Chapter 7: August Star of Heaven
Hakurei Shrine
Saber, Archer, Lancer, Rider, Caster, Assassin, Berserker.
Seven containers filled by the embodiments of Heroic Spirits who would do battle with each other to obtain a wish-granting relic known as the Holy Grail.
This was not the first time this War occurred. Four others have come before, each with devastating consequences for those involved. And yet, various circumstances ensured that the Holy Grail was never used for its intended purpose.
The Fifth War was the latest one, however, the memories of the Heroic Spirits summoned in that war do not appear to match with what happened. Which means…
"We are all likely from different timelines brought together to this place, as I said before." Gilgamesh said, arms crossed as he listened to those around him.
The red-clad Archer, though in the same class as him, appeared to have been defeated by Berserker before the conclusion of his world's Holy Grail War. He had explained that he took a few of the mad giant's lives before eventually falling, a fact that Gilgamesh found highly amusing in contrast to his own experiences with the demigod.
Lancer explained his side differently though. Defeated not in combat, but by his Master forcing the man to kill himself. He didn't die immediately, which gave him a chance to take down his traitorous Master as well in the process. That was something Gilgamesh knew about near the end of that war.
Caster was eliminated before either of them. That one was also something that Gilgamesh could confirm from Kirei's report, though she was of the same timeline as he and Lancer apparently.
But Lancer also spoke up on behalf of his other two 'companions' when they arrived here. It seems he was in the company of Berserker and Assassin, who have both decided to stay behind a new Master. All uncontracted though, unlike Gilgamesh and his contract with the Flower youkai. Berserker has apparently regained most of his sanity, to be able to speak coherently, and retain his skill in combat. That would not be the one Gilgamesh fought then, which did cause him to smirk in response. A rematch perhaps? It would be more fun that way.
Assassin was a strange one, however. Lancer claimed that he didn't remember much other than the fact he was defeated by a shadowed figure. A non-existent entity who couldn't even figure out what happened to him after that most recent death. Still the same personality, apparently.
"I suppose even I have to explain my circumstance in arriving here. I actually would have been the last Servant remaining if it wasn't for a small error on my part. Frankly, I'm surprised you were still alive. I remember personally taking you down as you tried to shield that boy with your own body." Gilgamesh said, his tone surprisingly cordial as he directed his attention towards Archer. "A Reality Marble to catch me off guard while slicing my arm off. It was a surprising thing."
"Oh?" Archer smirked. "I didn't think he'd have the capacity to perform such an act like that."
"The heck are you two talking about?" Reimu said with a pout, crossing her arms.
"Nothing of great importance." Replied Archer with a shake of his head. "That explains Six of the Heroic Spirits so far. Assuming you were not originally part of the latest war, then that's still two unaccounted for."
"Rider is on her way here from what I recall. Ah, I almost forgot. Another version of myself is accompanying her as well. It is a strange feeling, but it seems we are currently sharing the same experience despite being in two separate bodies. I don't know why that gap witch separated us as such, but I suspect it is for another ulterior motive." Gilgamesh said. "Still, this does still leave Saber. I assume it is the same Saber we've all encountered?"
"Most likely. Fun opponent in an actual fight. However…" Lancer said, looking back at Sakuya who watched them from the shrine steps. "We don't exactly have much of a reason to do battle don't we? Other than for reasons of entertainment, there is no Holy Grail to be won. And we still don't know why all the defeated Servants were gathered up here in the first place."
"Hold on…" Reimu said, stepping forward and raising her hand. "A few questions."
"One, you said you lost your arm. How did you get it back?" she asked Gilgamesh.
"Two, you mentioned 'the gap witch.' If you mean Yukari, then this is troubling if she's somehow involved."
"Three, What do you mean another version of yourself?"
The girl was looking intently at Gilgamesh that the King of Heroes found it amusing enough to chuckle at a thought. He didn't normally allow commoners to talk to him in such a way but something about this land made him wary about acting at a whim. Perhaps it was the small concentration of humanity living out their meek existences here?
