Forenotes
The original work can be viewed at my DeviantART page, DeadlyObsession.
This story contains characters from alternate universes and my own original universe. I will describe them to the best of my ability. That said, I really hope you enjoy what I've written here.
"The Sin for him,
Desire Within,
Desire Within,"
~Nightwish
A white cylindrical dizzying space that reaches up and inevitably grabs the heaven. Move. Move. Move. The maidens arms were bound by rusty silver rings; they had seen their wear on multiple victims before. They were like snapping gators that simply wouldn't let go; connected by some visual light that behaved akin to silver chains. Despite looking like ruby light and air, pulling them away and breaking free from the sleek wall behind was entirely impossible. Beneath the royal blue cuffs with dainty white frayed edging, wrists had become sore with the rubbing against the metal.
"All this Prana... And I can't even flee this place," The female gently uttered to herself from her soft lips. Her eyes no longer were fired up with passion as they once did before. Her pale saffron hair that had once been neatly tied together now scragged aside her face.
Then, more light leaked, this time from directly in front of her. A door slid open; teasing her escape, shining a white light on her dirtied, once proud corset and gown. A man stood. His face was indistinguishable because he faced away from the light pouring from the open doorway. Curly hair and some kind of long coat as all that could be seen. "You cannot escape because-"
"-She's composed of mostly Mana right?" A red haired woman with rectangular spectacles spoke. She had a cigarette in her mouth; the way she sat at her desk made her appear like some kind of poor employee's boss.
"That's right," The orange haired boy seemed distressed.
"Then she won't be able to leave easily. She was your servant in the Holy Grail Wars; a noble spirit of the great King Arturia Pendragon. Prana- or Mana is much like water. Much like water, it flows endlessly and is mostly pure and transparent," The red haired woman stood up and placed her hands on her cluttered desk "But also Shirou, like water Prana can be contained in a jar,"
The boy clutched his arm and pulled it forward in a determined pose "That seems simple enough. We just have to break the 'jar' containing this Saber, right... um...?"
The woman sighed. "Touko Aozaki. It's really not that simple, but I have put it in context for you." She stunted out her cigarette in the crystal ashtray on the desk and stood, folding her arms. "However, you're right. The jar you speak of can be quite easily broken. Usually it would take a considerable quantity of magical ability to break it, but I have another way."
"And that is?"
The room hung silent for a while. All but the noise of the fan above their heads swooshed around and round. It was then, a noise could be heard as an oak door aside of Shirou opened with a creak. Within, a pair of glowing eyes were first seen a bright blue. They quickly faded soon after and a strange female emerged. Her hair was shoulder length, beyond neat. Her face was plain, but delicate. Her eyes vacant, but clearly staring directly at him. However, her attire was surprisingly different, she wore a navy-blue kimono that made her appear much less daunting than Shirou first made out.
"This is Shiki Ryougi," Touko introduced the girl.
Shirou smiled at the the girl "Hey there! Ryougi!" The girl didn't react for a while, she still looked at Touko.
"I don't even know you," Shiki coldly scolded.
Shirou felt immediately unwelcome, and slightly shunned, like that one child in the park that was told he could not play with the rest of the group. Touko laughed it off "Don't worry, she's like that to a lot of people."
"Is this who will help us rescue Saber?" Shirou asked. He seemed daunted, because he didn't know how this strange person would help out in this case let alone even begin to co-operate.
"Yes. This girl- no, woman here is special," Touko have to revise her words quickly as she spoke getting a silence reprimand from the cold Shiki. "She has what is called 'The Mystic Eyes of Death Perception,"
"Mystic Eyes of Death huh? That would certainly explain those strange eyes I saw earlier," Shirou was still somewhat haunted by the inhumanity of them. Touko continued after she let the words sink in a little. "The Mystic Eyes of Death is a rare ability that allows one to see the death in all things."
It was then Shiki's eyes began to light up again, turning from a vacant brown to a wildfire of blue flame. As she looked at Shirou strange orange-red lines flashed all over Shirou's body and began to distort as if she was watching him being chopped up.
