing yourself hard."
"I need to be ready, I need to not faint next time, or I"ll be useless to you..."
"... Master, allow me, as your Servant, to assist you, at the least. Exercising and training with a companion is far more pleasant than on one"s own."
"I doubt that I can match up to you in any way, Karna."
"Yes. But I was taught by Drona, the greatest teacher of that age; and I shall put my teachers" efforts to good use now, Master."
"... Didn"t he refuse to teach you?"
"No, he did. But he refused to reveal the secrets of the Brahma weapon to me, although I have accessed it by other means... but if you are resolved to stand by my side wholeheartedly then there is much you must learn."
...
...
"I can perceive the enemy, Master. Their leader is there... hm... he reminds me of a man I once fought, actually."
"Oh?"
"Yes, although that man was far more fearsome, he could create an entire field of iron stakes and spears, by contrast this... Kaiser, seems far less fearsome by nature, more limited... that man I once fought was a true king, even if he was betrayed and forced to fight in such a monstrous state in the end."
"... Seems you still have more stories to tell me, Karna."
"So it seems. Your orders, Master?"
"Bring them down. We"ll capture as many as possible but do what you have to if it keeps you safe, Karna. I am sick of having Nazis in my hometown."
"As you wish, Master."
...
...
"Take it in, Master, distribute it evenly. Even if I cannot teach you the secrets of Magecraft, the utilisation of the planet"s mana is something that shall assist you greatly, feel it being drawn in."
"I... wow."
"Remember master, there is only so much of it within an area, it shall take a great while to replenish, but with this extra energy, I shall allow me to achieve greater and greater feats..." Karna said, and then after a moment"s consideration. "Perhaps even, you could connect to the planets veins... when the time for that final battle comes, there is only one place on this planet where it must do so, upon that dusty plain."
"... Arjuna?"
"That place where we fought our final battle and I died, yes. Where the curses issued upon by the Brahmin whose cow I slew when Indra made it appear as a lion, and the curse of Mother Earth when I returned the spilled ghee of a frightened child, came to their fruition."
... The more you discuss these things, the more I think about how much the world conspired against you."
"Perhaps, but such was the lot of my karma, and I shall not begrudge it."
February, 2012
"Master."
"Yes?"
"There is much odd activity occurring at the moment within your school."
"Hm?" she asked, idly flipping the page of a book as she did so, and glancing up.
She was sitting in the library, having eaten her lunch quickly. It was quiet at the moment, even in Immaculata she rather struggled with the crowds, being in them rather made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. Dinah had not joined her today, perhaps she had a bit of work to take care of?
The peace of the library was nice, and in this isolated corner Karna had emerged from the thin air, as was his manner, to question.
"That boy in your class, Jason, was presenting a gift of confections to Amelia, correct? I thought that it was a simple gift, seeing how they are courting, but I have seen others doing it throughout the day, even between people who are not lovers... but nobody has come forward to give you any?"
Ouch.
Way to point it out, Karna.
Well, she had frankly rather forgotten about Valentine"s Day, it was not like it was a day that mattered at all in her life. She did not really put in much effort to seem very girly; her hair was the only feature of hers that was feminine, a gift from her mother that she took as much care of as she could.
Frankly, she would not know what to do with herself even if she was given a valentine’s gift.
"Well, it’s Valentine’s day."
She had to give an explanation about all that the day entailed.
"Valentines... I see... I had heard such a thing existed, but never thought that it would be today."
This revelation of the existence of Valentine"s day put Karna into a weird mood for the rest of the day. Was it because he was thinking about his wife and children, all of whom had been dead for millennia at this point? It seemed curious that he would grow so pensive over it, when it was not as if he had not had plenty of time to adjust to the world... man, they had been Master and Servant for an entire year at this point... wow, that was really strange to think about...
In that time, they had fought so many battles together, well, Karna had fought and she had stood in the back giving him commands, when it was necessary.
The single burned out Command Seal on her hand was testament to their achievements. Karna"s name was famous across the world even if he was somewhat controversial in India, with plenty denying that he was the eponymous hero. To be fair he was a little... fair skinned compared to the average Indian, but there had been a few offers to join the "Garama" of the subcontinent... and also a few offers for him to appear in Bollywood movies.
The fact that Karna had been able to engage in several hour-long conversations with noted scholars and historians on the topic of the Mahabharata and that time rather helped to lend credence to his claims. Taylor had no doubts, and his public profile was already sky high simply for destroying Leviathan.
Still...
She got back home from Immaculata, which had been drastically improved by the money from the bounties that Karna had been bringing in.
And yet... even with all his power to change the world, some things never did. She looked towards the stack of papers on the table, her fathers... another attempt to find work for the various members of the Dockworkers, probably. Even with Leviathan dead, it was not like its death miraculously fixed the problems with maritime trade.
As soon as the door was closed Karna was at her side.
He seemed very keen to speak with her, moving ahead and then facing her, face serious. She paused, having turned on the lights to provide some light.
"Master."
And then Karna gave her something.
"Huh?"
"For you, master."
It was a small box, simply made, wrapped almost a little clumsily.
She received it with both hands, and then looked up at his face.
"Today is Valentine"s Day, and you have received no gift. I have remedied that."
"... You got me a valentine?"
"Yes, I made this with what I had, but it turned out quite nicely. It is a rare satisfactory work for someone like me, but I still take pride in what I created by hand," he said, and was that just a slightly faint, smug expression on his face?
What the actual...
"Can I open it?"
There was no way this was chocolate.
"Of course."
She opened it, finding a simple paper box, and a pair of earrings within, which she placed within the palm of her hand to examine... earrings of solid gold with tiny, pink gems set in. Earrings that were a near perfect duplicate, if much smaller, than Karna"s own. There were beautiful, even if Taylor barely knew anything about jewellery, she could tell that they were a priceless masterpiece, they almost shone like the setting sun in the weak light of her room---
"Whilst I disassembled myself between spiritual and physical, I quickly took some part of my armour and made these earrings for you, master... they may not truly be the same as Kavacha and Kundala, but perhaps, they shall give you some small manner of protection."
Some part of… his armour?
The same armour that was the only gift from his father... the only thing he was sent out into the world with, The same treasure that he was still compelled to give up, and did so freely to the God Indra.
She stared down at the pair of spiked, wheel shaped earrings. Suddenly they felt so much heavier, so much warmer and more significant that any gift she had ever been given in her entire life. Like... what could she possibly say or do?
... Gold earrings were really not her style, she liked to wear more plain things... things that did not attract attention.
She didn"t even have ear piercings... her mother had always told her not to get them too young, but Taylor had always imagined that she would be there when she did get them done...
"... Will you come with me when I get them pierced?" she asked, looking back up at Karna. There was no question that she would be wearing Karna"s gift, she would never do such a disservice to her Servant.
She got a proper smile this time, he had been doing that more and more of late.
"Of course, Master."