"The first one is easily answered. This land is greatly saturated with magical energy. I'm sure you've all felt it." He looked at the assembled Heroic Spirits. "It is reminiscent of the state of the world during the Age of the Gods, where miracles are more easily accessible to the common people. Restructuring a missing arm from a clump of concentrated magical energy is child's play given what I have access to in my treasury." Gilgamesh nodded his head. "Even our parameters have increased. I'd even dare to say that we can perform feats normally only available to us when a Command Seal is used so who knows how much amplified the effect of an actual Command Seal would be?"
"Secondly… you have a point. The gap witch, Yukari, they called her is indeed involved. But apparently she was not acting as herself for the most part. There was something involving a death goddess attacking a small group some time ago. My Master and I just happened to be passing by as things escalated in quick succession." He looked at Yuuka, who had since fallen asleep. Gilgamesh shook his head before moving on to the last question.
"The third is likely to be more complicated to explain. You can ask that gap youkai about it if she's ever freed from her trance. I suspect there's more to her current actions." Gilgamesh finished.
"A trance?" asked Reimu.
"I wouldn't call it acting against her own better judgments, but I used a bit of clairvoyance to take a peek at her… condition. She was hard to read though, especially given how she attacked. A most curious ability really."
"Good to know," said Lancer, narrowing his eyes.
"Well, whatever the case, Yukari's involvement seems to imply another incident about to happen. And here I thought I could get a bit of rest once in a while." Sighed Reimu.
"More than just that though." Gilgamesh continued, "You may also be dealing with a rogue death goddess. That gap youkai's newfound ally it looks like it, or the other way around. Though normally it is something I wouldn't concern myself with, I find myself intrigued given the coincidence of all these events going on. Not to worry though, I've taken a liking to this world. At the very least, I won't see it fall at the hands of that creature." He grinned.
"Huh, I didn't expect you to be that blunt." Said Archer, crossing his arms. "I suppose there's no harm in that. If no one has any reservations on returning to where we came from, I guess it isn't so bad."
"This is a strange, uneasy truce between us Servants." Caster murmured to herself. "We should wait for the last one here then. Just in case…"
The earth shook, if only for a few seconds. It wasn't a strong shaking, but it was enough to keep a few people off balance and collapse a small area at the side of the Shrine.
"The heck…" Reimu started before looking back towards her shrine. "Ah, damn it!"
"Hmmm? What's going on?" Yuuka said, waking up from her light nap.
"A tremor from the Underworld it seems." Gilgamesh said, eyes closed. "Intriguing. More than just the fact this place is saturated with magical energy, it seems this is also a primordial land that is still closely-linked to the Age of the Gods. Even the Underworld itself appears to exist directly below this land. However…" his features curled up into a frown as he snapped his fingers.
Immediately a familiar golden ripple in space appeared in the open space beside him. A golden and emerald craft was brought out, with what appeared to be wings that glowed brightly despite the sunlight.
"You keep bringing out one oddity after another." Said Lancer, looking at the ship that the golden Servant just took out.
"Wait, where are you going?" asked Yuuka.
"Circumstances may have changed. I'll be back in a short while." He explained, standing atop the throne of the ship. "As for the rest of you…" his eyes gazed down specifically at the assembled Servants in the present time. "…Do not allow yourselves to fall. I don't know why we've received this opportunity after the Holy Grail War, but I shan't see it squandered to personal motivations. We have much to discuss about the future." Gilgamesh proclaimed before the ship, the Vimana, rose up into the air and sped off into the distance.
"Interesting Servant you have there." Said Lancer as he looked upon Yuuka, who simply shrugged in response. "I guess this place will have a fair number of visitors soon. Rare enough that we see this many Servants gathered in one place but I agree with what goldie said. It will be interesting."