"If she were to cut those lines she saw right now, you would not only be dead but it would be permanent and irreversible. But 'killing' people is not the only thing the Mystic Eyes are capable of. For they can destroy magic created by a Magus too,"
"In that case, what are we waiting for?" Shirou replied back "We need to go save Saber!"
"Fine then," Touko sighed. "But I'm coming with you,"
Shiki looked back at Touko and deactivated her eyes. Oddly, she actually looked concerned. "Touko..."
"I've got a few things I need to find out for myself. Don't worry, if I die, I can just replace my body with one of my puppets!" Touko laughed.
The boy didn't find it all too funny. Real lives were still at stake here. He didn't want any of them to die, because of him. However, he couldn't sit idly by. He had to do everything in his power to save her.
"So sweet to hear you've decided on your role. But I'm afraid I have my own role to fulfill," The man's face was still dark but now uncomfortably close to the knight. His long nose and glasses were intrusive to her personal space, but there was little she could go. It was a shame. A pitiful shame that her beautiful sword, the Excalibur was across the room out of her reach, along with the still glittering Armour pieces that she owned.
"What a sickening creature. I suppose gentle persuasion will not simply wave you," Saber barked, forcing the man to step back.
The man seemed surprised at her resilience but quickly gave a sadistic grin "Call me Edge dear,"
He turned and quickly exited the room, the door closing behind him, the presence of silence quickly following.
"If only I could undo these bonds..." The knight tilted her head upwards and looked towards the white void in the sky.
Click. Click. It was sudden, but somehow the chains on her wrists both loosened and she fell to the ground in a slump. It was like her wish had been suddenly granted. As she pulled herself up she rubbed her wrists to ease the sores that had been generated by the silver bindings. Her first priority was to move towards her equipment across the other side of the room. She didn't have much time. Gauntlets, Shoes, Breastplate. Check. It was then she grasped beautiful gold and blue Excalibur within her hands. It felt nostalgic. Then her eyes turned more serious. Clutching the sword with both hands, it began to glow furiously.
"EXCALIBUR!" She cried as the blade cleanly slices with a gold light, decimating the door in front of her with some sheer force. Immediately behind the door, some distance away was a face she didn't want to see... Edge. She ran foot-forward towards him, sword held high ready to cut him into two.
A black creature at the corner of the eye.
Stopped. Like a block of ice, Saber had frozen still, her hand reaching out for Edge. The man still smiled. Something was off. A worryingly cold sensation of movement was on her back. As one eye slanted downwards to see. It was like something pulled from the Niflheim itself. A purple tendril broke lose from her back. She immediately grabbed it with her free hand and pulled fast. However it wouldn't move. In fact, it was invading yet further. With a brutal pull, Saber completely tore off the tendril and observed in her gauntlet. Tarnished in purple blood, the tendril still wiggled as it it were alive, oozing blood. The sickening sight completely distracted her from Edge, who she now looked towards.
"W-what the... what in manner of name is this demon-"Saber gave out a sharp cry as it crawled into her back further, easily penetrating the armour, unable to do anything.
"This entire time an Eyerus was attached to your body. You only noticed it just now because the bright lighting forcefully revealed itself to you. You can't simply kill Yggdrasil by snapping off merely one root it drinks from,"
"Just... just what do you plan to do," Saber clutched her sword to prevent herself from falling down. The knights eyesight jumped several times causing some disorientation, as the body began to reject the foreign creature.
"Not much at first. But it will eventually unlock what is known as the 'True Origin' within your very being."
"Origin?" Shirou asked to Shiki as they observed a tower on the hill in the dusk of night.
Ryougi turned away a little, not seeming to inclined to answer, but somehow managed to anyway.
"The Origin is the center of a living being, the core thing that is there when people are born. It's purpose varies in each case."
