Disclaimer: I don't own any franchises
I wrote this in one afternoon. So grammer and typos abound!
Notes: So this is an undetermined time line. Hopefully it makes sense but ofc notes at the bottom for clarification.
For anyone waiting on a sequel to my other fic: Salt of the Earth- I did write something but I'm not sure how I like it. I'm waiting for inspiration. It may end up never being fully finished.
Also this fic may never really be finished. The most it would be is a two part that will leave you sad and empty inside(my fav kind!)
It had been just one word. One simple word. A slip of the tongue that no one else has seemed to catch. However, it was enough for the vampire known as the Wizard Marshall Zelretch to catch. The off phrasing, the widened eyes- underneath the pale skin he saw what this was. Undying zeal, loyalty and the unwavering devotion- in short a fanatic. He felt a tingle down his spine. Unfamiliar and familiar at the same time. Excitement. It seemed like it been a millennia since he felt it.
He raised a hand- effectively silencing and causing everyone to stop in the room. Enforcers and Executors moved apart for him as he strode over. For a moment it looked like one of them wanted to say something to him but he was quickly pulled back by others. For all the rumors and whispers, he still instilled fear. A walking legend and contradiction of everything they were taught rolled into one. They wouldn't oppose him at least not while Lorelei still saw value in him.
To say that Zelretch had seen many things in his time would be an understatement. He had walked the earth for so long that sometimes he was starting to forget. Words like good and evil became increasingly vague over lifetimes lived and lost. However, it was exceedingly rare that the Association sent an SOS. Especially to him. More so concerning his protege. Colored him even more surprised when he did turn up and saw that the heir of the long distinguished Edelfelt line bound and magically stripped under "interrogation" of the enforcers and executors. Lorelei must have been exceptionally pissed off to use her squad to personally supervise. To be truthful, he only knew of the Edelfelt heir though the angry rants his apprentice had about the blonde. He found the rants particularly amusing as it wasn't exactly normal when a human could actually radiate blood lust. Very curious indeed. Other than that, he really had no knowledge of the family much less why Luviagelita Edelfelt had demanded his presence and even less why the Association obliged.
Looking down at the bruised face, golden eyes glared back at him. A bloody smile graced the once pretty face. Blonde hair hung low, dirty and matted with blood but it the smile that interested him the most. He had seen it on many people through the centuries. The kind was used to justify wars and burned witches at the stake. It was the smile of someone who could never be swayed. A person willing to die for the cause. A person what would only leave death and destruction in the world. It was the smile of a true believer.
"...It?" She stared at him for a moment. The old man had showed up several days before and had never said anything in her endless torture sessions. It didn't matter though. She had finished her duty. She wouldn't be long for this world. The idiots at the association had given in to her request as she expected them too. She has even left oh so many clues when they questioned her for him to pick up. Finally, it seemed he had picked one up. Perhaps, she should have known-she always knew he was nothing special. After all, she never did believe the stories. She tilted her head to him signalling for him to follow this train of thought. He opened his mouth to say something but after a moment shook his head as he raised a hand to his chin.
"You said it not her. You wouldn't let that slip up by mistake." Rubbing his chin "You know what you summoned into this world. What's happening to Rin." Zelretch let his mind wander to the possibilities when a braying laugh brought him back.
Red eyes met gold ones.
"Well it's about time! I mean, really I practically spelled it out for you. I left you so many clues. I guess you can't believe what they say about you but then again I never did."
"Luvia, tell me what you did."
"So many geniuses and powerful people in the association and not a one can see." Luvia laughed loudly. "This was never about your precious Miss Tohsaka; at least not completely. It was always about YOU, old man!" She pulled against her bindings in an attempt to get closer to him. Her eyes blazed like a fire as she spat words at him.