Reimu frowned, crossing her arms in front of her. "And with that knowledge, the lot of you aren't just going to stand by doing nothing. Help me fix the shrine." She said, pointing her purifying rod at them.
The Forest of Magic
"Everyone felt that, right?" Kaguya asked as the quake hit. The magnitude wasn't particularly strong, but it was odd all the same. Gensokyo did not normally have random earthquakes that disrupted the usual peace and quiet of the place.
"Someone's probably mad." The younger Gilgamesh said as he followed the group. They've decided to make their way to the human village on foot, mostly to enjoy the sights and scenery. It wouldn't take long, said Reisen, she'd been through these paths many times before.
It was going to get dark in a few hours though, and being out here at that time without any form of protection is a bad idea. Man-eating plants, poisonous spores, youkai that would lure travelers to their deaths… all worrisome things for normal humans. But none of them could really classify as that anymore can they?
For Kaguya, it was actually quite relaxing. Regardless of what happened in Eientei, she was confident in Eirin's ability to take care of herself now that they know what they're dealing with. Rider was silent throughout their journey, but she stayed close to Kaguya whenever just the slightest sign of trouble was beginning to occur. Nothing actually happened, but it was nice to know that even when she headed outside, she had a loyal entourage.
The boy was an oddity though, and she couldn't help but be curious about his existence. Related to the older one, yes, but with a similar kind of wisdom as well. He was also quite talkative.
"It's a rather small world isn't it?" asked the young Gilgamesh. "If one were to map out this entire place, I would say it would be the size of a normal province?"
"You tell me," said Reisen, "You're the one from the outside world aren't you?"
"Indeed. Though the outside world, as you call it, would look different depending on the era you find yourself in. It is quite unfortunate that my previous experience wasn't… well, as enjoyable as here." The boy replied.
"It could be better, I agree." Said Rider.
"Wait, don't move any further." The boy said abruptly.
Too late though.
"What… is this…?" Kaguya said, finding herself unable to move her limbs properly.
"H-hey! What's going on?!" Reisen cried out in alarm.
Even Rider and the younger Gilgamesh appeared to be immobilized as well though they didn't struggle any further.
"These are strange threads." The boy murmured to himself.
"Threads?" Kaguya wondered. She squinted her eyes and sure enough, she could just barely make out the outlines of threads all around them. Like spiderwebs, stretched out in this area. But why weren't they immobilized beforehand?
"This wasn't here before!" Reisen continued.
"Of course not. I have been tracking you." Came a voice from above the trees. A dark shape loomed overhead before coming down on a single strand of silk. A spider, black in color and an unnaturally large size descended and seemed to observe the small group.
"Time may have been up for the goddess of death but I suppose I can still study those who defied her." Its gaze was on Kaguya at first, though it soon switched to the entangled Gilgamesh. "An immortal Lunarian, part of a King, a useless animal, and a fallen monster… what an odd collection I've gathered here. Missing a few people though." The spider continued.
"You went through all the trouble tracking us down instead of returning to the same area your Master invaded? That seems rather wasteful." Gilgamesh chuckled to himself. "Rude too, since we'd rather be doing something else."
"Indeed, where are my manners? Let me introduce myself." The spider said, dropping down to the ground and growing once again in size. Large enough that it stood tall over a normal human and yet with an agility in its movements that made it seem more unnatural than it is.
"I am known by many names. Ame-no-Kagaseo or Ama-no-Minaka-Nushi. But I am ambivalent to Amatsu-Mikaboshi, the August Star of Heaven." The spider said, one of its limbs reaching forward to touch the strands surrounding them.
"Yeah? Well, Star of Heaven or not, let us out of here!" Reisen glared at the spider. "You can't hold us here for long."
"As content as I am to normally see how things play out, this I don't appreciate being bound thus. You and your Master are making enemies everywhere and that's not such a smart idea." Gilgamesh said, the familiar golden portals appearing around them with the tips of various weaponry emerging at the tip. Sixteen in total for now, though no one doubted he could add more. "Also, I dislike liars. I'm not sure what it is, but your introduction reeks of falsehood to me."