"Lio Shirazumi*," Touko spoke "That's one example of someone who had his Origin unlocked. Each has a name and a purpose; his was 'Consumption'. He not only murdered but consumed them whole as well. He was creating a drug to unlock others Origin's," Touko explained. "However, there is what is called the 'True Origin' and that is on a whole different level. There are sayings that it's the ancient line of code for the creation of gods,"
"This is relevant because I think that is what that man there is trying to achieve,"
Touko seemed to know the man that resided in that tower, which made Shirou even more curious. "True Origin", the ancient line of code for the creation of gods, but fairy stories aside it sounds like an area that many would be interested in studying.
*Villan from the Kara no Kyoukai novels-
Saber was still powerless. Edge now chose this time to act and threw a red stone towards the knight. The stone landed on her chest, unable to parry and it flashed a brillant white. Within moments, she felt something heavy begin to weigh her down. There was some resistance, she tried to push the anklet that had formed around her neck.
Edge began singing to himself in some poetic tone; it reminded her of the dark songs of Edgar Allan Poe.
"To Paradise,
With Pleasure Haunted,
Haunted by Fear... Ahem. Excuse me. It is a necessary device that will allow me to control the flow of mana when it goes out of control. Eventually that Eyerus that crawled into you will destroy your brain. You don't have much time left, a single day maybe." Edge stepped back and quickly exited the vast room.
"No, this is a dream... a fantasy created by my slumber under the oak my mortality slipped away at..." Saber shook her head and tried to pretend as if nothing had occurred and ran for the door. But then suddenly, her body collapsed onto the floor. As she regained her senses, she slowly pulled herself up. As soon as her eyes hit the silver reflection of her gauntlet, she stopped like a figure locked in time. One devilish eye looked back towards her, the other was of familiar green kin. She knew as much she had not inflicted damage in her eyes and shut one to check if it was still functioning. Indeed it was. As she finally rose back up, the pain of glass adjacent confirmed her fears. She observed closely and the left eye began to swirl and become slinted to match the right. "Is the creature inside me affecting my form as a servant?"
It was then there was yet more hell, more nihilism as the Eyerus began to merge fully within her body. Pressure. Pressure. Remove. Go. There was pressure against the silver gauntlets now. She quickly removed them, but not before three sinister spines emerged from the elbows. Now, there was no doubt.
No doubt. There was no doubt.
This Eyerus was dangerous. "How much longer till it will destroy my mind?" If this man, Edge, was wising up to his words, then time was short.
No.
No. She knew her pride was more than that. If Edge plans for wicked deeds, then she should at least die with some dignity remaining. Not only that, but if he planned to use her against others, then his plan would be for naught. She reached for her sword, the Excalibur but found herself fighting against her own being and the creature within her. The cloth at the hem on the arm began to gently part ways and she could feel the structure being altered. In an effort to slow the mana flow, she clutched her right arm, significantly slow it down only sacrificing her other arm in the process. Ignoring it, she focused her grip in the blade. She lifted it upwards and looked at it for a moment, held high and proud.
A tear formed at her eye. "I can feel your pain too, Excalibur. You too are crying inside,"
Saber's eyes lay with the sword in her hand before her consciousness fade and collapsed to the ground.
Some time passed. A voice called out, muffled by a blockade of sometime. A masculine siren constantly called her name. "Saber! Saber!"
"Who is that person?" Arturia weakly muttered within her thoughts. The mind wandered, she could not recall the name of the familiar voice.
Then...
"Trace... On!"
It was then those words surged a remembrance and caused her to rise up quickly... not before a jolt of pain paused her midway. "Shirou!" It was then she realized that the dream was no longer reality, her body had still been altered by the Eyerus and did not move how it originally intended to.
The doorway separating her and the other man was cut clean by a similarly gold blade, similar to the Excalibur, but much more detailed.
"Good job Shirou!" Touko was impressed by him ability to conjure a mythical weapon from thin air and use it to slash the door in two.