"You don't even know do you? You can't even look past yourself! Did you really think we'd let you get away with it! Did you really think that you could spend decades ignoring all the other magical families while you favored hers? Years upon years we all tried to get you to notice us- to teach us. My family tried. We really did. If we waited long enough- that you'd recognize the purity and select one of us to be your apprentice. We even begged you to take one of us- ANYONE to be your apprentice. But YOU! You wouldn't even look at us. You didn't even bother. For what? A barely talented magical line? From a backwards country?! THE EDELFELT LINE IS WORTH MORE THAN HERS EVER WILL BE!" Luvia screamed at him. She pulled at the magical binds again. "..Did you think that we would take such an insult lying down! Such disrespect?! We deserved it more than you could ever know."
Zeltrech looked down at the Edelfelt heir. Her words were surprising. To be honest, he had never really thought about the aftereffects of choosing Zagato's line. After all, he never did think they would amount to much but they had indeed. Within such a short time too! To say that he was slightly proud of such an achievement would be lying. The Einzberns was all but extinct at this point. Even if they weren't they would never give up on their ridiculous homunculus ambitions. The Matous were also down to a last heir that didn't even really belong to them. They were a little note now that the old man has finally died- mysteriously but none the less dead. In a way, Luviagelita Edelfelt was right- he had not considered the other families for they weren't even on his radar for good reason. There had been so many magically inclined families that bordered on straying from the path. Then again, clearly he had underestimated their penchant for power. Though if Luvia's words were any indication- it was too late.
" You think just because you're powerful- Wizard Marshall-that there wouldn't be any consequences?! That you would never have to face your decisions? That there would never be a reckoning? We would just lie down and take it. Well here we are.' Luvia shook her head " This is what years of forgotten and discarded talent looks like but now, you won't ever forget me or my line will you? No. Not today. Not ever again."
"..You've had this spell for a long time"
Luvia tossed her hair. "When you saved her; it was the last straw. When you appeared after YEARS of being in the wind- to SAVE HER! But wasn't it JUST PERFECT! Miss Tohsaka, your precious little apprentice was the perfect vessel! Even shared a singularity but that just showed us, we were right! You would always choose her line over everyone else's! It's why you're here isn't it? To save your little protege!"Luvia hung her head down before whispering."...The rest of us never even had chance, did we?"
For a moment, he felt sorry for this young girl. Clearly a product of years of brainwashing and hate. What could such a young person know about real pain, love and loss. Years of endocrine had twisted the idea of something as wonderful as magic to fanaticism. Decades of obsession over a slight that never existed had driven this family to the extremes of sanity. A vendetta for something so petty.
'..Just tell me, what spell did you cast" his voice was soft and gentle as if soothing a crying child.
Luvia head shot up and smirked up at him. He could see the hate blazing in her eyes. "Right about now, I bet Rin's organs are liquefying. I hear it's quite painful. I'm sure great and powerful Wizard Marshall can figure it out." She giggled to herself. "This is the end for you and all these other rats in this place."
Zeltrech stared at her for a moment longer before he turned around. Luvia burst into laughter as he walked away. Enforcers moved back to Luvia. She wouldn't tell him anymore. Luvia has given him all she wanted him to know. She wanted him to wait and see the what was going to happen. The Edelfelt family was old and distinguished. It had access to a number of spells both accepted and banned. Whatever Luvia had cast- she was sure it would be enough to kill him and probably most of the association. That, at the very least gave him a place to start. As he made his way out, he heard the last words Luviagelita Edelfelt would ever say to him.
"YOUR DAYS ARE NUMBERED OLD MAN! YOU THINK THIS THE END-WE HAVEN'T EVEN BEGUN."
Notes: So hope you enjoyed that. So I hope it alludes what's happening.
SPOILERS:
As I said, alt unnamed time line where Rin did go to the clock tower and did become Zelretch's protege but this triggered a decade long hate to finally act. In short, Luvia ended up summoning something/entity(I'm sure you can figure it out!) with Rin as their vessel. I used the the word it since I figured something really old- would just need a vessel suited to its needs. No gender preference. I also wanted to convey the level of sacrifice and pain of this type of summoning- aka Rin's toasty organs. As Rin was an average one, literal genius and apprentice to vampire wizard- it's probably in the school's best interest that nothing really bad happened to such a promising student(OOPS). You never know what type of retribution that could have in store. ;)
So this will probably never be finished :)