"Clairvoyance at work, I see." Mikaboshi said with contempt before it reared up on both pairs of hind legs. It was about to attack!
The response was immediate, Gilgamesh's weaponry came flying out towards the spider. Swords, spears, and axes crashing against the arachnid's carapace. The noble phantasms should have dealt enormous amount of damage from the impact and magical energies released alone, but the carapace remained intact.
Beams of multi-coloured light then shot forth after the warning shots. This time not from Gilgamesh, but from a jeweled branch that appeared besides Kaguya. The lights struck the webbing that bound the group and incinerated the threads.
Freed in the nick of time, though they probably could have escaped earlier, the group scattered just as the spider's front pair of legs slammed down at their original locations. The impact was loud enough to toss up the earth it struck, wildlife around the path flying or scurrying away from the disturbance close to their homes.
"He's strong." The young Gilgamesh said, looking besides him towards Kaguya. "Interesting treasure that you have there. I didn't even sense much magical energy coming from you until it was revealed."
Kaguya shook her head. "It's nothing special," she replied, as she held the jeweled branch in front of her. Gilgamesh and Reisen stood defensively in front, the latter pointing a finger at the giant spider.
Rider, meanwhile, moved in the trees around the path, flanking the spider. She didn't sense the presence of any more of those threads despite being on the lookout for them now. But whatever this spider was, she suspected her usual method of attack wouldn't work. This was proven true upon throwing one end of her chains at it, the tip merely bouncing off its seemingly impenetrable hide.
Another barrage from Gilgamesh did no damage and the same can be said for shots fired from Reisen's fingertips.
"Interesting," said Gilgamesh, redeploying his treasury once more. "It seems this may require a higher class of arms to damage. A shame he kept most of the good ones." He mumbled near the end.
Another barrage went up, but this time, Mikaboshi responded in turn. For a giant spider, it moved quickly enough to deflect the weapons flying at him with its front legs, batting them aside as if they were nothing more than pebbles. It ignored Reisen's attacks while it purposely entangled one of its front legs with Rider's chain, pulling her forward which caused her to twist in mid-air to avoid being impaled by another of its legs.
She landed atop the armored carapace of the spider's abdomen before jumping away, her chains that were entangled with its leg disappeared, only to reappear in her hands soon after.
"Tch!" she clicked her tongue before moving back to the cover of the trees.
Mikaboshi did not wait for the next wave. It rushed forward with tremendous speed, faster than the others could act. Reisen and the young Gilgamesh were swatted aside with a single blow, the two crashing into the side of the trees, causing them to crack and fall with a deafening noise.
Its next limb impaled Kaguya as she attempted to dodge, the sharp limb running through her shoulder as it pinned her down on the ground. She yelped in alarm, another of her treasures appearing beside her. Before she could use it however, it disappeared, sucked into a voided space with eyes.
"It can't be…" Kaguya said, still shocked at what just happened. The gap youkai wasn't here, or anywhere around where she could be sensed, so how…?
"I thought a youkai of nature would serve as a suitable vessel for Izanami, but I suppose a Lunarian will do just fine. You should be happy. I shall create a new god with you." Mikaboshi said, the spider's mandibles rearing up, ready to bite down.
"Ha! The era of the gods may still have a strong influence here, but I doubt this realm needs more. Especially those created by something desperately clinging on to authority!" a voice called out from above.
The next instant, a single projectile struck the spider's face. The impact sent it flying back, its limb forcibly removed from Kaguya's shoulder. It kept moving many metres away before the projectile exploded, the escaping heat and light bathing that particular area of the forest in a baleful glow.
"Oh? It's still standing…" the voice said as its owner dropped down from the sky to land besides the injured Kaguya. "Princess of the Moon, you should be more careful. It seems you were its target all along." Gilgamesh said. This one was the older one, Kaguya observed, and he held his hand out to her as if to help her up. But he wasn't looking at her.