The vacant eyes of Ryougi Shiki's seemed to widen as the greeted Saber indirectly, filled with some sudden concern, despite her facial expression remaining the same. " You're not human... are you?" Shiki's eyes began to glow a fiery blue hue once more. "I can't see... all the lines on this one,"
Touko placed her hand on her chin "It seems someone has already attempted to unlock your True Origin," She knelt down and observed the rugged blue texture of her arm. "Yep. I couldn't even replicate this on my dolls,"
"A..a creature, some kind of fiend crawled within me. And I..." The once proud knight turned away from Touko's gaze, refusing to accept the appendage as her own.
"Is there anything we can do to stop this?" Shirou asked in concern. He was utterly horrified. It was such pain to him to see her in such a way and imagined that it felt for her a million more.
"Not that I know of," Touko wondered. It was then Saber closed her eyes and struggled to stand up. It was difficult to remain balanced without falling over as the knee joints had shifted forward somewhat. She then lost composure again and fell against Shirou's chest. She placed her cold-blooded, inhuman hands around him. The nails dug into his snow-white shirt a little, but he didn't mind.
As he embraced her, she spoke, tucked in his arms. "Shirou, please listen to me. I have something I must ask of you," She placed heavy emphasis on the last sentence.
"What is it? You can have whatever you want, Saber," Shirou placed one hand around her and the other on the hair on her head. No matter what he did, she still felt cold.
It was then she whispered quietly to him and Shirou stopped moving entirely.
"Please... kill me,"
Shirou pushed away from her. He didn't know what to say. He hung there in limbo, unknowing what to do.
"You heard what I said Shirou," Saber shouted back this time in anger "Kill me. Slay me. That is an order!-" Her words were cut short as she grasped her head in pain and crouched down; even the steel willed Ryougi Shiki was disturbed by this.
"You heard what she said Shirou," Touko broke the wailing of pain with her soft words. She seemed a bit more serious for once. "It would be too cruel to allow this to continue to a companion of yours,"
"But we came too far to...-"
"Listen Shirou, she's beyond saving. Unfortunately we don't know enough about this True Origin business to be able to do anything. And if we don't act quickly, all the lines of death with disappear and she'll become unkillable,"
"We don't know that Touko! There could still be a way!"
Touko sighed. "And I thought Shiki was heartless!" She gave a strange sort of laugh and then made a joking but serious grin.
Shiki pulled a dagger nestling in the back of her Kimono's bonds. "You don't need to tell me what to do!" the vacant killer raced forward with Mystic Eyes fully lit; aiming for the remaining lines. As she throw forward her knife, it was immediately parried by an uncuttable object. Ryougi jumped back to prevent initial retaliation. An eerie carapace skull looked back towards her. The carapace had not yet generated over the left eye, but the right eye hidden in shadow looked menacing to behold.
"Why did she parry my blow?"
Saber was confused as well. She had not wished to block, in fact, she wished for the very opposite.
"-Because puppetry should be an area you're good in Touko!"
The red headed boss turned around and saw a familiar face. White longcoat, curly mullet, long nose and glasses similar to her own.
Touko's face turned sour "You," She had expected it, but was still disgusted with his actions. "The man who practised Heresy at the mages institution and was eventually imprisoned?"
"Heresy!? You mean innovation. Touko dear, I have created the Philosophers Stone, the Eyerus, the creature that is linked to the True Origin!" The man raised both armed and cackled like one of those storybook villans.
"At least be more original about it!" Touko cackled.
It was then a figure raced quickly out into the moonlit night, loosely wielding a sword within it's claws. The anthropomorphic figure looked towards the man, her fearsome helm covering her prowess save for the top left side.
"Saber don't!" Shirou cried.
"He's not an ordinary man, he's a Magus like me too," Touko gritted her teeth.
Regardless of fate, Saber still charged. That was when Edge began to conjure a spell by painting lights with his fingers.
"This was already over before it begun,"
A black gate emerged, and a sickly black tendril smacked Saber away, disarming the blade in her arm, forcing her to hurting back flying into the building.