She wouldn't complain though as she accepted the offer, taking his hand and pushing herself up onto her feet.
Gilgamesh looked on ahead as the spider re-emerged. Though it was mostly uninjured, cracks appeared on its carapace, flakes of it falling off as it walked forward. A second look revealed that the projectile did more damage. Part of its head had collapsed, its many eyes reduced to three as it glared hatefully at the Golden King.
"Even a mountain-piercing blade doesn't seem to be enough to bring down such a disgusting creature. Still… I have to admire your tenacity." Gilgamesh said, watching his younger self emerge from the edge of his vision.
The spider moved again, though this time, it found its limbs entangled by chains. Not Rider's chains, but chains coming from multiple golden portals surrounding it. Ensnared, it watched as the younger Gilgamesh looked on from the side. He was the one who conjured them up, one of the secret weapons stored in his treasury and used only rarely.
"Bah!" Mikaboshi gave a hateful stare at the two kings before it forcibly ripped its own limbs off as it contorted its own body about itself. The eight limbs struggled for a moment, trapped in the chains as a gap appearing underneath the spider as it fell before it disappeared as well.
"A sore loser, all things considered. Though a dangerous being nonetheless." The older Gilgamesh said, looking around him. "You all don't look well." He told the group.
"Not our best performance I guess." The younger Gilgamesh said as Rider dropped down from the trees.
"Mikaboshi, he called himself." Kaguya said. The name sounded familiar and yet, something the younger Gilgamesh said also worried her. "You said it was lying?" she asked.
"I'm not certain that it's a full lie. But yes, I think there was falsehood in what he said." Said the younger Gilgamesh.
"Lady Kaguya, your arm-!" Reisen said, walking over to inspect the injury. "That can't be right." She said with a look of shock on her face.
The limb had torn through part of the fabric and the wound that should have already healed at this point didn't appear to be fully restored. A black spot marred the skin, with vein-like protrusions extending outwards towards the rest of her chest.
"Oh… that's interesting." Kaguya said, placing a hand atop the injury. "Normally, something like this would have been fully restored by now. I guess the poison is potent enough that it slows down the process. Well, nothing to worry about, it'll heal in due time." She told the rabbit.
"I don't think I've seen anyone that unconcerned about an injury." The older Gilgamesh chuckled. "However, we do have a few pressing matters to tend to. Before another of its allies come here, I believe it would be best to get you all towards some modicum of safety."
"Oh… right." Kaguya said, looking up at the golden king. "My thanks, Sir Gilgamesh," she said, gracing him with a curtsy before turning away to move back upon the path.
"Not by walking. Waiting for all of you is time that could be spent doing something more productive." Gilgamesh said, his gold and emerald ship descending from the sky and hovered besides the path. "You all can fly too, can you not? There should be plenty of sight-seeing later." Gilgamesh said, stepping up on the prow of the Vimana before holding his hand out to Kaguya again.
The younger Gilgamesh materialized atop the Vimana, standing off to one side, careful to avoid the gaze of his older self as that Gilgamesh helped the Lunar Princess up. There was a smile on his face, though he dared not show it to his older self. With everyone on board the ship, including Reisen and Rider, the Vimana elevated itself up before gently sailing off into the sky.
*poke*
"Huh, that's interesting." Marisa said, as she poked the detached giant spider limb with a stick. She arrived late here, but obviously something big happened recently in this area. "Maybe I should see Reimu? Caster should have finished her business there, probably." She shrugged.
"Yeah, I'll do that. Heheh." Marisa continued, as she held out her mini-hakkero, blasting the spider limbs into ash… before gathering the remains into a small, container like that of a vial.
"Powdered ingredients, check. I'm sure someone will find it useful. Or Caster can show me something to do with them." She nodded her head. Marisa brought out her broom next and flew off towards the direction of the Hakurei shrine.
